Chapter Seven
In the second month of the nine hundred ninety-seventh year after the Ruusan Reformation, just three months after N'Lola's eighteenth birthday, she knew the timing was right for her to move. The Sith Lord was at the greatest level of paranoia she had ever seen, he insisted that N'Lola accompany him virtually everywhere, as he deduced the Hutt attack was the direct result of manipulations by Emperor Palpatine, in another attempt to be rid of him. N'Lola could not say why the admiral had tolerated such a pattern of abuse, though he had put on a good show of dominance for his apprentice's benefit, though she was planning now to be done with that, in the particularly near future. Admiral Golm had become increasingly suspicious of those around him, though she had remained unchallenged in that regard, having saved his life from multiple attempts to end it, and having never failed a mission.
"Admiral," N'Lola said at last, as Golm was examining the shuttles that had just arrived, as the fleet hovered in a high orbit over the ice planet of Helska IV, "I believe it is time for my… graduation, from the place of apprentice." The Admiral froze briefly, before he turned his head to look toward her, where she stood roughly twenty metres from him, looking at him intently. When he nodded, she drew and activated her lightsaber, then waited for him to do so, as well, though he observed her with a faint tilt of his head, facial tendrils and scalp tentacles swaying in the process.
"I am intrigued by your decision to announce this fact to me, where the average Sith Apprentice would have come upon me to murder me unaware," said the Feeorin, as he took up an appropriate battle stance, his fingers curling around the grip of his lightsaber.
"The average Sith apprentice is weak and cowardly," she replied, adopting an aggressive stance where one leg was bent at nearly a right-angle with the other out ahead of her. Her gauntleted right hand was out ahead of her as her left hand hung back at a similar angle to her left leg, the blade of her lightsaber held parallel to the floor alongside at eye level. She had learned much in the way of lightsaber battling, about the tactics and behaviours of the Sith, and in particular, everything that Nuav and Xuax had observed about how Darth Fralius himself battled when he had had challengers, before taking an apprentice. She was ready for this, and more than that, she had a surprise for the admiral, even though he undoubtedly knew what metals she had used in designing and fabricating her gauntlet.
"This is… very true!" answered Darth Fralius, as he abruptly surged toward her, bringing his lightsaber about in a sweeping slash toward her midsection. Even as he lunged, she twisted out of the way and blocked from underneath, with an upward arc of her lightsaber, one that allowed her to pivot on her left foot and slam the bridge of her right into his torso. Striking just above the lowest rib, her kick knocked him backward as her pivot continued, rotating her body until she was facing him once more. As her counterstrike forced him backward, ship personnel backed up rapidly out of the zone of the unexpected combat, though she kept her eyes continuously on Fralius. He lurched forward again to strike, and she blocked expertly, allowing him to be the wave crashing against the rock, as harmless as sunlight against a mountainside. His every strike was skilled and efficient, and her every reaction was full of foreknowledge and proof of an intense analysis of his style gleaned over years of study and preparation.
"Impressive," Fralius replied, spinning to bring in another attack, though for her preparation, she was able to maneuver into a defensive position against this, as well, "I hope you have prepared for a true challenge, however. This will not be so easy!" As he spoke, he moved his left hand from the grip of the lightsaber to thrust toward her, launching a burst of white lightning from his hand in her direction. She rotated out of the path once and then twice, as his bolts of lightning continued to jump toward her, then brought her right hand out to catch his lightning with her hand, bringing to bear her impressive battle-focus as she tapped into the ability of Tutaminis. The Sith Lord's eyes widened, and he quickly ceased his electrical assault, surprised by the fact she had mastered that skill, entirely outside of his knowledge.
