Battleground Alpha : Where Angels Fear To Tread

Chapter 1

 

'Nelson' raced through hyperspace. The once mighty Sovereign class

starship had sufferred greatly in the war against the Empire and

following the last stand at Earth it had been fleeing, hoping to evade

Imperial pursuit. It wouldn't be long before a vital system failed and

some lucky Imperial captain would find her stranded in the cold depths

of space. For now, however, she struggled on.

 

"Admiral, we're about to arrive at the badlands. ETA 2 minutes." , blue

flashes lgihting her hull, as she fled through hyperspace. Admiral Boyd

had no idea how much of Starfleet reamined after the debacle at Earth.

200 ships destroyed or disabled and the centre of the Federation lost.

It seemed as if the Empire had won, but there was still some hope. No

one in the Imperial fleet knew that 'Nelson' had hyperdrive. Following

the battle at Earth, she had fled with warp power only, engaging

hyperdrive, only when they were out of sensor range. So far it looked

like the gamble had paid off, but their luck couldn't hold.

 

Captain January stalked the corridors of his 'Vengeance', daring any

crewmember to take even a cursory glance at him, but they knew better.

How many times was 'Nelson' going to escape him? Back in his own galaxy,

the infernal ship had been rescued by Rebels. At the wormhole, they had

miraculously escaped destruction. And again at Earth, they had somehow

fled. Earth. It should have been theirs'. It had been their's! But then

the attack had been called off. The Federation fleet had been decimated

and the Imperial fleet was about to begin assaulting Earth's shields,

when 'Palpatinian had veered off and instructed the fleet to return to

the wormhole. The moment they left hyperspace, he was going to demand an

explanation. Considering what he had contributed to the fleet, he

deserved it.

 

'Belfast' drifted, powerless amid the destruction in the Sol system.

Engines crippled by a heavy turbolaser blast, she had been lucky to

survive. Balanced out the bad luck of being hit, thought Captain

Davidson, still wondering why the Imperial fleet had retreated. He

glanced down at the sensor display. Between Mars and Earth, close to 100

starships drifted powerless among the wreckage of a further 100. They

were not alone, however. The wrecks of numerous Imperial ships drifted

alongside, as crew hurried, frantically trying to restore power before

the other side did and eliminated them. If just one of those big

Imperator class ships restored power, Starfleet would be in big trouble.

For the tenth time in the last hour, he scanned the system for 'Nelson'.

There was no wreckage and none of the disabled Sovereign class ships

quite matched her profile. Puzzling. If she was claoked, why didn't she

decloak and finish off some of those Imperial vessels? If she had fled,

why hadn't she returned when the Imperial fleet left? So many questions.

Suddenly the bridge brightened. Evidently life support had been

restored. The captain returned to his work, trying to bring the computer

back on line.

 

"Sir, power has been restored to 3 starboard turbolasers." The grin on

Lt. Harkson's face was evident, even with his back turned. Captain Kynes

smiled, as he gave orders to target the nearest Federation ship. Knocked

out early in the battle by a collision with a crippled corvette, there

had been plenty of time to begin repairs. Unfortunately, every entire

portside battery had been knocked out and the stern batteries had been

hit by a brace of quantum torpedoes. Kynes would have liked to have a

heavy battery operational, but the light ones should suffice against

thin, unshielded hulls. The guns swiveled, locking onto a crippled

Nebula class ship and opened fire. The first volley ripped through the

saucer section. The second, fired moments later, blew off a chunk of

warp nacelle, while the third impacted on the engineering hull, setting

off secondary explosions, as power conduits erupted. If the warp core

hadn't been ejected minutes before, the whole ship would have exploded.

As it was, there were already 20 fatalities and many injuries. Engrossed

in the destruction of the Federation vessel, the crew failed to notice a

spatial distortion below 'Juggernaut's power core. By the name the

sensor officer realised what was happening, torpedoes and disruptors

were already boring through the thick armour plating. As explosions

ripped through the underbely of the mighty vessel, Kynes found himself

with only one option.

 

"All hands, abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon ship." Sprinting

for the nearest escape pod, he was nearly knocked off his feet by an

explosion that rattled the whole ship. Ejecting from the doomed vesel,

he caught a glimpse of green, in the shape of a bird of prey, much like

those he had seen in holomentaries as a child. Before he could further

examine the ship, he felt a tingling and was horrified to see his

surroundings shimmer and disappear. "What the-"

 

General Martok surveyed the battlefield. What in the name of Kahless

had happened? He had been on his way to Earth, to deliver an important

message from Gowron, one that could not be risked with subspace

communications. But when he had arrived, all he could see was the

wreckage of a Federation fleet, intertwined with that of ships he could

not identify. Seeing one of them power up its weapons and begin

assaulting a Nebula class ship, he had intervened, dealinga fatal blow.

It was dishonourable to engage such helpless ships, but he was consoled

by the fact that he was defending his allies and there was great honour

in that. Ordering his crew to locate the nearest hostile vessel, he

again prepared to open fire.

 

"Sir, we'll revert to realspace in 1 minute."

 

"About time," snarled Captain January. He would finally get some

answers. They had left good people behind and he wanted to know why. His

own ship had been severely damaged, fighting much of the battle without

shields, relying on other ships to take damage for it. Even so, they had

fought well, crippling 'Belfast' with a heavy turbolaser volley. The

captain had obviously become overconfident and hoped to neutralise

'Vengeance', stripping her of her big guns. Well, they'd learned their

lesson, he thought sneering, as starlight streaked pase and the blue

flashes of hyperspace vanished. Immediately, 'Vengeance' was rocked by a

mighty blow. "What happened? Sensors, report!"

 

"Sir, there's... rescanning... confirmed. There's a rebel fleet guarding

the worm hole, sir. I count several Mon Calamari cruisers, assault

frigates and Star Destroyers, escorted by a large number of corvettes

and gunships. They're jamming us, so I can't get accurate readings."

 

"Is it Solo's group?"

 

"No sir. Too big. I think... sir, it's Home One. No doubt about it.

They've launched fighters... locking onto us-"

 

"Helm, bring us about, there's a region of heavy sensor interfernece,

plasma storms I think. Plot a course and engage!" January barked. He

wanted blood, but he was no fool. Considering that they'd just been in

battle, even with the help of 'Palpatinian', they were outgunned. He had

no option, but to run. At the same time, most of the Imperial fleet came

to the same conclusion, running from the Rebel threat. All except

'Palpatinian'. Cutting through the Rebel formation, obliterating

corvettes and gunships and damaging the heavier capital ships, she ran

for the wormhole, escaping before the surprised Rebels could block her.

 

At the fringe of the badlands, masked from hostile sensors by

interference from the raging plasma storms, 'Nelson'. had dropped out of

hyperspace. "Instruct engineering to get to work straight away. Make

shields and the phase cloak a prioity. Tell them to take engines only

one set of engines off line at a time. We should be safe here, but I'm

nor prepared to take risks." Admiral Boyd wearily gave orders to make

the ship combat ready once more. There were hull breached to patch,

weapons to recharge and engines to repair, but his crew was good and

knew what they were doing. Confident that they could take care of

things, he retired to his quarters. He hadn't slept ina day or two and

the senior staff had been nagging him to get some sleep. They were

probably right. Lying back, he didn't even have time to set his alarm,

before he had drifted off.

 

Captain Mawhiney was enjoying himself. It wasn't often that he got to

sit in the captain's chair and boy was it comfy. No wonder the captain

didn't want to go to his quarters. He doubted there was a comfortable

spot on the ship. At the same time though, there was a stiffness to the

chair that was just right for keeping you alert. It was a good thing

that this was so as barely an hour into repairs, with the hyperdrive off

line, there was a flash of light and the all too familiar dagger shape

of an Imperial Star Destroyer swung into view. "Red alert, Admiral Boyd

to the bridge..."

 

Chapter 2

 

The New Republic gunship 'Peacemaker' stood guard outside the wormhole.

