Dawnbreaker Episode III/Part 7

CHAPTER 19: The Gathering

SAKI SYSTEM - ORBITING THE OUTERMOST PLANET

Captain Zerik stood motionless at the bridge of the Black Dawn, staring out the viewport at the endless fleet assembling before his very eyes. Imperial Star Destroyers, Republic Mon Calamari Cruisers, TEC Kol Battleships, Ekatra warships the likes of which Zerik had never seen before, and even vessels from several smaller planetary security forces that had managed to find out about the meeting. Even a few of the local Hutt crime lords had dispatched delegations. And at the center of it all was the damaged Super Star Destroyer that was serving as central meeting area for the many leaders.

"I've never seen so many ships." he remarked.

"I doubt there's ever been a gathering like this in our lifetime." commented the lieutenant standing beside him.

"I can just imagine what is going on in that conference room..." Zerik wondered.

"So," Patricia began, glancing around at everyone, "I think we should skip the formalities and get right down to business. We are all here for the same reasons, are we not?"

There was an unspoken reply of agreement. The cast of characters in the room was as diverse as the ships outside, with Humans and aliens of all shapes and sizes.

"Before we begin discussing the details, perhaps we should appoint a chairman to head the meeting?" suggested a captain from one of the several planetary militias present.

"Ferenn," an Imperial officer merely stated.

"I second it." Grage chimed in, although he was very much expecting the non-Imperial delegates to nominate their own people.

"We third it," Diablo added, and Patricia nodded in agreement.

Braji, having not known any of the men at the meeting long enough, simply said, "Very well."

No one else offered any other suggestions, as they seemed content with the massive man as the Chairman.

"I think that settles it," Patricia stated, "Commander, if you will."

The Imperial cadre was clearly pleased to have their man chairing the meeting, even if it was nothing more than a ceremonial position. General Ferann, his full imposing figure taking the center of attention, spoke: "Thank you. As our first order of business, we should determine the specifications of our alliance's command structure. That would include the governing body, as well as the military hierarchy."

He paused and glanced at Braji and the Republic men.

"We won't require you to give up your structure if you don't want to, however; the rest of us are prepared to unify into a single organization. This will help us maintain better order and efficiency."

"I think we should have a council of leaders from the respective factions," Patricia input.

"I agree." Braji replied to Patricia. "The Republic will help you in this war, but we will not become one with the Remnant."

At that moment, Braji realized something: The New Republic was little more than a remnant at this point as well...

Perhaps a coincidence, but Patricia's next comment was, "In order for this to work, we may have to all become one, ruled by said council."

"To say that the New Republic would be becoming one with the Empire, or vice-versa, would be to inaccurately portray the situation." Ferann opined, "Both factions instead are consenting to give up their individual sovereignty to join with a central authority whose goal is the defeat of our common foe. If we continue to stand divided, then we shall each fall divided."

"And who is the 'central authority'? A council of leaders, as was just suggested?"

"That would be our best option," Patricia stated.

"Presumably, yes. The council would, for now, allow each former faction representation, and from there would create a new, single command structure for our military forces." Ferann explained. "The problem is how much representation each government is allowed." a man from one of the local militias stated.

"I agree. We can't allow any one faction to gain too much power," Patricia added, which drew a nod of approval from Diablo.

"Perhaps each delegation should provide one representative on the council?" a Rodian, speaking on behalf of his Hutt boss, suggested.

The Imperials clearly did not approve of that suggestion, feeling that the Empire deserved more power than a few local organizations that offered little to the alliance.

"That seems too simplistic," Diablo said firmly, "We'll need something a bit more firm than that, otherwise majority rules, and no offense meant to the smaller factions present, but only a select few of us truly have experience in this type of situation."

"Exactly. And we must take into account overall size and how much military might is being contributed by each organization." an Imperial admiral added in agreement.

"How strong is your remnant now? The Republic has less than a dozen fleets left." Braji asked.

Ferann glanced over at another Imperial officer, whom he had charged the task of assessing the Empire's losses and remaining strength.

"Most of the Bastion Home Defense Fleet, along with parts of various sector fleets. We also managed to get a evacuate a good number of ground personnel, vehicles and civilians." the man reported.