He surged forward once more, this time making a direct thrust that she knew he used only when he felt that it was urgent he try to win a confrontation as quickly as possible. She once more blocked his blade, twisting to deliver a swift kick to him with her right foot, this time slamming the sole of her shoe into his lower stomach from the side to knock him off balance. As he stumbled in the opposite direction from her, she whirled into a renewed combat stance, and waited for him to attack again, and he did not long delay. He lunged forward once more with a thrust, and when she parried, he followed up with an overhand chop that came downward and inward from her right-hand side. When her gauntleted right hand clenched and released, then snapped upward in the direction of his lightsaber blade, Golm's eyes widened as she caught his blade in the palm of her gauntlet, with the same loud hum it would have made if it had hit another lightsaber. Instantly, her fingers clenched tightly around the blade, precluding him from withdrawing it or attempting to use it to defend himself as her own lightsaber came abruptly forward. A heartbeat later, the red blade of her lightsaber pierced through his stomach below the lowest of his right ribs, protruding twelve inches out of his back.
As the Sith admiral's eyes widened in disbelief, as his apprentice slew him centuries sooner than he expected, she jerked the lightsaber to one side and then the other. She carved a zigzagging path up through one line and then out through his right shoulder, before delivering a sharp, snapping kick to the jaw that knocked him through the air to land flat on his back, staring dead at the ceiling. Then, as Fralius lay dead, N'Lola clenched her right fist and released again, deactivating the kyber-crystal-empowered shield and lifting her arm to her face.
"Aerla, broadcast the signal," she commanded the Twi'lek on the bridge.
"Yes, ma'am," replied the light-blue-skinned communications officer, immediately broadcasting to the fleet that Darth Fralius had been killed, and that his apprentice had taken his place as admiral of the fleet. Then, she tapped another button on her gauntlet, though it was as hard to spot as the other two.
"This is Admiral N'Lola Vurkoth," she stated into her gauntlet, which had now linked in with the shipboard intercom system, allowing her to address the entire ship simultaneously, "Admiral Golm is dead, and this fleet is now under my command." As she spoke, the Epicanthix twins arrived in the hangar and approached, as her loyalists on the Indomitable locked down the ship's engineering section, and loyalists throughout the fleet locked down both the bridge and the engineering section of every other ship.
"That is going to cause some intense bloodletting," observed Nuav.
"That's the idea," N'Lola answered, "they know the rules and the traditions of the culture and the politics of the Sith. Mine will be… securely out of harm's way, protected by my elevation to the status of Admiral." Both twins nodded in answer, even as N'Lola proceeded to the bridge, and took the admiral's seat thereon, allowing her Twi'lek communications officers to keep her informed. Aerla kept her continuously updated on the evolving situation aboard all ships in the fleet, as reported by other communications officers.
"The communications officers have locked down the bridge on most ships, ensuring all essential bridge crew aboard contested ships survive, Admiral," reported Aerla.
"Sensors report intense lightfights are occurring on the Champion, the Cutter, the Wilhelm, as well as aboard every Lancer, Admiral. Additionally," said the navigations officer, "sensors indicate light fighting aboard the Intrepid, the Eternity, and the Hammerhead."
"We are also receiving reports of intense but localized confrontations on this ship, Admiral," continued Aerla.
"Send a transmission to the Intrepid. Issue orders that the Human medic Tal Matan is to be kept out of harm's way," N'Lola instructed, and Aerla nodded.
"Yes, Admiral; transmitting orders to secure the Intrepid's sickbay, now," replied the Twi'lek as she touched a number of the controls on her console, translating the order from one ship to the next.
"Inform me when shipboard battles end," she instructed, to which both the communications officers and the navigations officer nodded in response. As N'Lola waited patiently on the bridge, the battles raged, until information started to come in about ships whose battles had been resolved. Aboard the Albatross, the Avenger, the Dauntless, and the Harbinger, however, there had been reports of only exceptionally light conflict. Only a few personnel aboard the fighter carriers would need to be replaced: the only communications personnel not under her command had been killed on those ships. As reports continued to filter in, she learned that every communications officer on every ship had been killed, except the Twi'leks, who were loyal to her above all others, and that meant a trip to Ryloth to rebalance their communications personnel.
