Continued from here...




The early drop from hyperspace had placed them on the edge of the Adega System.

They were close, but certainly not close enough. And as things went, they were honestly incredibly lucky that Dauntless had not torn herself apart. She'd come close though. Far too close. A hull breach while in hyperspace was something that had such terrible potential that Marlon Kori was himself in a fair amount of shock still, at the fact that they'd somehow managed to weather such a storm. He tried not to think too hard on the matter though, attributing their continued existence to the swift drop back into realspace and the cruiser's own fail-safes operating with particular swiftness. And past that? He had no desire to ponder the particulars. They were still alive, and that was all that mattered.

And so, while they did not exactly have the luxury of dropping out at Ossus, they were at least now passing into the system itself.

They would still make things right. They would still save the Alliance from the Jedi.

Picking his way through the scattered debris in the General's office, Kori scowled. The expression hadn't left his face ever since this whole thing began. A few lieutenants were clearing away the scattered remnants of Dan's destroyed furniture; splintered wood from the chairs that'd once been before his desk, shards of glass that had once been whole table tops. It was a mess. Crystal glassware that was now nothing but clear dust. It was all a grand display of destruction.

Jane Starborn's body had been removed, but the stink of death was still very much apparent.

Stooping down, Kori reached out to pick up an old holo. It showed the four of them; Dan, Lok, Dage, and himself after a particular long and drawn out engagement with the Empire on Vandelheim. Each of them looked tired, but there was triumph in their weary smiles. Things had been so simple back then.

What'd happened in the years that had passed?

Finally, he looked up at his commanding officer. Then his eyes went to the two other officers doing their best to clear away the mess.

"Balik, Chessen, leave it." He gestured to the doorway.

"Go back to your stations."

Both men looked at each other, then gave silent nods before removing themselves from the General's office.

Dan didn't even seem phased, other than the level look of simmering anger in his eyes as he seemed so lost in thought, detached from the rest of everyone aboard the ship.

Marlon Kori knew that look; or at least he had seen it many times before. Or perhaps he'd not seen this particular flavor of it? He'd heard once from Lok, that Dan had been previously married, but his first wife had been killed by the Empire. She'd not gone into detail about how he'd reacted. Now though?

He looked back to the holo, sighed, then made his way to where the General stood. What could he say? Dan seemed so utterly occupied with whatever occupied his mind.

The holo was held in a loose grip as he stood before the General.

"Dan... "

No answer.

"General?"

Still nothing.

Finally, and perhaps out of frustrated impatience, he took hold of the older man's arm.

"Dan," he gave a gentle shake.

"Gods, man, wake yourself up.."