"The ES was hit the hardest out of us all," Patricia said with a tone of faded humor, "We lost literally every single one of our defense fleets and most of our attack fleets, along with all of our high-tech craft."

"I managed to salvage the design for the Alpha Karavan Destroyer, which has high shields and decent armor, but standard weapons. It'll be easy to produce and has low crew requirements, so it could serve as a mainstay in our fleet," she added with a touch of optimism.

"Most of the Ekatra managed to survive," Diablo interjected, "But are in hiding from the Empire. It'll take some heavy negotiations to even have the slightest chance to get the rest of them to join us."

"As for the TEC, our flagship managed to escape, along with some of our Capital ships and industrial cruisers, but the rest of our fleet is deceased. Though we still have a strong economy," Ron stated. "Unrelated, but I think this needs to be addressed..." Ron suddenly began, looking at the Imperials, "If we are to survive, some of us are going to have to put our egos aside and stop referring to ourselves as superior to everyone else."

Then he turned to the New Republic officials: "And some of us are going to need to not try and turn everything into a debate over moral ethics and politics," he said.

"Bravo," Patricia added, clapping her hands a few times.

The meeting continued for the rest of the night and into the next day, with endless debates, arguments, discussions and compromises, between both leaders of former rival factions and individuals within the same organization alike. Finally, the participants decided upon a system of military government, headed by a high council of seven members, in which the Imperials enjoyed the most representatives, despite efforts to try and balance the power. A new command structure was formed, with the heads of each military and civilian branch being one of the council members. Plans for territorial claims, production of new military equipment, and a defense strategy were all discussed. New uniforms, to symbolize the unity of all the former governments, were ordered to be designed, along with an emblem to represent the new faction. And the name of this new faction was the United Coalition of Free Systems...

CHAPTER 20: Blood Trail

Captain O'Neill made her way down to the flight deck, and found the amigos of the Black Knights gathered around one of their guests. With the other in the Brig, a dead crewman, and a rather large fleet hovering nearby, she was not in a good mood. "Johnson! Escort our guest down to the Brig. I don't want to have to go over things twice," she ordered as soon as she was close enough.

Chris blinked. He wasn't expecting that.

"Uh oh..." Sakura said. "She's got that look."

"Yea..." Reanna replied. "Something's up."

"Last time she had that look was after we dealt with that Cat battlegroup," William added. "Sure we won, but ol' Thrak'hath dang near tore us a new one in the process."

Chris blinked again at the mention of the Kilrathi Crown Prince, but decided to ask about it later. He turned to Ty, shrugged, and motioned for him to follow. He followed wordlessly, just wanting to get the chance to speak with the captain. It wasn't long before the group arrived in the Brig. The other members of the Black Knights decided to tag along, wondering what was going on. Captain O'Neill stepped in front of the one occupied cell and cross her arms across her chest.

As soon as Ty saw who was in the cell, he chuckled slightly. "That fool... what did he do now?" he said to himself at the sight of the imprisoned Assailant.

"Looks like you've assembled quite the party." The Assailant said, "Is there nothing else for them all to do? Like say, oh I don't know, track down the intruder on your ship?"

O'Neill just stood there. The Black Knights look around, wondering what the Assailant meant by intruder.

The Assailant stood up, and walked closer to O'Neill. "It's O'Neill, isn't it?" He said, remembering her from last year, and Akates, "As I told your officer...I was walking down the hall, and was attacked. We fought, your engineer showed up, and the rest is history. She was wearing that." He finished, pointing at the headset the Captain was holding.

"Dude... how do you even know about us?" William asked before the Captain could respond. Chris just face-palmed at the outburst, but was actually thinking the same thing himself.

"I was here on your ship just last year..." The Assailant growled. "I was with your Captain and him," he said pointing at Rattler, "When we escaped Akates."

Chris suddenly had a memory pop up of him getting...

"YOU SHOT ME!" he shouted.

"Had to be done." The Assailant responded simply. "I never did understand why they had a special interest in you...Doesn't matter now."

Chris just leaned against the bulkhead, muttering about kicking someone in the asteroids. Captain O'Neill, however, kept her eyes on the Assailant. "You're apparently familiar with this technology. Who's is it?" she asked, wanting the information straight from the source.

