Somewhere along the Tingel Arm








"Molenka! Wait! Wait for me!"

"MOLENKA!"

Tarik's call to his sister seemed to get soaked up by the forest, disturbing the quiet surroundings. Birds chattered and flew away in response...

"MOLENKA!"

But the young boy's calls came back unheeded and unanswered, he could no longer hear her playful laughter or her running footsteps...

Starting to panic, his mind began to rush with all the possible reasons why she had not replied...


...Had she fallen somewhere?...


...Had something or someone taken her?...


Inwardly he chided himself, their parents had always told them not to go down to the forest alone, they could get lost...or worse... Tarik had only gone with Molenka because she had teased him, egged him on until he had relented. She was older, but she didn't act like it...Ever since the other kids at school had said it was haunted, magical, Molenka had pushed him to go with her...

Tarik was tired of this now, and he was getting angry...

...She was teasing him!, like she always did, that was it!...

"MOLENKA! This isn't funny!" He yelled, and froze as he thought he heard something, his gaze settled on a large bush by the bottom of a tree, with branches that sprawled out in all directions, as it if was clawing at the sky, its leaves dappled by the warm and pleasant mid-day sun...

Tarik crept closer, his heart beginning to pump faster..."Molenka?...is that you?" and instinctively his hand reached to move aside the brilliant green foliage..

"RAAAAAAAAAR!" With a roar Molenka jumped out of the bushes, and in that moment, Tarik felt his heart in his mouth, and his feet freeze to the spot in fright...

"HAHA! I Totally got you!" Molenka shouted, between fits of laughter...

It took a moment for Tarik to regain his composure, but when he did he shouted back angrily...

"THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

But Molenka was almost in tears... " Yes, yes it was!" She replied still laughing...

"I'm going home" Tarik said angrily, and turned away, beginning to backtrack...

"Wait! Tarik!" Molenka, shouted after him, still smiling...

"Come on! It was just a joke! Tarik!"

"Don't be such a child, Tarik!"

But Tarik had had enough, he wasn't listening, and continued walking without looking back...

"TARIK! QUICKLY LOOK AT THIS!"

He yelled back in annoyance "I'm not going to fall for it Molenka!"

"TARIK!" Her tone had changed now, it was excited and nervous, and something in it made him turn around...and as his eyes settled on her she appeared to be looking up at the sky in amazement...

As his gaze shifted to the source of her scrutiny, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open agape...

"Wha...wha?.." Was all he managed to stammer as he gazed at the sky in wonder...

The Sky had turned a bright blood red, and the sun seemed to grow in size before his eyes...until he could see their moon eclipsed by its brightness, it seemed to fill the sky..

Tarik felt a stirring in his gut, an instinctive feeling that began to gnaw from the inside out...

"Molenka..." He started, but did not finish, instead all sane thought was momentarily suspended as Tarik watched the moon crack, fissure and explode silently but spectacularly before their very eyes , sending debris hurtling and streaking across the sky in a great and awe inspiring display of fireworks and pyrotechnics...

At first everything seemed to happen in slow-motion, and the pair stood motionless , watching without a sound, with their gaze transfixed at the event before them...

Tarik felt he was suddenly dreaming...

A terrible, deafening crack of thunder shattered the scene, and caused the entire forest to come alive, birds and animals of all kinds began to chatter and call from panic....

The sound was detached , and did not seemed to match up with the events being played out before them, as if delayed by something unknown...

As if God himself had mis-timed the sound effects...

It shook Tarik awake from his momentary slumber and he began to instinctively step backwards...


Then something strange happened, as he stepped back, where there should have been contact with the ground , there was none... panicking Tarik looked down at his feet and realised he was now floating, several feet from above the ground in fact...

He yelled out in surprise.

Pieces of dirt, sticks and stones floated past him as if they weighed nothing...

He groped at the air, instinctively trying to reach out to something in order to steady or anchor himself down, he turned to face where Molenka had been and she too was floating, her mouth open in shock...

The pair's eyes met , and shared a moment of fantastic disabelief before they were both sent crashing back down to the ground, along with everything else...

