Onyx



The small hillside was quiet as Caleb Logan rubbed his tired eyes as he contemplated the glaring bright Onyxian sun, which was just now rising over the distant Victory Mountains. He hadn't slept all night, in fact he hadn't slept in weeks. He came to this hill outside New Stonia to gather his thoughts.

The weight of present circumstances threated to crush his fragile shoulders. Even now, demons seemed to hover before his eyes, taunting him. Images of his father, Joren, swirled in his distant mind. His fathers eyes glared at him, with the hate that the older Logan had seen so many times in his son's own eyes.

"You look tired Caleb." A voice said behind him.

Caleb didn't have to look to know who it was, "Neychev."

Ferus Neychev, Praetorian Guardsman, and old friend of Joren's, sat down next to him on the small hillside overlooking New Stonia. Caleb didn't look at him.

"I have some news." Neychev said.

Caleb said nothing, knowing the Neychev would continue whether he liked it or not.

"We tracked down the last know position of the Crusader..." Neychev said, looking over at the young Logan, hoping to get a reaction.

Which he did. The Crusader was a Bird of Prey that his father, Joren was commanding when he dissapeared, "How?"

Neychev smiled, "All Commonwealth ships have a transponder, right?"

Caleb nodded, "Of course. All ships do."

"Well when a ship is carrying a high-value member of our High Command, the Guard wants to keep track of that ship."

Caleb frowned. He was a member of the Guard and had never heard of that. Neychev seemed to read his thoughts, "Not every person in the Guard is privy to our policies. Nevetheless, the we have finally calculated the final position."

Caleb frowned again, "Final? Was the Crusader destroyed?"

"We don't know. The ship we sent out to investigate finds nothing. They think the transponder only stopped transmitting at that position. But there are only three possible jump points for the Crusader to go to from there."

"Where?" Caleb asked, sitting up a little bit as the sun finished it's rise over the tallest peaks of the Victory Mountains.

"Mobus, Glee Anselm, and Coruscant."

"We control Mobus, and they haven't shown up there. And Coruscant is a high-media place. We'd have heard about a Bird of Prey showing up..."

Neychev nodded, "Which leaves Glee Anselm."

Caleb nodded, "So what?"

"We want you to go there. The official orders will be handed down later. But a Stryker-class Carrier has just arrived in orbit with a full complement of E-78 Swarm Fighters. Three Gallofree's worth of ground troops and two Haven Light Cruisers are assigned to you, Captain."


"Captain?" Caleb asked.

"Your actions at Ord Mantell served you well. The offical line won't be handed down to this afternoon, but I thought I'd give you a heads up." Neychev said.

Caleb couldn't help but smile, "Thanks."

"Yeah." Neychev stood and turned to leave, "Oh and one more thing. Headquarters has sent over this guy, Xen Oso. he's a Guardsman, been with us for a while. Command wants to have him set up a new divisonal intel unit based on Glee Anselm. Go there and establish a Commonwealth presence on the world. The place is home to the people called the Nautolans. They have actually applied for membership in the Commonwealth, but has so far been denied, due to their closeness to the Imperial border.

"But this lead on your father can't be ignored, and Oso has expressed intrest in using the planet as a base for his new group, Section something. We've informed the Nautolans of your visit, they are eager to get things goin on their application."

Caleb sighed and leaned back on the hillside, breathing deeply as he di so, "I'm assuming the orders will come down later?"

Neychev smiled, "Of course. Go meet Oso, his ship, a Stealth Intruder named the Sentinel has just docked at HQ in New Stonia. He's expecting you."

Caleb nodded and stood as Neychev left.

"I guess I'll go meet the new guy."

A deep scowl hung on the man's face as he stood in line, waiting for security to do their usual inspection. Eyes the color of soot scanned the crowd lingering in the holding area before they would be released into the HQ itself. Though he was slated to meet a certain man named Caleb Logan, he didn't expect to find him here. Most likely, he'd been waiting just inside of the security checkpoint. No point in leaving the building to meet Colonel Oso then having to subject himself to the extremely boring security search.

