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The Voyages of the GCV- Antigone


johnnie
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Hey guys, this is part of a story I have been working on for the past two months( yeah I know its not much for that lenght of time but mind you that I have a life outside of computer games). I could use some an outside view on the idea of the story and if you like it. I tink that is all so lets get started. (oh and sorry for the spelling and gramatical errors)

The government promised that not one battle would ever be fought in orbit of Earth. This was because of almighty Galcom Headquarters in Orbit of Earth. At least they said no battle against the Gammulans, would be fought over Earth. But today the WCV Antigone (previously the GCV Antigone) was leading a fleet of 15 ships against Galcom her self and 22 ships, including the Supreme CommanderÔÇÖs ship, the Warmonger. You can only survive an encounter with that ship is if you are on the same side as it. But today Ben Gardna was not on the same side, and he planned on taking down the great beast. Just one week ago, Ben Gardna was on the same side as the Supreme Commander was and would have laid down his life for the Commander, but today he planned on taking down him. Why would a distinguished Commander such as Ben Gardna go against his commanding officer? Well its time someone found out.

You never really miss home until you have been away from it for a while. The GCV-Antigone has made it home. Commander Gardna was lost in thought looking out of the window. When all of a sudden, there was a flash and the stars seemed to have magically changed position. ÔÇ£Ah, the magic of a jump node,ÔÇØ Ben thought. Then his comm chirped.

ÔÇ£Commander we have arrived in Earth Region; your orders?ÔÇØ said his first officer, Carla Mason. Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason is a relatively young lieutenant commander at an age of 32, being just 12 years younger than the commander is. However, she did have the makings of one day becoming a great commander.

ÔÇ£Good, make for Galcom at hyperspace. IÔÇÖll be out shortly,ÔÇØ replied Gardna.

With that, he closed the channel. Currently, since with the war with the Gammulans, Galcom Headquarters was one of the safest places in the galaxy you could be. He finished the rest of his tea, tossed it in the disposal and exited his office. The doors slid open nicely but with a squeak. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm going to have to tell Chief Engineer Marcus about that when we dock,ÔÇØ Gardna thought.

ÔÇ£Commander on the Bridge,ÔÇØ shouted Lieutenant Corey Aster, tactical officer.

Corey Aster is a weird person. When you talk to him, he is nice and you would not think he could or would want to hurt a fly. However, he is one of the most aggressive tactical officers Commander Gardna had seen in his 15 years of command.

ÔÇ£At ease,ÔÇØ the commander replied. As the commander went to take his seat in the center, Mason moved to the first officerÔÇÖs seat next to the captainÔÇÖs.

ÔÇ£Time to Galcom dock?ÔÇØ asked Commander Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£Three minutes sir,ÔÇØ replied Ensign Dave Cooper, helm officer. Dave Cooper is the kind of person you used to know in high school. He was the skateboarder and the one who is always on the wrong side of the law. The only reason he is an officer, is that Galcom need all the veteran officers we can get. He was once in jail for doing a very dangerous maneuver without permission from his superiors. Fourteen people died because of that little stint. He was in jail for three years before he was sent to us.

ÔÇ£Very good. Commander Gardna to Commander TiÔÇÖlyiaÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Commander TiÔÇÖlyia here,ÔÇØ answered TiÔÇÖlyia, commander of the group of Falkeries we rescued. An average Falkerie is roughly two meters tall. They look like big crows with hands instead of wings. Falkeries are mostly traders due to the Gammulans taking them over. The Falkeries once commanded the space lanes until 5 years ago. In 2998, the Gammulans discovered the FalkeriesÔÇÖ secret. Most if not all the planets that the Falkeries control are rich in radine. Radine is the universal fuel source. Every known type of ship runs off it. The Gammulans then decided they wanted the radine supplies. After two years of fighting, the Gammulans won. They currently control all of Falkeries planets. The Falkeries are, currently forced to be traders since the Gammulans made weapons research illegal on Falkerie planets.

ÔÇ£We will be docking soon, so prepare your people to disembark. I hope the Supreme Commander allows you to have a ship or at least stay onboard,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Us too. We will be ready in fifteen minutes,ÔÇØ said TiÔÇÖlyia.

ÔÇ£That will be perfect, Gardna out,ÔÇØ

Gardna was looking over his report when he looked up and saw mighty Galcom in all her glory.

ÔÇ£Antigone to Galcom docking control, Request permission to dock,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Antigone this is docking control, permission granted, please dock at bay 12,ÔÇØ replied a feminine voice.

ÔÇ£Acknowledged control we are heading in, Antigone out. Ensign Cooper, do you know where docking bay twelve is, because I donÔÇÖt?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I think I have an idea,ÔÇØ replied Cooper with a wink.

ÔÇ£Then by all means, take us in ┬╝ speed,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye,ÔÇØ-replied Cooper.

Closer and closer the mammoth structure of Galactic Command Headquarters got until they were inside it.

ÔÇ£Commander, we are in position,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

ÔÇ£Secure bow and stern moorings,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Secured,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Secure gangway and power cables,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Secured and attached,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gardna to Marcus,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus here, what can I do you for commander?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Please shut down the reactor and switch to the stations solar power,ÔÇØ

A small flicker was barely noticeable, which showed the change of power systems.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna to all hands, if you hadnÔÇÖt noticed we have made it back to Galcom safely. As a reward, you have a week of system leave. You may visit any planet in this system, but not outside it. In addition, if you are not going anywhere you have to get out, or off the ship. The ship is going to be, cleaned and they want everybody out. I donÔÇÖt know what are next mission will be so stay close, Oh and Senior staff meeting in 10 minutes. Gardna outÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mason please make sure everyone gets off and remember the staff meeting,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ replied Mason.

With those two words, he walked off the bridge into the turboshaft in the back of the bridge.

ÔÇ£Deck 2ÔÇØ he said. As soon as the doors opened, again he walked down the hall to the officerÔÇÖs quarters. He keyed in the code and walked down the officerÔÇÖs hall to the first set of doors on the left. He keyed in another code and walked in to his quarters. They were not luxurious but they were not, cramped. He sat down at his padd on the desk and walked into the bedroom to get his trunk from out of his closet. He packed enough stuff for a two-day trip. The one thing Gardna hated about being a commander of a ship is that you have a shorter shore leave than anyone else does. Just as he sealed his bag, he heard a beep. It was the sub dermal communicator. All he had to do to answer it was to say ÔÇ£Gardna hereÔÇØ, or say ÔÇ£silenceÔÇØ. They are excellent little things, and only you can hear the call.

ÔÇ£Gardna here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander its time for the meeting you ordered, and there is a message for youÔÇØ replied Mason cool voice.

ÔÇ£From who?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Unknown, it came through the stations comm array and was automatically routed to usÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Send the message down here; IÔÇÖm on my way,ÔÇØ Ben Gardna sat down at his desk and opened up his e-message. He read the message twice then deleted it from his computer, and the shipÔÇÖs. He then used his command code to erase any evidence that the ship received it. The commander left his bag on the bed, picked up the padd he was reading, and then headed for the turbo shaft he just left.

ÔÇ£Deck 1,ÔÇØ he said casually.

He walked a short distance before he reached the doors for Operations. Operations is where all the marines on duty would be and where the briefing rooms were located. He strolled past the marines and entered Conference room A. When he entered, he saw that the entire senior staff was there. He took his spot at the end of the table closet to the window. To the left of him was Chief Engineer Marcus; next to him are Flight Officer Dave Cooper, Navigation Officer Michelle Davidson, and Communications Officer Kimberly Hunt. To the commanderÔÇÖs right is First Officer Carla Mason; next to her was Tactical Officer Corey Aster, Combat Officer George Daniels, Medical Officer Dr. Hacker, and research Engineer, Anoka Douglas. Usually the commander would go to the conference room just for the view but now all you could see were the other ships docked and Galcom.

ÔÇ£Another mission successfully done. You are all to have 5 days of shore leave then you are to come back to greet your staff. Oh and as always, this mission is classified, so mention nothing to anyone. Any questions?ÔÇØ he asked. In a weird sort of way, they all nodded at the same time.

ÔÇ£Good, dismissed and have a good shore leave. Ms. Douglas, please wait,ÔÇØ Everyone left except research engineer Anoka Douglas. She was the best in her field and she knew it.

ÔÇ£Ms. Douglas, I want you to take as many scans as you can of the device. Download a copy for yourself and send me a copy. After that, delete the files from the main computer. I want no evidence that it happened, understand?ÔÇØ said Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£Yes sir,ÔÇØ replied Anoka Douglas.

ÔÇ£Dismissed,ÔÇØ

Ben watched as Anoka left the conference room. He sat for a few minutes pondering his next move. He decided to follow through with his other plans to visit his parents. Since the flight engineers had left, he had to preprogram it. As soon as he stepped on the pad, Mason came in.

ÔÇ£Heading for the station?ÔÇÖ she asked

ÔÇ£Over to the shuttle department to borrow one, you?ÔÇØ he said

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm heading over there myself, then to Earth to visit my parents,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I going to get my shuttle secured then go to the debriefing,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good LuckÔÇØ

ÔÇ£EnergizeÔÇØ

For a brief second, he felt a moment of disembodiment. The he appeared on the station shuttle deck. He went up to the desk, ordered a shuttle, and put his bags in it. He said his good byes to his first officer then head for Fleet Commander RemoÔÇÖs Office. Luckily, RemoÔÇÖs Office was on the same deck as the shuttle bay. When he walked in Remo was busy chatting to someone. He motioned for Gardna to sit down. Once he finished he got right down to business.

ÔÇ£Commander Ben Gardna, GCV-Antigone, correct?ÔÇØ he said

ÔÇ£YesÔÇØ-said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Your assigned mission was to collect a device from the FalkeriesÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where is the device?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It is in the shipÔÇÖs cargo hold,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Any causalities?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£NoneÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Amazing, Any details I should know about?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes sir. On our trip home, we rescued a Falkerie crew, the other details are in my report.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Falkeries? Well we have a mission for you. You will leave in seven days. We havenÔÇÖt worked out all the details for the briefing so this is all I can tell you at this time,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sirÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Any questions, please feel free to call, I think that will be all, dismissedÔÇØ

With that, Ben walked out of the office to the transporter station. He told the transporter operator where to send him. He then appeared in his shuttle. He launched from the massive structure know as Galcom HQ and headed down to Earth to visit his folks.

It was uneventful ride from Galactic Command Headquarters to the surface of Earth. Ben Gardna had already plotted the course and had given the on board artificial intelligence control of the shuttle. He then went to the back of the ship to check his stuff. He had already sent a message to his mother telling her that he would arrive in the next ┬¢ hour. Knowing his mother, she would have invited the whole family over. He looked up and saw his familyÔÇÖs home in the country. As the ship landed, he saw half his family outside waving.

ÔÇ£If this isnÔÇÖt a heroÔÇÖs welcome then what is,ÔÇØ he said under his breath.

As soon as the ship finished landing he shut every thing off and opened the door.

ÔÇ£Welcome home honey,ÔÇØ said Mom.

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs good to be home, Mom. Is this the whole family?ÔÇØ said Ben

ÔÇ£Well you didnÔÇÖt give me much time to gather everyone, but I did my best,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hey Uncle Benny!ÔÇØ said little Johnny.

ÔÇ£Hey sport! How are you?ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Good, Did you fight in Gamgammegammulydid you fight any bad guys? said little Johnny

ÔÇ£Gammulans, Yes, but IÔÇÖll tell you that laterÔÇØ

The whole family went into the back yard to eat dinner. His mother had fixed all his favorites: steak, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and coleslaw. After they had finished eating, everyone was telling Ben what was going on in their lives. Then Little Johnny wanted to hear about the bad people he fought. Ben knew he couldnt get out of it so he started

You can never tell night from day in space. Maybe that is why Ben has never gotten good nights sleep before in three months since he had commanded the Antigone. As he strolled down the corridor of Wraith station, he could help but be curious of what technology he was to pick up. His mission was to proceed to the Falkerie home world and pick up a technology they had created specifically for Galcom. The Falkeries were currently under the rule of the Gammulans so his crew had to move quickly before they discovered it and destroyed it or captured it.

ÔÇ£They could have least told me what it was so I wouldnÔÇÖt have to worry about it exploding or anything,ÔÇØ thought Gardna.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Antigone, one to beam onboard,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Acknowledged,ÔÇØ said Mason.

Then there was the all too familiar feeling of being, ripped apart molecule by molecule. He nodded to the flight engineer he was on duty in the transporter room, and then headed for the bridge. He was glad that he had already brought his bags onboard earlier.

ÔÇ£Commander on the bridge,ÔÇØ shouted Mason as soon as he entered the bridge.

Ben Gardna took his seat and looked at the status report. Everything appeared to be in order. But he decided to double check.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Commander Mason, are all the crew onboard?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£Yes, and we have a full supply of iridium and radine,ÔÇØ replied Mason.

ÔÇÿGood, bridge to engineering,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Switch the ship back over to her own power,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Done,ÔÇØ said Marcus.

ÔÇ£Antigone to Galcom Docking Control, request permission to disembark,ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£Antigone this is station D.C., permission granted. Smooth sailing,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Acknowledged control, Antigone out. Mr. Cooper, clear all mooring and release the power cable and gangway,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Moorings cleared and cable and gangway retracting,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

ÔÇ£Mr. Cooper, take us out ┬╝ sublight speed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ Slowly the screen was, once again filled with stars instead of ships and wire and the inner sanctum of Galcom.

ÔÇ£Ms. Davidson, please plot a course for the Falkerie Homeworld,ÔÇØ commanded Gardna.

ÔÇ£Course potted and transferred to the conn, commander,ÔÇØ said Ms. Davidson.

ÔÇ£Helm engage when ready,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

It was an uninteresting trip for most of it. They had a skirmish or two on their way there, but no damage was severe. Until they got into the Gammulan Quadrant, as soon as they entered a ship entered to they had known something came through with them but they didnÔÇÖt know what.

ÔÇ£Commander, I believe we are being followed,ÔÇØ said Corey Aster.

This is only the first "section". I will see if people like it then post the rest.

Thanx!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey I have checked the second half so here goes.

Mini recap: Commander Ben Gardna is the Commander of the GCV-Antigone. He has just launched from Wraith Station to pickup a device from the Falkeries.

It was an uninteresting trip for most of it. They had a skirmish or two on their way there, but no damage was severe. Until they got into the Gammulan Quadrant, as soon as they entered a ship entered to they had known something came through with them but they didnÔÇÖt know what.

ÔÇ£Commander, I believe we are being followed,ÔÇØ said Corey Aster.

ÔÇ£What?!ÔÇØ replied Gardna.

As soon as that word left his mouth, the ship went to yellow alert.

ÔÇ£Intruder Alert! All Marines report to search duty,ÔÇØ yelled Michael Cooper on the comm.

ÔÇ£Helm all stop! Mason see that all essential areas are secured,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye Commander, locking down the main computer and posting guards at engineering, bridge, shuttle and fighter bays, and medibay,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Very good,ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿCommander, ship decloaking to aft!ÔÇØ yelled Tactical Officer Aster.

ÔÇ£Condition Red, All hands to battlestations!ÔÇØ Yelled Gardna

As soon, as red left his mouth the lights dimmed and the weapons came online. Luckily, shields had come online when the ship went to intruder alert.

ÔÇ£TheyÔÇÖre firing!ÔÇØ said Aster.

ÔÇ£Attack Pattern Remo 4ÔÇØ said Gardna. This would turn them around to face them and letting go a barrage of 5 missiles along with a continuous barrage from the IOD cannons. The ship would then turn down fast, exposing its six turrets on top.

ÔÇ£Intruders are on the subdeck,ÔÇØ announced Combat Officer Michael on the comm.

ÔÇ£Mason, please see to the intruders,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Already on it sir,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£Warning, Missile Incoming,ÔÇØ announced MOTHER, the ships onboard computer AI system.

Then there was a jolt under GardnaÔÇÖs feet and he knew the missile must of hit. He glanced at the shield display; they were at 75% and rising.

ÔÇ£God I love the upgraded shields,ÔÇØ thought Gardna.

Warning multiple missiles incoming,ÔÇØ said MOTHER.

ÔÇ£This tactic must not be working. Helm, switch to Evasive pattern Gamma 6, Tactical, fire when you have a shot,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

The IOD must have fired at least 15 times but the shields on the other ship only went down 25%. However, apparently the commander of the other ship didnÔÇÖt like it, because five missiles streaked from the bow of the other ship.

ÔÇ£Warning multiple missiles Incoming, All class vagrant,ÔÇØ said MOTHER in a calm manner, which the situation was not.

ÔÇ£Evasive!ÔÇØ yelled Gardna.

ÔÇ£Too late!ÔÇØ said Cooper.

It was as if the entire bridge took every shot. Conduits blew up, consoles exploded in a shower of sparks. Crewman Mitchell was thrown from his console on the upper deck. He screamed out in pain before he hit the bulkhead on the other side. He was knocked out. Gardna managed to stay in his seat but not Carla Mason. She rolled down into the helm pit. Gardna glanced at the Logistics computer, shields were recharging but the armor was down to 78%. Luckily, they took no internal damage.

ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs enough,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Gardna jumped from his seat and motioned for Cooper to get out of helm seat. Cooper got out and stood back about two meters. Gardna sat down at the helm. He brought the speed up to full. He could hear Mason getting up a asking where the medic was. As soon as she managed to get into a sitting position, three medics entered the bridge and attended to the senior staff. Galcom General Order number 16: The senior staff is to be taken care of first before the crew.

