Carth barely managed to backpedal up the ship's stairs before the bucket of laser coolant upended on the floor and splashed his boots. The Zabrak technician who'd dropped it swore and began to rush off for cleaning supplies. Carth cleared his throat and the young man whirled about to face him.

"I'm just grabbing – sir!" His tone changed from annoyance to respectful fear as he registered Carth's red uniform and rank insignia. He snapped to a brisk and somewhat quavering salute, which Carth dutifully returned. "Sir! I apologize, sir!"

"I believe chemicals such as this should be transported in a sealed container at all times?" Carth queried with the tiniest edge to his voice, gesturing to the lidless container and its spilled contents.

"Sir, yes sir! It won't happen again, sir."

"It better not. Carry on, crewman." With that, Carth stepped over the mess and moved past the nearly terrified tech, who continued to stand at rigid attention. Once he rounded the corner away from the aft weapons control department, he allowed himself to take a giant breath. Laser coolant was harmless unless it got on your skin or inside your body, but the fumes were like hell. He was pretty certain that mynock urine was a primary ingredient.

He had been onboard the Tarisian Dream for over four hours already, discreetly wandering the ship and surveying its operations. It was the tradition that a flag officer be greeted with honors when he boarded a ship for the first time. It was a tradition that he knew many admirals loved, and one that he utterly despised. He had instead opted to ride over on a maintenance scow, entering the ship at a landing bay near the engine section. Any docking officer worth his salt would have spotted a flag shuttle long before it was aboard, but what was one more work shuttle in the constant stream flowing between the Dream and the Republic station orbiting Kril'dor? It was simple enough to slip onboard at the station and slip off onto the nether regions of the ship.

So far, his not-quite-clandestine inspection had been unimpressive. He had not been able to assemble an ideal collection of ship classes and commanders; this far out on the edge of Republic space, options were limited. The Dream was a Testament-class heavy destroyer with enough firepower to lead the operation, but he would have preferred a full-sized cruiser. This ship was over thirty years old, though this type was reliable and well-proven. He had also reassigned several light frigates and heavy corvettes to the task force, which numbered 11 ships in all.

Thus far, he had avoided making himself obvious, but by the time his meticulous route brought him halfway from the stern to the bow every crewmember that noticed him immediately started a terse whisper to whoever was closest. It wouldn't be long before awareness of his presence made it all the way to the captain. Though he expected no trouble from her, he was not being completely above-board with her either by carrying out this stealthy inspection.

This behavior would have incensed him when he was a captain, but he justified it to himself pretty easily. He had a bad feeling that belied the insignificance of this recon-en-force. He needed to verify everything, and Captain Hyteru would just have to tolerate it.

He continued to ponder how he would handle the captain as he entered the hangar area for the ship's fighter squadrons. A fire crew was busy suppressing a simulated ordnance blaze, and to Carth's eye, they looked raw and uncoordinated. This ship hosted an eclectic mix of seasoned and inexperienced crew and he hoped the years of service possessed by the senior officers had promulgated throughout the ranks more than was readily visible.

He continued to watch the fire drill and so wasn't paying attention as he rounded a corner towards the exit and nearly collided with someone headed in the other direction.

"Admiral! I apologize, sir." Captain Kalissa Hyteru was a tall dark-skinned woman with sharp green eyes and black curly hair that was bound up tightly beneath her black and red cap. She didn't sound nearly as apologetic as the tech had. In fact, Carth determined as he sized her up, she didn't sound genuinely sorry at all.

He returned her salute. "No apology necessary, Captain."

"I didn't realize you had boarded, sir. I'm sorry I was not able to meet you."

Carth appreciated the diplomacy with which she handled his subterfuge. She was probably seething internally – he certainly would have been – but outwardly she was calm, rigidly controlled, and still at attention.

"At ease, Captain." He continued walking on his previous course and she fell into step beside him. "I apologize for not announcing my arrival. I operate a little differently than most flag officers you've probably worked with."

The captain nodded. "Your reputation for being unconventional precedes you, Admiral."

Carth paused and turned to face Hyteru. "I also consider it a personal favor that you would let me board without the usual… decorum."

"That accommodation is something I could have provided even with your advance notification of arrival, Admiral."

"Like I said, I operate a little differently. I'll do my best to avoid similar surprises on this expedition, Captain," he assured her, resuming his pace towards the fore of the ship. "The ride over wasn't half bad, actually."

"I myself hope to someday board by way of maintenance tug." Hyteru's completely professional tone belied the obvious sarcasm. Her face remained stone.

As they worked their way towards the bridge, Carth decided to push his luck with his subordinate's graciousness. "You have a strange mix of crew on board, Captain. Your NCOs are all highly experienced and they lead the greenest set of crewers I've ever seen. Your junior officers are underperformers while your senior staff are all war veterans. I admit I have questions about the effectiveness of this crew."

