Bravo’s eyes snapped open as the door to the cramped passenger compartment hissed open. Kid walked through and smiled, “We have arrived at the Partorem System.”

Otto, and Mickey practically leaped out of their sleeping bags and scrambled into the Cockpit, followed by a mildly curious Data and grumpy looking Buck.

Bravo, Delta, and Kid followed shortly after, walking in to see The two younger boy’s eyes practically glued to the cockpit windows. In front of them sat a huge metallic ring, the middle of it glowing green, a bright spot among the darkness of the void, and to their left, a great distance away, set a blue/green orb, glowing with the reflected sunlight from their fiery yellow sun.

Otto gasped in amazement as he stared at the ring in front of them, “That must be the gate.”

“Yes,” Kid said, “It’s a magical piece of technology, and truly wondrous to behold,”

“How do those things work?” Data asked, turning away from it and looking at Kid.

Kid shook his head, “No one knows save the Partorems, The technology was given to them by Viritus millennia ago, and they guard its secrets fiercely.”

“Will we get to meet these Partorems?” Mickey asked

“No,” Kid replied quickly, “They do not care for visitors, and you can only meet with them by appointment, and only if they deem what you have to say important enough for a meeting, they are very isolationist” He paused for a second then chuckled, “Though they will fiercely defend themselves, the Empire learned that the hard way.”

“How much longer until we reached our destination,” Bravo inquired.

“Not long, The resistance base is only a short hop from the system the gate will drop us in.

As they neared the gate, another ship came gliding towards, its black hull was almost indistinguishable from the darkness of space, and it bristled with numerous weapon emplacements, over the radio of the their ship a voice barked, “ Attention, TPU Plastrice-class transport, This is the Partores Transit Authority, transmit ID codes now.”

Kid quickly slid into the Pilot’s chair and began pressing numerous buttons on the console, then stated “Acknowledged PA, transmitting now.”

“What is this about,” Buck asked, as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“They’re checking to make sure we aren’t Imperials, after their failed subjugation of the Partorems, they are banned from using the Partorems home system gates,” Then Kid gave another small chuckle, “Much to their annoyance.”

The voice came to life again, “ Received, You may continue your journey.”

Kid maneuvered the ship into the center of the gate. After a moment, he entered something into the control console, it gave a loud beep and then the entire window lit up in a bright almost blinding white light. A few seconds later the light faded and the starry void of space sat before them once again.

“Alright now we are almost there.,” Kid said as he turned the ship to the left, and began punching in coordinates, the ship accelerated rapidly, as the stars stretched into white lines, “Once we get to the base, I’ll introduce you to my father, and we will get you set up with living spaces.”

“What exactly are you going to have us do,” Buck inquired, with a slight edge to his voice.

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“It would be up to you,” Kid answered, “We don’t put people into combat until they’ve reached adulthood, at sixteen rotations, of course there are exceptions, but we have more roles than just combat, we need transport pilots, co-ordinators, mechanics, medics,”

Buck nodded thoughtfully, but the hardened lok on his face did not soften. After a moment another beep sounded from the control panel, Kid smiled and announced, “We are coming out of Alspatis, now.” He reached up and pulled back a lever, and the ship decelerated, the stars once again turning to normal.

The ship turned and headed towards one of the planets in the system. It sat before them, like a blue-green jewel among a black sea. As he neared it he hit the com button and said, “KNRLCR, C-11NN5”

A short moment later two click sounded over the radio and a gruff voice replied, “KNLRG, H3”

“What was that?” Data asked.

“I gave them my ID code, and A code that said I was requesting to land, they radioed back with a code stating I was clear to land in Hangar three.”

“Makes sense,” Data mused, “You wouldn’t want anyone else to hear and understand what's going on, if they were listening in.”

“Exactly,” Kid replied, “Even though our traffic is encrypted, there's always a chance the encryption has been broken.

