Renovations

[Kes Akiena]

His new office was not a glorious one, but there were worse places he'd had to set up shop. The Commander's office aboard Jovan was certainly not terrible, but it was a shade lighter than spartan, that was for sure. A few small cargo crates sat at the far wall, but Kes had yet to open them as he'd found a much more desirable position behind his new desk, leaning back in his chair to stare at the already small collection of datapads and hardcopy files that'd been set atop the glossed surface. It was neither a pardon nor a punishment, being sent to Jovan, and truthfully he wasn't sure how exactly to take the orders he'd been given. On the surface he'd accepted gratefully, but beneath, he had to wonder just what hands were at work in all of this.

He wasn't exactly the first in line for this posting he knew that well enough. But, he supposed it was better than the alternative. It wasn't often that you didn't get sent to some unknown dead-world prison for stealing a ship from the Navy. He could've been dealt a lot worse, and so could a lot of other folks. But, fate did as fate wanted, and he found himself sent off to head a station with such curious potential that he couldn't help but be intrigued. Cautious as well, but owing to the nature of his command staff, the redhead wasn't all that surprised by that feeling. He didn't suspect in any way that Alliance command was setting him up for failure, but he was interested to know what they expected of him.

A chime sounded from the terminal built into his desk, and Kes leaned forward, reaching out to depress the touchpad that would answer the transmission. It was a code he recognized, and the small holoprojector flared into life, illuminating blue lines forming the face and upper body of an old friend.

Kes gave a relieved smile.

"General."

"Settling in then, are we?"

Was he surprised at the rueful tone of General Meiers Brecklin? No, he supposed not.

"As much as I'm able." An eye was sent to the still unpacked cargo crates before returning to the General.

"I'm sure."

There were a few pleasantries shared after, but it wasn't long before Meiers dove into the real reason for his call. It wasn't unexpected, and was a manner that Kes had long ago become accustomed to.

"It seems that High Command has tasked me with informing you that they're officially transferring you rank."

"Sir?" Kes lofted a single eyebrow.

"Don't think this wasn't coming, Kes. You didn't really expect to stay a major for the rest of your career, did you?"

A shrug, and Kes made an almost helpless face.

"It's comfortable."

Brecklin gave a hrmph before going on.

"Yes well, times change."

The General's image leaned forward. "I'm sending you all of the required documents and official signatories. Your new assignment merits a bit more than your previous rank."

A light blinked then, a signal that he was receiving whatever it was that the General was sending.

"Congratulations, Commander."

Kes blinked, then leaned back.

"Well, if you put it that way... "

Brecklin finally let a smile crease his features.

"That I do."

Kes smiled then, settling a bit more comfortably in his seat.

"Good luck, Kes."

"Thank you, Sir."

A short while later found Kes Akiena sitting in silence, staring at the spot that had once been occupied by General Brecklin's image.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Spire Two was, optimistically speaking, a goddess-damned mess. This was the designated port of entry for every last bit of engineering tech the Alliance was pumping into Jovan Station's massive Imperial husk. While personnel were designated Spire One entry, and everything lower priority than essential crew and gear were trickling through Spires Three through Six. On it's surface, it seemed pragmatic enough. The only problem was that the entire balance of the engineering corps was still shuffling through Spire One, leaving the listless muppets in charge of moving vital materials and cargo in Spire Two without anything resembling a clue. Crates were stacked on top of crates. Cargo pallets multiplied faster than sajoi, and eventually the orderly dispensation of equipment had devolved into a lazy search for whatever bit of deck was available to stack gear. That created a titanic bottleneck, and now...

...Captain Meorrrei threw the manifest datapad aside, the human lieutenant beside her barely able to catch it before it cluttered to the ground.

"Unacceptable!" T'yeellaa wheeled around on the brunette-haired human woman, leveling a gloved finger at her.

"Whateverr that ljisst jis doess not rreflect ourr rrealjitjy. jYou've losst contrrol of the ssjituatjion herre."

The Captain bit her lip before the instinctive refrain of 'A Cizerack engineering team would never be in such disarray' could escape it. While true, it wasn't helpful.

"Understood, ma'am, but the retrofit crew haven't arrived. They have to take possession of priority one plant and equipment. I know it's a logjam, but"

"jI'm done wjith them, Ljieutenant. Move that carrgo orr jI wjill fjind ssomeone who wjill. Preita'rrou!"

A sienna-skinned Naala'in marine officer rushed to the forefront behind a throng of listless and useless bystanders.

"Rrou'a!"

T'yeellaa jerked her head in the direction of the human.

"jYou'rre underr Ljieutenant Galen. The two of jyou fjind a wajy to clearr a lane beforre jI do jit wjith a therrmal detonatorr."

The Jaanni'saari officer nodded, looking to the taller human with skepticism. By then, T'yeellaa was off to tend to another fire. Striding across the concourse deck of the outer ring, she watched a technician crawl into the superstructure via a gap in the deck plating. All around there were signs of neglect and abandonment. A few lights flickered overhead. A viewing porthole was opaqued by its durasteel blast shield, a sign that a fault in the window had triggered an automatic seal. The Cizerack officer sighed, massaging her aching temples. This was a zoo. Unwilling to dwell in the mire they were momentarily stuck in, she tapped her wrist comm.

"Majorr."

[Kes Akiena]

And again the sound of an incoming transmission pinged on his desk. It pulled Kes from his own silent thoughts, and somewhat welcoming the distraction, he reached forward. Even before he hit the button to answer he had a good enough notion of who was calling.

The voice that greeted him only confirmed his suspicions.

"I'm here, Captain."

There was a certain inflection in her voice that told him she was less than happy. He gave a wry smile that no one could see, knowing that it would probably be best to not ask how she was.

"What can I do for you?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa grimaced at the offer of help, or was it just a human nicety? Either way, it irritated her. The last thing she wanted to do was to ask for Akiena to bail her out of this. They'd barely managed to touch boots on deck. Unless there was a hull breach, she'd handle it. Hell, she'd probably stick chewing gum in a breech before asking Akiena.

"Ourr prrogrresss jiss..."

Turning back to the chaos, Captain Meorrrei watched Lieutenant Galen lead a mule train of marines, each loaded down with two or three equipment crates.

"...sslow. Apparrentljy ourr equjipment arrjived fassterr than the engjineerrss rrequjirred to jinsstall jit."

They'd both run the dress rehearsal, and knew how to triage the space station's numerous ails. A loud bang of heavy durasteel on durasteel caused her ears to flinch from the din, only to see a heavy cyllinder rolling away from a chasing Jaanni'saari.

"jI've put the ssecurrjitjy detajil to worrk to expedjite the offload, but jI ssusspect we'll be behjind sschedule at leasst two hourrss."

It was an embarassing admission, and T'yeellaa was glad she didn't have to see Akiena's face. She felt the hot flush rise to her cheeks as the lights flickered off above her head for an excruciating second before illuminating once again in unsteady light.

[Kes Akiena]

The news was not unexpected. He didn't necessarily grimace, but he wasn't smiling either.It certainly wasn't an update that he wanted to hear, but judging by the tone of T'yeellaa's voice, he surmised that it bothered her far more than it did him. Still though, the issues she was now faced with were also issues that he had to deal with as well, and he finally let out a long breath.

"Seems we'll have to get creative then, I suppose."

Another moment of thought.

"What's the status of the civilian sector?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

She stared grim-faced at her wrist comm for want of an answer that would satisfy either of them. Civ sector was clear across the station, with most of their influx likely hitting Spire Four. She hadn't been able to make it there to inspect progress, but if the situation was untenable she'd certainly hear of it from the marines. No, it was folly to assume even that. This was a down-is-up, pants-on-head operation. She was going to have to put eyeballs on every single potential problem source until the system caught up with her expectations.

An exasperated sigh, and her ears drooped in conceded frustration.

"jI'm on mjy wajy therre now. Expect mjy rreporrt ssoon. Meorrrei out."

