When our fleet landed around the mountain that made up Alpha Base, Ahsoka and I left the Starcaller, making our way to the Chariot while Luke went to head inside the base.

"How is everyone doing?" I asked, stepping into my ship, where Tatnia was waiting for us. "Everyone ready for this?"

"Julus, Nal, and Vaz are just getting their armor on," She responded, absentmindedly touching her own uniform. "Got a message from Corvak saying his men will be ready shortly as well."

"Well, don't rush too much," I said, shaking my head. "Step one is the wait, and I'm not sure just how long it will take."

"Are you really going to wait until they come to you?" She asked. "I get the idea, but…"

"It might take some time for them to realize what is happening, but once they do, they will have a choice to make," I explained. "Either they come out here and invite us in, or we sit on our thumbs and play chicken. If we wait more than forty-eight hours, we start powering up the ships and requesting a departure vector. The point is that they come to us to invite us in. I'm trying to set a certain look, and this is step one."

She nodded in understanding, and together, we all made our way up to the lounge, shortly joined by the rest of the team. As she said, Nal, Vaz, and Julus were all in full armor, which had been cleaned, repainted, and polished. They would be our escort, our honor guard, as would Corvak and two of his men. I wanted to include Corvak in the uniformed group with Ahsoka, Tatnia, and me, but I felt that three was already a high number for that. Thankfully, he didn't mind, assuring me he was more than content to not have to spend time dealing with politicians directly. On top of that, he could also contact me silently using a connection to my datapad and his armor in case he did have something to say.

We sat around and passed the time by playing a few holo games, discussing the upcoming meeting, and generally just killing time. Corvak and two of his team joined us, armored and ready to go.

Eventually, after a few more hours of waiting, Calima let us know that a group of people were approaching the ship. A quick look showed that it was General Syndulla and Princess Leia, escorted by a quartet of soldiers, riding on a group of small transport speeders, a few of them empty. Once they stopped and disembarked, they approached the ship, stopping just ahead of the boarding ramp, still in view of the viewport.

"Alright, seems like someone is already picking up what I was putting down," I said with a nod, turning back to the lounge. "Or Luke gave them a hint. Either way, it's showtime. Is everyone ready?"

I got a series of nods and verbal confirmations, and after a moment, I led the way down to the first deck. There we spent a minute getting into position on the cargo elevator, with the armored crew in a two-by-three stack behind us while Ahsoka, Tatnia, and myself took the lead. When we were set, I took a long breath and shook myself off for a moment before finally putting my game face on. I needed to play a specific role here, one that didn't necessarily come naturally to me. Ahsoka and Tatnia would help keep me on track, but ultimately, this was my show.

"Ready. Let's greet our host."

The cargo elevator lowered, and after about thirty seconds, we stepped off to the flatted landing pad beneath us. Together, we moved, with me slightly in the lead, walking out from under the ship to meet the Rebel Leaders.

"Welcome, Deacon. It is good to see you again," Leia said, stepping forward and offering her hand. "I apologize for taking so long to greet you."

"Admiral Deacon," Tatnia corrected, fast enough that I didn't have a chance to comment, which was good because I hadn't even thought about a title. "He is Admiral Deacon."

"My apologies," Leia responded easily, bowing slightly. "Admiral Deacon, it is good to see you."

"It is good to see you as well, Princess Leia, General Syndulla," I said, reaching out to shake her hand, switching to the General next. "I assumed the delay must have been from a miscommunication, I understand they can happen. I trust it's being addressed?"

"We… are still uncovering the issue, but rest assured we are dedicated to addressing it," She said with a gentle smile. "Shall we adjourn to a more comfortable location?"

"Very well," I agreed with a nod. "I expect my guards will not be a problem?"

"Of course not, we understand the need for protection," General Syndulla agreed with a nod before gesturing to our rides into the base.

It was strange, talking to them both like this, as they were both people I had talked to before, one quite frequently. It was clear we both knew I was putting in airs, but, as expected, neither of them commented on it. I hated it, but it was necessary.

We climbed onto the speeders, and we were quickly off, traveling along the landing pads until we entered the base, where we were guided through the facilities. Unlike previously, we traveled at a much more sedate pace, Princess Leia and General Syndulla discussing some of the basic renovations the Rebellion had made to the base. None of it was anything strategically important, and it all amounted to small talk between politicians.

