The Alliance Fleet

[LoAmi 0]

Col. Spacely entered the small room on the overcrowded medical frigate, and was face to face with General Elektrik. The general, who looked something like a bipedal fish, was lying in a bed recovering from wounds he suffered during the Rebel fleet's abortive attempt to regroup at Midbar.

 

Spacely saluted the General, who weakly returned the salute. Elektrik spoke first: "My aide said you had a new report."

 

"Yes, sir. We were able to break the Imperial communication codes. The entire Imperial fleet in the sector is converging on a binary star system."

 

The general closed his eyes, as if in thought. After a few seconds pause, he replied: "Good. They're no longer chasing us. That buys us some time for escape." He breathed deeply, and, after another pause, continued: "Have we found anywhere to go? Another spiral in the Outer Rim where we can regroup and maybe just survive?"

 

Col. Spacely added the new vital information. "General, the Empire's communications tell us that they're chasing a ship from another galaxy. They think it has technology on it that will bring them an even tighter grip on power than they have now. If everything they believe is true, we may not even be safe in any far corner of Outer Rim. And, there's something else."

 

The General concentrated on gathering in the new intelligence. "Go on..."

 

"We encountered this ship's crew on our base at Midbar. They drew fire and provided a diversion for us to escape. Without them, the engineering corps never would have made it out alive. We got a glimpse of their people in action. They are honorable, and may make good allies. Blue Squadron is itching to get back into this fight."

 

The General considered. "How long until we can get the fleet underway?"

 

"We took heavy losses in both battles, but we could have half the fleet underway within the hour."

 

"Get them ready to jump to hyperspace. It seems that we have a debt to repay, whether or not the Imperial technology assessments are accurate."