ÔÇ£Tactical, fire when you have a shot, and you better make sure they hit,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye SirÔÇØ

Gardna maneuvered the ship so that they were behind them. The ship had no turrets on the back so they couldnÔÇÖt shoot at the Antigone, but the Antigone can shoot at them. Gardna glanced at the scan results, their hull was about to collapse. He saw the ship maneuver to jump away from them, but Gardna was a step ahead.

ÔÇ£Aster, fire 2 vagrants!ÔÇØ yelled Gardna. One missile tore a hole in the center of the ship. Ben Gardna could make out bodies being, sucked out into the vacuum of space. The second missile went through the hole the first missile made and below the ship clean in two. The Mandorian reactor exploded in a fireball engulfing both halves of the ship. Gardna slowed the ship to a stop then went back to his seat.

ÔÇ£Mason, what is the status of the intruders?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£They were all killed,ÔÇØ replied Mason.

ÔÇ£Well thatÔÇÖs one problem solved, stand down from condition red. Bridge to medibay,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hacker here, what do you want,ÔÇØ asked Dr. Hacker in a sort of annoyed way.

ÔÇ£Were there any casualties?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£No one died or lost any limbs, we have crewman Mitchell who we just revived, he must have taken a mighty bang into the wall; Beyond that a broken arm and some scratches. Will that be all?ÔÇØ said Dr. Hacker in his normal thick Australian accent

ÔÇ£Yes, thank you, Gardna out. Bridge to the Research Lab,ÔÇØ said Gardna

ÔÇ£Douglas hereÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Miss Douglas, please scan the debris of the enemy ship for any helpful resources,ÔÇØ

Scanningthere is a cargo podscanning the interior of itwow15 vagrant class missiles and 2 OTS bugnor missiles! announced Research Engineer Anoka Douglas.

ÔÇ£Are you sure the pod isnÔÇÖt rigged to explode?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£DoesnÔÇÖt appear that way,ÔÇØ

Excellent, bridge out. Mason, assign a fighter pilot to shuttle one,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£On it,ÔÇØ replied Mason.

ÔÇ£Maintain stop, once the pilot arrives have him pick the pod and come back to the ship. I want each one of those missiles inspected to make sure nothing is wrong with them. The last thing we need is to be in a fight and to have one of our own missiles blow up in our face. IÔÇÖll be in my ready room,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

With that, he walked to the right to go into his office. He got a cup of tea from the atom resequencer and sat down at his desk to finish his report to Galcom. Meanwhile on the bridge

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Commander the shuttle as returned,ÔÇØ said flight officer Cooper.

ÔÇ£Very good have Douglas and Marcus check them for problemsÔÇØ replied Mason.

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We should find a place to hide while we sit here,ÔÇØ

As they were talking, the commander came out of his ready room.

ÔÇ£Commander on the bridge,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

ÔÇ£Helm, resume course, jump when ready,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Jumping,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs the end of the shift you guys. IÔÇÖll see you tomorrow,ÔÇØ

The rest of the trip to Lv 103 was uneventful. A trip that would have normally taken › hour took 3 days due to Gammulan patrols.

ÔÇ£Commander to the bridge,ÔÇØ said GardnaÔÇÖs comm.

ÔÇ£What is it?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£We have entered Lv103 region,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£On my way,ÔÇØ replied Gardna.

He looked at the chronometer; he had been sleeping for six hours (which was longer than he usually gets). He put on his clothes and proceeded to the bridge.

ÔÇ£Commander on the bridge,ÔÇØ said Aster when he appeared on the bridge three minutes later.

ÔÇ£Are there any Gammulan ships in the area?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£None yet,ÔÇØ answered Cooper.

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs hope it stays that way, but just incase go to Condition Yellow. Mr. Cooper bring us into orbit over the planet,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bridge to operations, have four marines meet me in the transporter room. Douglas please meets me in the transporter room with the equipment specs. Marcus please prepares the cargo bay to receive the cargo. Mason you have the bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

With that, he left the bridge and headed for the Transporter Room. When he arrived, he found the entire away team there and waiting. He grabbed a side arm from the rack on the wall and attached it to his holster

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs get underway, deploy,ÔÇØ said Gardna

Then they arrived in the building they were supposed to meet a Falkerie by the name TÔÇÖoglk. He would give then the technology. The building looked abandoned for several years. Gardna was surprised the Gammulans didnÔÇÖt destroy the building before.

ÔÇ£Where could he be?ÔÇØ said Gardna aloud.

Then from behind the shadows, a very old looking Falkerie appeared with a hovercart.

ÔÇ£You must be Commander Gardna of the mighty Galactic Command,ÔÇØ said the Falkerie.

ÔÇ£I am Commander Ben Gardna and this is my Research Officer, Douglas, and you are?ÔÇÖ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£My name is unimportant you have to get this technology to your ship immediately, the Gammulans have found out about it and have-ÔÇ£

All of a sudden, shots rang through the building. Gardna looked around for the shooters but couldnÔÇÖt see any. He turned to talk to the Falkerie but he was gone.

ÔÇ£Marines cover Douglas while she prepare the device for transport; IÔÇÖll contact the ship!ÔÇØ yelled Gardna through the barrage of laser shells.

Immediately all the marines moved into a defensive position behind rubble and protected Douglas. Douglas moved the cart behind a big piece of rubble and started to scan the device and made the modifications to allow for safe transport of, what ever it is. Gardna looked around for the body of the Falkerie but found nothing.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Antigone,ÔÇØ yelled Gardna.

Commander, this is the Antigone, do you need assit- A very loud boom was heard over the comm. Then for a moment, there was static. Ben Gardna was afraid that the ship had been destroyed but after 7 years of training, he managed not to let it show. Then Masons voice came back on. Ben could hear the alarms in the background. Commander we are under attack! A Gammulan carrier has decloaked directly behind us. Waitone super carrier has entered the system! yelled Mason.

ÔÇ£Prepare for immediate transport of the device and the away teamÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ready when you are.ÔÇØ

For what seemed to be, an eternity Douglas reconfigured the unit.

Commander I have finished the modifications, sheÔÇÖs readyÔÇØ

As soon as she said that, the shooting stopped. For a moment, Gardna thought they had decided to leave but instead he saw a baseball thrown his way. However, it wasnÔÇÖt a baseball. It was a class 4 nuclear device.

ÔÇ£Antigone, now!ÔÇØ

Then the world around him disappeared and for a brief second Gardna thought, he was dead. When the world came back, he was standing on a transporter pad of a ship that was at Condition Red.

ÔÇ£Douglas, get the device stored away ASAP. Marines you are off duty till tomorrow,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ rang through the room.

Gardna ran out of the transporter room and barreled towards the bridge when an explosion racked the deck. He went careening from side to side for a few seconds but managed to get to the bridge.

ÔÇ£Report,ÔÇØ he yelled without preamble.

ÔÇ£Four fighters and a carrier on an intercept course, we just finished subduing the original carrier though,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Incoming transmission, coming from the surface,ÔÇØ said Communications Officer Kimberly Hunt.

ÔÇ£The Falkerie must have survived, on screen,ÔÇØ said Gardna

The screen that was once, filled with the stars and a planet now contained the head of a Falkerie.

ÔÇ£Commander we are transmitting a set of coordinates to you. The coordinates are that of a flux field. We have received word that the Gammulans are blocking all the gates from here to the Regulus system. You must leave this system by using the flux gate. We are also transmitting a flux map to help you navigate back to your home,ÔÇØ said the old Falkerie

ÔÇ£Flux Gates are known to send you almost anywhere including back to the system you came from. Some have even been know to send you to a black hole. IÔÇÖm not about to send my crew through a potential death trap,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Commander, 40 seconds till the carrier arrives. A new group has entered the system, 4 cruisers and 2 carriers!ÔÇØ announced Aster,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander you must leave at once it is imperative that you get this technology to your people. With the map we sent modifications to allow your ship to go through the flux fields correctly, we have just found out recently. Use it, now go!ÔÇØ yelled the old Falkerie.

With that, he signed off and the ship was, racked by weapons fire.

ÔÇ£I guess we donÔÇÖt have a choice, set course for the coordinates, jumpÔÇØ said Gardna.

Almost instantly, the weapons fire let up.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Marcus, IÔÇÖm sending you some modifications I want you to make. You have 3 minutes, Gardna out.ÔÇØ

Soon the ship came out of hyperspace, And before the Antigone was the glow of a flux gate.

ÔÇ£Activate Tacops computer,ÔÇØ

The view screen changed to that of a map of the region. It showed the Antigone barely on the map.

ÔÇ£Marcus to bridge, modifications complete,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Already?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£It was only tighten a screw here, loosen one there job,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well you did a good one, Gardna out. Mr. Cooper, take us in full speed,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Entering the anomaly in 5...4...3...2...1 we have arrived in another system that correlates to the map,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

ÔÇ£Proceed to the next region I want some distance between us and the Gammulans. Mason you have the bridge, IÔÇÖm going to the research lab,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

As soon as he walked into the research lab, he knew Douglas was pouring over the results she had collected. On the large main screen were schematics of the device we had picked up.

ÔÇ£What caused the entire Gammulan fleet to attack a poor ship like ours,ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£To tell you the truth I donÔÇÖt know. ItÔÇÖs very complicated and I havenÔÇÖt even cracked the seal,ÔÇØ said Anoka Douglas.

ÔÇ£Well it is always best to look at something after you have rested. And I believe the best way to rest is to sit down and have dinner, say my quarters?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

When he said that, she stopped all her work.

ÔÇ£Commander IÔÇÖm sorry but I forgot to tell you, but Commander Jonathan Mayfield, my boyfriend asked me to marry him the day before we left, and I said yes. IÔÇÖm sorry Commander. Actually IÔÇÖm gong to join him on his ship after this mission is complete,ÔÇØ

Oh itÔÇÖs alright I should of known you and Jonathan were close. It will be a shame to lose such a valuable research officer. IÔÇÖll see you around then?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bye,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bye,ÔÇØ

He looked into her deep blue eyes on last time, then looked at the screen, and then left.

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Here come the next one! Enjoy

The next few systems were completely empty until they came upon a system with a nebula at the center.

ÔÇ£Commander I believe there is a ship in that nebula,ÔÇØ said Douglas over the comm.

ÔÇ£A ship? I thought the Falkeries said they just discovered this branch of Flux regions?ÔÇØ said Gardna as he scrunched his eyebrow together.

ÔÇ£We can assume that they used the system to send a ship to Galcom to tell them about the device,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs possible. Can you tell what type of ship it is?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Negative the Nebula prevents scans going in or coming out. Sir I believe the ship is Falkerie. The ion trail has a distinct Falkerie underground signature,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Then we have to help, but how? I got it! Douglas IÔÇÖll talk to you later. How many probes do we have?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£5 short range and two long rangeÔÇØ said Aster.

ÔÇ£Prepare to launch two short ranges. We will deploy one probe on the outside of the nebula, and one in-between the outside and inside. We will use them to tell us what is going on outside incase anyone decides to stop by for a visit. Navigation set course for the edge of the nebula and transfer coordinates to the helm. We wonÔÇÖt go directly in because we canÔÇÖt see or know what is in there. We could end up jumping into a asteroid or planet.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Course laid in,ÔÇØ said Douglas.

ÔÇ£Tactical launch the first probe here, and have it go to silent level 2,ÔÇØ This would cause the probe only to alert the ship if the probe was under attack, had been, discovered or a ship was going to intercept the mothership. It would also send the frequency wideband so that the ship couldnÔÇÖt be located. Gardna watched as a white dot appeared from the ships bow and moved to a stationary spot to the dorsal port bow of the ship.

ÔÇ£Helm, jump,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

On the view screen, the nebula got bigger and bigger until all you could see was the swirling clouds of meteron particles.

ÔÇ£Launch another probe and have it move in position at the edge and have it link up with the first. Go to Condition Yellow and raise shields to 50%. Mr. Cooper, take us in following the ion trail of the vessel, ┬¢ sublight speeds,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Slowly the ship moved through the reddish orange cloud. Slowly a ship appeared out of the clouds. It was at least a kilometer long with two shuttle bays. This was typical of an unarmed transport.

ÔÇ£Hail them,ÔÇØ ordered Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£No response,ÔÇØ answered Hunt.

ÔÇ£Move us along side it. Life signatures?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£A very faint signal but I canÔÇÖt isolate. The reactor appears to be offline. I am reading sporadic energy signatures across the entire ship,ÔÇØ said Douglas, who was at the science station on the bridge. She had come up when the ship was in hyperspace.

ÔÇ£I want to take a peek, Ms Douglas meet me in the transporter room,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander the transporters are not functioning within the nebula,ÔÇØ said Aster.

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖll take a shuttle then. Gardna to Operations, have six marines board shuttle one. Bridge to medibay, doctor I want you and a medic to meet me in shuttle one ASAP. Marcus, I need you and systemÔÇÖs engineer meet me in shuttle one. Mason you have the bridge,ÔÇØ

He walked into the turboshaft Anoka Douglas had just entered. She was waiting for him.

ÔÇ£Shuttle bay,ÔÇØ he said.

Immediately the shaft sped down to the fourth and last desk of the Antigone. It was, sometimes called the subdeck. When the doors opened, he saw the cavernous shuttle bay. Against the left wall were all of the shuttles, numbered one through four. On the right were the four extra vehicles. He walked towards the shuttle numbered one. He saw the aft hatch open and he saw the tank roll out and the mining droid. Waiting outside talking was the away team. He walked up to them.

ÔÇ£We are heading over to a Falkerie transport that appears to be abandoned. We will split up into two teams: Team A: three marines, Dr. Hacker his medic, Marcus and his engineer will be a group. Team B: Three marines, Lieutenant Douglas and me will be the other. Team A will check out decks 3 and four, Team B will cover one and two. The reactor appears to be offline, but just incase we canÔÇÖt bring it back online, bring a battery. Any questions?ÔÇØ said Gardna

They all nodded.

ÔÇ£Good, all aboard,ÔÇØ

Marcus and his engineer carried the battery onboard the shuttle. Then they all moved into the shuttle; everyone moved in the personnel section of the shuttle while Gardna and Douglas moved to the cockpit part of the shuttle.

ÔÇ£Shuttle One to Antigone request launch clearance,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Granted shuttle one, shuttle bay doors are opening now, remember to bring me something back,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£You know I will,ÔÇØ

Ben Gardna lifted the shuttle smoothly off the deck and headed for the shuttle bay doors. A blue field passed through the shuttle when it crosses through the shuttle bay exit. The shuttle then went around the ship until it faced the Falkerie transport.

ÔÇ£Mr. Marcus, see if you can open those doors,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Already on it,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We donÔÇÖt have all day,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Done, land when you want,ÔÇØ

Gardna piloted the ship into one of the docking ports and landed the ship on the deck. The force shield was in place, which allowed the atmosphere to stay in place. He checked the atmosphere to see if they could breathe it. He opened the door and proceeded out. Everyone else went too.

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs do it,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The groups came too the door that opened. Team A searched the shuttle control room. Team B headed for the turboshaft.

ÔÇ£Bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna, but the lift didnÔÇÖt move. ÔÇ£Maybe it only responds to Falkerie, DomÔÇÖbotk,ÔÇØ still nothing happened. ÔÇ£I guess we will have to take the maintenance tubes.ÔÇØ

Gardna opened a hatch next to the door. He climbed in and went up the ladder at the end. He went up to the latter ended then went into another maintenance tube. The hallway at the end of the tube was empty. The emergency lights were on. Ben could see through the hall even though the lights were blinking a red hue. Gardna walked down the hall until he got to the doors to the bridge. The door didnÔÇÖt open.

ÔÇ£Team A to Team B, we have arrived at engineering. The Reactor is gone and the solar reactor is damaged beyond repair.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How did this happen?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It looks as if sabotage. The reactor is gone and all the relays and conduits are missing that connect the ship to the reactor. The solar reactor room looks as if a bugnor class missile exploded inside it,ÔÇØ

Hmmwhere could it be? Can you open the doors to the bridge?

Give me a second there try it now,

ÔÇ£Thanks. Also try to restore power by using the battery,ÔÇØ

The doors to the bridge creaked open. There was very little light in the bridge so Gardna turned on his wristlight. The entire bridge could have been part of a haunted ship. Consoles blinked on and off trying to find the power to work, but all the consoles were fighting over the precious energy and none of them were winning. Ben walked over to the commanderÔÇÖs console. He was squinting to try to make out the controls when the lights were, restored to full power. Team A had restored power.

ÔÇ£Antigone to Gardna, commander there is a small Gammulan patrol entering the system. They will enter the nebula in 5 minutes,ÔÇØ said Mason over the comm.

ÔÇ£Can we use tractors while we are in the nebula?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£Yes,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Tractor the freighter and take us deeper into the nebula, try to go through as many positron clouds as you can. It should scramble our plasma trail.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye Commander,ÔÇØ

In all the logs that Commander Ben Gardna looked at, he couldnÔÇÖt find out where the crew went to. The last log in the computer was 36 hours ago. He then decided to check the cargo manifest except he couldnÔÇÖt get it to come up.