Dazed, Tarik got to his feet slowly, reluctant to let his hands leave the floor in case he started to float away again, but he did not... something else caught his eye, a movement , followed by a thunderous crash, and as he turned quickly to see the source, he heard another, and another, and another, until all he could hear was the constant crashing of trees and undergrowth being hit by something... he looked up again and his eyes widened in horror...

The sky was filled with shooting stars, thousands, countless streaks of smoke, and they made terrible whistling noises as they whizzed past him, and crashed into the ground... suddenly the entire forest appeared to be engulfed in flames...


It was raining fire.


Terrified, Tarik frantically ran to where his sister had once been but she was not there. The whole forest was being eaten alive by yellow flames , thick black smoke now filled his breaths, and stung his eyes. Coughing and spluttering he tried to make himself heard above the roar of the fires and the chaos surrounding him...

"TARIK!" He heard her, had he imagined it?...

He shouted again, and heard her distant reply...

There! It was her!

Tarik crashed through the burning foliage following her voice...

They had to both get out, escape...

Finally he stopped, and called out again...

"Over here!" A few yards away, he saw her... Surrounded by flames, she was shielding herself from the heat...

"MOLENKA!" He had already started to race towards her when the sky above him darkened even more, he looked up and his heart skipped a beat...

A gut-wrenching whooshing sound filled his ears as something large flew past him and with a deafening crash, landed ahead of him, right where his sister had been standing mere moments before...

He screamed out in horror but stopped quickly as he choked , his mouth suddenly full of dirt and smoke...
Tarik was sent flying backwards and landed with a tremendous thud, the blow of which rocked every fibre of his being, taking his vision from him.

He could hear his sister's blood-curdling screams above the roar of hell itself...He mouthed her name silently, as his world was plunged into stifling darkness.

Capricia...





Natalya let the force flow through her, let it control her actions, guide her.

As her lightsaber cut through the air it buzzed, humming with her every twist and turn as she matched Tyscio's movements, her concentration intense , her eyes closed , focused in meditation.

Aside from their lightsabers, there was no sound, the pair were totally lost , and their each and every action, deliberate but fluid, in symbiosis.

The quiet training hall was lit up by their Jedi weapons, casting sharp angular shadows across their features...

Natalya felt a pull, a tremor...

She ignored it and focused herself back to the task at hand...but it happened again, this time stronger...

A frown began to spread across her face as she began to recognise what it was...

She barely had time to brace herself, let alone deactivate her lightsaber...

The wave hit her like a wall...

She embraced it...


Suddenly the serene surroundings of the garden was replaced by a terrible vision...



The sky was streaked and stained with blood...


And the heat, the heat!


The Garden was on fire!

She felt the flames surround her...

Watched in horror as the sky above her was swallowed by a maelstrum of fire and brimstone...

And suddenly darkness, but slowly appearing through it, a face, an alien face, of a creature she had never seen before...



Just as quickly as it had come, it left, leaving only a vaccum, which it had filled only seconds earlier...

Natalya took a moment to get her breath back...


...and as she opened her eyes, she found a concerned Tyscio looking down at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked worried...

Realising she had fallen to her feet, Natalya arose slowly and with a frown nodded... "yes...yes I'm fine" She replied unconvincingly...her voice distant...

"A disturbance in the force..."

"I felt it too..." Confirmed Tysico...

Nat looked up and smiled faintly...

"Least I know I'm not losing my mind..." She said , her tone sardonic...

Tyscio's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at her, tilting his head a little... "you saw something?"

She nodded...

"The garden was on fire, I saw...I saw fire...a lot of it....and...something else..." Her voice faded as she recalled what she had experienced...

"what do you think it was?"

Natalya's eyes were still far away...

"I don't know" She replied eventually...

"Come on" Came Tyscio's response "I think thats enough for one day don't you?"

Nat looked up and nodded with a half smile, then got to her feet...


Training would have to wait.

Deep Space - Somewhere along the Tingel Arm frontier

Privately owned Frieghter - 'Nova Runner'





Everybody onboard tensed as the vessel reverted back into realspace with a stomach churning lurch...

...We have to get that damned motivator fixed!...

