Present, interrogation room aboard the Mon Cal cruiser Home One, Bilbringi Shipyards

"So that's how you spent the evening before the battle," she sounded slightly incredulous and Garin wondered how she had spent the hours before the battle.

I smiled and shrugged, recalling the feeling of Daru in my arms the night before. I was very glad that I had gone to her when I had considering how things had turned out. No matter what happened here I at least had the satisfaction of knowing that Daru and I had been honest with each other and our feelings.

"I can't think of many other places I would have rather spent the run up to a battle," I said benignly.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you would go do something like that," she smiled at me, "you do seem a bit of a romanticist after all."

I snorted, "if you're implying that I made use of the fact that we were going into battle as some kind of clichéd motive to sleep with her then no. I would have done it even if we'd been on a normal cruise and not preparing for all of this."

I finished the statement with a wave around the room as she looked at me skeptically, thankfully I didn't need her validation for what had happened between Daru and I; all I needed was for her to keep asking me questions and making commentary, no matter how silly either may be. The more time I had here the better for me in the end. Though I had to admit, I was running out of material to feed her.

Within the last 24 hours, Inner Rim Territories, aboard the Black Knight

Garin stirred slowly, slower than he normally would have, as his mind cleared. Despite the grogginess he felt more satisfied and at ease with himself than he had in a very long time. The curvature of Daru's cool body nestled against him was all the proof he needed for that. He shifted gently in an effort not to wake her, he felt her body ripple in a shudder and she curled herself further against him; rendering his efforts on the far side of futile. Smiling, he settled in defeat; he freed his arm and ran his fingers over her hips, feeling the sharp definitions of her body beneath his touch, before snaking his arm around her waist and holding her tenderly. He took in a deep breath, her scent filled his nostrils, despite the shower there was still the undertone of the mechanical, the ozone, the grease, the myriad other scents of shipboard life; it was all there, all part of her.

He closed his eyes again and rested against her, feeling the gentle rise and fall of her breathing. He might have stayed like that for hours if his com hadn't buzzed, suddenly shattering the soft quietude of the cabin. Carefully, he shifted away from Daru, she squirmed and groaned quietly rolling over as he managed to get himself out of bed and answer his com somewhat sullenly.

"Durives."

"Good morning sir, I hear Chief Kerrila is with you," Iriana said mirthfully.

"You could say that," Garin responded, leaning against his desk and looking at Daru's curled shape in the sheets on his bunk. "What is it?"

"The Tangrene assault has begun, the Admiral sent over a data pack outlining the battle line. Orlis is in the Cave going over it; I thought you might like to meet us there."

Garin nodded with a tired sigh, turning away from the bed and closing his eyes.

"Alright I'll be there in a few minutes, thank you."

"Make sure you say goodbye Garin, we don't like when you sneak out before we wake up."

Garin snorted and stifled a laugh, "what is this, Galactic Dating 101?"

"Just friendly advice sir," she responded innocently before terminating the call.

He put the com down and turned to look at Daru, what he saw froze him on the spot. She'd woken up, and while he'd been talking had stretched herself out on the bunk, removing the sheet that had been covering her. He'd seen her body before obviously, but this was very different. It was a display and she was its radiant centerpiece.

She smiled at him tenderly; her lekku splayed out to either side of her head writhed on the bed softly. "I never thought I'd see a look like that on your face Garin."

It took him a moment to find his the muscles that controlled his jaw, "I never thought I'd be in a situation to use that expression. You trust me this much?"

Still smiling she nodded and slid off the bed, crossing the distance between them in what seemed like slow motion. She leaned against him and placed gentle kisses against his chest.

"Is it starting?"

He nodded wordlessly, his hands moving slowly to clasp her waist before they began to traverse her spine. He caressed her lekku and she drew in a hissing breath as she shivered and pressed against him.

"You need to go then," she said quietly, nestling her lips against his neck. "We both have to do our jobs."

Regretfully, he nodded and drew her head back for a tender kiss, smiling against her spiced lips before breaking the kiss; his fingers tracing a lekku tenderly.

"Alright Chief, but we're not done yet."

Her smile, for the first time in all the years he'd known her, turned impish, "no we're not."

Garin stepped into the Cave to find Orlis and Iriana waiting for him with Harth, Toth, Kalan, Matrin, and Sissir.

