Another cold drink slipped slowly through Adam Terramin's throat. He had had five already, but honestly didn't care. All he wanted was for it to go away. Ever since the battle two days ago, he had been in his quarters, staring at old pictures of him and James Besset together and ones of the two with Besset's family. The fact that he had to be the one to tell Marian about her husband's death nearly wanted to make him kill himself, and telling her kids didn't lessen the pain at all. All he wanted was for those fanatic, insane Imperialists to feel the pain.
All he wanted was his best friend back.
As another sip went into his mouth, one of the men sitting next to him slammed the drink on the table.
"Sajuuk ca sha nak!" He cursed at the man in his native language. The man didn't turn back from holding Terramin's drink out of his reach.
"Captain Terramin, that's enough," he told the captain sternly, staring Adam in the eyes. He relaxed himself slightly before continuing and lowered his tone. "Drinking yourself to death isn't going to bring him back." He motioned back behind him at a group of crewmen sitting at a table, heads hung low. "We all miss Captain Besset. Lieutenant Faulkner back there knew him like a father. Do you think he's in any less pain right now than you are?" Terramin threw his fists down on the bar, knocking over a series of drinks and glasses with a shatter.
"Ca shak na!" He cursed again. His head went on the table as well. In pure irony, in trying to get rid of the pain, he only got himself one bad headache. He didn't stop beating his head open on the table until the man pulled his head up, grabbing by the hair.
"Terramin, ca shak na!" He shouted again. When he let go of Terramin's head, the officer relaxed. For the moment. "If it makes you feel any better, I ordered the sensor data of that mission to be overlooked by the braniacs up at Tactical. They said they'd have some sort of analysis on that cruiser by the time you got back to base." Terramin sighed out deeply, relaxing himself. His head was blood red from banging it on the table, and his hands cut at points from breaking glasses.
"And where am I?" He asked rhetorically. He stood up, and, slurping the rest of the drink down, walked to the door. "I'll be up at Tactical, Admiral." He said to the nearest officer in the room.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The room Terramin ended up walking into was probably the most crowded he had ever seen. And probably the most cluttered, too. Everywhere he went, he was dodging sensitive equipment and officers constantly, avoiding only by inches knocking a few lamps over. Fortunately, he didn't have to go far. There was a small group of computers and equipment a few feet ahead, with a brightly-lit sign above it saying Hiigaran Fleet Intelligence – Tactical. He approached a short young woman standing in front of one of the screens, nudging her for attention. Her head turned quickly and eyed Terramin. She smiled slightly and greeted the captain.
"Captain Terramin," she spoke excitedly. "We were expecting you, I think." She ran her fingers through a group of papers and picked out a specific sheet full of numbers and codes.
"Hope you were," he replied to her. "You have some tactical readouts for me?"
"You're the Freedom's captain, right?" She asked him.
"Correct," he answered her, nodding. Turning to the large screen, the woman pressed a series of buttons, bringing up the image of a Qwaar-Jet Cruiser. "That's it." He acknowledged the picture. Seemingly ignoring the captain's comment, the woman began.
"The Wrath of Tarshu-Ja," she said confidently. "The captain's an old Imperialist fanatic, one of Riesstiu's finest. The only name we know him by is 'Kartanou', probably a family name or something." A screen popped up in the corner, showing the evilly grinning face of a Taiidan, his stare giving away everything about him. Terramin could see that this guy was bad news.
"That's the wretch, all right," he told the woman. His teeth gritted together, just remembering the Liberty's destruction.
"Apparently, he's the one of the last of the Emperor's Elite Guard," the woman continued. "Shortly after the Taiidani civil war, he nestled himself somewhere in the borderlands of the old Empire. Transmissions intercepted during that period indicated that he was amassing the Imperial fleet for some sort of massive counterattack." Terramin looked up at the screen, which had changed to view a galactic map, and eyed the blipping ping in the right corner.
"Has the Fleet done anything about it?" He asked the woman. She turned her to the captain and sighed.
"Unfortunately, no." Her answer was. "Fleet Command hasn't given us full details yet, but they said they have a different sort of plan." Terramin was confused now.
" 'Different sort of plan?'" He questioned her. "The only we can be sure to crush the Imperials is to attack. What 'different plan' is there?" The woman only shook her head and shrugged.
"Whatever it is, they don't want to tell us..." she answered. She pressed one or two more buttons on the screen and brought up a list of names. "...but we think it might have to do with one of these." She pointed at the listed name of "Tarshuk C'jal".
"Who's that?" Terramin asked her. "How's he fit into this?" The woman once again began explaining.
"C'jal's is one of Kartanou's immediate subordinates," she told Terramin. "In fact, he has command of one of the seventeen remaining Saarkin-Cho carriers, the Imperial Wrath." A picture of an ordinary carrier appeared next to the face of C'jal. "Our sources believe that C'jal may be attempting to attack the Republic or Hiigara itself. Their last recorded position was seven-hundred sixty-five thousand kilometers out from the Angel Moon." Terramin turned toward the woman curiously.
"The fleet is mobilizing to deal with him," he questioned her. "Right?" The woman sighed again and shook her head.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a confirmation on his exact location," she said, turning the screen off. "He could be anywhere, hiding in the asteroid belts right under our noses or he could've retreated back outside the Republican buffer zone." Sitting in the nearest chair, the woman invited Terramin to do the same. He pulled up a chair and sat himself.
"If we're not mobilizing," he asked. "we at least have one of the fleets on patrol, is that correct?" The woman nodded this time, much to his relief.
"The Maanani Carrier Caal-Shto was just relieved by the Veer-Ack, Nabaal's Command Carrier," she answered him confidently. "The nearest fleet stations have been alerted to the possible threat and are ready to move at any moment." Good. Terramin seemed satisfied with that.
"Thank you for your time, ma'am," he stood up and shook her hand. "If you'll excuse me, I'll have to be getting back to my ship." The woman stood, and, smiling, returned the shake.
"Glad I could help, Captain," When she finished shaking, she left back for the screen. Terramin was already walking past the office.
That's when the warning came in.
Everyone began scrambling to their desks, running past Terramin. Several officers opened their comm channels and pored through the static.
"This is Kii– Nabaal –rrier Veer-Ack –ny Hiigaran ships in range," The transmission became clearer and clearer. "Imperialist Taiidani forces are attacking and are attempting to reach Hiigara. We cannot hold them! Require immediate assistance!" Terramin didn't even wait for the repeat. He was already running for his ship and his crew.
It was time for revenge.