Gone Rogue

The sun was setting on Port Boomer but the facility was still buzzing with activity. They had returned from their skirmish at Hosnian Prime and their new guests had quickly made themselves at home. The training field was currently full of fighters. The Corellians had landed their E-Wings and the hulking H-Wing on the only open space they could find. They had packed the H-Wing with as much consumables and equipment that they could fit aboard. Under the direction of Rogan Alder, they were setting up small power carts and tech to be able to refuel and rearm. It wasn't perfect but they seemed more motivated and alive than Bren had seen the years before during their forced retirement. The sound of the Vigil's engine winding down was a good sign. The ship had been doing freight and personnel runs back and forth to the Thunderstrike which was hanging in low-orbit. The CR90 Corvette had taken a beating during the skirmish against the Acheron and Ferrous had spent the better part of 9 hours since their return working on the vessel. Their Captain, a husky Mon Calamari who the crew all called "Howler" had come down briefly to meet the people he had just fought for. Talan Prower had arranged for some of the wounded, roughly 40 people, to be brought down and set up in a temporary medical facility they had set up in one of the older Wings of the resort. It wasn't ideal but it was the cleanest room they could find. The facility was still full of muck, foliage, and other plant growths after years of neglect. The Rebels were planning on stabilizing their ship and their people until the Redemption, a EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate modded to be a medical ship, could arrive to collect the wounded. Most of the pilots were in serious condition; however, had Nate and Ferrous not picked them up it could of been much worse. At least a few would live to fly again and the others may not fly but at least they were still breathing.

The Vigil's engines powered off and the landing bay opened. Mal was waiting with his arms on his hips at the ramp hissed down. A fetching human female with shorter hair strode down the ramp, a fierce look in her eyes. A few of the Rebels preparing to load some of the wounded back onto the Vigil stopped what they were doing and took a moment to admire her. Although she was in combat garb, the clothing hung close to her slender body. She made the practical and utilitarian clothing look almost stylish; if that was even possible. She glared at the men and they withered, hurrying back to work. The ferocity of her gaze faded as she saw Mal standing there and she smiled broadly and ran across the ramp, wrapping him in an embrace. Ferrous was striding off the ship behind, toolbox in his hand. He looked satisfied but exhausted - a difficult thing to discern on a Verpine. His face and hands were covered in grease and he smelled like the inside of an engine. Nate approached with Bren in tow and Mal turned to him, grinning.
"Nate, this is Dia," he said motioning to the smiling woman clutching his arm. "She was there when we got out of Kessel," he finished. Dia scoffed and shoved him away.
"More like I busted you scavs out of there," she said. Noticing Bren behind Nate she strode across and gave him a hug as well.
"I see you found some friends there," she said motioning to the Squadron of E-Wings. Bren shrugged,
"What can I saw, people like working with me," he said casually. She laughed and turned back to the others, face growing a bit serious.
"I heard about Sora. I'm sorry for your loss," she said. Bren and Mal grew quite, nodding solemnly. "Is there a place where we can all talk which isn't on a crowded ramp," she said. Mal nodded and motioned to the impromptu command center they had set up in one of the old viewing galleries.

