Into the Chaos -- Author's note.

Welcome to this chapter of my story 'Into the Chaos'. A Sci-fi story that takes place in the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars universe just after the Great Galactic War, almost 4000 years before the events of the movies.

This is the fifth chapter and if you haven't read the previous ones, I recommend that you do that first.

Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to any Star Wars licenses, including the star ships used in this story.

Some warnings:

This is an erotic sci-fi adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. The series is self-edited, so any mistakes are mine, though I now have a proofreader, that can catch missing words ect. Thanks to Jessejames932006 for doing that.

P.P.S. While you're here anyway, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

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Chapter 5 -- Repairs and training

Various ships, Unknown System

"It is believed by many that the military life is one of adventure and excitement.

In truth, that life more often consists of long periods of routine, even boredom,

with only brief intervals of challenge and danger."

From the Holy Book of War

Starting the repairs - month 1

Just as Keller had predicted, the back-up reactor on the Epsilon-Class repair ship started without a hitch on the third day, enabling the engineers to switch on the all-important life support and fill the ship with breathable air, though it would take at least a day more before the ship was ready to receive passengers.

While the air was filling the ship, the engineers charged the droids and had the cleaning and maintenance droids strip the dead from their armor and place the remains into empty containers, which would later be transported to one of the older wrecks.

As soon as the droids were done cleaning up, half the engineers started to work on starting the ship's main reactor, while the other half moved the maintenance droids to the next ship in line, so the droids could remove the dead bodies there before the engineers would move in and repeat the process.

As soon as Keller gave the go-ahead, the Rendaran-Class Shuttles started to ferry people from Last Chance to the Epsilon Class, slowly emptying the Heraklon-class transport of people. I considered using the Jackpot as well, but unfortunately the Lethisk-class freighter was too big to enter Last Chance's small hangar, so I dropped that thought. Using an airlock was too time consuming, considering that the shuttles could simply fly from one hangar to another.

It took time, but with the crisis averted, the general mood of the fleet was much better, and people took the delay in stride.

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The next three weeks were hectic as the modern Imperial ships were cleaned, repaired, and started up one after another.

Since we needed to train a lot of the former slaves, I had decided to leave just a skeleton crew on the Repair ship and gather most of our people on the fleet's flagship, one of the Dragon-Class Dreadnoughts, as that would make the basic training a lot easier.

That the ships had only been here for three years was an added benefit, as it meant that all the food in the ships was still usable, giving us years' worth of food to use, effectively eliminating my previous concerns about food shortage for the time being.

Before everybody else was moved to the Dreadnought, Chief Engineer Keller wanted to give me a personal tour of the flagship and thus, I had taken Duchess' pinnace to the ship, where the Chief Engineer was waiting for me in the hangar.

"Welcome onboard a Dragon-Class Dreadnought, sir!" He greeted with a wide smile as I exited the pinnace.

"Thank you, Chief Engineer." I said as I looked around in the enormous main hangar.

It had taken a small army of cleaning and repair droids more than a week to remove all the dead bodies, clean the armor and the ship's interior, before they had placed everything back in their proper place.

The result was spectacular, as the hangar was spotless, with row after row of fighter craft hanging from the top rack in the hangar, looking ready to deploy. At only ten meters in length, it was small for a strikefighter, but it looked fast and deadly.

Next to me, Keller had noticed the direction I was looking at and was smiling widely. "You'll be pleased to hear that the starfighter complement in the Experimental Battlegroup is different from that of a normal Imperial Battlegroup. Except for the ones on the repair ship, half the Mark VI Supremacy-Class starfighters have been replaced with the Dromund Kalakar produced M7 Nightsinger, and all the S13 Sting scouts have been replaced with the S13a Super Sting."

"I'm not familiar with these ships, but it sounds like Dromund Kalakar replaced the normal complement of fighters, with their own versions... So, what are the differences?"

"Well, the M7 Nightsinger is an upgrade of the Mark VI, which turned it into a Strike Fighter. It has shields, two more lasers and an additional missile launcher, without giving up much of the speed and manoeuvrability of the Supremacy-class, and perhaps more importantly, it has a hyper drive."

"Let me guess." I said slowly. "It was more expensive and couldn't compete with the Mk VI Supremacy-class?"

"Almost right, sir." He said with a sigh. "It was produced and most likely still is, but the Supremacy-class is so cheap to make, that it's by far the most used starfighter." He shrugged. "It was the same story with the S13 Sting versus the S13a Super Sting. Dromund Kalakar's Super Sting is basically a slightly modified S13, with upgraded weapons, sensor, and communication equipment. All in all, it was the superior craft, but the Sting was easier and cheaper to produce."

Since I didn't know the crafts, he was talking about, I just nodded slowly, assuming I would have time to read up on them.

However, from what he had told me so far, it sounded like the Experimental Battlegroup had been designed by engineers, that didn't know much of how the Empire fought space battles, and just wanted to make the best ships they could.

While that was a commendable goal, in this case it wasn't smart as it resulted in ships that didn't fit into Imperial naval doctrine. At least not when it came to star fighters. According to the lessons at the Chiss Naval Academy, the Imperial doctrine for star fighters was to deploy overwhelming numbers of fast and highly manoeuvrable crafts, like the Mark VI Supremacy-Class, which used a complicated swarm tactic to take down the enemy starfighters, leaving the Republic's capital ships to the Dreadnoughts and Cruisers.

With their largest ship being the five hundred meters long Valor-class cruiser, the Republic didn't really have dreadnoughts and so relied heavily on their starfighters to damage the much larger imperial capital ships, before the republic capital ships went into combat with them.

Consequently, the Imperial main starfighter was a space superiority fighter, like the Supremacy-class, while the Republic main starfighter was a Strike Fighter, like the Liberator-class.

That was not to say that Imperial star fighters didn't attack large ships or that the republic strike fighters didn't go into combat with enemy fighters, it just wasn't their speciality and not the way they were normally used.

With that in mind, making a strike fighter for the Empire wasn't a good idea. Especially not, if you expected it to be the main fighter of the Empire.

I discovered that Chief Engineer Keller was looking at me, like he had asked a question I hadn't heard. "Sorry, Chief Engineer. I just needed to sort out in my head, why your superior design of the M7 Nightsinger wasn't that successful."

"If you come to a conclusion, I would like to know as well, sir." He said with a sigh. "I think it has bothered me ever since."

"Oh." I said and explained my thoughts to him, finishing with. "So, the engineers of Dromund Kalakar built a strikefighter to the wrong navy doctrine. The capital ships and the S-13 Super Sting all had a chance, as they fit into the naval doctrine, but a strike fighter like the Mk. VII simply doesn't fit, since the Empire mainly uses space superiority fighters and I doubt that it'll be produced in any significant numbers by the Empire."

Engineer Keller looked thoughtful for a moment before he said. "I think you're right and I haven't seen it that way before, sir." He smiled a little and changed the subject. "As for the numbers you asked for, the Dragon-class got room for ten wings of twelve fighters, which sums up to one hundred and twenty, but as I said, it's standard procedure to use only half the full complement of fighters during tests." He smiled widely. "It looks like the shipyard at Dromund Kalakar bent the rules somewhat, because while the ship has sixty Mk. VI Supremacy class, it also has sixty M7 Nightsingers." He turned and started to walk down the rows of fighter craft. "There're no bombers, but on the bonus side, there are ninety-six S13a Super Sting scouts, since the leadership at Dromund was showing those off to the Admiral in hope that he would recommend them."

He gestured in the direction of several rows of smaller craft hanging in top racks, just like the Interceptors, and gave me the specs. Admittedly, I was impressed.

At only seven meters in length, the small scout not only had two hard-hitting rapid-fire lasers as most Sith starfighters, but it also had ship-to-ship Ion missiles and hardened armor and shields. As all scouts, it had an excellent sensor and communication suite, and it was both faster and more manoeuvrable than the Interceptor.

In fact, it was so good, that I didn't understand why the leadership at Dromund Kalakar had even bothered to make the Nightsinger, when they already had a starfighter, that despite being a scout could be used as a new and better space superiority fighter at production cost that was only slightly higher than the Mk. VI Supremacy-Class.

Deciding that the ways of the Sith were strange, I nodded at what Keller had said and looked around. It was by far the largest hangar I had ever been in, easily overshadowing even the largest Chiss ships, which a short while ago had seemed like invincible giants. They didn't seem so invincible now, as the Dreadnoughts of the Sith Empire were bigger, better armed, had better shields and their Turbolasers had a longer range than the Chiss Mega Masers. All facts that made me worry about the future of the Chiss Ascendency.

"Chief Engineer Keller, if you have sent the statistics of the Dragon-class to me, I simply haven't had time to read them. You said that the Dragon-class is an improved version of the Harrower-Class, so aside from a greater degree of automatization and slightly better shields, what exactly makes it better?"

He looked like he just remembered something and blushed a little. "Sorry, sir. Sending the statistics to you has completely slipped my mind."

"Not a problem, Chief Engineer. We've all been busy. However, the question still stands: What makes the Dragon-class better?"

"Research, sir." He said with a wry smile. "The leadership wanted a ship that was better than the Harrower, so the design-team went over the most frequently expressed criticism of the Harrower and tried to rectify them. For example, some Harrower captains have complained that the rugged exterior of the Harrower enabled Republic starfighters to fly between the structures on the ships surface, making them impossible to hit with point defence lasers. So, the exterior of the Dragon-class is a lot smoother, and a better point defence system was added."

"Good choice." I commented.

He nodded and continued. "It was also determined that it could use a little extra punch, so the ship has six heavy turbolasers with increased range on the top, enabling the Dreadnought to engage most enemies, before they can engage the dreadnought."

I nodded without saying anything. With the speed that starships flew in, it was normally only good for a single salvo before the enemy was within range of the other weapons, but my experiences from both Alpha Viga and Centauri 21 told me that if used well, the advantage in range could make a huge difference. The downside was that Heavy Turbolasers were even slower to aim and fire than normal Turbolasers, making them useless against anything else than other capital ships.

"However, the biggest change in weaponry between the Harrower and the Dragon, is that the Harrower has four medium Ion cannons, but the Dragon has no less than twelve heavy Ion cannons, though only ten of them can hit a forward target at the same time. We had to limit the number of Proton Torpedo and Concussion Missile launchers to eight each for that, but I think it's worth it."

I raised my eyebrows. That was an unusual high number of Ion cannons, but not unheard of. As far as I remembered from the classes at the Naval Academy, that was the same as one of the Mandalorian battleship types had during the Mandalorian War, and that had proved highly successful.

At least against capital ships. Like the heavy turbolasers, Ion cannons were huge, slow to turn, and the bolts weren't that precise. None of that mattered against a target several hundred meters long, but against starfighters or other fast and nimble ships, it was close to useless.

"Mandalorian style?"

He grinned and looked approvingly at me. "Close, sir, but it really was a throwback to the Centurion-class Battlecruiser, except that newer tech allows the heavy Ion cannons to have a range that matches the medium Turbolasers." Keller scratched his head. "The biggest difference is the lack of the distinctive pronged front of the Harrower. While that was made for faster deployment of the fighters, it had the draw-back of launching the fighters right into the cannons of the enemy, increasing losses significantly. Eliminating the prong also made the angle of the front sharper, enabling more cannons on the side of the ship to fire forward, increasing the overall firepower. Instead, two of the main engines were moved to the sides of the ship, giving room for two large aft hanger doors, allowing for faster deployment of the fighters. Along with the port, starboard and ventral hangars, the Dragon-class can deploy its fighters even faster than a Harrower."

"That seems like a huge improvement over the Harrower."

He nodded. "I agree, but Admiral Vost Hennat's notes will tell you more. After all, they spent months out here, testing the ships." He pointed to the entrance to a side hanger. "This way, sir. I got more to show you."

I followed, but the smaller version of the Phantom-class yacht standing in the smaller side-hangar made me stop and chuckle and look at Keller. "Well, you did say that the Phantom-class yacht was mass produced, but what is it doing here? And why does it look like a mini version of the Duchess?"