"If you were concerned about the capabilities of my crew, Admiral, I'm sure you wouldn't have selected us for this assignment." Hyteru's voice was distinctly cold, with a harsh but restrained edge to it. He was about to try and drag more out of her, but she instead gave it willingly and angrily. "Out here on the border regions the turnover rate for lower stations is extremely high. Most want to transfer core-ward as soon as they can. My senior officers and NCOs have seen enough action to last them a lifetime. They choose to be out here, and I've worked hard to keep them aboard. They're damn effective at leading their departments, no matter how green their enlistees are."

Silence descended for a few steps as Carth pondered whether to continue his line of questioning. The Captain spoke up again, however.

"The service record of this ship and this crew speaks for itself, sir."

"And that service record is admirable, Captain, but in the last five years, this vessel has seen no action worse than pirate flotillas. Most of your crew has never seen real combat."

"Which is why most of them won't stick around, sir" she countered. "Being out here creates challenges that most core and mid-rim commanders have never seen."

Carth decided to ask one last question, gambling that Captain Hyteru would appreciate his directness later and forgive his tactlessness.

"And why are you here, Captain?"

"I'm here because I choose to be, Sir," was her icy reply.

Carth decided to let her be. He had pushed her far enough and had found nothing that really ought to concern him. He would probably need to apologize later, but he didn't doubt that the two of them could function professionally while he was aboard.

They continued their route in silence. Carth couldn't help but overhear the whispers of incredulity among the crew they passed – all dutifully saluting – that an admiral, let alone one of Revan's famous companions, deigned to visit this backwater planet. The combination of hero-worship recognition and trepidation unsettled him, as it always had. He did his best to ignore it and the fact that it clearly bothered the Captain as well.

He did allow himself to enjoy the moment of Hyteru's surprise when they entered the bridge and she realized he had guided them there without direction. Once he had decided that he would board surreptitiously, he had thoroughly studied the corridor map of the Dream, including the location and layout of the crescent-shaped bridge.

An ensign spotted their arrival immediately and called attention. The crew ceased their activities and snapped to rigid posture. The Captain looked to Carth and he gave her a nod. "As you were," she ordered. In moments the bridge returned to a hive of busyness, as any vessel's command center should be before departure. She led him past the captain's chair and helm in the center of the bridge and over to the planning area at the rear of one of the bridge's wings. Without a cue, several other officers joined her to stand around the large flat table that dominated most of the area. Numerous control pads and displays were inset into it, and from the center projected a blue holo-map of the entire sector.

Hyteru turned first to the middle-aged man standing to their right. "Admiral, this is Lieutenant Garvand, my navigation officer." He fired off a crisp salute. "Commander Dorth, my XO." Dorth was a tall, graying man with extremely wary eyes, and Carth knew immediately he had seen lots of action. His face wore the same creases that he knew his own carried.

Turning to the left, she introduced a moderately overweight man as her chief of security, Lieutenant Commander Ospen. He didn't fit the trim profile of most of the security officers Carth had ever known, and he couldn't help but wonder about his efficacy. Finally, she introduced a young woman as Lieutenant Pol'tan. "She is a stellar cartography expert that I've brought aboard for this mission. I thought we might require her knowledge given the number of uncharted molecular clouds we'll be passing through."

Carth returned the Lieutenant's salute and gave a nod to the Captain. He was pleased she had assessed their need for such expertise, a detail that he had overlooked. Right now, though, time was foremost in his mind. The more that passed, the colder the trail would get.

"Have all ships reported in, Captain?"

"We were still waiting for three vessels as of 13:00 local time. Commander?"

"The Karsikan is still over 12 hours out," Dorth updated them. "The Aikrey and Bothan Sun arrived in the last half hour."

Carth weighed his options briefly but knew instinctively which was the right choice. "The Karsikan can catch up. I want this task force outbound by 14:30." He knew he wasn't giving them an easy deadline to meet, but time was crucial. "Lieutenant Pol'tan, please send me any reports you have for the regions we'll be transiting – nothing too technical, but I need to know what effects it might have on our ships. Captain, alert me when we've reached Rago. I'll be in my quarters."

Hyteru nodded. "Yessir." To her subordinates, she gave a crisp "dismissed." She turned to Carth. "Admiral, I'll escort you to your quarters."

Carth held up a hand to stop her. "Don't stand on protocol, Captain. You've got plenty to do – I'm sure a petty officer can guide me."

"Officer Yltrab!" A raw-looking Twi'lek immediately left his station and approached to stand at attention in front of the Captain. "Please escort Admiral Onasi to his quarters – deck 3, section beta."

"Ma'am." He pivoted to face Carth and gave him a parade-perfect salute, which Carth quickly returned. "Sir, if you'll follow me?"

"Lead on, petty officer." With a nod to the Captain he left; he wondered if she didn't find his exit to be the best thing he'd done since boarding.