The gallery presented an amazing view. Bren and Ferrous looked out at the sunset and the hustle and bustle of Port Boomer below them as the others cleared off the table. He put a hand on Ferrous shoulder and smiled.
"Good to have you back old friend," he said. Ferrous responded with a toothy grin. Mal cleared his throat and they turned to see everyone taking their seats at the table. They had been joined by Rogan Alder, the Corellian who seemed to be in charge. He was an older man with a close cropped beard. Although his age was clear his eyes bore the twinkle of years upon years of experience. Dia Suvan sat beside another female in an orange and white rebel jumpsuit. She had introduced herself as Talan Prower and Rogan had spent quite a bit of the day yelling at his other pilots to stop gawking at her and get back to work. She was distractingly beautiful and one of the best pilots the Rebels had to offer. Mal was standing at the head of the table, leaning down on his outstretched arms. The room grew quiet and all eyes turned to him. He nodded, appreciatively and turned to Dia, who smiled and stood up. Mal took his seat, leaning back in his chair. Nate had leaned back and placed his feet up on the table with his arms behind his head - quite relaxed.
"First off, I'd like to thank you for the use of Port Boomer. We wouldn't of been able to care for all the wounded on the Thunderstrike. You saved lives today," she said. Talan nodded and chimed in, looking to Nate and Ferrous. "I'd also like to thank you two, on behalf the Rebellion and from myself, for rescuing my pilots. I don't know if they will all make it but that was risky business in the middle of a dogfight like that," she said. Nate smiled and bowed his head in thanks.
"So where do we stand now," Dia said. She pulled out a datapad and made a few keystrokes. She turned it back to the rest of the table. It appeared to be displaying Imperial News Notices with all of their faces on it.
"You've been labelled as Rebel sympathizers and terrorists - welcome to the club." she said smiling. "The Imps don't like to lose, especially not on their own turf. You're going to have to lay low for a bit for some of the heat to die down. As of right now, every bounty hunter in the region is going to be out looking for you. Your only advantage is that you're relatively hidden here," she said motioning to the room.
"Not as hidden as we would like," Nate said. "My former employer knows where we are and we just royally pissed off him and whoever the hell that Gank was. What was his name again? Boost? Dog? Something like that". Nate scoffed. Mal nodded in agreement. Rogan leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table.
"True, but any true tactician knows that the time to strike is immediately following a conflict. You can retake the initiative and hit them at their weakest," he said. "That Gank was a Clan Warmaster, I could tell by the ribbons and marks on his armor. We were lucky we escaped with our heads. Furthermore that was a Keldabe Class Battlecruiser. If he wanted to kill us we wouldn't be sitting here enjoying that sunset we would be vaporized in a crater." he finished, Talan and Dia nodding in agreement. Dia looked at them with a sympathetic look.
"Unfortunately, that is your problem. Talan and I have an Empire to fight and the Alliance can't afford a shadow war against the cartel," she said. Talan turned to Rogan with a curious look on her face.
"Are you going to stick around here? This isn't your fight so why are you still here?" she asked. Rogan frowned and looked out of the windows at the sunset.
"I have asked myself that quite a few times since we arrived. But then I look out there at what is going on," he said motioning to the out-of-sight training field below where the Squadron was parked. "Those men were dying - without purpose. This is the first time in 8 years I have seen them actually care about something. They believe in something and they haven't believed in anything in a long time," he said quietly.
"What do they believe in? Fighting Hutts?" Talan asked. Rogan chuckled and shook his head.
"No, they believe in him," he said pointing a meaty finger towards Bren. Ferrous nodded vigorously. Talan pursed her lips and her eyes swept to Bren who she studied intently. The Corellian was quiet during the exchange but there was a proud and stoic look on his face.
"Well then, looks like you're not completely alone," Dia said to the group. "Talan can you give us a state of play here?" she asked. Talan nodded in reply.
"The Thunderstrike took a beating. Thankfully your mechanic here helped us save it which the Alliance is grateful for. Our fleet is quite limited so any ship we can save can make the difference for us. Once the Redemption is here we will transfer the wounded and keep moving. We don't like to keep the Redemption stationary for long and the Thunderstrike is due in to report to General Solo at our base on Hoth. I'll be flying escort with the Redemption until we get can it somewhere safe. I've convinced Howl to leave some consumables behind as we have tapped your stores here. I also wrangled a water purifier from its bays which your Verpine friend here installed into your base's systems. You don't have to drink any of that ionized junk anymore as your taps will flow clear. Lastly, an excitable Selonian hitched a ride on the Vigil to the Thunderstrike. She said that we owe her a ride to the nearest friendly port and 'wants nothing to do with this stanging war'. Just so you know she's safe." she said.
"Thanks Talan," Dia said. "Now this brings us to the most pressing matter." she began grimly. She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and then looked each of them in eyes, one-by-one.
"Exeden has gone rogue," she said and let that sink in. "I don't know where he is or what he was planning. Noble has taken some significant losses in the past few weeks. Stragos and Tarash were captured and killed by the ISB. Corana has gone missing so it was just Exeden, Talan, and I left. He kept going on about how what the Alliance High Command was drastic enough to win the fight. I thought he was just grieving but one day he had just left." she said quietly. "It wasn't until Talan and I went through his stuff that we realized he had been working with some bad people. After he sold your location to the Jiramma Kajidic there was mass dissension in the Squad. No one was happy he had done that, regardless of the heat it brought down on us. He began to have all his Command meetings in private. We found out during a recon with some other Alliance fighters that he hadn't checked in to Command in weeks. Turns out he had kept talking with the Kajidic. You see, the Jiramma's have a huge market on Imperial Secrets. They work both sides, moving goods and information for the Imperials only to sell that information to the highest bidder. They apparently sold some of that information to Exeden. We don't know what he gave them in return, were out of credits, but we think it was data on Alliance movements...he sold out our own soldiers." she said with a fire in her voice.
"Exeden had me scouting an Imp Compound on Vinsoth which I figured was just a recce for a hit. Turns out there was some heavy Imperial ordnance moving through the compound. When our fighters hit the compound, Exeden shot two of our guys and took off with this crate full of Imperial Quantum Explosives". she finished. Rogan whistled in amazement.
"One of those could take out a small city if placed correctly," he said. Dia nodded grimly.
"We don't know where he is or what he is planning. I have some leads I'm following up on but it's slow-going. Alliance Command doesn't believe that their poster boy of Noble Squad could go off book. So they've white washed it. Told everyone he's undercover and doing some big mission. I'm worried he's going to hit a city or something. Kill a lot of innocent people. The Alliance can't take that kind of press not now. Not to mention that it makes us no better than the Hutts or the Imperials if we start blowing up cities for the name of a cry for justice." she said and starts to pace the room.
"I know you have your own battles to fight. But I'm asking you for help. They way I see it is you couldn't escape that mess alone so you owe us. I'm not calling in the favour, I'm asking you as friends," she said with a smile. "When I find out where he is I'll call and I need you to come help. Exeden is one of the most intuitive and resourceful fighters we have. There's also quite a few people still loyal to him - all just as corrupted as he is. He's not going to go down easy and I'll need your help." she said. A command bracelet on Talon chirped and she keyed a button.
"REDEMPTION JUST CAME OUT OF HYPERSPACE. COMMENCE LOADING" A garbled voice sounded through the comms. Talan stood and up and motioned to Dia. "We gotta go," she said. Dia nodded and grabbed her pack.
"I'll be heading to Hoth to help shore up the defense. With Exeden gone Noble Squad is finished. Howl took me on as a Staff Sergeant for the front line," she said struggling to keep the pride from her voice, Dia stopped and took one last look at the room.
"You have the potential to make a real difference. Don't waste it," she said and left the room with Talan in tow.