Captain Ha'san would have like to join the fleet in battle against the

warlord, but someone had to watch their back. In one way, it was an

honour to be considered for the job. Protecting the wormhole from

possible attacks by the remainder of the warlord's fleet. Of course,

'Peacemaker' wouldn't last long against a cruiser or Star Destroyer, but

long enough to summon the rest of the fleet. Ordinarily, a sensor net

would have been placed to monitor activity, but the wormhole prevented

communication so 'Peacemaker' was under orders to run for help if

hostile ships were detected. Busy scanning space in front of the

wormhole, she was surprised by the arrival of 'Palpatinian', diving out

of the wormhole, its sublight engines blazing.

 

"Helm, full ahead, power up the hyperdrive. Get u-" Captain Ha'san never

finished his sentence, as 'Palpatinian' engaged her hyperdrive,

accelerating through the gunship. When Home One, accompanied by several

more Mon Cal cruisers and ISDs burst through the wormhole, it was too

late to do anything for the crushed ship.

 

Admiral Yarr relaxed in his seat. It had been a shock to see the Rebel

fleet guarding the wormhole, but it was imperative that he return to his

own galaxy. If he became trapped in that other one, he would be hunted

down by Ackar or Solo and killed, unable to defend himself properly. He

had expected the Rebels to be surprised by his sudden charge and had

taken advantage of the situation firing wildly, destroying several

corvettes and gunships and hitting several; cruisers and destroyers. He

even managed to slam a volley of torpedoes from the recently installed

launchers into one of the Mon Calamari Cruisers. Unfortunately, he had

been denied the pleasure of seeing it blow up under the unexpected load.

He had been lucky that there was only one gunship patrolling the other

side of the wormhole. The Rebels probably thought there was little

threat, with most of Yarr's fleet already through the wormhole. How,

however, he was well on his way to safety. Within an hour, he would be

back at his base protected by the remainder of his fleet and several

Golan IV defense platforms. It was a pity that he had left most of his

fleet on the other side of the wormhole, but they would prevent the

Rebels from returning in full force. Their actions would take a toll on

the Rebels and any that made in back to him would be stronger for their

experiences. They would be the best captains, the most skilled. He would

of course lose some ships, but they would probably take Rebels with

them. Or at least he hoped they would.

 

A sudden jolt shook 'Palpatinian' and looking out the viewport, Yarr saw

they had reverted to realspace. Dead ahead were 2 Imperator Star

Destroyers, an Immobiliser class Indterdictor and a Corellian Corvette.

"Report! Who is that?"

 

"Sir, it appears to be the ISS Revenger, ISS Cyclops, ISS Hutt's Feet

and ISS Dagger." reported the sensor officer.

 

"Sithspit, 'Revenger's Sheppard's ship. And he's found himself another

ISD and an interdictor."

 

"Quiet," barked Yarr to his XO. What was Sheppard doing with an

interdictor? From the scorch marks on her hull and that of 'Cyclops', it

looked like they hadn't been given willingly. "Hail them. Ask Sheppard

what in the name of the Sith he thinks he's doing?"

 

Admiral Sheppard wasn't impressed by Admiral Yarr. Ever since he had

declared himself a warlord, all he had done was build up a huge

defensive network at his base. Rather than striking at the Rebels or

building up a fleet of ships, he had constructed planetary shields and

brought in the latest Golan platforms. And now here he was demanding

that Sheppard explain himself. A couple of hours earlier, Sheppard had

fought and captured 'Hutt's Feet' and 'Cyclops', her escort. If the

Rebels were going to steal Imperial equipment, they should at least

learn to use it properly, Sheppard thought, thinking of how easy it had

been to seize to ships. At least they had serviced them well. After

securing them, he had let Phong loose and found out about the wormhole,

Yarr's presence and the build up of Rebel forces from records of

transmissions. He had been fishing in nearby systems, hoping to catch a

convoy or lone cruiser on its way to reinforce either the Rebels or

Yarr. He had never expected to find Yarr himself.

 

"Sir, he's signaling again, demanding that we power down the

interdiction field."

 

"Very well, put him on. I think you'll get your chance after all Mr

Glasgow," Sheppard replied with a brief grin."

 

"Admiral Sheppard, I demand that you release my ship at once. I will

excuse this act of insubordination this one time because of your actions

against the Rebels, but if you don't release me at once, I will have

your ships boarded and your senior staff spaced, including you."

 

"Admiral, you have been nothing but an embarrassment to the Empire. Your

ineffectiveness against the Rebels will now be demonstrated by Vice

Admiral Glasgow."

 

Yarr suddenly realised how foolish he had been to not raise shields

earlier. As Sheppard cut the transmission, he was in time to see

Revenger and Cyclops, having turned 180 degrees during the conversation,

open up with their heavy ion cannons. A blue flash filled the screen,

then 'Palpatinian' shook as sytsems shorted out and darkness fell. He

had never expected Sheppard to attack 'Palpatinian'. He was hopelessly

out gunned. But he had done it. "Damage report! Return fire, all

batteries, raise shields. I want to see nothing but a cloud of subatomic

particles outside this viewport!" yelled Yarr, fuming at having been

caught off guard.

 

"Sorry sir, all systems are out. We can't even contact engineering. The

last thing the computer reported was that the main reactor, engines,

shields and bridge had all been hit." reported the engineering officer,

in a shaky voice.

 

Sheppard smiled in satisfaction as every light on 'Palpatinian' went

out. "Congratulate the gun crews. They've done an excellent job. Perhaps

you would like to personally supervise the negotiations, Lieutenant?"

Sheppard queried, turning to Lieutenant Hit-man, the most feared

stormtrooper in the Imperial navy. Cybernetic eye glowing, he nodded and

headed for the hanger bay. "I'll send you details as you shuttle over."

 

Tapping his fingers against his chair in impatience, Yarr saw Sheppard's

ships break formation. A lone shuttle departed from 'Revenger' and flew

fast 'Palpatinian's bridge. 'Revenger' cruised up to 'Palpatinian' and

kept moving along slowly, just above the main hull. Beginning to sweat,

Yarr thought that Sheppard was actually going to ram the bridge, but

'Revenger' stopped at what appeared to be a very short distance from the

bridge. Suddenly, every viewport was occupied by a TIE, swooping up from

below. Yarr did a double take. TIE Defenders? Where'd he get those?!?!?!

He could no longer see 'Cyclops' or 'Hutt's Feet', but they were

probably taking up positions beside other vital areas on the ship. Yarr

wondered what would happen when the shields came back up. Suddenly he

wasn't too confident about his safety ion the bridge. He was about to

give orders to clear the bridge when there was an explosion above and

behind him and part of the ceiling fell away, allowing a stormtrooper to

drop through.

 

Hit-man had been piloted by Captain Yates in the shuttle, modified for

boarding actions by Vice Admiral Glasgow, to the top of the bridge

tower. There, using the hatch cutter that had been built into the bottom

of it, he had drilled through the hull and dropped into the bridge.

Seeing a couple of stormtroopers spin round and raise their blasters, to

gunned them down with an E-11. Dropping it on the floor, he pulled out a

thermal detonator and walked up to Admiral Yarr. Understandably, no one

tried to stop him. "Now we begin negotiations."

 

Admiral Sheppard settled comfortably into the chair. The state rooms

aboard 'Palpatinian' were certainly much more comfortable than anything

on 'Revenger'. He had considered allowing Charles to take command of

'Palpatinian' for a while - he had certainly been impressed with the

research facilities - but in the end decided to transfer his own flag

across. Captain Valberg had been put in charge of 'Revenger' for the

moment. Opening his eyes, again, Sheppard looked round the room. The

extravagance of it amused him. That there should be so much on a

military ship was almost inexcusable and a sure sign of Yarr's ego. It

would eventually all be removed. There was only one thing Sheppard

needed. Staring across the room at the tiny hologram beside his bed,

Sheppard wondered how many hearts the Rebellion had broken.