ÔÇ£Team A to Team B, we believe that there may be something of importance in cargo bay two,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖll meet there in 2 minutes,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye,ÔÇØ

The trip to the second cargo bay was better than the trip to the bridge. For one thing, the lights were on so they could see a lot better. When Ben came to the outside of the door, Marcus and his engineer appeared to be trying to open the door.

ÔÇ£We believe we found the source of the life signs,ÔÇØ said Marcus while he was working on the door console. He had it pried open and several wires were sticking out. Anyone who didnÔÇÖt know Marcus thought that he was crazy or angry. But there was a method to his utter madness.

ÔÇ£Do you know how many?ÔÇØ Gardna asked Dr. Hacker.

ÔÇ£Looks to be ten,ÔÇØ said Dr. Hacker.

Gardna nodded then moved over to look over Marcus shoulder. Marcus turned around a glared at him with his green eyes. Gardna could have swore there was a hole forming in him. He stepped back at least 2 feet. Marcus returned to work. After about five minutes, the doors started to open. Slowly the door creaked open about 10 cm. All of a sudden a shot was fired between the crack. It hit the wall behind Gardna.

ÔÇ£Who are they,ÔÇØ asked Gardna between the shots of ionized gas.

ÔÇ£They appear to be Falkeries sir,ÔÇØ shouted Anoka Douglas.

ÔÇ£I am Commander Ben Gardna of Galactic Command, stop shooting!ÔÇØ said Gardna. He had hoped they would stop shooting but they didnÔÇÖt. Then Gardna played his last card.

ÔÇ£Falkerie underground code 14356523 fight,ÔÇØ yelled Gardna. At once, the shooting stopped and the doors opened all the way. Inside were fifteen Falkeries. All of them had a weapon in their hand. At the door were three Falkeries. In the center was one who was talker than the other two and had a command insignia on his shirt.

ÔÇ£I am Commander TiÔÇÖlyia,ÔÇØ said the legendary leader of the Falkerie underground movement.

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I am on a roll. No recap this time. You should have read the previous post

Gardna glanced at his chronometer it was 0103.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll leave the rest till next time,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aww,ÔÇØ said Johnny.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll tell you the rest tomorrow, go to bed now,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Johnny walked through the walkway to his room. Ben went outside to get some fresh air ÔÇ£It has been too long since IÔÇÖve taken a breath of fresh air, without it being the filtered air from spaceships and starstations,ÔÇØ thought Gardna. ÔÇ£His mother had left it the same way ever since he left. Ben laid down and ventured into the land of Sleep.

The next morning he woke up fully refreshed. For some reason he always slept better planetside. He walked into the kitchen to see that everyone was already up. Johnny was up at the table with a mouth full of waffles.

ÔÇ£Hey Uncle Ben,ÔÇØ said Johnny with a mouth full of waffles.

ÔÇ£DonÔÇÖt talk with your mouth full,ÔÇØ said my sister in law, Wendy, who was sitting across from Johnny.

ÔÇ£Hey Johnny, How are you today?ÔÇØ asked Gardna as he took a plate of food from his mother. He moved and sat down at the table next to Johnny.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm good, thanks. But I canÔÇÖt wait for you to finish your story. I couldnÔÇÖt sleep last night. I wondered what happened to you and your crew,ÔÇØ said Johnny. He stuffed a half a waffle into is mouth when he finished talking.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll tell you when you finish eating,ÔÇØ said Ben Gardna while pouring syrup on his waffles. He looked at them and saw blue dots covering and least 50% of the surface of the waffle. His mother had made him his favorite breakfast food. Blueberry Waffles. Ben could have sworn that he ate at least his weight in waffles and syrup.

He was cleaning up and helping his mother put the dishes in the disposal, when Johnny came running in.

IÔÇÖm done eating and IÔÇÖve washed up,ÔÇØ said Johnny.

ÔÇ£Ok IÔÇÖll finish the story. Meet me on the porch in five minutes,ÔÇØ said Ben. Johnny smiled and ran out to the porch.

ÔÇ£I hope youÔÇÖre not telling a scary story. He had to sleep in his parentsÔÇÖ bed for a month after your last story,ÔÇØ said his mother once Johnny was out the door.

ÔÇ£I wonÔÇÖtÔÇØ Ben walked outside and sat in his favorite chair.

ÔÇ£So where was I?ÔÇØ asked Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£You just met the Falkerie leader person,ÔÇØ said Johnny who was literally sitting on the edge of his seat.

Alright then, I walked up to him

Commander TiÔÇÖlyia was one of the most famous Falkeries around. He was a general in the Falkerie military. After the war, TiÔÇÖlyia started the underground movement to free his people from Gammulan control.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna, what brings you to this corner of the galaxy?ÔÇØ I donÔÇÖt think anyone will know how much willpower it took to not snap at Commander TiÔÇÖlyia and say, ÔÇÿI could ask you the same thing. But due to seven years of command and diplomatic training, he couldnÔÇÖt.

ÔÇ£We were sent to pick up a device that your people developed. We were cornered in your Homeworld sector. We escaped with the help of a Falkerie into the flux field. ÔÇ£And what are you doing here Commander?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ah, you have the device? How is it? Does it work? Where is it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander, please slow down. The device is in our cargo bay. And we donÔÇÖt know what it does or if it even works. Now IÔÇÖll answer all your questions, just tell me why are you hiding in this nebula? And what happened to your reactor and you solar reactor?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We were heading back through the flux field back from your Homeworld when a ship of some sort appeared behind us. It was not any known type of ship. We tried to hail it when it opened fire. Sine we were unarmed, I decided to jump into the nebula. I thought they wouldnÔÇÖt go after us. But they did. They jumped after us. The have the ability to change their speed in hyperspace. They sped up to catch up with us then they slowed down to match our speed. Then they hailed us. We, no I decided to answer it.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They somehow tapped into our computer system and lowered our shields. Once our shields were down, they beamed our reactor out. It would have breached if my chief engineer didnÔÇÖt disconnect the relays from the ship. After they did that the tried to beam out our solar reactor but we attached a bomb to it. They must have noticed it because they stopped their transport and disappeared from our sensors. The bomb blew up the solar reactor in its own bay. When we came out of hyperspace, we were stuck in the middle of the nebula. A day after we were stuck. The ship came back. I ordered the crew to hide in the cargo bay. They scoured the ship for one whole day. Then they left. We went back out. We decided to take a shuttle. When we got to the shuttle bay, we saw that they had removed the reactors. We then hid out in the cargo bay to conserve energy.

ÔÇ£We could tow you to Galcom if you wish,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That would be most welcome. Thank you,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gardna to Antigone, Where are the Gammulans?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They left two minutes ago,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Good. I want you to grab the freighter into a tractor beam. Set course for the edge of the nebula, then jump to the flux field,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£Now the battery should last until we leave the nebula. I will have another one added after-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Antigone to Commander Gardna, a ship has appeared behind us. Its configuration is none the shipÔÇÖs computer or I have ever seen. They are moving on an intercept course.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£May I see a picture of this ship?ÔÇØ asked Commander TiÔÇÖlyia.

ÔÇ£Of course, Mason feed a picture to my wrist projector.ÔÇØ

Feeding Ben Gardna held out his wrist. He pressed several buttons then a holographic image appeared. It was that of a ship. The ship was completely gray. It looked like one of the extinct species from earth. It looked like a tortoise.

ÔÇ£Is this the ship that attacked you?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£No, but it is similar. This one is bigger than the other one,ÔÇØ answered TiÔÇÖlyia.

ÔÇ£Antigone, set course for the edge of the nebula, maximum speed,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Sir, They are hailing us,ÔÇØ said Mason over the comm.

ÔÇ£Disregard and maintain course,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£they are gaining on us. The freighter is slowing us down,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖll have to ditch it then. All right, I have a plan. Marcus, rig the battery to explode when the alien ship gets close enough. Commander TiÔÇÖlyia, please begin moving your people to the shuttle. Everyone else lets get to the shuttle,ÔÇØ said Gardna. Marcus and his engineer went to Engineering to rig the battery to explode. Commander Gardna and TiÔÇÖlyia moved their teams onto the cargo lift. It directly connected the shuttle bay to the cargo bay. This allowed cargo to be, transferred on and off ship very quickly.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna they will intercept us in 2 minutes,ÔÇØ said Mason over the comm.

ÔÇ£Acknowledged,ÔÇØ said Gardna. Gardna had Douglas start up the ship while he made sure everyone got onboard. He looked at his watch there was one minute until the other ship intercepted them.

ÔÇ£Antigone, release the tractor,ÔÇØ ordered Commander Gardna.

ÔÇ£But sir they will catch up with you since you donÔÇÖt have engines,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£But we will still have inertia, Gardna out.ÔÇØ When he finished talking to Lieutenant Commander Mason, Marcus and his engineer came running into the shuttle bay. They jumped into the shuttle. Gardna got into the cockpit and launched from the freighter.

ÔÇ£Time to intercept?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£25 seconds,ÔÇØ answered Douglas.

ÔÇ£Where is the Antigone?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They should have exited the nebula and be jumping to the flux field if they kept up maximun speed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿLetÔÇÖs hope that we can clear this nebula before the bomb goes off.ÔÇØ All of a sudden, the shuttle shook.

ÔÇ£Are they firing on us?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£No, the bomb went off early,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Damn. The engines have been damaged.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The alien ship has disappeared from sensors but they were damaged by the initial shockwave. We have another problem. The first shockwave caused the meteron particles in the nebula to become more unstable. A second shock is on its way,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How long till the second shockwave hits?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£45 seconds, but it will take us 1 minute and a half to clear the nebula.ÔÇØ

Greatjust great.

Ship decloaking directly in front of usits the Antigone!

ÔÇ£Antigone to Shuttle one, need a lift,ÔÇØ said Mason rather sarcastically.

ÔÇ£I thought I ordered you out of the nebula?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Court marshal me, once you dock,ÔÇØ said Carla Mason. Gardna piloted the ship quickly into the shuttle bay.

ÔÇ£Gardna to bridge, jump us out of here!ÔÇØ said Gardna once the shuttle touched the deck of the AntigoneÔÇÖs shuttle bay. Ben Gardna watched through the shuttle bay doors as the shockwave approached. He thought it would have hit the ship but then the ship moved away at a very high speed.

ÔÇ£Welcome onboard the GCV-Antigone,ÔÇØ announced Gardna to the Falkerie crew.

ÔÇ£On behalf of the my crew I want to say thank you for rescuing us,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What is your crew complement?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It is 15,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have 10 guest quarters and we have extra room in our personnel quarters,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£My senior staff can stay in your guest quarters. My two flight engineers, two medics and my five system engineers can stay with yours. Is this acceptable?ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿQuite. Ms Douglas will escort you and your staff to your quarters, while Dr. Hacker will show your engineers and medics to their rooms. In two hours I want to talk to you.ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿThank you again.ÔÇØ

Gardna walked out of the shuttle bay and into the turboshaft.

ÔÇ£Bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The lift responded and took off to the top of the ship. Less than a minute later, the doors opened and he was back on his bridge.

ÔÇ£Commander on the bridge,ÔÇØ yelled Communications Officer Kimberly Hunt.

ÔÇ£At ease. Status?ÔÇØ replied Gardna.

ÔÇ£We have just come out of hyperspace and are about to enter the flux field,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£Good, I am allowing the Falkeries to stay on board until we get back to Galcom. MOTHER, activate navitron computer.ÔÇØ The view screen changed from a view of the front of the ship to a map of the known universe.

ÔÇ£Mr. Cooper bring up the flux gate map that the Falkeries gave us.ÔÇØ The view screen changed again, but this time had almost a straight line on it.

ÔÇ£Hmm, 5 more systems until we get back to Earth.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Entering new systemÔÇØ announced Flight Officer Cooper.

ÔÇ£Commander our radine levels are below 8%. At our current rate of consumption we will not make it back to Galcom,ÔÇØ said Mason dreadfully.

ÔÇ£Terrific!ÔÇØ yelled Gardna sarcastically. ÔÇ£How did this happen without our knowledge?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt know,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£I believe I have the answer. When the alien ship was chasing us, Antigone noticed a spike in one of the lower transporter bands. I only noticed it when I was reviewing the logs to find out what the enemy shipÔÇÖs energy source was. They transported out over 50% of our radine. We were lucky they didnÔÇÖt take it all. During Condition Red the shields rotate frequencies every 6 seconds. When the shields rotated they couldnÔÇÖt get a lock,ÔÇØ said Anoka Douglas.

ÔÇ£I want the entire senior staff to come up with ideas of how to conserve our power. IÔÇÖll be in my ready room,ÔÇØ said Gardna. Gardna sat in his ready room staring at the command files of how to limit power consumption. He was so lost in thought he didnÔÇÖt here his door chime until it beeped a third time.

ÔÇ£Come in,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The door opened and Commander TiÔÇÖlyia came in.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm so sorry Commander TiÔÇÖlyia, I completely forgot about our meeting. Please have a seat,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Your crew has been extremely nice to us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good to know. I didnÔÇÖt think they would be any problem with you guys on board.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£WhatÔÇÖs wrong?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hmm?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The entire bridge crew seems to be a state of depression. I saw the same thing when I told my crew that we were stranded in the nebula.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We just found out that our radine supplies wonÔÇÖt last the entire trip back home. We will run out of energy half way there. I have limited the information to the bridge crew, but is a matter of time before I have to tell the rest of them.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£If its radine you need, I know where you can get it,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where?!?!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Can I see a map of where we currently are?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£In the next system there will be a branch in the flux field take the one to port. The closest planet is basically a rock of radine. You can mine as much as you want. We went there to avoid a plasma storm.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mr. TiÔÇÖlyia, on behalf of this crew I canÔÇÖt thank you enough. You have saved all of our lives.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£My crew would like to help yours. We want to join your crew. My system engineers will help your system engineers. My medics will assist yours and so forth.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you. I will hold a meeting at the end of this shift, to let everyone know what is going on. After that, I want my combat officer, Mr. Daniels and myself to talk to your crew. I also want to give out wrist devices and have Dr. Hacker log them in the computer.

ÔÇ£That sounds good.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The meeting will be at 1700 hours, I want you to be there.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where will it be?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Conference room A in OperationsÔÇØ

ÔÇ£See you thenÔÇØ

ÔÇ£DismissedÔÇØ Commander TiÔÇÖlyia got up and left the room. Ben Gardna sat and read his electronic book, and drank a cup of tea. He looked at his chronometer and saw that it was five minutes until the meeting with the senior staff that he wanted to have.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna to senior staff, meeting in five minutes in Conference room A.ÔÇØ Gardna walked out of his ready room into the corridor. He then walked down to Operations and into the Conference room A. When he walked in everyone was there, including TiÔÇÖlyia. Gardna took his seat at the end of the table and started the meeting.

ÔÇ£I am allowing the Falkeries to stay onboard. We will transport them to Galcom where they can go back if they want or they can help us. The Falkeries have voiced that they want to help us. I will allow them to join their respective counterparts. The senior staff will work the opposite shift of you guys. If any of you have problems, we can talk later. Dr. Hacker, I will need you to prepare to log in all the Falkeries into the main computer. Also, prepare to install sub dermal communicators into them. They will be by in one hour.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll get right on it,ÔÇØ said Dr. Hacker. He got up and left the room

ÔÇ£Mr. Daniels, I will need fifteen wrist devices for the Falkeries. I will also need you to be there when I brief them on our protocols. We have also found a solution to our dwindling radine supplies. Commander TiÔÇÖlyia says that there is a planet slightly off our course home that is filled with radine. Commander TiÔÇÖlyia, please give Ensigns Cooper and Davidson instructions on how to get there. Also Commander TiÔÇÖlyia, please have your crew meet me in Cargo Bay 1 in 15 minutes. Dismissed.ÔÇØ Ben Gardna watched as everyone left the room. He looked at the table and saw that Carla Mason was still sitting down staring out of the window into the stars.

ÔÇ£Let me guess, youÔÇÖre angry,ÔÇØ said Commander Gardna.

I amdisgruntled, but not angry. I do however have a question. Why are you letting those bastards become part of our crew?

ÔÇ£Those bastards have saved our lives once and are about to do it again. Listen, I know that your uncle was killed by the Psi-Device. Yes the Falkeries did create it. They did design it to, only affect humans. But they had a gun pointed to their heads the entire time while they were developing it. Now will I have to relieve you of duty while they are onboard?ÔÇØ She shook her head.

ÔÇ£Good, now there may be trouble with the crew about the Falkeries. I hope there is not any trouble but if there is I want you to handle it. We need to set an example we have to get along with them, no matter what the cost. You will get along with their crew, thatÔÇÖs an order, incase you didnÔÇÖt know. Now come on. I want you to be with me when I brief them.ÔÇØ Ben and Carla walked out of the Conference room and into Operations. George Daniels was creating the wrist devices by using the atom resequencer. Gardna and Mason walked out of Operations into the hallway. They then entered the hallway. They went to the end of the hallway and entered the turboshaft.

ÔÇ£Deck 2,ÔÇØ said Commander Ben Gardna. The turboshaft shot down one deck down to the one number two. They exited the shaft and moved to the large doors in the middle of the hall. On the opposite side was the door to Medibay. Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason and Commander Ben Gardna walked through the doors to the cargo bay. Gardna and Mason walked up to the podium on the right side of the room. Gardna started his speech on what he and Commander TiÔÇÖlyia talked about earlier.

