I'm back, loyal readers, and apparently so is Drakken. Know what they say...you can't keep a good man down. That, and he's far too stubborn to stay injured for long. Let's jump right in, my friends. Enjoy!

"Second squad, clear that room! First squad, move up to provide security! Move it, move it, move it!" Drakken yelled, moving purposefully down the passageway, giving Lago a couple raps on the back of his helmet to hurry the young stormtrooper along. Felian's team breached a door and cleared a room so quickly, Daraay's security element barely had time to get into their positions. Drakken mopped at the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. He holstered his blasters and looked at his timer. "And stop! At ease!"

They had been training for four days straight, spending their mornings at target practice and their evenings in hand-to-hand drills. Tharcourt had also been frantically indulging them in every conceivable combat scenario; ship boarding, urban warfare, ambush and counter-ambush tactics. Today was no exception. Tharcourt knew that it was only a matter of time before his team was sent on another suicidal mission, and wanted them all to be ready, to be at the top of their game, no matter what Vader and the rebels threw at them. He looked over to see Gallen sitting slumped against the wall of the training facility, red in the face, and huffing.

"Getting old, son?" Tharcourt jested, and held out a hand. Gallen let out a short laugh, and let his commander help him up.

"Don't think we ever trained this hard before, commander…" The sniper commented. "Any special reason?" Drakken panted for breath himself, and wiped his forehead again.

"Yeah, chance favors the prepared mind." Tharcourt answered. "Remember our last little incident?" Gallen wiped at the scuff on his helmet.

"Whoo…how could I forget?" He returned. "What a drag."

"Exactly." Drakken nodded. "Hey…everyone gather round." The entire unit moved to one of the larger alcoves, and Tharcourt stood before them as they all caught their breath and took drinks from their metal canteens. "I bet you're all wondering why we're hitting it so hard lately. Well, I'll tell you. It's because we've won. We've always won…and winning means beating the enemy, but it also means all of us staying alive to enjoy it. The rebels are getting better. I guess you all noticed, huh?" A few of them nodded. "They have more experience, and more stomach for the fight now. The better your enemy gets, the worse you get inversely. I'm not going to let that happen. So we're going to train" He paused a moment. "I want all of you to make it back."

"No worries, sir." Coleth said. "We're the best, and we'll keep being the best." Drakken averted his eyes.

"We always got out of scrapes before, right boss?" Ekks added. The Corellian grinned. "So what if we gotta train more. You got the smarts, and we got the skill to do anything."

"Eh…just have to keep learning." Drakken countered. "We all do. I do. You stop evolving, you go extinct."

"Then we keep right on evolvin', right love?" Freya said with a smile. He gave her a nod.

"Alright fellas, that's enough training for today, I think. We're supposed to have a mission soon. I'm to go get briefed tomorrow morning. You guys hit the showers and grab some rats. Dismissed." They all shot him one form of salute or another, and filed out of the training hall. All except for Thorne, Felian and Dall. Sergeant Felian stood next to Tharcourt, watching the men leave.

"Something bothering you, sir?" The scout asked.

"Our last mission…it was a Hell of a fiasco." Drakken said in a low voice. "And who kriffing knows what we'll be facing down next time."

"That is true, sir." Felian agreed. "And I like to think this unit is about as ready for anything as any squad could be."

"But?"

"We are soldiers, sir." Felian stated. "I guess we all have to face the inevitable at one point or another."

"That old question, eh? The answer is always the same though. Does no good to be dead." Drakken said stoically. "Can't get anything good done that way, sergeant."

"Hm. No sir."

"I'd rather us…prolong that inevitability as long as possible." He gave a small smile to the sergeant. "Think I've gotten sort of attached to you boys." Felian smiled a little himself. "I don't want to do war with any less."

"It's a good thing war is so bad." Felian quoted. Drakken nodded.

"Or else we would grow too fond of it." He finished the old adage.

"Sir." Felian saluted, and Tharcourt returned the gesture. Sergeant Felian left the room, and Dall, who had been loitering near one of the doorways, made his way over.

"Getting sentimental, sir?" The medic asked.

"Maybe." Drakken answered. "Happens when you live to get old."

"You know commander, we've been lucky so far." Dall began. "We've only lost one man since you started this outfit. I think some of them are letting it go to their heads."

"Mets and Coleth." Tharcourt grumbled.