 

'Nelson' shook violently again, as another turbolaser bolt struck home.

Staggering through the turbolift door, Admiral Boyd called for a status

report.

 

"Shields at 60%, hyperdrive is offline, phase cloak is offline, dorsal

phaser array is offline. We're trapped against the Badlands by that ISD.

Her shields are at 80%. No fighter launches yet. reccom-" Captain

Mawhiney has interrupted by another volley striking home.

 

"Coming to 107 mark 45" reported the helm. "We're coming across his port

bow."

 

"Belay that! Take us about, straight into the Badlands. Locate the

nearest plasma storm and engage full impulse. Reroute all power to aft

shields and engines, including weapons power. He can hurt us more than

we can hurt him," ordered Boyd, resuming control. Load up transporter

room 5 with quantum torpedoes."

 

"Aye sir," came the curious reply, as Mawhiney gave him a quizzical

look. "Plasma storms? They could tear us to pieces. Shields aren't much

good against them. At least if we fight or try and get past, we may have

enough time to repair the phase cloak," whispered Mawhiney, not wanting

to question Boyd's orders in front of the crew.

 

"I'm well aware of the properties of a plasma storm, Mr Mawhiney. We may

not stand much of a chance, but I'm sure they will stand even less."

 

"Sir, the starship is retreating towards an area of intensive plasma

activity. They have ceased firing and appear to be reinforcing their aft

shields."

 

January pondered this piece of new. He didn't want to launch fighters,

'Vengeance' had few enough of them left as it was. At least the ship

wasn't using it's infernal cloaking device. That was a real break for

him. He wondered how it had gotten this far in such a short time, but

dismissed the thought. Interrogations should reveal all he needed to

know. "Pursue them. Divert power from aft shields to bow guns. Can that

plasma activity harm us?"

 

"Indeterminate sir. There is significant jamming in the area. I cannot

guarantee that our shields will be effective in the area. If shields

fail, then contact with the plasma will most likely result in a serious

hull breach."

 

January considered this carefully. He didn't want to risk 'Vengeance',

but he wasn't letting this ship get away. "All guns, fire at will."

 

"Time to plasma storm?"

 

"30 seconds, sir."

 

"Stand by to drop shields and reroute all power to engines and main

deflector dish."

 

"Aye sir."

 

The 2 ships raced forwards, turbolaser bolts spewing from the bow

cannons of 'Vengeance', as 'Nelson' was unable to out run her pursuer

while evading the turbolaser volleys. Plunging into the plasma storm,

'Nelson's shields dropped and the starship leapt forwards, gaining power

and taking advantage of the inability of 'Vengeance's gunners to

accurately target her.

 

"Admiral, the plasma storm is extremely intense. The computer calculates

our chances of surviving 10 minutes to be less than 60%. Odds drop off

considerably after this point."

 

A huge plasma arc leapt between layers of the storm, throwing crew

members off their feet as 'Nelson' widely evaded. Some distance behind,

'Vengeance' slowed, wary of the intense activity.

 

"Helm, why have we slowed down?"

 

"Plasma activity is more intense than projected, sir. If we go faster,

we run the risk of colliding with a plasma arc."

 

"Captain, I recomm-" 'Vengeance's first officer was silenced by a glare

from January.

 

"Very well, maintain current speed. How large is this storm?"

 

"Impossible to tell, sir. Sensors are virtually useless in here.

Target's shields appear to be down, but thus may be a faulty reading.

Plasma build up at 020 mark 60! Re-"

 

As the helm executed evasive maneuvers without waiting for orders from

January, the ship was caught by the edge of a plasma arc. Seeming to

explode out of the lower storm edge, it temporarily obscured 'Vengeance'

from 'Nelson's view.

 

"Admiral, 'Vengeance' has been hit!"

 

"Helm, come about, full impulse. Tactical, power up forward quantum

turret. Ops, get a transporter lock on that ship."

 

"Sensors are almost useless sir. I cannot establish a lock."

 

"Override safeties. We don't need a secure lock. Just target the general

area in front of the ISD. Send coordinates to transporter room 5.

 

Swinging round, 'Nelson' rapidly closed the gap between herself and

'Vengeance'. As the arc faded, 'Vengeance' was once again able to see

'Nelson'. A few observant gunners took the opportunity to open fire, but

every shot went wild. Before the crew could react, 'Nelson was already

upon them.

 

"Tactical, power up quantums and fire. Ops, energize."

 

As 'Nelson's forward quantum launchers opened fire, several torpedoes

dematerialised just in front of 'Vengeance'. Without a proper lock, they

didn't form in their original state, instead appearing as an assorted

collection of matter and anti-matter particles. The resulting explosion

damaged the exposed hull where the plasma arc had hit, collapsing the

shields. It also blinded the gunners, preventing them from shooting down

the incoming torpedoes which pounded the unshielded hull again, doing

further damage. As 'Nelson' swung past, January barked orders to open

fire.

 

"Weapons, target that ship and fire the heavy batteries. Helm, hold our

position. I wan that ship DEAD!"

 

'Nelson' streaked away from the damaged ISD, a few heavy turbolaser

bolts shooting past her. Coming up on the edge of the storm, Boyd gave

further orders.

 

"Power up the deflector dish. Ops, I've reconfigured it from my station.

Execute program Boyd-Delta-6 just before we clear the storm. Tactical, I

want you to drop proximity fused torpedoes as we clear the storm." While

his crew had been busy keeping the ship alive, Boyd had quickly

reconfigured the deflector ship to emit a combined ion and gravtion

stream. As 'Nelson' reached the edge of the storm, the particles

streamed away, hitting the plasma, setting up severe instabilities. As

the storm intensified, with the number of arcs almost doubling, it would

take 'Vengeance' a while to safely navigate out. Of course, if she ever

did, there would be the little minefield he'd just deployed. From within

the storm, she wouldn't be able to detect them and by the time she left,

she'd already be hitting them. "Raise shields. Helm, take us along the

storm front. Tactical, drop a few more torpedoes. Let's not give them

any chance to get out of there. Good work people."

 

Back in Earth orbit, Rotarran continued to obliterate ship after ship,

as she was joined by several Federation starships. The few Imperial

ships that were able to make repairs either fled or surrendered. Tiring

of the lack of opposition, Martok retied to the brig. That captain was a

proud one, but Klingon interrogation would soon break him. He would have

handed him over to Starfleet, but this new threat could endanger the

Empire and the Federation's method of extracting information from

prisoners was much less efficient and could be costly to the Empire.

Judging from the haggard look around the captain's eyes, it looked like

the guards wight have been trying out the painsticks for themselves.

They would be punished later for their disobedience. Klingons were not

savages like Cardassians, who tortured their prisoners for enjoyment.

Klingons did it for a purpose. A noble purpose. Picking up the

painstick, Martok motioned for the cell's forcefield to be dropped and

entered it. Kynes was resilient at first, but Imperial training did not

generally include resisting torture methods. They were rarely used by

the Rebels, so the expense of training against it was frowned upon.

Kynes regretted this decision.

 

In quarters 253, Lieutenant Q'vosh was having trouble sleeping. Klingon

bulkheads were not sound proofed like Federation ones. Fortunately, the

quarters were located next to the brig. Hearing the screams from, he

smiled and gradually drifted off to sleep, imagining the death screams

of his enemies.

 

Chapter 3

 

[Bridge of 'Vengeance']

 

Captain January looked on in displeasure. 'Nelson' was no match for

'Vengeance, yet she'd slipped through his grasp. But not this time. This

'Federation' was nothing compared to the Empire, was far beneath them on

the technological and worst of all, had allied itself with Rebels. As a

final insult, one of those primitive ships had tried to trap him inside

a plasma storm. A futile effort. Irritating, but ultimately futile.