Cutting the comm, T'yeellaa bulled her way through the scrum, following the brutalist Imperial curvature of the concourse deck to the prominent structure that jutted perpendicular into the decking. Goddess bless a turbolift. A tap on the controls mercifully yielded results in a smoothly whooshing door, and the Captain stepped inside, standing in the middle of the lift as if to occupy its full space with her force of will. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Cjiv ssectorr."

The doors whooshed closed again, and she felt the feathering of inertia as the lift began its ascent, then another shift as it followed an access shaft along the outer ring's hull. The Captain nearly had enough time to breathe a sigh of relief before clawhoppers started flipping in her stomach, and she instinctively reached for a handrail. The lift slowed, and then came to a halt, doors opening velvet-smooth as T'yeellaa floated out of them head over heels.

"Arre jyou kjiddjing me?!"

A pair of disgruntled Aqualish floated past her, chased by their luggage. It looked like a pod of manatees. Ears switched back, T'yeellaa mashed a thumb hard against her wrist comm once again.

"Majorr, jI've rreached the cjiv ssectorr."

A Bith floated from above, his bulbous head bumping off her back and sending the Captain heading towards what appeared to be a shuttered restaurant.

"jI could usse ssome help down herre."

[Kes Akiena]

Now that was a word he'd never thought he'd hear a Cizerack utter.

"Help?"

Kes rose to his feet. There was a half-smile on his lips as he reached out to retrieve the small comm unit sitting idly on his desk. Even though he had no idea the sort of situation that his second in command found herself in, he had to bet that it wasn't quite something that she was joyous to be dealing with. Fortunately for her, he was well acquainted with the scrabbling sort of work necessary to bring salvage into operation. And even though Jovan wasn't technically the sort of salvage that was found in the old days, it was still the same set of rules to contend with.

Now this felt like the old Rebellion.

"I'll be there soon."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Soon couldn't come fast enough.

The masses floating through zero gravity had quickly pointed out her distinctive uniform and identified her as someone in charge. They righted themselves as best as they could, and a barrage of questions and demands were hurtled at her. Some were in basic, which she understood. Others came in a half dozen other mongrel languages that she could only guess at, but understood the charged emotions behind.

"Everrjyone rremajin calm."

"We arre awarre of the ssjituatjion and arre worrkjing on jit."

"Ma'am."

"Ssjirr."

"Ssjirr!"

A glinting silver shape bounced off a nearby wall, and T'yeellaa snapped at the protocol droid.

"jYou! Trransslate what jI'm ssajyjing?"

"I beg your pardon, madam, but I am a barber droid!"

T'yeellaa's mouth hung slack in dumbfounded exasperation.

"...programmed in over six million forms of hairstyles and decorative grooming."

A pair of Twi'lek children had taken the chaos as an opportunity to play, bouncing off the walls quite literally, gliding through the air like little blue and green torpedoes, sailing by as near misses. T'yeellaa snatched the blue girl by an ankle, pulling her back.

"jYou...sshould be jin sschool!"

It was the dumbest thing she could possibly say, but she had to say something, even if it was stupid. By the Goddess, she was trained to lead marines and naval staff! On missions with things like goals and objectives and...

"WaaaAAAAaaa!!!"

Her raucous playtime disrupted, the blue girl screamed and blubbered, shaking her head tails left and right as she pitched an unholy fit. Captain Meorrrei could only grit her teeth as she scanned the crowd for a guilty mother...somewhere.

[Kes Akiena]

All things considered, Kes figured that things could've been a lot worse. 'Inheriting' a station that'd previously been a hub of Imperial military might had been something of a lucky stroke, but it certainly didn't come without its' problems. Making his way from the command hub, he made short work of navigating his way to the nearest lift that would take him to the civilian sector. It wasn't difficult, but being that Jovan had been built with the military machine as its' primary focus, he knew that anything regarding a civilian population would be minimal at best. Still, even the Empire knew that it was a good idea to allow some form of non-service individuals aboard.

Stepping over a fallen bulkhead strut, the redhead turned into an outer corridor that led to one of the many side passage lifts.

A marine passed by, toting a crate, and Kes nodded to the man as he slowed to a stop. Pressing the lift's call-button, he shifted to the side as the marine lowered the crate down to the deck.

"Sir."

"Sergeant."

The doors opened, and Kes waited patiently as the marine pulled his load inside, after which he himself stepped in.

"Where to, Sir?"

"The Civilian Sector."

An odd look was sent his way as the marine keyed in the destination.

"You sure you want to go there, Sir?" The lift shifted as it began its' trek through the stations superstructure.

"Should I not?"

"Not unless you like your space stations with gravity."

Kes made a pained face at that, suddenly understanding the reason for T'yeellaa's call for help.

"Wonderful," he groaned.

The lift slowed, then stopped fully, and the marine once more hefted his trunk up as the doors slid open.

"Good luck, Sir."

Only able to get out a quick thanks as the doors closed once more, Kes inwardly groused at the situation he was about to... walk... into.

And when the lift finally stopped once again, he braced himself. Even as the doors opened he could feel that familiar weightless sensation. It was almost like riding a hoverbike, except that you never went where you really wanted to go. Pushing off the deck, Kes let his body move out of the lift. A hand reached out to grab a hold of a support strut along the ceiling, and acclimating himself as best as possible as he stared into a corridor of chaos.

And right in the middle of it all, with a firm grip on the ankle of a young Twi'lek girl in the midst of a tantrum, was Captain T'yeellaa Meorrrei.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

And there, at her most graceless moment, came Major Akiena. T'yeellaa saw him emerge from the lift, and could feel the heat burning in the tips of her ears. Whether he was her savior or nemesis, she didn't really care anymore. She wanted order. She couldn't make these people form an orderly queue, and she couldn't shoot them. The lack of gravity only served to mock her, casting her about here and there as she tried to address the distressed civilians from something of an authoritarian position. The fact that she was now upside down - due to the inertia of the screaming blue monster in her clutches - was not lost on her. She released the blubbering brat, giving her a push that was probably a little too carefree for decorum.

"Majorr..."

Even nodding her head in affirmation was a useless waste in this down-is-up world. Captain Meorrrei settled simply for tugging down (up) at the hem of her jacket to straighten it.

"...jI ssuggesst the engjineerr corrpss adjusst thejirr worrk queue prrjiorrjitjy."

T'yeellaa went board-stiff as the green Twi'leki child returned on the rebound, catching her tail by the tuft.

"Now."

[Kes Akiena]

That was certainly something that he could agree on, and Kes gave a firm nod.

"Agreed."

He raised his voice then.

"Everyone... "

Each head seemed to turn from the Captain and look at him.

"I need you all to remain calm. We're doing our best to get things as operational as possible-"

"I hope that means you'll be getting the gravity situated!"

The grumbled words were followed by a chorus of agreement from the floating crowd, and trailed further by a pair of small whining boo's. It was obvious that the younglings didn't share the disatisfaction at the current state of the civilian sector, and in the back of his mind he couldn't blame them.

"Of course it does. But I need your patience and even help if we're to do this as quickly as possible."

A Shistavenen bulled his way through the meandering bodies, his own movements like some bizarre act of swimming.

"I can help," he growled out, "... used to work on retrofitted mining asteroids."

The redhead nodded in thanks, and pushed off the wall on a trajectory that would bring him closer. He reached a hand out, taking the wolfman's forearm in a firm 'handshake'. It was returned in kind with a healthy grip on his own forearm.

"I'm Commander Akiena," he said, his voice carrying a genial air that was also one of authority as he spoke to all around.

"I'd say welcome to Jovan Station, but I think we'll save that for when we're all a bit less airborne."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Commander Akiena. T'yeellaa blinked. Apparently he'd been promoted in the midst of his caf break or bout of glad-handing or whatever he'd been doing in his office. Well that was nice. Ugh.

Still, the Captain was starved to do something other than float about uselessly, so she carefully negotiated her position the next time she drifted to a bulkhead, claws scratching for purchase so she could steady herself to push off once again.

"jI've sstudjied thjiss sstatjion'ss sschematjic carrefulljy." T'yeellaa paused, pressing her tongue between her lips in concentration as she glanced over her shoulder, and pushed off in a carefully-aimed direction. "The ssuperrsstrructurre hass a mosstljy decentrraljized modularr confjigurratjion, wjith ejight rradjial ssectorrss that ssharre manjy ssjimjilarr charracterrjisstjicss."

