Back on the Ghost of Irk the remainder of the team assembled in the conference room alongside the Vortians. The fleet was scattering from Haven, its unhooked members going to ground in various parts of the galaxy untouched by the Empire to establish their cells and wait for further orders. Much of the fleet was gone but they still lingered, the last of the SpecOps unhooked and setting courses elsewhere in their ships. Along with them, and docked alongside, the frigate Mirage's defectors so courteously provided for the mission to Onikaiah. The frigate, now dubbed Renown by Amka, was available for use.

Kiara looked at the various assembled operatives in the room. Vortian and Irken alike, they had come to bond over the many months. Though they met as adversaries, circumstances and the truth of matters had an interesting tendency of changing things; now they stood together, united against the Empire. Now she the highest ranking member of the Federation in what was turning out to become a joint unit of their two species working in tandem by chance. One could've pitched this as a movie only a couple years ago and been called absurd. Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

Vult, Corr, and Vara entered the room. Kiara giving them a nod as the rest of the room settled down.

"So, some of you notice that Rha's no longer here." Corr began, "He's our attachment to Haven to train the drones liberated by Purple Team months ago. That leaves the rest of us to go about various orders of business. We have one special mission and I need volunteers to go with myself and Calla. We're, however, voluntelling Rem to come with us, as we'll need a shipmaster for the trip."

Skrem, being Rem's paramour, understandably blinked, "Volunteer for what? If you don't mind my asking."

"We're going on a scavenger hunt to discover the remnants of the Irken Republic."

"Count me in." Skrem quickly fired back, "Always wanted to go meet some of our long lost ancestors ever since I heard about 'em."

"Now hold on a moment." Vult interjected, shifting in his seat to look to Corr. "Who all have you selected for this assignment?"

"So far? Myself, Calla, and Rem. I came to the conclusion that this mission should be entirely volunteer given how long we'll be gone." Corr gave his simple answer to his commander. "Skem would actually be rather useful given his skillset."

The Commander's blue gaze furrowed to one of questioning confusion.

"In what context, Captain?"

"He's proven he's something of a Vard and Aero rolled into a package alongside his skills as an Invader. He needs to study people, get to know them, blend, may not need his infiltration skills exactly, but he could easily present our side of what happened. That aside, we have no idea of the technical abilities of the Republic, their cryptography, I can't think of anyone better to have volunteered."

Vult's attention drifted to the Invader in question while Corr explained his logic before returning his attention back to his second-in-command.

"All valid points. Will the four of you be enough? This very well could take months…or even years. Safe to assume you'll have self-sustaining resources aboard your vessel, but any number of dangers await you in uncharted space."

"Indeed. Though the more the merrier."

The three members of Mirage's Red team present looked between themselves and raised their hands.

"May as well," Iros spoke up, "We got nothing else to do in the meantime."

"That brings us up to seven." Corr nodded, "I think that should give us a sufficient number of people to mind the Engineering spaces and the controls of the vessel, as well as having our resources about us. I don't want to drain your manpower too mu-"

"I want to go," Chavsa interrupted.

Corr looked at the pilot, "And why is that?"

"Call me a scout. That prototype of a fighter can be fitted with a jump drive meant for a shuttle. I make a few jumps ahead of you guys, keep you apprised of the situation, as well as check other areas within our cone of influence based on the course they last plotted. More eyes checking more places. Granted, I'll need to rest, but I'll do what I can while I'm awake."

Corr looked at Vult, "What do you think? You're the one who saw initial promise in her."

Vult pondered the suggestion briefly before speaking.

"And you are the one that will be managing her, isolated, and without any means of support." He countered to his second before looking back to Chasva. "...discuss it with Okros and see what he decides. He is your immediate commanding officer and ultimately has final say over the matter. Should the Captain be willing, I see no issue with it, but I will not take that decision out of your superior's hands."

Chavsa looked at Orkos and Aren. "Well, what do you two say? Mind if I get back in my element?"

Orkos looked to the Sergeant seated next to him. "I'm curious to hear what my second has to say. I'm inclined to let her go even if it puts us down two. You think she's earned the right to go play pilot again?"

Aren looked to the Private thoughtfully.

"Eager as you are, you are listening to what they're saying, right? Could be a very long time before you come back to charted space…if at all. Pretty serious, dangerous stuff. Sure you want to commit to something like that?"

Chavsa nodded, "I mean, I'll be doing what I love in flying. I never thought I'd be an explorer but it sounds exciting from a piloting perspective. Plus…I guess if I die or something, been nice knowing you guys. Still, something I definitely do want to do, even with the potential risks involved."

The Sergeant nodded, contemplative before her yellow gaze shifted to Orkos.

"I say send her. She's ready and willing. There's enough manpower around to fill in the gaps on our end, Lieutenant."