 

"Tactical, set turbolasers to flak discharges, distance 1.5km. Ready all

guns. I want a protective sphere round this ship. Set batteries for

sustained fire. Divert power from nonessential systems to shields. Helm,

ahead full thrusters. Commence fire, all batteries."

 

The space around 'Vengeance' erupted into green flame, rimmed by

yellowish explosions as the volatile plasma exploded, containing the ISD

within a protective bubble. A plasma stream leapt down from the storm,

towards the ship, but was dispersed by the overwhelming explosions.

 

"Sir, we're nearing the storm perimeter."

 

"Assign a couple of the bow batteries to open fire along our course. No

doubt there's a surprise waiting for us."

 

January was gratified to see several explosions registering on the

static filled sensors. Even so, 'Vengeance' rocked slightly as she

cleared the storm, causing January to throw a glance of irritation at

his gunnery officers. This time, however, he refrained from commenting.

There were more important matters to attend to.

 

"Sensors, can you locate that ship."

 

"Yes, sir. She's proceeding towards a nearby system using the subspace

drive mechanism."

 

"Plot an intercept course and engage. Ready all batteries for a barrage

at her projected position, the moment we drop out of hyperspace. January

smiled.

 

[Bridge of 'Nelson']

 

Think happy thoughts, thought Boyd. Moments ago, the subspace sensors

had detected the 'Vengeance' leaving the plasma storms, before

disappearing in a burst of Cronau radiation, apparently none the worse

for wear.

 

"Engineering, what's the status of the hyperdrive, Mr Anderson?"

 

"It'll be another hour before we have it repaired, sir. We'd just taken

it apart when we came under attack. We're being very careful putting it

back together."

 

"Your diligence is noted, however we're about to come under attack

again. What's the status of the phase cloak?"

 

"We could have it back on line in 10 minutes, if you want. It'll only

hold for a couple of hours before we have to take it off line and put it

together properly, but it should be long enough to get clear."

 

"Make that your priority. Bridge out."

 

Just as the comm link broke off, the distinctive dagger shape of

'Vengeance' dropped out of hyperspace, a couple of seconds in front of

'Nelson'. Immediately opening fire with every gun, 'Vengeance threw up a

wall of green plasma before disappearing back into hyperspace. The shots

were widely dispersed in an attempt to hit 'Nelson'. Travelling at warp,

she was fairly safe from 'Vengeance'. She was too fast to be pursued in

real space, couldn't be fired at from hyperspace and couldn't be

reliably targeted at warp. She was not, however, ready for January's

tactics. Detecting the shots, the young lieutenant at the helm, without

waiting for orders, tried to change course. He had, however, reacted to

quickly to check the sensors properly and evaded straight into a heavy

turbolaser blast, still streaking through space. Had he continued on the

original course, 'Nelson' would not have been hit. It is such incidents,

however, which can determine the course of wars.

 

'Nelson' shuddered and sparks erupted from several bridge consoles as

the bolt sliced through the shields, striking the engineering hull.

 

"Hull breach, decks 24 and 25, shields at 60%, warp drive off line."

dutifully reported the ensign manning the engineering station.

 

"Contact, bearing 0 mark 0, range 10km and closing!

 

"Helm, full ahead. Tactical, target her guns and fire at will." Boyd

knew that by the time they turned and tried to run, 'Vengeance' would be

on top of them, blowing their shields away. Their only hope was to run

straight at her and get past before the less maneuverable Star Destroyer

could turn and gun 'Nelson' down. Leaping forward, 'Nelson' dodged

several shots, but several more found their target, draining her

shields. Blazing past, in a flurry of phaser and torpedo fire, 'Nelson'

raced for safety, still dodging shots.

 

"Sir, I'm picking up small engine signatures along our course. I think

they're fighters."

 

January was no fool. He knew that there were only 2 options open to

'Nelson'. Turn and be gunned down, or try and run past 'Vengeance'. In

preparation for this, he had deployed his TIE Bombers behind him.

'Nelson' didn't stand much of a chance. Her shields weakened by the

close range dual, short as it was, she soon fell victim to the torpedoes

of the bombers.

 

"Shields down, hull breach deck 16, force fields holding. We've taken

out another 2 fighters." came the hurried report from Lieutenant Smith,

'Nelson's tactical officer. They had taken out most of the bombers with

phasers and proximity torpedoes, but they had done their job. Impulse

engines were damaged, the warp drive was off line and the shields were

gone. Smith slammed his fist down on the fire controls, unleashing a

final volley from the torpedo tubes as the bombers retreated towards

'Vengeance'. "Sir, Vengeance' is closing rapidly. We've got less than a

minute."

 

"Engineering, where's that cloak?"

 

"Sorry, sir, but the warp core's been damaged. Several EPS conduits have

blown out and we just don't have enough power to cloak the ship. At

least, not the whole ship."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"We can only cloak a small bubble round engineering, perhaps the entire

engineering hull and part of the saucer section, but the rest would

still be in normal space."

 

Boyd paused to think. He could see 'Vengeance still closing on them. Not

much longer until she reached optimal firing range.

 

"Ops, prepare to initiate separation sequence." Switching over to the

ship wide comm channel, Boyd began speaking again. "All hands, evacuate

the saucer section. If you can't reach engineering in 2minutes, proceed

to escape pods." Boyd wasn't much of a public speaker. He could write

speeches, but not say them. He would leave that job to Captain Mawhiney.

"Clear the bridge, except Lieutenant Smith. Captain Mawhiney, assume

control of the ship from the auxiliary bridge. I'm going to self

destruct the saucer. When the countdown reaches zero, cloak."

 

"Admiral? We've still get weapons and superior maneuverability. If we

hold out for another few minutes, we'll be able to cloak the whole

ship."

 

"Or, as is more likely, we will be destroyed or disabled. No, 'Nelson'

must survive. The Federation need all the ships it can get."

 

"You could initiate the destruct from Engineering."

 

"Yes, but the Imperial captain will be more convinced by escape pods

being launched. Manned escape pods."

 

Mawhiney understood what his friend was doing. They had all sworn an

oath to protect the Federation, an oath taken very seriously by the

members of Starfleet Intelligence. An oath personified by Jonathan.

 

"Good luck."

 

"You too, captain."

 

Turning to the tactical console, Boyd saw that 'Vengeance' was only

seconds from firing range. He would have to move fast if the plan was to

be successful. Moving to the ops console, he took a seat, and killed the

engines. It had been a while since he'd piloted a starship, but he

regularly practiced with the shuttles and holodeck.

 

"Lieutenant, contact 'Vengeance', tell them we surrender," he ordered,

initiating the separation sequence. Any crew still aboard the saucer

would have to use the escape pods now.

 

Computer, initiate auto-destruct sequence Callipso, authorisation Boyd,

Alpha, 6, 9, Theta, 7, Delta."

 

"Voice pattern and code confirmed."

 

Lieutenant Smith knew what he had to do. That didn't mean he was happy.

He had had to take a deep breath when he'd been ordered to surrender.

Now he was being helping to destroy his ship. Oh well, the Admiral was

intelligent and had proven his loyalty to the Federation time and again.

 

"Computer, confirm auto-destruct sequence Callipso, authorisation Smith,

Sigma, Beta, 5, 3, 6, 2, Zeta."

 

"Voice pattern and code confirmed. Destruct sequence enabled."

 

"Set countdown to 30 seconds. Initiate... now."

 

Boyd gave the final command while simultaneously activating the final

separation sequence. He gave a faint smile as the engineering hull

dropped back from the saucer section by a couple of metres. Activating

the comm system, he gave his last orders, before sprinting for the

nearest escape pod.

 

"All hands, this is the Admiral. Abandon ship, repeat abandon ship. Good

luck people, remember Earth."

 

Admiral Boyd sighed in sorrow as his escape pod hurtled away from

'Nelson' and looked back, praying that Captain Mawhiney would get his

timing right.

 

"Sir, the target appears to be breaking up. The disc section appears to

no longer be connected to the rest of the ship. I'm also reading several

escape pod launches from the disc section."

