The Capital Ships of the Patriot Battle Fleet were stationed close enough to each other that shuttling between them took only a few minutes, but the three Mon Cal Cruisers were also positioned so that each could bring full power to their guns, if needed. The Fleet was finally able to assemble in New Republic Space for the first time in months and morale ran high among the Pilots who had remained aboard ship. Those on LOA would have their own lies to tell later....

NEW REPUBLIC SPACE
CRS Windstorm, PBF Flagship
13:51 Ship Time
CO’s Office

The General sat behind the old desk and reviewed the after-action reports on the recent Campaign against the White Guard: Casualty Reports; Lost snubfighters; Fuel consumption; Rations; Disciplinary Charges; Commendations ... *I bet I can find a report on garbage, if I look.* Spokes thought to himself as he lay the batch he had been reading on top of the batch that had been read and pushed back for a breather. Squelch tweedled an inquiry at the unexpected movement. “I’m fine. Is EK on Board?” Colonel Earthkeeper had said he was going to return to the CRS McGrath to check on Gav Phalon, but that had been at least a day ago. Squelch blurped out a negative. “No need to call him.” Spokes answered the droid’s unvocalized question. “What’s the status on our Guest?” Squelch spun the dial of the socket he was plugged into and gave a short whistle. “That soon? Hmmm, I suppose we should be getting ready. The FC doesn’t have a long time to spend in this sector. Has Zero checked in?” A quick affirmative beep. “Good. Go back to monitoring the Fleet. I’m going for a stroll. Don’t page me unless we are under attack.” A happy sounding trill followed Spokes into the corridor.

CRS Windstorm, PBF Flagship
14:11 Ship Time
Officer’s Club

The decibel level could’ve been louder, but not by much. Spokes closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to absorb the various smells that accompanied every bar he’d ever been in as he let the sounds of chatter, laughter and music enveloped him and remembered why he had adjusted so easily to this bunch of wayward heroes.

“Spokes!”

He turned slowly and opened his eyes in the direction of the hail and found himself looking at his new XO. Colonel Fion Grell had missed the early action with the White Guard, but there had been other battles. “Zero, you are always easy to find.”

“Find? Was I lost?” The table of pilots laughed at the joke. Spokes knew that there was truth behind the jest and simply raised one eyebrow as he spied the bottle in Fion’s hand. That nasty green stuff

“That’ll kill you one of these days.” Spokes stated flatly pointing at the bottle as he pulled up into the space that the mixed group of pilots from Green, Fireclaw & Phoenix made for him. Spokes glanced around quickly for Ste, but he had apparently found a better way to spend the evening

“Yeah, sure. Long before the Impies get me.” Fion winked at Spokes as he handed him the bottle. The silence that befell the other pilots surprised Spokes a bit. Apparently, they had tasted Fion’s swill already.

Spokes took the bottle and turned it up and took three slow gulps before lowering it and handing it back to his friend. “Hell, I’ll probably get you before any Imp does.” Spokes said, showing no apparent affect from the Green swill. But, as he had raided Fion’s stash more than once, he knew that you did not drink it for the taste.

“Well, your not here to shoot me today, so I take it you’re here to get the Ceremony started?” Fion and the rest of the Fleet were ready for the Real Party to begin. The Fleet had assembled after a hard Campaign. Various Dignitaries had arrived and been properly pampered and put aside. Dress Uniforms had been pressed and starched and could stand at attention with no one in them...

“We’ve one more guest coming.” Spokes kept it vague. “Then, perhaps we’ll get some well-deserved LOAs and can spend time on Tarsonis...” That was met with uniform approval and Spokes hoped it would be so, but, something had delayed the FC and that did not bode well for someone. “Until then, Gentle Beings, enjoy the downtime we have now.” Spokes pushed back from the table and made the rounds through the OC, taking a moment to talk with old friends and fresh faces alike.

Less than an hour later, Spokes was back at the front of the OC and took a quick look over the crowd of mostly happy faces. “I hope they stay happy, even if we are not on Tarsonis.” He turned and rolled out.

CRS Windstorm, PBF Flagship
16:45 Ship Time
CO’s Office

The doors to his office opened just as Spokes finished reading another report and Fleet Commander Rahj Tharen stepped in quickly so that the door could close all the quicker. Spokes looked up at him with no small surprise and lowered the blaster that had seemed to appear from thin air. Squelch was supposed to have it set so that Spokes knew who was there before the door opened. Spokes had shot others before.

“You may want to keep that handy. Here.” Rahj thrust a small datapad at Spokes and took a seat while he waited for Spokes to read it.

Spokes reached under the desk and pulled out a flask and tossed it to Rahj, who caught it with one hand. “Welcome aboard.”