Kid continued on towards the planet before them, As the ship neared it shook a little bit as it entered the atmosphere. It streaked through the sky like a comet and descended down over a bright blue sea. Kid dropped the ship low enough that the water splashed underneath as it glided over it spraying water up and into the air. Ahead sat a tall mountain range. Kid oriented the craft towards the tallest mountain and as he neared it a door slid open to reveal a hangar inside.

Kid guided the ship in with the help of a man on the inside and set it down on the right side of the hangar. As soon as the ship settled he stood up and motioned for the boys to follow him, “I’ll have to notify my father that I’m here.”

As the descended the ramp, a very tall and muscular man stood, grinning, “Ah young Nonanae returns.” He called in a deep, silky voice.

Kid smiled as he neared him, “It’s good to see you again, Hergist.”

The man chuckled, then picked Kid up, lifting him off the ground and into a big hug, “I am glad to see you again.”

“Please Hergist, I'm not a little kid any more.” Kid answered, sounding a little annoyed.

“Yes, you’ve grown big and strong just like your father,” Hergist said, As he set him down he looked to Bravo and the others, “And you brought friends.” He said with glee.

“Yes I found them on a more primitive planet, one that has been untouched by the Empire.”

“Really?” Hergist responded, surprise evident on his face, “Your father will be interested in hearing of this. Come little ones, I will lead you to him.” He motioned for them to follow him.

The other glanced at Bravo for a second and he nodded indicating to follow the man, and then trailed after him out of the bustling hangar and into the long winding corridors.

As they walked the corridors of the base Hergist said, “Some feared for your safety after we heard you’d been ambushed, but I knew you’d pull through.”

“They almost got me, I had to make an emergency jump and end up crashing, but my new friends here helped me get off the planet.”

Hergist smiled at them, “And what of you friends, won't your families be worried about you?”

“We don’t have any one” Bravo replied, “We’re orphans”

Hergist looked at them with sorrow in his eyes, “Tis sad to hear, but you will have a place among us.”

They continued walking and as they passed others in the hall they nodded to Kid with a smile and gave words of greeting. Eventually Kid spoke again.

“How are we doing against the Empire, has anything happened since I’ve been gone?”

“Things are going well” Hergist replied, “They haven't managed to find us yet, and we’ve been hitting them hard. Multiple raids have gotten us many supplies.” Then he laughed, “The Imperial dogs are running in circles trying to figure out how to stop us.”

They slowed as they reached a door guarded by men in military style uniforms, they saluted and Hergist ushered them into the room.

Bravo and his friends glanced around. Men and women dashed about the room. Some talked into a headset, others carried what looked like tablets in their hands. The room was full of consoles and maps made of light floating in the air. At the center sat a huge table, above it hung a giant map made of blue light full of hundreds of blue orbs. Around it stood numerous men and a couple of women, mostly wearing military style uniforms, though some wore simple clothing.

Near the center stood an older man in a crisp and spotless uniform with dozens of medals adorning his left breast. He pointed to a point on the map, “We can have a strike team hit them here.” he said to the woman next to him.

“The shipyard?” She said in surprise.

He nodded, “Have them damage a few docks, maybe even steal a few ships and grow our fleet. If we do enough damage it could ruin their supply chain as they’d have to go to the next sector to get refueled and repaired.”

She nodded, “I’ll talk to Praetorux Narkin and have him gather a strike team.”

“Good” the man replied then he turned to address his visitors, “Son I’m glad you’ve returned.” He said to Kid

“I'm glad to be back as well father.” Kid said with a crooked grin on his face.

Kid’s father turned to Bravo and the others, “I see you’ve brought some friends.”

“Yes father, they are orphans, they helped me repair my ship, and leave their world.”

“Ah,” The man replied and smiled at the boys, “And for that you have my gratitude, now I’m sure you’ve had a long journey to get here, rest up tonight, in the morning I’d like to sit down with you and hear your story.”

“Hergist get them set up with a room, Son, remain here I want you to fill me in on the details of your mission.

“Yes father, “Kid replied as Hergist ushered Bravo and the others out of the room.