A dozen Hapan collector vessels descended from the skies of the Consortium's capital planet toward the Royal Palace. They were each given the clearings to land in the hangar bay, and upon the opening of their landing ramps, the crew members inside each of the ships began unloading various pieces of metal and electronics on hoversleds toward the entrance of the Palace in single-file.
Several minutes passed before each of the individuals began entering the bowels of the Palace via turbolifts, where they then walked down a few corridors to finally enter a grand, silvery yet empty room. The only other people inside were the brunette-haired Coordinator Eru and the blonde-haired engineer/theoretical Hapan physicist Dr. Quyi Cavaz. The two of them watched the proceedings as the unloading crew members began to form pile up the metals and electronics in various places throughout the room.
"I will get my own scientific crew to assemble this and get it working, Coordinator Eru?" Cavaz asked.
"Yes, yes, you will get your assistants, Dr. Cavaz," Eru responded with an annoyed tone. "You have no need to worry, especially after asking five times already."
"With a project like this, I want nothing to go wrong, Coordinator," Cavaz argued. "If anything should go wrong, we could very well destroy..."
Eru placed a silencing finger over her own mouth to indicate that the doctor should keep her mouth quiet in front of the still-unloading crew members. "This is top secret, remember, Doctor?"
"Oh, yes, of course," Cavaz responded with remembrance. "I'm just anxious about this project."
"It is quite an undertaking, indeed," Eru agreed.
"Speaking of which, do you know why Her Majesty wants this built?" Cavaz asked.
Eru shrugged. "I never question the Queen Mother, Doctor. Not unless I believe she makes an obviously foolhardy decision, and even then, it would be hard to argue with her without risking imprisonment or death."
"Why do you think the Queen Mother wants this?" Cavaz asked.
"I don't give thought to such things," Eru said. "Why? Have you?"
"Well, not that it's in my place," Cavaz began, "but do you think this might be Her Majesty going mad with power?"
Eru looked at the physicist in shocked askance. "I beg your pardon, Doctor?"
Cavaz opened her mouth to reply, only to look back at the crew members still unloading the incoming pieces of equipment needed to build what the Queen Mother wanted. Although they didn't mind the doctor's open hypothesis that the leader of their whole government might be greedy for more power, it was not wise to continue to vocalize such opinions out in the open like this. So Cavaz looked back at Eru and nodded her head off to one side to indicate that they should talk somewhere more private and allow the crew members to conclude their work in peace.
Once the two of them entered a secluded, quiet corner of the room, Cavaz said, "Given this war against the Galactic Alliance, and how easily the Consortium is crushing them, this empire can very well become the next ruling power in the galaxy. And I think that the Queen Mother knows that."
"So what does that have to do with this project, Doctor?" Eru asked.
"It may have everything to do with this project," Cavaz argued. "I mean, with the Queen Mother expanding her power in the galaxy, she may want to expand her power even further-"
"Alright, that's enough," Eru interrupted. "You have no right to question the actions of Her Majesty like this anymore, Doctor."
Cavaz looked like she was about to continue her argument again, but instead, she only released a sigh of defeat. "Very well. I live to serve the Queen Mother."
Eru nodded. "As do we all, Doctor."
.
Wedge's eyes fluttered open to find himself in a blue gown, laying in a plain white bed, in a hospital room. Around him were a Selonian doctor, Iella, Syal, Kell, Tyria, and Garik "Face" Loran who looked back at him with relieved expressions.
"Good afternoon, General Antilles," the Selonian nodded. "How are you feeling?"
Wedge hesitated before he asked, "What happened to me."
"You had a heart attack, darling," Iella answered. "It was from the stress of learning what happened to Myri."
Wedge then looked at the bald-headed man in the room. "Face, can you get closer?"
"What is it, Wedge?" Face asked, concern gleaming his expression as he lowered himself near his friend.
Immediately, Wedge punched him straight in the nose, sending him stumbling back across the room and crashing against the wall behind him, collapsing prone to the floor afterward. In the meantime, everyone else, especially the doctor, was startled at what just occurred.
"That was for sending Myri and Jesmin to a suicide mission," Wedge muttered. "Never mind the heart attack."
Face then picked himself up from the floor and wiped the cuff of his sleeve across his bloodied nose. "I had no choice, Wedge," Face argued before sniffing in the blood that remained in his nostrils. "The order came in from Chief of State Rodan himself. Times are desperate now; the Alliance is falling apart, and the Consortium is making headway into the rest of the galaxy."