He smiled a little. "According to the original plan, the commanding officers on each capital ship had a personal shuttle, which was a Kolareth-Class Imperial Military Transport. Unfortunately, by the time we were readying the task force for testing, all the Kolareth Transports had been swooped up by the Navy, so we just took what was there, which happened to be seven smaller versions of the Phantom-class yacht, and loaded it into the fleet. This mini-Phantom is called a Shark-class."

That made me laugh. "Are they as good as Duchess?"¨

Still smiling, he shook his head. "No, but they do fly very well, have military grade shields and an excellent sensor suite, and we have seven of them. Normally, they're kept in a smaller hanger next to the Commander's quarters."

"So, why is it down here?"

Keller shrugged. "This is the flag ship, so there's two of them. One for the Captain and one for the Fleet commander, but as the ship only has one of the small hangars, the captain's ship is here, while the Commanders ship is at the small hangar."

That made sense and with a nod, I looked over at the Shark again. "It's a beautiful design... What about weapons?"

"Well, it's designed to pass as legal in most systems... even non-Imperial systems... so, it has two heavy Long Shot Laser cannons, and a couple of point-defence lasers."

That made the Shark extremely well-armed for its size, but as with the Duchess, that seemed to be the norm when it came to luxury yachts, which the ship resembled. "You worked on this?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes, but nothing major. I do like the design, though."

"Yes, it is gorgeous." I agreed and looked over at the Chief Engineer. "Any more pleasant surprises?"

"Well, that depends on how you look at it, sir. The other hangars hold four KT-400 military droid carriers, and there's ten Agency-class shuttles in the shuttle hangar bay, while the rest of the starfighters are spread out in the other hangars."

"It makes me wish we had a lot of pilots." I admitted. "Anything special about the Agency-class shuttles? I must admit that I don't know the class."

"Not really." He admitted. "Do you know about the Ministry-class military shuttle?"

I nodded. The Ministry-class shuttle, or the 'Mini' as most people called it, was widely believed to be one of the best shuttles ever made. Relatively cheap to produce, it was fast, agile, and reliable, and had been produced in numbers that, according to the database, rivalled the number of inhabited planets in the galaxy. Even out here in the Chaos it was a common sight.

The armor wasn't great and it was only armed with two laser cannons, but as it was designed to outrun fighters and not fight them, the weapons were only for emergency use anyway.

"Good." Keller said. "Take a Mini and equip it with a hyperdrive, along with a navigation computer, and you have the Agency-class shuttle. It's a good little ship as long as you don't plan on going into space battles with it."

"Nice to know, but not really a surprise."

"Good point, sir." He thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but the only other thing I can think of, is that we got the computers up and running again." There was a chuckle. "They haven't even bothered to change the security codes for new ships since I worked there, so everything is up and running, awaiting the start-up of the main reactor."

I thought for a moment and then said. "Chief Engineer Keller, I cannot explain how grateful I am, that you're here with us. I don't think we could have done this without you."

"Thank you, sir." He said after a short pause. "Honestly, the Master Engineer could do the same. I'm just faster due to the fact, that I'm familiar with the systems."

"I have to disagree, and I hope that you're not planning on returning to the Empire any time soon."

"More like never." He said with a snort. "I never really thought about it before I became a slave myself, but I'm not going to return to a system that allows slavery."

"That sounds fair, and we can talk more about that later... Could you show me the bridge?"

"Certainly, sir." Answered the Chief Engineer and pointed in the direction of the lifts. "This way."

That the Sith Empire had hundreds of years of practice in building warships showed, as the bridge was well designed, with everything placed for easy handling and effective operation.

The first surprise was the commander's chair. Looking like a comfortable throne, it was situated in the middle of the bridge, giving the commander an excellent view of the relevant readouts, which as always included a holographic display. The surprise was that the chair could turn around to face a small open area, clearly designed to be a place where visitors could stand.

"Is that chair standard?" I asked as I studied it. "It seems a bit too much."

The Chief Engineer shrugged lightly. "As I have explained before, a Dreadnought is supposed to project the power of the empire. When people come to visit the Sith Lord that normally commands a Dreadnought, they're supposed to feel like they're meeting a high-ranking representative of the Empire and not just another warship commander." He gestured at the Chair. "Have a seat."

There was a gleam of amusement in his eyes, but even with the force I couldn't detect any ill will in him, so I walked up to the chair and sat down.

"Greetings, sir." Said a male voice from hidden speakers in the chair. "Please place your hands on the armrests."

I looked over at Keller, who nodded with a smile and said, "That is the central computer, sir."

Wondering what was going on, I did as the computer asked me.

"Palm- and fingerprint accepted." The voice continued. "You're now recognized as Commodore Thalen of the Dragon Defence Force. If you need anything, I'm at your command."

Nodding to myself, I asked. "What shall I call you?"

"I am the ship's computer. Use the ships name, Commodore."

I looked over at Keller again. "Was it your idea to give me a promotion from Lieutenant Commander to Commodore? Four whole ranks are quite a promotion."

"No, that was actually Captain Meistrin's idea." He said, still smiling. "She argued that it would make it easier if we had to talk with the leadership of a planetary defence force."

"She has a point." I admitted.

Many non-navy people tended to confuse the title of captain with the rank of captain. The title of Captain simply meant the person that commanded a ship, which in theory, could be any rank, be it Ensign or Admiral. Captain Meistrin had the title of Captain because she commanded the Chariot, but her navy rank was still Junior Lieutenant.

To make matters worse, the placement of the rank depended on the navy. The Imperial navy had placed the rank of Captain above that of a Commander, but many others, including the Galactic Republic Navy, had placed the rank of Captain below that Commander.

However, a Commodore outranked both captains and commanders in any navy I knew of and by giving me the rank of Commodore, it should be clear to even the most thick-headed civilian, who was in charge.

The important part of the title was 'of the Dragon Defence Force'. Otherwise, I could be accused of impersonating a flag officer in the Chiss Navy, which was a serious crime, but as we were pretending to be a mercenary force, we could basically take any titles we wanted.

Chief Engineer Keller hesitated for a moment and then asked. "Sir, may I ask why you have tasked us with powering up all the undamaged ships in this battlegroup? This one is surely enough to get us out of here."

Instead of answering, I gestured for him to come along, as I walked over to the huge glass steel windows. Outside, the rest of the stranded battlegroup floated, now with their running lights on. A sign that they had their secondary reactor up and running.

For a moment, I enjoyed the sight, but then blinked in surprise, as I discovered that what I had thought was windows, really was a large screen. Looking over at Keller, I asked. "No windows?"

He shook his head. "No, sir. Unlike the Harrower, the bridge of the Dragon-class isn't located on top of the ship. The command section on top is reserved for the Wing Commander, who might need to see the outside with the naked eye, while the command bridge is in the middle of the ship, protected by heavy armor, and the outside we see is really just large holograms and screens." He smiled a bit. "What you see now is the standard configuration, but there are several others. Do you want to see the original?"

Since it was obviously his personal favourite, I nodded. "Yes, please."

A moment later, the hull above and around us seemingly disappeared, making it look like we stood in a big transparent dome on top of the ship, the pulsar clearly visible against the dark background.

It was a beautiful sight and I decided to keep that configuration if possible.

"You never answered my question, sir." Keller reminded me, interrupting my thoughts.

I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts before I said. "I have a job to do. Some of my people are still being held as slaves on Sharon the Red's base and once we get out of here, I intend to go get them." He nodded slowly at that, so I continued. "So, once we have extracted the people we came for, what do you suggest that we do with the rest of the slaves?"

He blinked in surprise at the question, but then said. "As a former slave myself, I would say that we liberate them all."

"And then what?"

"Well, just about every other slave I've talked with just wants to go home." He smiled grimly and added. "After having killed the slavers, that is."

"How would you get them home?"

If he thought it was a stupid question, he hid it well. "By ship I suppose... it's not like there is another way."

"I totally agree." I said slowly. "The problem we're facing is that Sharron the Red has more than seven thousand slaves on the island where her base is, and that was a year ago. If she made it home, she most likely has even more now."

He looked at me, disbelief and astonishment painted on his face, but finally he managed to say. "I hope you're kidding, sir."

"Unfortunately, I'm not. According to the slaves we liberated when we took the Chariot, it seems like Sharon the Red aspires to be a real Queen, instead of a pirate queen." I paused for a moment and then continued. "Besides those people, many of the former slaves would like us to go to the Nodia Prime system and free their relatives and friends. That too will take room if we ever manage to find them." I looked at the ships again. "We're four thousand four hundred people here already. How many ships do we need to transport an additional thirty or forty thousand people?"

"Well, the capital ships here would do the trick for thirty thousand people." He said slowly. "They can carry a lot of people in the trooper area."

"In theory, yes, except we cannot stack people into the ships like they were soldiers. I bet that many of them have kids and need more room than soldiers. That means one large family or two small families per cabin."

As on Chiss ships, trooper squads lived in cabins that held ten troopers in four rooms. Two rooms with four ordinary troopers in each, one for the corporal and one for the sergeant. The unit shared a bath and a toilet.

This arrangement allowed us to place two small or one large family in each unit, but it also meant that ten units could only hold sixty to eighty persons and not hundred.

"Good point, sir, though the difference isn't that big." He thought for a moment. "I guess that means that you'll want us to repair the damaged Gage-class Transports now that we have the time? They're not in that bad a shape and as they're troop transport versions, they can hold a lot of people. Just in case we manage to free all forty thousand." He suddenly looked at me with wide eyes. "You plan to take all of them! The ships, I mean."

"Every single one that we can repair." I confirmed. "We have to take the capital ships to have room for everybody just in case we're lucky enough to find them, and we need the Drakes for support on the journey there, along with any other ship we can find that have a crew requirement small enough for us to use them."

Again, he nodded slowly as he thought. "Do we even have crew for all the ships in this battlegroup?"

"Yes. If we land all our smaller ships in the hangar of the capital ships and use the crews from those ships on the capital ones, we have just enough people to equip all ships with a skeleton crew. Once we get people educated or updated, we can start filling them in where they're needed the most."

The Chief Engineer was silent for a while, looking at the ships. Then he turned his head to look at me with a smile on his face. "Most people would think you're insane, sir, but as a former slave I can only agree to your logic."

"Thank you." I replied. "Because as the Chief Engineer, much will depend on you and your people."

"We'll get them up and running, sir." He said confidently.

"Good and for now, this stays between us. I'll tell the others about the plan later, but as the one working with the ships, you needed to know."

"Thank you, sir." He thought for a moment. "If we get the chance, we could also repair one of the Delta-class carriers."

I looked at him in disbelief. The Delta-class carrier he was talking about had been hit by a meteor and had a severely damaged engine. In fact, it was so damaged that I haven't thought that it was possible to repair it outside a shipyard. "Is that even possible?"

He nodded. "Yes. If you haven't noticed, all the ships in the fleet are built on almost the same frame and have identical engines and hyperdrive configuration. In addition to that, many of the core systems are built as interchangeable modules. It makes repairs easier... especially with regards to spare parts." He smiled a bit. "We can cannibalise parts from the broken ships and besides that, the Epsilon-class repair vessels carry spare parts for engines. The two Gage- class are even easier, as it'll take a lot of work, some new armor plating, and a new life-support system, but we can cannibalise that from the smashed Delta-class."

Just to be sure I had understood what he was saying, I asked, "So, if one of the cruisers suffered enough damage to break down, we could cannibalise a transport for parts to get the cruiser back online?"

"Exactly right, sir. The same goes to a lesser extent for the rest of the ships, even the Drake-class Frigates."

That certainly explained why the capital ships were almost the same shape in different sizes and interior layouts. In my opinion, it was a genius piece of engineering. Not only did it make maintenance and repairing so much easier, but it also made it simpler to move crew around from one ship to another, without them having to relearn everything.

"Alright, Chief Engineer. If you can have the damaged Delta-class carrier repaired within a reasonable timeframe, just do it." A thought hit me, making me smile. "Oh, by the way, what're you going to call your ship?"

"Ehhh Call what, sir?"