"Your 'guests'. They call themselves the 'Hydrae Alliance'....I ran into them once. Long time ago. Whoever was wearing that had a cloaking device that was disabled when I removed that." The Assailant replied, gesturing at the device. "I expect there are more of them here on the ship. They could just be spying on you....Or worse, they could be preparing a surprise attack."

"Ok... why would they want to pick a fight with strangers anyways?" Sean asked.

"No idea. Why don't you ask them?" The Assailant replied.

O'Neill didn't budge. "I'd prefer to avoid a confrontation with a numerically superior force if at all possible," she said flatly.

"No amount of diplomacy is gunna help you if the other side insists on making trouble, captain." Ty suddenly injected coldly.

"I am not going to take any action against anyone without provocation or evidence," O'Neill shot back. "They have not made any obvious moves against us, and the only proof of their actions is this man's word and a broken piece of equipment. Not exactly a solid case."

"You just better hope they haven't crippled your ability to defend yourselves by the time you actually find out what their intentions are." the merc deadpanned, "But that isn't my problem."

"You wanna try and work for us?" Chris replied. "Then it might be your problem. Why don't you try and find this mystery spy person and bring him in? Preferably alive."

"Now you're talking my language." Ty perked up, "Assuming your captain approves?"

"Her." The Assailant corrected Chris.

Chris blinked. "Her?" he asked. Reanna rolled her eyes, and turned to the Assailant. "Got a description for Rambo here to work off of?" she asked, hiking a thumb at Ty.

The Assailant hit his forehead into the glass out of frustration. "Where have you been? I told you it was a woman just a minute ago." He explained.

"Yea... well... half the crew fits that description," Reanna countered. "Hell... that description fits our Captain. Gonna need more than that."

"She's wearing all-black, and possibly bleeding."

Chris looked at Ty. "That enough for ya?" he asked the merc. "Odds are, she'll be avoiding any Confed personnel."

"Blood trail." Ty stated simply, "If I can get to where this scuffle happened, it should be easy to track this intruder from there."

"The Terrans should be able to show you the place...Unless they've forgotten already." The Assailant muttered.

"I wasn't there," Chris replied, before looking at the Captain.

"I'll have Commander Reynolds meet you on the Flight Deck," she told the Merc as she made for a wall mounted comm unit.

"Right then." Ty acknowledged, already heading out the door.

Mustang had gotten the call, and was already on the Flight Deck waiting for Ty.

"You the one who's supposed to show me scene of the crime?" the merc asked.

"Yea... this way," Reynolds said. "The Cap'n mentioned that this perp might be avoiding anyone in a Confed uniform now. She's plannin' on organizing some marines to sweep through the corridors too. Might flush 'er out."

"Good. Lead on then." the merc responded.

Reynolds lead the merc to the site, still relatively untouched as they really haven't had much time to do more than secure the area and move the body out.

Ty began looking around, searching for any sign of blood other than the obvious splatters in the middle of the room. He noted a few tiny drops on the floor down one of the halls, the hall that the intruder had escaped down in fact, and began to follow a very faint trail.

Reynolds gave the merc some space, but followed him in case he needed some help.

The blood trail grew more obvious the farther they followed it down the hall. The trail took an abrupt right turn, and under a closed door.

Ty looked up at Reynolds and motioned for her to come over.

"You have a weapon?" he asked, checking over his shotgun briefly as he took position beside the door.

Reynolds drew her sidearm, and took up a position on the other side of the door from Ty.

"We can try to talk her down first. Since she's wounded and has her cover blown, maybe she'll surrender. Assuming she's in there of course..." Ty suggested.

"Yah... we could," Reynolds said. "But I'm a combat pilot, and your a merc. Not exactly the diplomatic type. But worth a shot."

"Your captain wants her alive, so I'll go for what gets the better paycheck." Ty replied, "Believe me, it's easier to bring the enemy in dead... Now if you'll do the honors."

The mercenary motioned toward the door controls, which were on Reynolds' side.

Reynolds held up a hand, doing a countdown with her fingers. As soon as she hit zero she slapped the controls, opening the door.

"Alright in there, your presence has been made known around the ship and we know you're wounded. Save yourself some pain and just surrender peacefully." Ty barked into the room. The room was very dark, and Ty was met with no response.

"Do you know what function this room serves?" Ty asked Reynolds in a soft tone, "Would you know where the light control is?"