"All shipboard confrontations resolved, Admiral," Aerla reported at last, a full six hours after N'Lola seized command of the fleet, "Final fatality count is thirty-four thousand six hundred twenty-one personnel; most deaths on the Champion, the Cutter, and the Wilhelm. These three ships account for twenty-five thousand nine hundred seventy-nine fatalities, with an additional five thousand five hundred ninety-three reported fatalities on the Hammerhead."
"Any communications from the survivors, particularly any which refer to their allegiance?" N'Lola asked.
"None yet, Admiral," answered Aerla, to which N'Lola nodded.
"Issue orders that all bodies are to be delivered to the Acclamators, and the Acclamators are to land and to bury the dead on Helska IV," N'Lola instructed, and Aerla nodded, immediately transmitting the Admiral's command. The Fleet was now badly diminished for personnel, but they remained in the Helska system for seven days to bury the dead, before departing immediately for Ryloth. Even as they got underway, N'Lola transmitted orders that those who were not loyal to her aboard the Lancers, were to be eliminated before they reached their first destination. It was time to purge her enemies from a fleet that was now hers to command, and with the loyalty of all six hundred and eighty-four communications officers, that would be easier than ever. Additionally, eighteen thousand seventy-six of Golm's Human loyalists had transitioned their loyalty to her, reporting having participated in the elimination of all of Golm's loyalists who wanted to avenge their Master, and many imperial loyalists, as well.
Over the course of the next few months, the fleet remained off the imperial radar, slipping stealthily through imperial space from one planet to the next. Even as they moved through space, she allowed her assassins and loyalists purge every imperial loyalist from the crew, swiftly and silently, replacing them with personnel who would consider their loyalty to her as the most important. By the end of the upheaval and the subsequent purge of the imperial loyalists, N'Lola had reached the age of nineteen years, but shortly after the distribution of the Declaration of Rebellion issued by Mon Mothma, the young admiral had ensured complete authority over her fleet.
The task of fleet purification completed, she ordered the fleet to travel to the sector designated as the Lannik Wilds, and take up a position of high orbit over the planet of Udrin Cara. The planet was an arid, desert world, which was home to no sentient lifeforms and indeed, flora and fauna in general were nearly nonexistent on the planet. It was, however, also the site of one of the Empire's secret military design centres tasked with the research and development of biological weapons, according to the Indomitable's databanks, with the current project being something listed as a toxic gas designated Maladeria II. The development of such weapons was anathematic to N'Lola, and it was the reason she had chosen this star system for her plan.
"Attention, imperial design facility Udrin Cara, this is Admiral Vurkoth. We received intelligence suggesting that Rebels may have learned of the existence of this facility and have been ordered to leave a portion of this fleet to encircle your position, for added security, while we seek out the rebel filth."
"Understood, Admiral," replied a male voice at once, "Your ships are authorized to land as necessary."
"Aerla, transmit instructions to the Acclamators to land in six positions encircling that military design centre. Personnel are instructed to remain aboard ship and crews are instructed to be prepared for emergency liftoff from the planet upon our return," N'Lola instructed. Aerla nodded, immediately conveying the orders to the rest of the fleet; as N'Lola watched the six troop carriers descend into the atmosphere and eventually land, the rest of the fleet reformed around the flagship and the fighter carriers.
"Helm, set a course to grid coordinates S-13, destination Nar Kaaga, and engage hyperspace engines," N'Lola commanded, taking her seat in the admiral's chair. As she settled in her seat, the fleet launched directly into hyperspace in the direction of the chosen planet; now, N'Lola was on the hunt for enemies of her own choosing. For the time, she knew, the Alliance to Restore the Republic would be best served by her remaining undercover, continuing to disguise herself as a servant of the Empire, someone corrupted by the dark side of the Force.
"Aerla, patch me through to the Fleet," N'Lola commanded, as the ships neared their destination, and when her communications officer nodded, she continued, "All personnel to battle stations. Prepare to raise shields and enter combat as soon as we drop out of hyperspace." Throughout the thirteen warships, personnel scrambled to their battle stations, as they neared their first destination, and less than an hour, the ships came out of hyperspace in a region under the authority of the Hutt Empire.