It was layman-speak at this point. You could see that design aesthetic from space, after all. Jovan was arrayed like a great physical example of the Imperial gear in some respects. T'yeellaa reached the end of her intended destination, again her claws scrabbling and scraping paint a little. She looked down to the Commander and the help he had conscripted, and then looked beyond them at the superstructure of the lift access. Mumbling to herself, she started pointing from the lift and then upwards, tracing her finger along a line only her mind's eye could see.

"Ljift embarrk...to majin crrossstube...centrral access junctjion overr therre...."

They were like veins and arteries in some huge animal. Lifts, power conduits, climate regulation, and of course...

"Follow me!"

Giving a push, T'yeellaa launched back down, heading to a section of the lower concourse beneath a pair of walkways that overlooked a commercial zone of some sort.

[Kes Akiena]

* * *

It was strange, how a body needed gravity. Like a compass needed the north, so too did the flesh and blood need a stabilizer.

They'd managed to rig up a temporary gravity well; something that allowed the civilian sector a more livable arrangement until proper generators could be set into place - the originals had been gutted beyond usability. It wasn't much, but it was something at least. It was an achievement that made Kes thankful at any rate. Thankful that the brewing disaster in the civilian block had been diverted for now.

Standing confidently enough upon the decking, and reasonably assured that the soles of his boots would remain as such, the Commander reached out to give a shake to their Shistavenan mechanic's hand.

"Much thanks, Mr. - "

There was a pause, as it occured to him that over the course of their activities he'd not gotten the name of their good samaritan.

"Rollo, Commander. Khit Rollo."

Kes smiled.

"... Mr. Rollo."

No matter how you looked at it, the Wolfman's help had been invaluable, and Kes looked sideways to his second in the hopes of encouraging her to as well be thankful for his help.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Thank jyou."

T'yeellaa spoke sincere gratitude, feeling her weight blissfully shift in her booted feet, now held fast on solid ground. She gave a deep nod to the Shistavenan, deeper than protocol probably afforded, but as cordial as she could manage, given the circumstances. She hoped that it all was sufficient to pass her genuine thanks, as the notion of shaking hands with fur on them was somehow even more alien than shaking a human's hand.

"We arre grrateful to have both jyourr help and jyourr patjience durrjing thesse tjimess."

Her attention shifted uneasily to her superior officer, and Captain Meorrrei's right ear flinched. Was that all? For all she knew, the fires she'd worked to tamp down would be full ablaze in her absence.

[Kes Akiena]

Rollo gave a gracious nod, and an extra bow as he backed away from the pair. It was something genteel and heartfelt, and Kes admired the wolfman for it. As he moved away out of earshot, the Commander shifted his tance so that he could face T'yeellaa on a bit more of an even footing.

"There now," he started, but held himself in check regardless.

"Not so painful, was it?"

He lifted an arm, laying a broad hand down upon her shoulder.

"Take a breath, Meaorrrei. Don't think of what is waiting for you... "

Kes allowed a disarming yet heartfelt smile.

"... just bask in the small triumphs of the here and now."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

She felt the clapping hand and flinched before she could find the nerve to avoid the reflex. Exhaling deeply, she felt the tension in her shoulders melt somewhat as she looked to Akiena. Something in the exchange seemed so strangely paternalistic. Kes was truly disarming, and T'yeellaa was paradoxically irritated by it.

"No, jit wass not."

She smiled - more a quick nervous flick upwards of the corners of her mouth that vanished as soon as it started. Her tail jerked, then smoothed its motions as they walked along the Civ sector concourse back to the lift. Already, the Alliance staff was starting to deploy here, quickly setting about the slapdash task of bringing order to their outpost.

"Thjiss jiss what awajitss uss, ne?"

Meorrrei glanced over her shoulder at the growing crush of civilians that were making their way through the spire. Already it had the feeling of a settlement scratching to take hold.

"Ssmall trrjiumphss. Fjixjing brroken machjinerrjy. Ssettljing quarrrelss."

[Kes Akiena]

"Small triumphs lead to great victories."

Kes gave a nod to a pair of Noghri, but soon enough his attention was focused once more to his second.

"The more we do for those around us, the more those around us do for us,"

His hand fell away, and the Commander let both his hands meet at the small of his back as they stepped into the lift.

"We're all in this together, T'yeellaa," he spoke quietly as the door closed, secluding the two into their own world for the time being.

"We would be best served to make sure that we all look to those we'd not normally to for help. You'll be surprised at what happens later on down the line."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Mjy motherr ussed to ssajy that nothjing wass everr done orr gjiven forr frree, even jif pajyment jissn't materrjial. Mjy fjirrsst act of rrebelljion wass to do asss much asss jI could forr mjysself."

The Captain's ears drooped in a conciliatory fashion.

"jI've sspent a long tjime pajyjing jinto mjy own prrjide, Commanderr. Mjy fjirrsst jinsstjinct jiss to tell jyou that jI'll make ssurre jit neverr getss jin the wajy of ourr mjisssjion."

Her head rose and she made eye contact with Kes.

"But perrhapss jI wjill assk forr jyourr help."

[Kes Akiena]

At that, Kes only gave a thin smile of acknowledgement.

"I think that for now, we'll just take things one day at a time."

The lift slowed its' ascent, and gently stopped at the merchant quarter. The door opened, revealing a disarrayed tangle of shopkeepers and other businessmen doing their best to find their assigned areas. Some even were laying claim to the built in nook stalls. It wasn't near the madhouse that had been the civilian sector, but it was still somewhat a jumbled mess. Most heads turned in unison at the opening lift door and the two officers within. And then the wave shifted in their direction, hands lifted to gain attention and calls for arbitration and help rumbling forth.

The sight before them was enough to make him grimace in steeled resolve.

"Of course, I'l probably be eating my own words by the end of today."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The din of commerce tinkled on Captain Meorrrei's ears - familiar noises of home. Indeed, the accents here trended towards the familiar Cizeri, with business matrons ordering their underlings around with crates of wares to sell. It was a frantic din, but one that had a somewhat more regimented form of chaos than in the civilian quarter.

"Ja irra korra'nai, Captajin!"

A portly woman with greying hair approached the two officers, cheek kissing T'yeellaa in salutation as she hooked a hand under the crook of Meorrrei's arm.

"Grreat forrtune to jyourr endeavourrss herre. We arre forrtunate to have a Cizerack jin charrge of ssuch a-"

Reigning in exasperation, T'yeellaa placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Rrou'eita, jI apprrecjiate jyourr worrdss, but..."

Her eyes moved to Akiena.

"...jyou sshould be thankjing the Commanderr herre."

The woman paused in her affections, noticing the human for the first time. Her ears raised, then flicked slightly.

"Oh. jI ssee."

She forced a polite smile, extricating herself from Captain Meorrrei to acknowledge the station commander.

"Doess the Commanderr have a name?"

[Kes Akiena]

A gentlemanly smile, and Kes gave a deferential bow.

"Akiena, Rrou'eita. Commander Kes Akiena."

He could feel the woman's critical eye going over him from head to toe; it was to be expected, and Kes kept his smile ever-present.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The woman looked unsure, glancing back to T'yeellaa before returning her attention back to Kes.

"Well."

Smiling more politely, she attempted the same jovial encounter she'd plied T'yeellaa with, taking the Commander by the arm.

"jI am Suurritaa Maillanarro, prroprrjietorr of Maillanarro'ss Fjine jImporrtss. jI thjink jit'ss jusst loveljy that we have a forrejignerr jin command herre, and wjith ssuch an agrreeable appearrance."

T'yeellaa turned slightly to roll her eyes at the gland-handing, knowing full well what was going on. Rrou'eta Maillanarro continued unabated, urging the commander on with her.

"Sshould jyou fjind anjythjing jyou fancjy, jI want jyou to onljy thjink of one name to ssatjissfjy jyourr needss. Come, we've onljy jusst sset up, but jI thjink jyou wjill ljike what jyou ssee."

