Into the Chaos Ch. 05

One argument against blue armor was that it made them easier to spot, but as any half-decent military helmet had infrared incorporated into their helmets, the colour didn't matter. One of the reasons why the Republic Army used white armor.

"I like it." I finally said. "And if possible, keep the engraving and the colour, but no large shoulder pads. Can you take this drawing to the engineers and see that they can do?"

"Really?" Yaki said, sounding surprised.

"Yes. Once we get the Dragon-class dreadnoughts completely up and running, they can program the fabricators and droids to make these, but for now, just make some armor for testing."

"Yes, sir." Said Yaki with a wide smile. "Can I incorporate some electro paint camouflage in them, just in case we encounter people without infrared?"

Electro paint camouflage was simply paint that changed colour when you ran an electric current through it, and most Chiss amor used that to be able to change between different preselected colour schemes. It wasn't anything close to active camouflage, but it did make the wearer harder to see depending on the surroundings.

"Sure, if they got the paint here, feel free."

"They don't, but I'm reasonably sure that the Master Engineer Gacith knows how to make it."

"Good."

She shifted a bit. "May I ask a personal question, Thalen?"

The use of my name signalled a shift in the conversation and I felt my mindset shift, as the superior officer mindset retreated to be replaced with that of her old friend. "Always, Yaki."

"How is it to have sex with a Twi'lek?" She asked as a smile crept onto her face. "They're incredibly sexy to look at, but how are they in bed?"

"Even better." I said dryly and sat down on her bed. "You want to hear everything? Excluding personal details of couse."

Yake nodded eagerly. "Yes. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to take one to bed, but I want to be prepared just in case and the computer doesn't offer much detail."

I swallowed a chuckle. Yaki was a firm believer of being prepared for most things and this was right in her way of thinking.

So, for the next half hour, I gave her the run-down of what I knew about having sex with a Twi'Lek, their sexual endurance, the sensitivity of the lekku and everything else I could think off that would apply to Twi'Leks in general.

We were both becoming increasingly aroused by the subject, and the explanation stopped when Yaki suddenly asked. "Are you and Shakka becoming exclusive or can we have sex?"

"Not exclusive. Shakka is too smart to demand that and before you ask, yes, she's into women as well... Apparently, that is quite normal among the Twi'lek... at least those born in captivity."

Her smile almost took her ears. "Nice." She paused for a moment and I could feel the heat and lust emanating from her. "This has made me horny. Are you up for some sex because I really want your tongue and dick in me?"

"Oh yes."

We spent the rest of the afternoon having sex and ended with Yaki in her favourite position on top of me, bending over me so we could kiss, while her body moved back and forth, sliding up and down my dick, while dragging both her nipples and clitoris over my skin.

It was a position that always made us both come unless we were actively resisting it, and this time was no different as Yaki came in a howling orgasm, followed by me a moment later, shooting my load into her pulsating pussy.

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Training -- Month 2

"There's no experience like on-the-job training."

Saying from the CEDF

As part of the command training for the future captains, I had arranged for tactical training, and it didn't take more than a few weeks before I had a feeling for their skill level.

It was no surprise that Captain Meistrin was the best in the class, as she was a tactical officer, but that Iska took second place was a surprise for most of the others. Captain Tristana took third place, closely followed by a trio of human pilots: Corlew Bucbro, Jay Barlee and Trine Karnos.

I had hoped that there were more experienced capital-ship officers among the freed slaves, but apparently those were either killed or sent to other slave-camps than the lower ranking crew members.

After them came Ensign Mivito, Captain Samko and Pilot Tlath.

Captain Samko's former pilot Georgina Writ did reasonably well and the same did Pilot Zwul, who had piloted the Fury along with Captain Samko. Jaim Bul and Zeil Traan both belonged to the Dorus race, which was one of the few alien races in our little fleet that really looked like an alien in my opinion. Green-skinned and hairless, they had red eyes, lipless mouths, and long thin noseless faces. On the other hand, they spoke excellent basic and according to Captain Samko they were better than average at astrogation and could be found almost everywhere in the galaxy.