 

[Bridge of 'Vengeance']

 

January grinned, bearing his teeth. A lucky hit must have split the ship

open. That would explain the surrender and the escape pod launches.

Nevertheless, he was wary of traps and was keeping shields up, weapons

ready and 50km between himself and 'Nelson'. Several transports were

being loaded with stormtroopers, in preparation for a boarding action.

Of course, 'Nelson's security systems would have to be disabled first,

with ion cannon fire. It would take a minute or 2 to verify that the

shots would cause no serious damage. Such ships had shown a tendency to

explode spectacularly when exposed to ion fire. An analysis by his

sensor officer had revealed that this was due to the nature of their

reactors. Matter-antimatter reactors. January laughed inwardly at the

primitive ships. There would be no such accidents here, though.

 

"Are there people on the escape pods?"

 

"Yes sir."

 

"Track them and dispatch a couple of shuttles. i want prisoners in case

the ship blows up."

 

Bare seconds after he said this, January saw his viewscreen, focused on

'Nelson', appear to flicker before being engulfed in flame. A huge

explosion had ripped though the ship, destroying her utterly. Enraged,

January turned to the gunnery officer.

 

"Who fired! I wanted prisoners! You know how unstable their reactors

are!"

 

The hapless officer stammered that no shots had been fired. It must have

been a self-destruct. At least there were the escape pods.

 

"Bring the prisoners from the pods to the interrogation chambers. Have

interrogation droids prepared. I want to begin interrogation in an

hour," fumed January, retiring from the bridge. the bridge crew glanced

round in relief. They were too professional to say anything, but they

all knew what each other was thinking. January had a temper, but it

seemed that he was finally getting it under control. Relaxing slightly,

they returned to their work.

 

[Bridge of 'Palpatinian']

 

Admiral Sheppard had enjoyed a successful couple of hours. Evidently, he

had located an important convoy route and several transports and supply

freighters had fallen victim to his fleet. Trapped by the Interdictor,

their frigate and gunship escorts had quickly fallen victim to massive

turbolaser barrages from the ISDs or the SSD. The latest news pleased

him greatly. Hacking into one of the frigates' computers, Phong Nguyen,

his best slicer had unrecovered valuable information. A wormhole had

been discovered, which he already knew from 'Palpatinian's computers,

but more importantly, contact had been made with ships from the other

side. The ships had encountered 'Palpatinian', which he also knew, but

the Rebels appeared to have formed an alliance. There were details about

the capabilities of some of the ships encountered, cultural details,

command structure, transponder codes, communication frequencies,

estimated size of their occupied space and information on the assets

deployed to guard the wormhole and explore this new galaxy. Some of the

technical details were fascinating. Superluminal travel in realspace,

albeit slowly, matter-antimatter reactors, exotic cloaks, completely

different weapons technology. The details were sketchy, but Charles

would undoubtedly be able to make better use of them than he could. The

most important information to him, was the details of the assets

allocated to the wormhole. And those still in transit. Among those were

one X-Wing, transporting the hated Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. He was

due in a couple of minutes and Sheppard's trap was set. First, he'd

destroy Skywalker, then Solo, then Ackbar. This would be a day long

remembered. The fall of the New Republic and the rise, once again, of

the Empire.

 

[Luke's X-Wing]

 

Luke had meditating all the way from Yavin 4. He had left the moment he

had heard that a fleet was being sent to the wormhole. When he had first

heard about the wormhole, he had been eager to see it, but there were

students at critical stages in their training. Upon hearing that Ackar

had been sent, Luke realised that there was something wrong. He could

feel a vague disturbance in the Force and had been uneasy for a couple

of days, but had not known where trouble was going to occur. The fleet's

deployment was a clear indication, reinforced now by his meditations.

Reaching out with the Force, Luke could sense the wormhole. There was

something else as well. Ships. a vision. There were several ships, one

of them a huge Executor class, another an Interdictor. A trap was being

set. A trap for him! Waking from his trance like state, Luke cut the

hyperdrive, seconds from the interdiction field.

 

[Bridge of 'Palpatinian']

 

"Sir, contact at the edge of the Interdiction field. It's an X-Wing."

 

Sheppard silently cursed. The Jedi had seen the trap and evaded it. Oh

well, he had anticipated this. There were TIE Defenders between

Skywalker and the interdiction cone. He knew the Jedi was a good pilot,

but there were too many ships for him to handle. "Order the TIEs to

engage. Launch some drone fighters as well." It was only a matter of

time.

 

[X-Wing]

 

Luke checked his scanners. There were TIEs coming from behind and in

front. Jamming was interfering with his sensors, but the profile of a

TIE Defender was fairly distinctive. There wasn't time now for Luke to

wonder where the Empire had got them from though. He couldn't outrun the

TIEs and there were too many to fight. His only chance was to escape to

hyperspace. checking his sensors again, he saw that the interdictor,

tentatively identified as 'Hutt's Feet', was not directly ahead, but

slightly off centre. There was a gap between the encircling TIEs and the

interdiction field that he could escape through. For all Luke knew, it

could be a trap, but he would die here, so it was worth a try. Punching

the throttle to full and diverting all discretionary power to engines,

Luke ran for the gap.

 

[Bridge of 'Palpatinian']

 

"Sir, the X-Wing has found a gap in our formation. He's running for open

space. He's gone to hyperspace. TIEs reporting ready to pursue. 6 have

already gone to hyperspace. They must have been close enough to track

his soliton trail."

 

"Very well. Begin the search. 6 Defenders may not be enough to stop

him."

 

"Engines ready."

 

"Engage hyperdrive."

 

'Palpatinian' vanished in a flare of radiation, as the rest of the fleet

deployed along their allocated vectors, each hoping to locate the

elusive X-Wing.

 

[X-Wing]

 

Luke had had little choice. There had been no time to plot a new course,

so he had simply resumed his old one with a couple of hastily calculated

corrections. He dropped out of hyperspace outside the wormhole,

expecting to be greeted by the NR fleet. Instead, he ran into 2 full

squadrons of Missile Boats. Artoo went wild, filling the cockpit with

alarms as the 24 starfighters acquired locks. Within a second of

reversing to realspace, there were 48 missiles headed for Luke's X-Wing.

Reaching out with the Force, he managed to destroy about 20 of them,

shoot down another 10 and evade several more, but there were simply too

many, even for a Jedi. He was still struggling to evade the first volley

when the second of another 48 was launched, rapidly bearing down on him.

The size of the explosion would ensure his death, even if he ejected.

Resigning himself to his death, Luke prepared to embrace the Force to

its fullest extent.

 

[MIS 021]

 

'Target eliminated' flashed up on the computer screen. The pilot, a

relatively fresh recruit to Admiral Sheppard's fleet, smiled in

satisfaction. It was his missiles that had brought down the great Jedi.

The New Republic was dead. With Admiral Sheppard in charge of a real

fleet again and equipped with such marvels as these, the famed Admiral

Ackbar would soon be regretting that he had left his watery soon.

Forming up into squadrons, the Missile Boats departed into hyperspace,

returning to the rendezvous point. It had been a good day's hunting.

 

Chapter 4

 

[Rotarran]

 

Kynes awoke groggily. He remembered little about the previous day, except pain. There had been the interrogation with that 'Klingon', General Martok. He shuddered slightly as he recalled it, before suppressing the memory. Painsticks. He spat at the ground. These Klingons were animals. Turning at the sound of a door opening, he saw Martok standing outside the brig. Gone was the old look of hostility, replaced by a measure of respect.

 

"You did not break. I am surprised. Most humans would have."

 

So that was it. Perhaps they were not animals so much as barbarians.

 

"You showed courage and yet you displayed dishonour on the battlefield."

 

Ah, a race that valued honour. Perhaps he could take advantage of this, but Imperial officers were not diplomats. He racked his brain for a response, finally coming up with one. "Where is the honour in war? Except in the retelling of your actions."