Reynolds looked up over the door, and instantly facepalmed. "Fuck..." she muttered. "Of all the places... its gotta be the fuckin' Armory."

"Huh... well this could get interesting." Ty drawled, "And unless we got some nightvision goggles, we're gunna need that light turned on in there."

"Or I could make a call," Reynolds points at a nearby comm panel. "Flashbangs in a dark room are nasty."

"Do that then." the merc responded.

Moments later, a Terran Marine arrived, his rifle on his shoulder and holding a flashbang.

"You called?"

Ty took the flashbang.

"Get ready." he said coldly, giving Mustang and the marine the only heads-up they were going to get.

The merc primed the grenade and tossed it into the armory, then rushed inside as soon as he heard the detonation, searching for a light switch along the wall, while keeping his shotgun ready to fire.

There was a flicker of movement at the far end of the room, and the sound of several guns falling to the floor, as the hidden intruder dove for cover.

Careful not to run across the middle of the room but rather stay near the wall, Ty dashed over in the direction of the movement and noise, shotgun shouldered and ready.

Several shots were fired at the mercenary, all of which missed due to the intruder's disorientation.

The marine, knowing the room well as that was his station, quickly found the light switch and flicked it, revealing, as the Assailant had catered to before, a woman dressed in all black, and bleeding from multiple wounds. She ducked back down behind the weapons rack, and began fumbling with the pistol, attempting to reload it.

Reynolds had slipped in as well, and managed to sneak up behind the woman. She was familiar with this particular armory thanks to having caught a couple techs doing something they weren't supposed to be doing in an armory. The barrel of her laser pistol poked her in the head. "Game over lady," she said.

Ty came up around the other side, also leveling his gun at the woman's head.

"Get up." he growled.

The woman froze for several seconds before finally dropping the weapon and pulling herself up. She was a mess - Bleeding heavily from gunshot wounds to the side and leg, and a bruised face from her brawl with the Assailant. Closer to the center of the room lay an empty syringe, presumably some kind of medpack or painkiller.

"Guess that guy was tellin' the truth about something..." Reynolds said as she grabbed the woman's arm. "Lets go. Ya got a date with the Brig."

Ty took up position behind them as the Terran pilot led the intruder out of the armory. The woman begrudgingly followed along - She knew she had no chance against the two of them in her state. As they were walking down a hallway, nearing the brig, Ty noticed a red dot appear on the back of the woman's neck...

"DOWN!" the merc cried, lunging forward and knocking both the women in front of him off their feet.

Whirling around in the same motion, he visually swept the hall behind him. Reynolds rolled to the side with practiced ease, laser pistol swinging up to cover the corridor. Something hissed over their heads, and he spotted a blurred shape move to the side.

The merc fired his shotgun down the hall, figuring at least on of the metal pellets would hit the attacker.

"What in Sam Hell was that?" Reynolds asked, still scanning the corridor. Her pistol following her gaze.

Which apparently they did. There was a cry of pain and a spray of blood, spattering the walls. The cloaking device this new intruder was wearing flickered on and off before finally dying, revealing yet another woman, wearing the same thing the other one was. The shotgun blast had caught her right arm, and she was aiming a gun with her left.

Reynolds snapped off a shot as soon as the intruder was visible, nailing the attacker in her gun hand with a bolt of blue energy. The attacker fell to the floor, and quickly started to push herself back up to escape. Ty, now on his feet, fired a second blast, this one aimed just below the woman's legs, intent on taking them out without killing the woman. The attacker fell to the ground again, covered in blood and breathing heavily.

"Ya could have just tackled her or used a single round," Reynolds deadpanned, getting back up. "Not try and amputate her legs." She grabbed the first intruder, making sure she got the message not to try anything funny.

"You guys can handle the medical crap." Ty replied coldly, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder and walking over to the attacker, making sure to kick her gun away.

"I'll be sure to send you the bill," she replied sarcastically.

As Ty came right up next to the woman, she clicked her jaw to the side. There was a crunch, and just seconds later she began convulsing and choking.

"Damnit." Ty snarled, moving over and stomping on the woman's gut, hoping to make her vomit out whatever she had likely just swallowed.

But it was too late...She continued convulsing for a brief moment before going still.

"Bah..." Ty spat, quickly turning around and moving back to the first woman.

