I led the two generals through the Whale Shark, showing off the just under two squadrons worth of mixed starfighters that were on display. They were all in serviceable condition since anything of poor quality was broken down into parts and stored away to use the next time we got the same model. It happened frequently enough that parts were in high demand, and we ended up fabricating quite a few of them.

  "I'll be honest, Admiral Deacon, this is more than we thought you would show up with," the Twi'lek general admitted after showing off a half dozen headhunters. "How did you secure so many ships?"

  "Looking to steal my secrets, General?" I asked, laughing at her unpleased look. "The Imperial assets are stolen from Imperial worlds, as you might imagine. Everything else was seized from raiders and pirates."

  "How do you manage to take them intact?" General Rieekan asked. "Starfighters especially are notoriously difficult to intercept without damaging them, and our ion cannons just can't keep up with the nimble ships."

  "I'm afraid that is a bit of a company secret," I explained, raising my hands in defense. "Sorry."

  We continued the tour, walking them through the small freighter the Whale Shark was carrying before turning to leave the ship. As we did, General Rieekan stopped by one of the starfighter racks, looking up at the four wide, three-tall stack of A-wings. Each layer was pushed back by half the length of the starfighter, allowing each to have a platform that the pilot could stand on to prepare and hold his gear. Despite this, the stack was still compact, and the entire construct only took up the space of two rows of tightly lined up A-wings, despite containing three rows with enough room to take off relatively quickly.

  All said and done, compared to a squadron of starfighters that were status green, ready to disembark and engage, it only took up half the space. We had two racks of A-wings on the Whale Shark, having transferred the V-wings over to the Boxi's Fury.

  "This is an interesting storage method. How long does it take to prepare them for combat?"

  "Oh, these are all green and ready to fight," I explained before gesturing upwards. "If you look up, you can see the descending charge and fuel lines. Those move and can be pulled down to each starfighter without pulling them out onto the hangar floor. When it's time to fly, the pilots climb those ladders and into their starfighter."

  "That is astounding! You must save an incredible amount of space…" General Rieekan said as he looked around, trying to mentally calculate the amount.

  "Indeed it does. It's why this carrier holds two squadrons and still has room for a LAAT gunship and these," I explained, gesturing to the for-sale starfighters and the single freighter. "If you are interested, I could have the designs for the Y-wings and A-wings sent to you… For, let's say… a hundred thousand credits each?"

  I was massively undervaluing the actual design, but now that they had seen them, it wouldn't take long for an engineer to take the idea and make it real. At least this way, I could take the money and distribute it to Miru and her team as a reward for making a vague idea that I had a reality and doing it so well. Plus, while maintaining my business-first mentality with the Rebellion, I couldn't just hand out anything for free, which I would essentially be doing without charging them now, even if it was only chump change.

  "I… very well, this is not something I can ignore, this could increase the lethality of every ship capable of carrying starfighters in the entire fleet," He admitted, shaking his head. "Not to mention, it could take pressure off of starfighter pilots for long journeys. Yes, it is well worth two hundred thousand."

  "I'll have the plans sent to you as early as this evening," I said with a smile. "We have racks for other starfighters, including the and V-wings. Eventually, I want to add a rack for something heavier, but we haven't settled on what we want our official heavy fighter to be."

  "Why not just use more Y-wings?"

  "I don't want to tie us to purchasing proton torpedoes or concussion missiles," I explained with a frown. "They are powerful, sure, but a massive money sync. We were looking at potentially replacing the missiles of a with a heavy energy torpedo launcher or maybe finding some sort of small gunship."

  "What about your?" General Syndulla suggested. "I was under the impression that it was a powerful gunship, and the pilots we lent you to fly it during the heist seemed impressed by its firepower and handling."

  "That… that is not a bad idea," I admitted, frowning as I thought about it. "We spent a good fifty thousand credits making it that good, but… some of those upgrades wouldn't be necessary if it was functioning as a gunship… and it has plenty of internal room…"

  I considered the idea for a moment before shaking my head to clear it from my head. I was in the middle of something now, I could get distracted by the idea later when I had more knowledgeable people to bounce it off of.