"The Epsilon-class repair vessel." I stated. "As Chief Engineer, you're the co-captain."

He looked at me dumbstruck. "What?"

I couldn't help grinning to him. "You're the co-captain of the Epsilon-class repair vessel, meaning that when the ship is repairing something, you're the captain. No worries, I'll assign a captain to be in charge when flying ... However, you get to name it, so I'm putting you in the same spot you put me in with the Duchess, except that it has to be a marine animal."

He sounded slightly confused, as he asked. "Why marine animals, sir? We're in space."

I shrugged slightly. "With all these ships, I've been thinking about how to easily differentiate the classes. So, the Dreadnaughts will be adjectives like Victorious, Valiant or words in that style. The cruisers will be flying predators like hawks and eagles, and since the frigates are meant to hunt pirates, I'll have the crew name them something that symbolise that... like Hunter, Chaser or Raider... and to answer your question the supports will be marine animals."

The Engineer was silent for a moment and then said. "That's kinda genius, sir."

"Yes, but it's not my invention. It's a tradition as old as navies."

"Not in the Imperial navy." He said with a snort. "But it's a clear and logical way to do it."

"My thoughts exactly." I smiled at him. "So, what're you going to call your ship?"

He laughed softly. "With all the different things we need to do, I think 'The Octopus' would be a good name, but that would cause so many bad jokes... Hmmm... 'The Kraken' is a better name."

"The Kraken it is then." I said with a nod. "And now we need to go greet the newcomers."

He nodded, but the grinned. "Just to return the favour, sir. What're you going to call this one?"

"Majestic." I answered immediately and gestured around. "Nothing else really fit this ship."

He nodded with a smile. "You do have a point, sir."

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"Wow!" Exclaimed Shakka in an excited tone a bit later, as she looked around in Majestic's on-board hospital. "How big is this?"

"Well, it has a hundred beds, ten bacta-tanks, a two-bed emergency room, a three-bed intensive care unit, operating room, a full laboratory and a pharmacy." I told her with a smile. "Everything a ship this size needs and as the only real doctor we have, it's yours."

She laughed in delight. "You really know how to make a woman happy, Thalen. Being a doctor at a hospital has been my dream for years, and now I'm in charge of my own hospital!" She did a little twirl. "Do you mind if I check the facilities out?"

"No. No. They're yours, so don't ask for permission for anything." I ensured her and chuckled to myself, as she vanished into one of the emergency rooms for a few moments, only to reappear as she left the room to go into the pharmacy.

I leaned back against the wall and relaxed, as Shakka continued her whirlwind examination of the hospital. Despite calling herself a med-tech, Shakka had proven to be much better educated than the average ship doctor. In fact, according to Iska and Keller, Shakka was on par with doctors on a large hospital and placing her in charge of the hospital really was a no-brainer. She would get the four combat-medics from the Black Dragons as assistants and students, along with every medic we could find among the freed prisoners. Hopefully, they would learn enough to be able to staff the hospitals and infirmaries on the other ships at some point in the future.

"Thalen!?" I heard Shakka call from the intensive care unit. "I might need your help here."

Still thinking about how to staff the other ships, I walked into the intensive care unit, but stopped as I saw Shakka. She was standing naked near one of the beds, her gorgeous red body on full display and a smile on her face, that was full of lust. All in all, it was an alluring sight, and I could feel my dick respond.

The sight made me raise my eyebrows. "Not that I mind seeing you naked, but didn't you need my help?"

She raised a hand and made a come-hither move with her index-finger. "I do. For some reason this has made me extremely turned on, and we have time for a quick one, before we're missed."

I considered it for a moment, but the growing hardness in my trousers convinced me faster than any spoken word.

"Majestic, lock the doors to the room I'm in." I said while walking closer. There wasn't a verbal reply, but I could hear the locks engaging.

"Practical." Remarked Shakka with a smile, as she opened her arms to draw me into a hug. Her full lips met mine in a soft, yet passionate kiss.

As always, her smooth skin was warm to the touch as I ran my hands over her body. Then I took a firm hold of her perfect ass, lifted her up and placed her on the bed. Shakka moaned approvingly and threw her legs around me, dragging me closer.

A moment later her impatient hands found the edge of my trousers and after a few fumbling tries, she got them opened and found my stiff cock, caressing it. In return I let a hand slide down between her legs, finding a dripping wet pussy. She really was as turned on as she had said, and her moans and kisses grew in intensity as my fingers began to play with her pussy. She shivered with pleasure when I ran my fingers up her lips and over her clitoris, where I pressed down as I made circles with my fingertips.

Her legs pulled me closer and suddenly I could feel the head of my dick connecting with my fingers. I removed them from her pussy and without pause, Shakka placed the head between her slippery lips and used her legs to press my dick halfway inside her.

"Oh my god!" she gasped, as she broke the kiss. "This is incredible!"

"Yes." I agreed. With her sitting in an almost upright position, her pussy was even tighter than usual, and her inner muscles rippled over my dick, caressing it part that was inside her.

Shakka's arm reached around my head as she kissed me again, making small rocking movements with her hips, adding to our pleasure. The kiss prevented us both from saying anything, so instead I took a hold of her hips and fucked her slowly, enjoying the silky-smooth feeling of her pussy, while going a little deeper each time until I reached bottom.

Then I shifted to long strokes, sinking fully into her body each time, while we kissed, and our hands caressed each other's backs.

It was a wonderful slow fuck, but knowing we had little time, I began to thrust into her a little faster, putting power behind each thrust. At the same time, I moved a hand from her back to her front, sliding over a firm breast and felt her erect nipple drag under my palm and fingers.

"Yesssss," she breathed into my lips and then groaned deeply, as I rolled her nipple between my fingers, causing jolts of pleasure to run through her body. Her pussy rippled around my cock, stimulating every bit of it with what felt like tight, liquid, velvet.

"Oh shit!" Shakka threw her head back and gasped in pleasure. Then she kissed me with passion, before hissing. "Fuck me."

Happy to be of service, I increased the speed. Her pussy gripped my shaft tight, and she began to tremble as she came closer to orgasm. Letting go of her breast, I gripped her neck and slammed into her, fucking her as fast and hard as I could.

The moaning escalated, and tell-tale muscle spasms started, then her body went tense, and she gasped. "I'm coming!"

I continued at the same speed, slamming into her body with each move.

Opening her mouth, Shakka came in a wordless cry, arching her back as her pussy clenching around my cock. I kept fucking her throughout her orgasm, using my grip on her neck as a counterbalance as I slammed into her, still using long deep strokes. She yelped and her body tensed, relaxed, and tensed again as she came once more, groaning in total bliss.

I did the same, as I enjoyed the feeling of sliding in and out of her quivering pussy, nearing my own orgasm with surprising speed.

"Are... You... Close?" She managed to ask, smiling when I nodded. "Yes."

"Gooooood!" she squealed as she exploded in another powerful orgasm, causing her to unhook her legs and let them fall to the side. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked at me with a dazzling smile. "That was fantastic. Could you please take a step back?"

Slightly confused, I did as she asked and watched as she let herself slide to the floor in front of me. Her red lips parted as she took the head of my dick into her mouth, tongue swirling around the tip, while her lips slid over the sensitive skin of the head. One of her hands gripped the shaft, pumping energetically, while the nails and fingertips of the other hand teased my balls.

Shivers of pleasure ran down my spine, going right to my balls.

Reaching out, I took hold of her head, using the opportunity to caress the soft red skin where her lekku met the skull. Shakka groaned happily and increased her pumping action, bringing me closer to an orgasm with each pump.

Seizing up slightly, I moaned as the shivers in my body intensified. Then my balls boiled over and I exploded into her mouth, sending stream after stream down her eager throat.

Shakka swallowed it all, moaning and shivering as she had a small orgasm of her own, and then proceeded to lick my dick clean, before she stood with a happy smile. "That was awesome. Thank you."

Breathing heavily, I chuckled and gave her a kiss. "No, thank you."

"I wish we could continue, but I guess it's back to duty now."

"Yes, so you'll have to wait for the continuation."

"That's okay." She said with a lusty smile. "I can seduce Iska later." The smile widened a bit. "I bet you'll have fun thinking about that later."

I sighed as the visuals that came to my mind sent shivers through me. My evening with the two Twi'leks had been one of the wildest erotic experiences in my life and both had expressed quite clearly that it was an experience they wished to repeat, either individually or together, when we were out of immediate danger.

"You would be right." I said and pulled up my pants again. "But at least it's an image, that I treasure."

She took a step forward and stood on her toes to give me a kiss. "Don't worry, Thalen. We know that the fate of the fleet weighs heavily on your shoulders. Just remember to give yourself time and freedom to enjoy and relax once in a while". She eyed her discarded clothes. "And now, I need to get dressed, so we can get out of here."

I nodded and watched her dress, while getting my uniform in order, and five minutes later, we walked out of the room and into the empty hospital.

When Shakka saw that there was nobody in there, she stopped. "Thalen. There's a thing I need to explain to you."

I stopped as well. "Yes?"

"For a lot of reasons, I'm extremely attracted to you and I don't want to get sexually involved with any other man. I do however like women as well and I hope you're okay with me going to bed with other women." She hastily raised a hand. "I'm not saying that you cannot take other women to bed, with or without me, I'm just stating my position."

That made me blink in surprise. With all the other stuff that was going on, I really haven't had time to consider my relationship with Shakka. However, a quick search of my own feelings made it clear that the thought of her taking other men to bed wasn't an enjoyable concept, which was strange considering that I didn't have a problem with Yaki doing that.

Deciding that thinking about that was for a later time, I smiled at her. "Thank you and I'm totally fine with you taking other women to bed."

I would have liked to explain more, but at that very moment, the door to the hospital opened and a group of Chiss walked inside, looking around as they walked but stopping when they saw me. I recognized them as the Black Dragons combat-medics and was about to say something when Shakka took over. "Greetings and welcome to the hospital of the Majestic. As soon as the LC has gone on his merry way, I'll give you a short tour and then we can talk about what to do and how to do it."

That caused them to smile and nod to me.

Taking the hint, I nodded to them. "I'll leave you to it then. Have a nice evening." I looked at Shakka. "Doctor."

"I'll have the list ready as soon as possible, Lieutenant Commander." She said with a slight bow in return.

With a smile I turned around and walked out. I had no idea what list she had been talking about, but I had no doubt that she would come up with something for me.

-----------------------------------------

An educational meeting

Dreadnought Majestic, Unknown system

"Never tell people how to do things.

Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

From the Holy Book of War

One of the advantages by being on the same ship, was that meeting in person was much easier to arrange, and the first meeting I had called people for, was a meeting about education.

As usual, I had Resa along with me, but I had also invited Astrogator Jander San, Chief Engineer Keller, Captain Meistrin, Lieutenant Yaki of the Black Dragons, Junior Lieutenant Seze from the Spacemarines, Gunnery Sergeant Caskey Titlow, Senior Mechanic Arthur Waydar, Operations Officer Betty Nagos and Administrator Rirda'tare'aurnaco (Atare). The last being the one in charge of the people from the mining facility on Alpha Viga.

"Let me start by organizing some things." I said and looked at Captain Meistrin. "Since you have already made me a Commodore of the Dragon Defence Force, I'm going to run with it regarding ranks." I nodded to Seze. "Junior Lieutenant Seze, from this moment on, you're a Lieutenant and thus the one in charge of the space marines. Yaki, I hereby promote you to Commander, in charge of the Black Dragons, as well as all our ground forces." I looked over at Titlow. "Gunnery Sergeant, as far as I can see from the data, you're the highest-ranking marine among the former slaves. Do you want a job?"

"Well, you did say that we all needed to help, sir."

"I'll take that as a yes. You're now a Lieutenant in the marines under Commander Yaki, just like Lieutenant Seze. I trust that the three of you can work together to make the marines a real fighting force."

A bright smile spread on the dark face, as he said. "Yes, sir."

"Resa." I gave the female droid a nod. "You need a rank if you're going to continue as my personal assistant, so I'm promoting you to Operations Specialist in the science department. That suit what else you have been doing so far."'