"Can't this line move any faster, damn." The voice was low and held as much warmth as a canister of liquid nitrogen.

A naval officer standing in front of the man chuckled. "'Fraid not. You know how security types are. They're all the same, eh?" He leaned back and gave the Colonel a friendly nudge with his elbow. Unfortunately for him, Xen wasn't the friendly type.

With a flick of his hand, he brushed away the appendage before spitting the man with a vicious glare. The naval officer actually seemed to shrink in stature before recovering and puffing out his chest in an attempt to regain his composure. The laugh that emanated from Oso was callous and contained no humor, it only evoked a deep sense of unease in those that stood around him.

The naval officer and others backed away, giving the man a wide berth as they let him cut to the front of the line.

Seeing the gesture, Xen's eyes twinkled with a devious intelligence briefly before he gave them a mock salute. "How kind of you all. Don't mind if I do." With a powerful push from his right leg, he glided steathily across the floor before being ordered to stop by security personnel. He was quickly frisked and thrown through a scanner which would reveal any hidden weapons or biological defects, viruses, etc. Within a minute, he was pronounced clean and waved along. Even the security detail didn't want anything to do with him.

Collecting his belongings, which consisted of a holster with an electro-pulse pistol, two vibroknives, several spare powerpacks and other miscellaneous items, Xen slung a medium sized gray duffel bag over his shoulder and entered into the second chamber that was the usual pick up point for guests and what not. Looking around, he didn't immediately see anyone that matched the description of this Caleb Logan, so he made his way over to a corner of the room.

As he crossed the area, people stared at him discreetly, scampered out of his way and made no effort to engage him in any small talk. The aura of confidence and hardened battle experience radiated freely from him. His relaxed posture and the way he seemed to lope from one point to another hid a muscular frame that was built for war. While his body attracted many beautiful young women, one look at those two chilling orbs in their sockets and they were instantly put off. It was always said that the eyes were the key to one's soul. It would seem this was the case with Xen. One look at the man's pupils and it was easy to see why he had advanced so quickly in the ranks and had garnered the attention of his superiors. It was his determination to do anything to win, his drive for perfection and his cold, calculating mind that landed him as their number one candidate to run a new unit...a unit Oso had designated Section 8.

Now, as he leaned comfortably against the wall and cooly evaluated each passing person, he could barely contain his excitement. Soon, his new unit would bring havoc, death and misery to the enemies of the Commonwealth. It was going to be a grand 'ol time.

Caleb frowned as he stared at the newcomer with intense intrest. He was holding a datapad with the bio of this Oso person as he stood near a small snack bar.

Plenty of time in the Praetorian Guard, extensive battle experience, multiple confirmed kills. The guy was the perfect example of a Praetorian warrior. He came very highly recommended, and there were additions about him. he was reputed to be very cunning, skilled, and intelligent. But other things in his file, like notations his previous commanders had included, such as his inability to socialize, and there were some questions about his willingness to take orders and be part of a team. He was the perfect candidate for a leadership position, and the perfect candidate for an intel unit director. Those types of people needed a calm, collected mind.

And this guy fit the bill.

Caleb straightened his uniform and adjusted his new Captain's insignia. He had received the promotion literally an hour previous. His actions at Ord Mantell had proven to help him a long way. But Caleb still had the feeling Neychev had a hand in it. The former New Alliance Admiral seemed to hold great power throughout the Defense Forces.

He walked over to Oso slowly, taking his time to look him up and down. The man stood ramrod stright, had strange, black eyes, and an absolutely impeccable uniform. Caleb didn't think even micro-droids would be able to find a speck of dirt on it.

Technically, Oso outranked Caleb. But since Caleb had been assigned a small taskforce and was in charge of the Glee Anselm mission, Oso reported to him.

He doubted that would sit well with the Colonel.

He walked straight up to Oso, "Colonel. I'm Captain Caleb Logan. I have been assigned as your operating officer."