ÔÇ£I have heard of a ship without a crew but rarely have I heard of a crew without a ship. I have discussed with Commander TiÔÇÖlyia your, shall we say particular plight. After some deliberation with my senior staff and with your Commander, I have made my decision. I will allow you to stay, but there are two things that are going to happen. First, we are not going back to Lv 103. We will head to Earth. Most likely, you will be given a ship and allowed to go back. Also this trip will not be free. I wasnÔÇÖt going to make it like that but Commander TiÔÇÖlyia had a different idea. You will basically be fully integrated into our crew. You will share shifts with my crew. The senior staff will be doing the same thing. They will work shifts opposite of the primary officers. My Combat Officer, George Daniels, will now give you a very brief summary of our rules and regulations.ÔÇØ Ben Gardna stepped back from the podium and Daniels moved to where Gardna was.

Most of the rules Galcom has are self explanatory. I have however summarized them into 143 points

Gardna was glad that he had a seat. Lieutenant Daniels ÔÇ£briefÔÇØ summary took an two and a half hours. Ben Gardna didnÔÇÖt even notice when Daniels was finished until Mason elbowed him.

ÔÇ£Thank you, Lieutenant Daniels for that very detailed summary. Now if you could distribute the wrist devices. If all of you could get into a line, please,ÔÇØ All the Falkeries lined up in front of the podium.

ÔÇÿCommander Gardna to the bridge,ÔÇØ said MOTHER over the comm.

ÔÇ£Acknowledged, Mason, please help Mr. Daniels with distributing the devices. Once you are finished, send them over to medibay. I will be on the bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna. Ben Gardna then walked out to the turboshaft at the end of the hallway.

ÔÇ£Bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna once he got inside. The lift sped upward towards the command center of Antigone. In less than ten seconds the doors reopened to the bridge. On the viewscreen was what looked like a great red marble in space. It was the planet, the Falkeries found.

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  • 5 months later...

Hello again! Sorry I haven't posted anything new in a while, well a long while. I have been bus writing this story. It is now 77 pages long. I will post a few sections to see if anyone is liking it and if not I will stop. So anyway..Lets start!

ÔÇ£Report,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna as soon as he stepped out of the turboshaft.

ÔÇ£We have just entered the system,ÔÇØ said Lieutenant Aster as he left the CommanderÔÇÖs chair and headed back to his station.

ÔÇ£Bring us into orbit. Ms. Douglas, scanners on full,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna as he went to take his chair.

ÔÇ£I am reading less than 3 parts per billion of substances other than radine,ÔÇØ said Douglas.

ÔÇ£Will we be sending shuttles down?ÔÇØ asked Lieutenant Hunt.

ÔÇ£Yes and we are going to land the ship. We are already low on radine as it is. If we stay in orbit, we will have to leave the engines on, which will waste more radine,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Aye sir,ÔÇØ answered Hunt.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Aster, order one pilot per shuttle. We will launch them once we get in the atmosphere, that way we can save time of having them try to dock while we are moving.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye Sir,ÔÇØ said Aster.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Mason, how are the Falkeries?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have finished installing all of the subdermal communicators, and we have just completed logging them into the computer,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£Send them back to their quarters. We are going to land the ship. Once you get them stowed away come back to the bridge,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ answered Mason.

ÔÇ£MOTHER activate Tacops computer,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The view screen changed from a picture of the planet to that of a map with a circle in the center. ÔÇ£Observe planet TY-74656.ÔÇØ The map changed again to the view of the planetÔÇÖs surface. ÔÇ£View area with highest radine concentration in the daylight side of the planet.ÔÇØ The view changed to a close view of the surface. The surface was completely bare. It reminded Gardna of a desert. Most of the surface was red. ÔÇ£Add waypoint at center of view, and deactivate Tacops. Mr. Cooper, bring us within 500 meters of the waypoint on my order. All hands prepare for landing, Condition Yellow.ÔÇØ The lights on the bridge dimmed and the lights on the floor flashed yellow. The doors at the back of the bridge opened and Lieutenant Commander Mason walked on the bridge.

ÔÇ£Landing on an unknown planet? WeÔÇÖre more desperate than I thought,ÔÇØ said Douglas, as she made her way to the seat next to Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£Ha-ha,ÔÇØ said Gardna sarcastically. ÔÇ£Ensign Cooper, take us down.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ On the viewscreen the planet came closer. Fire started to rip across the shields. Then all of a sudden, there was a bright flash. Ben Gardna thought it was just that they had finished clearing the atmosphere. Almost immediately after, the ground was coming close very fast.

ÔÇ£Mr. Cooper, check your speed,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Engines arenÔÇÖt responding. My controls are locked,ÔÇØ said Cooper, slightly nervous.

ÔÇ£Transfer control to the comm station,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No effect,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gardna to engine room, whatÔÇÖs going on with my engines?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus here, I donÔÇÖt know.ÔÇØ The lights on the bridge blinked off for 4 seconds then were replaced by the Condition Red lights.

ÔÇ£What just happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The reactor just went completely cold. ItÔÇÖs like itÔÇÖs never been turned on before.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, turn it on now.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Time to impact?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£85 seconds,ÔÇØ answered Cooper.

ÔÇ£Is the solar reactor online?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, when the reactor went off line, power to the solar reactor was cut and all the battery power was transferred to primary and auxiliary life support systems,ÔÇØ answered Douglas.

ÔÇ£60 seconds till impact,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

ÔÇ£Engineering,ÔÇØ said Gardna with annoyance seeping through the word.

ÔÇ£Commander it will take at least an hour to heat her back up,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Keep trying. Mason, are the pilots still on board the shuttles?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes they have been waiting for instructions.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Were there reactors affected?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, I think it was because they were offline.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Do we have enough power to open the shuttle bay doors?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not if we keep life support on.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Shut down both life support systems and route the power to open the doors. Antigone to all shuttles, launch and grab us in a tractor beam. DonÔÇÖt bring us to a halt but level us off and try to slow us down.ÔÇØ Gardna could picture the shuttles flying over the ship. There was a jolt under BenÔÇÖs feet. He knew that they must have locked on.

ÔÇ£Gardna to shuttles, land us anywhere, but to it gently,ÔÇØ said Gardna over the comm. The shuttles slowly dropped the massive carrier on the ground.

ÔÇ£Now that we are down, damage report,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Shields are offline, weapons are offline, internal sensors are offline,ÔÇØ reported Aster.

ÔÇ£Engines are offline, thrusters are offline,ÔÇØ reported Cooper.

ÔÇ£wrist devices and comm units are online, main communications array is however offline, main computer is offline, so that means all other computer systems are down,ÔÇØ reported Hunt.

ÔÇ£Sensors are offline, reactor is offline and non-response, life support systems are back online and there are no causalities,ÔÇØ reported Mason.

ÔÇ£Have the shuttles deploy the mining drones while they are still flying outside. Once they finish that, have them land back onboard. I also want two fighters to be in the air. We have short-range scanners only and no weapons so let the birds out to find the olive branch. Douglas, find out what happened. I want a senior staff meeting in an hour. I also want to see Commander TiÔÇÖlyia in my ready room in half an hour. IÔÇÿm going down to engineering, to see if I can help.ÔÇØ With that, he walked into the turbo shaft.

ÔÇ£Deck three,ÔÇØ he said. The turboshaft sped down to the Engineering deck. The shaft halted and the doors opened. Gardna walked down the hall to the large opening on the port side of the ship. The large blast doors were open and Gardna could see a blur. All of the system and flight engineers, both Falkerie and human, were rushing around to various stations trying to coax the reactor into waking up. Gardna walked around and almost tripped on some of the cords that were laying around. Gardna couldnÔÇÖt find Marcus on the lower deck so he decided to go up to the upper level. When he got up to the other level, he found Marcus working at a station that displayed the planet.

ÔÇ£So whatÔÇÖs wrong with the old girl?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£SheÔÇÖs asleep. It is as if the reactor were just been made and had to be originally brought online. If the reactor had been running then shut down I could restart her just like that. But once sheÔÇÖs cold you have to wait for her to warm up. And we have another problem, she has been eating apples from strangers.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Huh?ÔÇØ

It is an old Earth story. This beautiful girl eats an apple from a witch and falls into a deep sleep. She was only woken

ÔÇ£By a kiss from a prince. IsnÔÇÖt that how all the old Earth storyÔÇÖs end?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes, but now we have to go find our prince. I have tried everything I can think of to get this reactor to come online. I have replaced every relay that connects the reactor to the ship. I have tested and tested the relays. I even ran 5 scans on the main computer to make sure it wasnÔÇÖt a computer problem. Its like someone poured water into the gas chamber of a combustion car from EarthÔÇÖs Industrial Age.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Enough about Earth, we may never see it again.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thanks for being so positive Commander.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I am not positive; I am truthful. IÔÇÖm having Douglas scan the planet and look through the flight recorders. Maybe we can find out what caused the problem and eliminate it. So where can I help?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We are trying to bring the solar reactor online.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Have you tried using the battery to turn the solar reactor online?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have but there isnÔÇÖt enough power.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What if we shut down the life support systems again?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It might work.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs try it then, shutting power to primary and auxiliary life support systems.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Routing power to the solar reactor.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The solar reactor is coming online, power levels are now at 15 units.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Batteries are overloading.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Shut them down.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They are down but they will need to be repaired. Beta repair team, repair the emergency batteries.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£MOTHER, how much daylight is left?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£2 hours 14 minutes 12 seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I suggest you charge the batteries to full before the time runs out.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander to the bridge,ÔÇØ said Mason over the comm.

ÔÇ£Gardna here, what is it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You said you wanted to talk to TiÔÇÖlyia. He is waiting on the bridge.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm on my way send him into my ready room. Make him aware of what happened. You go in with him, but leave your weapon on the bridge.ÔÇØ Gardna left engineering and headed for his ready room. When he entered his ready room he saw two elite force marines standing at the door on the inside. Mason was sitting in one of the chairs and Commander TiÔÇÖlyia was sitting on the couch next to the window. Ben Gardna gave her a stern look. She looked away. She had left her weapon on the bridge but she brought the marines and their weapons with her. She really didnÔÇÖt trust the Falkeries

ÔÇ£Marines, you are dismissed.ÔÇØ The two marines saluted the Commander then left through the door to the deck one corridor. ÔÇÿCommander TiÔÇÖlyia did you attempt to land, while you were here?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We had to land. The atmosphere protected us from the brunt of the storm. When we landed, we encountered nothing to what your first officer described. Our engines were stable the entire time.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£This is quite interesting, an energy field that shuts down the engines of a carrier but not the engines of an unarmed freighter.ÔÇØ The doors to the bridge opened and Research Engineer Douglas came busting in.

Commander, I got itohIuhdidnt know you were busy.

ÔÇ£Its alright. What have you found?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I have located a structure on the planetÔÇÖs surface. I believe it may be the cause of our problems. According to ship, shuttle and fighter sensors, the structure wasnÔÇÖt there before we entered the atmosphere, then according to the shuttles sensors it was there after we entered. But once we landed and launched the fighters it disappeared.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where is it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I have the coordinates here.ÔÇØ She held up a data pad. ÔÇ£There is also something else. I used the shipÔÇÖs sensors to scan where it was and I received this signal.ÔÇØ She used the CommanderÔÇÖs desk computer to show Ben a signal that all Galcom commanders had to learn. ÔÇ£I have no idea what this is. The computer wonÔÇÖt let me see what it found at the location. I tried my command codes but I must not have a high enough level to view it.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£And for good reason, TiÔÇÖlyia if you could excuse us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Of course,ÔÇØ said TiÔÇÖlyia. He got up and left. Gardna didnÔÇÖt start talking until the doors closed.

ÔÇ£Mason, have Shuttle One prepared to launch immediately. Gardna to Daniels have four elite force marines board Shuttle 1. Gardna to bridge, Aster have the largest bomb we have onboard loaded onto shuttle one.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander, that would be one of the Bugnor class OTS missiles,ÔÇØ said Aster.

ÔÇ£Fine, just have it loaded, Gardna out. Douglas, grab whatever scanning equipment you deem necessary,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£The shuttle is ready,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£What is going on?ÔÇØ asked Douglas.

ÔÇ£What I am about to tell you, does not go past these bulkheads, understand?ÔÇØ said Gardna rather sternly. Both women nodded.

ÔÇ£The signal that you received is a Galcom signal.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The structure is Galcom?ÔÇØ asked Mason.

ÔÇ£No when the computer scans or reads certain energy signatures, it will send a signal like the one you detected. The signal you received is for Galaxian.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Galaxian, the supposed species that created the wormholes and the flux fields? I thought they were just a silly idea,ÔÇØ said Douglas.

ÔÇ£Over the past fifteen months Galaxian artifacts have been spotted. Galcom believes that Gammula has some Galaxian artifacts. According to our intelligence, they have activated some of them. Ever since they have activated their artifacts we have founds dozens of our own. We believe they have activated some sort of command that has caused the others to come out of hiding.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That makes sense,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Under Galcom law I have to go find the structure, take as many scans of the artifacts as I can, then destroy the structure and the artifacts.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir the significance, of finding a whole structure must count for something,ÔÇØ said Douglas almost pleading.

ÔÇ£We cannot allow any for the artifacts to fall into enemy hands. That is why Galcom has made it the rule to destroy them, but we will have the scans of the device to recreate it afterwards. Now under Galcom law I have to carry out the scanning and destroying by myself, but because you, Ms. Douglas found the signal, you can help me. And you Carla saw it so you have to help also.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What about the marines?ÔÇØ asked Carla.

ÔÇ£I have found a loop hole. A commander is not allowed to go into a unknown area without an armed escort, so I can bring them, and marines are trained not to reveal information,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aster to Gardna the missile has been loaded onto Shuttle 1,ÔÇØ said Tactical Officer Aster over the comm.

ÔÇ£Thank you Aster, Gardna out. Mason, Douglas, letÔÇÖs go,ÔÇØ said Gardna. They all left his ready room and headed for the shuttle bay.

ÔÇ£Gardna to bridge, Mason, Douglas, and I are leaving, Mr. Aster you have the bridge. Keep the two birds still in the bay, in the bay. The two fighters outside will serve as our escorts, Gardna out.ÔÇØ The three officers went and boarded Shuttle 1. Douglas and the marines moved into the personnel section of the shuttle. Carla Mason and Ben Gardna moved to the cockpit.

ÔÇ£Starting up reactor and opening the shuttle bay doors,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The shuttle lifted off the deck and gently glided out of the bay.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Fighters 1 and 2, form up on Shuttle 1 and escort her.ÔÇØ The trip to the location of the signal took 3 hours.

ÔÇ£I hope the Antigone is doing alright,ÔÇØ said Douglas who had taken over for Mason as the co-pilot.

ÔÇ£The sun went down 1 hour ago, the battery, if fully charged should last till morning,ÔÇØ replied Gardna.

ÔÇ£We are 5 km from the origin of the signal,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖve picked a landing spot. Landing,ÔÇØ said Gardna. The shuttle touched down very gently. The two fighters landed next to the shuttle.

ÔÇ£Alright everybody out,ÔÇØ announced Commander Gardna. The marines and Lieutenant Commander Mason lazily walked out of the personnel part of the shuttle into the crisp morning air. ÔÇ£Pilots please stay with your fighter and the shuttle; if you spot anything out of the ordinary let us know. If you detect what you think is a ship call us. If the ship attacks, you order the shuttle to RTB and you follow it. We will signal every ┬¢ hour.ÔÇØ Anoka Douglas, Carla Mason and the marines had started towards the location of the alien structure. Ben Gardna just smiled and shook his head then stepped back into the shuttle. He went into the Special equipment area of the shuttle. A hatch on the back of the shuttle opened and the APC rolled out. Everyone outside stared as GardnaÔÇÖs head popped out of the hole at the top.

ÔÇ£You didnÔÇÖt actually think we were going to walk?ÔÇØ The marines and the two officers got onboard the APC and they roared over the desert plains. It took 15 minutes to get to the site of the structure. Ben Gardna parked the APC a few meters away from the site. Everyone had gotten out and were waiting for DouglasÔÇÖs analysis.

ÔÇ£According to the shuttleÔÇÖs sensor when we entered the atmosphere, the structure should be right ahead,ÔÇØ reported Douglas.

ÔÇ£Well the structure only appears to be present when no weapons signatures can be found,ÔÇØ theorized Mason.

ÔÇ£Well, lets test your theory. Gardna to fighters 1 and 2,ÔÇØ called Commander Gardna.

ÔÇ£Fighter 1 here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fighter 2 here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Deactivate your Ion Disruptors and your missile warheads,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mason, go onboard the APC and deactivate missile.ÔÇØ Mason got back onboard and deactivated the warhead. On the outside, a building appeared out of thin air. It was at least 5 stories high. There were no windows. The entire building was smooth. It looked like a rectangular box standing on its square bottom. Gardna glanced at his handheld scanner, he couldnÔÇÖt scan inside the building. He also couldnÔÇÖt tell what element the building was composed of either. What ever it was made of, the entire structure was made of it. In the front was a pentagonal shape. It was sticking out slightly.

ÔÇ£There is your structure,ÔÇØ said Mason. Gardna approached where the pentagonal shape was. As soon as he got within 2 meters of it, the shape disappeared and Gardna could see inside. He shone his light into it, but he couldnÔÇÖt see anything. It was if something was absorbing the light.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Douglas what do you think?ÔÇØ asked Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£I canÔÇÖt get any scans. There is some type of jamming field activated,ÔÇØ replied Douglas.