  "I'll mention it to my people and see how viable it is," I assured her with a smile. "I know we were hoping to produce our eventual choice in-house, but this might be a good option despite that. Thank you for the suggestion."

  She nodded, and we continued the tour, stepping into and exploring various ship interiors and showing off their options. The two Imperial Cargo Shuttles greatly interested General Rieekan, both for their contents and the ships themselves, while the DP-20 and the two AEG-77s seemed to catch Syndulla's eye. By the time we finished the tour, both of them seemed to have a good idea of what they wanted to initially purchase.

  "I can tell you right now, I will give you three hundred thousand credits for each of the cargo shuttles and their contents," General Rieekan offered. "I would offer more if it wasn't for the damage and their lack of weapons."

  Taking their tonnage into account, the cargo shuttles were essentially unarmed, slightly larger C-Rocs, and we had already picked over the cargo. For what we had valued the remaining goods at, that deal was more than kind.

  "I will happily take that deal, General," I said, reaching out to shake his hands. "Are you interested in any of the other freighters?"

  "Yes, the two larger ones, those over there.. for a hundred and fifty thousand each," He offered, gesturing out to the largest freighters we had captured. "I would also like the and the Y-wings."

  "I accept the price for the two freighters," I agreed with a nod. "Perhaps… seven hundred thousand for the starfighters?"

  "Six hundred and fifty," He countered. "The Y-wings were in good condition, but the headhunters looked to be nearly fifteen years old. We will probably end up having to break down one of them to keep the others running."

  "...Alright, I think we can do six-fifty," I said, pretending to consider it for a moment before agreeing. In reality, I had started high, so dropping down fifty thousand credits was fine. "General Syndulla, anything you want?"

  "All of them," She commented with a smirk, shaking her head. "But the two Gozanti, the AEGs, and the DP-20 are all I can really afford without talking to some other groups, and even that is pushing it. Assuming you're charging reasonable rates."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "I can do a hundred and seventy-five for each Gozanti and a hundred and fifty for each of the AEGs," I offered, raising my hands to defend myself. "I had to fight off Miru with a stick to keep the AEGs on the list, she wanted them so badly. Apparently, they upgrade extremely well, and if she finds out I sold them for under that, she will be on my case for weeks. Not to mention, these Gozanti aren't old CIS models like we usually have. These are top of the line near new Imperial models, almost as customizable, and can carry a significant attached load through hyperspace."

  In truth, the ability to carry things through hyperspace was an interesting feature, something that sparked quite a few ideas in my head. If the load those ships could carry was a bit higher, I wouldn't be selling them at all, I would have attached them to the salvage fleet.

  Still, it was food for thought. If we could come up with a ship conversion or find another ship capable of that, it could make stealing ships pretty easy.

  "She isn't wrong... and they were in near perfect condition… Fine, the price is steep, but fair," She admitted, shaking my hand, agreeing to the total price of six hundred and fifty thousand credits as well. "But if you charge that much, I'm going to have to reach out to Admiral Ackbar for funds for the DP-20 and a few others for the rest. You said you had time?"

  "I do. It will be a few days before our mission planning team starts to tick over ideas, and I'm forced to let my sales team start spreading the word to some of our other contacts," I responded, raising my hands when she gave me a critical look. "The Rebellion is my first contact for sales, but that doesn't mean I can wait until you can afford things."

  "... Two days should be plenty of time anyway," She admitted, shaking her head slightly. "As long as I reach out as soon as possible. If you'll excuse me?"

  "I must go as well," General Rieekan added with a nod. "I need to organize moving these ships, get proper inspections done, and get my crews working on repairing the Imperial Cargo Ship."

  "Very well, me and my team will be staying in the Chariot, reach out if you have any questions or when you have reached a decision," I said with a smile, shaking hands with both of them with a final smile, waving as they left with their escorts. "Thank you for doing business with the Skyforged Vanguard!"

  I chuckled as Syndulla sent me another look, no doubt picking up on my used car salesman smile and tone at the end. When they were out of earshot, I turned to Vaz, who had been silently following after us from the very beginning.

