Thump thump.

Caius Auriga stood from his chair, sitting his datapad down on his bunk and moving to answer the door. He'd recently came down from the bridge and was still mostly uniformed, wearing his blue undershirt with collar rank, uniform trousers, and standard boots.

I s'pose The History of the Battalions of Zhell will have to wait, he thought.

Unlatching the hatch, Auriga poked his head out into the corridor.

"Yes?"

The charming figure of Emissary Julius Arkwright stood waiting outside. A tall man, the elder Arkwright's features matched his son's in several ways--the same prominent slope of the bridge of his nose, the same heavy brows, and even the same baldness (the elder Arkwright's follicle impairment, however, wasn't voluntary). His slightly oversized hands clutched a datapad.

The retired captain greeted Auriga with a gentlemanly nod.

"Good evening, Captain. You're wanting a briefing on my latest talk with the Phoebans, I expect?"

Auriga smiled politely. "Yes, absolutely, Emissary. Come on in," he said, swinging his stateroom's hatch wide. The elder man dipped his head slightly, indicating that height runs in the genes along with the family nose.

"I was glad to hear that things worked out so well at Crius while I was gone," the Emissary said. "Having those renegades taken care of should be a boon to this whole process."

"Yes, I concur," Auriga said, gesturing for the Emissary to have a seat while he stepped over to his caf brewer. "In hindsight, having the Phoeban cruiser assist us may not've been the most tactful, diplomatically speaking, but I doubt the Crites will complain. We did, after all, halt an invasion and wipe out a homegrown terrorist cell."

"Thank you, Captain," the older man politely said as he sat down, crossing one leg over his knee and resting his datapad on his thigh.

Auriga's caf brewer chirped once. "How do you take it, sir?"

"Black, please," Arkwright said. Not missing a beat, his briefing continued. "The news on the whole is good. Ti'Rawl conceded that even though war might be warranted after recent events, it wasn't in either system's best interests on the whole."

Auriga passed the Emissary his mug as he was finishing his sentence. The Captain then took a seat across from Julius, crossing his legs in a similar manner.

"The current solution is for an 8 day cease fire I persuaded them to agree on," Arkwright said, sipping his caf. "Some time to pass for emotions to die down and issues to settle."

Auriga nodded his understanding as he, too, took a gulp of the strong brew. "And what's the Liberator's role during the cool down?"

"They haven't the intent to try and resolve any of their bad blood, so it will be up to you to do that for them, at least in part," Arkwright said.

Auriga's eyes narrowed. "What do you have in mind, Emissary?"

"Cleaning up those renegades was a nice first step. A number of concerns are unanswered questions of one type or another--such as this missing sword." Arkwright paused. "Those questions need answering."

Auriga's doubts were obvious. "So we need to find a missing sword in eight days, among other things?"

"If possible, yes, among whatever other things come up," Arkwright said crisply.

Auriga hesitated. Fleet Command had recently issued the customary advance notice to standby for a major change of plans. As usual, the advance notice contained no dates or times, only a carefully worded note from Commodore Wolfe that "the situation is becoming so dangerous as to warrant a serious redistribution of Fleet forces."

"That sounds fine, Emissary, but I'm not sure how much longer Fleet Command will want us to hang around after those eight days," the Captain said. "Something big is on the drawing board--I'm not sure what just yet--but I know Commodore Wolfe wants the Liberator involved."

Arkwright's facial expression remained steady. "Then we'll have to work quickly, Captain. If we can find the real root of their feuds, negotiations should go swiftly," he said, taking another deep sip of his caf. "You know, Captain, I had to play a card with the Phoebans that I had hoped to save--possible Imperial incursion in the future."

Auriga nodded.

"The Phoeban military might give Crius a black eye, but they'd never stand up to the kind of might the Empire can bring down on them," the Emissary said.

"Yes, indeed," Auriga said as drained the last caf from his cup. "I imagine that caused some whispers between delegates.

"It did," Arkwright said. He paused, reflecting. "When I consider it now I wonder why I didn't bring it up sooner. I've learned it's a major selling point Alliance politicians use to gain the open support of sympathetic worlds."