"You have a sock something to shove in her mouth?" the merc asked Reynolds, "I'd figure she would have done what the other did by now if she had the ability to, but I'm not taking the risk."

Reynold's captive glared at Ty.

"Not on me..." Reynolds replied. There was something about this one that seemed different. "And I ain't pulling off one of mah socks. That's just nasty."

"Heh... well make sure she doesn't click her jaw." Ty said, "Let's go."

"Somehow... I don't think she will," Reynolds said to herself. "Now I'm startin' to sound a bit like Rattler. He's the one that gets the feelin's."

CHAPTER 21: What is this magic?

SULLUST

As the Council continued their debates about anything and everything back at the meeting site, High Admiral Robert E. Tasckird of the UCFS Navy had gathered what ships he could, including the former TEC flagship, the Ankylon, two Kol Battleships, the prototype Delegation-class Carrier-Battleship, an Imperial I Star Destroyer, four Mon Calamari MC-40 Cruisers, two MC-80 Wingless Cruisers, 9 Acclamator II Cruisers, 12 Corellian Corvettes, and 6 Imperial Escort Carriers, for an assault on the potential Capitol world for the Coalition, Sullust, currently under orbital subjugation by SE forces.

"Fleet, man your battlestations!" Commodore Harris, a bridge officer for the Ankylon, called out over the radio, "We move out at 0300!"

"I just hope they aren't expecting us..." Tasckird muttered to himself, looking at the clock, which was only 5.00 minutes away from launch time.

"They can't be, Sir. They think we're all dead," Harris broke in.

"These are the same Imperials who single-handedly destroyed four major factions, Commodore. They hold all the aces," Tasckird replied.

Harris could not respond to that. He knew it was true.

"We're playing the same game that the Rebel Alliance was with the Galactic Empire years ago. And although we've got a better start, the SE spans two galaxies and has the largest and most powerful Sith organization of all time in complete control. As much as I didn't trust him, without Remus on our side..." Tasckird trailed off.

"Even those crazy True Sith from a year ago would be of some help," Harris thought out loud.

"Yeah. But they vanished. Can't do a thing now," Tasckird remarked, his voice turning more grim by the second.

"Launch the fleet?" Harris asked.

"Yes," Tasckird responded with a faint touch of optimism.

Harris went back over to the radio and picked up the link: "Fleet, its time. You have the coordinates. Activate your hyperdrives and lets do this!" he ordered. Shutting off the link and turning around, Tasckird repeated himself: "I just hope they aren't expecting us..."

Some time later, the fleet was nearing Sullust.

"Normal space... Now!" Commodore Harris ordered.

As the fleet returned to normal space, it became apparent that the SE was in the process of constructing a mid-sized space station in the area.

"No doubt they're gonna use that to control the population..." Harris muttered, referencing the station, just as the small SE fleet, consisting of an ISD3, an ISD1, twelve Gladiators, and several Escort Carriers came out from behind the planet.

"Shit, they were expecting us!" Tasckird snapped.

"That partially-constructed space station must have a sensor array on it..." Harris input.

"I agree. lo! Take your Task Force and take it out! We'll deal with the enemy fleet!" Tasckird ordered into the comlink.

"Will do, sir." a female voice responded.

The ISD, along with about half the Acclamators and some of the Escort Carriers and Corvettes, broke off from the main fleet to take out the station. Imperial fighters of many different variants exited the hangars of of the task force, with the TIE Bombers and Gunboats immediately targeting the station for torpedo runs.

Commander Catherine Io, a young naval officer who had barely just made the rank of captain before the SE invasion, was leading the group from the ISD. Because of the deaths of so many officers of all the factions at the hands of the SE, the Coalition was forced to promote her to Commander, a responsibility which she was just getting the hang of.

The Ankylon and the rest of the forces moved directly ahead to engage the Imperials. At the lead, the two Kol Battleships with their superb nose-mounted weaponry. Utilizing their beam cannons, the Kols fired on the ISD3 before it could even think of firing a Turbolaser. As the Star Destroyer got into range, its shields were already down to 56%.

A swarm of TEC, Republic, and Remnant fighters flew up from the charging fleet at the incoming TIE Hunters, which for once found themselves outnumbered. But the older Remnant and Republic models, not built for engaging interceptors, were showing their age in battle. The TEC's fighters, though, which were more like interceptors in their own right, stacked up superior to a Hunter, thanks to their armor and speed.