In combat, you developed a sixth sense for when someone was watching you. This was even more pronounced and crucial to survival for someone who fought planetside, hand to hand, got close enough to the enemy to smell their fetid breath. If you couldn't sense the proximity and stare of others, you might as well start digging your own grave. It was cliche and overused in the academies, but the instructors had a valid point. Survival meant going to your animal instincts, digging deep and pulling out that special something that could differentiate you from the pack. The strong survived, it was as simple as that.

The entire guard was a strong pack, each member having their own unique skills and plenty of experience, but even in such a skilled team, there were those who rose to the occasion. The funny thing was, Oso never aspired to be a leader, nor did he try to grab any sort of power base. The psychologists that had been called in to evaluate him for a position in the guard had been wary of his poker face, his seemingly indifferent attitude towards human life. One had dubbed him as a man on the edge, about to lose control, to which Oso had responded cooly. "It's only by living on the edge that we know who we truly are." After that comment, the psych's had conferred and quickly gave him a passing grade.

Now, in this utilitarian setting, Colonel Oso knew someone was watching him. His eyes shifted in their sockets, spearing each man or woman, evaluting them, calculating their chance as a threat, before moving on. He finally laid his eyes on a naval officer striding his way. The man held a datapad in one hand, his uniform was clean and pressed and a shiny new Captain's rank plaque adorned his jacket's breast.

This was undoubedtly Captain Caleb Logan, the man that was supposed to help Xen set up his new unit. It was an interesting move...having someone from the navy working so closely with someone previously with the army, now transferring to intelligence and perhaps more. Oso wondered briefly if inter-service rivalry would be a problem before quickly brushing the notion aside. High Command wouldn't have sent a hot headed officer to help him out, no...this Captain Logan was sure to be an excellent officer with an oustanding track record. After all, he had managed to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack to get that shiny piece of metal.

Watching with a detached interest as the man, who was approximately his height, perhaps an inch or two shorter, walked up to him, Xen had to admit he was a bit impressed. It wasn't often that he met someone who stared freely into his eyes and didn't turn away. That, and this Captain walked with the same confidence Xen had in himself. It was a refreshing change of pace from the usual spineless maggots he had to deal with.

Stopping in front of Oso, Caleb spoke. "Colonel. I'm Captain Caleb Logan. I have been assigned as your operating officer."

The Colonel cocked his head to one side and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was giving Caleb a thorough scan from head to toe. Lingering a moment on the man's face, he finally nodded microscopically before replying. "You make it sound like you're working under me, when in truth, I'll be taking orders from you for the duration of this mission." Throwing a noticeable glance at the datapad, Xen let a small, unfriendly smile tug at his lips.

"Let's make some assumptions here. I'll assume that the datapad you're carrying contains my record, some bio information and other miscellaneous facts. I can assume that because I assume you're not a bantha brained naval officer and you actually use the space between your ears. Now, I can base that assumption on the assumption that High Command is intelligent and wouldn't send an idiot to help me. So based on that string of assumptions, you've been checking me out and you know I do not take orders easily nor do I enjoy working with others. Thus, I assume you phrased your greeting in such a way as to open a friendly line of communication with me in order to facilitate this entire process." Xen paused as he stared intensely at Logan. "Of course, that's just a babble of assumptions and as we all know, assuming is quite...dangerous."

"Of course, that's just a babble of assumptions and as we all know, assuming is quite...dangerous."


Caleb didn't speak for a moment. The file indicated that Oso was the type of man, when meeting superiors, loved to put them through a test. A testof intelligence and wills. He always wanted to see if he could place the other off guard while verbally manuvering into a position of superiority.

He wanted to intimidate Caleb into second-guessing himself. But unfortunately for Oso, Caleb had met his type before. So instead of slinking away and letting the Colonel get the upper hand, he stood his ground and looked Oso directly in the eyes.

"They can be very dangerous. Which is why you must make no such assumptions about me. As operating officer, I meant that I am taskforce commander. You may outrank me, but for the duration of this mission you will follow my directions. I have been ordered to transport you to Glee Anselm, accept their application for membership, and give you whatever support you need to establish your headquarters."

He took a step toward Oso, "But make no mistake. If you do anything that is outside operation procedure while you are onboard my ships, I'll make sure you and your career are buried. Clear?"

