Dawnbreaker Episode II: Shattered Worlds/Part 5

CHAPTER 13

"Sensor control, jam the Mercenary's commlink -" Deathstrike snaps as she realizes the Mercenary is communicating with his allies. His commlink issues a squeal of static, and dies. A squad of HK51's charges onto the bridge, surrounding the Mercenary. Deathstrike approaches menacingly, a snarl on her face.

"YOU! You know of Gatekeeper's plans, Mercenary! I want to know what macabre ruse did he pull off just now, and where did he take Lord Darkon! RThe TSE has lost a good number of its forces, and I am in no mood for games, little boy!"

With a massive surge of the Force from her, the Mercenary's lightsabers are ripped from his arms, as the HK51's surround him and hold him. Deathstrike is on him in an instant, her blade at his throat.

"Tell me what you know, Mercenary, or die this instant!"

Ty294's mouth curls into a sinster smirk. At that moment a team of Mercenaries and Cyborg troops storms the bridge, quickly neutralizing the HK droids. Deathstrike suddenly feels the rolls reversed as Ty294 graps here throat with one gloved hand and the blade of her sword with the other.

"No, YOU tell ME! What did Darkon do to the Uberweapon? My men control this ship now, though the rest your fleet doesn't know it. Now, what sort of dark curse did Darkon use on the Uberweapon? Tell me or I'll break your neck!"

Meanwhile, Grage attempts to assess the the losses.

"Captain, any report from the lab ship?"

"They left the Uberweapon's hangar during the battle. The ship was enough out of range that they're still in one piece, but barely."

"Send some transports to evac the crew and Fury relics. That ship's cargo is too important to loose!"

"Understood sir, Star Destroyer Gold Aura is already en route."

Grage turned to another aid.

"Anything from the Gatekeeper?"

"No sir."

"Contact those ships at the edge of the system, maybe they know something. In the meantime, don't attack any of Darkon's craft unless fired upon."

"Right away sir!"

Suddenly, HK's fill the room and start neutralizing the cyborgs and mercenarys. Ty looks away for a second, and Deathstrike seizes the opportunity. She twist Ty's arms, grabs her blade back and holds it to the Merc's throat. The HK leader speaks: "Threat assessment confirmed. Multiple squads of hostiles detected. Hangar 213 isolated. Decks 42 to 116 quarantined. HK troops converging. Acidic gas released to affected decks. Contact. Engaging the enemy. Remnant cyborg troops and some pitiful mercenaries. Enemy incursion contained. They have retreated and barricaded themselves in Hangar 213. Requesting further instructions."

Deathstrike's mouth curl into a contemptuous sneer, as she looks the Mercenary straight in the eye.

"Just the kind of half-baked, puny attack I have come to expect from amateurs like you!"

A squad of mercenaries charges onto the bridge, only to be met with a withering barrage of blaster fire from the HK's. Two of them manage to get close... and one of their heads continues to roll for a few moments, slashed cleanly off the body by Deathstrike's brutally elegant combo of attacks.

"Depressurize Hangar 213."

Deathstrike, now icy calm. "Now. I have asked you a question, Mercenary. And I will not ask again." The blade begins to draw blood from his throat.

CHAPTER 14

"Security team K1 reporting, Admiral Rajko. We have searched the ship. A cockpit, a small common area in the rear. No-one aboard. However, we have found a Mandalorian helmet in the cockpit. Curious."

"Acknowledged. Something is amiss here. Remain in position and guard the vessel. I am dispatching a deep-scanning team to conduct a thorough analysis. Stand by for further orders."

"Perhaps your men are trying to keep you from entering a panic." Ty294 said calmy, "All units report!"

The commlink is dead for a moment, Deathstrike smiles at her apparent victory, suddenly, voices start coming through: "Maccus in the engine room, all secure down here!"

"Lears in the hangar bay, no hostiles here boss!"

"Captain Vols in the barracks section, we're mopping up the last resistance."

Ty294 kicks the head of one of the dead soldiers. Laughing, he makes a quick arm motion. Out of nowhere, 4 shadowtroopers wielding red lightsabers emerge and destroy the HKs. Ty backs away from Deathstrike.

Deathstrike's comm crackles to life: "Sith Trooper Commander RT-1145 reporting. HK shock units cut off near the engine room. My platoon is converging to reinforce them. Resistance sparse for the moment. Contact!" Blaster fire is clearly heard through the comm. "We have progressed to the engine room. 54 hostiles neutralized. Initiating full isolation procedure. Engine room secure, lady Deathstrike. Corridors outside full of acidic gas. Remaining local resistance neutralized. HK Advance Guard reports all compromised hangars depressurized. Platoon 46A converging on the Barracks section. ETA-6.2 minutes."

Deathstrike spins around as 4 Shadowtroopers decloak and engage the HK51's. One is brought down by synchronized blaster fire, but the other 3 manage to destroy the remaining HK's. Another Shadowtrooper is cut down as he turns to engage Deathstrike. The remaining 2 drop to combat stance, lightsabers at the ready.

"It is apparent that neither of us will be divulging anything." The mercenary said, "It seams this must end one way."