"And Ekks." The unit surgeon added. "I think it's even starting to rub off on Lago." He scoffed. "Gallen's always been cocky."

"I know what you're about to say, doc." Tharcourt sighed.

"You said you didn't want to lose anybody. You know that's going to happen, sir." Dall advised. Drakken huffed.

"Yeah. We've both seen it. Doesn't mean we can't do everything we can to prevent it." He said. Dall nodded.

"I know what you mean. To be honest commander, this unit has been a damned headache since the start." Tharcourt smirked at the statement. "All the risks and close calls…Ekks stealing my stuff…having to listen to you when you get injured…sir." Drakken chuckled, and Freya giggled. Dall grinned. "But it's a migraine I wouldn't trade for something else. I take life personally, you know?"

"So do I." Drakken stated. "Guess we have that in common, Dall."

"What?"

"It's up to both of us to keep these guys alive and kicking." Corporal Dall pursed his lips and gave a knowing nod.

"They're so bad at doing it themselves sometimes." He quipped, then raised his eyebrows. "Better than regular troopers…good grozen…better than the regs."

"Dall?"

"Yessir?"

"Any way you can put a small bacta tank in the shuttle?" The medic gave him an incredulous look.

"Wh…in the ship? It's already full of junk as it is, commander…and do you know how much power those things suck?" Drakken put a hand on Dall's red pauldron.

"I only asked if you could do it." He said innocently. The medic sighed, deflating a little.

"Yeah, sure…why not?" He finally answered.

"Good. Can you do it in a day or two?" Drakken added. Dall puffed up, then deflated again.

"No, but it'll probably get done anyway." He grumbled. "Because it's…this unit."

"Exactly. Now go get some chow, and grab whoever you need to help you. Tell the supply guys I sent you."

"I'm on it, sir." Dall said defeatedly, sent up a salute, and left the training hall. Freya gently bumped her head into Drakken's.

"Think it'll be as bad as all that?" She asked.

"Maybe…" He said. She frowned, and he let out a sigh. "No sense in worrying about tomorrow, love. We're here right now." Drakken gave a morbid, slightly twisted grin. "I used to say that to my people back on Garos." Thorne cocked an eyebrow up.

"Me da always said…live in th' moment, ye'll live longer, 'e did."

"Your father sounds like he was full of useful advice." Drakken commented. "Lucky. Mine was full of bantha crap." They started to walk across the training hall floor together. "Though he did say one thing I have to admit had some truth to it…the bastard."

"What was that?"

"Loyalty and duty are words made up by people in power to keep the little people in line." He grumbled. "Can't believe the braindead old fool was right about that."

"Hol' on a minute, Drakken…" Freya argued. "Me big yin has the loyalty a' his people. He's a good man an' takes care o' them an' protects 'em. He really loves his people, an' they think he's a right good chieftain."

"Good on him." Tharcourt said blandly. "He's a rare one then."

"Ye gotta be loyal tae somethin'."

"I'm loyal to you." He said. Freya smiled a little.

"An why's that again?" She fished. He scoffed.

"Oh…probably because you take care of me and protect me." He said. "And you love me." She smirked.

"Me ma always said I took after me da." Freya remarked. "Gie 'er the fits, it did."

"Why's that?" Drakken asked, happy the conversation had turned away to anything but his darkest thoughts. "He sounds like a great guy."

"Aye. But wen I say I took after 'im, I meant it. Comin' hame all clarted an' filthy, tellin me unfittin' jokes at the table an' causin' an uproar. Wrestlin' with th' lads in the garden. I wasnae much of a lass." They came to their hatch, and entered the commons room. It was empty with all of the troopers in the mess hall. Freya giggled. "I'm still nae much of a lady." Drakken stopped and turned her toward him.

"You're the only lass I'm interested in." He said. "That should tell you something." She smiled, leaned in and kissed Drakken on the lips.

…...

"Attention on deck." Drakken announced with little enthusiasm as he entered the commons room. The nine members of Delta-7 had been waiting on him to return from his briefing, and now they all stood and saluted. Tharcourt scowled and waved a hand dismissively. "I was being sarcastic, boys and girls. Everybody gather round the table." The team formed a circle around the briefing table, allowing Thorne, Felian and Daraay the best spots.