Orkos nodded, "Captain, you can have our pilot."

Corr nodded, "Unless we have any other last minute volunteers, I think that will round out our roster quite nicely." He looked around the room to see if anyone else was about to step up or raise their hands. "All right then. Commander, I think we just found the new crew for the Renown."

Vult nodded in affirmation, taking a series of short-hand notes accordingly before looking up.

"Should be ample support for the mission. Can't spread ourselves too thin, too quickly. Speaking of, the vacancies you are leaving in taking Rem, Skrem, and Chavsa with you. I assume you have a solution to this?"

Corr's attention turned to Amka, the Major leaning against a nearby bulkhead so as not to take a seat. "The Major's the next highest ranking officer after yourself and Vara, he should easily be able to fill in my role in the team with rotations of Black Team serving in the spots for Skrem and Chavsa. Green Team may actually be a combat capable unit with a couple of solid veterans in there."

"I don't mind." Amka shrugged.

"We two Vortians can easily con the ship in twelve hour shifts," Vara added, "Rem's nice to give a solid three rotations but we can manage just fine without."

The Commander's attention looked between Amka and Vara before moving back to the Captain.

"That your official recommendation or a suggestion? Not to be morbid, but for all intents and purposes, we are going to essentially be counting you all out of commission until further notice. I don't doubt Amka's capabilities. He and members of his team with us now saved our c'hurtas on Vort at Tallum. You are picking your long-term replacements. Choose wisely."

"He made a team like ours, from what I read of their actions on Vylat, they're more than capable." Corr started, "Brief as it is, our teams share some history, we all chose rebellion over the Empire, I'm sure they'll do just fine."

"Besides, got six of us here," Amka added. "Five guys to throw in on rotation wherever you need them, keep everyone fresh if we get some action. We're sitting pretty as far as manpower goes right now."

"I don't doubt my recommendation one bit. He's clearly got the confidence for it."

"You heard him, Major. Purple team will be yours as you see fit. Corr runs a tight ship, I expect much of the same out of you." Vult summarized, looking back to the Captain. "How long until you finalize departure to commit to the assignment? Imagine there will be preparations in order before shoving off."

"At most, two days. Calla's got our star chart overlay to put into the system over our current maps and I'm sure our two Vortians can help us account for any potential celestial drift over a few centuries. Renown needs a full stock of supplies for a long voyage, so we'll probably need to make a stop at a Vortian colony on the way. Depends how quickly we can prepare."

"Make it three. Time of the essence or not, last thing you need to do is head off to uncharted space half-cocked."

"Fair enough. Not like the Empire has any idea where to start looking, right?"

Skrem popped out of his seat, "Corr, boss, mind if I go finish up on somethin' then?"

"What is it?" Corr looked the Invader.

"Mind if I take the prep time we have to finish the project? You know, turning your SiR unit into an unshacked AI like Alurac."

"I don't see why not," Corr replied as he looked at Vult. "An AI for the ship seems like a fine asset over the current unit. Skrem's seems to have turned out just fine."

"You'll be the ones working with it, not us." Vult reminded him, idly typing out missives to be handled accordingly with current happenings. "If you believe it will benefit your mission, by all means."

"Get to work, Skrem. Chavsa needs her AI for the fighter." He watched as Skrem quickly left the room, briefly stopping by Rem to give her shoulder a squeeze before he left. Chavsa apparently beamed; her very own AI! The assignment was already looking like it was having its perks!

"So, seeing as how I'm now the second and Purple lead," Amka spoke, "what's going to be the next move for the rest of us?"

"Last I was told, once your teams split, the majority of you were going to go somewhere that wasn't here." Kiara answered based off her own recollection. "Krata's producing everyone's armors based on measurements we sent to them."

"Wait, wait, armor?" Amka asked, "What armor? Like the General's armor?"

"Something that's more of a mix of Ohnmatu's nanosuits, SIS' hard armor, and the Shadow Strikers' own gear for one very interesting combination. I've seen Haxx in it, the guy looks hot."

"Careful, General, might come over there and show you a good time." Haxx grinned at her compliments.

"You wish you could take me on," she played right back into him before Amka got a notification on his own communicator. The Major's attention turned to it briefly before a look of shock came over his face. He immediately went over to a console for the conference room and got a projection of Sergeant Major Krad on screen. The brown-eyed Sergeant Major was alone in a shuttle.

"Commander, Captain," Amka began, "this is Sergeant Major Krad, he was my-"

"We met on Tallum, Major, I know who they are." Krad interrupted, seeing Amka's clear disdain come over him and quickly continued. "Look, bad news. Really bad news. Rha and Dak are wasted."

Aero's brow furrowed in confusion, finally speaking up having been listening intently and making notes.