"Hey boss," Matrin said with a knowing smile, "she didn't wear you out did she?"

"Wear him out," Kalan said in mock distress, "if a little exercise takes out our fearless leader then we're all doomed!"

Sissir frowned, though she failed to convince Garin it was heartfelt.

"Want me to shoot them?"

Toth feigned horror, "you won't defend me but you'll defend him? I feel so loved."

She shrugged, "you're mine; and you can take care of yourself. They need more looking after."

Harth cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow, "are we done?"

Everyone quieted down; Garin gave Harth a thankful smile the big man simply looked back to the holoprojector where Commander Kindran was standing patiently with Captain Chapella.

"The assault on Tangrene and the Ubiqtorate has begun. The Admiral has allowed ships in the surrounding sectors to respond to their distress call to give the Republic the impression that their ruse is indeed working. Our main force will assemble at Bilbringi, the Black Knight will form part of the picket screen for our interdiction vessels during the battle. The keystone of the engagement is to brook no escape by the enemy and give them no time to react. The interdictors will ensure that they reenter realspace beyond the Bilbringi defense perimeter in direct opposition to our own fleet where we will engage and destroy them."

Iriana spoke up first, "are there any further orders?"

Orliss shook his head, "the communiqué attached to the data file specified that further orders would be issued once the battle began."

"I don't imagine that the Knight and the other major cruisers will be left on the picket line for long," Toth mused, his earlier light heartedness completely gone. "Eventually we'll need their firepower to engage the Republic fleet."

"Likely frigates and smaller cruisers will be left to form the picket," Orlis provided. "Heavy cruisers like ourselves will probably be called upon to screen the destroyers once the battle begins."

Iriana nodded agreement, "the Knight and the other heavies would be wasted on the picket. Initially though they'll be needed to deter the Republic from assaulting the interdictors. If they see that the interdiction screen is well defended then they'll be forced to fight it out with our main line; once that happens it will free heavier assets from the picket line to engage them from the flanks."

"Alright," Garin said, finally speaking. "I want all our squadrons assembled for a briefing, Iriana I'll leave the Knight in your hands during the battle. You and Orlis know more about the big ships than I do." He gave her a pleading smile, "just don't let anyone ram her."

She scowled at him, the expression mirroring the way his sister used to look at him when he got into trouble.

"You're never going to let me live that down are you sir?"

"He'd better not," Orlis said quietly, "I prefer to have an intact deck beneath my boots."

That drew the expected smirks and soft chuckles from the assembled friends, and a few nervous smiles exchanged by the technicians at their posts around the Cave.

Iriana let out an exasperated sigh, "oh for—I am not going to get anyone killed."

"That includes yourself;" Orlis added deadpan.

She turned daggers on him, "you stay out of this."

Present, interrogation room aboard the Mon Cal cruiser Home One, Bilbringi Shipyards

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at this point that Hades had a less than typical attitude about the upcoming battle despite the fact you all realized its significance."

I chuckled, no she shouldn't. Not after all that I'd been telling her; though I granted that any military minded individual would find us a little strange. Somehow though, I got the feeling that many of the people who had fought before Endor would find the camaraderie in Hades eerily familiar for all that it was an Imperial unit.

"About Chief Kerrila," she began, I raised my hand.

"That's private and I can't think that you need to know if she's blue down there too."

She flushed ever so slightly, "I wa—" she shook her head, "what did you discuss at the briefing?"

"More or less the same as what the others and I spoke about," I said simply to which she gave me a disbelieving frown.

"Considering your unit, I hardly believe that you followed typical Imperial protocol."

I shrugged, "fair enough…."

Within the last 24 hours, Inner Rim Territories, aboard the Black Knight

"Once we're in system we will take up position on the forward left flank of the interdiction zone. The interdictors will pull the Republic fleet out almost on top of us so we will need to react quickly. Mantis and Diamond will lead our attack with a missile barrage towards any fighters within our combat zone."

The holoprojector behind Garin basked the briefing room and the faces of his pilots in an eerie glow as he continued.

"Once their initial line has been broken Shadow and Wyvern will move to engage with Mantis in support," as he proceeded he looked to each squadron in turn, making broad eye contact with each to ensure they knew their tasks. "Diamond will break through the fighter screen and attack the enemy capital ships;" he looked at Harth, "you don't need to destroy your targets, you can leave that to our caps, just put some holes in them."

