Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 76

Terranovus after having some time to consider their actions. The Eagle's Talon, however, seemed to be sticking with them for the time being. All the remaining Eshquarian ships had returned and about half of Kellea's Taskforce Starfire had remained. Both Luex-class battleships had survived Miressa, and when combined with the firepower the Defiant brought to bear, they were looking at a mismatched but formidable fleet.

"This mission really wasn't so bad," Crusher remarked with a yawn.

"How do you figure?" Twingo asked.

"Normally, after one of these, I'm so busted up I have to spend a week in a nanobot recovery pod being put back together," Crusher said. "This time, I barely broke a sweat."

"Do you have any idea how long it will take me to get the ship back together?" Twingo asked. "How many long, long days there are ahead of me?"

"I do not care about those things," Crusher said. "But good luck."

"Mok is approaching," Lucky said.

"I was wondering when he was going to show up," Jason muttered, pushing himself up from where he was lying on the rear ramp. They'd rode the entire way back aboard the human ship, and Mok had, so far, not bothered to communicate with them other than to have Similan arrange for the necessary hangar space.

"We need to talk. Alone. Now," Mok said. Jason was about to respond as he usually did when someone presumed to order him around, but one look at Mok and the security he'd brought with him changed his mind. The tension was thick. Crusher and Lucky moved up to face off with Mok's guards, the latter switching to combat mode and crouching slightly.

"Stop," Jason sighed, climbing to his feet. "Enough with the theatrics, Mok…let's walk over that way and you leave your cannon fodder here." Mok just waved in the direction Jason had nodded and motioned to his guards to stay put. Jason decided to head off the argument before it really got started. He just wasn't in the mood for the usual word games he and Mok played.

"You know why I went off-plan and used the missiles to actually achieve a strategic goal, and you know I was right if you were honest with yourself. You can't have this both ways, Mok. Insurrections aren't won with half-measures and talk. You're either all in, or you're all out. You know as well as I do that letting the ConFed walk away without suffering a hardship in the Miressa System would have only emboldened them, not appeased them."

"Do you ever stop to consider the larger ramifications to your actions when you unilaterally decide to execute a plan how you see fit?" Mok asked. "Or does your own ego and sense of self-righteousness prevent you from seeing it? There are times where a situation calls for careful thought, nuance, and subtlety…and in every single one of these situations, you and your crew are like a thermobaric grenade. You create chaos and destruction everywhere you go, and I'm beginning to suspect you do it for your own amusement."

"High ideals coming from a man who runs the largest criminal organization on this side of the quadrant," Jason scoffed. "I may be a thief, a killer, and worse, but you're all of those things on a scale I couldn't even come close to matching. You might make a lot of noise about not being involved in the slave trade or the narcotics game, but you profit mightily off the suffering of others. Doing it by proxy isn't any different than shaking down poor systems and smuggling contraband yourself. I'm no saint, but don't you ever talk down to me again, you smug, sanctimonious asshole. You're the one who keeps coming to us, not the other way around."

Mok turned at least five different shades of purple, and his fingers twitched of their own accord as he struggled to keep his temper in check. Jason just watched with a sort of bored fascination. He knew Mok was a lot stronger than he appeared under the sinfully expensive custom suits, but he was a long time removed from being a fighter down in the trenches. A desk tended to soften a person significantly.

"Perhaps neither of us is the men we once were, nor the idealists we like to pretend to be," he finally said. "What I mean to say is that you lack a certain wide view when it comes to unintended consequences, and you pretend to be a part of a team right up until you just feel like doing your own thing. I agree that this fight seems to be inevitable, but I can't help if you're going to run your own private war on your own behind my back. Either we do this together, or we go our separate ways."

"Alright, mea culpa," Jason said. "No more rogue actions in the middle of a mission…promise. So, what's next?"

"We're working on getting a place where we can hide all these ships, as well as get them serviced, repaired, and rearmed," Mok said, seeming grateful for the subject change. He'd been obligated to try and chew Jason's ass out for his actions, but over the time it took for them to reach the mining base, a lot of the venom had been taken out of what he wanted to say. Jason still understood why Mok was pissed but, in this case, he still felt justified in what he did.

"The Eshquarians don't have a secret base still lying around somewhere?" Jason asked.

"We've not yet begun really discussing the problem," Mok admitted. "Which is the other reason I'm here; what do you make of the Cridal ships that have followed us here? Can they be trusted?"

"Kellea Colleran isn't a covert operative," Jason said. "She's really not even much of an admiral when you're talking about the administrative part of the job. She's a starship captain, one of the best you've ever seen, and if she says she's here to join up, you can take her at her word. Having the Defiant