[Kes Akiena]

It wasn't really unexpected, but there was still a small amount of interference that had to be applied in the face of such instances as this. It was simply the way things went, and while Kes had not had to deal so closely with Cizerack in his last posting, he was at least knowledgeable enough on how these things went.

With a warm expression and a careful bit of extrication, the commander slowed himself to a stop while placing a hand to the woman's shoulder in a show of good faith.

"Perhaps another time, Rrou'eita."

Still he smiled, though now it was a measured expression.

"I promise you though, once Captain Meorrrei and I are finished with our current projects, I'll be visiting your shop."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Oh but of courrsse." The jowly shopkeeper nodded in understanding as they stood before her shop space, already in the process of being arranged into proper form. Shelves were being stacked with crates and jars of myriad contents, and a few other Cizerack women paused in their work to gawk at the trio at their threshold.

"jI'll be ssurre to make note that jyou and jyourr sstaff get a sspecjial djisscount on account of all jyourr harrd worrk. And jI sshall be calljing on jyou to have tea wjith me. jYou won't want to mjisss that ejitherr."

Finally allowing the Commander to extricate himself fully, Rrou'eita Maillanarro excused herself to attend to her shop's business, never fully taking the Commander out of her attention until he was no longer in sight. Captain Meorrrei had already picked up the pace, shaking her head as they went.

[Kes Akiena]

Moving down the main merchant alley, Kes allowed himself a breath of minor relief. He supposed that he'd gotten off light, all things considered. By the shake of T'yeellaa's head though, he suddenly found himself having second thoughts.

"Am I doomed?" Came the rueful question as they sidestepped a gaggle of Quarren shop owners.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Do jyou even know what tea meanss?" T'yeellaa hissed, straightening the lapels of her uniform as she walked.

[Kes Akiena]

That got his attention, and Kes stopped abruptly as his eyes darted back from where they'd just been.

When he spoke, his voice held a sort of hope that was already dashed to pieces.

"...well, generally it involves hot water and some sort of spiced leafy blend mixed in... "

He blinked as his gaze shifted to T'yeellaa, staring at her with the beginnings of a morbid look on his features. A moment later, and he gave a sudden gesture as if to wipe away the air between them.

"By the stars it can't be that."

A nervous laugh as he shook his head.

"Nice joke though. Funny."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"jYou humanss arre a verrjy ljiterral people."

Sighing with some defeat, Captain Meorrei's ears drooped.

"At anjy rrate, unlesss jyou'd ljike to get to know the good Rrou'eita morre than jyou sshould, jI would poljiteljy decljine that jinvjitatjion..."

A feat that was easier said than done in Cizerack context, and T'yeellaa stuttered.

"...ssomehow."

[Kes Akiena]

His eyes closed tightly as a pain began to manifest at the bridge of his nose, and reaching up, Kes gave it a pinch.

"Well."

A defeated sigh hissed out from between a thin-lipped frown, but his expression soon enough eased.

"That particular matter I think should be left to one who knows the best ways of doing such things."

He gave her a very slight yet crafty grin then, his hand coming away from his face to give her a hearty pat to the side of her shoulder.

"Congratulations Captain, you've just been upgraded to my personal liaison of cultural affairs. Your first task will be to get me out of whatever I've just been invited to."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

It was a joke, but T'yeellaa didn't laugh. Instead her expression turned distant and thoughtful.

"Commanderr, do jyou underrsstand how djiffjicult thjiss wjill be?"

She paused, making sure no passers-by were within earshot, and continued, standing directly in front of her superior.

"To rreach mjy people, to gajin thejirr rresspect. jYou'rre not plajyjing a fajirr game. Everrjy encounterr jyou'll have, jyou'll do so wjith thrree djissadvantagess."

[Kes Akiena]

"Well, the first two I can guess well enough," came the slightly groused answer. Not only being human, but as well, being of the male persuasion had its' particular drawbacks when it came to dealing with the Cizerack. But the third?

The redhead grimaced as he gave up trying to divine whatever it was she was speaking about. Instead, he started walking once more, hands clasped sharply at the small of his back as he set a steady pace through the merchant-way.

A sideways look was sent her way.

"What's the third, dare I ask."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa turned to look at her superior, blue eyes glancing up and down before she turned eyes forward and expressionless.

"That jyou'rre a rreasonabljy attrractjive example of rreassonss one and two."

Before the Commander would have time to parse that as a complement or any other needlessly complicated nonsense, Captain Meorrrei continued her point.

"jIf jyou don't make jyourr fjirrsst jimprresssjionss frrom a possjitjion of authorrjitjy, thejy'rre ljikeljy to conssjiderr jyou a bauble orr an orrnament. Makjing frrjiendss jiss njice jin theorrjy, but jI would cautjion jyou to choosse jyourr frrjiendss carrefulljy."

[Kes Akiena]

The only outward sign of reaction to her first words was a single raised eyebrow.

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I have you to help me navigate the peculiarities of your people."

They rounded a bend that seemed to open up into a wider area, and along the far bulkhead was a sort of viewing area. Expansive transparisteel viewports lined up together to afford an impressive view of the inky blackness beyond, peppered with glittering jewels and the comings and goings of Alliance and Pride personnel ships. Every so often a civilian freighter could be seen in the mix. Low couches, some booths and other free standing tables littered the common area, and as the two officers made their way down the shallow stairway that spilled into the area, Kes slowed to a stop.

The hustle and bustle of bodies hurrying about was significantly less here, as most were busy situating themselves.

"So. Tea is not really tea, and I must keep from being seen as a decoration."

He hmphed in thought before finishing.

"Anything else I must know? Or is this a 'learn as you go' situation."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"jI could prrobabljy fjill a book."

T'yeellaa joined Kes in watching the space traffic pass by from the viewport. In this moment of bewilderment there was strange comfort in mutual confoundedness. Commander Akiena hadn't a clue about the Cizerack, and T'yeellaa had equally little exposure to forrda. The crossroads that Jovan station represented were more than geographical.

"jI wjill be asss honesst asss jI can be, Commanderr. We arre verrjy djifferrent, jyou and jI. But jI have taken mjy oath, asss jyou have no doubt taken jyourrss."

She looked up to him.

"That jiss ourr common grround, sso we wjill sstarrt therre..."

T'yeellaa paused, unsure for a moment, before continuing.

"...ssjirr."

The moment of reflection was cut short, as the voxcomm speaker overhead crackled to life.

"All command sstaff to Operratjionss Deck. Rrepeat, all command sstaff to Operratjionss."

[Kes Akiena]

Was he surprised at the interruption? In all truthfulness he wasn't. It seemed as though emergencies of any size and nature were commonplace; especially these days.

A thin-lipped smile, and Kes inhaled deeply while half-turning, one hand gesturing for T'yeellaa to lead the way back up the staircase.

"After you, Captain."

And as an afterthought, "... we'll finish this at a later time, I think."

Both officers made short work of navigating through the mass of bodies once more, heading for the lift that they'd previously exited from. What awaited them in operations was anyone's guess, and as the lift dorrs opened, Kes once more allowed T'yeellaa to go first.

One last look at the buzzing hive of activity behind him, and the redhead stepped into the lift.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Operations Deck sat at the hub of the gear. The elevated superstructure above the habitation levels and the outer spire superstructure, it dominated over the immense form of Jovan, affording the command crew a full 360 degree view over the station from an unbroken line of windows that towered over the circumference of the immense dome-shaped deck. Raised on a dais over substations was the command deck, which housed the most primary station controls and the main access turboshaft. When Commander Akiena and Captain Meorrrei exited, they stepped onto a space that was crawling with activity. Cizerack and Alliance personnel weren't yet fully acclimated, but they functioned well enough in an orientation setting. The recent events, however, changed all that. A heated debate was underway, with a Rodian lieutenant and a Cizerack lieutenant both asserting their opinion on procedure and course of action. Their argument was cut short by an Alliance yeoman shouting "Commander on deck!"