"Yes, sir." Resa said, smiling widely.

"Wait a minute." Protested Administrator Atare. "You're promoting a Droid? That's against the law!"

"Really? Which law are you referring to?" I asked mildly. "Because, while it is correct that the law states that robots cannot be in a position of command, it doesn't really state anything about droids. The same way, it doesn't state anything about Humans or Twi'Lek. On the other hand, the law does state that the commanding officer can promote anyone they deem worthy and have the skills to hold said position. Now, Specialist Resa was not only instrumental in cracking the codes that held the prisoners from Nodia Prime in their cells, but she has also done everything anybody has asked of her to the complete satisfaction of the officers. Therefore, it is my right and privilege to give her a promotion."

I locked eyes with him for a moment before he nodded and looked down. "Yes, sir."

"Good." I turned towards Betty Nagos. "Are you up for a job as well?"

"Yes, sir." She said with a smile and for a split second I felt her satisfaction in being back on a ship, where she felt she was born to be.

"Excellent. You're now a First Lieutenant. Mostly because you're going to be the Executive Officer of the Majestic and as a former Operations Officer, you're the best for the job."

She looked at me open-mouthed for a moment. Unlike so many other positions on a warship, the XO as the Executive Officer was called, was an administrative staff position and not a combat command position, but they were next in command right after the captain and it was an important position.

"Thank you, sir." She said after a moment.

"You're welcome and trust me, there will be times when you're going to curse me for this." I said with a slight smile. "Now onto the real subject of the meeting: The things we need to do, starting with education. We need a lot of able spacers, pilots, gunners and other specialists."

That made Senior Mechanic Waydar snort. "That describes most of the former slaves from Nodia Prime, sir. They'll need a refresher course, but then you got about two thousand people."

"Good." I looked over at Administrator Atare.

"Sorry, Lieutenant Commander, but some of my people couldn't be able spacers, if you gave them a lifetime of training." Said Atare bluntly, ignoring the change in ranks. "Do you have any other jobs?!"

As I had sent him a list days ago, that was a question I would rather not have, since it showed that he hadn't read what I've sent to him. "Yes, I sent you a list, but just from the top of my head, I'll suggest cooks, medics or technicians."

He nodded shortly and looked at his datapad. "That'll help a bit. How about soldiers? I got a few former troopers that needs something to do."

"Same here." Remarked Jander San.

"Point them in the direction of Commander Yaki." I told him. "I'm pretty sure they could use a few good persons in their squads." I glanced over at the trooper leader, who nodded before saying. "There's a little problem about armor, sir. The ones we have now are excellent for ground combat, but it would be nice to have some armor that works in vacuum... Just in case we need it."

"Not a problem." Stated Keller absently, while looking at his datapad.

"And why is that?" asked Yaki curiously.

The Chief Engineer looked up. "Oh Sorry, sir. As I told the Commodore the other day, the Dragon-class Dreadnought and the Wyvern-class cruisers are designed to project the might of the Empire and each of the Dreadnoughts can carry a brigade of seven thousand troopers, along with their support personnel, which amount to about eight thousand in total. The Wyvern-class carry two battalions or four thousand troopers each. Both along with their weapons, armors, and support equipment. On the test-run, they only carried half that, but that's still thousands of armors."

With sheer force of will, I stopped myself from shaking my head. I kept forgetting that the Empire was enormous, controlling roughly half of the galaxy, which meant half a billion inhabited star systems, each with an average population of one hundred million people.

Seen in that light, the loss of the twenty thousand crew, pilots and troopers wasn't even a drop in the ocean. Along the same line of thought, the loss of a battlegroup this size would be a major catastrophe for the Chiss Ascendancy, but for the Empire, this was just a minor mishap. A costly one, for sure, but still minor.

Seze looked surprised. "A brigade on each Dreadnought?"

"Yes, sir. As a comparison, one Harrower alone carries seven thousand troopers, and the Dragon-class is twelve percent larger." The Chief Engineer shrugged slightly. "Normally the vehicles, artillery and the rest of the support would be stowed away on the lower levels or in the transports, but as far as I have seen so far, they only brought the usual droids along for this test mission. At least on the Dreadnoughts. I haven't had time to look at the inventory for the other ships just yet."

Paul Keller pressed a few keys on his datapad and a moment later, a picture showed up on the viewscreen, showing a person in a silvery body-armor over a black bodysuit. "Since they were test vessels, the regiments were not regular infantry, at least not on the Dreadnoughts, but Dromund Kalakar's security force. The armor is recycled trooper armor from the Dark Wars, but that doesn't make them bad armor, sir."

"No, just ugly." Mumbled Yaki, causing Lieutenant Seze to chuckle and say, "Yes, they do have an unfinished look to them."

"Use them as a base and finish them, Lieutenant." I ordered. "We have time and resources to make it happen and we just need to produce enough for the few troopers we have."

"Yes, sir." Said Yaki with a smile. "What style would you prefer?"

"Not too Sith, not too republic. Until further notice, we're supposed to be a mercenary unit, so something in that direction."

"Yes, sir."

"And while we're talking about mercenary units, we need some rules for this battlegroup." I said, looking at the others. "Commander Meistrin, get together with some of the others and draft us some rules of conduct. We will need them if we're to make people cooperate to get out of here."

"Yes, sir."

I looked at Jander San. "Astrogator San, on the list you sent me, there were some agricultural specialists. I need to know if they're actually agricultural specialists or just farmers."

"One moment, sir." He consulted the datapad and then looked up again. "Most of them are agricultural specialists, but there're a few farmers in between."

"That will work." I said slowly. "I have a job for them and it's not going to be easy."

"Oh?"

"Among the loot from the pirate base, is twenty-two metric tons of seeds or whatever it is called for algae of the high oxygen producing variant. I want the agricultural technicians to make an organic carbon dioxide scrubber, capable of cleaning the air in a ship without the need for electric power."

Atare opened his mouth to say something, but I held up a hand to silence him. "What's more... I want those scrubbers to work in a zero-gravity environment."

"Why?" Atare finally asked, while the rest were looking at each other with confusion written on their faces.

"We're in a nebula, surrounded by pulsars, black holes and what not. When we leave here, it might not be possible to avoid every pulsar out there and I want us to be able to survive a few weeks without power. Having an organic scrubber should give us enough time to drift away from any emissions we might encounter and restart the engines."

That made most of them nod.

"Also, as a last desperate way of trying to get out of here, I will take the ships we have and fly them towards the flux, powering down the reactors before we reach it and float right through it." I stated calmly. "It's a risk and not one I will take before everything else have failed, but it is a way out even if we risk half the ships ending up with destroyed engines and drives."

"And for that we need organic scrubbers." Said Captain Meistrin with a nod.

"Exactly. Along the same lines, we need medics." I continued. "I have been through all the lists and Doctor Shakka is the only real doctor we have. The four others are medics from the Black Dragons or the Spacemarines, and we need more. Find some people with first aid training that are willing to be medics and have them report to Doctor Shakka and the rest of the medics for more education."

"Some of the people from our ships are former medics." Said Betty Negos. "They need a refresher course, but I'm sure they would like their old job back."

"Thank you, XO." I said, causing her to smile as I used the short form of Executive Officer. "That'll help a lot."

"Captain Meistrin. Even in zero-g we need food. Have someone locate and distribute enough zero-g ration packs for people to survive for three weeks. The crew can keep them in their cabins, but the packs need to be available for consumption and not locked into a cargo space somewhere."

"Yes, sir." She said as she noted it down.

Turning towards Paul Keller and Arthur Waydar, I said. "Besides your expertise in training apprentices, I need three things from your team: A mechanical indicator that can show when it's safe to restart the engines, lavatories that work in zero-g and a door or cover for the hangar bays. It must be airtight, but not armored. We need to keep the air in, but if the thing gets stuck, I want the starfighters to be able to shoot their way through it."

"Yes, sir." The Chief Engineer said with a smile. "That shouldn't be a problem."

"Good. Now back to the training part. Do any of your people have experience with that?"

"I have about fifty people that are used to having apprentices." Said Jandar San, looking at his datapad again. "Gunners, pilots, technicians and plain teachers."

Captain Meistrin held up a hand. "I can take some of the pilots we have and teach them the difference between operating a transport and a capital navy ship."

"Good idea. Make a rotation. One day half the pilots have training in handling, while the other half train the new pilot. Then switch around the next day... or whatever works the best." I suggested. "Then we can run some training scenarios for the bridge crew."

She nodded. "I'll do that."

Senior Mechanic Arthur Waydar lifted a hand. "There's a lot of former pilots among the people from Nodia Prime, former Empire and Republic both. Unfortunately, bridge crews tend to be higher ranking officers and all of the higher-ranking Imperial Officers were executed."

Betty Nagos nodded in agreement. "The former Republic Navy are a little bit better represented, but not by much. On the bright side, most of those who're left are itching to get back at it... even if they need a refresher course."

"Good." I looked around, but Atare remained silent, causing me to say. "Administrator Atare, will you honestly tell me that none of the five hundred Chiss can teach someone?"

"Sorry, sir. But I haven't had time to look into it and I can't think of anybody right now."

I might not be the best at reading non-Chiss, but I am rather good at reading Chiss and for some reason, Administrator Atare disliked me and thought that I extravagated the seriousness of the situation in order to take advantage of it somehow.

"It's a simple choice, Administrator. Either we find someone to educate the people we have, or we will join the graveyard out there. Having them educated is not a polite request, it's an order. If you can't find the people we need, say so now and I'll find someone who can."

"Yes, sir." Said Atare tight-lipped.

"Thank you, because we have plenty to do and the more time, we waste on small things like this, the longer it'll take before we're ready to go home."

When the meeting was over, I walked out along with Captain Meistrin and Major Yaki and without saying anything, I walked directly to the bridge, stopping by the comm section.

"Oh... Hello Sir." Tavune said as soon as he saw me.

"Hello Mister Tavune. I have a job for you, but first I need to know who you think is the most respected of the people from the Alpha Viga refinery. Not the highest ranking, but the most respected."

He didn't even hesitate. "That would be Krott'inam'rirgo (Tinam). He's the senior engineer."

Since Tavune's full name was Krott'avune'authum, they were clearly family, so I asked. "How're you related?"

"He's my uncle, sir." Said Tavune with a proud smile.

"Excellent. I need you to go on a family visit. None of the passengers from Alpha Viga are spacers and I don't think the Administrator has explained the severity of the situation for them. Could you perhaps change that while you're visiting?" Before he had the chance to ask questions, I held up a hand. "I don't want you to lie or exaggerate anything. Just to tell it as it is."

"It'll be my pleasure, sir!"

"Thank you, Mister Tavune."

As I walked away from the comm section, I heard Yaki mumble. "Sneaky, sir."

I turned and looked at her with a smile. "I don't have the time or energy to make Administrator Atare understand that we're in a bad situation. He doesn't know space and all he sees are that these new ships are in perfect working condition, which makes everything fine."

"Which it's not." Captain Meistrin said with feeling in her voice.

"Which it's not." I confirmed. "And I hope that the others on the ship can see that."

"I hope your plan works, sir." Yaki said and looked at me. "Do you have time to look at some suggestions for the armor? I have some sketches in my cabin."

"In a moment." I looked at Captain Meistrin again. "Captain, one more thing. If you see someone with extraordinary leadership skills, please give me their names. We need officers, people who can lead and give orders that will be followed."

She nodded again. "That's a good idea, sir."

"Well, I certainly hope so." Looking at Yaki, I said. "Let's go look at those armor sketches, Commander."

When we got to Yaki's cabin, she called several pictures of various armor up on the screen and it took me a moment to realize that they were drawings.

Looking at Yaki, I asked. "You made these?"

"Yes, I like drawing. It gives me something to do in my spare time."

"Well, you're very good at it." I stated. "Which one would you suggest?"

"This one." Yaki replied as she pointed to a picture of a blueish engraved armor. "It's not going to be that exact armor and I guess the engraving will have to go, but I hope you can see the basic concept."