"Admiral, we are receiving a hail from the planet," Aerla informed, and N'Lola nodded.
"Attention Imperial vessels, you have entered Hutt Space. You must leave at once or be destroyed," came a Hutt voice over the transmission.
"Attention Hutts of the planet Nar Kaaga. I am the Dark Jedi Ricona, I am the servant of Emperor Palpatine, and I am here to carry out your summary destruction," N'Lola replied.
"If you th-" began the Hutt, before N'Lola motioned and Aerla gladly terminated the transmission, silencing the Hutt.
"Helm, target military installations and headquarter structures on the planet; target the heaviest installations with the assault concussion missile launchers. Fire standard concussion missile launchers at all other targets," N'Lola commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am," replied the Bpfassh at the helm, immediately beginning the targeting sequence.
"Aerla, transmit orders for the Albatross and the Dauntless to target heavy ground installations following our bombardment and fire a complete volley with their VL-6 system, firing in alternation with our attack. Transmit orders to the rest of the fleet to take up defensive positions and man the guns," N'Lola continued, and Aerla nodded, quickly beginning to transmit the orders even as the Indomitable opened fire. Simultaneously, twenty assault-grade concussion missiles launched from the Indomitable, accompanied by eighty standard concussion missiles, and curved their path to sweep in the direction of the planet. Even as the missiles sliced through the ozone layer and entered the atmosphere, their trajectories twisted and curved, moving around each other as they angled toward precise targets. As the assault concussion missiles eradicated armoured planetary defense cannons, bunkers, and Hutt palaces, the other eighty that were fired came slamming into antiaircraft installations, munitions depots, and hangars full of small starships. A half-second after their impact, each Ton Falk fired their VL-6 launchers, sending a grouping of five standard concussion missiles toward the planet, destroying soldier housing in ten locations spread out over a hundred square miles of land.
"Admiral, we have Hutt caravels and Ubrikkian frigates inbound, mobilized from the far side of the planet," informed the helmsman.
"How many?" she asked.
"Twenty Frigates, two hundred Hutt caravels," replied the helmsman.
"Target ten of the Frigates with two assault-grade concussion missiles each, target the remaining ten with six standard grade concussion missiles each, and thin the carvels with the other twenty standard concussion missiles," she ordered, and the helmsman nodded.
"Firing," he replied, "Enemy Frigates destroyed, twenty enemy caravels destroyed. The Munificent and the Forerunner are moving to intercept."
"Order all ships to target the caravels and ensure that none manages to land a boarding party," N'Lola ordered, satisfied with the destruction inflicted on the ground targets. As the fleet turned full attention on the caravels, it took less than ten minutes to exterminate them all.
"What do you want from the Hutts?" demanded the voice of the same Hutt from before.
"Ah, you survived," N'Lola replied coolly, "Excellent. I have been sent to deliver a message to you, on behalf of the Galactic Empire: the Empire has long suffered your arrogance and weakness." She immediately cut the channel once more, and Aerla nodded, terminating the communication before the Hutt could answer.
"Take the Fleet into hyperspace, set a course for the Hutt planet of Affavan in S-12," she ordered, and before the Hutts could launch a second wave of assault on the invading fleet, it had vanished untraceably into hyperspace, to a location they could not determine.
For a total of ten days, N'Lola moved her fleet throughout Hutt space, hitting target after target, using their military supplies to strike at ten different locations in their space. Finally, the Hutts had had enough, and she succeeded in stirring them to the mobilization of their most powerful warships, vessels they had purchased from some alternative source. She led a host of twenty Ubrikkian Frigates back to the Udrin Cara system, where her fleet circled around and engaged them once more, during the course of which the Hutts put troops on the ground to enter the military design centre in a raid. As they entered, N'Lola used the Force to inspire a protocol droid to activate the centre's self-destruct protocol, detonating the research lab with all data and all hands.