The door to Carth's cabin chimed, causing him to quickly check his wrist-chrono. 23:47. He had a tendency to lose himself in work if he didn't have anywhere to be or do at a particular hour. Dustil and Mission had long ago learned that when they visited, they had to go pluck him from his office.

"You need to spend more time relaxing, Dad," his son had said to him once. "You need a hobby."

To say he'd been skeptical of relaxation advice from a Jedi was an understatement. He knew better than most what kind of lives Jedi led.

"Meditation is part of every Jedi's day, and it's very relaxing," was Dustil's rebuttal.

"Boring!" Mission had chimed in. He couldn't agree more and said so.

"Don't listen to her. She's been taking mental focus lessons from Master Shan and enjoying it."

"Only because it's such a great opportunity to mess with her."

"I exercise," Carth defended himself.

"Yeah, because you're a lifelong soldier, not because you enjoy it," Dustil had said. His son was right, too – he exercised alone and spent the entire time thinking about work.

And here he was, several years later, his work and life habits entirely unchanged. He took another sip of caf and called his visitor to enter. A second later the door slid open and Captain Hyteru stepped through.

"Admiral. I assumed I'd be waking you." She didn't enter a single step further than the space required for the door to close again.

Carth waved at the stack of datapads and charts on his desk. "Work's a bad habit."

"We'll be entering the Rago system within the next ten minutes."

"Thank you. The Karsikan?"

"Is waiting for us at Rago."

Carth let his surprise show. "How is that?"

"Captain Ottrak was an engineer," she explained. "He's known for finding ways to exceed the red-line limits of his engines."

He couldn't suppress a smirk. "I'm impressed. How long to make our nav corrections?"

"Hard to say, Sir. Lieutenant Pol'tran tells me we can expect interference from the local pulsar."

Carth nodded. "The Lieutenant reports are interesting and point to some problems. Several of the sectors we'll be investigating are flooded with anisotropic scattering nebulas. I have to admit that I'd never heard of this phenomenon before today."

Hyteru nodded. "Yes, sir. If we approach from the wrong direction, vessels in the nebula may spot us lightyears away, but we won't see them until we're on top of them."

"It always seems unfair when nature favors one side," Carth mused. "Any thoughts on how we might even those odds?"

"The scattering effect isn't uniform. We enter the nebula from several directions and relay sensor information between ships. Hopefully, some of our ships will have the effect working in our favor. We can cover each other's blind spots."

"I agree. We're also going to need to drop relay buoys outside each nebula to maintain the link between ships. I'd prefer to leave a ship outside, but I want to use everything we've got to minimize our time spent on the inside." Carth stood from his desk and circled around it to approach the Captain, who hadn't budged from the doorway. "I apologize for my harsh questioning earlier," he offered, looking her square in the eye. "I have complete faith in the crew of this ship and their ability to complete this mission."

"Thank you, sir," was all Hyteru said in reply. Carth decided to press on the conversation to see if he couldn't learn more about her.

"It's odd – when I was younger I never had a problem with authority, but now I find that the more authority I'm given the more I dislike it. I never wanted to be an Admiral, actually." He returned to his chair and ran a palm over his closely trimmed beard, while Hyteru adopted a bemused expression.

"Really, sir? I would have guessed it to be the natural trajectory given your service record."

Carth waved a hand dismissively. "That whole business with the Star Forge was nothing more than being in the right place at the right time."

"And the same applies for the Second Battle of Telos?" Hyteru asked with skepticism.

"Absolutely." He didn't add that Bastila sensed the danger to his homeworld and had warned him in advance. Right place at the right time. "Anyway, I only took the position because they would let me command Kwymar sector. That far out from the core I was able to set my own priorities and delegate most of the paperwork."

Here Hyteru actually cracked a smile, and Carth was slightly amazed. "I can relate, sir."

He nodded. "Anyway, Dodonna found just the right leverage to drag me to Coruscant kicking and screaming." He paused. "If you feel I have overstepped my bounds out here, I apologize," he stated with all seriousness. "I'm glad to be back in space, but this is still your ship."

"Thank you, sir."

"I do have one order for you, though."

"What is that, Sir?"

"When we arrive at the first search sector tomorrow, order the task force to general quarters."

"Sir?" It was certainly reasonable for her to wonder at a command generally reserved for imminent combat.

Carth couldn't help the frown that crossed his face. "I can't share the intel with you just yet, but it is incomplete at best." He wasn't about to tell her that half the information came from a Jedi vision. He trusted it, but most others wouldn't. "We're flying into uncharted space – I want to be ready for surprises."

"Yes, sir." Hyteru clearly wasn't buying the full validity of his answer, but she accepted the order with a crisp salute and departed, leaving him to the silence of his cabin

Carth got the distinct feeling that Captain Hyteru had worked hard to claim border assignments that most promising captains would have snubbed; it kept her far from her desk-jockey superiors, of which she clearly did not hold a high opinion. He realized his actions alone would shift her opinion of him.