ÔÇ£Time to check in; Gardna to fighters 1 and 2,ÔÇØ called Gardna. Silence was his only reply. ÔÇ£Fighters 1 and 2 please respond.ÔÇØ Still only, silence.

ÔÇ£Mason to fighters 1 and 2,ÔÇØ called Mason this time. But she too was also greeted with silence. Douglas and the marines all tried but couldnÔÇÖt get an answer.

ÔÇ£I suggest we go back and meet up with them,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Agreed,ÔÇØ replied Gardna. They all got back onboard the APC. Ben Gardna tried to start the motor. It wouldnÔÇÖt. He tried 5 times.

ÔÇ£It would seem we have no choice but to go into it,ÔÇØ said Gardna. Everyone got out and walked into the building.

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Dave Cooper loved being planet side. For some reason he slept better on planetary gravity than ship based gravity. And since he was a carrier pilot, he didnÔÇÖt have anything to do while they were on land. But since the Commander, First officer and research engineer left that meant that he was acting-first officer; so he had to do the night watch. Under normal circumstances, half of the senior staff would have to be dead for him to be the first officer. But the commander put Aster in command. Marcus is a higher rank than Aster but he is too busy trying to keep the primary and auxiliary life support systems online and reviving the reactor. Only Dave and Navigational Officer Ensign Michelle Davidson were on the bridge.

ÔÇ£I wonder where the commander went to,ÔÇØ asked Davidson to no one in particular.

ÔÇ£I have no idea,ÔÇØ answered Cooper.

ÔÇ£Maybe we should take a look see to make sure they are alright,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That would be spying.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No it would checking to make sure our commander is alright.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You are very evil when you want to be.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thanks.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£MOTHER, activate tacops computer.ÔÇØ The viewscreen changed from a forward view to a view of the entire planets surface. ÔÇ£Zoom in on support craft, Shuttle One.ÔÇØ The screen is filled with the top of the shuttle. ÔÇ£MOTHER, reduce magnification.ÔÇØ The screen now showed not only the shuttle but two fighters landed next to it. Walking away from the shuttle were six humans; four marines and two officers.

ÔÇ£Where is the Commander?ÔÇØ asked Davidson. All of a sudden an APC came speeding out of the back of the shuttle.

ÔÇ£Something tells me, that is the commander,ÔÇØ said Cooper. Cooper and Davidson watched as the marines and the officers board the APC. The APC started to move off the screen. ÔÇ£MOTHER follow Vehicle One,ÔÇØ ordered Cooper. The view snapped to that of the top of the APC. They watched as the APC rolled over the red plains. They watched for at least 15 minutes when the APC came to a stop and everyone got out of it.

ÔÇ£What are they doing?ÔÇØ asked Davidson. On the screen, First Officer Mason walked back into the APC.

ÔÇ£Where is she going?ÔÇØ asked Cooper this time. Then all of a sudden, the viewscreen shut down. Then all of the consoles and lights went out.

ÔÇ£What the hell just happened?ÔÇØ asked Cooper. Michelle and Dave turned on their wristlights.

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt know,ÔÇØ answered Davidson. She moved over to her console and tried to get it to work.

ÔÇ£Knowing Lieutenant Aster he should be on the bridge soon,ÔÇØ said Cooper. The maintenance hatch on the back of the bridge opened and AsterÔÇÖs head popped up.

ÔÇ£Report,ÔÇØ ordered Aster once he stepped out of the hatch.

ÔÇ£We were on night watch when everything shut down then you came in,ÔÇØ answer Cooper, since he was the senior officer on watch at the time.

ÔÇ£Anything else happen before that?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Nothing.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Did you do anything before the power loss?ÔÇØ

Umwellwe sort of followed the Commander, answered Davidson shyly.

ÔÇ£What do you mean ÔÇ£followed himÔÇØ? He left 3 hours ago. You have stayed onboard. You couldnÔÇÖt have follo-ÔÇØ

Weuhhused Tacops to sort of follow them, said Cooper.

ÔÇ£OK. So what were they doing?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They landed the shuttle then went off in the APC. They stopped and everybody got out. Then Lieutenant Commander Mason got back onboard. Then there was the power loss.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We need to get our people to the shuttle bay. Since there is no power there is probably no life support. The shuttleÔÇÖs were offline at the time so they should be alright, if it was the same effect that grounded us here. I am going to engineering to see what they are trying to do. I want you two to go through deck one and locate any crew there. Have them go down to the shuttles and wait there. If you see any system or flight engineers send them to engineering. I have assigned the other officers to search the other decks. I will meet you in the shuttle bay in 30 minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But sir we only have 3 shuttles; they can only hold 20 people each. And we have a crew of 83 with the Falkeries. That means 23 people will have to stay here.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Commander was nice enough to take 11 people with him. The system engineers will most like likely stay and try to fix the problem. If we canÔÇÖt there is always room in the vehicles. Therefore, there will be enough room. Now get to work.ÔÇØ With that, Aster left back through the tube he came out of.

ÔÇ£We should probably gather everybody from deck one here so that we can use this maintenance shaft to get to the shuttle bay,ÔÇØ suggested Davidson.

ÔÇ£OK, letÔÇÖs do it,ÔÇØ said Cooper.

Cooper and Davidson went into every room on deck one and found all 16 marines. They all went up to Operations when the ship lost power. They told them to report to the shuttle bay. They then went down to the shuttle bay. When they got there, it appeared that almost the entire crew had come down. All the officers were standing by one of the shuttles. Davidson and Cooper heard some officers having a conversation.

ÔÇ£We are running out of time and oxygen. We need to move these people to the shuttles.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where the hell is Aster?!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£He said he was going to engineering to help, except he doesnÔÇÖt have any engineering experience.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That is just like him to think he can do anything!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well at least everyone is here,ÔÇØ whispered Cooper to Davidson. Then Lieutenant Aster, Chief Engineer Marcus and his system engineers came in. Aster motioned for everyone to be quiet.

ÔÇ£It appears that the ship has succumbed to the same energy field that knocked out our engines when we tried to land. The emergency batteries have been drained. There is nothing we can do until the sun comes back up, in 13 hours. We will try to find the Commander. His shuttle might have been disabled so we are going to help. Fighter Pilots to your fighters; Cooper and Hunt you will fly Shuttle 2. Daniels and Hacker will fly Shuttle 3. Marcus, Davidson and I will be in Shuttle 4. Falkeries board the OCs that are onboard the shuttles. Everyone else report to your Condition Red: Evacuate shuttles.ÔÇØ

The marines, medics, officers, and engineers all boarded their assigned shuttles. Surprisingly they had enough room for all of the crewmembers. Aster gave the order and then opened the shuttle bay and fighter bay doors. Out flew three doves and two hawks; the shuttles and fighters.

Commander Ben Gardna was the first to walk into the building. Once he was inside, he saw a very small hallway with a door at the end similar to the door on the outside of the building. He turned around and could see his officers and marines. He couldnÔÇÖt see into the building when he was outside but he could now see very clearly. He told everyone to come inside. They walked to the end of the hallway to the door. There was a button on the left side. Gardna pushed it. The door disappeared and a small room was there. They entered it. There was nothing of any significance in the room. There were only four walls and a door. As soon as everyone entered the room, Gardna felt the room drop down. They were descending. After 5 minutes the room stopped. According to Douglas, they were almost at the core of the planet. The doors opened and there was another short hallway. They walked to the end and opened the door. Inside there was a massive room. Inside of the room, there were circles of computer consoles. In the center of the room was an up raised column. On the wall, opposite of the door there was a window. Gardna and Mason walked over to it, while Douglas worked on one of the computer consoles and the marines stood guard at the door.

Out the window was a sphere that was rotating and floating. The sphere remind Gardna of a ball of fire. The ball was red and yellow and even had a pinch of purple.

ÔÇ£This must be the core of this planet,ÔÇØ stated Mason, ÔÇ£I have never seen anything like it, itÔÇÖs beautiful.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It is beautiful but we have a mission to complete, Douglas have you managed to hack into the computer system?ÔÇØ enquired Gardna.

It used a semi-complex encryption program but I have managed to disable it. Whoa, it just translated the screen into human. I have accessed their historical database. The Galaxians built this outpost. According to this, they were the only sentient life in the Galaxy for several million years. They were entirely peaceful. They had known peace since the Galaxy was first formed. According to this, they were very advanced compared to us. There was no death, disease, or famine. All evils were removed or destroyed. They created and used what we call flux fields to navigate around the Galaxy quickly. There were no weapons. They had games they would play, including one that started life on several planets. They would leave microbes and bacteria on certain planets and bet on which one would develop the fastest. According to this map, they did it to Gammula Prime, the Falkerie Homeworld, the Credian Homeworld, andEarth. They controlled the entire Galaxy.

they left the Galaxy, they headed over to the Andromeda Galaxy. It took them a week to get there. Once they got there, they encountered a most hostile race, according to them. The races physiology did not conform to the physics of this universe. They attacked the exploration convoy. They slaughtered over 50,000 Galaxians. Since communication was very good they knew about the attack almost as soon as it happened. They were a non-combative people so for the first few months of the war they were slaughtered. For those first few months, they tried to communicate with them but were unsuccessful in every attempt. The Council of Light decided that they needed some assistance.

ÔÇ£The Council of Light?ÔÇØ asked Mason.

It was the ruling body of the Galaxians. The Galaxians were very gifted in the field of genetics. They designed a species that was very aggressive and protective. The race would protect the Galaxians. After a year of the intruders invading, they controlled half of the Galaxy. At the end of the first year the first batch of Schutz were created. The first group were the scientists, tacticians, and military brass. This group would design the crews, marines, ships and star stations. In three months, the entire Schutz fleet was built. The FleetÔÇÖs orders were to eliminate anything that was imperfect, according the Galaxians idea of perfection. In the first battle against the intruders, the Schutz attacked by creating a flux field in the center of one of their key production facilities and sending a bomb through. The Schutz didnÔÇÖt loose a single ship or crew member. In two months, they drove the intruders out of the Galaxy. After they completed that objective, they followed through with their programming to eliminate all imperfections. They attacked and destroyed Galaxian colonies and planets throughout the Galaxy. The surviving Galaxians went through a flux field to another parallel universe. But before they left, they destabilized the flux fields making it impossible for the Schutz to go anywhere or follow them.

ÔÇ£Wow, the Shocks-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Schutz, Commander,ÔÇØ interrupted Douglas.

ÔÇ£The Schutz attacked their masters because they saw them as imperfections.ÔÇØ On one of the consoles, an alarm went off. Douglas went over to see what it was.

ÔÇ£The computer system has detected a fleet of ships. They are heading this way.ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿAre they our ships?ÔÇØ inquired Gardna.

ÔÇÿUnknown, but according to the Galaxians they are enemies.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Can I see a picture of them?ÔÇØ Douglas worked on a console on in the center of the room a 3D shuttle appeared. On the side of the Shuttle was the name GCV- Antigone Shuttle II.

ÔÇ£She is one of ours,ÔÇØ announced Mason.

ÔÇ£Can you hail them?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

I think so.ÔÇØ For a minute, Douglas and Mason worked on a console. Then static was heard throughout the room. Then Lieutenant Corey AsterÔÇÖs voice boomed through the room.

ÔÇ£This is Shuttle two of the GCV-Antigone, who is this?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Corey this is Ben Gardna. What happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£This battery went offline so we had to evacuate everyone to the shuttles. We believe that the same thing that stranded us here is the thing that drained our battery. Where are you?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We are inside the structure near OC-1,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What structure? The APC is sitting out in the middle of no where.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What do you mean, Douglas can you explain this?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I believe I can,ÔÇØ said Douglas, ÔÇ£the system probably re-cloaked the building once it detected all the people outside of the building had entered it, or because we activated the computer system.

ÔÇ£Can you deactivate the cloak and the disruptor field?ÔÇØ inquired Mason.

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt know,ÔÇØ answered Douglas, ÔÇ£Give me a sec.ÔÇØ

Fifteen minutes later Douglas found out how to do it and let, it be known by shouting.

ÔÇ£I got it, disabling field now,ÔÇØ said Douglas.

ÔÇ£Lets try it then. Gardna to Antigone,ÔÇØ called Gardna.

ÔÇ£Antigone onboard AI, MOTHER here,ÔÇØ replied the voice that Gardna thought he would never hear again.

ÔÇ£Antigone, status report,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£All systems are online and fully functional. According to my sensors I have been offline for 12 hours. The reactor is operational, working, and is at 100% efficiency. The mining drones are requesting pickup.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What is the shipÔÇÖs combat status?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ion Disruptor is online and able to be powered up to 100%. Passive Target Acquisition system is online and is able to be powered up to 100%. Linear IV shields are responding and able to be raised to 100%. We have an assault class amount of missiles.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£MOTHER, secure all stations and awaits further instructions.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Acknowledged Antigone out,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We did it; we can leave now,ÔÇØ Douglas.

ÔÇ£Not just yet, Download the entire Database to Antigone and have her seal it off from the rest of her files. We donÔÇÖt need her catching a virus. Marines go back to the surface and get the Bugnor and bring it down here.ÔÇØ

It didnÔÇÖt take very long the marines to return to the surface and get the bomb. It did however take time for Douglas to download the database. Then in the middle of the download the center sphere in the room started to glow red.

ÔÇ£Douglas, what is going on?ÔÇØ asked Mason

ÔÇ£The computer system has detected the Schutz. A Schutz cruiser has just decloaked from orbit and is heading this way.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Douglas you are going to need to step up the download,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£I am going as fast as I can, only 19 more minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They have entered the atmosphere; they will be here in 45 seconds,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Aster, recall all fighters and have the shuttles pick up the drones. I want every one back onboard in 5 minutes, Gardna out.ÔÇØ

The building started to shake and some of the ceiling started to crumble.

ÔÇ£I believe the Schutz has arrived,ÔÇØ said Mason.

ÔÇ£Then we wonÔÇÖt stay. Everyone back to the APC,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£But sir the download, it needs to be watched. I have to continuously block the security program. If it is not blocked, it will shut down the download, and take over the computer where the download was going to,ÔÇØ protested Douglas.

ÔÇ£Fine then, everyone get back to the shuttle. I will stay and complete the download,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But sir-ÔÇØ objected Mason.

ÔÇÿThat is an order, get back to the shuttle, then back to Antigone. Once the download is complete, leave the atmosphere and proceed to the Flux gate. I will give you 1 minute after the download has completed to get away before I detonate the bugnor, now go!ÔÇØ

Commander, please begged Mason.

Ben Gardna raised his wrist laser to her.

ÔÇ£DonÔÇÖt make me shoot you,ÔÇØ

Mason walked back into the hallway and the Marines followed her, Douglas stayed and stared at him.

ÔÇ£Tell, Johnnie he is a very lucky man,ÔÇØ

Douglas turned around and ran after Mason and the Marines. Before she left Ben saw a tear roll down her cheek. Now all Ben had to do was to sit and wait.

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Carla Mason never thought she could run so fast. She and the Marines jumped in the APC, then very shortly after Douglas jumped in. Carla rolled across the planes in the APC, till they got to the shuttle. She had the marines pilot it in while she started up the shuttle. When she go in the shuttle she saw the Mining Droid in its place, It must have made its way here and got back onboard. Once they had everything onboard. They launched towards Antigone. It would have taken 3 hours but Mason used the hyperspace engines to get there in less than a minute. It was an extremely dangerous idea, but they needed to get there quickly. She docked the shuttle then made her way to the bridge. Once she got to the bridge she saw Aster in the CommanderÔÇÖs seat, or her seat now.

ÔÇ£Where is the Commander?ÔÇØ asked Aster.

Hedecided to finish the download on his own,

ÔÇ£But-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Prepare the ship for take off, All Hands got to Condition Yellow and Report to your designated positions.ÔÇØ

Carla briefed the senior officers on the bridge on their instructions. Then Douglas noticed a significant drop in the StructureÔÇÖs integrity.

ÔÇ£Sir, at the current rate the structure will be destroyed in 5 minutes, but the download will take 9.ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿIt looks like we will have to step up the plan then. Mason to Engineering, Marcus bring the engines back online. Mr. Cooper Take us up and into orbit,ÔÇØ ordered Mason.

ÔÇ£But sir that will dramatically decrease the download speed,ÔÇØ protested Douglas.

ÔÇ£We wonÔÇÖt be in the atmosphere for that long; in fact I plan on taking us back to the building.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander we have cleared the atmosphere,ÔÇØ stated Cooper.

ÔÇ£Take us into a position directly over the Structure. Mr. Aster please man the weapons console and load two Bugnor class Orbit to Surface Missiles into the first two tubes. All hands to battlestations, Condition Red,ÔÇØ ordered Mason.

The Lights on the bridge dimmed and were replaced by blinking red lights. The crew attended to their duties and figured out what the Lieutenant Commander had in mind.

ÔÇ£We are in position, Lieutenant Commander,ÔÇØ announced Cooper.