The Hutts defeated, she entered hyperspace to travel directly to the imperial munitions depot in the Chalacta system to resupply their munitions before crossing into Hutt Space for a second time, and attacking the Hutt planet of Nimban. Once there, she ordered the firing the Indomitable's eighty assault-grade concussion missiles and their entire supply of three hundred twenty standard-grade concussion missiles are military targets on the ground. Meanwhile, the missile batteries of the Albatross and the Dauntless eliminated forty Ubrikkian Frigates as the Lancers destroyed four hundred Hutt caravels. Thereafter, to add insult to injury, N'Lola ordered her fleet to casually standby for two days, until her navigations officer turned to her late on the second day.
"Admiral, long range sensors have picked up a Hutt Fleet approaching from the direction of Nal Hutta. They will arrive in two hours."
"How many ships?" she asked in response.
"Sensors have identified four Lucrehulk-class battleships, twenty Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers, forty DP20 frigates, and one hundred Ubrikkian Frigates," replied the navigations officer, and she nodded.
"Set a course for Sochi. Order the fleet to wait ninety-five minutes and then energize hyperspace engines to travel in that direction." As they waited, allowing the Hutts to draw nearer, to close the distance and ensure that they would be able to track her fleet for a while, she could sense their apprehension, and their trust. Finally, the fleet leapt into hyperspace twenty-five minutes before the Hutt fleet reached them.
"Admiral, long-range sensors indicate a major imperial fleet is currently in Sochi," informed the navigations officer, and she answered with a mild smirk.
"I know," she replied smugly, "Drop us out of hyperspace when we will be twenty-two minutes' of sub-light travel from the imperial fleet." The helmsman nodded, and soon enough, they dropped out of hyperspace, permitting the imperial fleet to approach them. The imperial fleet, itself, consisted of one Executor-class star dreadnought, along with two Secutor-class star destroyers, two Super-class star destroyers, four Praetor Mark II-class super star destroyers, and twenty-one Venator-class star destroyers.
"Admiral, incoming hail from Sector Admiral Vorn Taul," said Aerla, a glance over her shoulder.
"Order the fleet to set a course for Najarka. Put him through," she replied, as she observed the fleet moving progressively closer on the view-screen, at least until the fleet stopped within firing range and the Sector Admiral appeared instead.
"Admiral Golm, I …" the man began, then stopped and stared as he realized the absence of the expected man and the presence of a much younger woman, "Where is Admiral Golm?"
"Darth Fralius succumbed to the unfortunate consequence of taking an apprentice," she replied, "I have taken his place as the loyal servant of his imperial majesty, Emperor Palpatine. I am Admiral Ricona."
"I see," replied Vorn, a human who seemed unimpressed, "I have received orders from our Emperor to inspect your fleet, thoroughly, in the event that I should happen to cross your path. Please standby for my inspectors to come aboard."
"I am afraid I cannot do that, Admiral," she said, as her navigations officer turned his seat enough to look at her and offer a nod, "However, I have brought you a glorious victory on which you may report to the Emperor, perhaps it will even earn you a promotion."
"A glorious victory?" replied the Sector Admiral, perplexed, "What do you mean by…"
"Admiral!" interrupted Vorn's helmsman, "Major Hutt fleet inbound!" As the helmsman shouted in surprise, N'Lola motioned to terminate the communications at the same moment as the Hutt fleet came surging into the system behind them.
"Time to go," N'Lola ordered, "order all ships in the fleet to engage hyperspace engines." It took less than a minute before all nineteen vessels disappeared, leaving the Sector Admiral's fleet of thirty naval vessels to battle the Hutt fleet of one hundred and sixty-four warships.
By the time they reached Najarka, the Empire had already begun broadcasting propaganda of an unprovoked attack by the evil Hutts, and Admiral Vorn Taul's glorious victory over Hutt barbarians. In checking the ship datalinks, she learned that the entire Hutt fleet had been destroyed, as well as all ships in Admiral Vorn Taul's fleet save for one Secutor and two Venators. The Admiral, himself, had managed to survive the destruction of his flagship and led the fleet to victory thereafter, though N'Lola wasn't quite certain how he'd feel about her if he saw her again. However, she was quite certain she had no intent to track him down and ask.