Unfortunately, their excellence in astrogation didn't translate into tactics. Jaim Bul wasn't good, but Zeil Traan was horrible, having absolutely no grasp of tactics at all, and I made a mental note about assigning him to astrogation.

Kran Swur, one of the other Sullustans, did much better and I was sure that with some training, he would be ready to captain one of the ships.

The rest of the pilots were average, without any of them showing above normal talent for tactics. As they were mostly expected to follow orders, that wasn't really a problem, but it also meant that much of our future training would focus on following orders.

After that Captain Meistrin took over, assisted by Iska, and started the course on the difference on space transports and capital warships.

I listened for a little while, but then walked over to the engineering department to see how the training was going there. Many of the people from Alpha Viga were already highly educated techs of various kinds, so the trick for Master Engineer Gacith and the rest was to make sure those skills translated into skills usable on a spaceship. Then there were the people who were already educated spacers, but who haven't used those skills for years, and needed a serious update.

Master Engineer Gacith came over to me as soon as I entered, carrying what looked like a container of some kind. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, Master Engineer. You look happy."

He nodded. "I am, sir. The engineers are more skilled than I had expected. Look at this, sir." He showed me the container. "One of the agricultural techs has worked on a space station where they used pots like this to grow plants in. She explained how it looked and worked to the engineers, who programmed the fabricator and an hour later we had the first prototype." He looked at it with a satisfied look on his face. "This is going to work, sir."

"The container or teaching the engineers?"

Looking up at me, he chuckled. "Both, sir. The only area the techs really need an education in is the drive-systems and power distribution, and fortunately, that is one of the few areas where we have enough people, since most spaceship engineers have experience with that, along with weapons." He lifted the container. "Besides the algae spores you mentioned, the agricultural specialists have found tons of seeds for fast growing plants, and they swear, they can make those seeds grow into plants that are beautiful, oxygen producing and edible."

I lifted my eyebrows at that. Food onboard a spaceship was designed to last a long time and fresh food was a rarity. "If they can keep that promise, they're going to be very popular among the crew."

"I agree, sir. The only drawback is that to get enough, they're planning to decorate most of the interior of the ships with plants. Fortunately, these pots are designed to stay in place even if the artificial gravity fails, so if they just avoid access panels and the like, it should be fine."

"Well, it seems like you've got everything covered here, so I'll just move on to the gunnery training." I said with a smile. "Keep up the good work, Master Engineer."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, do you know where Chief Engineer Keller is?"

He nodded. "He is arranging repairs in hangar bay 2."

"Thank you."

Chief Engineer Keller was without any doubt the one with the biggest job, as he was coordinating the repairs of the ships, but when I found him, he was smiling widely as he talked with a Chiss engineer, looking like he enjoyed every moment of it.

"Hello, sir!" He greeted cheerfully when he discovered me.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Keller. How is it going?"

"Better than I had feared, sir." He said with a smile. "The stress damage from the hyperspace exit is almost repaired. We have a lot of good engineers and repair droids, and they're working faster than I had estimated. Right now, I have teams working on the Delta-class carrier and both Gage-class Transporters, and those teams are only going to get better and more experienced at time goes by. Not to mention, that more teams will be formed as more engineers and mechanics are coming up to speed."

"Both Gage-class Transporters? What about the damaged Life support system?"

He smiled. "We found a spare life support system in the cargo-hold of one of the cruisers. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible."

"Now that's a pleasant surprise," I said with a smile. The Gage-class Transporters were good ships, especially the Planetary Assault version that this fleet had.

"Yes, but I'm glad we didn't try to use those from the start. They still took a heavy beating from the meteors and it'll take weeks, if not months, before they can carry people."

"Very good, Chief Engineer." I smiled. "I'll leave you to it."

Next was gunnery training. Being the area that required the least amount of technical know-how, it had been the favourite choice for many of the younger people on board and where Captain Meistrin and Iska had forty people to train or retrain, the Master Gunner and his people had a little over three hundred.

