When we dropped out of hyperspace, I was surprised to find that we were almost completely alone at the rendezvous location. I had anticipated the Rebels beating us there or another Imperial ambush waiting for us, but I had not foreseen empty space save for the Talos Chariot. The second it was safe, the small ship immediately turned towards us and began to make for the same hangar bay as before. I nodded to the second in command BX unit, who sent a pair of droids to escort the rest of my team to the bridge.

It only took a few minutes for them to make their up to us, with Tatnia and Julus crashing together in a hug and a long kiss. I couldn't help but smile for them, watching their love as they whispered to one another. I looked over at Ahsoka, who returned my smile before we both looked back to the empty space in front of us.

Finally, after nearly five minutes of waiting, the Rebel fleet, plus our own fleet, dropped out of hyperspace. They were a good distance away since I had the droids reverse the Lucrehulk away from the main dropping point. Immediately, as ordered, the droids reached out to the Skyforged ships with the comms.

"Skyforged, this is Deacon," I said cleanly, knowing my projection was on the bridge of every ship in our fleet. "Break formation with Rebellion and join us, the Dreadnought will swing around to cover you. Maintain defensive positions in relation to the Rebellion."

Several confirmations came through the comms, many of them confused but obedient, as the Whale Shark broke away from the fleet first, the rest of our starships swirling around it as they moved, the Anvil last to leave since its shields could take the greatest beating. Our Dreadnought pushed forward as they moved, turning as it passed them to shield them from any fire.

Of course, at no point did I expect General Syndulla to open fire on us, but I wanted to set the tone for what was happening. I did not trust the Rebellion at the moment, to the point that I was acting as defensibly as possible, waiting for them to attack.

"Incoming communication," the comms droid called out. "From General Syndulla on the Rapid Tide."

"Put her on hold until all ships have settled into position. I want all droid-controlled ships in the front and those with functioning shields ahead of those. Once everyone is in position, we- " I began to explain, only to cut myself off with a smirk. "No, better yet, continue positioning the fleet, but send the Rebellion the data from the battle. Video, battle maps, data feeds, the whole nine yards. They can call us back after they see what we had to do to survive."

"Roger roger."

It took about a minute for us to tighten up into a defensive position, the new CIS ships surrounding the Skyforged. When I was sure they were in position, I settled in to wait, minutes passing before, finally, the comms droid got my attention again. This time, I nodded, and a moment later, a holoprojection of the General appeared.

"Deacon, that was some impressive work," she said, pausing for a moment before adding. "And I'm sorry that it was necessary in the first place."

"So you came to the same conclusion as we did?"

"Of course, I did, Deacon," She admitted, her expression tired as she shook her head. "Spies are part of the game. And you didn't even have the right information to give up. I… I'm sorry the Rebellion got you tangled up in this."

"I wasn't 'tangled up' in anything, General Syndulla. You saw what Vader said. He was looking for me and my team, specifically General. The spies you're talking about didn't just sell out a mission, they specifically sold out my team and me. That is completely unacceptable."

For a while, nothing but the hum of the ship's power cores could be heard as we both watched each other. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, Hera spoke again.

"So what happens now?" She asked, sounding concerned. "Your team has helped the Rebellion a lot, Deacon. You've easily eclipsed our best resource-gathering teams in terms of functional tonnage, and that was while you were supplying your own growth. Your organization is good, and we do not want to lose your trade."

"And I would like to continue working with the Rebellion," I admitted with a shrug. "But what happened cannot go unanswered. As I'm sure you realize from watching that footage, we broke through that on a razor's edge."

"Yes, we saw. It was an impressive escape and defense," She praised, seeming shocked it had turned out like it did. "Particularly using the ships as a defensive wall to protect the two Dreadnoughts before switching their targets at the last second."

"Thank you," I responded with a cold nod, not letting the compliment quite break through. "Now, I want to confirm, the Skyforged Vanguard does recognize that the Rebellion has a claim to a portion of what we escaped with since your slicers were used to crack the computer core, as well as for work they did on the Lucrehulk itself. However, this is not a fifty-fifty split, not after what happened, not after how close we got to dying because you couldn't secure a mission. I will accept negotiations, but be aware of that, for now, this is not a friendly chat. I have demands, and I will not be giving things away."