Captain Palmer, relaxed his chair's hand rest tightly, and started to take in their position from the navi-comp, and a deep frown burrowed itself into his already weathered, leathery face,with its patches of dark stubble...

He chewed on his cigarra stub in annoyance, then slammed his fist onto the desk angrily...

"Sonofabitch!"

His, co-pilot, and second in command, a fellow Correliian known simply as Keyes, jumped in reaction...

"SONOFA....BITCH!" The Captain repeated even louder as he realised just how far off course they had come...

Switching the ship to auto-pilot, he undid his seat restraints, and got out of his chair...

"Keyes ,You've got the deck"

He nodded and fussed over the controls as Palmer exited the flight deck and negotiated the ships main corridor, muttering underneath his breath the entire way...

...Lucky we weren't all killed...

His path was soon blocked by Booth, what he liked to refer to as his..'hired help'

Booth had joined the crew roughly about six standard years ago, he never spoke, ever...and while Palmer at times found it intensely frustrating, the moment Booth had saved the entire ship from a gang of marauders who had forced their way onboard , Palmer decided there and then he could live with it. The silent mercenary had single handedly killed them all...
There was no doubting his abilities in that regard, so what if his social skills were lacking?...Thats not what he had hired him for. As long as he continued to do his job, Palmer didn't much care..

The Merc looked down at Palmer his face expectant..

The Captain patted him on the shoulder...

"Easy son, you're alright, we're just off course, you seen that useless engineer of ours?"

Booth silently thumbed behind him...then lumbered back into his quarters...

Palmer got the impression the huge man was slightly disappointed...

With a shake of his head he followed the corridor down , then clambered down the metal ladder which lead into the engineering section of the ship, and eventually the cargo decks...

"Juno!..." Palmer growled as he entered the engine room, his tone betraying his anger...

"I'm on it!" Came the harrassed reply of the ships engineer, although she was shouting she could barely be heard over the noise of the ships engines...

Although he could hear her, Palmer could not see her, he looked around and started to head in her general direction...

"We could have been killed Juno!" He continued as he ducked under a low cluster of pipes...

"which is why the ship reverted! At least we know the fail-safes are working!"

Palmer's face looked deeply unimpressed...

"Why does that not reassure me.." He muttered to himself sardonically...

Suddenly Juno popped up from behind a mass of electronic cabling... "You should be " She grinned... "we could have been killed otherwise"

"Its not funny Juno, we're way off course, we aren't going to make it in time to Bonadan..."

Juno frowned and struggled with the housing of the Navi-Comp's systems as she spoke...

"I'm running diagnostics now, I don't think its anything serious.."

Palmer threw her an incredulous look... "You don't huh?...I'lll be sure to bear that in mind the next time we revert into a sun.."

"Look, Chenko's down in the service ducts now as we speak, he had this hunch it was an wiring issue, if it is he'll find it " Juno replied, in an effort to set the Captain's mind at ease...

It seemed to do the opposite, Palmer's face dropped slightly...

"A wiring issue! Great! Thats all we need...and just how long will it take to find and repair?"

Juno looked up and nodded, irritated...

"We don't know, we're working on it!"

"look Juno, I need to hear you've got more than a 'Monkey with a hunch' " Started Palmer, just as Keyes rang through over the ships comm system...

"Now what.." Palmer muttered under his breath as he listened..

"You'd better get your arse down here Cap'n..."

"On my way..." He responded, then turned to face Juno...

"The moment you know, I wanna know , ok?...Oh and tell that damned monkey if I find out he's been smoking cigars in engineering again, I'm gonna string him up by his tail" and with that he began to make his way out of the engineering section, Torres mocked a salute in response, but Palmer had already left...











"What the?...play it again"

Palmer's expression was one of deep concentration as he listened to the replay of an apparent distress call heavily distorted , and barely audible...

Whoever it was sounded like they needed help pretty urgently...

"clean it up"

"trying" Keyes replied as he fiddled with the communications console...

"is that distortion our end or theirs?" Palmer asked, perplexed...

"Not ours, something is dampening the signal, heavy interference..."

A deep frown began to set into Palmer's face...

"I've never heard distortion like that before...what do you think it is?"