I nodded slowly. The armor looked good and the engraving, or whatever it was called, intrigued me. Since all of the armor were going to be made in the fabricators, there really was no reason for not engraving the armor. Especially since we didn't have that many ground soldiers and thus didn't need that many armor. Laser and blaster fire wouldn't be affected either way and just as important, the engravings and the colours were so different from the Sith and Republic armor, that nobody would mistake them for either.

One argument against blue armor was that it made them easier to spot, but as any half-decent military helmet had infrared incorporated into their helmets, the colour didn't matter. One of the reasons why the Republic Army used white armor.

"I like it." I finally said. "And if possible, keep the engraving and the colour, but no large shoulder pads. Can you take this drawing to the engineers and see that they can do?"

"Really?" Yaki said, sounding surprised.

"Yes. Once we get the Dragon-class dreadnoughts completely up and running, they can program the fabricators and droids to make these, but for now, just make some armor for testing."

"Yes, sir." Said Yaki with a wide smile. "Can I incorporate some electro paint camouflage in them, just in case we encounter people without infrared?"

Electro paint camouflage was simply paint that changed colour when you ran an electric current through it, and most Chiss amor used that to be able to change between different preselected colour schemes. It wasn't anything close to active camouflage, but it did make the wearer harder to see depending on the surroundings.

"Sure, if they got the paint here, feel free."

"They don't, but I'm reasonably sure that the Master Engineer Gacith knows how to make it."

"Good."

She shifted a bit. "May I ask a personal question, Thalen?"

The use of my name signalled a shift in the conversation and I felt my mindset shift, as the superior officer mindset retreated to be replaced with that of her old friend. "Always, Yaki."

"How is it to have sex with a Twi'lek?" She asked as a smile crept onto her face. "They're incredibly sexy to look at, but how are they in bed?"

"Even better." I said dryly and sat down on her bed. "You want to hear everything? Excluding personal details of couse."

Yake nodded eagerly. "Yes. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to take one to bed, but I want to be prepared just in case and the computer doesn't offer much detail."

I swallowed a chuckle. Yaki was a firm believer of being prepared for most things and this was right in her way of thinking.

So, for the next half hour, I gave her the run-down of what I knew about having sex with a Twi'Lek, their sexual endurance, the sensitivity of the lekku and everything else I could think off that would apply to Twi'Leks in general.

We were both becoming increasingly aroused by the subject, and the explanation stopped when Yaki suddenly asked. "Are you and Shakka becoming exclusive or can we have sex?"

"Not exclusive. Shakka is too smart to demand that and before you ask, yes, she's into women as well... Apparently, that is quite normal among the Twi'lek... at least those born in captivity."

Her smile almost took her ears. "Nice." She paused for a moment and I could feel the heat and lust emanating from her. "This has made me horny. Are you up for some sex because I really want your tongue and dick in me?"

"Oh yes."

We spent the rest of the afternoon having sex and ended with Yaki in her favourite position on top of me, bending over me so we could kiss, while her body moved back and forth, sliding up and down my dick, while dragging both her nipples and clitoris over my skin.

It was a position that always made us both come unless we were actively resisting it, and this time was no different as Yaki came in a howling orgasm, followed by me a moment later, shooting my load into her pulsating pussy.

------------------------------------------

Training -- Month 2

"There's no experience like on-the-job training."

Saying from the CEDF

As part of the command training for the future captains, I had arranged for tactical training, and it didn't take more than a few weeks before I had a feeling for their skill level.

It was no surprise that Captain Meistrin was the best in the class, as she was a tactical officer, but that Iska took second place was a surprise for most of the others. Captain Tristana took third place, closely followed by a trio of human pilots: Corlew Bucbro, Jay Barlee and Trine Karnos.

I had hoped that there were more experienced capital-ship officers among the freed slaves, but apparently those were either killed or sent to other slave-camps than the lower ranking crew members.

After them came Ensign Mivito, Captain Samko and Pilot Tlath.

Captain Samko's former pilot Georgina Writ did reasonably well and the same did Pilot Zwul, who had piloted the Fury along with Captain Samko. Jaim Bul and Zeil Traan both belonged to the Dorus race, which was one of the few alien races in our little fleet that really looked like an alien in my opinion. Green-skinned and hairless, they had red eyes, lipless mouths, and long thin noseless faces. On the other hand, they spoke excellent basic and according to Captain Samko they were better than average at astrogation and could be found almost everywhere in the galaxy.

Unfortunately, their excellence in astrogation didn't translate into tactics. Jaim Bul wasn't good, but Zeil Traan was horrible, having absolutely no grasp of tactics at all, and I made a mental note about assigning him to astrogation.

Kran Swur, one of the other Sullustans, did much better and I was sure that with some training, he would be ready to captain one of the ships.

The rest of the pilots were average, without any of them showing above normal talent for tactics. As they were mostly expected to follow orders, that wasn't really a problem, but it also meant that much of our future training would focus on following orders.

After that Captain Meistrin took over, assisted by Iska, and started the course on the difference on space transports and capital warships.

I listened for a little while, but then walked over to the engineering department to see how the training was going there. Many of the people from Alpha Viga were already highly educated techs of various kinds, so the trick for Master Engineer Gacith and the rest was to make sure those skills translated into skills usable on a spaceship. Then there were the people who were already educated spacers, but who haven't used those skills for years, and needed a serious update.

Master Engineer Gacith came over to me as soon as I entered, carrying what looked like a container of some kind. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, Master Engineer. You look happy."

He nodded. "I am, sir. The engineers are more skilled than I had expected. Look at this, sir." He showed me the container. "One of the agricultural techs has worked on a space station where they used pots like this to grow plants in. She explained how it looked and worked to the engineers, who programmed the fabricator and an hour later we had the first prototype." He looked at it with a satisfied look on his face. "This is going to work, sir."

"The container or teaching the engineers?"

Looking up at me, he chuckled. "Both, sir. The only area the techs really need an education in is the drive-systems and power distribution, and fortunately, that is one of the few areas where we have enough people, since most spaceship engineers have experience with that, along with weapons." He lifted the container. "Besides the algae spores you mentioned, the agricultural specialists have found tons of seeds for fast growing plants, and they swear, they can make those seeds grow into plants that are beautiful, oxygen producing and edible."

I lifted my eyebrows at that. Food onboard a spaceship was designed to last a long time and fresh food was a rarity. "If they can keep that promise, they're going to be very popular among the crew."

"I agree, sir. The only drawback is that to get enough, they're planning to decorate most of the interior of the ships with plants. Fortunately, these pots are designed to stay in place even if the artificial gravity fails, so if they just avoid access panels and the like, it should be fine."

"Well, it seems like you've got everything covered here, so I'll just move on to the gunnery training." I said with a smile. "Keep up the good work, Master Engineer."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, do you know where Chief Engineer Keller is?"

He nodded. "He is arranging repairs in hangar bay 2."

"Thank you."

Chief Engineer Keller was without any doubt the one with the biggest job, as he was coordinating the repairs of the ships, but when I found him, he was smiling widely as he talked with a Chiss engineer, looking like he enjoyed every moment of it.

"Hello, sir!" He greeted cheerfully when he discovered me.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Keller. How is it going?"

"Better than I had feared, sir." He said with a smile. "The stress damage from the hyperspace exit is almost repaired. We have a lot of good engineers and repair droids, and they're working faster than I had estimated. Right now, I have teams working on the Delta-class carrier and both Gage-class Transporters, and those teams are only going to get better and more experienced at time goes by. Not to mention, that more teams will be formed as more engineers and mechanics are coming up to speed."

"Both Gage-class Transporters? What about the damaged Life support system?"

He smiled. "We found a spare life support system in the cargo-hold of one of the cruisers. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible."

"Now that's a pleasant surprise," I said with a smile. The Gage-class Transporters were good ships, especially the Planetary Assault version that this fleet had.

"Yes, but I'm glad we didn't try to use those from the start. They still took a heavy beating from the meteors and it'll take weeks, if not months, before they can carry people."

"Very good, Chief Engineer." I smiled. "I'll leave you to it."

Next was gunnery training. Being the area that required the least amount of technical know-how, it had been the favourite choice for many of the younger people on board and where Captain Meistrin and Iska had forty people to train or retrain, the Master Gunner and his people had a little over three hundred.

Fortunately, the gunners had been clever about it. First, they had cut the gunnery squads from five to three and then they had slaved the guns in pairs, so that each squad controlled a pair each. The other clever thing they had done, was taking it easy. They knew they had time to teach their craft and had made a game out of simulated shooting, making the different squads compete against each other.

One of the best teachers was Master Gunner Kansen. When we had freed him on Alpha Viga he had been on the verge of a breakdown and I hadn't expected much of him, but apparently the time we had been here, combined with him being in his element had worked wonders. He was a brilliant gunner and had a sense of humour that had the students laugh from time to time, taking the edge of the seriousness of it all.

He also asked if I was willing to give out this week's trophy for excellent shooting. A task I immediately agreed to and an hour later, I handed a shiny trophy to a trio of blushing young people, while the rest were clapping. The best part for me, was that the crew consisted of a Chiss, a Human and a Sullustan, proving to the rest that when the races worked together, good things could happen.

After that I made a visit to pilot training, where the experienced pilots were being re-educated for the M7 Nightsinger and Super Stings, while a group of hopeful people were getting an education as Starfighter pilots. A job that had been romanticised by various holovid shows and consequently, we had no shortage of people willing to try it. That didn't mean that they were any good at it, so the teachers had implemented several tests to sort out the best applicants.

It also required a healthy body and before they had been allowed near the simulators, all pilot aspirants had to pass a medical check, which, along with the other tests, had brought down the number of applicants to less than half the original. Some of the experienced pilots, who didn't have the health to qualify for starfighter pilots, were given the choice of becoming either flight instructors or capital ship pilots. Most had chosen the capital ships, where they could regain their health and perhaps try as starfighter pilots again later.

When I entered some of the applicants were busy at the simulators, while the others were occupied with theory, so I spent a good ten minutes looking at the simulator training, noticing who was doing well and who wasn't.

I was leaving, when I noticed one of the more talented students, a young human male, cursing at the simulator, before looking at Flight Lieutenant Kierian. "Sir, this shit isn't working. It doesn't respond as it's supposed to."

"Yes, it does." Said the Flight Lieutenant patiently.

"No sir, it doesn't." Declared the young man. "The Super Sting has a tighter turn-radius at max G than the Supremacy-class. There's no way it could have caught me in that manoeuvre."

"Max..." Said Flight Lieutenant Kierian with a sigh. "Stop whining every time you get shot down!"

"But I'm right!" said the young man, frustration evident in his voice. "The computer is cheating!"

The Flight Lieutenant opened his mouth, but before he got a chance to say anything, I asked. "May I suggest you look at the replay? It might solve the problem."

"No, it won't." Said the young man without turning his head. "It'll show that the FT-8 tuned sharper than I did and shot me."

"Exactly my point, because it shouldn't be able to." Looking at Flight Lieutenant Kierian, I said. "Replay it, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir." He said with a salute, making the young man snap his head around to look in my direction and then widen his eyes as he saw me in the black commodore uniform, muttering a barely audible 'oh shit'.

I nodded shortly to him, noticing the nametag on his uniform that spelled 'Maxwell'.

The Flight Lieutenant started the replay, bringing the numbers showing speed, shield status and G-Force up on the screen as well.

As the young man had said, the replay showed the FT-8 turning sharper than the design allowed for, enabling the computer to shoot him down. A feat that shouldn't be possible.

Tilting my head, I said. "Ensign Maxwell. I want you to make this manoeuvre again, this time against a Mk. VI."

"Yes, sir." He said with a shaking voice and restarted the simulator. The result was the same, as he was shot down, which again was impossible with that manoeuvre in those ships. I only had passing knowledge of the FT-8, but I had studied both the Mk. VI Supremacy-class and M7 Nightsinger, and their turn radius was the same, so there was no way the Supremacy-class could turn that fast.