While they remained securely in orbit over Najarka, N'Lola instructed Aerla to transmit a communique to N'Gant-Zarvel to order one 9118 Heavy Carbine for every member of her crew including herself. Thereafter, a similar communique was sent to Concordian Crescent Technologies, to order two Heavy Assault-variant WESTAR-35 pistols for every member of the fleet's personnel, again including herself. This resulted in a four-week wait, but after twenty days, a pair of Action VI-class transports emerged from hyperspace and unloaded their cargo throughout the fleet, taking payment from the fleet's imperial account. Following the departure of the delivery freighters, N'Lola instructed Aerla to distribute the instruction that commanded every person throughout the fleet to achieve a certain accuracy rating with both the carbine and their pistols when both pistols were being used simultaneously. It would be expected that every member of fleet personnel would be able to maintain a ninety-five percent accuracy rate with the carbine, and a ninety percent accuracy rate with their pistols while wielding both simultaneously, as the goal to first achieve and thereafter sustain.
"Admiral, Theta-class T-2c courier shuttle emerging from hyperspace," reported her navigations officer, one day near the middle of the same year as the rebellion had announced their intentions.
"They're hailing us, Admiral," said Aerla, a moment later.
"Open a channel," N'Lola replied, and her communications officer nodded.
"This is the imperial courier shuttle Herald 13, repeat, this is imperial courier shuttle Herald 13," said a male voice that was surprisingly familiar, "This is imperial courier Errol Renfrew with an urgent message for the Admiral. This is imperial courier shuttle Herald 13 requesting permission to dock."
"Permission granted, Herald 13," replied N'Lola, surprised by the name and impressed by the young cadet's apparent growth since the incident on Timora three years prior.
"Herald 13 is aboard, Admiral," her navigations officer said calmly.
"Helm, maintain our position over the Imperial Biological Research Centre," she replied, before turning and leaving the bridge, proceeding immediately to the hangar. She knew there would have to be an important reason that the Rebellion felt a need to get in touch with her with such urgency as to send her a message so directly, even if under the veneer of being an imperial messenger. On her arrival in the hangar, she discovered that it was not only Errol who waited, but the other cadet she had extracted as well, Kel Shira, both of whom smiled when they saw her.
Each of the boys had grown quite noticeably; the curly-haired brunette had grown from sixty-six inches to seventy inches having almost straightened his hair, now in a shoulder-length ponytail ending in only a single corkscrew curl. He had the same light brown eyes that matched his hair of the same colour, and looked as if he was a solid weight of one hundred and seventy pounds of well-defined muscle, though slightly on the slimmer side compared to herself. Kel had grown to the same height as Errol, catching up on their prior one inch of difference in the intervening period of three years, his black hair contained in a braid that went to his shoulder blades. She met his midnight blue eyes for a moment, after making eye contact with Errol, and then returned her attention toward the brunette.
"Your message must be quite urgent, to merit risking both of you in this rebel-infested sector."
"Indeed it is, Admiral," replied Errol, "Is there somewhere private we may deliver our imperial dispatch?"
"Yes," she nodded, "Come with me." Both young men nodded, and immediately followed her as she turned and walked out of the hangar to one of the ship's elevators. They remained quiet as she led them down corridors until stepping into her ready-room, where she turned to look at them expectantly.
"You have both grown well," she said warmly, once the doors had closed. The boys smiled, perhaps a little shyly, at her praise.
"Thank you," replied Errol, "and allow us to congratulate you on your elevation to admiralty." Kel nodded a bit in agreement to that.
"Additionally, the Alliance has reason to believe that a certain Hutt incursion and the associated distraction it provided to the Empire, was of your making. If this is the case, the Alliance wishes to express its' gratitude for that, as it allowed the commencement of several important covert operations during the month-long confrontation between the Hutts and Palpatine's Empire," Kel continued.