ÔÇ£Mr. Aster, lock on target,ÔÇØ ordered Mason, ÔÇ£Fire.ÔÇØ

Ben Gardna didnÔÇÖt have anytime to think about his fate The security system kept think of new encryption programming. He did manage to get the computer to show him what the Schutz cruiser was doing. He only had 2 more minutes till the download would be completed and he had to detonate the OTS. On the holo-Schutz he saw it shake violently and threaten to hit the building but it managed to stabilize itself. It raised itself towards the sky then another explosion racked the ship near the same spot. This time she was unable to control herself and crashed into the ground. Well, not so much of the ground as the building. Gardna never saw it crash into the building because the holo-ring shut off. The building around him rumbled. Parts of the walls and ceiling cracked and fell. Ben ran over to the Bugnor to assure he didnÔÇÖt die in vain. He finished the detonate sequence. Then he it the detonate button. As soon as he did, he was swallowed up into a vortex of light. When the light went away he was standing in a transporter room. Carla Mason, Marcus and Dr. Hacker were all staring at him. He opened his mouth to talk but Carla spoke first.

ÔÇ£Mason to bridge, we have him, jump now!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But sir we havenÔÇÖt cleared the atmosphere!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jump now Ensign!ÔÇØ

Dr. Hacker walked towards him holding out a medical scanner.

ÔÇ£Welcome back Commander.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Department of Internal Affairs will be busy when we get back.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£With what?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Your court martials.ÔÇØ

Douglas to Transporter room, Commander Mason, the core of the planet is overloading, It will detonate in 50 seconds,ÔÇØ

Mason looked at Gardna with a look of slight shock.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm on my way.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Dr. Hacker, I am afraid this examination will have to wait.ÔÇØ

Carla and Ben ran out of the transporter room to the bridge. Carla almost took the CommanderÔÇÖs seat but managed to stop herself.

ÔÇ£Report,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£The Galaxian building has been completely destroyed, but however due to the proximity of the Bugnor to the core of the planet it destroyed it causing the planet to become unstable. It will explode in 30 seconds,ÔÇØ answered Douglas.

ÔÇ£Mr. Cooper how long until we exit hyperspace?ÔÇØ inquired Mason.

ÔÇ£38 seconds, which gives us a 8 second gap against. But this is only once we get out of hyperspace we have to make it to the flux field.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Which will take how long?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£17 seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bridge to Engineering, Marcus I want you to put the engines on overload once we come out of hyperspace.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But sir the engines will explode!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That is if we sit by idly, We are going to run them past her limit, Gardna out.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Emerging from hyperspace,ÔÇØ announced Ensign Cooper.

ÔÇ£Gun it, Mr. Cooper.ÔÇØ The ship shot forward at speeds greater than the ship could compensate for. Commander Gardna could feel his skin collect at his back and his eyes start to get bigger.

ÔÇ£Shockwave approaching, ETA 6 seconds!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Onscreen. Marcus, route all available power to the shields!ÔÇØ

The last thing Benjamin Gardna saw was a bright red ribbon on the viewscreen.

He woke up to the sound of Dr. Hacker thick ascent. He opened his and thought he was in hell, or at least on a ship that had been to it. He could see several chairs in a pile in one corner. A conduit was spraying coolant on one console. The lights were blinking on and off. He could smell a fire but he didnÔÇÖt know from where. He saw Cooper strewn across his console. He was unable to see anything else because Dr. Hacker was in the was so Gardna closed his eyes and groaned but stopped when he heard someone else. He opened his eyes and saw Cooper struggle to get up.

ÔÇ£NO one get up or I will be forced to break your legs to make sure you donÔÇÖt,ÔÇØ ordered Hacker.

ÔÇ£Yes Supreme Commander,ÔÇØ replied a weak sounding Mason.

Everyone chuckled who was awake, which was only Gardna, Cooper and Mason. The Supreme Commander was known for his aggressive nature. That is why he was made the Supreme Commander at the start of the Gammulan War.

ÔÇ£Can I atleast get a status report?ÔÇØ asked Gardna.

ÔÇ£I am no engineer but most of the systems appear to be offline.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine I will ask someone who is. MOTHER, what is our status?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The reactor is offline, shield generator is offline, main computer is offline, weapons systems are offline, solar generator is online and producing 57 units of power, Life supports systems are offline.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Casualty report?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt know, we-ÔÇØ started Hacker.

ÔÇ£All crew members are currently alive. The majority of the crew is however unconscious,ÔÇÖ answered MOTHER.

ÔÇ£Dr. Hacker, awaken the rest of the bridge crew, and give us all a shot a hydrotoxitine,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£You all have injuries! I canÔÇÖt just randomly give you all a shot of hydrotoxitine! It is highly experimental!ÔÇØ protest Hacker.

ÔÇ£I am giving you a direct order!ÔÇØ said Gardna is a very harsh turn. His head started to pound so he said more quietly, ÔÇ£I will assume all responsibility to what ever might happen.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine, I will prepare the stasis chambers for your corpes,ÔÇØ replied Dr. Hacker. He went to one of his medics and retrieved the necessary doses. He pressed the vile of the hydrotoxitine to their wrist devices. The wrist devices would send out the necessary amount. Ben felt the chemical enter his blood stream. There was no pain but he could feel a boost of energy. All the other pain in his body left. He felt as if he could sprint all the way back to earth. The chemical was not from Earth. Galcom had stolen it from the Gammulans. They used to give it to their marines before they boarded an enemy ship.

Gardna jumped back up and took his seat. He looked around and saw everyone else do it. They all attended to their stations. It took 3 days for the ship to be repaired enough to get underway. They made their way to Galcom and finally got there.

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Well that was the end of the first mission i guess you could call it.

ÔÇ£Wow! That was even cooler than your last story!ÔÇØ exclaimed Johnny.

ÔÇ£I am glad you liked it. Now go inside and wash up for dinner,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

ÔÇÿAww, ok.ÔÇØ

Gardna looked at is chronometer; it was 1548. He went inside and ate dinner.

For the next day and a half, Gardna did nothing but rest and chat with his family. At 8ÔÇÖ oÔÇÖclock in the evening he left. AS he cleared the atmosphere, he saw Galcom in all her glory. As soon as he got back on board the station, he was called to the Fleet CommanderÔÇÖs office. As usual, the Fleet Commander was on the comm. He ended his call and started his briefing.

ÔÇ£Commander Ben Gardna, your mission is ready for you,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£And what pretell is it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£As you know the war with the Gammulans is not going well. At the current rate we have about 6 months before they own the Terran Quadrant. Basically it is Earth vs. Gammula. The Empirians are not helping us because they are having too much trouble with their insurgents. The Vesperons claim that they have not been attacked by them so they arenÔÇÖt going to help. We need you to get the Empirians to help us. I have another Commander working on the Vesperon problem.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Understood, so how do I convince them.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I have already convinced them, but they want something in return. We have to capture the Empirian raider station in Nevuela region in the Alpha Centauri system.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£By myself?!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You will be assisted by two super cruiser class vessels. For this mission you will be field promoted to Fleet Commander. This will allow you to command the other two ships. I am also sending one transport. Once you have secured the region the transport will come in and land marines and a command staff. The Empirians might not take it over for quite a while so you will be transferred to command of it until they come to claim it or until you are reassigned. Also for the mission, I am assigning a scout to go with you. He is intimately familiar with the Alpha Centauri system. I suggest you let him accompany your crew. He should be back here in 2 days. I will make plans for someone to take over command of Antigone once the mission is complete.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Antigone wonÔÇÖt be stationed at the base?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No we will need her elsewhere most likely. I will assign another ship there for you. You know you cannot command a Heavy Carrier while being a Fleet Commander. You will be given command of a Super Carrier. I will also assign two cruisers for escorts.ÔÇØ

I want Lieutenant Commander Mason to take command of Antigone.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ok I will make the arrangements; you should be ready to leave by the end of the week. The GCV- Phoenix, and Nadus will be your escorts. The GCV- Nadus is under command of Commander Jack Mantle. The ship is currently docked at Galcom. The GCV- Phoenix is currently away on a mission and will be back a day before you leave. It is under the command of-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander William Naobi.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You know him?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We went to the academy together.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I think that will be all. Any questions?ÔÇØ

Ummyes what happened to Commander Tilyia?

ÔÇ£Umm...he was given a transport and left two days ago.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs good, which ship was he given?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The UCV- Whitehorse. Oh and donÔÇÖt forget your new pips.ÔÇØ

Remo handed him a rectangular box. Gardna looked in and saw his new pips shining back at him.

ÔÇ£Thanks,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£DismissedÔÇØ

Commander Ben Gardna left the office and headed towards AntigoneÔÇÖs bay.

By the end of the week all of AntigoneÔÇÖs personnel were back onboard. Also all the systems had been repaired. Ben Gardna had met with Commander Jack Mantle. He had him think of different strategies while they waited for the Atlantis to show up.

Gardna was thinking of different strategies to attack the station when his comm beeped.

ÔÇ£Fleet Commander Gardna, the scout has arrived, I have allowed him docking clearance onboard us,ÔÇØ announced Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason.

ÔÇ£He is going to dock with us? What type of ship is he flying?ÔÇØ Gardna thought he would have been flying in a transport. Spies have used transports ever since feasible space travel started.

ÔÇ£He is flying a Mantis class super fighter,ÔÇØ Gardna knew that type of fighter was very new and only top Galcom officials had access to it. It was said to have a cloaking device and is capable of taking down a cruiser class vessel by itself.

ÔÇ£Send him in here once he gets settled, and assign him guest quarters.ÔÇØ

Gardna milled around, approving reports, and preparing tactical plans. Then his door chimed.

ÔÇÿEnter.ÔÇØ He kept reading his report while the door opened and someone entered. He didnÔÇÖt even look up to acknowledge whoever it was.

ÔÇ£Galcom must be really desperate for commanders.ÔÇØ

Ben Gardna looked up and stared into the eyes he thought he would never see again.

Kevin Gardna put his datapad down.

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt even get a simple greeting or at least a hug?ÔÇØ asked Kevin.

Ben got up and went around his desk slowly. He moved till he was practically standing on him. Then he placed his head on KevinÔÇÖs shoulder and cried. The last time Ben cried was the last time he had saw Kevin.

Ben was laying on the couch with his head in KevinÔÇÖs lap reminiscing and talking about what they had been doing when Ben looked at his watch. He and Kevin had been talking for over 3 hours, when he looked at the clock. Ben had a staff meeting in 5 minutes.

ÔÇ£I completely forgot about my meeting. IÔÇÖm sorry,ÔÇØ said Ben.

ÔÇ£Its alright, I will go back to my quarters-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, I want you to come with me.ÔÇØ

Kevin and Ben walked out of the ready room and down the hall until they got to the Conference Room. When they got there, everyone was there. All of BenÔÇÖs officers were present and Commander Jack Mantle and his first officer were also there. Ben sat in his usual spot and Kevin pulled up a chair next to him.

ÔÇ£Good Afternoon, Status report,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

ÔÇ£Our AI has come up with 15,648 different attack patterns, at last checkÔÇØ reported Mason.

ÔÇ£How do they look?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Most look promising, I am having MOTHER narrow it down to the ones with the lowest damage count.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good, How long until Commander Naobi gets here?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£HQ says that he is coming back from Gammulan space, he may just be delayed,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£OK, Commander Mantle, how are your plans going?ÔÇØ

Commander Mantle was going over his plans when the comm beeped.

ÔÇ£Bridge to Fleet Commander Gardna,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gardna here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We are receiving a priority one alpha transmission from Strategic Commander Remo.ÔÇØ GardnaÔÇÖs eyes widen and he looked at Kevin. He just stared back. A priority one alpha transmission was a very important message; its only known use was to call for an evacuation of Earth.

ÔÇ£Route it down here,ÔÇØ

On the computer screen across from the window, RemoÔÇÖs head appeared.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna, I just received a report from Wraith Command. They have detected a massive Gammulan fleet headed this way. Commander Mayfield has flown past the fleet and does not believe that Wraith will be able to stop it alone. That is why I am sending half of Prime fleet. You will lead the fleet to Wraith where Fleet Commander Mayfield will take command of both fleets. He needs a first officer so it will be you. He will probably transfer you to the station.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£When do we leave?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I want the fleet to depart in at least a half an hour. The Gammulan fleet will be there in one hour.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I am sending you a message along with top secret material. You may need it. Remo out.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander Mantle, return to your ship. Everyone else prep the ship to leave in 15 minutes. Marcus, load the ship with as much radine, plutonium, and iridium as you can. I invoke my right as a fleet commander, to commandeer the resources. Mr. Aster, I want at least 50 vagrants loaded onto the ship. Dr. Hacker, bring as many vacpaks, medkits and medicines that you deem necessary. We have 15 minutes people. Lets get to work, dismissed.ÔÇØ

Everyone left the room and attended to their duties. Gardna assigned Kevin as the new fighter wing commander.

It only took 10 minutes for the ship to be prepped for launch. Gardna checked in with all of the ships. They were all ready.

ÔÇ£Antigone to Prime Fleet Alpha,ÔÇØ said Gardna, ÔÇ£Launch.ÔÇØ

Gardna looked on his screen and watched as 50 ships launched from Galcom.

ÔÇ£All ships proceed to Wraith in formation.ÔÇØ

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All of the ships arrived safely in Lyrius space, home of the Wraith Fleet Headquarters.

ÔÇ£sir incoming hail from Wraith HQ,ÔÇØ said Communications officer Hunt.

ÔÇ£On screen,ÔÇØ ordered Gardna, On the viewscreen appeared a older man. He had grey streaks in his hair. He had a mustache and a beard. The pips on his shoulder indicated that he was a Fleet Commander. This man was in charge of Wraith Station and the ships stationed there. He was standing in front of a room filled with people running around and doing stuff.

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna,ÔÇØ said Fleet Commander Jonathan Mayfield

ÔÇ£Fleet Commander Gardna,ÔÇØ said Gardna.

Sorry, I was not informed of yourpromotion. I am sending a shuttle to pick you up and bring you to the station, I have a commander standing by to take over Antigone.

ÔÇÿFine but Lieutenant Commander Mason will take command.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine then,ÔÇØ with that Commander Mayfield signed off.

ÔÇ£Commander the Wraith shuttle is requesting permission to dock,ÔÇØ stated Hunt.

ÔÇ£Permission denied; I will transport over. You have the bridge, Commander Mason.ÔÇØ

Commander Gardna walked off the bridge into the hallway. He then entered the transporter room. He gave the fight officer on duty his destination and next thing he knew he was in the cockpit of a shuttle.

ÔÇ£Welcome onboard Commander,ÔÇØ said the pilot.

Commander Gardna arrived on Wraith Station a short time later. Once he arrived on the station he was escorted to the Operations officer by an officer. Once he arrived in Operations he saw Fleet Commander Mayfield talking with other commanders around a map table.

ÔÇ£Fleet Commander Mayfield, Fleet Commander Gardna reporting for duty,ÔÇØ saluted Gardna.

ÔÇ£Well Commander, let me give you your assignment. You will take command of this station. I will proceed to my ship to lead the defense at the Jump gate.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, I shouldnÔÇÖt be in Command of this station. I have never commanded a station.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It is not that difficult all the officers will carry out your command,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But with all due respect sir, you havenÔÇÖt commanded a ship in 5 years.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I commanded the Phoenix two days ago!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I read the report, the only reason you took on the mission was because there was no one else available!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I will have you taken into custody if you do not stop!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£If you do we will lose this battle.ÔÇØ

For a moment, Gardna thought he would be thrown into the brig. Slowly he could see JonathanÔÇÖs features start to soften.

ÔÇ£I will keep command of the station; I will send you back to your ship,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir we canÔÇÖt do that, all of the fleet at the Jump gate are in position and the mine fields have been activated,ÔÇØ said an officer in Operations.

ÔÇ£Well then, if you can handle a change, I will give you another ship.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine, who will be the main Commanders?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I will command the fleet at the station; you will command the forces at the Wormhole to the Terran System. I will give Lieutenant Commander Mason command of the forces at the jump node.ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿYou are putting a Lieutenant Commander in charge of the forces that hold the fate of every terran life in this region?ÔÇØ asked one of the commanders in Operations.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Commander Mason is a very capable officer. She is the best, she is probably better than all of us put together,ÔÇØ snapped back Gardna.

ÔÇ£Now that, that is settled, I believe I will give you command of the Corsica.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ I will leave now,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good Luck,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander Gardna left and went to the transporter room. He transported over to the ship. He walked down the hall to the bridge. The bridge was different than the Antigone. The first officers did not have a chair. He stood at the map table with the communications officer. The Corsica was a Warmonger class Super Cruiser. She was designed with the battle in mind; a large-scale battle.

ÔÇ£All hands, this is Fleet Commander Ben Gardna. I am your new commander. It has been said of me that I demand too much out of my crew when we are not in wartimes. We are now at war, so I will demand even more out of you. I will expect nothing less than perfection. The dawn has come, ladies and gentlemen, battlestations.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir 5 minutes till the Gammulan fleet arrives,ÔÇØ said Corey Aster.

On the bridge of the Antigone the atmosphere was so tense. Carla Mason tried to maintain an awe of calm but she found herself succumbing to the pressure. She had to worry about the safety of not only her ship but the rest of the fleet under her command.

ÔÇÿFleet and ship status report,ÔÇØ ordered Mason for the umpteenth time.

ÔÇ£All weapons systems are online, All other systems are online, our fighter squadron is ready to launch. The fleet is ready sir,ÔÇØ replied Aster.

Sir the jumpgate is being activatedthey are coming

ÔÇ£12 Gammulan ships have jumped into the region!ÔÇØ said the flight officer on the Corsica.

The fleet has spotted them and are moving to engage,ÔÇØ stated the comm officer.

