Even after all these months serving aboard the Challenger, Jaden Luka still hadn't grown accustomed to the fact that he lived and worked aboard a relic from the Clone Wars: a ship that was older than he was. Despite the Bothans having their furry paws on her for twenty-five years, the ship still bore most of the hallmarks and sterotypical decor of it's original constructors, and it left Jaden feeling like he was walking through one of the sets from one of those cheesy old Seacrest VSD holomovies that the Galactic Republic's propoganda machine had churned out during the closing stages of the war.

The eponymous Seacrest had been a Victory Star Destroyer though, and as Jaden rounded a corner and passed through a final set of doors, he was presented with a spectacular visual reminder that the Challenger was of an entirely different class.

The flight deck was vast, filling the majority of the Venator Star Destroyer's inner space. Through the round-cornered portal directly ahead, Jaden could see similar forcefielded entrances into more landing berths, that made him think of some sort of strange, technological insect hive. Some of the berths stored the the half-dozen squadrons that the Challenger relied upon to defend the Wheel. Others held shuttles, civilian transports small enough to come aboard, or had been converted into additional cargo storage.

Jaden remembered an unsettling statistic. Before joining Rogue Squadron he had served aboard the Valiant; the gargantuan doors that could open the entire dorsal surface of the Challenger were longer than the Valiant, and with a few shifted bulkheads - and a big enough door - you could theoretically park her inside the flight deck.

And yet, by Star Destroyer standards, the Venator-class was still relatively short. An Imperator was almost the Valiant's length longer again than the Challenger. That was why Jaden always preferred spending battles in a starfighter rather than on a bridge: at least in a fighter, you expected enemy targets to dwarf your ship.

Still, there was no use dwelling on that now: he had more pressing things to worry about. Coming to a halt a few dozen meters back from the landing berth's entrance, he clasped his hands behind his back, and waited as two X-Wings in Rogue Squadron colours came in to land.