"I assure you, our message is considered to be of considerable importance to the Alliance," Errol proceeded, moving to the reason for their unexpected arrival, "We were sent, officially, by the Imperial Governor on the planet Halm. His name is Kaen Laut; he is a rebel sympathizer."
"I was unaware the Empire prized a planet like Halm enough to supply it with a Governor," N'Lola replied.
"Hence the reason he's a rebel sympathizer," said Kel, "Laut was previously the governor of a world having far more importance, and exiled to be the governor of Halm. He was removed for failure to espouse the xenophobic, humanocentrist ideologies. He was… displeased, with his reassignment."
"I see. His displeasure is quite understandable, Halm is an arid desert of a planet with nothing of any greater interest than mines the Empire does not use," she observed.
"Exactly so," Kel confirmed, "Laut and the soldiers under his command are quite popular with the local Gran. As with Laut, the soldiers on Halm have been exiled for the mildness of their treatment toward what the Empire has denounced as inferior lifeforms. The Gran of Halm are a kind, mellow people, with hearts as warm as the desert sand."
"That is why we have come," Errol picked up where Kel left off, "There is some manner of disease running rampant among the Gran, and Laut's field-medics simply do not possess the necessary training or equipment required."
"Governor Laut requested the dispatch of a hospital ship, ideally a Pelta-class, but even an EF76 or a MedStar would have been welcomed. The Empire has ignored his requests, and would no doubt notice an Alliance fleet moving deep into imperial space," Kel went on, "The Alliance is concerned that ignoring the outbreak of disease is an attempt to lure out an Alliance fleet. Over the last several years, Laut has also quietly accumulated an extraordinary cache of the crystals for which Halm is known, Adegan crystals. He has offered to provide these to whoever should restore the health of the Gran, and as you can no doubt imagine, such a cache would be a treasure trove to our allies, the Jedi who survived the Empire's attempt to eradicate them." N'Lola nodded a little bit in understanding as she listened to their explanation of the situation.
"Helm, set a course for the Halm system, optimal speed," N'Lola ordered over her communications link, and then proceeded out of the ready-room. As she walked out, she motioned for them to follow her once more.
"Where to, now, admiral?" asked Errol.
"Somewhere you can both have a meal during the trip," N'Lola said, leading them to the ship's cafeteria, and then excusing herself to return to her duties as admiral of the fleet. It took only a few hours for them to arrive at their destination, landing as many ships on the ground as possible, though the Indomitable was incapable of such a landing. For that reason, she took the Indomitable's medical personnel, forty individuals in all, and descended to the planet in a Curich-class shuttle, trailed by the Theta-class T-2c that Errol and Kel had arrived in, coming down onto a landing pad beside the governor's mansion. Immediately, a man who appeared to be forty-nine years old emerged, with hair of pure black with bright green eyes, standing six feet and two hundred pounds. He was dressed in the typical uniform of an imperial governor, and approached her readily.
"Welcome to Halm," he greeted, in the dry, ninety-two-degree heat of late morning, "I am thankful that you were able to come. I am Governor Laut; you may call me Kaen, if you wish."
"Thank you for the warm welcome," N'Lola said, in a moderate play on words as well as the expression of sincere appreciation, "I am Admiral Vurkoth. You may call me N'Lola."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, then, N'Lola," replied the Governor.
"I am told that there is a disease affecting the Gran on this planet, one your people cannot handle," she said, moving directly to the reason for her presence.
"Yes; the planet is home to two hundred thousand imperial soldiers, exiled much as myself, and three million Gran. Already, more than six thousand Gran have died and a little more than one hundred thousand are now sick with the disease. The Gran have been kind to us, allowing us to feel welcome to share their land with them, even in spite of the fact the Empire forced their way onto this world uninvited. I would very much like to see the Gran healed, and this sickness eliminated; I have a cache of twenty crates of Adegan crystals I have accumulated since my appointment as Governor of Halm," the Governor said at length, "I would happily part with them as a token of my gratitude, if your people could manage to heal the Gran."
