Free Star Clusters: New Arrivals by Dalo Lorn

Tarhedians. “What’s going on?”
    “Several star systems are trying to break away from the US,” Jackson answered. “A few others are experiencing planet-wide revolts, undoubtedly caused by Xargan infiltrators. Fortunately, we’ve had no trouble with the Petrans yet. It’s probably just around the corner, though.”
    “I don’t get it - why aren’t the Xargans going all-in, causing every conflict they can all at once?” Lanis observed.
    “Perhaps they do not think it is necessary - or strategically sound,” Hatos noted.
    “Well,” Jackson said, “whatever their master plan is, we need to figure it out; not to mention that we have to fix the problems they’ve already caused. I’ll do what I can on my end, see if I can’t work something out with the US, but somebody has to deal with the Xargans in the Petran government and figure out their endgame.”
    “I think my people will respond best to other Petrans working independently to reveal and remove the infiltrators,” Poteran suggested. “That’d still leave the Tarhedians and Mister Baltor here to put the pieces of the puzzle together.”
    “Actually, I believe the Tarhedia would be far too conspicuous for the sort of investigation that we may have to conduct. It would be better if we attempted to enter a dialogue with the United Systems Council, independently of Admiral Jackson’s efforts,” Hatos proposed.
    “Hold on, isn’t the Eagle in the Tarhedia’s fighter bay? I thought I saw it when I was getting into a fighter back in the Petran system,” Lanis asked.
    “Yes, but it is still badly damaged; we cannot repair it without making our actions obvious,” Hatos replied.
    “Yeah, but we’re not exactly far from a Terran shipyard anymore, and the Petrans can help out. Sending me out there alone is too risky, but a small team using a refitted Eagle as a base could get to the bottom of this.”
    “Good idea,” Jackson said. “I’ll forward some recommendations for the team while the ship’s being fixed.”
    “Actually, sir, I think diversity could be a valuable asset here. We’ve got three different species working together, each with their distinct technological and biological advantages; if we form a diverse team, like the one that boarded the Hemreus hyperspace disruptor, we might be able to get a lot farther than we would otherwise,” Lanis recommended.
    “Zeshaira’s skills would likely be better put to use with such an assignment than in my negotiations,” Hatos admitted.
    “If there’s anyone in my fleet that could be useful, it’s probably Herrun and Kaa’nt. Herrun might seem a bit crazy at times, but that could prove useful - and Fanra’s scientific and technical prowess speaks for itself, even if she is next to useless in a combat situation,” Poteran added.
    “Well, that’s quite a bit of variety; even if it wasn’t, I doubt it’d be a good idea to go with too many people. I’m thinking we should keep the spaceframe as it is, only modifying the internal components and adding new systems using Petran and Tarhedian technology in conjunction with our own; it’d be as inconspicuous as we can get without sacrificing any technological advantage we might have.”
    “I’ll reserve a hangar with all the crew you need to fix and refit your ship,” Jackson finally said. “Poteran, Hatos, I think you should both use every trick you can think of to boost that thing’s efficiency; they’ll need it.” After saying that, Jackson’s ship stopped transmitting, and the image of the Hippasrus’ bridge now expanded to the whole holoviewer.
    “The refit will probably take some time, but I’ll have Kaa’nt see what she can do about growing some crystals for your engines, shields, and weapons,” Poteran said. “Right now, your repair crews should focus on repairing the parts of the ship that we can’t replace with crystals without growing a new ship from scratch. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”
    Lanis