Project Boussh: In Brief by scifantasy Sci ticked names off on his datapad. The last stragglers were coming into the audience chamber now. There were a few left, including Mike and Shalla--and there they were, running through the door. Mike and Shalla appeared very out of breath. *Probably not just from running over here,* Sci thought, smirking. He surveyed the room. Arrayed were some of the finest troops the New Republic had: pilots, commandos, Intelligence officers, even some technicians and mechanics. Dispersed throughout were Terrans--eleven Terrans that he'd been commanding, as well as a few who had been part of the Mendellian Resistance. Sci looked over to the people who he shared the dais with. *Speaking of the finest troops...* Sci smiled widely. It was nice of the New Republic to send so many extremely high-placed and, at least to Terrans, well-known troops and officers. According to Piggy, he'd sent off an emergency call to the New Republic for assistance once he found out how deep the rabbit-hole went, so to speak. The New Republic had responded in force. Sci ran through the list in his mind. The Rogues, Wraiths, various Intelligence personnel like Tede and Winter, the Katarn Commandos, and a few other Commando teams: Kapp Dendo's team, Sixtus Quinn and Elscol Loro and their friends, and probably a few others he was forgetting. Plus several fighter squadrons from the capships. Since Ace One and Polearm Five had been involved for so long, those squadrons had insisted on coming. The situations had changed for the worse, though. Instead of one Mark 2 Imperial Star Destroyer, there were three. *Sometimes I think the world does everything in its power to make my life more interesting,* he thought to himself. But, that was enough reflection for now. Sci turned to the group and cleared his throat. "Thank you for responding so quickly to our summons. I trust everyone here has some idea who everyone else is? Good." He touched a control on the datapad, and an image appeared, created by the small holoprojector in the center of the room. "The Imperial Star Destroyer _Admonitor_. Standard crew complement, captained by Captain Dagon Niriz--and commanded by a clone of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Thankfully said clone seems to be...Well, I'll let the person who met him comment. Wedge?" Wedge nodded. "From what I saw of Thrawn, he didn't seem to be as good as the original was in the psychological battles the original Thrawn was so good at. He didn't seem to be in complete control of his own people, and he certainly wasn't out-thinking us. According to ru--stories, Thrawn almost never needed to raise his voice--he did several times when we were around." Sci picked the briefing back up. "Of course, the _Admonitor_'s compliment of stormtroopers and fighters has been reduced recently, as a result of the Battle of New Hampshire. It is assisted by the Star Destroyers _Inexorable_ and _Intendant_; these three ships and their contingents of troops and fighters make up the entirety of the Empire's forces in the Sol system." Alison chuckled. "They really need to give those Star Destroyers more original names." There was a ripple of laughter at that. Sci hit another control, and the wedge-shaped ship was gone, replaced by a view of the system with a green dot highlighted, behind the sun with respect to Terra. "Our forces consist of a task force led by the New Republic Dreadnaught _Peregrine_, commanded by General Garm Bel Iblis. The fleet's exact makeup is unknown due to a communications blackout; that's all right, since we have other worries. The job of the task force is simple: Destroy the Star Destroyers. For that purpose, they have pulsemass generators." Sci saw some reactions from that, particularly from the Terrans. He knew why. The only recorded case of pulsemass generators being used were at Dathomir by the Hapans, and Sci remembered what had been written: "The Hapans planned to either win or die." If things went badly over Terra, the New Republic could not escape. Another button pressed, and several holographic people appeared in view. Sci pointed to each of them in turn. "These are our people aboard the _Admonitor_: Brad Corletti, also known as Terra Ten, Dorset Konnair, Polearm Five, Plourr Ilo, former Rogue, and Policraticus McEwok, Terra Seven. As of last contact, all were doing well, but we don't know their status, so we'll assume they could use some help." Josh Nolan frowned. "Hang on. Brad's one of our people? I don't think so." Shalla scowled as well. "And what about Pol?" Sci shook his head. "Your information about the droids Brad seems to have built lead me to believe that Brad isn't actually working against us. Since we're pressed for time, I'll just say that should you encounter him, do your best not to kill him. Josh nodded. "Well, I wasn't going to kill him. He's not getting off that lightly." "Thank you, I think. As for Pol, he was working with us from the beginning, as an inside man. He's going to make it substantially easier for us to complete our missions." Now it was Vickie's turn to frown. "You act as if you know exactly what Pol's doing. He wouldn't tell me that much when we spoke." Sci smiled widely. "I do know exactly what he's doing." That produced some surprise; most of the New Republic personnel were either shocked or confused, as well as several Terrans. Wedge and Tycho were nodding, as if they'd figured out Sci's plans. "Pol held the rank of Commander in the Imperial Ubiqtorate, Special Services, from prior engagaments that I'm respecting his silence concerning. He's also, in the past, liased with New Republic Intelligence, Alpha Blue division. He and I met several times early in the mission. We decided that given his rank, he could report to the Admonitor as an advisor on the local situation. Once there, he would be able to provide effective assistance from inside the