Lifedebt

Pike stood in the main conference room of the Dread Omen. He surveyed the others in the room as he flicked through the reports on the holoterminal built into the table. Hayter, his Clawdite agent who he has inserted into Kuat a few days before, was lounging with his feet up on the table. He was leaning back in the chair and was having a jovial conversation with Malcolm Starfall in the chair beside him. Starfall, or Reverend as some of his crew were starting to call him, looked confident and relaxed. The Alliance's files on Starfall were limited but alluded to him being a reckless and self-centered egotist. Everything Pike had seen demonstrated the opposite. The was an aura of command about the man. The others looked to him for guidance and respected his authority. He knew that Starfall was allegedly responsible for the Demeter massacre but he never agreed with that assessment. That vessel had been lost and presumed destroyed. Only when it turned up with a have dead crew did the Provisional Council decide to blame the deaths of the entire crew on an individual. Pike had met killers before. Most of the targets that the Espers were assigned were disgusting wretches which needed to be eradicated - Malcolm was not one of these men.

Across the table, Ferrous drummed his insectoid fingers on the table and looked around the room. He seemed to be evaluating the room from a scientific and structural perspective as far as Pike could read. Verpine had always interested him. Any species which had a different vocal pattern or form of expression felt familiar to him. Verpine were masters of the literal. He often chuckled at some of their naming conventions which were literal word-vomits of incredibly descriptive words. They were masters of technology and some of the most inventive minds in the galaxy. Ferrous seemed a little more cultured than some of the other Verpines Pike had met. He attributed that to his work with CORSEC years before. He would be a definite asset to the team, even with his endless tinkering. Pike had caught him a few times meddling with the systems on the Rebel Dream.

Movement caught his attention and he looked to the end of the table. Their newest companion, Vinaisa Kriegor, sat quietly. She was studying the room and the people in it. Not out of speculation but more for curiosity. She had been pulled out of the bacta a few hours before, after recovering from her skirmish with the Nite Owls. She left the conflict alive, a rarity against their lot, but sported a pretty intense scar on her head. His medical droids had confirmed her age. She was easily 3,500 years old and her body showed the signs of extended stasis. It would be weeks before she was at full strength; stasis of that length took a toll on the body. He couldn't confirm it but he assumed she was a Jedi Knight. They were all but extinct now but his cursory research showed that during the Old Republic there were thousands of them and they essentially acted as the Republic's unofficial government. Everything must be so new for her. The technology, the language, the species. The galaxy had changed a lot in the past three-thousand years. Even her basic sounded off. It was the kind of stuff Pike heard in school when listening to poems and sonnets from long dead writers from the Old Republic.

Movement from the corner of the room caught his eye. He saw Nelani reach over and grab the arm of Bren Novar, the Corellian pilot. She was smiling and laughing soundlessly. She leaned against him and Pike frowned when he noted her give his arm a squeeze before she let go. Bren was talking low enough that he couldn't hear what he was saying but he could read lips quite well.
"-I'd love to show you one of the beaches near our base. You could just bathe in the sun for hours and we could go swimming just the two-" Bren said. Pike turned away, not wanting to see anymore.
"Corellians," he thought. They were all the same. He hoped his young companion would see through the ruse; Nelani was smarter than that.