Ty makes another arm gesture and the Shadowtroopers vanish. Ty then begins to shed his armor, until all that's left is his charcoal colored undergarments. Two more lightsabers are revealed under his armor. Tearing off his shirt, Ty294 charges Deathstrike screaming one word: "BBEERRSSEERRKK!!"

As the Mercenary charges for his berserk attack, Deathstrike whispers maniacally, her tatooed face spread into a wide grin, as she draws an extendable, double-bladed, electrocharged cortosis vibrosword from a scabbard on her back.

"3 against 1, mmm... I like those odds."

She uses Force Blinding - The Shadowtroopers and the Mercenary are dazzled momentarily, as she leaps directly at the leftmost trooper, intent on cleaving him in two.

Ty294 shruggs off the blinding attack and blocks Deathstrikes intended blow. The Shadowtroopers recover and move to assist but Ty hisses a word in an unfamiliar dialouge. The Shadowtroopers vanish. The bridge is now empty off all life besides the mercenary and Darkon's assassin. Suddenly Ty294 charges at Deathstrike, his attacks are vicious and unpredictable. He seems to have mixed the Dark Rage force power and the Berserker attack style into an unstoppable juggernaught. Deathstrike tries to mount a counterattack but Ty's blows come to fast. The assassin is able to land a couple strikes that would incapacitate a normal man, but the mercenary keeps coming. As he does, he opens a telepathic channel into Deathstrike's mind and begins taunting her.

"Your Darkon's stooge, do you think he will have any use for you when this war is over? Darkon will kill you... he will kill you. You are along here, you have no escape."

The messages keep coming, Deathstrike's once cold deminer has melted into unease and uncertainty. Suddenly, Ty294 spots an opening and makes his strike...

"Captain Vols, this is Maccus, we've encountered heavy resistance but objective Gamma 492 has been completed."

"Copy, we'll join you in a moment, Objective Tau 181 is almost complete."

Maccus returns to the hangar where Lears is fighting off HK droids and poison gas. The towering Chistori and his team assist Lears in re-securing the hangar. As the last HK falls into pieces, the comlink comes to life:

"This ... tain Vols, we're und ... cut off from hangar ... au 181 comple ... go witho-- ARGH!"

Comlink dies, both mercs realize it is to late for Vols. The remaining Mercs and Cyborgs board the transports and blast off towards Grage's fleet.

"Deep scan team to Admiral Rajko: Scans complete. We have detected traces of some unknown energy surge. Preliminary reports from the Research Lab 11 indicate some form of matter transmission device. Technology unlike any we have ever encountered. Their theory is that the occupants of the ships were somehow...'teleported'... at least that is the term those lab rats chose to use... to some unknown location. They are continuing their analysis, sir."

"Acknowledged. Rajko out." What in the name of the Sith is going on here?!

"Sir, the Spectre Force Witch has an additional report."

"Proceed."

"Admiral, there is a residue of great power... in this ship. I know it... I can feel it... Lord Darkon, our glorious Sith'ari, was on board. Yes... I KNOW it! And... a residue of equally great malice... weakness covered by false delusions of power... the Gatekeeper. Yes! He was here as well!

"Wh?!? - understood. Rajko out."

"Comm officer, open an emergency channel to the Blood Sanctum!"

On the Blood Sanctum, the Mercenary is cornered to the wall, bleeding from multiple slashing wounds. Deathstrike is not much better off, many shallow lightsaber burns covering her body, as the emergency transmission comes through. Deathstrike, kicking away the Mercenary, responds: "Fleet Admiral Rajko, proceed immediately to Staging Point 3B. The Blood Sanctum will meet you there, along with the rest of the Prime Fleet. We will get to the bottom of this!"

"Our hyperdrive motivators were disabled in the battle, Lady Deathstrike. You will have to come here."

"Acknowledged, Admiral."

Turning to the Mercenary, she speaks: "As much as I am enjoying this skirmish, I suggest we postpone it, little boy! At least until we know exactly what happened to Lord Darkon and your precious Gatekeeper...."

Ty294 suddenly feels a massive surge of power flow throughout his body, empowering him beyond anything that Deathstrike could possibly imagine, and as he feels it, he knows that the Gatekeeper has something to do with it. "Wipe them out Ty." The Gatekeeper's voice in his head says. "All of them..."

CHAPTER 15

The Gatekeeper starts to laugh maniacally. "Oh, foolish one. Do you really think you have destroyed the Uberweapon?" He asked the Assailant as he pulled out a comlink. "Activate the transfer streams!" The all too familiar red outline of the Uberweapon returns to view, only now, as the Gatekeeper alluded to earlier, it is roughly the size of the star that they were fighting over. "As I told Lord Darkon earlier, you do not understand the powers at work here. Now, you will expierence the power of Spawning!" The Gatekeeper snaps his fingers, and the Executor, the Eclipse, the Vengeance, the Sovereign, at least 50 Titan and Allegiance ISD's, and over 1,000 Star Destroyers suddenly appear out of nowhere, in perfect fleet position around the Uberweapon.