"We'll take care of it," Harth responded deadpan with a smile that looked all too pleased at the prospect of putting holes in the Republic warships.

Garin's gaze shifted to Reaper, they were his least experienced unit and if Hades had a weak link it was them—which made the task he was giving them seem somewhat out of place—however they'd proven themselves in the months leading up to now and they'd trained just as hard as the rest. It helped that their Scimitars were uniquely suited to the task he had in mind for them, and if the Howlrunners were less than stellar they could at least protect the big bombers.

"Reaper," they sat up straighter as he addressed them; "I'm giving you a very critical job. Thrawn's battle plan depends on maintaining the enemy in a killing field encircled by our ships. The Republic will try and break out of that field and flank us with their fast movers while their big guns slug it out;" his eyes narrowed, putting a deep emphasis on the next part. "You need to engage and cripple if not destroy any ships that attempt this breakout. If they manage to get outside of our interdiction zone we will need to split our forces and that could shatter the entire line. Keep that from happening."

Finally he turned to Golem—his Skipray team—with a smirk, "Golem has the easiest job. The Knight will initially form part of the picket line protecting the interdictors however she will in all likelihood be called off the line to fully engage once the shooting starts. Golem will provide escort."

Golem's commander nodded grimly, an expression that seemed a little unneeded considering the relative ease of his task compared to the other units.

"We'll keep her safe sir; you'll have a berth to come back to."

Garin smiled at the man, "I have every faith in that. Keep the lights on and the door open."

He looked around at his people one last time, "according to the Admiral we have roughly seven hours before the Republic will attack Bilbringi which gives us about five hours before we move out. They'll be waiting to ensure that we've taken the bait at Tangrene before striking," he said with an ironic smile that was shared by many of his pilots. He put a little extra command in his voice for this part, "I want all of you to rest. I do not want to catch anyone in the sims or hangar bay. This is going to be a full blown fleet engagement and no one will benefit from working themselves up before the fighting starts. Eat a good meal, and take it easy."

He scanned the faces one last time, the veterans were calm and loose, the newer pilots were more edgy and tense while the clones sat stiffly like droids. He considered them for a moment more before giving an all encompassing nod that summed up everything in one motion.

"We're the best the Empire has to offer, show the Republic what that means; dismissed."

Garin jogged down the line of Defenders until he reached his machine, his heart missed a beat when he saw Daru waiting in front of it. She'd been working on the cloak shield this entire time and he hadn't had the chance to see her.

"Hey," he said quietly as he came to a stop.

She gave him a nervous smile, taking his helmet from under his arm and kissing the faceplate lightly before placing it on his head and activating its pressurized seal.

"Keep your promise," she said as she tapped the side of his helmet softly, "come back in one piece."

He nodded, the movement exaggerated inside the helmet. He raised a gloved finger and stroked her cheek gently, causing her lekku to shudder in a rippling wave.

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

She nodded and stepped aside, "go get them."

He climbed into his fighter and ran his checks, everything was green; he keyed Shadow's com.

"Shadow lead is lit and green."

One by one the Shades called their numbers, eleven lit and green. He flipped over to the unit wide com.

"Hades One-One is a go."

"Hades Two-One," answered Wyvern leader, "green lit all."

Harth's deeply calm voice came next, "Hades Three-One, green."

"Hades Four-One," Toth said cheerily, "running green and ready."

Next was Reaper lead, "Hades Five-One has all green."

And finally Golem; "Hades Six-One is green and cleared for action."

Garin nodded, smiling inside his helmet, "all callsigns launch by numbers."

The Defenders, Avengers, and Diamond Blues dropped from their cradles and flew out in three ship flights, below them on the flight deck the Star Wings, Blastboats, Howlrunners and Scimitars lifted off in their flights and followed the TIEs into space. The fighters formed up in formation with the Knight with parade precision; Garin felt his blood burning with excitement as the order to jump was given and star points turned to lines of light and then fused into a shimmering tunnel. Garin reached down as his fighter soared through hyperspace, his hand hovering over his waist where the buckle Daru had given him rested beneath the flightsuit. This was it his mind told him, the war, he could feel that the war, or at least his part in it, would come to a head here and he was going to survive whatever happened and come back. He had to, he wasn't about to break his word.

*Scimitars have a crew of two