Keyes shrugged... " Electromagnetic perhaps?...now wait"

Palmer's co-pilot began tweaking more controls...

"Its distorted at source, putting it through a high definition reasonance filter now..."

The two sat back and listened as the message enhanced began to become marginally more dicepherable...

"Turn it up"

Keyes did as he was asked...



"Mayday, ...day... ..... .. ...s .s ...der... ... se.. a.......ing...sent... ..e ...net ia .olony... dinates... ine.. wo... ero...ee...or...on... we ... in .eed .. gency assist......ce......... urgent.... ..... is.... all lif.. ...danger.... ... ... ......... ..o.r un ..... ...is ....ting .. ....ova.... .... .......te..... ..........ion... ...ded ...pl..se... help..."


"Is that all?"

Keyes took a moment to check before answering...

"Seems that way...appears to be on a repeat cycle...no video or holographic imagery...just audio...its actually quite an archaic signal"

Palmer stroked his stubble in thought, and the frown deepened further...

"Any traffic near?...systems?..."

Keyes shrugged once more in response...

"Nothing local, and navi-comp says theres nothing here but space..."

The pair exchanged a glance...

"See if you can get a fix on its location" He barked out suddenly, as he began to move towards the ship's comms console...

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Keyes said knowing they were on the same wavelength...

Palmer grimaced...

"Way ahead of you pal..." Came Palmer's quick reply, as he activated the ship comms...

"Everyone listen up! we have a situation, I want everyone where they should be, Booth grab your tools and get your ass up here, Das I want med-bay on standby, Juno, Chenko, get that damned comp fixed! I want us ready to leave , and I mean NOW!..."

As Palmer finished, he clambered into his flight chair, his face darkening at the single thought that was now racing through his mind...


...Pirates!

Back in the Forest...





Tarik came round to the the feeling he was in motion, the sounds of distant destruction, and the drone of some kind of engine filling his ears. The bitter taste of dirt and ash cut through the haze, as he coughed and spluttered himself fully awake, and for a brief thankful moment he did not realise quite where he was or why. Until he became aware of an unfamiliar voice talking...

"This is Ranger seven to base nine, come in base nine, over..."

"This is Ranger seven to base nine, come in base nine over...This is Ranger seven, is anyone there? Please respond! Over!"

"Thatch you Asshole! Answer me! This is useless, fuck!"

Tarik wiped away the stinging mixture of tears and dirt from his eyes and his predicament came sharply into focus...

"Wh...who are you?" Was all he could stammer, as he found himself in a passenger seat in a cab with a uniformed man behind the controls of a four wheel vehicle. At least he figured it was, he had seen them from the outside but never from inside.
The man's face was painted thick with worry, he had slightly receeding jet black hair, and his concentration was half on the road, and half on his comms system, and now it darted to Tarik...

"Oh? you're awake!" He shouted above the noise as he struggled with the controls...

"You had me worried there kid!" He continued as he negotiated some tricky manouvre...

Tarik simply stared at the man, struggling to comprehend why he was here with what he last remembered...

"I don't know who or what is looking after you, but someone is, you can consider yourself one lucky sonofa--"

His sentence was cut off as he braked sharply, and swore loudly..."Shit!"

"Whats happened?" Tarik asked, as the man turned to look over his shoulder as he reversed the vehicle...

"Tree on the road, hold on, I'm going around..."

Tarik did as he was told and reached out instinctively to brace himself on the dashboard at the sudden movement, and had the feeling he was not out of harms way yet, and as he squinted to see out of the dirty windscreen, and caught glimpses of what was outside, his heart sank...for it all came flooding back, violently...

"MOLENKA!, WHERE'S MOLENKA?" He blurted out abruptly...

The man threw the boy a confused expression as he manouvered around the obstacle outside...

"Who's that?"

"My Sister! Molenka!"

The man's expression turned from puzzlement to one of concern...

"I don't know anything about any Molenka, but you were on your own when I found you, there was no-one else there"

Tarik stared at the man unsure about whether to believe his words or not, and without warning suddenly reached for the man's controls, causing the entire vehicle to lurch to one side...

The man yelled out in surprise...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?"