 

Martok appeared to consider this. "Hmm. History is written by the victors, an old Klingon saying."

 

Kynes saw that he was making progress. "What would you have done, General? Honoured an oath made to your government, or honoured an enemy?"

 

Staring thoughtfully at Kynes, Martok turned and left. It would be a couple of days before he reached Q'onos. Perhaps a different approach to interrogation would work.

 

[Cestus system]

 

'Vindicator' dropped out of hyperspace after several short jumps to elude Rebel forces. They had reached the edge of part of the star charts, a region mentioned only as Gorn space. Although the positions of systems and some planets and been recorded, there was insufficient detail for safe hyperspace travel. Captain Parsons hoped this would discourage rebel searches in the area. As soon as they reverted to realspace, the sensors lit up with warnings. in orbit around the 3rd planet of the system, known simply as Cestus III, were 2 ships, each slightly smaller than a Victory Class Star Destroyer. They were already moving to intercept. This would have been fine, if another 3 such ships hadn't been with 200km of his position.

 

The Gorn had never really trusted the Federation and as a consequence, had always maintained a small force on their closest border outpost, Cestus III. With the advent of the Dominion war, 5 of their largest ships had been dispatched, to prevent a Dominion incursion. The immense dagger shaped vessel in front of them wasn't a Dominion ship, but it sure wasn't friendly, either. All 5 ships moved to surround the new arrival.

 

"Sir, we're being hailed."

 

"Put them through"

 

A reptilian face appeared on the communications screen, filling Parsons with disgust. There would be much cleansing to do in this galaxy if they survived to conquer it. His thoughts were interrupted by a shudder running through the decks. Obviously the alien ships had used the distraction of hailing him to open fire. He could stay and fight and possibly win but he didn't want to risk being caught in an alien galaxy with any damaged systems.

 

"Engage hyperdrive."

 

There was a brief flash of light and 'Vindicator' vanished out of the system.

 

[Home One]

 

Ackar was brooding in his office. The escape of Admiral Yarr coupled with the mysterious disappearance of several convoys worried him greatly. With an Executor class battlecruiser loose again he had been forced to withdraw most of his fleet to his home galaxy once more leaving behind only a token force to scout out the new galaxy and locate the warlord's fleet. Without additional resources he was unable to defend the wormhole and hunt for the battlecruiser so he was returning to Coruscant to request more ships. Just because he was the Commander in Chief didn't mean he had any real power. Not in a democracy like the New Republic. Sighing, he recalled the days of the Alliance when blasters were more important than a beaurocracy. One more factor weighed on his mind. Just before entering hyperspace he had learnt that Luke had set out for the wormhole in his X-Wing. He hoped he wouldn't run into any trouble before he could be informed of the new situation.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

 

"I'm decrypting it now, sir."

 

Sheppard shook his head in wonderment. Despite the number of times he had made use of his skills his skill at slicing into computers and decoding transmissions still amazed him. His latest conquest was an anomalous transmission from the wormhole. Having decoded all other transmission, he knew the location of every NR ship apart from the ones on the other side of the wormhole. While the message could be coming from one of them Phong had said it was unlikely. Something about the coding or language of the message. Sheppard didn't understand the details. That was something best left to his subordinates.

 

"Got it! ...sir." beamed Phong. The encryption had been rather unusual but once he realised that the sender was a droid, not a ship, it hadn't taken him long to decode it. "It originates from some sort of intelligence droid so it's a fairly weak transmission. We're only just in range of it. All it seems to be transmitting is co-ordinates. I'll check them against our charts. Hmm... seems to be just outside the wormhole."

 

"Do you think it's a Rebel droid?"

 

"The code looks like one of theirs."

 

"Do they have any assets close enough to pick up the signal?"

 

"I doubt it. The last orders we intercepted were for all ships to withdraw to a staging area further into Rebel space."

 

Sheppard paused to think. They had stopped to make repairs on the Super Star Destroyer and rename it 'Dark Phoenix' while the New Republic fleet retreated from the wormhole. At first it had seemed strange that they would leave it undefended, but Phong had intercepted a transmission that a convoy of Star Cruisers and freighters with parts for constructing a small station was being assembled and would be dispatched within days. With a Super Star Destroyer loose, a small contingent of ships would be useless guarding the wormhole and a keeping a large fleet there would leave other worlds vulnerable. Perhaps this intelligence droid was part of a monitoring station. Why it would be transmitting co-ordinates though, he had no idea.

 

"Contact the "Ghorman" and the 'Glasgow' and have them jump to our co-ordinates. Inform be when they arrive. Instruct Captains Valberg and Yates and Lieutenant Hit-man to join me in the briefing room. You can come to Mr Nguyen. Admiral Glasgow, you have the bridge."

 

The turbolift ride to the briefing room was a short one from the bridge and Admiral Sheppard had time to admire the extra space and grandeur of it compared to the one on 'Revenger' before the other officers arrived.

 

A brief whoosh heralded the arrival of all 3. From the looks of things, they had all been taking advantage of the sizeable gym. All 3 stood to attention and snapped a sharp salute at the Admiral.

 

"At ease gentleman. Take a seat. 2 weeks ago, you will remember, we discovered an old supply depot at Fendar. You are all aware that we retrieved some interesting items of technology. An almost fully operational World Devastator, several TIE Defender and Missile Boat Squadrons and blueprints for a prototype cloaking device. We also recovered several data cards but you were not informed about them because the information was not deemed important. However, things have changed."

 

Hitting a switch, Sheppard brought up the contents of one of the cards on the briefing viewer.

 

"This a report on a project entitled Imperial Phoenix. 20 years ago a Star Destroyer suffered a freak hyperdrive failure which catapulted it to another galaxy. The ship managed to return and discovered that the malfunction was easily duplicable. The Emperor deemed this new galaxy suitable for Imperial rule and dispatched an agent code named 'Imperial Phoenix' to infiltrate the governments of the new territory and gather information to help the Imperial invasion fleet when it arrived. Not long after, the first Death Star was destroyed and in the war with the Rebels and the death of the Emperor, Imperial Phoenix was forgotten about. Obviously this would be an opportunity for the Empire to re-establish itself and once again become a galactic force. Unfortunately, none of the recovered data cards had details about the hyperdrive malfunction so we were unable to follow up on 'Imperial Phoenix' and dismissed it. Until now.

 

By some strange coincidence, the wormhole just a few light years away leads to the galaxy 'Imperial Phoenix' has infiltrated. We're going to go and find him, along with the rest of our little fleet. The escort carriers 'Glasgow' and 'Ghorman' have been recalled with Major Tierce and General Veers. I intend to find a quiet little system where we can get the World Devastator working and begin the conquest of the new galaxy. Undoubtedly we're going to run into a few problems along the way. What is the status of our starfighters Captain Yates?"

 

"All squadrons are repaired, refuelled and rearmed. I've been working with Admiral Glasgow to bring them up to spec with his enhancement software and droid transplants."

 

Admiral Glasgow, one of the most skilled engineers the Empire had seen had developed a series of upgrades originally intended to lengthen the life of 'Revenger's meagre TIE supply before they had stumbled on the cache of TIE Defenders and Missile Boats at Fendar. One of the most popular with the pilots of CAG, the Command Air Group, a hold-over from earlier times, was the addition of a droid brain to all craft. The droid performed the same role as the astromech droids of X-Wings and Y-Wings, helping the pilot track multiple targets, keep an eye on critical systems and generally improve performance in combat.

 

"We've already refitted the complement of TIE Avengers and the mechanics and technicians are working on the other fighters at the moment."

 

"Very good. Captain Valberg, what is the status of the rest of the fleet?"

 

"Using supplies from this ship, most of 'Revenger's turbolaser batteries are being restored. 'Cyclops' has been fully repaired as have 'Hutt's Feet' and 'Dagger'. Refitting 'Revenger' should be complete by tomorrow."