"I… I understand the logic, Deacon, I do," General Syndulla assured me with a wince. "I will try my best to get the others to understand as well."

"Good. We are not enemies, Hera. I understand that this was not a Rebel attack," I added. "But the ambush rests on the Rebellion's shoulders. And until I feel like I can trust you again, things are going to be more difficult."

General Syndulla considered my words for a long moment before she nodded in agreement.

"I understand, and I can't say I blame you, either."

"I suggest you make sure that you are on whatever group ends up at the negotiating table," I suggested before running my hand through my hair and letting out a long sigh. "I will be taking the fleet to a deep space location momentarily, so my people can start going through them, cataloging the numbers, making sure there aren't any tracking chips. While my people are working on the fleet, I will go and pick up Luke. I will also be sending a ship to pick up Miru while dropping off your slicers. I suggest keeping a wide berth."

"Very well," the Twi'lek general said. "We will be waiting."

I gestured to the comms droid, who cut the feed.

"Alright, does everyone have the jump coordinates?" I asked, nodding as I received quick confirmation. "Alright, let's make the jump."

The stars streaked by the viewport once again as our newly expanded fleet jumped to hyperspace. This trip was only a few hours long, just enough to get us to the middle of nowhere. During that time, Ahsoka and I explored the living crew areas, which were actually much more expansive than I thought. The ship might be run by droids, but there was enough in the living quarters for a full crew of sentient beings, plus a large amount of passengers. So far, everything I was seeing convinced me more and more that pulling out of Omega station and using the Lucrehulk as a mobile base of operations was the right way to go.

Once we dropped out of hyperspace, I dispatched the Forward Charge to pick up Miru and Racer and drop off our slicers, as well as our Rogue Squadron escorts at Alpha Base. Not long after that, I called a meeting to discuss keeping the Dreadnaught and the Lucrehulk, as well as the fate of the remaining CIS starships.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"To me, it's a no-brainer," I said with a shrug, looking around at the leaders and captains of our ground teams and starships, respectively, most of them holoprojecting into the large meeting room we found. "Even if we only use them until they start to fall apart, they would be worth the effort. Then, we could land them somewhere to act as a defensible structure. Until that point, however, they are basically just free capital ships, one of which is on par with a star destroyer. We rely on the droid crew for now, and we can slowly replace it over time. Plus… I'll honestly be glad to have pulled out from Omega Station. Having the Rebellion constantly looking over our shoulders has clearly become unwise. "

"Before Nirn, I would have disagreed with replacing Omega Station," Vaz said. "Now it only seems like another staging point. A mobile operating station would be invaluable. "

"Which brings up another point, keeping the 'hulk above Nirn would mean that we could defend it just a bit better, which means more people will be able to escape if everything goes sideways," I pointed out, several of the captains nodding in agreement. "It's obviously not a sacrificial piece, but even thirty seconds could make all the difference in the world."

Eventually, after a long discussion, it was decided that we would keep both the Dreadnought and the Lucrehulk. Boxi's Fury would serve as a staging point above Nirn, similar to how Omega Station functioned. It could easily hold all of our ships save the Anvil, but once we created a starport on Nirn's surface, that wouldn't really matter. We would take the ship into battle as needed, but mostly, it would stay in orbit above our planet.

The Dreadnought, now named the Forge, would be joining the third group, massively increasing the threat level of our Naval-focused battle group. Or rather, it would once I hired a dozen or so bridge crew to work with the existing robot crew. I may be fine with the majority of the ships being run by robots, but I would prefer it if a biological crew had ultimate control.

Once the decision was made, we sent out the Second Group to grab a significant amount of our repair team to start going over the two massive ships. They were obviously not enough to repair the whole ship, but I was hoping that they could work with the droid crew to scan for any beacons or planted devices.