[Kes Akiena]

Whatever harsh words were being spoken instantly fell silent, each individual turning to look at the new arrivals.

For his part, Kes fell into a roll that he was mostly familiar with, and the corners of his mouth ticked downward in a stern grimace, his brow furrowed as his measured gait allowed him to skirt a command station and the tech officer sitting at it.

His voice held a granite tone as he spoke.

"Is there something wrong?"

It was most assuredly not a question despite the upwards inflection he'd placed on the last word.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The pair of lieutenants paused, turning to face the commander. There was an awkward pause, a dance around protocols that didn't yet fully exist. And then the dam burst, and they both started in at once.

"Commander, we're just getting set up..."

"...ourr ssenssorrss pjicked up grravjitjy well djisplacement..."

"...they're not calibrated. If they're not calibrated, it could be anything, it could be..."

"...jI have ssjix jyearrss of carrtogrraphjy experrjience and jI know what a sstellarr bodjy lookss ljike..."

"...a dynamic stellar event could be anywhere. It could be comets, it could be asteroids, a coronal discharge..."

T'yeellaa had enough, her ears angling back as a sharp "Enough!" belted out over the pair of officers. Glancing at each of them, she settled on starting with familiar territory, addressing the Cizerack officer first.

"jYou...errr..."

It suddenly occurred to the Captain that she didn't yet know the names of the command crew. An embarrassing oversight that was mercifully corrected.

"Preita'rrou Maotorri, rrou'a."

"...Maotorri." The Captain faintly nodded, determined to remember the name. Fair-skinned, bird-boned. Chestnut hair worn a little too out of regulation for her liking. "Gjive the Commanderr jyourr rreporrt."

Stepping a half step away from the Rodian, Preita'rrou Maotorri's tail nipped the air behind her skittishly as she tried to parcel her racing thoughts into a bite-sized briefing.

"We brrought the sstatjion'ss massterr ssenssorr ssujite onljine. Ljieutenant Juta jiss corrrect, jit jiss not jyet caljibrrated and that wjill take tjime to do, but ten mjinutess ago, the actjive ssweep pjicked up mass djissplacement jin ssectorr eleven."

[Kes Akiena]

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kes looked at the pair in turn, letting a silence linger as Maotorri's short summary filled in the gaps of this spat. His grimace seemed to deepen as he gave a nod, then set his eyes on the Rodian.

"While our sensor suite is not calibrated, Lieutenant Juta," he started, "... would it still not be prudent to investigate? If there is nothing there, then very well."

Before the officer could interject, Kes went on.

"However if something is there... "

He deliberately let his sentence hang in the air.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"I'm not saying we shouldn't investigate, sir."

Juta's enormous dark eyes were inscrutable, but his ear probuscii tilted forward and to the sides in an expression of conflicted feelings.

"I'm just saying that it's probably not worth going to battle stations over a ghost story. We can't even get telemetry to triangulate a definite position, much less a vector if it even has one. All we have is a displacement of about two million tons, and even that is probably a guess."

Captain Meorrrei glanced back to Kes, a troubled expression on her face.

"Ssectorr eleven doess ljie on the frrontjierr."

The frontier, of course, being the bleeding edge. The border between the Alliance of Free Planets and the Galactic Empire. Even if the ink on the maps was still wet to some respects, everyone on Jovan knew that in addition to the station being at a crossroads, it also sat at a salient, the farthest inroads on the Hydian to the galactic core that the Alliance held.

T'yeellaa headed toward a large circular dais set off to one side. Atop it was a lighted circular console, disproportionally huge to the smaller banks of computer terminals that flanked the command deck. At the epicenter, a digital token glowed blue against synthetic white. This point zero. Home. Around them, to a radius of fifty light years, the fixed reference points of the galaxy glinted color-prioritized shades of the rainbow. These were the known quantities. The slice of space around them they could display with confidence due to star chart archives. Closer to home, a few smaller blue tokens displayed the friendly vessels broadcasting transponders.

"The Hjydjian rrunss between ssectorrss ten, eleven, and twelve. Honesstljy..."

T'yeellaa looked up from the map study at Kes, a shrug and a shake of her head.

"jIt could be anjythjing. Therre'ss alwajyss trraffjic passjing thrrough."

Maotorri wasn't quite willing to shake her gut feeling, crossing her arms as she paced about.

"Commanderr, the onljy tjime we'd even detect djissplacement jiss frrom a masss jin rreal sspace. Hjyperrljight wouldn't causse that."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes nodded at Captain Meorrrei, then looked to Juta.

"How about we get in touch with our traffic then?"

He gestured to the blank viewscreen with a wave of his hand.

"Ask anyone in those sectors if they see anything, or if their scanners are picking up anything that corresponds with what our sensors are telling us."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

They were of one mind, and T'yeellaa's experiences as Captain gave her the hungry demand for input. A ship that flew blind was at the mercy of the galaxy around it. It would be every bit as much a liability here. She turned to face the comms banks, and the human officer manning it was already turning to face the senior staff with a report.

"Commander, we're getting chatter from the supply flotilla. They're picking up confirmed contact across the border."

T'yeellaa broke from the dais and headed to the terminal to see for herself. A contact report from the Cizerack galleon Dai'kaarro Norri was beaming live telemetry, roughly corresponding to the grid coordinates they'd seen before. Only now, it was more than just mass and displacement. Course, heading, transponders, everything to confirm what they were seeing was indeed real.

"Commanderr, jyou sshould ssee thjiss."

Dai'kaarro Norri was at all stop, a scant fifty kilometers from the border, awaiting instructions. In the distance beyond visual confirmation, four Imperial Star Destroyers were headed their way.

[Kes Akiena]

Moving from the dais, Kes sidled up to his second, his eyes peering down at the terminal and the concrete evidence that was no being presented to him. It was curious, and not a little bit alarming. Still though, he was not felling any need to cry foul. The treaty was in effect, and he would be damned if her went against it. Instead, the redhead pursed his lips, his back straightening as his head canted to the side.

"Hrm."

It was certainly not an answer for what they were no seeing, and he knew well enough that his subordinates would want more.

After a moment, he finally spoke.

"Isn't that interesting."

He could already almost hear T'yeellaa's exasperated sigh even if she didn't outwardly express it.

It almost made him smile. Instead, he turned to the comm officer, an Elomin with a rather terse expression on his already pinched features.

"Mr. Ek'ette, open our channels."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Mercifully, the comms array was in perfect order, and unlike the sensor array, was prepared for prime time on day one. The trilling tones of an outbound hail rang on the command deck, and the senior staff waited for a reply to appear, either on screen or hologram, or simple audio.

Silence isn't what they expected they'd get in return.

T'yeellaa's ears bobbed upward in expectation, her blue eyes frozen in space somewhere above her as she waited for something resembling a reply.

"Arre we trranssmjittjing?"

"Yes ma'am." Ensign Ek'ette's sharp keystrokes dashed across his terminal as he kept his eyes glued to his personal screen. "High energy, all bands."

And yet, nothing. The Captain turned her eyes to Akiena in a grim expression.

"They'rre sstonewalljing uss."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes made a face that was a mix between frustration, exasperation, and a lack of surprise.

"Is that so."

There wasn't an ounce of his previous joviality, and Commander Akiena drew his arms back to clasp his hands at the small of his back.

Another moment of thought, and the redhead finally shook his head.

"Cut comms."

Mr. Ek'ette obeyed, and with a last keystroke he sat back in his seat, paused, then swiveled in his chair to turn his eye upward to his commanding officer.

"What now, Sir?"

For a few quiet moments, he stood in thought. The Empire and the Alliance had signed a treaty it was true, but that did not mean that there were no more hard feelings. And it was certainly not outside the realm of possibility that some disgruntled officer would essentially push the envelope of the new charter. Anything to annoy the Alliance and send some of its' members into a confused tizzy.

Exhaling a long breath, Kes nodded to no one in particular before speaking once more.

"Find the most asinine holo-program on the 'net. Some sort of reality show that just goes on and on without any sort of meaning... "

Another moment of thought.

"... Zeltron Shore. That one."

"Sir?"