The ISD MKi, staring down two MC-80 Calamari Cruisers, opened fire with everything it had at the first one, turning starboard side. But the two MC-80s, with heavy shields and ion cannons, quickly knocked out the older Star Destroyer's shields while taking minor damage of their own.

lo's force eventually reached the station and surrounded it. SE fighters were kept at bay while the Gunboats used their ions to disable any static defenses, and the bombers pelted the station with torpedoes. The station itself offered little defense, as most of its defenses were still not operational.

But from behind the station, out of nowhere, came an Imperial Star Destroyer MK III...

The rest of the Corvettes with Tasckird's group had successfully screened the fighters and most of the bombers, giving the Coalition fighters free roam. The assorted Coalition bombers were close to finishing off the old ISD MK I, and two barrages of Turbolasers from the MC-80's did the job, as the old model's bridge began to combust, and its weapons stopped.

The Ankylon, meanwhile, had not fired a single shot, and the Coalition had not lost a single ship. But that was about to change...

An MC-40 had entered firing range of the Gladiators, and was quickly destroyed before it could retreat. The two Kol Captains, working together, simultaneously fired their Gauss Rail Guns at the ISD3s bridge, putting the final nail in the coffin. The bridge blew out in a spectacular explosion, and the ship began to fall rapidly into deep space.

Io immediately ordered the bombers to break-off their attacks and target the ISD3, since the station itself was not offering any real resistance. She also commanded several of the Acclamators to join with her own Star Destroyer to tackle the SE vessel in a direct engagement.

The advanced Star Destroyer immediately opened fire, but not on Io's Star Destroyer, rather the smaller Acclamators, its heavy Ion cannons making quick work of most of their shields, and its heavy Turbolasers disintegrating large chunks of the hulls at a time, but the ISD itself was taking heavy damage quickly. It couldn't last more than three minutes under the barrage, but at this rate, it didn't need three minutes to destroy 4 Acclamators.

The group of surviving Gladiators formed a box wall of defense, hoping to ward off any attackers with the large amount of broadside firepower shown. And it worked. The MC-80s, MC-40s, fighters, bombers, and Corvettes all stayed away from the pack...But not the Ankylon.

"Show them what this thing can do," Tasckird ordered as the Ankylon surged forward with surprising speed.

Easily outranging the smaller Gladiators, the Ankylon opened fire with its Pulse lasers first. Although slightly weaker than a Turbolasers, they fired much faster.

The ship's beam cannons opened up next, instantly obliterating the crippled Gladiators that they hit, then switching targets to another, as the first volley of lasers struck the formation. As the Gladiator's finally got the chance to fire, they realized that their Anti-Medium weapons were practically useless against the Titan, doing less than 1% damage to its shields. Outmatched, the Gladiator's broke formation and scattered across the gravity well to meet up with the ISD3 for a last stand, with the Ankylon in pursuit.

Io's ISD, the Persecutor, had now engaged the ISD3 in direct combat. The bombers were doing their best to harass the stronger ship, successfully destroying a few turbolasers.

The ISD3 couldn't take much more. Its hull integrity was not meant for concentrated attacks like this. But it had destroyed 2 Acclamators. Then the 1 surviving Gladiator arrived, but was promptly destroyed by the Persecutor after running through its firing arc.

The Ankylon arrived...

The nose-mounted beam cannons of the Ankylon tore into the ISD3, and that was all she wrote. The Star Destroyer's hull began to crumble on the starboard side, and the rest of the ship began to tilt that way.

Leaving the surviving Acclamators to deal with the dying ISDIII, Io ordered the Persecuter to resume attacking the station. But suddenly she got an idea.

"Admiral Tasckird, the station's defense systems are not online, perhaps we should consider capturing it instead of destroying it?" she suggested over the radio.

"Hmm... Our engineers can reverse-engineer it and see what it is made of, then we can use its technology for our own use! Good call, Commander!" Tasckird responded, then turned to Commodore Harris.

"Aye Sir," Harris said without a word needed.

"Fleet, do NOT destroy that space station! Commence boarding operations!" he ordered. "In the meantime, someone should probably contact the Sullustans and tell them we're not hostile," Tasckird suggested over an open channel.