 

"In that case, it will have to wait. We're leaving for the wormhole as soon as 'Ghorman' and 'Glasgow' arrive. You can all return to your stations now. Except you Hit-man." He waited for everyone else to leave before continuing. "You've seen very tense ever since you arrived on board. What's wrong?" Sheppard had been feeling concerned about Hit-man. Not because they were friends - he wasn't too keen on getting too close to someone who had been trained to kill by Vader and carried a lightsabre everywhere and a small arsenal in his arm.

 

Hit-man hesitated, his mechanical eye seeming to burn through the briefing room table as he stared down at it. Finally, he looked up. "I have felt a presence through the Force."

 

"You mean Skywalker?"

 

"No. This is something... stronger, older, more powerful than him. Something of the Sith maybe." He shook his head. "Vader trained me only to use a lightsabre, nothing more. Now it's too late to learn anything else. He made sure there would be no-one to compete with him for the Emperor's favour. I can't tell you where this presence is, but I can tell you that it's strong and it's near."

 

"Hmm. If I see someone with a lightsabre I'll tell you." Hit-man didn't seem to appreciate the joke. Oh well it was a pretty weak one anyway. "Let's just concentrate on our mission, okay. I'm sure you won't be able to sense it once we're through the wormhole. Dismissed." What in the Sith had Hit-man discovered, thought Sheppard as he left. Or rather, what of the Sith?

 

[Nelson]

 

Sparks flew from yet another console in engineering. Lieutenant Commander Anderson knew that things were becoming critical. Feeling the ship shudder sickeningly again h, he looked up from his own console, awaiting the inevitable communiqu‘ from Captain Mawhiney. A rather sombre mood had settled over the ship since Admiral Boyd had sacrificed himself to save them and Mawhiney seemed to be taking it particularly badly. The 2 officers had been close friends and knowing that he could have initiated the self destruct instead of Boyd was making Mawhiney feel a lot worse.

 

"Bridge to Engineering. Commander, what's going on?"

 

Anderson sighed. Why did he have to right at times like this.

 

"It's the structural integrity field sir. Using the hyperdrive has pushed it to the limits. With all the combat we've seen and the passage through the wormhole, we may have pushed it a little too far."

 

Another shudder shook the ship, this time accompanied by a faint groaning. The lights flickered for a second then came back on. Anderson swore under his breath.

 

"Captain, things just got worse. The field generators just failed in several sections. The rest are taking up the load but it's one heck of a strain."

 

"What's the worst case scenario here?"

 

"We could be looking at a break-up of the entire ship within minutes."

 

"Best case?"

 

"We could have time to get everyone to the shuttles. Of course, without the main shuttle bay in the saucer section most people are going to have to leave in escape pods. There's nothing I can do. The generators have simply been pushed to far."

 

As if to emphasise the point, the lights flickered again and abruptly failed. To make matters worse, the emergency lights failed to come on.

 

"Warning, outer hull breach."

 

The words, spoken in the unfeeling feminine voice of the main computer struck fear into the hearts of every man on the ship. Small breaches weren't announced and even the big ones weren't announced to the whole ship. For that to happen, the breach would have to be endangering the whole ship.

 

"Captain, I recommend-'

 

"That we evacuate the ship. Agreed Mr Anderson. All hands, this is the captain. Abandon ship, repeat, abandon ship."

 

Throughout the ship crewmen walked calmly from their posts, just as they had been trained to and entered their escape pods. Those nearest the shuttle bays went instead to them. Most of 'Nelson's shuttles had been refitted with Type-5 phaser arrays on Admiral Boyd's orders. While they lacked the performance of Peregrines and their torpedo launchers, they were smaller targets and anything was better than an unarmed escape pod. Power failed completely as the bridge crew arrived at the shuttle bay. Fortunately the hanger doors were closed, a safety measure to prevent loss of atmosphere, so no-one had to don a space suit.

 

"Everyone aboard?"

 

"Aye sir. All present and accounted for."

 

"Lieutenant Beaverland, get us out of here."

 

For the first time in his 6 years in Starfleet, lieutenant Beaverland opened fire on a Federation vessel. Edging the shuttle through the hole in the hanger doors he had cut with the shuttle's phasers, he silently thanked Admiral Boyd's forward thinking.

 

"Bring us about, let's get a last look at her before she breaks up."

 

As the shuttle curved round, Captain Mawhiney's blood froze. Just a couple of kilometres away a Super Star Destroyer had reverted to real space and was closing on their position.

 

"Get us out of here."

 

"Too late sir, we've been tractored."

 

"Is it 'Palpatinian'?"

 

"Matches the profile but the transponder reads 'Dark Phoenix'."

 

"What's the status of our other shuttles?"

 

"All tractored sir."

 

Mawhiney bit down hard on his lip. It was something that helped him concentrate and the blood was quite refreshing.

 

"How long until they've pulled us in?"

 

"With our engines in full reverse, about 30 seconds."

 

"Okay, listen carefully. On my mark, vent some drive plasma into the tractor beam. Just before it reaches the shields of that battlecruiser beam a small amount of anti-matter into it and raise shields. Mark."

 

Star bright plasma gushed out of the impulse drives for half a second and, caught in the tractor beam, raced towards the battlecruiser. Without engines to pull it back, it took bare seconds to reach the shields, almost too quick for the shuttle crew to react and beam the anti-matter into its path. Colliding, the 2 substances reacted violently, annihilating each other and disrupting the tractor beam with an outpouring of energy. No longer constrained, the shuttle broke free and ran.

 

"Are they firing?"

 

"No sir, but they're hailing us."

 

"Put them through."

 

The voice of Admiral Sheppard cam through on the shuttle speakers.

 

"This is the Imperial Star Destroyer 'Dark Phoenix'. Surrender or we will exterminate your escape pods."

 

"Those people are defenceless!"

 

"This an ultimatum, not a dialogue. Surrender at once."

 

Mawhiney let slip a barely audible groan.

 

"We surrender."

 

[Vengeance]

 

January smiled. The effect was to give his face a rather demonic look, with his cybernetic eye glowing red. He had had an enjoyable hour. An enemy ship destroyed, a good meal eaten and prisoners in the brig. While they weren't wretched Rebel scum, they were allies of them and that was almost as bad an offence. January hated the Rebels for what they had done. For what they had done to his family and his galaxy. They were nothing but terrorists. Terrorists with just enough luck to defeat the Empire. Some day he would have his vengeance. Some day, he would avenge his family's death. Not at the hands of Warlord Yarr however. By abandoning his ships here in this new galaxy, he had proved that he was no emperor. That left January with very few chances. He could return to the Empire and serve Admiral Pellaeon where he might be extradited by the Rebels and tried for war crimes, he could become a warlord, a laughable thought considering that he had no base, few connections and little love in the service. He ruled by fear. While this would be effective on one ship, he doubted it would be effective in a fleet. No. He would have to join someone else. If he could find someone worthy of serving. There were few warlords left and most of them were more like pirates, preying on shipping, scavenging parts and abandoning TIEs for uglies. Oh well, that was something he could decide when he returned through the wormhole. A pity they would have to return to get supplies to repair the interrogation chamber. Destroyed by a fluke torpedo, January had been deprived of his stock of interrogation droids and would have to requisition more from someone. On the other hand, it was probably best to return through the wormhole now, before Rebel reinforcements arrived. If Admiral Ackbar and General Solo had stayed true to form they would have run back to Coruscant to plead with the Senate for more ships. January sneered at the idea. There would have been no such problems under the Emperor. Looking at his chronometer, he hit the comm panel.

 

"Bridge, how long until we reach the wormhole?"

 

"7 minutes, sir"

 

Enough time to listen to his favourite piece of music once again. Lying back in his rigid bed, January allowed himself to relax as the hauntingly beautiful strains of Imperial March filled the air.