“Thanks.” Rahj let out a long sigh as he sank into the chair and unscrewed the top of the flask. Took a brief whiff. Then, a longer one when he realized what was in the flask. “This all for me?” He asked jokingly and was surprised when Spokes nodded and waved a hand at him signaling him to enjoy it. Clearly, Spokes already understood the potential ramifications of the short note and was reading it again. “Thanks.” Rahj drank and tried to relax while Spokes read and thought and began to curse the stars that crossed his skies. The memo was disturbingly short:


***TOP SECRET***
To: RS HC
From: Governor Klint, Theseus, Oberon System
Date: 2842.327

Please consider this contact as Priority Alpha Red. We have had several convoys disappear recently. Now, several ships have been detained, boarded and stripped of their cargo. We have conflicting reports about Imperial involvement. Twice, I have had reports of a minor Warlord cashing in on easy prey.

Regardless of the source of the intruders, the RS HC assured us that we would have protection from these incursions.

Send assistance as soon as possible!

***TOP SECRET***


Spokes had read it three or four times before he looked up at Rahj. “This is not good.”

“This is way past not good my friend.” Rahj responded as he came up out of the chair and began to pace about the small office, although it had to be an improvement over the time he’d spent on a Shuttle. “If it is the Empire...”

“...then the Outerrim Wars could reignite.” Spokes finished for him. They both just looked at each other for a moment. Spokes didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Two years ago they had spent months fighting the Empire over rocks, fireballs and chunks of ice. We had won, but at great cost. “Theseus is the only planet in the entire Cadrel Expanse that has any value beyond raw ores and minerals. But, it doesn’t sound like they’ve been attacked...”

“No. They haven’t.” Rahj confirmed. “The reason I’m so late is that I made a quick swing through the Expanse and the Empire still holds Elornia. I did not find any Imperials, but I did tag a small Convoy of Freighters that had Imp IFFs and they should be ours. I want you to make sure no Imp and no Warlord and nobody gets our goods. If we can’t have ‘em, we’ll vape ‘em.”

“Understood.” Spokes reached for the comm unit and contacted the Flight Control Officer.

“Yes Sir.”

“I need two X-Wings prepped for a long hyperjump and two A-Wings to fly escort.”

“I’ve got two X-Wings ready, per standing orders, Sir. But, I’ll have to add extended range capabilities, so I’ll need about 20 minutes.” Major Yawari looked around the Flight Deck and then spoke into the Comm. “Uh, Sir?”

“Major...”

“One of the A-Wings is prepped and ready, but...”

“Never mind.” *Damned Ste’s hide* “Grab the next A-Wing that you can get ready and send it after the others have launched. I’ll download the coordinates directly to the fighters.”

“Aye Sir.” Major Yawari’s hand was sweating as he hung up the Comm. He’d lost a snubfighter on his watch and the Old Man just said “Never mind.” “Someone is watching over me from somewhere.” He said aloud just before he began barking out Orders and the launch bay shifted from down time to battle-ready in a heartbeat.

Spokes hung up the Comm and turned back to the Fleet Commander.

“Problem?” Rahj actually looked amused for the first time since he had arrived. It was either the liquor or he was enjoying himself too much.

“An old one and a small one in the grande scheme. You can consider that Convoy to be debris, but that’s really just a short-term fix.” Spokes was about to think it when Squelch let out a mournful sounding sigh.

“Aye. The Patriot Battle Fleet is going to provide the long-term fix as well. As soon as we wrap up this Award Ceremony you’re going to make sure the Cadrel Expanse stay in our hands.”

“And we’ll be the frontline if this re-escalates the Outerrim Wars.”

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment until Rahj handed the flask back to Spokes.
************************************

Greetings All!!! And, as the Mission says: “Welcome to the Cadrel System”

I am pleased to announce that Colonel Fion Grell is once again serving as PBF XO and has been working hard this month while I have been dealing with a multitude of RL. That seems behind me and I see us getting back on track now.

As you could tell from the Narrative, the Award Ceremony is next and then the entire Fleet is relocating to the Cadrel Expanse. Anyone interested in reading up on the Planets can visit the ORW site at http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/outerrim and click on Planets.

PBF 5.01 Standings so far:

Top Pilot:

CMDR Daniel Rezmann       53       60,655            Green Squadron

Top Squad:

Crimson Squadron                  328      366,885       8 Reports

And the Wings are all close:

1. Crusader Wing                   408      478,442       14 Reports
2. Hope Wing                         381      468,634       12 Reports
3. Valor Wing                         373      410,956       12 Reports

There is still a Full Day to fly Folks, so Fly! Fly! FLY!!!

Out for now.

";)
General Tyrell "Spokes" Borran
PBF Commanding Officer

--The Rebel Squadrons-- a H.I.E.R.* organization--
--(* Honesty, Integrity, Equanimity, Respect)--