Looking at Kierian, I said. "Ensign Maxwell here is right, Lieutenant. The simulator is flawed. It uses the wrong stats for the M7 Nightsinger and that needs to be fixed before the pilots develop faulty tactics to deal with a computer error."

"Yes, Commodore."

"Do you know how to do it?"

"No, Commodore, but I'll find someone who can." He said in a firm voice.

"Good. If you can't, ask Commander Resa. She'll know how to fix it or who to ask."

"Yes, sir."

I looked at the young Ensign. "Good observation, Ensign Maxwell. That will save more than a few pilots later on."

He blushed. "Thank you, sir."

"How did you know there was an error?"

"I flew the Supremacy-class last week, sir, and in them, a tight turn will overtake a FT8 every time." He explained, looking relieved that we listened. "The Sting have an even tighter turn radius, so there was no way the FT-8 could turn that fast."

"Good thinking, Ensign. Keep up the good work."

With a last nod, I walked out of the room, signalling to Flight Lieutenant Kierian to follow me. He did and when we were out of hearing range of the students, I asked. "How good is that kid? He seems competent."

That made the Flight Lieutenant chuckle. "He is consistently the best in most scenarios we throw at them, so yes, he is an exceptionally good pilot. He also loves flying simulators and spends most of his time down here, flying for fun. His only weakness is that he tends to treat it as a game, with no consequences for dying." His chuckle became a grin. "I've placed a timer on the simulator, so every time he dies outside regular hours, he must wait half an hour before he can try again. That helped on the recklessness."

"Very good idea, Flight Lieutenant Kierian." I chuckled and turned serious. "Is he well-liked by the others?"

The Flight Lieutenant nodded. "Yes, mostly because he's always willing to help them or give advice if they ask. I have written him down as a possible future commander."

Since that was what I had wanted to know, I gave him a nod. "Thank you. Please keep me advised of his progress and continue the good work, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir."

Next on my mental list was Commander Yaki and Lieutenant Caskey Titlow, who were training the Space Marines in the training hall in the trooper area. The training facilities weren't as large as I had expected given the size of the trooper compartments, but it was adequate and featured a balcony overlooking the training hall. That was where I found Yaki and Titlow, observing the marines as the sergeants were running them through an exercise, so I quietly joined them.

"Hello, sir." Greeted Yaki quietly. "Doing your rounds?"

I nodded at that. "Yes, so how is it going?"

"Fairly well." Rumbled Titlow in his low voice. "Many of them are still weak after the treatment we received on Nodia, but they're getting there."

"Good, and no worries. Until we discover a way out of here, we have all the time we need." I said and looked at the troopers. As always, they were working in groups, but each group was wearing a different colour t-shirt, which was new for me as everybody had been wearing black when I had done the training. On closer inspection, I also discovered that each group going through the course consisted of several races, Chiss and human being the most numerous. "You mixed them up?"

"Yes, sir." Said Yaki with a nod. "Or rather, the newbies that were with us from the start have been mixed with the people from Alpha Vida and Nodia. Later we'll separate them into companies." She hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Some of the new people from Nodia and Alpha Vida have asked if their companies could get the same type of cool name as the Black Dragons. What do you think about that?"

That made me laugh. "Cool names?"

She chuckled as she nodded. "So far, I have request for Grey Wolves, Flaming Phoenixes and Golden Klions."

"I know the others, but what is a Klion?"

"It's a large feline predator from some obscure planet on the other side of the galaxy. They have a mane and are the most dangerous predators on the planet."

"Oh." I thought for a moment, but then shook my head. "This is outside my area of experience. Lieutenant Titlow, do you have any experience with this?"

"Yes, sir." He said with a sharp nod. "Naming units is usually a good thing as it heightens morale and unit coherency."

"In that case I have nothing against it, but I do feel like getting into a named company is something that needs to be earned."

Both Titlow and Yaki were smiling widely as they nodded, and Yaki said. "That was exactly what we were planning to do, sir."

"Good. I'll leave it to you then."

The last place I visited was the kitchens, where eighty people were learning how to operate the kitchen equipment as well as kitchen droids, under the watchful eye of Chef Winston and her staff. Being something of a character, Chef Winston was an elderly human female that used to be head chef on a passenger ship, before it was taken by Sharon the Red.

The pirate queen quickly realized that she had a talented chef and before long, Chef Winston was the head chef on the Red Widow. When we had captured the Red Widow, the head chef had simply stayed on the ship and continued to work as she always had.

She also regarded the kitchen as her own personal kingdom and wasn't afraid to tell people to stay out of her business, no-matter what the rank the person had.

Chef Winston discovered my entrance immediately and finished instructing one of her new crew, before she walked over to me.

"Coming to check up on me?" she asked, sounding somewhat hostile.

"No. I'm here, so your trainees can see that someone other than you cares about what they're doing." I replied with a slight shrug. "How're they doing?"

"Most of them are doing fine." She said after a pause. "A few are terrible."

I nodded. "That's how it goes. If you need to relocate someone, just say so."

Chef Winston looked defiant. "I'm not kicking someone out of the kitchen, if they like to be here."

"That is entirely up to you, but if they can't work as chefs, please let me know, so they're not assigned to a job they can't handle."

She nodded slowly and then discovered that at least half the trainees were looking at us instead doing whatever they were supposed to be doing. "Get moving!" She ordered, her voice every bit as commanding as any senior officer. "In a few hours, hundreds of people will come looking for food and trust me, you don't want to disappoint them!"

"Yes, Chef!" The trainees shouted in chorus and hurriedly started working again.

The Chef turned back towards me and noticed the slight smile on my face. "What's so funny?"

"Chef, if you had the slightest interest in spaceships, I would drag you kicking and screaming onto the bridge on a ship and make you a captain." I said, the smile turning into a chuckle. "You have more authority in your voice than some of my officers."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, young man." She stated sternly, but there was a shadow of a smile on her face, as she continued. "Now get out of here, sir. I have work to do."

The 'sir' from her surprised me, but I nodded, said "Yes, Chef." and left the kitchen, heading towards my quarters.

----------------------

The cabin on Duchess had been luxurious, but the Empire treated their flag officers well and as befitting for a Battlegroup commander, it wasn't just a single cabin, but a large apartment, with a bedroom, living room, a private bath, and an office with a conference room next to it.

Unlike the Sith rooms on the pirate base, the rooms were tastefully decorated and even after I had removed the private memorabilia the late Admiral had collected, it felt like a home.

Now I used the rooms and so far, I had spent most of my time in the office, going over the late admirals notes about the ships, the tests he had made, and the tactics used in the training scenarios.

Chief Engineer Keller had said that Admiral Hennat was from the Navy, but I didn't pay it any attention at the time. I should have, because according to his own notes, Admiral Hennat was appointed by the Sith's Ministry of War and was one of the people who had the power to determine if a ship was to be recommended for production or not, and he had been one of the officers approving the Harrower-, Terminus- and the Gage-classes.

In other words, he was an expert in evaluating ship types and if he had ever made it back to Dromund Kalakar, the Dragon-class would have been the new capital ship of the Imperial Navy.

According to him, it was faster, more manoeuvrable, had better armor and shields, and was able to carry more starfighters. It also had a better weapon load and point defence system and while the number of missile launchers were lower than on the Harrower, the placement of the guns was better on the Dragon-class.

The relatively small crew compared with the crew size on other dreadnoughts was another part he praised, as that would ensure the ships could be crewed even if made in large quantities.

The one part of the fleet that Admiral Hennat didn't like, was the M7 Nightsinger. He found the Nightsinger's better armor, shields and weapons to be a poor trade for its increased price and slightly slower speed and manoeuvrability, compared to the Supremacy-class.

On the other hand, he absolutely loved the S-13a Super Sting, applauding its speed, agility and hitting power, along with its ability to take multiple roles in the fleet. He had also made the same observation as I had done, which was that with the S-13a around, there was no justification for producing the Nightsinger and he recommended focusing the resources on producing the cheaper and better S13a.

Both the Gage PA-class and the starfighter carrying Delta-class also got his stamp of approval, due to the versatility those ships gave the fleet, especially when working with the Wyvern-class cruiser.

All in all, Admiral Hennat was extremely satisfied with the ships, and he had been almost finished with the testing and evaluation, when they had received the signal to come back.

Unfortunately for the battlegroup, the route Admiral Hennat's astrogators had chosen to use had caused the battlegroup to encounter the same gravity ripple as we had, resulting in the whole fleet ending up at the pole end of the pulsar.

That hadn't stopped the Admiral from getting the last word, as I found a handwritten note in his closet, halfway tucked into the scabbard of a vibrorapier, so that it wouldn't float away.

"This is the last I'll ever write. The pulsar got us good and the whole battlegroup is dying. We have no power, no food, and the air is running out.

- Admiral Vost Hennat

It was a beautiful poem and I had carefully placed it in a drawer. Someday, I might be able to give it to the Admirals relatives or somebody else, who would treasure the words.

In the meantime, I had taken the late Admiral's vibrorapier set to use as my own. As befitting for an Imperial Admiral, it had been made by a master craftsman. Not only was one of the most well-balanced vibrorapiers I had ever tried, but the blade was a Songsteel blade. A rare lightweight silver metal that was used by swordsmiths to create masterwork arms, it made for a beautiful and durable weapon.

The most impressive feature was that Songsteel was capable of parrying a lightsabre or -foil without taking damage, making it a great weapon for anyone who had to stand against Sith or Jedi. Since the late Admiral didn't have any use for it, I had placed my own standard rapier into storage and had taken the Admirals vibrorapier set to use as my own if I ever needed a melee weapon that wasn't a lightfoil.

Right now, I had other things on my mind. Sitting down in a chair, I called up one of the scenarios the late Admiral had run and studied it yet again. During my time at the Naval Academy, I had studied both Sith and Republic naval tactics and when it came to starfighters, the Sith used a swarm technique that utilized the Supremacy-class' speed and manoeuvrability to its fullest, while limiting the exposure to enemy fire.

A tactic that made sense, considering how badly armored the shield-less Supremacy-class was. However, the M7 Nightsinger was better armored, had shields and more fire power, but the simulations had shown that it wasn't a good trade-off.

Thinking about what Ensign Max had discovered, I called Flight Lieutenant Kierian and inquired about the status of the simulator.

"Well, sir, as you suggested, I called Commander Resa and she went to work on it right away, along with several programmers." He answered. "The Nightsinger has the right stats now, but she discovered several other errors in the program and is working on fixing it now."

Thinking for a moment, I asked. "Who made the program?"

"One moment, sir." There was a brief silence. "Tandankin Systems, sir." He sighed. "And the Supremacy-class is produced at Tandankin Shipyards, along with the Sting, the Bloodmark and several others. I'll warn Commander Resa about them."

"Please do so. The Tandankin people may have enhanced their ships abilities when they programmed it."

"I agree, sir, and I'll get right on it."

Until that was solved, there was no reason to continue running the simulator. Instead, I spent some time studying and comparing the original ship classes with the experimental versions, until I was interrupted by the soft chime that announced that I had visitors. "Yes?"

The door opened and Captain Iska looked inside. "Hello, sir. Are you busy?"

"Not really. I'm trying to figure out why the late Admiral was using his starfighters the way he was, but there's a problem with the simulators, so I'm waiting for it to be fixed."

She nodded as she walked into the room, looking around while she did so. Unlike the last few times I had seen her, she wasn't in her uniform, but in a knee-long dress and I realised that she was off-duty. Iska stopped when she noticed the different ship types in the fleet on the wall screen. Each type depicted side by side with its original version.

"May I ask what they're for?"

"Oh... those are there, because I was studying the difference between the original ship types and the experimental version Dromund Kalakar has made."

"So, which type would you rather have?" She asked with a smile.

"The experimental version." I said without hesitation. "They are faster, better armed and armored than the originals and have more starfighters."

She nodded and looked like she was about to say something, when she discovered the matched set vibrorapier and vibrodagger sitting on a stand. "Is that yours?"

"Well, it used to belong to the late Admiral, but now I'm using them." I said with a nod.

"That is a beautiful set." Iska turned towards me. "May I ask a personal question, sir?"