"We have a mission." He stated simply, and tossed a projector pad onto the table. A hologram of a large starship appeared, the image slowly turning to allow everyone to get a good look at the enormous luxury vessel. "This is the Imperial Mail Starship IMS Princess Latania. Apparently, it's the largest and most luxurious passenger ship to cruise the Hydian Way. Fastest too. And first-class tickets are out of any of our budgets. Believe me, I checked." There was a round of chuckles. "But it looks like we all get a free trip out of this mission. We're to board The Princess Latania at Kuat, and guard the vessel until she makes port in Eriadu."

"And why, praytell, dae a ship like that be needin' our attention?" Freya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…because…" Tharcourt answered in a hesitant voice, "Intel thinks rebels may try to board and hijack the ship. There are quite a few Coruscanti movers and shakers that are going to be aboard, and the ship…ahem…" He trailed off.

"Sir?" Felian urged.

"The ship has in its cargo bay materiel deemed important to the ongoing war effort."

"Wait, they're carrying weapons…in a civilian ship, sir?" Gallen half-exclaimed. Tharcourt huffed.

"Not sure what they're carrying, but apparently marauders have hit dozens of Imperial cargo ships as far inward as Corellia, and so they tried to sneak it past them on this big old ship. Only ISB says the word is out."

"An' now they think the rebs'll be goin' after this ship." Thorne concluded.

"Exactly. They want us to board and act like normal Imperial security. That means with the exception of Gallen, you all have to wear your white armor." A few of them groaned.

"That's the pits…" Mets complained. "Our old armor was trash."

"Yeah, and white doesn't camo against anything." Coleth added.

"Except snow." Lago offered to the scout trooper duo.

"What in the Hell are you going to be blending into aboard a luxury starliner anyway?" Drakken asked. "I'd rather you all wear the better stuff too, but this is an anti-piracy operation, not a karking direct action. There's a chance the rebels won't bother with a ship that size. As far as I know, they're not up to killing innocent civilians either, so we should have an advantage if they do decide to board without tickets."

"So we basically get to ride the fanciest ship in the galaxy, free of charge…" Gallen commented. "…and all we have to do is do a job a few security guards could do." Tharcourt pointed a finger at him.

"Watch the wishful thinking." He stated. "But hopefully, yeah. I want all of you to pack extra weapons, put them in luggage, I want them hidden until we need them. Don't want to scare the passengers. I'll assign good posts once aboard, and we'll rove around like bumbling security troopers, and hopefully nothing will happen."

"And if they do get onboard?" Coleth asked.

"I want speed and precision." Drakken replied. "I want any pirates dealt with cleanly. I know we're officially protecting whatever they have down in the bottom of that ship, but I don't want a single civilian harmed. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Drakken stared at the holoimage of the luxury liner in silence for a few moments. It was a huge ship, not a fraction the size of The Executor, but as far as civilian vessels went, it was practically a flying metropolis. He did the math before the briefing…

At eight hundred and eighty five meters in length and ninety-five wide, Princess Latania was larger than some capital ships, and held even more people within her hull. On this voyage alone, the liner would carry five hundred and eighty first class passengers, the crème of Coruscant, Corellia and other core worlds. In tourist class, over two-thousand sentients would be traveling in relative comfort and style. On the lower decks, three thousand poor and working-class passengers would be commuting to other worlds on the massive ship. Add to this some twelve hundred crew, and assorted musicians, singers, Imperial soldiers and the odd stowaway, and Tharcourt knew he'd have his hands full with this assignment. He sighed and shut off the holoprojector. He looked up at his team.

"We leave tomorrow."

….

Drakken walked through the ornate hatchway, and like the rest of Delta-7, stopped to take a look around. They were standing in the grand entryway into the First Class section of the ship, and for a moment, it seemed as though they had walked into some sort of palace or opulent hotel. The large, open room was floored with a glossy, tile-like material, with a plush red and gold carpet covering the entirety of the center of the area. Benches, upholstered in some sickeningly fine material, and small tables with matching chairs lined the walls, where hung exquisite works of art. Above, a fine, crystalline chandelier hung from the ceiling, and a rock waterfall stood next to the entrance. There was even a sculpture in one corner of the room.

"I've…never seen digs like this before…" Gallen muttered.

"Stars…me parents prolly ne'er seen luxury the likes o' this." Freya agreed.

"Murrnurnur-bwip-nurnurr." Glitch seemed to agree with his compatriots.

