Chapter II
--Five hours later, main Borleias base hangar--
Tharen approached the hangar. The large durasteel building was the center of activity now. As he entered he immediately smelled paint and grease. Mechanics swarmed over an entire wing of starfighters. The seventy-two craft were arrayed in a space barely large enough for all of them. He found his pilots at a table on the far end of the hangar. As he neared, one of his pilots, a brown-furred Bothan, rose to greet him. Tharen remembered the pilot's name just as he fell into stride with him.
"R'krey Ther'gan?" Tharen asked.
"Congratulations." The Bothan grinned.
They sat, and a set of sabacc cards scattered across the table showed what his pilots had been doing. A Rodian tried to dicreetly pocket his winnings.
"Hello. As most of you know, or should know, I'm your commander." Tharen paused. "Since most of you don't know anything about my history, I'm going to tell you. I also ask that you do this too.
"As some of you may know-" he paused to look at Cristyle "-Contruum was an Imperial slave world in all but name. I was working as a communication officer for the Imps. The Moff ordered me to call the ISD in orbit and order a bombardment of the city where my parents were living. I hesitated, and the Moff scheduled me for termination. I took one last leave and never returned. I found a YT-2400 used and defected to the Rebels. I started as a transport pilot and found I had an affinity for combat. After that, High Command trained me. I outclassed almost all of my instructors, and the brass put me in an X-Wing squad back when Y-Wings were state-of-the-art. I made five kills in my first mission, and six the next one. My squad started drawing straws to see who wouldn't get any kills by flying my wing.
R'krey stood. "Not your turn, Furball," Tharen said.
"After four years in the service, High Command placed me in a B-Wing squad named Nova as the XO. A month ago, I got this command. On missions I'll be Leader or One." Tharen finished. Voc Sem, a Rodian, said "Ok, Furball, you can go now."
R'krey stood up. "Hey. I'm R'krey Ther'gan."
A human male corrected him. "Furball."
R'krey sighed. "Is it always like this?" He continued before Tharen could make a comment. "Well, I was an only child. My parents basically pampered me until one day. Mom told me Dad wasn't coming back." He covered a sniffle with a cough. "He was one of the spies who managed to get the original Death Star plans to Princess Leia. After I was old enough, I decided to take after Asyr Sei'lar and join the service." Tharen heard a stifled cry from the hall. Gavin Darklighter, he thought. I remember him from the Zsinj campaign. Doubtless the Rogues will be somewhere in this thing. Tharen came back to reality just as 'Furball' sat. He pointed to a very alien looking being. At about 2.3 meters, he would have a hard time fitting into any cockpit. A long, flat face was punctuated by a small nose and a lipless mouth that seemed to be perpetually grinning. Short down covered the rest of his exposed body. His limbs were arranged in a vaguely human fashion, except his hands seemed small in comparison to his muscular arms. He stood. In a low, guttural voice he began. "I am a Durronian. Most of you have never heard of us, but we are a proud species." During this sentence, his voice climbed to that of a normal human. "We have a very complex vocal apparatus that allows us to mimic almost any sound we hear. We will usually speak in this voice, in case any of you are wondering." Tharen looked on in amazement as the alien made a perfect imitation of a blaster. Several of his pilots crouched and drew their own weapons.