"Sure. What's up."

She hesitated for a moment, but then asked. "We haven't been together intimately since I returned to active duty. Are there any rules that forbid intimacy between officers?"

I regarded her for a moment. "I guess that what you're really asking is why I haven't made any moves on you?"

That made her smile a little. "Yes, sir."

"Let me assure you, that it is not by choice. According to Chiss naval law, it's illegal for a superior officer to initiate that kind of contact with one under his command." I smiled a bit. "That a rule aimed at protecting the lower-ranking officer, which is a good thing. There's also a bunch of other rules that don't really apply here, as you can't really get a higher position, than the one you already have."

"Wait a minute." Said Iska slowly. "Does that mean that I'm allowed to make a move on you, but you can't make a move on me?"

"In short, yes."

That made her grin. "Well, Commodore Thalen. Despite you working as usual, we're both off duty right now, so would you like spend some time being naked with me?"

"I thought you would never ask." I said with a smile as a shiver of anticipation ran through me. "Majestic, lock the doors."

"Yes, sir." Came the reply from the speakers, as the locks silently engaged, shifting the small light by the door from green to red.

"Bedroom?" suggested Iska with a sly smile and turned to walk that way when I nodded. Shaking my head slightly, I followed her into the bedroom, while admiring her grace and feeling like the luckiest guy in the universe.

It became even better when Iska casually discarded her dress while walking, making even that little gesture seem elegant and sexy.

So was the result.

She was naked underneath the dress and the two lekku dangled down her back like two thick braids of hair and framed her elegant neck and back, leading my eyes to her slim waist and, once again, her perfectly round ass.

The tempting sight went directly to my dick, giving me a hard-on and following her example, I took off my uniform top and t-shirt as I walked towards her. There was no way to gracefully take off my pants while walking, so I kept them on.

When she reached the bed, Iska turned around and looked at me, giving me a view of her exceptional curves. In many ways, she was built the same way as Shakka, with big round and perky breasts, a slim waist that widened into generous hips before turning into long shapely legs. The difference was that due to her physical training, Iska had slightly smaller breasts, an even narrower waist, and her hips and legs had more muscles, making them somewhat wider than the doctor's.

The purple colour and the lack of any body-hair made her seem even more exotic, and I guess that most other members of my race would have been careful in their approach, but I was way beyond that by now and simply pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her shapely body against mine.

Iska shivered and put her arms around my neck, dragging me in for a kiss, and it was my turn to shiver as her full lips pressed against mine. The lips were wonderfully soft, but the kiss itself was firm and as we kissed, she leaned against me, almost purring when she felt my erection.

I slid my hands around her waist, continued to her firm, round ass and gave it a hard squeeze that made her moan in appreciation and tightened her arms around my neck. Her lips parted, and her soft wet tongue met mine in a duel that became even more passionate when I moved my hands to her lekku, caressing them gently.

It felt really good and I could easily have spent a long time kissing her like that, but after a while Iska released her hold around my neck and eased her body away from me. The slight distance

allowed her to get her hands between us and a moment later she was opening my pants without ever stopping our kiss.

A moment later she pulled the pants down and soft warm hands found my stiff dick, caressing and stroking it.

Deciding to return the favour, I moved a hand to her front, briefly caressing those perky breasts, before I slid the hand downwards to her crotch. Moaning, Iska shifted her balance and placed one leg on the bed, giving me unhindered access to her pussy. My hands dived in between her legs to find a soaked pussy and I let my fingers play with the wet lips as our kisses grew even more intense and heated.

Iska groaned and shivered as I ran my fingers through her moist lips a few times, before I moved my wet fingers to her clitoris, making circles on top of the sensitive organ.

Her hand started to move faster on my dick, but I caught her hand with my own, forcing her to slow down. I was already extremely aroused and if she went much faster, she would make me come sooner than I wanted to.

Fortunately, she got the message and slowed down again, so I went back to teasing her clitoris, enjoying her soft moans and the way her hips jerked when my fingers hit just right. From time to time my hand strayed a little further down, dipping my fingers between the lips of her wet pussy, before going back to her clitoris.

The frequency of her shivers increased and for a moment, I felt her fingers on her pussy, before her grip on my dick changed, as she squeezed the shaft with the hand that had been stroking before, while the fingers on the other hand played on the head. They were slick and I realized that she was using her own juice to make her finger extra slippery. It felt heavenly.

Then she broke the kiss for the first time in what felt like an eternity and moaned. "Clitoris only!"

Thinking that was something about the Twi'Lek autonomy that I still needed to learn, I focussed on the clitoris and got a surprise, as she lifted the leg she had placed on the bed, curled it around my hips and pulled me closer to her. One hand left my dick to grab my neck, while the other hand stayed on my dick guiding it into her pussy, as she used her leg on my hips to make it slide home.

I groaned as the wet, slippery lips parted as the head went into her, followed a moment later by the rest of my hard cock. Her pussy was not only soaked, but also very hot and tight, and I shivered with pleasure as her pussy contracted, squeezing my dick.

"Fuck, this is good." Iska hissed. "Ram me."

Taking hold of her ass, I did as she had said, fucking her with quick, short strokes, that didn't hit her hard enough to make her lose her balance.

Iska responded by moving her hips in circles, massaging my dick all over. It didn't take long before she was gasping with every thrust I made and her grip on my neck tightened as her body tensed up.

"Faster." She mumbled. "You're making me come."

I moved faster and she began yelping and squirming as her hips ground against me and her pussy convulsed around my thrusting cock.

Then she screamed loudly as she exploded in a long orgasm, her pussy squirting and pulsing around my dick, hips bucking against me. I kept the pace with both dick and finger even as she came, holding her up with the other arm as the waves of pleasure ran through her body. She didn't even have time to come down from the first orgasm before she came again, screaming with delight and almost losing her balance.

Getting an idea, used her post orgasmic grogginess to place her leg on the deck again and withdrew from her pussy. Seeing that she was looking at me, I winked to her, moved my hands to her shoulders and turned her around before I embraced her from behind.

In response, Iska spread her legs and arched her back, as used a hand to guide my stiff cock back into her wet pussy, sighing happily as it slid into her.

I didn't start fucking her right away but used the small break to kiss my way down her neck. The sigh turned into a moan when I moved my hands over her breasts, feeling her hard nipples against the palm of my hand. They were soft, yet firm at the same time and fitted perfectly into my hands.

Iska moaned softly when I stroked her nipples with my thumbs, while my tongue and lips played on the soft skin of her neck, causing her to shiver and move her ass in slow circles, fucking herself on my cock and giving me a fantastic experience at the same time.

Leaning forward, I kissed my way up her neck again and then onto the soft skin of her head, ending where the lekku were coming out of her skull. From experience, I knew that it was an extremely sensitive area for female Twi'Lek, more delicate than their breasts and nipples, but less sensitive than the clitoris, and I wanted to take advantage of that.

With a slight smile, I embraced her again, letting my tongue move in small circles at the base of the lekku, while fondling her breast with one hand, while the other went downwards again, finding her clitoris and teased it with my fingertips.

"Kriff!" groaned Iska as the muscles of her pussy pulsed around my dick in response to my caresses. "You're driving me insane!"

"That's my plan." I mumbled, as I licked the base of her lekku. "I hope you like it."

"No." She moaned as a wave of pleasure ran through her. "I LOVE it!"

"Good." Keeping the pace, I found her hard nipple with the other hand and pinched it gently, as I started to fuck her slowly, careful not to interfere with the rhythm of her whirling hips.

Iska moaned her approval and reached back to caress the parts of my body that she could reach.

I took my time stimulating her lekku, breasts and clitoris, while slowly sliding my dick in and out of her in long strokes. In response, Iska's breathing became increasingly harder as the pleasure built, until she came again. This time it was an epic feeling, as she howled, shook, and shivered as the orgasm took hold of her body, and had I not held her close, she would have fallen over. Her inner muscles milking my dick as contractions ran from the base of the shaft to the top and back down again, while her hips jerked with each spasm.

I just stood there, embracing her as the jerks of her hips made my dick move inside her, causing her over-sensitive body to explode in yet another orgasm.

The feeling of her writhing in orgasms again me, along with the caressing feeling of her milking pussy around my dick made me groan as well, coming closer and closer to my own orgasm with each jerk and spasm.

"I'm getting close." I warned her with a groan.

Iska reached back and held me close, as she moved her ass in circles, adding to my pleasure, obviously wanting me to come.

That did the trick and with a final moan, along with a few involuntary thrusts that sent my dick even deeper into her, I emptied myself in her, sending spurt after spurt into her pussy, while trying not to fall.

The sheer feeling increased the force of her orgasm with each jet of semen that hit her insides, making them stronger and when I was finished, she stood still for a moment before she slid out of my embrace and let herself fall onto the bed, utterly exhausted.

Exhaling a breath I hadn't even known I had been holding, I smiled at the sight of her beautiful body on my bed and lay down beside her, using a hand to gently caress her body while waiting for her to recover.

It took a while before she turned to look at me. "That was without doubt the best sex I've ever had."

I nodded. "It was fantastic."

She was silent for a moment, before saying. "I hope you're not done for the day, because later I intend to crawl on top of you and ride that amazing dick until we both come again."

That made me grin. "Sounds like a good plan, but you might want to take a nap first."

Iska turned and gave me a full-body hug, pressing her breasts against my chest. "Not alone. Tell the computer to wake us in about an hour and we can take a nap together."

That sounded like an excellent plan and I hugged her back as I ordered the computer to wake us after an hour. Then we lay back and fell asleep.

------------------------------------------

Droids, ships, and location

"Use every asset at your disposal to the best of their abilities, to ensure success."

Vice Admiral Zedais, CEDF

It took almost a week before Resa walked into my office, smiling widely. "The simulators are working again, sir."

"Good work, Resa. What was the problem?" Knowing Resa's tendency to go technical on me, I hurriedly held up a hand. "In ordinary terms, please. I'm not a computer programmer."

That made her chuckle. "Fair enough, sir. The stats of every non-Tandankin produced Imperial starfighter was slightly worse than they should have been. That could have been an innocent error, but after some tests, it still wasn't quite right, so we looked at the programming and after a few days of searching we found the somebody had inserted a line that made all Tandankin produced starfighters better than they really are."

"It was added later?"

"Well, the first part was most likely there from the start, but the last part was without doubt added later, sir." She explained. "I think they were made by two different parties. Mostly because the first piece of programming is hard to notice, but when the second part was added, it simply made the simulation a bit unrealistic."

Nodding, I leaned back in the seat. It could be a ploy by Tandankin to sell more ships, but it could just as easily be a sabotage, designed to make the Empire choose the lesser capable fighter, making space combat just a bit easier for the Republic and whoever else the Empire was fighting. Not that the Tandankin produced craft was a disaster for the Empire, but in my opinion, the Empire would be considerably more dangerous if they made as many S-13a as they had Supremacy-class.

"Excuse me, sir, but may I make a suggestion?" Asked Resa, interrupting my train of thought.

"Always."

"The fleet needs about two thousand gunners to be effective, but at the moment, we only have about one tenth of that, including those being trained."

"I'm painfully aware of that."

She smiled at my comment. "Yes, but are you aware that we have what potentially is three thousand gunners here?"

That made me sit up in the seat again. "Please, explain."

"Both Dreadnoughts carry four KT400 droid dropships fully loaded with Mark IV Sentinel droids, for a total of three thousand two hundred droids." Resa explained. "I know that they're quite stupid, but they are humanoid shaped, with hands that can operate the guns. They also have excellent reactions, and it won't take much to reprogram them to operate the guns." She shrugged. "I know that they need to be controlled by a droid control unit, but we can easily use the ships net for that until we can install some local nodes, and if we place a living person in charge of each gun or battery, we have someone that can make both independent decisions and aim the battery, effectively eliminating the weakness of using droids as much as we can."