"WE HAVE TO TURN BACK! WE HAVE TO FIND MY SISTER!" Tarik shouted back as he tried to wrestle the controls off the Ranger...

The man pushed Tarik from the controls, regained control and his composure...

"Look kid, I don't know anything about your sister, but trust me when I say, you were the only person there! Fuck! you were the ONLY thing there! in the middle of a burning forest, unconscious!
It was pure dumb luck I even found you in the first place! If the main track hadn't been blocked forcing me to find an alternative route through, I wouldn't have found you at all, do you understand?
Now believe me when I say, she was not there! And I'm sorry to say it , but if she was, she wouldn't have made it, we've barely made it out ourselves...Fuck!"

The man's blunt rebuke, stung Tarik into silence, and he shook his head in disbelief...

"No..she, she can't be...she, she just can't be...." Was all he could manage in reply, and slowly he felt a lump grow in his throat, and his eyes begin to well up...

The man, looked at the boy again, and seemed to soften... "Look son, maybe I'm wrong and she got out, maybe she's safe and well at home now, who knows..."

He returned his gaze to the track ahead... "Hey, we're still not out of this yet, shit is still falling out of the sky, so just sit tight and pray to whatever god you have we don't get hit..."

Tarik swallowed hard and fought against the tears, finding himself only partially successful...

His gaze turned to outside again, and through the filthy passenger window he could see the sky as black as night, with the forest engulfed with patches of fire...


Was Molenka still out in the middle of this?


He found himself struggling not to think about that...


The man's voice brought him sharply from his thoughts...

"The names Brannigan, whats yours?" He asked

Tarik's reply was hoarse, and distant, as if it seemed not to matter anymore...

"Tarik, Tarik Zaros..."

"I'm sorry about your sister Tarik, but I'm sure she made it out, lets concentrate on doing the same huh?"

Tarik simply nodded, but Brannigan didn't exactly sound wholly convincing...

"Where are we going?" Tarik asked eventually...

"Ranger's station, we're almost there, once we're there, we can send a message out to your parents, they must be worried sick" He paused for a second as a thought occurred to him "...assuming its still there" He added, as an after thought...

Tarik suddenly felt sick to the pit of his stomach...

"What do you mean?"

Brannigan glanced back at the boy as he replied...

"Son, we have to face facts, some serious shit has happened, and I'll be damn well surprised if it hasn't affected everything, I've been trying to raise them on the comms but I'm getting no answer, now it may be due to the weather conditions, connection failure, or..." His voice trailed off...

"Or what" Tarik responded quickly...

The Ranger stared at the boy for a moment before returning his gaze to the hazardous track in front of them...

"You were there son, you saw it, Fuck! I can't imagine anyone missing THAT!"

Tarik shivered as he recollected vividly the terrible event he had witnessed earlier, it was something he knew he would never forget...

"Whatever's happened, we're in trouble, and I don't just mean us, I mean the whole fucking planet, everyone and everything! We're in the shit son, and nothing's going to be same after this..."

And with that, Brannigan turned his attention back to the comms , trying to reach the Ranger's station once more, leaving Tarik to drift into his own thoughts...

The Ranger's last words seemed to hang in the air, and in his head, much to Tarik's distress. Despite the compelling urge , the need he felt to reject them, he could not. For he knew they rang true, like an alarm bell waking him up to a horrific nightmare, as if all he had experienced before, his entire life up until now...had all been a dream...

Sometimes there are moments when an event so important happens that it changes your entire world so much that suddenly everything is measured against it, even time itself, split into two clear, distinct parts.

What happened before, and what happens after.

Sometimes one can sense it coming, like a kind of fleeting glimpse into the future, a forewarning, but so fragile and so intangible its gone before you really knew what it was, until of course, its too late.

No. Tarik already knew deep inside.


...Nothing was going to be the same after this...


...Nothing.

Deep space, somewhere near the Imperial/ Commonwealth Border...
Onboard the Privately owned Starship 'Harbinger'...






"You've outdone yourself this time Saladin"


The Imperial Officer's words brokered a feral grin across Saladin's face, revealing his sharp incisor-like teeth...