"You see, no matter what you do, I always have a backup plan! Now, tell me more about this 'Enemy.' I always enjoy a challenge."

On the Zatornik, the deep scan team watches in awe, as Lord Darkon suddenly phases in front of them on the flight deck. Striding past them without a second glance, he pulls out a commlink.

"Admiral Rajko, set course for the Uberweapon. Best possible speed."

"Wh?! My lord, where have you... how... the Uberweapon. It..it's destr..." His voice dies down as the Uberweapon suddenly appears in the exact same place as before, along with over a hundred other ships.

"There is no time for discussion. Carry out my orders."

"But this ship is no match for..."

Darkon smiles to himself, "That is beside the point, Admiral."

"Y-yes, sir."

"I sense my apprentice is in danger...."

Darkon's dissociated avatar suddenly appears on the Blood Sanctum's bridge, merging with Deathstrike and empowering her. Deathstrike's skin turns blood-red, as her eyes begin to glow with a silvery-gray light.


 * Basilisk gaze* - the mercenary is instantly turned to stone.


 * Force Shatterpoint* - and is now nothing more than a pile of dust.

At that moment Darkon hears a voice in his head. It rumbles so loud that he clasps his hands to his ears in pain, as he hears Ty's voice.

"Darkon, I've enjoyed our little game. You think you killed me? Nobody can do that. I was only in this dimension because I wished to 'play' with the other physical beings such as you. If I so desired, I could return in any form I wished. But I think I'll relax a while and watch the show. Enjoy the present my merc friends left on your ship."

Suddenly, the Blood Sanctum is ripped in half by the bombs planted by the Mercenaries. All the turrets in the surviving pieces open fire at Darkon's craft causing heavy damage before their power runs out. Meanwhile, the remainder of the mercenary and cyborg forces have returned to the safety of Grage's fleet.

"Is there no end to this insanity?" Rattler asked as more ships appear out of nowhere near the local star. The communications officer reports that a shuttle from the TCS Southampton is on final approach, carrying survivors. Rattler turns to the captain, and says that he will go check on them. Captain O'Neill nods, and Rattler leaves the Bridge.

Rattler arrives on the Flight Deck in time to see the first of the survivors come off the shuttle. In all, Seven TEC, Nine NEF, and Three Sith came off the shuttle. The pilot reported that more were sent the the Kyushu. One of the Sith survivors, a female officer, hesitates as she passes Rattler. She turns to face him, and he gets a sudden creepy feeling.

"You're..." she starts to say. "What?" Rattler asks, still getting the creepy feeling. "Never mind." She finally says, and follows the rest of the survivors to Sickbay. The creepy feeling dies off as she gets farther away from Rattler. Shaking his head, Rattler heads over to where his Rapier is berthed, and talks with the tech.

The Gatekeeper, although masked, is clearly enjoying himself, as he is watching the Blood Sanctum go down at the hands of Ty294 and also watching his fleet of over 1,000 Star Destroyers rip what is left apart. He vanishes to the Uberweapon, to see his armored Assailant, looking out the viewport window. The Gatekeeper takes no notice of him, and begins barking orders: "Transparency. Now." "Yes, Sir!" The Uberweapon suddenly goes transparent, causing all hostile weapons fire to go directly through it, however, it's massive guns are still doing extreme damage to the last of Darkon's fleet. "Tell Patten to postion what is left of his fleet on the enemy's rear flank. We will bear the brunt of their assault." "Yes, Sir!" The Captain sends the transmission just as one of the Uberweapon's Gauss cannons finds a fuel cell on a capital ship of Darkon's, igniting a massive chain reaction of explosions throughout the ship that eventually turn the ship into space junk. "We're going to have lots of suveneirs when this battle is over..."

As the Blood Sanctum is ripped apart, Darkon repairs it with his immense power. Deathstrike stares for a moment at the spot the Mercenary was a moment before, and then snarls one word:

"Coward!"

She walks to the intercom, "Supreme Admiral Deathstrike to the Prime Fleet: I have just received a Force command from the Lord Darkon. I am taking the Blood Sanctum to the Akates star, near the Uberweapon. The rest of the fleet will wait here at the edge of the system. Reconfigure to standoff formation. I don't understand it any more than you do, but his order was very specific. I sense that something critical is about to happen..."

Meanwhile, the Zatornik is halfway to the Uberweapon and its 'spawned' fleet. Weapons inactive, shields down, reactive armor depowered. The mass of enemy vessels begins to pelt it with massed fire. For every shot that connects, an exact ghostly duplicate of the Zatornik is created, and the real one remains inexplicably undamage, silver-gray radiance beginning to halo it in flight. By the time it reaches the Uberweapon, over 5.000 ghost duplicates are around it. Every one of them merges with one of the Gatekeeper's 'spawned' ships, nullifying it, and itself. In the end, only two vessels remain on the scene. The Uberweapon, and the Zatornik, out of normal space-time, helpless, but also invulnerable.

Lord Darkon phases to the Uberweapon's bridge, and walks to stand beside the Gatekeeper.

"By all means, Assailant. Tell us about this "Enemy."