"Wasted? What's that mean?"

"Dead." Vult pointedly answered much to her horror, looking back, to the ongoing conversation.

Amka's anger immediately dissipated, "What happened?"

"Internal Affairs happened, that's what. We got some Sublieutenant Sor sent in as Mirage's new oversight. We couldn't get out before his arrival. Firefight broke out in the hangar. Rha and Dak took on Tuu, Sor, and Jat. I couldn't wait for any of them, Sor was about to board so I took off and ran for it."

Amka's fist slammed into the table. "So much for being saboteurs, huh?"

"If this is the sort of fate that befalls the rest of us, I'm not surprised if Internal Affairs sniffs out everyone who decided to try for that. Where are you?"

"Flying, literally anywhere. I need to figure out my location. I have…maybe a few days rations on me. I won't last too long without some backup."

Amka looked at Vult, "Well, guess we have a mission after all. Need to go save my man."

"Not until he rips ever piece of tracking equipment out of that craft we aren't." Vult countered. "Pressing matters or not, we are not leading Mirage or anyone to us if it can be avoided. Alternative would be to find a place to set down and settle in to lay low until further notice."

"Well that's just swell." Krad shook his head. "Look, I can get to work deactivating stuff and physically ripping out what I can get inside this shuttle, but I didn't exactly have the courtesy of being able to do that first."

Amka rubbed his eyes, "Get to work on that, keep your comms open and…we'll get back to you when we have something. Best we can do for now."

"We aren't leaving you out to dry, Krad." The Commander assured him. "Much is at stake and we cannot risk throwing all of our progress away so early on. I won't patronize you on what to do, you're Spec Ops. Keep in contact at routine intervals and stay silent otherwise."

"Will do. By the way, Major?"

"Yeah?"

"Pretty sure they're going to put Tuu in charge. Sor didn't show up with a replacement for you. Him being the highest ranking guy and more than willing to kill three of his own teammates like he did makes it a logical assumption that his new minder might make him an acting Major until further notice."

"Fuck me sideways. Well, thanks for the heads up. Good luck out there."

Krad nodded and then cut the channel, leaving Amka shaking his head.

Haxx slammed his fist down on his chair's armrest. "Really wishing we shot that son of a bitch back on Vort right about now."

Zurrak reached over to give Haxx a reassuring shake on the shoulder. "You'll get your chance, be patient."

Corr turned to Vult, "This is already becoming interesting…and not in a good way."

"Interesting isn't the word I'd use to describe it." The blue-eyed male dejectedly spoke, sighing. "We cannot change what has come to pass, only what will."

"Suppose so, you think of places to take the team to hide? The planet where we ran into Tak seems pretty desolate."

"It is also a frozen wasteland, but beggars cannot be choosers right now." Vult summarized, rubbing his temples briefly in exasperation. "Unless anyone else has anything else to add, we've set our next steps into motion."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Aero excitedly waved her hand to get the Commander's attention. "I've got something!"

"...yes, Aero?"

"If the Captain, Rem, Skrem, Chavsa, and all these guys are leaving for a really, really, really long time…can we see them off?"

Vult's eyes tiredly closed, resisting bemusement while remaining composed.

"...you want to have a going-away party?"

"Yes! That! Like we did that one time, but less guns…or maybe more, I dunno."

"You do realize the entirety of the Irken Empire wants all of us dead and is actively hunting us right now, don't you?" Vult reasoned with little success.

"I doooo…but that's why we should do it! Like you said, it could be years before we see them again…or at all! It's poor manners and bad luck to not say goodbye!"

Vult's attention drifted to Corr and company briefly in contemplation as Aero practically vibrated in anticipation.

"Seeing as they're going to need all the luck they can get, I suppose we should see them off properly then, shouldn't we?"

A squeal of happiness came from the tall pink-eyed Lieutenant as she bounded out of her seat, a dozen different ideas already rushing through her head on how to prepare the festivities.

"Aero!" Vult barked, bringing her to a skidding halt to look at him. "Where are you going?"

"Right…not been…yeah…" She sheepishly gestured to her vacant chair with an awkward smile.

"Dismissed."

Everyone left the room but Chavsa stayed in her seat for a while, catching the attention of the Captain.

"Chavsa, something on your mind?"

"Just…overly excited and eager to get this done. Didn't think I'd be back in my pilot seat again as a scout on exploration duty. It's…the word escapes me."

"Overwhelming?"

"Yeah, that." She sighed, a smile on her face, "Thanks. I really miss flying."

Corr cracked the faintest of smiles as he saw her finally rise and take her leave. "Whatever sort of talk you had with her before clearly worked. She's been improving a great deal and seems in better spirits than before; haven't seen her lash out at anything recently. I hope it keeps up."