"We will do our best. I have brought all medical personnel from the fleet with me, and the added security of many more troops on the ground in the event something unexpected should occur," N'Lola replied.
"Thank you, Admiral. We are, I admit, far out of our depth, here, so I will transfer all authority to you in the handling of this situation."
"Thank you, Governor. Please have all Gran who are showing symptoms gathered together in one place for a temporary quarantine, so that we can focus on eliminating the disease by purging the sickness from those who are ill." At her words, he nodded, quickly conveying her orders under his own authority to his own soldiers, though it took three days to gather all who were ill. Once they were gathered into a concentrated location where they would be safely isolated from everyone else, N'Lola waited two additional days until all potential exposures had begun to show their symptoms: according to the Gran, it only became contagious on the fourth day of exposure. Finally, with every Gran who was potentially affected collected in a single location, N'Lola orders all Force-sensitive members of her fleet to begin using Force Healing on the Gran. Each of them could purge the sickness from only four of the infected Gran on each day, but fortunately, the disease took two standard months to kill.
Each day, N'Lola and her people were able to reduce the number of infected by one thousand seven hundred and four individuals. By the sixtieth day, with the last of the Gran teetering near death with only ten days before their death would have been absolutely guaranteed, they had healed all of the one hundred and two thousand infected, and the disease was wholly eradicated. There was no way to know where the disease had come from, or what had caused it, but the fact that no others became ill during the course of the healing suggested it was not a common environmental factor. On the same day, an Action VI-class Rebel freighter landed on the planet to collect the gratuity that had been earned for the Alliance by their deep-cover operative.
"Governor, of the Adegan crystals, how many are of the pontite variety?" asked N'Lola, as her rebel allies began to load some of the heavy crates aboard their ship.
"Three crates," the Governor replied, and pointed them out as the ones having a white colouration, whereas the others were green or blue, "the crystals have already been cut into shards appropriate for use in lightsabers; there are ten thousand cut shards in each crate."
"I will take the white crates myself," she informed the rebel captain, as the familiar Leyakian woman turned to look at her quizzically, "It is important that I have access to the contents of these crates, Se. The war is beginning, and the Jedi are not the only ones who will need the weapons that these can produce." The rebel captain paused for a moment, but then nodded her assent and understanding: as Selene, she had made already many contributions to their cause. If she felt that she needed three crates out of twenty that she had been the one to earn in the first place, Captain Kreff doubted that anyone would begrudge her that.
"Understood, Admiral," replied Se, with a nod, "I trust your decision on that matter. The Alliance has asked that I deliver you a message to request that you come to Skynara; there is an Alliance shipyard there, and the Alliance has been preparing many ships to modernize your fleet."
"How did you know I had taken command of the Fleet?"
"One of the Jedi survivors received a vision, and when they described the one they saw, I recognized you, at once. Since then, we have been using a small portion of our resources to acquire ships to upgrade and modernize your fleet. The commandant of the shipyard will gladly take possession of any ship you wish replaced, and will upgrade all ships you wish to keep. There are also more than ten thousand starfighters in the system, which you may take for your crew, if you wish to replace the TIE Fighters your fleet currently carries," replied Se Kreff, at length.
"Thank you, we will travel there immediately, though it will then take me months of preparation in collecting the necessary personnel for such a fleet, but you can count on my fleet to enter the war within fifteen to twenty months' time," N'Lola replied, and the Leyakian nodded.
"Understood, Admiral," she replied, "It will be good to have you on our side. Your knowledge of the Empire will prove instrumental, as well any victories you may bring us. The people are finally beginning to balk at Imperial authority." N'Lola nodded in answer, and once the crates were loaded aboard the shuttle, she bade farewell to Halm and to her allies in the Rebellion. Once her fleet had reached an extra-orbital position, she ordered the fleet to set their course for Skynara, and engage hyperdrive engines.