"I'll handle that." the voice of the Coalition Army general, who was on-board one of the other vessels, responded.

Meanwhile, Io's craft had maintained their perimeter around the station, and the Gunboats were still busily disabling any possible defense systems that could cause trouble.

"Admiral!" a Crewman said, rushing onto the bridge.

"Yes, what is it?" Tasckird asked.

"Something's happened to the... uh... well... you need to see for yourself, Sir," the man said, a little nervous.

"What? We been sabotaged?" Tasckird snapped.

"No! No... I... I don't think so... but there's this... thing... burned into the shield generator..." the Crewman said, the nervousness now evident.

"Fine. I'm coming. Harris, with me. Io, there's nothing left to do here but wait. Take over while I'm gone," Tasckird said, the latter part into his comlink.

"Yes sir!" was Io's snappy reply.

Tasckird and Harris were lead down the hallways of the massive Ankylon until they reached the shield generator. There, clearly burned into the still-functional generator, was a massive, black cross that looked like a 'T.'

"What the Hell is that...?" Harris muttered, stepping closer.

"Is this a prank?" the Crewman asked.

"Not likely. We don't have indention tools that size or shaped like that. And this is burned into the generator..." Tasckird said uneasily.

Harris put his hand to the cross out of curiosity, but immediately pulled it away and stepped back several feet.

"What is it, Harris?" Tasckird asked.

"The... the cross..." Harris stuttered, looking at his hand then back at the cross.

Stepping up, Tasckird too put his hand on the cross...

The voices of hundreds, if not thousands, of people screaming out in terror at something rang out in his head. Frightened, he pulled his hand away, and the voices went deathly silent.

Wide-eyed, Tasckird stepped back.

"What is this magic...?" he muttered.

THE MAW, COALITION HEADQUARTERS

After several days of staying at Sullust to potentially defend the planet, without a wink of sleep, High Admiral Tasckird had finally returned to what the Coalition could officially call home, and with him, a story to tell. Plagued by fiendish nightmares stemming from the shield generator of the Ankylon, he had organized a meeting with Patricia Reynolds and High Admiral Braji. Standing outside the rumored 'cursed' generator room, he awaited the arrival of Reynolds and Braji, one of which was, at his request, going to bring a paranormal investigator.

Braji walked up behind Tasckird. "Alright, what is it?" He asked.

Tasckird nearly jumped out of his shoes when he heard Braji's voice.

"Oh... sorry, Admiral," he said, turning around, "Just... I really don't want to go in there again... Just take a look."

Tasckird stepped aside, allowing Braji clear access to the generator room door, which had yellow warning tape plastered all over it.

Braji slowly walked into the room, and examined the cross.

"What...Is this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Tasckird said, making a clear effort not to look, "It was first reported immediately after the battle a few days ago. Go ahead and put your hand to it. But be warned..."

Braji looked over his shoulder at Tasckird, somewhat confused, before turning back to the cross and slowly reaching his hand out. He quickly stepped back after touching it, holding his head.

"Did you hear them too?" Tasckird asked as Patricia entered the corridor.

Braji said nothing, he just back all the way into a wall, and leaned against it, his head in his hands.

"What's going on here?" Patricia asked, walking over to the two.

"What the...?"

"Just touch it," Tasckird muttered.

Patricia, having no way of knowing what was about to happen, pressed her hand against the cross as well, then immediately pulled it back, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and clearly disturbed.

"Did you hear them?" Tasckird demanded.

Patricia merely nodded.

"Can either of you tell me WHAT that thing is?" Tasckird asked.

This time, Patricia did not respond.

"I...Have never felt anything like it." Braji said, finally looking up at Tasckird, then back at the cross.

"It has to be supernatural," Tasckird said instantly, drawing a look of ire from Patricia, who had recovered.

"What? You think ghosts came aboard your ship?" she asked as a slight joke.

"No... I think supernatural forces have infiltrated my ship. Real supernatural forces!" Tasckird stated, "How else can you explain it?"

"I can't..." Patricia muttered under her breath, "Look, just get a cleaning crew or something and wipe it off! It may be supernatural, if supernatural forces exist, but it is NOT staying on board one of my Navy's flagships!"

"Yes Ma'am..." Tasckird sighed.