( Republic Cruiser "Astute" )
"I wish it was, Mister Katarn," Chief Saew said in the silence that echoed after the announcement. There were no cheers at it, for war meant death. And they were going to be on the firing line. "Boys! Diagnostics on that engine!" he pointed at the one Jan said a moment ago. "It'll be good practise because there's no way to know what ships we'll have to service in the future. Now get to it!"
Having a job at hand distracted his crew from the news, but in giving the order, he missed Kyle hopping down off the wing of the Raven's Claw. "I'm sorry," he said as he did see the large man come up to him and Jan, "But I have to run back to my office to see if there is anything for me yet."
"Go," Kyle commanded, and the deck chief saluted before he left. Once he was out of earshot, Kyle leaned over to whisper in Jan's ear. "Something's really weird. The Force is... I don't know... off somehow. But these people, there's no lying going on."
"They announced the start of the Clone Wars!" Jan whispered back. "Why would anyone do that?"
"I don't know. Stay with the ship," Kyle warned. "If we get the hint something's wrong, I'll open the outer doors and we'll get out of here. So make sure that the Hpyerspace engine is fixed."
"On it." Jan agreed with Kyle's caution and quickly climbed up the side of the ship to access the damaged components. Kyle took a walk around the ship, ostensibly to check the hull for damage on the outside, but also to get a feel for the people around him.
They were tense, some eager, some fearful. It was a familiar mix, one that he had seen a few times before when a ship was going into combat, but the crew didn't know when. But most tellingly was the lack of any sense of duplicity from the crew. If this was some bad joke, they weren't in on it. And he knew all too well how hard it was to keep a secret the more people who knew about it.
He was doing a close inspection of the nose of the ship, where the twin laser cannons were installed behind a hidden panel when he felt the Crew Chief approach him. He was a ball of emotion, mostly worry for his people. That made him a good man in Kyle's books. "Yes?" He said once Chief Saew got close enough to have casual conversation with, rather than calling out at a longer distance.
"Mister Katarn, Captain Corvell would like to speak with you for a minute." The Chief passed along the message as he kept an eye on his people at the same time. "It's about where we can drop you off."
Kyle considered this. If it was a trap of some sort, best to spring it while prepared for it, and if it wasn't he couldn't be impolite to the man who lent his ship to help out Jan and the Claw. "Let me grab something from my ship, then where would the Captain like to meet me?"
"He's sent a couple men to take you to the Wardroom," Chief Saew explained. "Shall I let him know you're on the way?"
"Please," Kyle said, concerned but no warnings from the Force just yet. He quickly ran under the hull of the ship to the loading ramp, and up to where he locked his guns when not in use. Punching in a code, the small cabinet slid open and Kyle grabbed his pistol and saber, tucking both under his jacket so they wouldn't be quite as visible.
When he got back, he would have to begrudgingly thank Luke for giving him the saber. It would do him a lot of good in a close quarters fight on this ship if it came down to it. Not that he was expecting to have to fight through the ship's compliment. From distant memories of his time at the Academy, he expected this ship to have a compliment of about a thousand. Not great odds, but most of them wouldn't be fighting anyways.
Out on the flight deck, he returned to Chief Saew. "Sorry about that. Shall we?"
"Of course." The chief pointed to a door about halfway down the length of the deck. "Your escort is waiting for you there."
"Thanks," Kyle said as he adjusted himself to cover his weapons. "Jan! Captain's calling, so I'm gonna talk to him. Be right back."
"Alright!" Jan raised one had to signal that she understood. "Don't be too long!"
"I won't!" He called back, then strode for the indicated door at a brisk pace. As he got closer, he could sense three people on the other side. One had the bearing of an officer, the others were guards. Well, he was a stranger on the ship, so he could expect an armed escort. There was no need to worry about that. He opened the door, and the officer stepped up. "Hello Captain Katarn. I am Ensign Friosha." The near-human had orange skin and blank black eyes, but Kyle wasn't worried about that.