A grin with little mirth etched itself onto Oso's features as he detached his body from the wall and brought his hands together in silent applause. So, it would seem like the good Captain was just as Xen had pegged him. He was no fool, nor was he a push over. Good. They would get along just fine. Of course, Xen couldn't let the Caleb know that. After all, there were no friends in war, only pawns and enemies.

Listening to the Captain explain his orders, the Colonel held an amused expression on his face. His grin only grew wider as the man took a step closer. Perhaps it was just a straight forward show of force, a thinly veiled warning, or maybe he wanted to give Xen something to chew on. In any case, it humored Oso and drew another round of silent applause.

Waiting for the man to finish speaking, Oso slid effortlessly to his side in a sidestepping action before walking backward to open up a slight distance between the two man.

"My, my, Captain Logan is a real man. I'm impressed Captain, truly I am. As for doing anything outside operation procedure...don't worry, I'm no fool nor am I under any illusions about my assignment. Perhaps you should take a cue from me. As long as you do your job, I'll do mine and we'll be two peas in a pod. I'm not concerned with your mission and you shouldn't concern yourself with mine. Of course, unless you're the curious type..."

A gleam appeared in Xen's eyes as he shrugged slightly and crossed his arms across his chest. Waiting a few seconds, he pursed his lips slightly before breaking out into a strangely comforting smile. The hard light in his eyes faded and was replaced by a boring, almost ignorant look. His entire posture shrank and the image of confidence was replaced by one of uncertainity. Black eyes glanced back and forth nervously as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. The entire transformation only took a few seconds and the effect was startling.

Now, the man before Captain Logan looked like any other lost soul who was confused and nervous, unsure of himself. With a nod towards the door, a shallow, almost trembling voice ventured, "Well...shall we Captain?"

Onboard Stryker-Class Carrier Teebo's Legacy




Caleb crossed his arms and frowned as the communications officer struggled to receive a message via the hyper wave receiver equipment, "Can you do anything with it?"

"No sir. It's fragmented. The data stream is only in bits in pieces, like it was being jammed at the source..." The comm officer, a Lieutenant said, his fingers flying over the console.

"Jammed? Do you know by who?"

"No idea sir."

Caleb sighed and cast a glance over his shoulder at the newcomer, Xen Oso, who was maintaining his facade, as he tried to be inconspicuous, "Keep trying." he said to the comm officer.

He made his way across the bridge, to the command deck, where his chair and command console was located.

He couldn't help but be troubled. Hours previous, while in route to Glee Anselm, the Teebo had received a message from Glee Anselm. But the message had been severely corrupted and was barely listenable. The comm officer had been working for the past hour to fix it enough to listen. But it was slow-going.

"How long until we arrive?" Caleb asked, his fingers moving quickly over his board.

The navigation officer, Ensign Mattas looked up from his board, "Three hours sir."

Caleb sighed and sat down, staring straight ahead.


Three Hours later


"Reversion!"

The small fleet moved silently into real space. Caleb gasped when he saw their target destination. In fact, the entire bridge gasped. There was no way to help it.

Records said Glee Anselm was a world much like Mon Calamari, except it was not entirely covered by water. Marshy islands dotted the surface, and the world was said to have an excellent climate year round. But the Nautolans were very cations about visitors.

But what they were seeing now was anything but. Parts of the world's beautiful oceans were now shot with blots of a dark brown color. Distant flashes indicated stormy conditions on most of the world.

"The whole world is changing..."

Years of isolation after the fall of the old Republic, had now brought them out.

But now... Caleb wasn't so sure.

"You are sure we're at the right coordinates?" He asked the navigation officer.

"Yes sir. These are it..."

"Communications, open a channel to their government."

"Sir... I just succeeded in getting you a partial message. It's from the Nautolans..." The comm officer said gravely.

Caleb nodded, "Put it on..."


"Commonwealth ships! This is President Hert Griset! Please hurry... we...are.....heavy attack!... some....of...chemical...eapon..."

Caleb spun on his heel, marching straight back towards the shadow figure at the rare of the bridge, "Oso." he said, not bothering with rank, "Did you know of this? Tell me!"

