There was a great disturbance in the Force...
The bugs were gone and their queen had fallen but one of her spider-legged, face-hugging baby makers had surreptitiously found it's way aboard while the fleet lay dormant in a cryogenically induced slumber. And when Obi-Wan finally bit the big one, it sent shockwaves throughout the galaxy, rupturing the airlock and sucking the little nasty into the void of space like canned cranberry jelly into a fancy Thanksgiving Day serving bowl. The bugs were gone and their queen had fallen but Fort Jonathan was left in ruin.
Alphamission came and went with the start of the radiant season but the Starchasers were nowhere to be found. Division Admiral Civitron had vanished! Perhaps he had succumbed to the cries of the space sirens, beckoning him to the nethermost regions of the multiverse to have tea and crumpets with ancient celestial beasts dressed in fancy attire. Maybe he got his head stuck in a mysterious yet fashionable cursed helmet and was cruising the cosmos with space elves, pirates, and robots through a
galaxy of super adventure! Or maybe he was taking long and inconvenient naps. The world may never know the answers to these great mysteries of life but it doesn't really matter right now because we're back!!!
Division Admiral Civitron, Quartermaster Shadowman, and new recruit, the ever smiling and hopefully not-to-transient Scrambler initiated the launch sequence and awoke the slumbering giants that lie within the belly of Fort Jonathan beneath the dust and rubble of an off season of neglect. Mad Owl was there to assist the crew through the pre-flight protocols and prepare the necessary paperwork. After rigging the laser array, completing full inventory of our gear, and reassembling radioboxen, we arrived at the launchpad in an expertly timed fashion which has never before been witnessed in Starchasers history! ...Then Artemis' warp-cores ruptured, spraying their dilithium juices over the ships hull plating, as well as her pilot, and delaying the launch. It sounds worse than it was for with just a little Sala-gadoola-menchicka-boo-la bibbidi-bobbidi-boo we were riding that chromasonic wave to infinity and beyond!
Our flight pattern was erratic and swirly. We were happy to be back in our cockpits and soaring through the New Bedford System with no idea and no worries about where the night would take us. We were in the Secret Sector all over again and it was wonderful. We did a loop around the Buttonwood Constellation, buzzed through Temple Landing and launched a Microburst of funkapositude all over the sidewalk. Then, we wound our way through the dNB and found ourselves at a local refueling station called Pour Farm. Their livestock was mostly bipedal and their crops were moist. Luckily, they served our kind there. Once we overstayed our welcome, we departed for the southern quadrant. We patrolled the galactic perimeter along the newly completed Great Barrier Wormhole, stopping for a bit to share stories, dance, laugh, and celebrate our friendship. We had found the stars for they were inside ourselves and each other, all along.
Thank you, mighty Starchasers. It was a late start but it was indeed, a great start.