He rapped the corner of his datapad on the table and the room quietened. He looked quickly behind him to make sure his protocol droid was present and motioned for the others to sit down.
"Thank you for coming," he signed. "First off, congratulations on your successful mission. The Dread Omen is in pristine condition and it will be a tremendous asset to your operations," he signed, ensuring to add the emphasis on their ownership of the ship. He didn't want to deal with the headache of owning an Imperial Vindicator Heavy Cruiser on his own, the Rebel Dream was enough of a nightmare as it was.
"Major Alder has made contact and I have shared our coordinates. He is enroute from your base to rendezvous at our location with Silver Wing and plans to make the Dread Omen his home," he signed. Bren nodded in agreement which was all the consent Pike needed.
"I have been informed on some of your plans for the ship and seen some of the designs from Ferrous. This 'Voice of the Rebellion' sounds promising. I doubt the Provisional Council will be fond of any messaging being promulgated that is not their own but I leave the politics for you to navigate. As far as I can see it, so long as this ship isn't in Imperial hands then I have no issues with how you use it," he finished.
"The crew have been moved aboard from the Rebel Dream and are running full diagnostics. I have topped up your consumables from a Rebel Supply dump so you should be good for the next year but fuel will be a hurdle for you. Resources are the lifeblood of any army and the Rebellion is scarce on them. We can get to that though as I believe there is an opportunity for mutual cooperation," he paced along the head of the table and studied the room.
"It is unfortunate that the Mandalorians decided to make the same play that we did. The skeleton crew on the Dread Omen suffered heavy casualties in the raid. They made off with our shuttle, which only minorly affected my operations, but most importantly stole a considerable amount of supplies. The Provisional Council just brokered an agreement with Bo-Katan Kryze herself for the return of Tarken Caballa. From what I can gather, they bought his act and captured him hoping for a Moff's ransom - which we had to pay. I volunteered the funding given that it was my operation which caused the loss, so you are left with the leftovers. I will have 1,000 credits deposited into each of your accounts and before you ask, Hayter you'll get that in addition to your pay. Since you'll be assigned to the Kajidic Hunters for now that'll be your last pay from the Espers. If history becomes a trend though I believe your work with them will be considerably more lucrative," he signed and the droid prattled off behind him. Hayter nodded appreciatively.
"Onto our next mission then," he signed and tapped a button on the datapad. The lights in the room darkened and an image of a green world filled the center of the table.
"This is Kashyyyk, the Wookie homeworld and currently under Imperial occupation. The Imperials use the Wookies as durable slave labour and Alliance efforts to wrest the planet from Imperial control have all failed. We are not interested in a planetary conquest though. Both the Espers and the Hunters lack the resources for planetary warfare. Instead, we are interested in a specific operation on the planet," he signed and the image changed to that of an older woman in an Imperial Officer's uniform.
"This is Dr. Scori Cardell, she is an Imperial scientist and leads in their weapons research division in the sector. Cardell has recently requested a massive increase in 'candidates' for her work. Hundreds of Wookies are being captured and delivered to a facility here on the planet," he signed and the image changed to an Imperial compound.
"Our plan is to link up with our contact on the ground, a Wookie Chieftan named Traaw, and move in to discern the nature of their operations. I will have the Rebel Dream stationed in a nearby system to draw away their planetary fleet which leaves you a window to sneak in. The Dread Omen will be too large to go unnoticed and we recommend leaving in in the shadow of the moon. The orbital mass will hide the silhouette of your vessel and shelter the approach of your ships, should you choose to employ Silver Wing. Your mission is to infiltrate the compound and discover the nature of the operations on the planet. If you come across Dr. Cardell during the mission her capture could provide valuable intel to the Rebellion, alternatively her death would serve a purpose as well," he signed. The image winked out and the lights slowly faded back to a comfortable level.
"This mission will considerably bolster the Alliance's relationship with Kashyyyk and also potentially prevent an Imperial initiative. As for your own purposes, the compound also holds the fuel stores for the Imperial fleet in the sector, which could provide you enough fuel for the next 6 months if you can get it off planet in time," he signed. He looked to Nelani and motioned for her to follow. He collected his belongings from the table and motioned to them to carry on.
"I'll leave you to your planning," he signed passively, shooting a quick glare at Nelani as she reached out to Bren and squeezed his shoulder in farewell. He walked from the room and looked to his protocol droid which hobbled in tow.
"Find them a new ship," he signed.
"Anything in particular Sir?" the droid asked. Pike smiled and winked at Nelani.
"Something with character".