"Pull it up and begin transmitting to the lead Star Destroyer."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Commanderr, jI..."

T'yeellaa's mouth snapped closed as soon as it opened. The Captain's left ear flicked, and she turned her head slightly to avert a grimace of self-rebuke. Whatever the rules were in the Alliance about these sorts of things she may be hazy on, but in a Cizerack command you certainly didn't make a habit of questioning an order in public if you wanted to advance your career.

Finished with her self-correction, Captain Meorrrei's stance straightened a bit. There was a right way to address this, so she'd follow protocol, even if it was simply her own protocol.

"A holo-prrogrram, ssjirr?"

The transmission was already beaming, and T'yeellaa's eyes drifted from Akiena to the terminal that directed the content in question. It was tacky, irreverent schlock. More importantly, it had nothing of any relevance to their situation. What looked to be a possible Imperial incursion was treated with flippant disrespect. No orders to assemble commands. No missives to Alliance Command. And yet the look in Akiena's eyes had a twinge of far-away knowing. A twinge T'yeelaa's did not.

"jI don't underrsstand."

A tactful redirection.

[Kes Akiena]

He half-turned to look sideways at her.

"They wish to annoy us, so we will forcibly annoy them."

So many years of standing against the Empire had given him a bit of an assertive passive aggressive note to certain things, and Kes was always more than willing to play the game.

"I'll not be badgered into a standoff, and this station, if it is to succeed, will not be pestered with shows of flippant attitudes to a treaty mutually signed."

He gave a shrug then.

"If they wish to be petty, then we will respond in kind. To an extent at least."

He turned back to Mr. Ek'ette.

"Send broad beam transmissions to the other Star Destroyers. Ancient Sentients if you can find it."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Captain Meorrrei's gloved hands clasped in front of her as she turned from the awful holoprogramming on display to view once more the sensor feed from ships on the periphery. The star destroyers were still advancing, and nothing seemed to have changed in their vector.

"jYou beljieve thjiss jiss all jusst possturrjing, then?"

T'yeellaa's tail curled and swayed, and she arched an eyebrow. There wasn't just a gambler's gut feeling at work here. What was there to stop the Empire from dropping hyperlight next to the station, or simply traveling past along the Hydian, deeper into Alliance space? Nothing practical. Then why give up the element of surprise?

"To prrovoke a rressponsse out of uss?"

"Commander, Galleon Dai'kaarro Norri is now reporting visual contact." Ensign Gant didn't wait for the request to bring it up, and brought the second-hand visual contact up on his terminal. It was a vista of blank, deep space, a dusting of stars across the field of view, save for four distant ash-grey shapes.

[Kes Akiena]

"They want their sensors to tell them that we're scrambling some semblance of battle stations or at the very least a high alert."

Kes rolled his shoulders as his gaze shifted to the visual on Gant's terminal. A tap on the ensign's shoulder and a gesture to the main viewer was enough to impart on the young officer that the view he had was necessary enough to be shared with all. And as the main comm screen flickered to like in a glorious display of static, it soon enough faded into the serene starscape around the station, and the more than recognizable shapes of four Star Destroyers.

"Pity, that we are doing nothing of the sort, and they find their own scanners to be picking up, well, garbage."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

There wasn't anything to say to refute that, and instead T'yeellaa simply watched the approaching ships on the screen. The chatter on the command deck was evaporating away into tense silence, with every pair of eyes on deck fixated on the large main viewer looming above.

"One hundred kilometers until the frontier." Ensign Gant called the ball on the distance, watching the feed from Dai'kaarro Norri as it streamed. Lieutenant Ek'ette continued running trash content on the outbound bands, but chatter was starting to pick up now from the Alliance ships in the area.

"Commander, the Cizerack cruisers are requesting orders."

A new string of data reached the Lieutenant, and he amended his update.

"Dai'kaarro Norri is at battle condition one, sir. They're charging deflector screens and mustering fighters."

Captain Meorrrei's eyes met Kes's, and she gave a faint nod. That was procedural behavior when dealing with unidentified starships. Still, she wasn't sure how much procedure counted as flinching. This was a new sort of game.

[Kes Akiena]

"Tell them to stand down. Cut everything off."

Kes knew this game well, and was hedging his bets on the notion that whatever commander was in charge of the small grouping of Imperial capital ships, would do nothing.

"Tell them to echo our broadbands."

A reassuring look to T'yeellaa.

"Let's flood their receivers with trash."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa nodded in affirmation, and Ek'ette went to work relaying the information. Time to see how well Alliance doctrine worked, and if the command structure would indeed override the often-rigid procedures of the Cizerack Navy. A few long seconds passed before the boards showed green. Akiena had won.

"Imperial squadron now at fifty kilometers, sir!"

With Dai'kaarro Norri also fifty clicks from the frontier, they'd soon be within turbolaser range. If the Commander was wrong, and the galleon took the opening attack without shielding...

Captain Meorrrei stepped away from the terminal, standing adjacent to the Commander to keep her voice down.

"jIf thejy crross the ljine..."

It felt like they were writing the book as they went, but keeping a sabacc face would do no good if the Imperials decided not to bluff. They needed a contingency in their back pocket.

"...we need to have anotherr optjion rreadjy."

[Kes Akiena]

"Keep steady," was the only answer given.

To his credit, Kes stood with his back straight as he kept his eyes forward.

"Until they decide to answer our original hails, continue the broadband transmissions."

A look was sent to T'yeellaa, an expression of firm resolve.

"I want everyone to remain as they are."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Her eyes burned on his own, jawline tensing. Did he have a contingency? Was he so sure of the outcome? She remained fixed on those eyes another second longer to see if there was anything further, before echoing down his order.

"jYou hearrd the Commanderr."

T'yeellaa turned sharply back to the ops terminal. Gant's warning was sharper now.

"Ten kilometers...nine. Squadron at eight kilometers..."

And then the rhythmic sensor pinging of advancing contact lay still. Lieutenant Ek'ette quickly cycled through his contacts to confirm.

"We have all stop! Repeat, Imperial squadron at all stop!"

A sigh of relief rolled through the junior officers, and T'yeellaa bled off the latent tension with a small roll of her shoulders. The operations deck was awash in murmurs, which Lieutenant Ek'ette had to raise his voice to overcome.

"Commander, we are now being hailed!"

[Kes Akiena]

The was a moment when he did nothing. Instead he stood like a redheaded statue, unmoving and seemingly lost in thought.

Then.

"Is that so?"

He could have dragged out his reply, but Kes figured that it was best to simply cut away the fat, and with a gesture he went on.

"Stop all broadband transmissions and let some static go for a few seconds."

Mr. Ek'ette obeyed, his fingers running swiftly over his terminal's keypad.

And after another thirty seconds, he nodded to the Elomin officer, who quickly established a connection to the hailing Destroyer.

"This is Commander Akiena," he started jovially - as if his entire comms array had not been just been sending out terrible holos.

"How can we help you today?"

[Rolth Wygraant]

A figure of a dour-faced man in an Imperial uniform materialized with a flickering crackle on the holo dais at the forefront of the command deck. A 1:1 recreation, it stared eye-level at Akiena.

"Commander Akiena, of?"

The hologram appeared to look around the command deck, not particularly impressed by what he saw.

[Kes Akiena]

He was used to such looks; one didn't spend most of his life in the cradle of the barely controlled madness that was the Rebel Alliance and not become acclimated to such things.

"Of the Alliance of Free Planets."

Kes gave a rather disarming smile to offset the dour expression of the hologram he now faced.

"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

[Rolth Wygraant]

"I'm well aware of your faction Commander, just as I'm aware of the imaginary line you were so intently watching just now."

The Imperial officer ignored salutations for the moment, his gloved hands cinching behind his back.

"What I'm curious about is this station."

[Kes Akiena]

Inhaling, Kes took a half-step back. He shot an unimpressed look to T'yeella, but it wasn't long before his eyes went back to the image of the man before him.

"This is Jovan Station, Sir."

Mirroring the man, Kes pulled his arms back behind him, clasping hands at the small of his back.