Previously, when we had come here to discuss missions or raids, we had been guided to basic meeting rooms. Now, though, we were shown to a much larger, much more open conference room. The room was lined with greenery, carefully cultivated, with a fake sunroof in the middle, which I was pretty sure doubled as a holoprojector. The sunroof shone down on a large circular table, which itself was of high quality. This was a room that was clearly meant to impress while also putting someone at ease.

Including Leia and General Syndulla, who took their seats shortly after we entered, there were six Rebel leaders present. On top of Luke and General Dodonna, there was also a human male I vaguely recognized and a female whom I didn't recognize at all. As we sat, our guards spreading out behind us, I could see and feel everyone's eyes on us, studying us as we moved. I returned their looks calmly, giving General Dodonna a respectful nod, which he returned.

"Before we begin, I would like to thank the Skyforged Vanguard for making your way to us. We apologize for the inconvenience," Princess Leia said, standing from her seat with a smile while holding her hands in front of herself. "I would also like to introduce General Rieekan, as well as Commander Vitali, Viscount Tardi's second in command. The Viscount apologizes for being unable to join us in person, but as you can imagine, gathering our forces together is a costly and often dangerous affair."

Both of the introduced humans nodded as Leia said their names, and I followed suit. After a moment, I stood, Leia quickly sitting as I did.

"I appreciate your welcome, and I very well understand the difficulty in arranging your people into one location," I responded. "The more moving parts, the less often those parts align together."

Leia and the others accepted my forgiveness with their own smile and movements of acknowledgment. After waiting for a moment, just enough to let the empty air settle and begin to weigh down on everyone, I began to speak again, slowly sitting down again as I did.

"I would like to start this off by setting something straight so as to avoid confusion going forward," I said, looking at each of the Rebel leaders in turn as I spoke. "The Skyforged Vanguard does recognize that the Rebel Alliance has a claim to a portion of the spoils from our past mission. While the spoils were cut down drastically by… unfortunate circumstances, that does not change the reality of the situation."

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I could see Commander Vitali shift in her seat, as if she was going to speak up, but I quickly plowed through.

"I conferred with my aides and advisors, and we have reached a conclusion that the Rebel Alliance has a fifteen percent claim to the materials, equipment, and weapons we recovered."

"Fifteen percent?!" Commander Vitali said, her eyes wide. "We gathered a significant task force to assist in that mission, and-"

"A task force that, due to an ambush stemming from an unknown leak, never saw a single moment of combat," I cut in, meeting the finance-focused leader's frustration easily. "It is only by the efforts of myself and my team that there are any spoils left at all. Tell me, would your fleet have survived against the Executor if it had been ambushed?"

The room was quiet for a moment, as anyone with even a basic understanding of naval combat knew the answer. Without my idea to sacrifice CIS ships to take down the interdictors, their fleet wouldn't have stood a chance in the hypothetical battle. They would have been torn to shreds trying to escape.

"While I do agree that our portion should be the lesser fraction," Princess Leia admitted calmly. "Surely there is a more reasonable number we could agree on?"

"There is," I answered cleanly, surprising the Princess and Commander Vitali. "I am willing to offer twenty percent. But we are keeping the Lucrehulk and the dreadought."

Even with how few of the leaders were at the table, it still erupted into various words of disbelief, admonishment, and disagreement. After a solid thirty seconds, I snapped my fingers, sparking a jolt of electricity that resonated like a firecracker, silencing the room.

"Let me be perfectly clear," I said, once again meeting each of their looks. "The Skyforged Vanguard will be keeping both the Lucrehulk and the Dreadnought. This is non-negotiable. As far as I am concerned, we earned them when we fought and escaped Darth Vader and his Super Star Destroyer. The extra five percent is being offered because we understand we are going against normal negotiation procedures. It is an apology for that and nothing more."

"It is still unacceptable," Commander Vitali stated again, rapping her fingers on the table. "The Rebel Alliance is in desperate need of ships like the Lucrehulk. You would deny us such an important ship?"