"Me?" Oso asked, feigning innocence. His oval eyes grew larges and blinked a few times as if a bright light were shining into them. Holding his hands up in mock surrender, he backed up a few steps until his back met the bulkhead with a dull thump.

Just as quickly, he dropped the act and his customary scowl creased his features. Recovering from his encounter with the bulkhead, he bounded forward in a single powerful leap reminiscent of a dangerous predator going in for the kill. Dark orbs flashed between the viewports and the various sensors that were probing the planet's surface.

The unexpected development was a gift from the divine spirits, that much was certain. Well, at least Oso thought so. Sith, who would think of looking for an unofficial intelligence base on a poisoned and dying world? It would be the perfect cover...they only had to take extra precautions when constructing the base; a minor setback at most. No, this was definitely good and the Colonel intended to capitalize on the situation. Unfortunately, there was the issue of Captain Caleb Logan. Xen wondered where he stood on this issue. If it was up to Oso, they would sit back and let the planet wither and die like a rose deprived of its sun.

"No." He finally replied, barely above a whisper. There was no mistaking the quiet steel hidden in the voice that had carried the whisper to the Captain's ears.

"I have nothing to do with this. Though, I must admit, I'm applauding whoever did. A brilliant piece of warfare if I do say so myself. I'll have to keep this little act in mind when I set up my unit...such a terrifying tactic."

Cocking his head to the side, Xen speared Logan with a quick glance before looking out the viewport again. "So Captain. What do we do now..."

Caleb glared icy daggers at Oso, who stood staring right back. Caleb found himself disconcerted as he looked into those ash-colored eyes. He found himself pacing back and forth, his eyes darting back and forth from the Colonel and the broken, and dying world below.

"A brilliant piece of warfare if I do say so myself..."

It was one thing to attack a planet. It was quite another to exterminate an entire species and annihilate their environment. Oso's words chilled Caleb right to the bone. He had heard similar things in the Praetorian Guard Academy. But never out of the mouth of a director of an intel wing. Caleb believed that the Coalition did not condone such policies and actions.

I guess this is a new side of the Commonwealth I've never seen before.

He could almost hear his father admonishing him, You must do what is necessary to obtain victory.

Whatever was necessary.

"Sir, I'm getting something on my scopes." The helm supervisor said loudly. Caleb rushed over and up to the raised helm station platform, "What is it?"

"A small ship. No more than two hundred meters. It's registry is not in our systems, but I can make out the hull markings. I believe it is a Nautolan swimship."

"Swimship?" Caleb asked, confused, "As in a sea vessel?"

"Yes sir. They modified their space vessels for submarine use. They can launch from the water, I believe. We got a short briefing on it when I was stationed on Mon Cal. The Calamari have worked with the Nautolans on the design..."

Caleb nodded to the supervisor, "Good work. Any life signs?"

"I cannot tell with my equipment. Recommend we take the ship into our bay."

"Do it. Have a full medical and security team standing by." Caleb said, "Initiate tractor."

"Tractor beam engaged. Beginning operation sir..."

Sending a sharp look at Oso, Caleb made for the turbolift, "Colonel, you are free to begin your operation. I believe the engineering teams, as well as your new recruits are standing by on board your vessel. Do as you please and report back."

He entered into the lift, "Enjoy yourself."

The doors slid shut.


Hangar Bay


Water poured out as the landing ramp of the swimship lowered itself to the dull gray deck of the hangar bay. The ship was large, and blue colored, probably to blend in with the aquatic environment for which it was designed for use. It was probably a military ship, judging from the hatches embedded in the hull. It looked as though they opened for firing.

The ramp finished it's lowering action, and a full security and medical team moved into the dark and very very wet ship. After a moment, Caleb heard the "All clear" from the team chief, and he was instantly in motion, up the ramp and into the ship.

Everything was dripping with water, The ship seemed designed for it. Caleb wasn't surprised. The Nautolans preferred to be in their natural environment whenever possible and this was no exception.

"Sir!"

Caleb turned towards the sound of the voice, and looked to see the team chief, Sergeant Mickelson, crouched over a dead body. It was one of the Nautolans.