ÔÇ£Sir another 24 ships have jumped into the system,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£MOTHER activate Tacops computer and zoom in on the jumpgateÔÇØ ordered Gardna.

The viewscreen changed from a peaceful star filled sky to a violent apparition of light. ÔÇ£Battle Status?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have lost 5 ships they have lost 2,ÔÇØ reported the previous commander of the Corsica who was now the first officer.

ÔÇ£15 more ships have entered the region,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What the hell is going on over there?ÔÇØ inquired Ben Gardna.

ÔÇ£Sir our weapons seem to be having a minimal affect on their ships. I believe these ships have been highly upgraded. Their weapon rating is higher than our own,ÔÇØ answered the chief engineer.

ÔÇ£Let me see the weapon signatures,ÔÇØ

They are familiarwhere have I seen these beforehmmmoh my god comm officer get me Fleet Commander Mayfield now!

ÔÇ£Yes sir, heÔÇÖs answering, on screen.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What do you want Commander?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Gammulan ships are using Schutz weaponry.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Schutz? What the hell is a Schutz?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt have time to go through all of the details, all you need to know is that the Schutz are extremely powerful. I suggest you redeploy the fleet. I can sent my squadron to assist-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I am having the ships retreat; we donÔÇÖt need to put any more ships in danger,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir they wonÔÇÖt be able to make it out alive. They will be destroyed before they fully enter the jump anomaly!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I am giving you I direct order you will hold your position incase they decide to skip the station and head straight for Jupiter,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir, Gardna outÔÇØ

ÔÇ£12 more of our ships have been destroyed,ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿI donÔÇÖt know about you all but I will not sit around watching our friends get killed. Gardna to Prime Fleet Alpha Wing A, form up on the Corsica and prepare to engage the enemy,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, are you about to disregard the Fleet CommanderÔÇÖs orders?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm not about to write 5000 notes to all the families back on earth saying I could have saved them but I didnÔÇÖt,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wing A ready,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jump,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ETA?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£45 seconds,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Tactical prepare a list of enemy ships that are attacking our more heavily damaged ships and put them at the top of the priority list. Comm officer send the list to all other ships once the list is complete.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£15 seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Give us a count down,ÔÇØ

10987654321

The bridge of the Antigone was a mess and so was Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason. Several of the consoles on the bridge were offline. One of the support beams had crashed on the first officerÔÇÖs seat. No one had that position so no one was seriously hurt. Carla herself had gotten a cut on her from jumping out of the way of the beam. Her hair looked like it did in the morning. The power that the enemy ships possessed was far superior to the strength of Antigone, And she was upgraded to the max.

ÔÇ£Commander Mason, Fleet Commander Mayfield is ordering our fleet back to the stationÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Divide the fleet in half, more damaged and less damaged. I want the less damaged group to defend the more damaged and protect them as they jump away,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir the Ireland is under heavy fire,ÔÇØ

intercept course; How many ships?

ÔÇ£two,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How many vagrants do we have left?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£12,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Load 2 and lock FATAL on the starboard ship. Helm, rotate the ship so that the top is facing the port ship.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Entering weapons range,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fire vagrants, PTA open fire.

ÔÇ£Missiles away

ÔÇ£Decouple IODs and target each ship. Does the Ireland have engines?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Barely,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Deploy a shuttle and two fighters as escorts on my mark. Have the shuttle tow the ship to Wraith,ÔÇØ

On the viewscreen the enemy ship on the right exploded and the ship on the right turned to face its attacker.

ÔÇ£Attack Pattern Omega Nine,ÔÇØ

Antigone moved so that it was on a collision course with the other ship. Once it got within 500 meters it fired its IOD at maximum strength. Under that concentrated barrage its shields were forced to create a hole in them. Antigone then fired one missile through the hole. That was all it took to take out a reasonable section of the front of the other ship.

ÔÇÿLaunch the shuttle squad,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Shuttle and fighters launched,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs finish off that ship now, hard about full speed. Fire Ion disrupters,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The shuttle has grabbed the Ireland and is moving to jump.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Once the shuttle has jumped have the fighters move to missile defense for us.

ÔÇ£Sir 15 more enemy ships have entered the area.ÔÇØ

The bridge shook violently. Mason looked at her console. They were under attack by three cruisers. Their shields were already down to 47%.

ÔÇ£Bring all PTA tubes to bear and fire.ÔÇØ

Another explosion racked the bridge. Mason heard a piercing scream come from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Lieutenant Aster lying on the ground with burns all over his face. His station was completely destroyed.

ÔÇ£Ms. Davidson, transfer tactical control to my station. Mason to medibay, medics to the bridge. Helm, get us out of their weapons range!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Helm is not responding!ÔÇØ

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  • 2 months later...

*party boy takes away the book fox was reading*

Hey man.... I was reading that...

If your looking for comments on the story, it is a good story, i'm interested in how it turns out!

One suggestion though, the story does progress a bit fast through. But its still good

-=Fox=-

P.S. Theres your reply! what happens?!?!!?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Also sorry if some of the specfics are off or stupid like the United Alliance that would never happen. Oh crap I haven't posted that part yet. hehehe Anyway enjoy!

The Corsica gently exited hyperspace into hell. The wing of ships it had brought with them were already busy engaging the enemy ships.

Sir the Antigone

ÔÇ£I see it, Helm intercept course.ÔÇØ

Gardna typed something on a pad and gave it to the comm officer.

ÔÇ£Send this to Antigone using our highest encryption code.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, this is gibberish,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Your opinion was neither asked nor needed, send the message,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sorry sir, sending message,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Tactical destroy those ships,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£With pleasure sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Helm move us so that we take the shots,ÔÇØ

The Corsica maneuvered so that it was directly in front of the Antigone.

ÔÇ£Tactical officer, I want you to crack the transporter codes for the ship directly in front of us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye Sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir I am getting a reply from the Antigone,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Decode and route to my station,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir I have their code, I can keep up with this pattern for 45 more seconds then they switch to a different band.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Move us from in front of the Antigone,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir the Antigone is moving in a collision course for that ship!ÔÇØ

Transporter room, stand by to deploy the missile inside of their reactor. Comm give me a count down until the Antigone hits,ÔÇØ

10987,

ÔÇ£Stand by Transporter room,

32

Deploy,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£1,ÔÇØ

On the view screen, the enemy ship disappeared in a ball of fire along with the Antigone.

Sirboth ships have been completely destroyed.

ÔÇ£Is there any evidence that it survived?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£None sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good. Corsica to Hong Kong and Scylla, form up on us, Helm proceed to the jump gate.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We arenÔÇÖt going to go through the gate are we?!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, Corsica to Hong Kong and Scylla change your shield frequency to the one I am sending you.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They have acknowledged and have altered their shield frequency.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Have them move into a 20 meter delta formation with us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£20 meters!?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That will leave no margin for error.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Our three shields have created a static shield bubble.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Excellent, move us to within 50 meters of the Jump gate.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Once we are in range have the Hong Kong and the Scylla route every deciwatt of energy to us. Route all of that energy plus our own into the ion disruptor of our ship. Have the ion disruptor fire at the exact opposite frequency of our shields.

ÔÇ£Sir it will ricochet back and hit us!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We are in position, Fleet Commander

ÔÇ£Repeat fire IOD,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Firing,ÔÇØ

The lights on the bridge dimmed and then flashed back on. All of the consoles flickered, trying to find the power to keep themselves running.

ÔÇÿSir something is happening to the jump gate!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir the IOD is destabilizing! She was never designed to have this much power running through her for such a long time!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Send a repair crew to it to make repairs,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Operating on it while it is online could cause harm to the repair crew,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Send them, maintain fire,ÔÇØ

On the viewscreen the jumpgate flashed yellow.

ÔÇ£Cease fire and have the Hong Kong and Scylla stop routing power.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£LetÔÇÖs clean up, target the nearest enemy, intercept course.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Engaging,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, I think they know what we did, seven enemies are on a direct intercept course,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Route all available power to shields, open fire.ÔÇØ

The Corsica moved and engaged all seven enemy ships. The first wave of enemy ships consisted of 3 ships. After a concentrated missile, IOD and PTA fire the three ships were only flaming hulks.

The next wave was larger, four ships. A combination of IOD, PTA and missile fire was spewed at the Corsica. She managed to avoid alot of the IOD shots but she was unable to evade the missiles and PTA.

Quickly the shields were reduced to nothing; missiles slammed into the armor shattering it. The laser shots that scored hits on the hull scarred the hull and disrupted power. The missiles however not only shattered the armor but also pierced the hull. All over the ship alarms, blared announcing a hull breach was imminent. Then it happened. The left engine exploded in a shower of fire. Sparks and plasma spewed from the fresh wound. One missile went straight through the starboard IOD cannon. It exploded once it hit the back of it. It killed the repair crew working on it instantly. The shockwave from the explosions caused the bridge to shake so violently that Gardna thought the bridge would fall off from the rest of the ship.

ÔÇ£Helm, get us out of here!ÔÇØ yelled Gardna.

ÔÇ£Helm is not responding!ÔÇØ answered the pilot.

On the viewscreen a ship was accelerating very quickly towards them.

ÔÇ£Fire dorsal thrusters,ÔÇØ

The ship slowly tried to duck under the colliding ship. However their efforts were thwarted. The enemy ship slammed into the top of the Corsica. The pilot managed to turn the ship so that it did not plow the ship in half. The enemy ship scraped the front part of the first two decks off. It kept going until it hit the starboard engine. It scarped that off and scraped the starboard side off all the decks. The last thing Gardna remembered was one of the support beams falling towards him.

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The Gammulan fleet sat silently at the gate to Lyrius. Unbeknown to them a Galcom ship slowly flew among them.

On the bridge of the Antigone, everyone was tense. System engineers, repairing damage done at the Battle for Wriath, scoured the bridge.

ÔÇ£Now what is the ship count?ÔÇØ asked Mason.

ÔÇ£Current count is 3538,ÔÇØ announced Douglas at the tactical station. She had taken over tactical ever since Corey Aster was in Medibay.

ÔÇ£Even with every ship Galcom has, we could never defeat a force that big,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That is why Fleet Commander Gardna sent us to convince the Zelons and the Credians to help us.

ÔÇ£Who even knows if they survived. The Zelon Homeworld is along the route to the Terran Quadrant,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well we have to hope, how soon until we can jump?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Unknown, engineering is still having trouble with the reactor,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We donÔÇÖt have enough iridium or radiation control units to travel at sublight speeds through out this entire sector. Mason to Engineering,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How long before we can jump?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£15 minutes,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Make it 7, Mason out. I am going to the ready room,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wait sir, a ship seems to be attempting to track us. It is swerving around our ion trail,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How, I thought I ordered minimal ion sigs,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You did,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander, I donÔÇÖt think they are following our ion trail, but our connection to our two fighters. We still have a computer lock on them,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Get rid of it, disable the connection,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Connection disabled. The ship has stopped following us and has resumed formation with the fleet.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus to bridge, you can jump when you are ready,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Excellent, navigation plot a course to the next jump node and transfer to the conn,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Course plotted and transferred to the conn.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jump,ÔÇØ

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ÔÇ£-to anyone, This is the Galactic Command Medical ship Munica to the Corsica, is anyone alive over there?ÔÇØ

Gardna woke up to a pounding in his head and in his left foot. He couldnÔÇÖt feel his right.

Slowly he opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of death. From what he saw he figured out he was leaning against the helm console. Directly ahead was the commanderÔÇÖs chair, or what was left of it. A support beam that fell had crushed the back and seat of the chair. It had swung down and crushed the chair to the back wall, where the map table was. There was a large fire on it. Gardna could see various dismembered bodies being consumed by the fire. Quickly he shut his eyes, but knew he had a new mission. Slowly he tried to figure out what worked and what didnÔÇÖt. He had feeling in both his hands. There were no broken bones. Next he checked his legs. He had internal bleeding in his left and his right leg was broke in two places. He activated his emergency mode of his wrist analyzer. All the pain left his body. The emergency mode released a chemical into the blood stream. It changed the neurons of the body so that they believed they were part of a healthy body. This made him immune to the pain, but for a short while.

He crawled over to where his chair was. The actual chair was gone but the consoles attached to the sides of the chair were still there. He reached up and hit the comm button.

ÔÇ£This is Ben Gardna,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ben, my god, we thought we were dead, this is Karl Falman, are you alright?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I am ok; give me a status report,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The fleet managed to destroy the remaining Gammulans ships that were in the area. The Jump gate appears to have been disabled. No ship has been able to go through it.,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good, now transport the injured to your ship,ÔÇØ

ÔÇÿWe can get everyone but not you. There is a lot of radiation on the bridge that its interfering with our transporters. We are sending a medical staff to stabilize you and add transport enhancers.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll be waiting.ÔÇØ

It only took a couple of minutes for the medical staff to arrive with their security escorts. They mended him as best they could then they attached a transport enhancer. Next thing Gardna knew, he was being swallowed up by a rainbow.

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ÔÇÿCommander Mason to the bridge,ÔÇØ called out MOTHER.

ÔÇ£This is Mason, what is it?ÔÇØ

We have arrived in the Zelon systemyou may want to come out here,

Mason looked up from the computer and looked out of the window. From out of the window she couldnÔÇÖt see what the fuss was about. She got up and went to the bridge.

What do you want Lieute-, said Mason before she saw the viewscreen, Is that,

ÔÇ£Zelona Prime, or what is left of it,ÔÇØ

On the viewscreen were several parts that looked like they once fit together to make a sphere, or in this case a planet. There was a large fragment that looked to be the main part of the planet. It reminded Carla Mason of an apple with a bite taken out of it.

ÔÇ£I know the answer but, any life signs?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£None, I am however not reading in organic material that would be from an intelligent species,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£So you mean you canÔÇÖt find any bodies or body parts,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Correct,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where could they have gone?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Unknown,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We canÔÇÖt stay here, we need to go talk to the Credians; hopefully they survived,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Setting course,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wait, I want weapons signatures,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Working on it, it will take 30 minutes,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jump in to a denser part of the asteroid field, and decloak the ship,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Once that is completed I want a senior staff meeting,ÔÇØ

Mason went into the ready room to prepare her speech. It had to be convincing enough to force the Credians to help them in there fight against the Gammulans. The Credians have always claimed neutrality whenever the Terrans and Gammulans got into any sort of fight. She had to change that.

The thirty minutes passed quickly for Mason. She found a quote from the Treaty of Khan. She managed to build 10 more minutes of speech out of it. She saved it then left for the Conference room.

When she arrived the entire senior staff was deep in conversation. They stopped once they saw Mason enter.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Aster, what have you found?ÔÇØ asked Mason as she sat down.

ÔÇ£I have analyzed and reanalyzed the weapons signatures, I even had Douglas look them over.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well who did it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Schutz,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How did the Schutz find their way into the normal channels? They kept to the flux fields because that is all they knew about.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Perhaps they came through one of the flux fields that are in a normal system,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Maybe, but I donÔÇÖt want to stay in this system any longer, Jump to the Wormhole towards Credia then cloak the ship before we go through,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We should have enough radine and iridium to stay undetected until we get there The trip home is another story.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Alright we will work with what we have, dismissed,ÔÇØ

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Ben Gardna woke up to the sound three people talking.

ÔÇ£-disobeyed a direct order,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£-caused the destruction of over 28 ships!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£-would have been higher had it not been for him!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You two will have to leave my medibay if you wish to continue your discussion!ÔÇØ

Fleet Commander Ben Gardna heard a door open and footsteps going away from him. Once the door closed he heard someone sigh then walk towards him.

ÔÇ£I am glad you didnÔÇÖt have to hear that,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Who says I didnÔÇÖt?ÔÇØ answered Gardna groggily.

ÔÇ£I assume you didnÔÇÖt read the briefing about the emergency feature of your wrist device,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, I skimmed it.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Next time you read it. It said that the function is only to be used when there are no major lacerations. Once you use the drug it makes the brain think it is still healthy so it continues to tell your heart to pump blood throughout your body until all the blood leaves your body.ÔÇØ

Thanks for the recitation Doctor

ÔÇ£Williams. And before you ask you are onboard the station. All I know is that you were beamed with the wounded and you had a priority marker on you.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you.ÔÇØ

The door opened and Gardna looked to see who it was. He tried to sit up but the pain was unbearable. From what he saw before he collapsed on the bed was of a sullen Kevin.

ÔÇ£Hey you, how are you feeling?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where is the Antigone, you were onboard it, oh my god what time is it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down. I am sorry to be the one to tell you but she was destroyed with all hands except a couple of marines and three other pilots and myself. We were launched to protect and secure another ship before she was destroyed. I thought you knew,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The time, what is the time?!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Its 0145 hours,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£OK good, We still have 14 hours,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£14 hours till what?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wait the Antigone was destroyed before the Corsica right?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yeah,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£OK I need to speak with Mayfield,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Something tells me he will be right along.ÔÇØ

The doors to the medibay opened and Mayfield walked in, flanked by two marines.

ÔÇ£Commander Mayfield, we need to get the fleet back in shape, we have to-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have to do nothing, as of this time, you are under arrest for disobeying a direct order from a superior officer and causing the destruction of the Marshall, Marcus, Bonin, Petersburg, Monticello and the Corsica.

ÔÇ£They were part of the Wing you took to assist,ÔÇØ whispered Kevin when Gardna looked dumbfounded at Mayfield.