"On the clock." Tharcourt reminded them, noticing a well-dressed human man in a garish peaked cap and gold epaulettes approaching. The troopers all stood at attention as the newcomer gave them a cursory glance before singling out Drakken.

"Ah yes…alright…you have to be the Imperial unit sent to guard the ship." He said, then gave the commander a friendly but tired smile. "I'm Captain Villum Furmer. I should welcome you all aboard." Tharcourt relaxed a little and held out a hand to the captain.

"Commander Drakken Tharcourt." He greeted. "Good to meet you, sir." Furmer nodded.

"You people um…truly think there's a threat to this ship and my passengers, Commander?" The captain asked in a low voice. His eyes watched a small group of well-to-do passengers pass by.

"Well captain, that is what was told to me." Tharcourt stated. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be here disrupting your ship's operations like this." Captain Furmer smacked his lips.

"Disrupt…disrupt away, sir…if there's danger of attack. My passengers and my ship are my top priorities here."

"Captain, I'd like to get an idea of the layout of this ship, if that's alright." Drakken said. "Especially the cargo hold, but also the entry hatches, the engine room and the escape pods." Furmer nodded.

"Of course." He motioned to another man who was wearing similar garb, but with less gilding. "My second officer, Cuthbert Lights will give your men the grand tour, and show them their accommodations." He placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulder. "Show them to engineering and the forward holds. Then take them up the crew passages and let them see everywhere someone could board."

"Consider it done, sir." The second officer nodded.

"Thorne, go with." Drakken said. "You have a mind like a file disk. Try to commit as much of it all to memory as you can, and draw me up a few maps if you don't mind." She smiled a little.

"I'll be happy to, C'mander." She returned. He shot her a furtive wink. As Lights led the rest of the team away, Tharcourt turned back to the captain. "I'd like to walk with you, sir. Never been on a space-going something like this thing, and I'd like to get an idea of what I'm in for." Captain Furmer chuckled.

"Right. If you don't mind tagging along while I greet a few passengers, you can accompany me to the bridge afterwards. I'll try to fill you in, commander."

After speaking with some of the passengers, some of whom Drakken learned were Kuat construction executives, Coruscanti bankers and a few Mid-Rim shipping magnates, Captain Furmer led him out of the luxurious first-class areas, and into a more utilitarian-looking section of the ship. They passed along a corridor, up a turbolift, and down another passageway flanked with quarters for the ship's officers and purser. Finally, they came to a large hatch and entered the bridge of the vessel.

"Here we are, commander…" Furmer announced. "The nerve center of the most beautiful starliner ever built. As you see, we have every sensor array and early warning system available…and some so new they aren't."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about ships, captain." Drakken admitted. "I'm just usually stationed on one. My old friend Captain Piett could talk for hours about this stuff." He watched two crewmen working away on some sort of large terminal. "You say it's pretty safe?"

"Oh stars, I should think so." Captain Furmer said happily. "Your team is being shown the lower decks, and I'm sure your lieutenant will mention our escape pods. Enough for everyone on this ship plus some, and located on every deck. We also have fire suppression systems on every deck." He pointed out a small terminal on a bulkhead. "And this interface? I simply press a few buttons and airtight hatches throughout the ship seal shut, dividing the Princess Latania into sixteen airtight compartments, each with their own redundant power and life support. Why, this ship could be split into two halves, and the passengers and crew could sit safely and wait for rescue."

"Hm." Drakken mused. "What about other measures…security for instance. There a security team? Are there weapons aboard?"

"Well, myself and every officer has access to a small supply of blaster pistols." The captain answered. "And the Master-At-Arms normally has three men under him for security. Since all this hulabaloo, the company added eight more security personnel, one for each passenger deck."

"That's not a whole lot for a ship this size…"

"This is a passenger vessel after all, not a ship of war." Furmer declared. "Yet against my better judgement, we are carrying military cargo." He sighed defeatedly. "I don't like it, sir."

"Neither do I." Tharcourt agreed. "But it is what it is, I suppose. We'll keep the pirates off your ship best we can, captain." Furmer nodded. "The minute your men get any unknown contacts on the sensors, or a ship that seems even a little off, let us know."

"I will be sure to." The captain replied. "Hm. Pirates. Thought that was an Outer-Rim thing." He scoffed. "I take it you have experience with this sort of thing."