"How did he die?" Caleb asked one of the medics who was busily running scanners over the corpse.

"I think he was poisoned sir. I'm detecting high toxin levels in the lungs and bloodstream." The medic said, still running the scanners.

"Got a live one!" Someone shouted.

Caleb moved toward the voice, a soldier hoisting a huge blaster rifle. A full team of medics were working furiously to save the life of a badly sick and dying Nautolan.

The alien looked like he was on the very doorstep of death.

Caleb followed them out as they took him away to the medcenter.


Medcenter - three hours later


"How is he?"

"Fine sir. Recovering. We got most of the toxin out of his system, including the lungs. He was close, close to death..."

Caleb nodded to the doctor and moved past him, towards the bacta tank, where the Nautolan survivor was just now coming out.

"My name is Captain Caleb Logan. I am in command here."

The Nautolan weakly nodded, "Durvis Raxan. Where am I?"

"The Onyxian Commonwealth Carrier Teebo's Legacy. Do not worry, you are safe here. Can you tell me what happened?"

Raxan sat gingerly on the recovery bed, leaning back and taking several deep breaths as a 2-1B droid began administering several shots of various medications, "Not sure. We were in the water when it happened. A flash in the sky, then we detected something in the ocean..."

Caleb shook his head with disbelief, "A missile of some sort?"

"I think so. Fired from space..."

"When was this?" Caleb asked.

"This morning."

Caleb had to steady himself, not believing what he was hearing, "An entire world contaminated... an a matter of hours?"

"Yes... we were completely taken by surprise. Many of my people were murdered instantly. Some, entire ships of people took off. We tried to follow, but could not go into hyperspace with the rest of them. The crew was too infected..."

"Where are your people?"

"I do not know. I am not sure they are coming back."

Caleb sat down on the bed next to Raxan, "What made them flee?"

"Our sensors reported, just before they failed, locating a vessel... a strange ship with a central hull and a winged appearance. It was painted a dark black color..."

Winged. Dark black.


Like a Bird of Prey.


"Was it small?"

"Yes. No more than three hundred meters."

Caleb took a deep, steadying breath. It had to have been the Crusader. But Joren Logan, for all his faults was simply not capable of killing millions of innocents. It was simply not in his nature. That had to mean that the man had been killed and his vessel captured by something... or someone...


Caleb could only begin to guess.

Before Caleb had the last word out, Xen was already making his way towards another tubolift nestled in the back of the bridge. He didn't bother acknowledging the Captain with a wave, salute nor even a slight nod. To him, Logan was already a thing of the past, he had served his purpore of transporting Oso and his unit and for the moment, his usefulness was at an end.

Taking the lift down to the hanger bay level, Xen stopped off at his temporary quarters for a quick wardrobe change. Quickly catching another lift, he arrived at the desired level and stepped out into a sea of bustling activity. Men, women and droids ran around, dodging piles of equipment, vehicles and each other. The clamor of voices drowned out any attempt at communication and the thud of footsteps echoing across the durasteel floor prevented even the sharpest of men from noticing the approach of a single individual.

Letting a small glint of glee slip into his eyes, Oso glided quietly across the polished deck. Swerving his way delicately around others, he homed in on one particular individual that he needed to confer with before giving the order to begin Phase I of the construction.

Now sporting a long black coat, the Colonel had ditched his Guard attire in favor of something more...intelligence oriented. Besides giving his already dark appearance an even more mysterious appeal, the coat with an upturned collar and underlying clothing was frankly much more comfortable and allowed for ease of movement. In this case, Xen was sacrificing armor for speed, comfort, and manueverability. His chest was protected by a light armor vest while similar protection adorned his forearms, shoulders, sides of his thighs, and legs. They wouldn't stop a direct blaster bolt, especially from a carbine, but they protected against pistols and light debris. Black leggings disappeared into thinly soled infiltration boots and various throwing knives, vibroblades and two electro-pulse pistols provided some offensive punch when needed.

Stopping quietly behind a relatively tall, well--built man, he waited a few second before clearing his throat slightly.