ÔÇ£You will be taken to the detention hold until after we finish the Gammulans; when we will have your court martial.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Why wait,ÔÇØ said Gardna appealing to Mayfield sense of assurance, ÔÇ£Lets start now.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You know Galcom rules state that a court martial can only be held 36 hours after the charges have been given to the accused.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You have never been a stickler for rules, letÔÇÖs get it over with. The sooner its done, the sooner you can send me to the penal colony on Io.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine, you have one hour to prepare yourself. my guards will escort you to all the places you need.ÔÇØ

Mayfield walked out of the room.

ÔÇ£What are you going to do?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Beat him at his own game. I need you to get me the station sensor data from the battle along with the data recorder from the Corsica.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I will try.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you, one more thing, can I use your room on the station to work?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes, and how did you know I had a room on the station?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mayfield wouldnÔÇÖt have reassigned someone who knew me to another ship, he will keep you separate from the battle as much as possible, and close to him, so that your testimony will be kept ÔÇ£validÔÇØ.

ÔÇ£Ahh, that is why you wear the command pips.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Lets go,ÔÇØ motioned Gardna to the guards.

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Antigone was one region away from the Credian Homeworld. The ion trails all led towards the Homeworld.

ÔÇ£Now we see if our mission was truly founded,ÔÇØ said Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason while staring at the jump node.

ÔÇ£All systems and hands are reporting ready, sir,ÔÇØ announced Ensign Cooper.

All eyes rested on Mason, waiting silently for her to give the command.

ÔÇ£Drop the cloak and take us in Mr. Cooper.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, we donÔÇÖt know what is on the other side!ÔÇØ replied Cooper. He turned around at his console and stared at her.

ÔÇ£Follow my order Ensign,ÔÇØ

For a moment Dave Cooper just looked at her in disbelief. All she did was stare out into space by way of the bridge viewer. When he figured out that she wouldnÔÇÖt change her mind he turned around and followed through with his orders.

ÔÇ£Aye sir, cloaking system offline,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Engineering to Bridge, the cloak just went offline.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We know, Bridge out. Take us in Ensign.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Engaging engines. Inter-system transit in 15 seconds.ÔÇØ

Quickly, the ever looming jump node that haunted Carla MasonÔÇÖs dreams grew ever closer.

Then a flash. A second of peace then the alarms blared.

ÔÇ£Warning Mine Field detected!ÔÇØ blared MOTHER, ÔÇ£Sigma class mines detected.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sigma class?! All stop!ÔÇØ said Mason with surprise. Sigma class mines had a high detonation yield when destroyed and had turrets mounted on them to shoot at ships.

ÔÇ£I am detecting over a thousand ships and counting!ÔÇØ said Aster who recently returned from medibay, recovering from injuries.

ÔÇ£Who are they?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£One secondÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We donÔÇÖt have a second, are they targeting us?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not yet,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir they are Credian and Zelonian ships, of all types. I am reading military, journalists, tourists, paramedics, diplomats, raiders, hackers, and a lot more.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hail them,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They are responding, audio only,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ship, leave this system at once,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That is it sir,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What are we going to do?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Lets see,ÔÇØ said Mason as she paced infront of the viewscreen. ÔÇ£Wait! He might still be here and he should still have some influence,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Who?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£A friend, a good friend, someone we can trust, Lieutenant search the ships here for Credian diplomats,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I have six ships meeting those criteria.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Send the list to me down here,ÔÇØ Mason sat down in her chair and brought up her command console.

ÔÇ£This is it, Communications hail this ship,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No response,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£As expected, send this message as text, ÔÇ£We are Starfleet officers, weird is part of the job,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sending message, we are being hailed,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£On scr-, wait,ÔÇØ Mason ran a hand through her hair then smoothed out all of the wrinkles out of her uniform. She then unzipped the top of her uniform a bit, just enough to show a little cleavage.

ÔÇ£Just to give him a bit of a peep show,ÔÇØ thought Mason.

ÔÇ£On screen,ÔÇØ

A Credian Male appeared on the screen. By the stripes on his shoulder, it was known that he was a very high-ranking diplomat.

ÔÇ£Why you blue blooded son of a Gammulan!ÔÇØ shouted Mason at him.

ÔÇ£You half wit Valkerie scum!ÔÇØ the Credian yelled back.

ÔÇ£Tamin!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Carla! Where in the third moon of Gammula have you been?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Oh everywhere, Galcom knows how to keep a gal busy,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Speaking of busy where is that commander of yours? Drunk, I hope not? That man could never hold his Credian ale,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£He is not onboard,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£So who is in command? Not you? Galcom did not put a warship under the command of a little girl?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£This little girl certainly taught you a lesson of Io. You do remember. We decided to race fighters and you ended up-ÔÇØ Mason burst into a fit of laughter

ÔÇ£Well put, your promotion is deserved.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you. I need to speak with the Credian Parliament.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£There is no more Parliament.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No Parliament? What happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Perhaps we should talk about this in person.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine, we will jump to you.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, I will come to you. Whose ship should we go to?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, we met in your ship last time.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No we went to your ship.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, remember we all got drunk in your ready room and you ended up running naked around your-ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£OK, I will come to your ship, Tamin out.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir his ship is maneuvering to an intercept course.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ETA?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£At their current rate, 15 minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mason to Marcus,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marcus here,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£How are repairs coming along?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Most of the repairs are complete, we havenÔÇÖt however cleared the debris through out most of the ship.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£That is your new priority, I want deck one to be spotless.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir, I will send a team up immediately, Marcus out.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Alert me once his ship gets in range, I will be in the ready room.ÔÇØ

Carla Mason went into the ready room to clean up the place. She had to make it look beautiful. Once she finished tiding up she sat down at the desk and pulled up the diplomatic protocols on her computer. She had to make sure she did everything by the book and pull every string she could to get Tamin to agree to let her see the government group. She had barely enough time to skim a quarter of it when her comm called out.

ÔÇ£Bridge to Mason, they have arrived. They are asking permission to transport onboard.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Have the transporter operator stand by, I will go and meet them.ÔÇØ

Mason got up and looked around the room. It was spotless. ÔÇ£This just might work,ÔÇØ thought Mason.

She arrived in the transporter room a short time later. She ran her hand through her hair and down the front of her uniform. Then with a nod the transporter activated and one Credian stood on it. Carla Mason walked up to him and just starred into his eyes. She then lashed out with the back of her hand. He retaliated with his fist. Even with the severity of the hit Carla didnÔÇÖt move an inch. Tamin reached out and grabbed her in a big bear hug. Mason hugged back with equal strength. Just as quickly as the hug started it stopped.

ÔÇ£So what is this about no Credian government?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Perhaps we should talk somewhere more private,ÔÇØ he nodded towards the flight engineer controlling the transporter.

ÔÇ£Ok, lets go to my ready room,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It was a short jaunt to the room that both of them knew and loved. They arrived in the ready room and both of them fell on the couch next to the window.

ÔÇ£So what is this about no Credian Parliament?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Maybe I should start the story at the beginning.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Best idea I have heard today.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£As you know, due to my efforts, the Credian and Zelonian governments have never been closer.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wait, due to your efforts? Last time I checked both governments wanted your head. If it hadnÔÇÖt been for the efforts of the commander and me you would be dead.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Anyway, a fleet at one of the outlying sectors of the Credian government facing the Gammulan Empire was attacked. The Credian government found the report. The fleet was massive. Even if the Zelons and Credians used their combined fleet it wouldnÔÇÖt be enough. They knew that they would attack the rest of their planets along the route to Earth and along with Zelona Prime. They warned the Zelons and offered them shelter in their inner sectors. The fleet that was attacked was ordered to continue fight while they evacuated the other planets. Due to their sacrifice, all of the civilians from the hot zones were saved. Both governments met and knew they had to create a new government. They created the United Alliance. As you can see, all of the moons are filled with refugees. The Homeworld itself is bursting with populace.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But this has to be more than just a couple of planets on the outskirt?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You are right. One of the first things the council did was order everyone back to the Homeworld and mine the gates as you can see.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, I need to speak with this Council.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ha! I donÔÇÖt even know who is on the Council; no one is allowed to meet with them!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well you are going to need to pull some strings, pull some triggers and pull some engine exhaust.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£For you, I will try. Why do you need to talk to them?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Because in, MOTHER, how much time is left?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fourteen hours, twelve minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£When that time runs out the combined Galcom fleet will leave Lyrius and attack the Gammulan fleet. Either two things will happen: one, the fleet attacks and is slaughtered. Once the Galcom fleet is defeated, they will have a straight shot to Earth and her territories. Trillions will be dead. They will then turn their attention back towards the Credian quadrant. I doubt they will leave the Drodian quadrant alone. If were just their current fleet size and resources, I would doubt they could destroy the Drodians and the Syrions. But with over ┬¥ of the Galaxy under their control who knows. Or option two, I convince this new Unified Alliance to help us. Our combined fleets could crush them in the center. And if we decide to we will chase them all the way back to their Homeworld. And we make sure they are never become a threat to this galaxy againÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You are very convincing, lets see how you do in front of them.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I will escort you to the transporter room.ÔÇØ

Tamin got up and left through the door and Mason followed behind.

ÔÇ£Now if only convincing the council will be that easy,ÔÇØ thought Mason.

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ÔÇ£Can I get you something to drink?ÔÇØ asked Kevin.

ÔÇ£hmm?ÔÇØ answered Ben Gardna without looking up from the stack of padds he had on Kevins desk.

ÔÇ£I said can I get you something to drink?ÔÇØ

yeahwhatever.

ÔÇ£It is getting pretty hot in here, IÔÇÖm just going to strip nude ok?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well if you are going to, do it slowly,ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jerk!ÔÇØ said Kevin as he threw a pillow at Gardna.

ÔÇ£Ok if you want to play it this way!ÔÇØ

Gardna jumped up and tackled Kevin, throwing both of them on the couch.

ÔÇ£No I want to play it this way!ÔÇØ Kevin kissed him hard.

Ben pulled back. ÔÇ£I thought you said never again.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£When I left you I learned an important lesson on my voyages, ÔÇ£Never leave something when it still tastes good to you; someone else will take it.ÔÇØ Kevin kissed him again.

ÔÇ£Fleet Commander Gardna it is time for your court marshal.ÔÇØ

Gardna looked up over the couch at the door. Two marines were waiting. He jumped up and so did Kevin.

ÔÇ£No, you stay here, make sure the fleet is repaired,ÔÇØ said Gardna when Kevin started to follow him.

ÔÇ£Oh wait, your datapadd,ÔÇØ said Kevin

ÔÇ£Thank you,ÔÇØ

The marines at the door moved out of the way when Gardna walked towards them. As soon as he passed them Gardna stopped and whispered to them.

ÔÇ£If you tell anyone what you saw today I will make sure you wish you were dead. Even if I am court marshaled I will make sure you wish you were on Gammula Prime.ÔÇØ

Gardna kept walking. The marines turned to each other and starred at each other then ran to catch up with him.

It was a short jaunt to the conference room where the court martial would take place. Mayfield was nice enough to put it on the same deck as KevinÔÇÖs quarters.

Gardna walked in a sat in a chair on the opposite end of Mayfield and two Fleet Commanders.

ÔÇ£The Court Marshal of Fleet Commander Benjamin Carlos Gardna on 3/5/ 3012 is called to order. MOTHER begin recording.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£acknowledged.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The charges brought against the accused are as follows: disobeying a direct order from a superior officer and causing the destruction of the Antigone, Marshall, Marcus, Bonin, Petersburg, Monticello and the Corsica. How does the accused wish to plea?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not Guilty.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Let the record show that the accused pleaded not guilty. Now the presentation of the prosecution case.ÔÇØ

The evidence presented against Gardna was overwhelming. But all Gardna needed was one piece which he had with him.

ÔÇ£Does the accused have any evidence against these charges?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes, I would like to bring into evidence the record of court marshals against me. According to the record I have been court marshaled a total of 6 times.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What does this have to do with the charges against you now, not ten years ago?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I wish to show that I have been brought up on trump charges before, and that a member of the court martial council is biased and should be removed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You canÔÇÖt do this!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes he can, proceed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£All six of the times I have been brought up on charges, the officer who accused me was Fleet Commander Jonathan Mayfield.

This same Fleet Commander Mayfield was engaged to my research officer onboard the Antigone. The Antigone was not destroyed. She cloaked before she hit the other ship. The Antigone left through the jumpgate to negotiate an alliance with the Credians and Zelons. We wonÔÇÖt be able to win this war alone. It is my belief that the Fleet Commander is trying to hold me responsible for her death and that is what this court martial is about. Bringing me to justice for her death.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Liar! You sent her to her death! You should have reassigned her to the station! She should have never been that close to the front lines!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Marines please confine Fleet Commander Mayfield to the detention hold, where he will await his court martial regarding the slanderization of Fleet Commander Gardna and his psychological reevaluation.ÔÇØ

The marines aimed their guns at Mayfield.

ÔÇ£You wonÔÇÖt get away with this.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The truth has gotten away.ÔÇØ

The marines escorted Mayfield out of the room.

ÔÇ£So what do we do?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, there seems to be only one thing to do. MOTHER let the record show that as of this time Ben Gardna is given command of Wraith and her fleet and the charges brought against him have been dropped.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Acknowledged.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you. But we have work to do. I want both of you to head up repairs to the fleet. I will be in Operations if you need me.ÔÇØ

Gardna got up and left.

ÔÇ£Gardna to Kevin, report to Ops as soon as you can. Gardna out.ÔÇØ

His job had just been made a lot easier.

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Carla Mason sat on the bridge and waited. She had the handful of reports to read to distract her. She had always wanted to be a commander, but all this paper work made her regret it.

ÔÇ£Sir, a large fleet of military ships is moving this way.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Credians and Zelons?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes. Sir the mine field has just been deactivated.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What are they planning?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They could have agreed to the meeting and are about to escort us to their councilÔÇÖs location.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They could be deactivating their mines so they arenÔÇÖt accidentally destroyed when they destroy us.ÔÇØ

Well we are about to find out; they are entering weapons range they arent firing.

ÔÇ£Hail Tamin.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No response.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Maybe they are waiting to board us, or get close enough so that the laser shots have the most intensity.ÔÇØ

They are at 5 kilometers and still coming.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Go to condition yellow and raise shields to 50%.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir they have passed us and are maintaining orbit around the jump gate.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What is going on?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir the starstation is hailing us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£On screen.ÔÇØ

The face of Tamin appeared on the viewscreen.

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Commander Mason, the council has agreed to see you, please dock at the station.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I can see them? how did you convince them?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I had to make some sacrifices; one of them is that I have to leave the Credian system.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm so sorry. Where will you go?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt know, maybe go visit the Mandorians.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I could use a specialist who knows about this new form of government.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Why would I want to join a crew filled with Terrans?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Because you have no other choice.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you, I think I will. I will come onboard once you dock. Tamin out.ÔÇØ

TaminÔÇÖs face disappeared from the forward viewer and was replaced by stars.

ÔÇ£Helm set course for the station full sublight, and Mr. Aster prepare the guest quarters.ÔÇØ

After a few minutes the ship arrived at the station and docked without incident.

Mason changed into her formal uniform and gathered her datapadds. She went to the transporter room. She had to meet Tamin and see him onboard then she had to wait for her guards. Her guards and Lieutenant Aster entered. She nodded at the engineer who operated the transporter. The engineer pressed a series of buttons. A tube of light appeared on one of the pads in the room. After it dissipated Tamin appeared.

ÔÇ£Tamin, Welcome.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Permission to come onboard?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Granted. I will be onboard the station if you need me; Lieutenant Aster will show you to your quarters.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you, and good luck.ÔÇØ

Mason stepped up on the padd with her guards.

ÔÇ£Energize.ÔÇØ

She appeared in a hallway of the station. Then a Credian with one Credian guard and one Zelon came from around the corner.

ÔÇ£Please follow me.ÔÇØ

Mason and her guards followed them to a large set of blast doors. Outside the door were numerous guards and automated turrets.

After going through a series of tests to verify their identity they were allowed to go into the next room. They also had to leave their weapons in the other room.

Their was one chair in the center of the middle of a half circle. The entire room was white. Mason moved towards the center seat and sat. The marines flanked on either side of Carla Mason.

Then a door in the front opened and eight people walked out. They moved around the circle and sat in seats equal distance from one another. Their entire body was hidden from view. All of them looked exactly alike. Mason couldnÔÇÖt see the signs of the a common difference between Credians and Zelons. Zelons are much shorter than the 3 meter tall Credian. Credians also had three horns at the top of their head that met at the top to form a triangular pyramid.

Carla Mason was about to speak then all of them stood up. They then said with one voice:

ÔÇ£Lieutenant Commander Carla Mason of the Galactic Command Vessel Antigone, why have you disturbed this council?ÔÇØ

Mason stood up and straightened her robe.

ÔÇ£I on behalf of the Galactic Command Council, ask that the Unified Alliance help us in vanquishing our common foe. We have heard of their ruthless attacks on your planets for we have felt the same attacks. The Gammulans are a malignant tumor on a Galactic scale.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Gammulans attacked every planet on their way to you terrans. It is this councils opinion that they have ceased their attacks on us,ÔÇØ they replied in an eirie voice that made a shiver go down Carla MasonÔÇÖs back.

ÔÇ£This is not going to be so easy,ÔÇØ thought Mason.

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