"I sort of cut my teeth on boarding operations." Tharcourt assured him. "As long as they don't come in a battle cruiser, I'm sure we can handle them." Captain Furmer laughed.

"Yes, let us hope." He agreed jovially. "Meanwhile, you and your men can enjoy the hospitality of my ship. I can't, for obvious reasons let your men dine in first-class, but they can eat in the officer's mess. It's just down the hall from here, and we get second-class fare three times a day. Far better than military food, no doubt." It was now Drakken's turn to chuckle.

"Not too difficult." He commented. "And I'm grateful. Sure the boys are too."

"As Imperial officers, you and your lieutenant can dine at the Purser's table in the first class saloon." Furmer added. "I'm sure with this blasted war on, the passengers would be happy to see a pair of Naval officers aboard." Drakken hummed uninterestedly. He had nothing against Captain Furmer. Far from it. Furmer seemed like a very amiable man and dutiful commander. He was however, a civilian, and obviously had no real experience with this sort of threat. The captain was viewing the whole situation as an inconvenience, and was wholly confident in the strength and safety of his ship. Tharcourt felt a little uneasy at that.

Too often, it was easy to place your faith in technology instead of accounting for the fallibility of sentients. It was the same with Tarkin and the Death Star; build a big enough, powerful enough machine, and you can eliminate the fear of the unknown and the unpredictable. Such thought was dangerous, and Commander Tharcourt knew it. Nothing built could not be destroyed and nothing alive could not be slain. He offered the friendliest smile he could muster.

"Thank you, captain." Drakken said. "I suppose I can at least get a good meal out of all of this." Furmer chuckled again.

"And you can stay while we cast off." The captain added. He checked the chrono on the bulkhead of the bridge. "Which is in just a minute now. It's always exhilarating, taking out a liner of this size. Nothing like it, sir." Furmer looked to an officer. "Mister Hefford, start engines."

"Start engines!" The First Officer of the vessel called out. A crewman worked at this terminal, and Drakken felt a slight roll as the massive liner came to life. A few moments later, Hefford announced, "Engines on standby, sir."

"All ahead…dead slow." Furmer ordered.

"All ahead. Dead slow!" Hefford called. The engineers on the bridge carefully pushed levers, and through the wide window at the front of the bridge, Tharcourt watched the ship began to move forward in relation to Kuat down below. Captain Furmer beamed.

"You see sir…nothing like it." He reiterated. Drakken didn't want to spoil the man's mood by talking about riding in a shuttle through a massive space battle, so he just acquiesced with a nod. "What do you think of her?"

"I think you would get along with Piett." Drakken commented. "The man has a better eye for ships than I do. I'm just a soldier, captain."

"There are masters of the land, and there are masters of the stars, Commander." Furmer stated philosophically. "I always preferred being the latter." A steward appeared with a cup of tea on a saucer, and the captain took it with a grateful nod. He stirred the contents of the cup gently before taking a sip. The ship had now moved out of orbit, and was nearing a beacon in orbit around the industrial world. Captain Furmer smiled lightly. "Take her to space, Mister Hefford." He said proudly. "Let's stretch her legs."

Uh...before you go running to the comments to inform me that I'm sort of ripping off the Titanic, I want to get the story straight. I'm ripping off the stories of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania, The Empress of Ireland and the Britannic here in this arc. All rolled into one, set in the Star Wars Universe, with the team aboard! Heheheh...yes, this is gonna make for a lovely plotline. If you don't know, I'm a HUGE maritime disaster historian, and so I've wanted to do something like this for a while. I had this arc planned from the START.

Now, onto business. I have a huge show in a few days. The biggest of the season. No, strike that...this is the biggest, most important show I've done since I acquired my small circus two years ago. I'll be in the big city of Cincinnati, at the International Steampunk Symposium. If you're in the region, you ought to come out. I'll be there with my sideshow, my daughter will be doing her Harry Houdini/Criss Angel magic stuff, and there's gonna be a TON of events and entertainers. Could make or break my career and get my name out there. So...yeah...no stress or anything...eheheh. If you want to support me, get on the you tube and look up Doctor Drake's Exhibition of the Bizarre. Like and subscribe. Just like on here, I'd love it if you left comments, or just faved this story. My fans are my world.

I'll have a new chapter up soon, my loyal readers! Until then, Cheerio!