The man whirled around with the ease of a professional dancer, not surprising, given his background.

"Colonel. I was wondering when you would show up."

"Hmm...Colonel or Director. It seems like I've been given two titles now."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Perhaps. In any case, are we ready to deploy?"

The expression on Vice-Director Val Adaki's face soured slightly. "We're ready, but the teams aren't as efficient as I had expected."

"That can't be helped. We haven't even technically started operations as a unit yet. We have time to train them."

An eyebrow arched. "Pretty lenient coming from you."

A shrug and a turn of the body presented Val with Oso's back. "We've only known each other for a little over a week." The quiet voice floated over his shoulder. "I'm not lenient...I'm patient."

As the Colonel disappeard, Adaki blinked wearily and shook his head. Goddamn, that man was hard to finger. He thought he'd already gotten a good measure of Oso but apparently, he was still mistaken on several points. With a heavy sigh, he waved his hands to get everyone's attention then raised a finger and spun it over his head; the signal to spin up the engines and get the hell down to the planet.

The whine of engines echoed off the walls of the cavernous hanger as heavy transports strained against the artificial gravity to lift their payloads into the air. As the first of them passed smoothly through the atmospheric barrier that made the hanger habitable, Xen climbed the ramp into his Stealth Intruder and nodded to the pilot. With a subdued roar compared to the others, the Sentinel lifted easily and shot into space, angling down towards the diseased and dying planet below....

:3 Hours Later:

The island was nearly prepped. A huge hole dominated the middle of it while the plants, vegetation and dirt that had been displaced were off to one side. Large droids relentlessly attacked the earth, carving out large chunks of dirt with each action and displacing countless tons of dirt each minute. Nearly all of the work was being done by the droids and there were only a few humans on the surface. These were the ones reluctant to work underwater so the Colonel/Director had them supervising the droids upstairs. As for the rest of the engineers, intel. units, etc...

Five hundred feet below the surface of the waves, a large leviathan glided wearily around a large, foreign structure. Looking through huge, hungry eyes, the natural predator regarded the intrusion into its hunting territory with distate. The strange ceatures were round, quite large and had sunk quickly into the soft, silty seabed. He had already learned from experience that to attack one was a bad idea...the predator had received a nasty electrial shock when he bit down on one of the domes; it had nearly killed him. Now, the shark-like creature circled the site cautiously...keeping watch on his watery domain.

Dozens of meters away and looking through a thick transparisteel viewport, Colonel Oso followed the predator's movements with misty eyes. Such grace combined with destructive potential filled him with awe and respect. The animal was obviously intelligent as well, seeing as how it had refrained from attacking the domes a second time. Reluctantly turning away from the hynoptic view, he walked over to Val. "Are we still on schedule?"

"Yes sir. The underground caverns have been constructed below the seabed and are currently being reinforced by droids. The domes we are currently in are being prepared to receive the defensive emplacements."

"Excellent. When do you estimate we'll be done?"

"Two more hours, at the most."

"Good job Adaki. I'll be below, I need to contact the good Captain and let him know of our progress."

Taking a lift that shot out of the bottom of the dome and entered a bored out tunnel in the seabed, his stomach churned as the lift accelerated far past what it should and seconds later, it spat him out into a cavern that was nearly 100 feet underneath the seabed. "Goddamn engineers...need to tell them to recalibrate that damn thing." Muttering obscenities, Xen stalked off towards a communications system and hailed the ship.

"Captain Logan. We'll be operational within two hours, at the most. I'm sure I don't have to remind you that we do not nor will we ever exist. This installation was and never will be here. I'm not threatening you, merely a friendly reminder." The sly grin made it quite clear it was anything but a friendly reminder. Cutting the link, Xen typed in another set of numbers and accessed a secure holonet that linked him directly with his immediate superiors in the government. Adopting a slightly more respectful tone, he saluted lazily.

"Gentlemen. Within two hours, Section 8 will be habitable and operational. Within the week, we will be able to carry out operations."

The shadowy figures in the transmission merely nodded. Not a word was spoken. The transmission was cut.

As of now, Section 8 was a go...