 

[Vengeance Brig]

 

Boyd's pacing was beginning to get to Smith. He may outrank him several times, have been decorated on several occasions and be one of the best admirals in the fleet, but if he didn't stop, he was going to get hit. He'd been at it for an hour, ever since they had been captured. After abandoning 'Nelson', they had watched the saucer section self-destruct as they were pulled in by 'Vengeance's tractor beam. Smith hoped that the rest of 'Nelson' had got away okay. From the looks of things however had built the ship hadn't signed up to the Rigel Convention. No environmental control besides providing oxygen, no food or water, hard bunks, poor lighting and 2 guards outside. Maybe they should feel honoured that they had been given such a bad cell. Maybe they'd made the captain really made. Or maybe he was just some sadistic psycho who was going to torture them. Whoa! Bad thoughts. Let's not think that.

 

"With all due respect sir, I'm going to have to restrain you if you don't stop pacing."

 

"I'd to have to court-martial you so near the end of a so far glorious career," joked Boyd, flashing him a wry grin obviously meant to reassure the lieutenant, before sitting down.

 

"What do you think is going to happen to us, sir?"

 

"Judging from their actions at Earth, I don't imagine it will be pretty," Boyd's expression suddenly sobered up as recalled the devastation wrought by the attack. The impact of the quantum torpedoes alone had undoubtedly caused the death of millions.

 

"Do you think your family was in the torpedo blast?"

 

"No, I doubt it. They would still be in Ireland and the torpedoes looked like they hit the Indian Ocean." One of the worst places to hit. Right next to one of the most densely populated countries and where earthquakes, tidal waves and who knows what else could be triggered. His family not being killed was no cause for celebration. Not at this price. "What about you?"

 

"They're living on Deneb V at the moment."

 

"Oh yes, the new colony there. They're cooking for everyone aren't they because of the delay in replicator shipments?" inquired Boyd, glad of the change of topic.

 

"Yeah, they love baking. You should try it some day. They make a great chocolate cake."

 

Boyd managed a faint smile at this. Chocolate seemed to be the great weakness of every Starfleet officer. He was no exception.

 

"I'd like to try that someday," he said, hoping that he'd got Smith's mind off their current status.

 

[Devastator]

 

Captain Paulsen was rather proud of what he had accomplished in a couple of hours. In the confusion that had arisen when the remains of Yarr's fleet had run into the New Republic taskforce, ships had been scattered throughout several thousand cubic light years. Without holo-net communications it had taken a while to contact all the ships and gather them up. A couple of ships were still unaccounted for, most notably 'Palpatinian' and 'Vengeance'. Paulsen wasn't too surprised at 'Vengeance's disappearance. January had always been a maverick and had a record of disobeying orders when it suited his own personal aims. He was probably leaving Yarr's service now. Paulsen would probably have done the same if he had been an Imperial captain. But he wasn't. He was a Jedi, spying on Yarr's forces for the New Republic. When he had been given the assignment, he hadn't expected that he would be committing genocide. He had had to use every disciplinary technique he knew to prevent himself reacting to the waves of sorrow and pain that had washed over him through the Force and threatened to overcome his senses. With the New Republic fleet gathering to finish off Yarr, that hopefully would never happen again.

 

"'Vindicator' just arrived sir. They're taking up position with the rest of the fleet. Looks like they sustained some more damage."

 

"Maybe they can trade stories with 'Immortal' when we get home then."

 

Out of the 50 ships Yarr had brought through the wormhole, only 17 remained excluding 'Palpatinian' and 'Vengeance'. 2 corvettes from 'Gauntlet' group; 5 ISDs, 'Black Flame', 'Vindicator', 'Devastator', 'Thrawn' and 'Immortal' ; 6 VSDs, 'Repulse', 'Crippler', 'Inferno', 'Venom' 'Fury' and 'Terror' ; a Carrick class cruiser, 'Insufferable' ; 2 Nebulon-B frigates, 'Coruscant' and 'Villainy' and an Interdictor, 'Reaper'. Captain Wong, being the senior officer, would have been in command but his ship had run into a pair of purple ships about the size of a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, escorted by 8 gunship sized ships and had taken heavy damage before fleeing. Recuperating in 'Immortal's sickbay, he had been 'persuaded' by Paulsen to hand over control of the fleet to him. He would wait another hour for January then return to the wormhole. There was obviously a spy in the Republic who had somehow contacted Yarr and told him the Republic fleet was on the way.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

 

Flight Officer Sonnenburg was celebrating his kill in 'Dark Phoenix's mess hall when a shadow fell over him. Turning round he saw the imposing for of lieutenant Hit-man standing behind him.

 

"Admiral Sheppard wants to see you in his ready room. Now." To accentuate the word 'Now'. Hit-man flicked on his laser targeter and aimed it square between Sonnenburg's eyes. Crossing his eyes to see the red dot, Sonnenburg felt a wave of nausea pass over him. Hit-man studied him with an iron grip and asked "Do you think you can make it yourself lieutenant?" with a smile that most definitely wasn't intended to reassure.

 

"Ye-ye-yes si-sir. I'll be fine sir," stammered Sonnenburg freeing himself and dashing out the door. The laughter of his comrades was silenced by a vicious grin from Hit-man which was maintained until they were sure he was well out of ear shot. It wasn't a good idea to mess with someone with his reputation.

 

Sonnenburg realised this and nearly tripped over himself hurrying to Sheppard's ready room. "You wanted to see me sir?"

 

"Yes lieutenant, take a seat." Sheppard's smile instantly put Sonnenburg at ease. He had spoken briefly to the admiral before on his inspections on 'Revenger' He seemed a pretty down to earth guy, not a high and mighty, superior than thou admiral that was common in the Empire. Sheppard was someone who was a comfortable with the crew as he was with his senior staff and they felt just as comfortable around him.

 

"You're being awarded a promotion to the rank of Commander for killing Skywalker and his X-Wing. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you. However, I have some bad news. You can't take any credit for killing Skywalker."

 

"Sir?"

 

"We've come up with a plan to discredit a race on the other side of the wormhole called the 'Federation' and involve them in a war that will weaken the New Republic. As you may or may not know, we discovered a Federation starship breaking up on this side of the wormhole. We intend to frame them for killing Skywalker. If this works, there should be war within hours. They will not tolerate the apparent cold blooded murder of their greatest hero by supposed allies."

 

Sonnenburg wasn't sure how to react. It was great to finally get his promotion, but he would have preferred to get credit for killing Skywalker. Not everyone could claim to have killed a Jedi. At least Sheppard was explaining why.

 

"I take it that I'm not allowed to talk about it anymore then?"

 

Sheppard shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The same applies to everyone now. No one must know."

 

"Very well sir. I understand."

 

"Good." Sheppard nodded his head approvingly before standing up. "Congratulations once again on your promotion. Dismissed."

 

Sonnenburg did a smart about turn and strode out of the office. Smiling slightly, remembering his first promotion, Sheppard headed for the bridge, meeting Nguyen there.

 

"Is the evidence planted?"

 

"Yes sir and we found the intelligence drone."

 

"Oh?"

 

"It was planted aboard the ship that broke up. Apparently the Rebels didn't trust their allies and wanted to keep tack of them."

 

"Excellent, that distrust should help us here. Are all ships ready?"

 

"Aye sir. Major Tierce's shuttle just arrived from 'Ghorman'.

 

"Set a course for the wormhole and engage."

 

[Vengeance]

 

"Reverting to real space now sir."

 

The shimmering blue vista of hyperspace was replaced by a star field and a writhing mass of colour in the distance.

 

"There's something coming through the wormhole. It's big."

 

[Sutton's Peregrine]

 

Sutton had been cruising at the Peregrine's highest warp factor for the last couple of hours. It wouldn't be long before he reached his destination. Hidden in the interstellar gulf where no-one would look for it and far outside the reach of Cardassian retribution it lay. As the stars reverted to their normal dot appearance, Sutton sent out a quick sensor pulse. There it was. The last Maquis base.

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