While that had started, we also started figuring out just what else we wanted to keep, going from ship to ship to investigate and frequently grab what we wanted, at least on a small scale. For example, the Munificent had a hundred and fifty commando droids, which I immediately ordered to be brought to Boxi's Fury. Other larger-scale items, like the fleets of B1 and B2s, armored tanks, and much, much more, would have to be negotiated for.

I helped with the rest of the crew, spending three days exploring the ships and discussing what our options for negotiations were. After that, it was time for us to pick up Luke from his month of training.

Ahsoka and I hopped into the Starcaller, which had been brought to us not long after Miru arrived, and got to work with the ship's computer core. Artoo, who was now wearing a shiny new coat of paint, greeted us as we climbed on board. The remnants of Boxi's team joined us as well, all but his second-in-command shutting down in the cargo bay to conserve space and energy.

After everything was checked over, we made our way to the bridge, already cleared to take off by the droid control systems. I sat down at the basically empty seat, glancing at the blank console while Ahsoka took the pilot's seat and the BX unit took the co-pilot's seat. As they were running through the startup sequence, I looked over at the combat droid.

"Did we ever give you a designation?"

"Unit BX-04 was not assigned a designation," It responded but continued after a moment. "However, leader Boxi frequently referred to me as Lefty."

I looked at the droid for a minute, frowning as I tried to recall why that would be important. I could see that the droid's left arm was painted black, while the rest of him was colored the normal dark purple and burnt orange our BX droids usually wore.

"Wait… You survived that mission on Gizer, our first heist!" I said, my eyes wide. "You were part of the original team, the one who got his arm knocked off in your escape."

"That is correct, sir."

"Well… Consider it your official designation, Lefty. It's only right his successor bear a name he came up with," I admitted. "I'm putting you in charge of the team, including when I replace your numbers with more beskar-enforced models. I'm also tentatively removing your mind wipe orders for the team as long as you present yourselves for frequent diagnostic checkups. Your previous leader's sacrifice has more than earned the chance for you all to grow a bit."

"...Thank you, boss," The deadly droid said, shifting slightly in its chair. "This unit will attempt to live up to Boxi's legacy."

"Do your best for the Skyforged," I responded. "That's all I can ask for."

"Boss… This unit wonders… If upgrades to our armament might be discussed."

Both Ahsoka and I shared a look, surprised at the newly "freed" droids question. It was showing a lot of flexibility for a droid that should have been receiving frequent memory wipes.

"Our combat effectiveness has increased greatly with the beskar alloy armor replacement," It continued, not looking up from the checklist it was running through. "This unit would like to suggest a similar increase might occur if our weapons were improved as well."

I looked at the droid in confusion, noting its sword and blaster were still attached to its back. They were both the standard BX unit armament.

"I could see the issue with the blaster, we could absolutely look into getting you some better firepower, I know the E-5 is junk…" I responded, scratching my chin. "Honestly, I'm kinda shocked we haven't replaced them before."

"That would be a good start, this unit has seen vastly superior weapons with the Skyforged Vanguard," the droid agreed.

"A good start?" Ahsoka asked, now looking at the droid with suspicion. "What else could you need."

"This unit wonders if lightsabers-"

"Absolutely not!" Ahsoka said, looking like she might space the droid if it continued. "I do not want Commando droids armed with lightsabers. It wouldn't be right, no matter how helpful you and your group have been."

I winced but said nothing, letting Ahsoka speak first. I could see why the droid would assume that an upgrade of a vibrosword would just be a lightsaber, but obviously, that wasn't going to happen. When Ahsoka was done, I confirmed her opinion.

"Sorry, Lefty, there is more to wielding a lightsaber than just needing an upgrade to your weapon," I explained. "We can still look into upgrading your swords, though. Maybe we can find better, more modern melee weapons or some sort of alternative. Until then, you will have to make do with better blasters. Maybe a variety of weapons for different purposes. A side arm as well, that just makes sense."

"This unit understands," Left replied. "Thank you for your consideration."

Ahsoka gave the droid one last look before shaking her head and tapping the controls, the ship lifting off from the hangar bay before flying forward out of the bay into space. The jump to lightspeed went by without issue, leaving our fleet behind.