Imperial command structure. But I'm getting ahead of myself." He shut down the projector. "We will be divided into several groups for this mission: The Dogfight Team, whose job it is to fly and fight; Rescue Team, the team that invades the _Admonitor_; and Havoc Team, who will accompany the rescuers and proceed to make life very difficult for the people aboard said Star Destroyer. "Dogfight Team is straightforward enough: Vape enemy ships. I'll tell you exactly who is on what team at the end, but it's safe to say the Dogfighters are most of the New Republic's pilots, and a couple of Terrans and Graces." "There are what, twelve or more Imp squadrons there?" Corran Horn's voice sounded more observatory than worried or cocky. "Probably twelve," Wedge nodded, "of mixed type. Despite reputations, this will not be an easy victory." "But it will be a necessary one," added Tycho next to him. "To be exact," said Sci, "there are five fighter squadrons from each other Star Destroyer, and probably two from the _Admonitor_, probably Defenders, Avengers, and some Interceptors. To counter that, we're also pulling several squadrons of TIE fighters from the former Mendellian Air Force." "Rescue and Havoc Teams, like I said, have the job of boarding the _Admonitor_. When our dogfighters attack, the _Red Home_, _Gaia_, the _Skate_ and the New Republic's boarding ships will move in toward the Star Destroyer. Pol will be messing with the local systems at very many docking bays--suffice it to say, we shouldn't encounter too much resistance when we approach. Rescue Team will proceed to find and assist our people; Havoc Team will endeavour to earn their name by causing as much mayhem and chaos as they can. It's even possible we could make a run at the bridge--but I wouldn't get overly optimistic about that. "Once in, Havoc will split into groups. Slicers, full-attackers, and some general troublemakers." He saw quite a few glances at Mike and Elassar at that. "And some people to hold the ships, obviously, and defend them against any committed troops who try to attack them." Wes smirked. "Anyone who would try that need to be committed." Sci grinned, satisfied. "I was hoping someone would see that. Anyway, that's the basic plan. There are details, of course, but you'll find them out as you need to. Now, the list." "We have as many ships as we need, thanks to spares from the Fleet, so here's who's on Dogfight Team. Rogues: Wedge, Tycho, Gavin, Inyri, Hobbie, Ooryl. Wraiths: Face, Piggy, Shalla, Myn, Kell, Tyria, Runt. Bror, you'll be flying as well. Terrans: Vickie, you can take the Avenger you flew in with, and Josh, Cochran, you'll be in an X-Wing on loan from our friends outside. Emily, since Wes will be on Rescue Team, he's graciously lent you his X-Wing and droid. You'll be Hobbie's wing. Pash, you'll be leading your flight group--both Ace Squadron and Master Squadron are here. The Polearms are also flying, and we have three squadrons of Mendellian TIE Fighters, namely Grace Squadron, led by Dictator Thayer Atner in One, that's the Avenger Wedge flew in, and General Reth Gilkrad Nivag in Two; Pea Squadron, and Finch Squadron. They've been tagged with lights, so you don't hit a friend on accident. Since Thayer will be up in space, Kirret will be in command down here, so she'll be our guiding voice." He looked around the room, wondering if anyone would mention either "odds" or "impossible" in reference to the upcoming fighter scrap. No one was that foolish, apparently. "Becki, your crew will be the first half of Rescue Team and consists of you, Fir, Fenya, Corran, and Tede. Take your piccolo--some of Brad's droids are bound to be on the _Admonitor_, and if necessary Tede and Fenya should be able to hook you into the shipwide com for a little...musical appreciation. "Kristy, you'll be working with the Katarn Commandos. As the second half of Rescue Team, your job will be to find our people, but if you can have some fun at the _Admonitor_'s expense, by all means, do it. The other commando teams will be securing docking bays and other important ship functions, as the systematic attack portion of Havoc Team. "Havoc Team is, generally, everyone else. Elassar, you'll be aboard the _Red Home_ as pilot and field medic, and Koyi, Zraii, and Cubber will be the equivalent for machines. Kolot, you'll be in a gunnery position on the _Home_, and Sharon will have the other one. "Mirax, we'll be using the _Skate_ to board; but if you want, you can slip out afterwards and do some damage. Iris, take the _Skate_'s primary gun turret, just in case. Rekla, since you want in on this so badly, you can have the secondary turret." The boy looked almost giddy; Sci thought his smile looked permanently affixed to his face. It was a happy thought. "Mike, you and the Noghri will have one job: Mayhem. I trust you can do that?" A grin split Mike's face in half. "We also managed to find Atner's droidstopper, so you'll have that if necessary." "No pies this time," Corran warned, to some giggling. "Josh, Nolan that is, will be leading Korak and company. And, last but not least, our slicer team will be four slicers and two people to watch their backs. If necessary, we can split into two-and-one, and that's how we'll enter the ship. The slicers will be Iella and Winter, with me covering; and Morwen and Kirney, with Alison covering." Sci did not expect the reaction he got; Alison and Kirney both barely kept from screaming "WHAT!?" and Sci had the distinct feeling that both he and Face were going to be confronted by an angry teammate. The two leaders shared a pained and confused glance. "Well, that's it. If you have any issues, let us know. We leave within the next two hours, so get ready to move." Sci looked around in the general milleu for Alison and Kirney. Sure enough, Alison was heading to the dais, but she was looking at Face, not Sci--and Kirney was stalking out the door.