"Can you please get to the part where this involves the necessity of my daughter dying, along with Kell and Tyria's?" Wedge retorted.
"That's a risk that soldiers like Jesmin and Myri always have to take, Wedge," Face said. "I thought that you of all people would know that by now."
Wedge's nostrils flared before he looked at his wife. "Iella, I want to contact Admiral Phennir's office. I need to speak to him."
"What?" Iella asked. "Why?"
"Never mind why," Wedge growled. "I need to speak to him."
Iella spared one last glance at her husband, and everyone else mirrored her concerned look for the veteran pilot, before she took out her commlink and tapped in the numbers to Phennir's office.
After a while, a female voice said, "This is Admiral Turr Phennir's office. How may I help you?"
"Wedge Antilles would like to speak to Admiral Phennir," Iella said.
"Admiral Phennir is booked for the next week," the secretary's voice replied. "If you would like to make an appointment-"
Wedge abruptly grabbed the commlink out of Iella's hand and spoke into it, "I want to speak to Phennir right now!"
"Oh, um... right away, Mr. Antilles," the secretary's frightened voice responded. "Let me put you on hold."
Wedge waited impatiently as the soothing, tranquil music coming from the other end played, which only further grated the veteran's nerves and made everyone else in the room more concerned.
"General Antilles, if you don't calm down, you may very well have another heart atta-" the Selonian tried to tell him.
But Wedge silenced him with a glare, then looked back to the commlink when the music ended and Turr Phennir's voice came. "What do you want from me, Antilles?"
"I want you to launch a war against the Hapes Consortium, Admiral," Wedge said in the most diplomatic tone he could muster. He ignored the shocked expressions of everyone else in the room.
"Why in any of the Nine Hells would I do that?" Phennir asked.
"Because they killed my daughter, Phennir," Wedge responded, his tone now getting close to growling. "They must pay for that."
"Antilles, I'm not going to launch a war against the Hapes Consortium just because-"
"Phennir, if you don't do this, I swear to the Force, I will come after you and I will-"
"There's no need to threaten here. Let's think about this rationally, shall we, General?" Phennir asked.
"Don't talk to me about rationality when you worked for the Empire three decades ago," Wedge growled.
"You're not making a good case to me for going to war with the Consortium yet, Antilles."
"And you're not making a good case for me not to come down to your office and gut you like a fish so I can come out of retirement and take your place as the military leader of the Confederation," Wedge intoned.
Phennir snorted. "I'd like to see that, Antilles."
"Don't tempt me," Wedge said with a feral, humorless smile. "Have you forgotten that I led both Rogue and Wraith Squadrons back in my heyday, Phennir? I can only imagine the look of regret on your face when I barge into your office, having killed every single one of your men and women, just to get to you and replace you by force."
"Wedge, wait," Face said.
"You shut up," Wedge said.
"No, I mean, I can help you," Face said.
Everyone in the room looked at him in askance.
"Give me the comm," Face said, holding out his hand.
"Why?" Wedge asked.
"Because I'll do a better job convincing the good Admiral to go to war with the Consortium than you," Face answered.
"How can I trust you?" Wedge asked. "After you sent Myri and Jesmin to their deaths?"
"Why would I turn down assistance for the Alliance?" Face retorted.
Grimacing, Wedge reluctantly handed the comm over to his friend.
"Admiral Phennir?" Face asked through the comm.
"I'm listening, General Loran," Phennir came back.
"If you aid the Alliance in defeating the Hapes Consortium," Face said, "I will guarantee the Confederation half of the Galactic Alliance's territory in the event of victory against the Consortium."
Phennir whistled. "Sounds like a lot to promise, General. How can I be sure you'll keep your word? How can I be sure that Chief of State Rodan will even agree to these terms?"
"I will let Chief Rodan know about this agreement later," Face said. "And I can assure you, he will have no choice but to agree if he wants to win this war. Besides, I can't afford to double-across the Confederation, what with the Alliance's numbers dwindling as we speak, there's no chance we can stand up to the Confederation's fleet."
"Flattery will get you everywhere, General Loran," Phennir said. "Very well, I will have to speak to Prime Ministers Teppler and Delpin, but I'm sure they won't turn this offer down. As far as you're concerned, the Galactic Alliance has the aid of the Confederation." Phennir then signed off from the other end.
Face then handed the commlink back to Iella before looking back at Wedge. "You're welcome," he said.
"Who would've thought the Confederation to be an ally to the Galactic Alliance?" Syal commented.