"It is a longstanding tradition that the future heroes of the galaxy have an amazing ship, with a crack pilot and powerful weaponry," Admiral Nadodon said.
"Are they all named after goofy birds?" Theron asked. He and the Admiral were standing alone in the hangar where a black and red republic freighter was docked and awaiting its skeleton crew. "Or is it just this one?"
"The Crimson Eagle is a majestic and strong subspecies of the Vratixan Blood Eagles of Thyferra," the admiral retorted indignantly. "The name is not 'goofy.'"
Theron snorted at the name of the ship again. "It so is."
"It is not," the admiral snarled.
"All due respect, Ma'am, it is," a man said as he walked up. He was wearing a maroon flight jacket and black pants with two pistols strapped to his hips. He walked with an arrogant gait that easily mirrored his face. His eyes were half closed like he was bored with the world around him, and he had a slight, smug grin. He walked up to Theron and held out his hand. "Commander Van Taas, best pilot and best shot in the galaxy."
Theron scoffed. Admiral Nadodon shook her head. "He's serious, and right. He has numerous medals and accolades, including first prize in the Han Solo Kessel run four years ago. The youngest victor since Solo himself."
"Oh," Theron said. "Okay. So, real deal, then. Great to have you aboard." Theron took Taas' hand and shook it vigorously.
"He will be your pilot, military liaison, and tactical advisor," the admiral explained of the fair haired man. "He is an invaluable asset in the field."
"Ah, so you're the famous 'Gray Jedi' from the mid-levels," a second voice said. It was a woman this time, mid-twenties. She had auburn hair that matched the red and black armor of the Imperial Knights that she wore, armor complete with both a standard saber and a shoto. Her eyes were a piercing amethyst. "I've been keeping an eye on that. Making sure you weren't a threat to the Empire."
"More of a 'Moffdom' now, isn't it?" Theron retorted.
"You're a 'Force Amateur,' aren't you?" the woman responded. "I'm Imperial Knight Ana Terova, information agent."
"She got you, man," Rhen said while he walked up. He had a pack slung over one shoulder and was wearing casual clothes, just a shirt, pants, boots and a jacket. "I need an introduction?"
Theron laughed. "No." Theron laughed again.
"What do you find so entertaining?" the admiral asked.
"Oh, well, you guys sent buddies, boobs, and best pilot here to influence me. I don't mind, of course. There's worse people to hang out with. And I don't doubt boobs over there looks good in casuals. Best pilot has got star power. And who doesn't want to travel the galaxy with a good friend? It's just so predictable," Theron explained.
Ana snarled at Theron. "Do not call me 'boobs.' Unless you want to be called Dick for the rest of your life."
Theron raised his hands defensively. "You got it, Annie. Annie's good, right?"
The Imperial Knight fumed and turned to Van. "I will be priming the ship for launch," she stated simply. Then she stomped off.
"You don't have any luggage?" Rhen asked Van.
"Nah. 'Boobs' and I had ours delivered."
Theron glanced over at the two snickering at him. "What?"
The admiral shook her head. "Good luck. Your advisers will brief you en route to your first assignment."
"Great," Theron said. "Thank you."
The admiral nodded and walked away from the three. "What?" Theron asked Rhen and Van again.
"Oh, nothing. Let's go check out the 'Crimson Eagle,'" Van said. He walked off towards the loading ramp of the ship alone.
"You stole the mask," Rhen said to his friend.
"Hm?"
"You stole the mask and blamed it on a Sith."
"Yes," Theron responded. He sighed. "I had to put it on to fight the Sith."
"The report from that night says you didn't put the mask on until after your fight with Nihl."
Theron shook his head and sighed. "I -"
"Don't lie to me again," Rhen demanded. He stomped away from his friend and into the ship.
He has a point. He might have some pretty bad trust issues if you betray him like that again. Revan said. I had a friend with trust issues, once. It gets annoying.
"Is there anything I can call you now? I'm going to be taking the name Revan from now on, I use the mask, after all. Can I call you anything else?" Theron asked.
The voice seemed to snicker. You can call me Revan. Use your own name.
"No," Theron said indignantly when he entered the Eagle. He cracked his neck and looked around the ship for a little bit. The Crimson Eagle was a state of the art freighter with aesthetics designed after smuggler ships. Perfect for undercover Jedi that were searching for Sith who may or may not secretly control the galaxy.
Eventually, Theron wandered into the main room. There was a small galactic map table that looked like it doubled as a dejarik table. Lounge chairs surrounded the table and Theron saw after close examination that the lounge doubled as a smuggling compartment. "They really went all out on the smuggling thing, didn't they?"
Theron turned to the source of the disturbance he felt in the Force. Van replied, "Yeah, looks like they did. That's dedication to the cover. I know there's a few I haven't seen, yet. To keep the cover we'll actually have to run drugs and contraband, you know that, right? Alliance has already signed off on it."
Theron shrugged dispassionately. "As long as we don't sell to kids, who cares?"
"That's where the thief draws the line? Drugs to kids?" Ana asked. Theron turned again and saw she had changed into her casual clothes. She wore gray cargo pants with a blood red jacket above a black tank top.
"There's worse places to draw the line," Van said.
Ana narrowed her eyes at Theron. "It is against multiple Imperial, Alliance, and Jedi regulations that the sale of narcotics and illegal items be -"
"Like I said," Van interjected, his arrogant voice only serving to anger Ana, "we got signed off for it."
"That is morally reprehensible," the Imperial Knight said.
Rhen walked in from his dorm and flopped down on the lounge chair. "She's right. We can't do it."
Van and Theron shook their heads. "It's necessary," Theron said. "You do what you must to do what needs to be done."
"That's a very Sith philosophy," Rhen said. He leaned back in his chair and tried to get comfortable.
"Know your enemy, and all that," Van retorted. He grinned. "You know what I mean?"
"Everyone knows what you mean. There was no double meaning to that," Ana snapped.
"Boobs is getting touchy," Van said.
"Pig!" Ana shouted.
"Okay! Calm down. I'm sorry I started that," Theron said to Ana. "It was wrong. I'm sorry."
Theron turned to Van. "Don't keep doing it. We have to live together as part of our cover, so we need to at least pretend we like each other."
Van shrugged in agreement and Ana huffed an affirmation. "Look at you, taking charge like a big kid," Rhen said. "It's heartwarming."
"Thank you," Theron responded. He looked from Ana to Van. "Are we going to be all right?"
The two nodded and the room went quiet. "Okay. Where to first?"
Ana sighed and walked over to the galaxy map. She pulled the map up and the map began to focus on a specific planet. "Of all places? Ossus. Few Jedi want to go back there after the massacre. Even less do. So when one of the five Jedi on a planet disappears, it throws up a few red flags," she explained. "Local authorities have handed over what little evidence they have; it's inconclusive. Following the lead we are, however, it does create a path for us to follow. That's where we'll be headed."
"Great. Let's get this baby rolling," Theron said. He clapped his hands and his crew dispersed.