"Lets just hope all our new friends don't call on us at once," Auriga said carefully. "If the Empire tightened control across several sectors, we'd have no chance of stopping the slaughter that would ensue."

"Especially not in recent months, if I followed the less slanted media reports on the Rebellion as well as I think I did before my sudden repatriation," Arkwright said in agreement.

"Yes, indeed." Auriga paused, debating for a moment if he should disclose the classified contents of his most recent intelligence report. "I imagine you've got wind of the Home One incident?"

Arkwright's expression finally changed as he raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "No, I haven't. Nothing bad I trust?"

"It was a near-disaster," Auriga said frankly, shaking his head. "The Empire's been doing random interdictions all through the Outer Rim lately. They bring in an interdictor cruiser and a star destroyer, some support ships--a frigate or two, light cruiser, maybe a Victory-class destroyer here and there--and then fire up the grav well generators and see what lands in their lap."

"MC-80 and her picket escorts just happened to be passing through this random sector when the grav wells yanked them from hyperspace," Auriga explained. "Admiral Ackbar, the Fleet Command staff, Mon Mothma, the Advisory Council--all onboard."

Arkwright, too, shook his head. "Did the ship escape all right?"

"Yes, they made it. Their Corellian corvette escort line immediately took to pounding the interdictor, and Home One's starfighter wing of 36 X-wings secured their escape. A good number of pilots were lost, however, along with one of the picket corvettes," Auriga said.

Arkwright finished his caf. "This sort of thing can't continue indefinitely, I trust? With the Alliance still so scattered right now... I crossed the deck of no less than four different Rebel ships just to get here, from a corvette to a Mon Cal cruiser."

Auriga nodded. "I concur. A terrestrial base is becoming more and more a necessity."

"It's certainly not the Republic I captained for," Arkwright said with a sigh, looking down into his empty mug.

"But the ideals are the same," Auriga said firmly.

"Yes. Unfortunately."

The Captain's eyebrows raised. "Unfortunately, sir?"

Arkwright lifted his head and paused to gather his thoughts as if for a monologue.

"Your Rebel Alliance, Captain, is fighting what remains of that proud republic," Arkwright said with precise annunciation. "Oppression and exploitation are the ideals that gained the upper hand. Even thirty-five standard years ago we could all see it coming--hell, longer than that."

Auriga nodded slightly. "I was barely an ensign when Palpatine called up the sector defense fleets to support the Republic Starfleet," he said slowly, his eyes distant. "I never second-guessed the Supreme Chancellor. I understood the need for emergency powers in a time of galactic war, I accepted the need for levied forces--hell, I even believed his speeches. I was a gear in the Imperial war machine by virtue of ignorance."

"I'm ashamed to admit I got out while the getting was good," Arkwright said. "Retired, and went home to Corellia." He shrugged. "I had a new son to raise."

"Yes," Auriga said appreciatively. "Is Flynn your only child?"

"He is," Arkwright replied. "And sadly, I was his only parent for all but three years."

Auriga mentally chastised himself for neglecting that fact. "Yes, I remember that from the Commander's file. You have my sympathies."

Arkwright sat up straighter and waved his hands dissuasively. "It was years ago. No need to drag such things up in this forum."

As Auriga opened his mouth to speak, the Emissary stood abruptly.

"Well, Captain, I suppose I should leave you to your devices. More pertinent details are all right here," he said, sliding a datapad across Auriga's caf table.

"Yes, thank you, sir," he said, putting his empty mug aside and standing. He led the elder man to his cabin's hatch, unsealed it, and stood aside. "Feel free to drop by anytime, Emissary. There is no one more socially starved onboard a warship than her captain--I'm sure you can relate."

Arkwright stopped at the hatch and turned to meet the Captain's gaze. "To be honest, I can't say it bothered me all that much. However, if you need the visitation, I would be happy to provide it."

Auriga was taken aback by his curtness. Sithspit, old man, I was only being polite.

"Have a good evening, Emissary," Auriga said with forced diplomacy.

"Good night, Captain," Arkwright said as he stepped into the corridor. Auriga's hatch sealed behind him.