  "Not bad, right?" I asked, walking side by side as we headed back to the Chariot. "Already made more than two million credits, and we still have three squadrons of starfighters, a handful of small freighters, three ST-70s, the two C1-A62s, and the DP-20, which should double what we just made by itself."

  "It was well done, Boss," She agreed, pausing before continuing. "... General Syndulla had an interesting idea."

  "The Brick thing?" I asked, Vaz nodding in confirmation. "Yeah, I liked it as well. A pair or trio of those with each squadron in the fleet would give them considerable firepower and give them a cover point from heavier ships. I'm worried about the cost and the lack of hyperdrive, though. I hate the idea of sending our starfighters off to fight on their own, but I hate the idea of them getting stranded somewhere even more."

  "Sounds like you need to have a conversation with Miru," The Shistavanen pointed out. "She will be able to tell you what upgrades are possible for a decent price."

  "She definitely would."

  We finally climbed the boarding ramp into the Chariot, heading up to the lounge, where most of the crew was waiting. Tatnia and Julus were working on making a meal from relatively fresh ingredients, while Ahsoka and Nal discussed how much the Rebellion had just purchased, and if they would buy the rest. Vaz headed off to remove her armor while I gave Ahsoka a hug from behind, the Force-sensitive turning to me with a smile.

  "Nal thinks we will only get two and a half million for the rest," Ahsoka said. "It's worth at least three."

  "They will attempt to lowball you, as you are bulk selling," Nal answered my wordless question.

  "I would hope they have learned their lesson. The DP-20 is easily worth two million on its own," I said with a frown. "General Syndulla knows better than to try and lowball us right now. If they try, I will leave with the rest and start selling to colonies and other groups. Even if we end up making less money than their offer because of it, I will not be lowballed by the Rebellion again, not until things have changed significantly."

  I gave Ahsoka a tight hug, knowing she hated that we had to be so mercenary and cold with a group she had helped start.

  "It's unfortunate," I continued with a frown. "Had they not ruined it by taking advantage of us, we could have been giving them significantly cheaper ships, because we would be working together, rather than trying to make a profit off of them."

  "Could we return to what we were before?" Ahsoka asked, turning to look at me, her eyes meeting mine.

  "Anything is possible," I admitted with a shrug. "If we reached an agreement, some sort of alliance, or contract or something, that benefited us or declared us an allied power… I could see us cutting our prices by a good further twenty, maybe even twenty-five percent. That number would be easier if we could start supplying Nirn and our fleet with food we grow ourselves and equipment we make, but that's a far-distant idea. For now… we just need to-"

  "Boss, getting a comms message…. It's from General Syndulla…" Calima called out from the cockpit. "She is asking for permission to… come aboard. Says it's urgent."

  "Lower the boarding ramp," I said, turning to head down to the first deck. "I'll be there to meet her. Nia, Ahsoka, with me, please."

  Ahsoka and Tatnia followed behind me as I hurried down the stairs to the first deck, heading directly to the boarding ramp, just as the General arrived at the top. She looked a little flushed, like she had been running.

  "General, what is it?" I asked. "I didn't expect news this quickly."

  "It's not about your ships. It's about a mission," she explained, visibly biting her cheek. "The Rebel Alliance would like to hire the Skyforged Vanguard for a mission."

  "What sort of mission?"

  "A rescue mission," She explained. "Two members of Rogue Squadron, Leader and, have been captured during a mission to recover a potential Imperial defector."

  A shiver of fear ran up my spine, and I could see Ahsoka turn slightly to look at me. I continued to look straight ahead at the General.

  "Why not send your own team?"

  "We don't have assets on base or nearby that can handle this kind of mission," She admitted. "Your track record is near perfect, and we are currently the closest group to where we think they are being taken. We need your help, Admiral Deacon."

  It took me a moment to realize that she was waiting for a response, my mind racing at what she had said. Ahsoka nudged my side to break me free of the whirlwind, and I quickly nodded.

  "Join us upstairs. You can fill us in on the details," I explained, gesturing back the way we had just come. "We can discuss it more there."

  "Thank you," She said, bowing her head slightly. "Please, lead the way."