Fortunately, the gunners had been clever about it. First, they had cut the gunnery squads from five to three and then they had slaved the guns in pairs, so that each squad controlled a pair each. The other clever thing they had done, was taking it easy. They knew they had time to teach their craft and had made a game out of simulated shooting, making the different squads compete against each other.

One of the best teachers was Master Gunner Kansen. When we had freed him on Alpha Viga he had been on the verge of a breakdown and I hadn't expected much of him, but apparently the time we had been here, combined with him being in his element had worked wonders. He was a brilliant gunner and had a sense of humour that had the students laugh from time to time, taking the edge of the seriousness of it all.

He also asked if I was willing to give out this week's trophy for excellent shooting. A task I immediately agreed to and an hour later, I handed a shiny trophy to a trio of blushing young people, while the rest were clapping. The best part for me, was that the crew consisted of a Chiss, a Human and a Sullustan, proving to the rest that when the races worked together, good things could happen.

After that I made a visit to pilot training, where the experienced pilots were being re-educated for the M7 Nightsinger and Super Stings, while a group of hopeful people were getting an education as Starfighter pilots. A job that had been romanticised by various holovid shows and consequently, we had no shortage of people willing to try it. That didn't mean that they were any good at it, so the teachers had implemented several tests to sort out the best applicants.

It also required a healthy body and before they had been allowed near the simulators, all pilot aspirants had to pass a medical check, which, along with the other tests, had brought down the number of applicants to less than half the original. Some of the experienced pilots, who didn't have the health to qualify for starfighter pilots, were given the choice of becoming either flight instructors or capital ship pilots. Most had chosen the capital ships, where they could regain their health and perhaps try as starfighter pilots again later.

When I entered some of the applicants were busy at the simulators, while the others were occupied with theory, so I spent a good ten minutes looking at the simulator training, noticing who was doing well and who wasn't.

I was leaving, when I noticed one of the more talented students, a young human male, cursing at the simulator, before looking at Flight Lieutenant Kierian. "Sir, this shit isn't working. It doesn't respond as it's supposed to."

"Yes, it does." Said the Flight Lieutenant patiently.

"No sir, it doesn't." Declared the young man. "The Super Sting has a tighter turn-radius at max G than the Supremacy-class. There's no way it could have caught me in that manoeuvre."

"Max..." Said Flight Lieutenant Kierian with a sigh. "Stop whining every time you get shot down!"

"But I'm right!" said the young man, frustration evident in his voice. "The computer is cheating!"

The Flight Lieutenant opened his mouth, but before he got a chance to say anything, I asked. "May I suggest you look at the replay? It might solve the problem."

"No, it won't." Said the young man without turning his head. "It'll show that the FT-8 tuned sharper than I did and shot me."

"Exactly my point, because it shouldn't be able to." Looking at Flight Lieutenant Kierian, I said. "Replay it, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir." He said with a salute, making the young man snap his head around to look in my direction and then widen his eyes as he saw me in the black commodore uniform, muttering a barely audible 'oh shit'.

I nodded shortly to him, noticing the nametag on his uniform that spelled 'Maxwell'.

The Flight Lieutenant started the replay, bringing the numbers showing speed, shield status and G-Force up on the screen as well.

As the young man had said, the replay showed the FT-8 turning sharper than the design allowed for, enabling the computer to shoot him down. A feat that shouldn't be possible.

Tilting my head, I said. "Ensign Maxwell. I want you to make this manoeuvre again, this time against a Mk. VI."

"Yes, sir." He said with a shaking voice and restarted the simulator. The result was the same, as he was shot down, which again was impossible with that manoeuvre in those ships. I only had passing knowledge of the FT-8, but I had studied both the Mk. VI Supremacy-class and M7 Nightsinger, and their turn radius was the same, so there was no way the Supremacy-class could turn that fast.

Looking at Kierian, I said. "Ensign Maxwell here is right, Lieutenant. The simulator is flawed. It uses the wrong stats for the M7 Nightsinger and that needs to be fixed before the pilots develop faulty tactics to deal with a computer error."

"Yes, Commodore."

"Do you know how to do it?"

"No, Commodore, but I'll find someone who can." He said in a firm voice.