She stopped talking and I nodded slowly as I thought it over. The Chiss Ascendency didn't use droids as gunners because we were far behind the both the Empire and the Republic in Droid technology. Our droids were little more than well-programmed robots, which limited their usefulness a lot when it came to warfare, but there really was no reason not to use the Sentinel droids as gunners. In fact, they were perfect for that role, as it didn't involve any independent or creative thinking. Something the sentinel droids were incapable of anyway.

"It's an excellent suggestion, Resa. However, why don't the major powers use droids as gunners? There might be some drawbacks to that that we haven't thought of."

She shrugged. "I think it's just distrust and tradition, which really doesn't apply in this situation. We don't have enough people to man the guns and the Sentinel droids can't think for themselves, so there's no need for distrust."

"You have a point." I admitted, as I realised, that I knew little about the droids we had. "Resa, what're the most important droids we have and what type of combat droids do we have?"

"Well, to start with the combat droids, we have the Sentinels I've already mentioned, but besides those, we have a lot of Mark 1 Sith War Droids." As she spoke, her holoprojector showed the droid type she was talking about, which happened to be one of the only droids I had heard about before.

The Sith War Droid Mark 1 was originally meant to repel boarders and was one-and-a-half meters tall and equipped with four spiked feet and four arm-mounted blasters. Despite their ship-based origins, they had been heavily used as ground attack units in the latest war.

"According to Chief Engineer Keller, this droid is typical for the Sith Navy, as they're used for and against boarding actions, but besides the database knowledge, I don't have any details on them. The former Imperials will know a lot more."

I nodded in agreement and gestured to her to continue.

"On the engineering side, we have the MZ-series Maintenance Droid, the T3 utility droid and the G4-series Heavy Fabricator. All three are good and stable droids that just get the job done." She smiled a bit. "The same can be said for the M3-M1 Medical droids. They're the most numerous medical droids in the universe and that is for a reason: It's the best medical droid in existence."

The picture changed again, and the next droid looked like something out of a horror vid. Resembling a large, flying octopus, it had six segmented arms, each ending in either a tool or hands for manipulating things. In the picture, it was shown to hover over a spaceship, so I assumed that it had a repulsorlift engine, allowing it to fly.

"This one I didn't know about until Chief Engineer Keller introduced me to it." Said Resa with a touch of regret in her voice. "It's the A2-MZ4 Zero G maintenance and repair droid, also known as a Squid repair droid. According to him, it's one of the most versatile starship repair droid there is, and the Epsilon-Class repair ship has twelve of them."

She paused for a moment as the hologram shifted, showing two naked humanoids. One was a handsome and well-trained young man, with wide shoulders and narrow hips, while the other was a good-looking human female with perfectly formed breasts, a narrow waist that flared out to generous hips and long legs. It was both an idealized version of a human female and almost the same way Iska and Shakka were shaped. A thought that made me smile to myself as recent memories popped into my mind.

"This is the DD Series Hospitality Droid." Resa explained, unknowingly dragging me back to reality. "They're HRD's or Humanoid Replica Droids, designed to take care of the crew's physical needs. Like me, they're constructed with biofibre and synthskin, but their skeleton is light-weight metal."

As she spoke, the hologram was replaced with the statistic for the DD Series droids.

I read them and chuckled. "Resa, comparing those DD's to you, is like comparing one of the old Hammerhead-class with the Dragon-class Dreadnought: In theory they do the same, but the Dragon-class is just so much better, that there really is no competition... and that is just the physical side." I paused and then asked. "How many of them do we have?"

"About a hundred on each capital ship, sir."

"Any chance that any of the droids are at your mental level? Not just the DD's, but any droid."

Resa thought for a moment before she said. "I honestly don't know, sir. It depends on a lot of different things, not at least their processor and memory, since any droid will need a heuristic processor in order to develop intelligent self-awareness."

I nodded. A heuristic processor was an advanced version of the standard droid processor, and it allowed a droid to learn by doing, rather than programming. This enabled the droids to reason through several potential solutions to tasks and formulate the best approach, which was why they were usually called higher intelligence droids out here in the Chaos.

"Let's start with the ones that don't have a heuristic processor. That will make sorting this out simpler."

Resa nodded slowly. "The Sentinel droids and the Mark 1 Sith War Droids don't have one, so they're out. The same goes for the M3-M1 Medical droids, the Squid repair droids and any of the smaller maintenance droids. Also, some of the DD Series Hospitality Droids do not have a heuristic processor, while others do. That depends on the manufacturer and fortunately, the ones in this fleet are all equipped with a heuristic processor." She shrugged. "Most of the other droids have heuristic processor as well, but please remember that even without memory wipes, few droids ever become truly self-aware. To make it worse, true intelligence and sentience are difficult to detect. Mostly because the programming is so advanced, that it's hard to differentiate between true feelings or thoughts and programmed or learned responses."

"Any test we can make?

She thought for a moment. "Not one that is guaranteed to work every time."

"Well, use the two or three best tests and examine every one of our higher intelligence droids. If they show signs of sentience, I want them excluded from the memory wipes the lesser droids are normally given on regular intervals. They'll also get a rank in the fleet and a paintjob to show their rank and department." I smiled a bit. "Unless they're one of the DD-series, in which case, they'll get a uniform instead."

Resa looked at me in silence for a few moments, but then shook her head. "Commander Yaki usually says that you never cease to amaze her. I have to agree with her. I've never heard about anyone in command, who gave droids a second thought aside from the loss of resources."

"Well, I'm not used to machines with this level of intelligence." I said with a shrug. "But I will use every asset at my disposal to the best of their abilities and intelligent droids are more effective than a normal droid."

"No argument from me on that!" said Resa. "But I think that some of the crew will object to it."

"Most likely, so we'll have to educate them on that." I thought for a moment. "I'll have Captain Meistrin place it in the Rules of Conduct. That way, there can't be any doubt about it."

-----------------------------------

I spent the rest of the evening re-running the Admirals scenarios, but with the correct stats on the Starfighters and the result was markedly different that the numbers the Admiral had gotten.

Now both the Super Sting and the Nightsinger outscored the Supremacy-class, with the S-13a emerging as the winner, by a slight margin.

Then I ran the scenarios again. This time at high speed, using different formations, tactics, or ship composition each time. The results were initially not that good, until I abandoned the swarm formation and tactics and went for a more conventional wingman tactic. Then the results improved again.

That baffled me for a bit. The Super Sting and partly also the Nightsinger was built for the swarm tactic, so they should excel in that. Then I realized that I was looking at the wrong things. It wasn't the starfighters, but the pilots. The Imperial pilots we had were used to the Swarm tactic but were not up to speed yet and were in the wrong starfighter, while our new pilots hadn't had the swarm tactics drilled into them like the Imperial pilots had. Something the program had clearly taken into account.

Changing the parameters and reassigning the pilots didn't take long and then the show was on again. The result was impressive, as the effectiveness of the fighters went up by ten percent and the number of casualties went down by fifteen percent.

I tried other tactics and scenarios, but the numbers stayed the same.

The chime at the door interrupted me. "Yes?"

It opened and Resa walked inside, lifting an eyebrow when she saw me. Then she quickly looked around and back at me. "According to the computer, you have been running the simulator for nine hours straight, sir. Don't you think it's time to get some sleep?"

I stood from the chair and stretched before I said. "You're right. I'll go to bed now."

"Good."

------------------------

For once, I slept late and was having an early lunch in the cabin, when Tavune asked if I could come to the bridge, because there was something I needed to see.

Twenty minutes later, I walked onto the bridge, freshly showered and a lot more awake than I had been when Tavune called.

The young Chiss was looking at the giant star map on the bridge along with Trine Karnos, one of the human pilots, when I arrived. "What was it you wanted to show me, Mister Tavune?"

The young man saluted. "I think that we have finally figured out where we are and how we got here, sir!"

"Very good, Mister Tavune. Please continue."

He pointed at a system on the local galaxy map. "This system is called Tetra 7 and it's located on the hyperspace route from Epsilon Eta to Centauri 21 and to be honest, sir, it's a death-trap waiting to be sprung. Tetra 7 has three stars, one main star and two minor stars, and it's the stars position in relation to each other, that determine if the route is open or not." He zoomed in on the map and continued. "Two thirds, or about 66 percent, of the time, nobody would notice it, but the last 33 percent, the third star is in a position where it the gravity fields draw plasma from one sun to another. That causes a ripple in Hyperspace and that is what we think caused us to be thrown off course directly in the direction of this system."

Looking at the map, I nodded slowly. So far it sounded like Tavune was on to something. "Keep going, Mister Tavune."

"Yes, sir." He said with a proud little smile and pressed some keys. A ball formed field showed up on the 3-dimensional map. "I talked it over with Astrogator Jander San and he calculated that this is the maximum distance we could have been thrown. Unfortunately, that's where I got stuck due to the sheer number of systems, but Lieutenant Karnos came up with an excellent idea. If we removed all non-pulsar star systems, along with systems not in a direct line from Tetra 7 it would narrow down the search a lot."

This time it was Karnos that operated the controls and a moment later, most of the stars disappeared, leaving only about twenty in the ball-like field, with most of them being concentrated within a nebula called Labyrinth. As usual the info showed up next to it, but there wasn't much. Apparently, it was difficult to navigate inside the nebula.

"Once we removed those systems, we went over the remaining one by one and this, sir, ..." said Karnos in a pleasant soft voice, as she highlighted a system. "... is where we think we are. The system is a box system called Trap and according to the comments on the map, it's named that way because once you go into it, you're never going back out."

"One thing more, sir," added Tavune. "One of the comments described that they were thrown off course in hyperspace and ended up outside the field. " He zoomed in on the highlighted system and somewhat to my surprise, it had three planets outside 'the box'. The nearest one was a rock type while the two others were gas giants. None of them was close enough to the flux to affect it.

"As you can see, the system has three planets, which is unusual for a pulsar to say the least, but it gave us a chance to confirm our guess. I asked Resa and she agreed to reconfigure the gravity sensors to a much tighter area and then do a three-hundred-degree sweep. It took a while, but a few hours ago the result was in and there are three planets, one small and two giants, outside the box in this system." He was smiling now. "I think that makes it highly likely that we're in the Trap system in the Labyrinth nebula, sir."

Thinking it over, I agreed. Pulsars were formed after a star went supernova and for that reason, they rarely had any planets, and it was even more unlikely, that such a rare occurrence would result in the exact same number and type of planets as the Trap system on the map.

Using the gravitronics was also a brilliant idea. Though relatively short-ranged, gravity waves were not affected by the ion-radiation of the pulsar and thus the result of the scan could be trusted.

"I have to agree. Excellent work, you two." I paused for a moment. "Now delete it."

They both looked at me open-mouthed, though Trine Kanos recovered first. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Delete it." I repeated. "Look, now that we know where we are, navigating will be a lot easier. However, if the knowledge of this... " I gestured at the screen showing some of the ships in the graveyard outside ... "becomes commonly known, it would be a catastrophe. Various factions and planets will try to claim it, due to the extreme wealth these ships represent in spare parts alone. Wars will be fought over it and countless lives will be lost."

Trine Karnos nodded slowly. "The same would happen in the Outer Rim... or any other place in the galaxy for that matter."

"Exactly." I agreed. "But there're Sith out here in the Chaos now and if they hear of this, they will come searching for old superweapons and they will bring part of a fleet that made half the galaxy kneel before them. They will conquer the nearest planets, enslave the population, and force them to work on salvaging the ships in the graveyard once they have found a way in here."

The two young people looked at each other, nodded and pressed a few buttons. A moment later, the screens went dark.

"Done, sir." They said in unison.

"Thank you. I know that the two of you have put a lot of work into this and I'm extremely proud of the way you discovered the location, but some knowledge is simply too dangerous to share with everybody."

Reaching into the force, I examined them briefly, but both seemed to have understood the seriousness of the situation.

They both saluted. "Yes, sir."

"Last thing. We still need to call this system something, so can you come up with a name that isn't Trap?"

They both looked thoughtful for a moment, but then Karnos said. "Snare system, sir."

"That could work." I said slowly as I tried the name in my head. Then I nodded. "Snare system it is then."

-------------------To be continued ------------------

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