"Your government is well aware of the intentions for this station. If they saw fit to not inform you... "

He left the rest unsaid.

[Rolth Wygraant]

"Our intentions were for the station to be a diplomatic post. But that was when the station was in the Gordian Reach."

Captain Wygraant's expression thinned even more, and he raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"An interesting place where I should find your station now, isn't it Commander? So far from where you should be. No small feat of engineering to bring you to this place, I should infer."

The crows feet at his eyes became pronoucned as Wygraant attempted an insincere smile.

[Kes Akiena]

"Isn't it though."

Pulling a strange look, Kes turned on his heel, making his way from the hologram and toward the center of the dais. A pause, and her turned back around to face the Imperial.

"We are a diplomatic entity in both conception and application. Where we choose to place ourselves is our decision."

Kes hesitated for a moment, then went on.

"If you wish to come aboard we'll not stop you. But don't expect to find anything but a mess. We're still... cleaning up... after the previous tenants."

[Rolth Wygraant]

"Your decision, certainly."

Wygraant gestured casually with a gloved hand.

"Yet, if the nature of our conflict is now a matter of diplomacy, that conflict carries with it rules of engagement that people such as you and I are perhaps unaccustomed to following. Would you agree, Commander?"

[Kes Akiena]

"Mm."

It was a throwaway comment, as Kes had little interest in humoring the Imperial for much longer.

Instead, the redhead canted his head to the side, his brow furrowing in slight irritation as he locked eyes with the hologram.

"Whenever you decide to grace us with your presence, by what name shall I receive you."

[Rolth Wygraant]

Captain Wygraant straightened a bit more formally. He had every intention of taking the Rebel's offer.

"Captain Rolth Wygraant, of the Decimator. Expect my shuttle promptly, Commander."

Glancing away, Wygraant gave a curt nod and the hologram snapped out of existence.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa was left glaring at empty space, and she sighed, not liking the situation presented to them one bit.

"Thejy pjicked a fjine tjime to vjissjit."

Which was to say, right at the crest of chaos aboard the station. Half the security detail was, after all, assisting the engineering crews in a hodgepodge effort to triage the cargo and repairs necessary to even open for business.

"Commanderr, what good can come of thjiss? Clearrljy he can't be trrussted."

[Kes Akiena]

With the hologram of Captain Wygraant gone, Kes reached both hands up to pull fingers down the contours of his face. T'yeellaa's words were not unheard, but for a brief moment he disregarded them as the corners of his lips fell into a frown. He turned to Mr. Ek'ette.

"Keep your eyes on those destroyers, and track the Captain's shuttle when it debarks."

"Yes Sir."

"You see any funny business going on, notify me."

"Yes Sir."

The Elomin gave a forceful nod as he turned fully back to his terminal.

Finally, Kes looked to his Cizerack second.

"Trusted or not, we're going to be having some guests."

He inhaled a long breath, looked over the rest of the command hub, and exhaled slowly before addressing T'yeellaa once more.

"Perhaps the good Captain would appreciate an invitation to tea with Rrou'eita Maillanarro?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

She nearly chortled, the corners of her lips turning up even as they pressed tightly to stifle a laugh.

"jYou'd be ljiable to sstarrt a warr, Commanderr."

When he didn't immediately laugh in reciprocation and retained a deadpan expression, her ears drooped a bit as her mouth gaped slightly.

"jYou'rre jokjing...."

It wasn't quite a declaration and wasn't quite a question. T'yeellaa wouldn't want to play sabacc with the Commander with a look like that one.

[Kes Akiena]

His expression fixed, Kes turned on his heel to head across the dais and toward the lift.

"Perhaps."

The lift doors opened as their sensors registered his presence, and stepping inside, he turned back around, hands still clasped behind his back.

"Perhaps not."

And just before the doors closed, he gave her a parting wink.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

He left her implicitly with the conn, and with the disturbing mental image of Rrou'eita Maillanaarro plying her unsubtle arts in the Imperial Captain's company. The tuft of fur at the tip of her tail frizzed at the thought, and T'yeellaa spun a heel to walk back to where she came, busying her racing thoughts by diverting her attention to the operations terminal and the latest telemetry of the Star Destroyer squadron.

[Kes Akiena]

Ten minutes later found Kes in his own quarters. They certainly weren't lavish, and while his own belongings had by some miracle made it safely to now sit in crates and boxes, scattered throughout the small bit of home that he now called his own. He'd not even had time to properly unpack a single box; having started, but the pressing realities of duty had called him away. As such only a few possessions lay haphazardly on a small caf table.

And now? He knew that time was in short supply with the coming arrival of Captain Wygraant, but the redhead was loathe to bypass his small slice of privacy before meeting one of the many faces that had once been such a direct enemy. And even though the two governments had signed the treaty, it felt suddenly like an unwanted chore. To that end he decided against changing into a fresh uniform. There would be no pomp and circumstance to meet the Imperial, and if he expected there to be anything resembling a dress uniform then he would be sorely met with disappointment.

Kes was a working officer. He had begun his life in the Rebellion during a time when there was no such thing as a salute for the man 'above' you. You simply grunted, gave a nod, and did as told. And now, having been given command of Jovan, he intended to remain just as busy.

In the small fresher, his hands cupped beneath a small stream of water from the sink, and wasting little time he splashed the handful over his face, fingers going up to trace dampened lines through his hair.

A light groan escaped as the sound of his door's chime reached his ears, and grabbing at a small hand towel, Kes wiped at his dripping features.

"Come in!"

[Rolth Wygraant]

The gulf between styles of command that Kes Akiena and Rolth Wygraant inhabited was vast, and as the doors to the Commander's quarters slid open, the Imperial Captain had to wonder exactly what manner of game was being played here. He wasn't received on the command deck, nor in a ready room or in any official capacity. The informality of this encounter irritated his command style, his personal sensibilities, and everything in between. A glance to his pair of guards was all that was needed to ensure they waited outside. The Commander observed no such formality, and appeared utterly at ease without any accompanying security.

Captain Wygraant stepped inside, and as the doors slid shut behind him, he regarded his opposite man carefully. Regardless of the state of faux peace that existed between the Galactic Empire and the rebel traitors, naval traditions were hard to uproot. You studied your enemy. You respected your enemy. If you did not heed these two commandments, you were derelict in your responsibility. And so Captain Wygraant cast his hawkish expression at the Alliance officer, hands clasped behind his back.

"You summoned me to your quarters."

It was as much a statement as it was an indictment against Akiena's disregard of protocol.

[Kes Akiena]

As he stepped from the fresher, wiping any residual droplets away, he tossed the small towel onto an empty shelf.

Kes held a stern expression. He wasn't so much irritated by Wygraant as he was baffled by this bizarre need for some sort of formality in the face of - well - a wreck. When the Imperials left Jovan, they left an utter mess that was now being cleaned up by the Alliance and Cizerack... and the rest of those who'd decided to look for their fortunes on this station. It would be a long road to anything resembling tidiness.

"I did, didn't I."

It was not hard to detect the Captain's ruffled feathers.

"Truth is, if you'd not shown up, I'd more than likely be in one of the docking pylons helping to situate engineering supplies right now," Kes gave a small wave to the air.

"... but frankly my daily quota for dealing with messes is filled up."

Moving to the a drably cushioned chair, the redhead reached out to the crate that'd been hastily deposited there, and picking it up, set it gently on the floor. Now presented with an open seat, he lowered his frame to sit. A moment later and he gestured to the matching sofa.

"Sit."

Without waiting to see if Wygraant would accept the invitation, Kes immediately set into the crate he'd moved. Fingers traced along the top edge before gaining purchase and lifting the top away. An intent look was sent into the confines packed inside, and after a short pause he reached in to pull out a pair of plain glass tumblers. These he set on the caf table, and soon followed them with a small black bottle. This he opened easily, unscrewing the cap and pouring the dark liquid into one of the tumblers, filling it by barely a quarter. A second later and the other tumbler was filled in the same fashion. The cap was replaced, and the bottle set on the table.

Plucking up his own glass, Kes leaned back in his seat. When he next spoke, his voice held a strange yet firm tone.