"Please, I don't really hold the rank of Captain. You can call me Kyle." He smiled to set the young Ensign at ease, though it didn't seem to work as well as he hoped. Ignoring the two guards, he did note that they were dressed like old Republic marines, which either meant that someone was spending a lot of good credits on a reenactment, or was so poor they couldn't afford anything newer.
"If you'll follow me Captain... Mister Katarn?" The Ensign turned and started to walk down the hall toward the front of the ship. Kyle could feel the unease from everyone around him, but there was still nothing that told him what was really going on. And that set him to being at unease.
Going through blast doors, Kyle tried to converse with the Ensign, knowing that talking to the marines was a lost cause. "You expected this to happen?" He left the 'this' vague, but it should have been obvious what he was asking about.
"I don't pay attention to politics, sir." The Ensign replied. "I'm just Navy."
Kyle frowned on the inside, but kept his peace. Not everyone could pay attention to everything. Heck, he couldn't! "You should. Politics dictate what the Navy does."
"That may be true, sir. But not something I look forward too." It was almost like he was holding his head down and waiting for the storm to blow over, so Kyle didn't press the issue. There was too much going on here that he didn't know.
The rest of the walk was in silence. They stopped in front of a nondescript door that had the word 'Wardroom #1' written above it. "Here you go, Sir. I'll wait here to escort you back."
"Thank you, Ensign." Kyle knocked on the door, and it opened for him. Not usual, but not impossible either. "Captain Corvell? I'm Kyle."
"Ah, Mister Katarn, come in." Kyle's first look at Corvell wasn't a bad impression. The man hadn't seen real sunlight in years by his complexion, but he moved with a sureness that belied his age. "I apologize, but it seems you had the worst timing. If I may, what was your final destination?"
Not seeing a point in lying, Kyle said "Coruscant."
"Ah, then I don't feel guilty." Corvell relaxed as he picked up a datapad, one of many strewn about the table. "The onset of war has caused quite a bit of chaos, I'm afraid. We will be jumping shortly to the Sector rally point at Khar Duma where we will join the fleet. Once we arrive, you can be on your way. It shouldn't take more than a couple days to reach the Core from there."
"Thank you, Captain." Kyle felt out with the force and found nothing suspicious. He really believed in the announcement he had made. So Kyle decided to poke at it, seeing how he responded. "I never thought we'd see war."
Corvell sighed. "Neither did I, Kyle. Forgive me, Captain Katarn."
"Kyle's fine."
"Kyle, then. No, I would be lying if I said I didn't expect it. Rather, I was hoping it would not come to a full war. Yes, there has been armed conflicts over the past decade, but I was hoping for a peaceful settlement." Corvell looked around, only the two of them in the room. "I'm going to need armed guards wherever I go in the future, don't I? Being the captain and all."
Kyle nodded, his senses telling him that this man was being completely honest with him. Which meant that he honestly thought that the Clone Wars had just started. Which was impossible. "Yea. Attacking leadership is one of the things one should do early in a war. Helps throw the enemy off balance."
"You have experience?" Corvell didn't show it, but he was wary of Kyle now.
"Former mercenary," Kyle explained. "I got too old." His hair was only slightly turning grey, and he wasn't that bad off.
"Ah," Corvell relaxed a little. "I think that people like you may be hired by the Republic to help bolster our forces while we build a proper army." He looked at Kyle, eyes curious, then back to the datapad. "Not that I'm authorized to do so."
Kyle smirked. "And I'm too old to take on new jobs. You want some.. .friendly advice?" If this man thought he was going to war, then there were some things that really needed to be passed along.
"I can listen. I can't promise I'll follow what you say."
"Can't ask for more than that." Kyle said as he took a seat. "First, yes, you're going to need guards. Even on your ship. Spies can and will take advantage of any perceived weaknesses they find. But don't let your guards keep you isolated from your crew either. If you're the kind of guy who talks to his men a lot, don't stop. A loyal crew is worth a lot."
Corvell seemed to accept that tidbit.
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