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?"