"If I wished to meet you in the command hub, then I would have. If I wished to meet you in some wreck of an abandoned conference room then I would have. As it stands, I would rather do things here; where I can sit and enjoy a glass of Caridan Scotch."

[Rolth Wygraant]

It's easy to be dogmatic. In the Imperial Navy, dogma comes easy as well it should. Understanding the next step to take as a matter of reflex helps to keep you and your crew alive in tense moments where introspection is a luxury. The problem with dogma comes with rigidity. Understanding when to break with the reflex. That burden comes with command, and the contradictions that often come with big decisions. Thus, when Commander Akiena decided to change the calculus of their encounter with an informal discussion over drinks, Captain Wygraant adapted. Finding a place on the offered sofa, he sat, contemplating the scotch offered before him.

"So, Commander..."

Holding the tumbler below his nose, Wygraant paused to examine the liquor's bouquet. Light on both smoke and peat. A relatively clean drink. He wasn't the sort to presume he knew anything of the man by the type of drink he offered, but they apparently differed on their preferences.

"...your Alliance has deployed a considerable amount of energy and resources to move a station that, last I recall, was considerably farther away, this close to the terminus of your territory. A move that, as I understand, involved nearly half of the Cizerack starfleet to undertake."

Wygraant sipped, his face inscrutable.

"I want you to place yourself in my boots. What would you think of this?"

[Kes Akiena]

"I'd think those Alliance types are off their gourds on bad Rodian 'party liquor'."

A sip, and Kes exhaled a rather satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his seat, appreciating the relative peace that his own quarters offered. Far away from the Rrou'ei, from arguing techs, and blessedly far away from malfunctioning grav generators.

And in a moment of understanding, he leveled a gaze to Wygraant.

"No one said that anything in this galaxy would always make sense."

[Rolth Wygraant]

A half smile, and Wygraant shook his head.

"I doubt it. You don't do yourself enough credit, Commander. We're in your quarters, after all. False modesty suits you wrong."

The Captain eased his drink back to the makeshift table between them.

"On the macro scale, the rationalizations have to balance. The reality may not, but the motives, Commander. The motives. No one moves a station this large on a whim. This close to Imperial territory. This close to a major hyperspace lane that connects directly to Coruscant. On the macro scale, that is provocative. An action that unbalances an equation. An action that merits reaction."

Leaning back in his seat, Rolth drummed his fingers on his knees.

"So then. Continue. What would you do?"

[Kes Akiena]

"Oh come off it."

Kes waved his free hand in a gesture that seemed to erase the words set across the gulf between them."According to a piece of paper, the re-situation of this station is anything but provocative, Instead, One would see it as necessary."

Still reclining in his seat, his expression became a mask of formality.

"We strive to pursue peace and equality above all else."

It was a credo that - at his core - he strove toward and believed in. There was order, but there was also order through indiscriminate force that his inner core, and that of the Alliance as a whole, bucked against in stark rebellion.

"I've been at this game for a long time, Captain Wygraant. As long as you have, no doubt."

Another sip.

"We've breached new territory. If the old guard doesn't evolve, we'll be left in the dust."

There was a second of quiet that passed between them, and Kes used the silence to sip once more. He swallowed, then finished.

"I'll be damned if I'm left to the wolves."

[Rolth Wygraant]

"New territory in which a single missile can eradicate a planet. Even Governor Tarkin could never imagine our present reality."

Wygraant again reached for his drink, taking a more ponderous portion of it. He held the glass before him, meeting Akiena's eyes.

"With one shot, this whole sordid business could be ended. No ebb and flow of war. No advancing fronts. No attrition. We've achieved a farce of a peace, crawling on a razor's edge of fear."

[Kes Akiena]

At that, He gave a snort. Not out of any sort of derision, but more for the absurdity of the situation they now both found themselves in.

"And yet you don't fire."

No he leaned forward, setting his painfully plain glass on the table.

"You don't fire your missiles or torpedoes, and we all still live. Again," Kes sat back, "... at this particular moment, we all live because of that little slip of paper."

He let out a long breath.

"This farce, as you call it, is real. It is here and now."

One leg lifted to cross over the other, and Kes kept his eyes locked with Wygraant's.

"With that in mind, how do you wish to proceed."

Not really a question, yet not really a statement, the Commander let his words hang in the air, curious as to how they would be met.

[Rolth Wygraant]

"The paper, as you put it, ceases to have value if I no longer believe in your willingness to honor it."

A grimace as Wygraant turned his tumbler in his hands slightly.

"So thus is our dilemma, Commander. We fire, we lose. We don't fire, we may yet lose still. So our perceptions of each other remain important. Right now, I perceive the positioning of your space station to be provocative and belligerent, contrary to your assurances."

The Imperial leaned back in his seat slightly.

"So I will need something more substantial than your assurance."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes let out a sigh, and leaned forward to set his glass on the low table between them.

"My government has honored the treaty whether you think that they have or not. Where this station now sits is much more of a crossroad than where it once was."

He didn't glower, but he truly wanted to.

"We could have moved it farther into our own territory and been done with the whole matter, but there is a certain amount of respect that we desire to give to you, and it's no matter to me if you don't understand this. The simple fact of the matter is that we are now here to offer a place for us all to come together and at least try to work out whatever differences we may have."

With both arms propped on his knees, the redhead went on.

"There's no assurance that I could give you that would even come close to meeting with your approval, so I'll not even attempt to do so."

He retrieved his glass, lifted it to his lips, sipped, and swallowed.

"Our actions will speak for us," he arched a single eyebrow at Wygraant then.

"Your actions have certainly spoken for you, I must say."

[Rolth Wygraant]

"All I have done, Commander, is simply to respond to a massive build-up of military presence a stone's throw away from no fewer than sixty Imperial worlds."

Wygraant gestured with open hands.

"Would you not do the same? Would you not investigate? I've stayed my hand, even in the face of such a large force assembled at the gates. How many Cizerack warships now prowl within sight, Commander? Shall we go to a window and count them?"

[Kes Akiena]

A laugh, and Kes leaned back.

"You're more than welcome to go count right now, but our currently heavy Cizerack presence is largely a temporary one, and was necessary to move the station."

Drink still in hand, he gave it a swirl.

"Imperial ships are welcome here just as Cizerack and Alliance. You're more than welcome to stay for the week, Captain, and watch with your own two eyes as we become a bit more able to stand on our own two feet. If you wish to help, all the better."

Lifting the glass for another sip, he gave a smirk.

"And frankly, I'm quite certain that I could see your homeworld from here."

[Rolth Wygraant]

Another grimace/smile, and Wygraant finished his drink. He hadn't gotten much from the Commander, but this game was being played in inches instead of miles. It was something.

"If that is the case, then the adage 'Good fences make good neighbors' is apt."

The Captain set his glass aside, clasping his hands in front of him.

"Very well, Commander. I accept. I have some engineering teams in my squadron that might be useful here. They are perhaps more familiar with Imperial technology than your staff. I'm certain they can assist in making sure this station is as peaceful as you wish it to be."

[Kes Akiena]

For the first time since he'd woken up this morning, Kes let a sincere smile pull back the corners of his lips.

"The help is very much appreciated," he swallowed the dregs of his glass, and set it on the table.

With the trouble that both the Alliance technicians and their Cizerack counterparts were running into, the assistance that Captain Wygraant now offered was a welcome boon. In a show of good faith, he reached out across the table, his hand outstretched and not entirely certain that the Imperial would take it. It didn't hurt to make the gesture though. In his years of finding allies in the strangest places, a handshake was always the best method of sussing out a man.

"A bit of advice though," he went on, "... if you plan to spend any amount of time actually on Jovan, if a Cizerack offers you tea do not accept her offer."

[Rolth Wygraant]

Wygraant tentatively grasped Akiena's hand, a slow single shake as he pondered the strange bit of unsolicited advice.

"I have already accepted one drink today, Commander. I don't expect to make a habit of it."

Still, it was an odd thing to say, and as they parted hands and rose to their feet, Wygraant had to shake his head slightly in wonderment of the meaning.