"Should I not?" I asked, looking at her confused. "After all, the betrayal came from your side. If it wasn't for the arrival of Darth Vader, we would be enjoying a celebration of the greatest find of the year or maybe even the decade! We found an entire fully staffed and mostly self-sufficient fleet, as well as the infrastructure to repair it should it get damaged. And now we have a bare third of that fleet remaining."

I looked around the table, focusing on each of the leaders, giving them a tight look. I couldn't help but notice that General Draven was not among them, which made me wonder if he had been blocked from joining to keep things civil. Before anyone could interrupt, I continued, this time dropping my voice to sound angry.

"Besides, a Lucrehulk is worth more than four hundred and fifty million credits," I pointed out, eyeing Commander Vitali closely. "Are you prepared to pay out the Skyforged Vanguards portion for that?"

My question caught the woman off guard, her face paling slightly. It seemed that despite the warning that both General Syndulla and Luke no doubt gave them, they had still expected to run this negotiation, assuming I would hand things over quickly and with a smile. I resisted the urge to shout, instead only standing, focusing a glare on the Commander.

"You weren't expecting us to simply give over a near priceless vessel of war, were you?" I asked, leaving no doubt that's exactly what I knew they had expected. "Well, allow me to correct your assumptions then. The Skyforged Vanguard does not, at the moment, believe that the Rebel Alliance is capable of being dealt with in a… casual, hand-waving manner. After being repeatedly taken advantage of, pushed to the side, and flat-out betrayed, the Skyforged is no longer willing to deal in good faith. If the Rebel Alliance would like to gain access to the equipment, ships, supplies, and other goods that we procure, you will pay for them. Every bolt, nut, and wire. This is now a business transaction, not a charitable donation."

I stood for a long few seconds, my hands on the table, waiting for my words to settle in before finally sitting back down. General Dodonna, who, out of everyone, besides maybe General Syndulla, looked to be the most understanding of my position, leaned forward, taking the floor.

"Since you are determined to claim the two largest starships, and you claim that Rebellion is owed twenty percent, what are you offering in compensation?" He asked simply. "We are owed our twenty percent after all."

"Very true. First, the Lucerhulk contains an entire droid army," I explained. "We are offering you the greater portion of it."

I held my hand out to Tatnia, who placed my tablet into my open palm. It was one hundred percent a practiced move, an attempt to make us seem streamlined and coherent, which I'm pretty sure worked. I opened the tablet and accessed the specific data inside.

"In total, we have one hundred and seventy-eight thousand battle droids, fifty-seven thousand super battle droids, armaments and equipment for the entire breadth, as well as transport, tanks, and other equipment," I explained. "I am offering a hundred vulture droids starfighter and ten C-9799 transport ships, as well as enough tanks and equipment to fill each of them, as well as one hundred and thirty-five thousand battle droids, twenty thousand super battle droids, and the equipment to run and maintain that amount. Basically, I am offering you an entire army, lock, stock, and barrel."

"That… that is an incredible amount of equipment," General Rieekan admitted, more than a bit caught off guard by the numbers.

"It is, and it's yours to do with as you wish. Keep it, sell it, use it to take over a ship dock to make up for what your negligence lost us in the last mission. It's completely up to you," I explained with a shrug. "On top of that, I am offering full ownership of Omega Base. We would pull out completely, and you can move it anywhere you want."

The idea seemed to catch Leia off guard, but both Dodanna and Synbdulla seemed to have seen it coming, simply nodding in agreement. The two officers no doubt understood that after a leak from their side almost got us killed, there was no way we could trust being so close to them at the station. I could also imagine that, as a diplomat, Leia was concerned about losing a way to interact with my group so easily.

"And finally, we are offering seven smaller combat ships, all of which are fully staffed with droids, as well as all the supplies and equipment on board. If any of you have datapads or systems you'd like the data on?"

We took a minute to bounce the data around, eventually getting the information for the seven smaller ships to the leaders, allowing them to look at the inventory themselves. Once they were satisfied, I pulled everyone together again, though I resisted the urge to snap my fingers again.

"That is all we are willing to offer in exchange for the Lucrehulk and the Dreadnought," I said, confirming the question I could see brewing in many of the Rebel leaders' heads. "From here, we can begin a more neutral and normal negotiation process for each of the individual remaining starships and their cargo."