"Good. If you can't, ask Commander Resa. She'll know how to fix it or who to ask."

"Yes, sir."

I looked at the young Ensign. "Good observation, Ensign Maxwell. That will save more than a few pilots later on."

He blushed. "Thank you, sir."

"How did you know there was an error?"

"I flew the Supremacy-class last week, sir, and in them, a tight turn will overtake a FT8 every time." He explained, looking relieved that we listened. "The Sting have an even tighter turn radius, so there was no way the FT-8 could turn that fast."

"Good thinking, Ensign. Keep up the good work."

With a last nod, I walked out of the room, signalling to Flight Lieutenant Kierian to follow me. He did and when we were out of hearing range of the students, I asked. "How good is that kid? He seems competent."

That made the Flight Lieutenant chuckle. "He is consistently the best in most scenarios we throw at them, so yes, he is an exceptionally good pilot. He also loves flying simulators and spends most of his time down here, flying for fun. His only weakness is that he tends to treat it as a game, with no consequences for dying." His chuckle became a grin. "I've placed a timer on the simulator, so every time he dies outside regular hours, he must wait half an hour before he can try again. That helped on the recklessness."

"Very good idea, Flight Lieutenant Kierian." I chuckled and turned serious. "Is he well-liked by the others?"

The Flight Lieutenant nodded. "Yes, mostly because he's always willing to help them or give advice if they ask. I have written him down as a possible future commander."

Since that was what I had wanted to know, I gave him a nod. "Thank you. Please keep me advised of his progress and continue the good work, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir."

Next on my mental list was Commander Yaki and Lieutenant Caskey Titlow, who were training the Space Marines in the training hall in the trooper area. The training facilities weren't as large as I had expected given the size of the trooper compartments, but it was adequate and featured a balcony overlooking the training hall. That was where I found Yaki and Titlow, observing the marines as the sergeants were running them through an exercise, so I quietly joined them.

"Hello, sir." Greeted Yaki quietly. "Doing your rounds?"

I nodded at that. "Yes, so how is it going?"

"Fairly well." Rumbled Titlow in his low voice. "Many of them are still weak after the treatment we received on Nodia, but they're getting there."

"Good, and no worries. Until we discover a way out of here, we have all the time we need." I said and looked at the troopers. As always, they were working in groups, but each group was wearing a different colour t-shirt, which was new for me as everybody had been wearing black when I had done the training. On closer inspection, I also discovered that each group going through the course consisted of several races, Chiss and human being the most numerous. "You mixed them up?"

"Yes, sir." Said Yaki with a nod. "Or rather, the newbies that were with us from the start have been mixed with the people from Alpha Vida and Nodia. Later we'll separate them into companies." She hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Some of the new people from Nodia and Alpha Vida have asked if their companies could get the same type of cool name as the Black Dragons. What do you think about that?"

That made me laugh. "Cool names?"

She chuckled as she nodded. "So far, I have request for Grey Wolves, Flaming Phoenixes and Golden Klions."

"I know the others, but what is a Klion?"

"It's a large feline predator from some obscure planet on the other side of the galaxy. They have a mane and are the most dangerous predators on the planet."

"Oh." I thought for a moment, but then shook my head. "This is outside my area of experience. Lieutenant Titlow, do you have any experience with this?"

"Yes, sir." He said with a sharp nod. "Naming units is usually a good thing as it heightens morale and unit coherency."

"In that case I have nothing against it, but I do feel like getting into a named company is something that needs to be earned."

Both Titlow and Yaki were smiling widely as they nodded, and Yaki said. "That was exactly what we were planning to do, sir."

"Good. I'll leave it to you then."

The last place I visited was the kitchens, where eighty people were learning how to operate the kitchen equipment as well as kitchen droids, under the watchful eye of Chef Winston and her staff. Being something of a character, Chef Winston was an elderly human female that used to be head chef on a passenger ship, before it was taken by Sharon the Red.

The pirate queen quickly realized that she had a talented chef and before long, Chef Winston was the head chef on the Red Widow. When we had captured the Red Widow, the head chef had simply stayed on the ship and continued to work as she always had.