"You won't be disappointed" He replied as he inclined his head towards the smartly dressed officer, who responded without shifting his lecherous gaze from the two teenage Twi'lek females chained together before him...

"I'm sure, I won't" There was a hidden threat veiled in those simple words of his, and not an empty one at that...although the pair had dealt with each other many times before, Saladin was acutely aware that the Imperial could have his ship blasted into smithereens if he wished it so...

The Imperial turned to face him direct...

"They are good specimens, but they had better not be spoiled"

Saladin's eyes widened in gesture of mock indignation...

"Spoiled? You offend me Captain! I can assure you my merchandise is of the highest quality! Have I ever let you down before?"

The alien's objections triggered a flicker of amusement across the man's face...

"No..." He started "You are right Saladin, you have not disappointed me...yet" He turned his gaze back to the terrified young girls cowering before them...

"What about their ...history...where did they come from?" He asked, causing Saladin to smile a small self-satisfied grin, as he picked up on the Imperial's concern instantly...

"Rest assured Captain, they will not be missed"

The man looked up at him with a smile... "Excellent"

Saladin simply inclined his head in acknowledgement...

The Captain stepped closer to the two young girls and lifted the chin of one of them, a red cast, a highly unusual find, the young Tw'lek was clearly scared , and did not meet his scrutiny...

"A fine specimen indeed" He said as he leaned in closer, then lowered his voice to a whisper "You are a pretty thing aren't you" She recoiled and shook her face away from his grip, causing the Imperial to chuckle a little...before standing and turning to face the trader...

"Same price as before?"

Saladin grinned again...

"As before"

"Good, you have yourself a deal Saladin, have them placed in my shuttle..." The Imperial said, as he reached inside his tunic pocket and retrieved a wallet, and handed it over.

"A pleasure doing business with you ...Captain, as always" The alien trader said as he accepted the man's payment...

The Captain simply nodded slowly in agreement.











The alien watched as the Imperial Captain boarded his shuttle, along with his new precious cargo, and smiled broadly...

It had been a profitable day's work...

He had found the two young girls on an outpost colony on a moon within the Orus system, their parents and the locals had put up quite a fight, but he had soon sorted that out.

All in all, he was pleased, providence had smiled upon him that day.

"Saladin, come quick!"

The alien's thoughts were stopped dead, by the ship's internal comms...

"What is it, Mastor?" He snarled, irritated at the interruption...

"I am sorry lord, but we are receiving a transmission..."

"Transmission?...from whom?" The alien frowned, alarmed suddenly at this turn of events...

"I don't know, it seems to be a distress call..." Came his pilot's reply...

"Put it on speaker...." He responded, cautiously. Then listened intently as the SOS message was duly played, cutting through the static...

"Do you know its source?" He asked afterwards, his face thoughtful as he spoke to his Pilot again...

"Its difficult to get a lock, the signal's very weak, and heavy with interference...but I think I have determined its location" Mastor replied informatively...

"Excellent Mastor, good work, I always knew I kept you for a reason, lets not keep them waiting! Set a course and heading"

"As you wish my lord..." There was a slight pause as the pilot did as he was told, and after a moment he spoke again to confirm the command "Course and heading changed" Then ventured a question "...do you know what's there my Lord?"

A slow smile began to creep across Saladin's face as he inwardly thanked the gods of providence once more, and then responded to his crewman...

"Opportunity, Mastor..." He said , his voice thick with menace...


"...Opportunity"

Orron III
Section Data Center





"Show me"

"There"

The section agent fell silent as he listened intently to the apparent distress call...

"Do we have a fix on its location?"

"Its a heavily distorted signal, but by triangulating the signal of several ASCA systems we have throughout the sector, we believe we have determined its source..."

"Show me"

Kaneda's eyes narrowed, as the holographic display lit up to reveal...

...nothing?...

"That can't be right, are you sure this is the correct location?.."

The communications officer nodded slowly... "As sure as we can be, those ASCAs are pretty sensitive , perhaps with one you could question its integrity, but not with three"

The agent nodded slowly as a frown crept across his brow...

"Gather everything you have, send out a recon vessel to investigate and report back...do we have anybody in the neighbourhood?"

The officer turned to his console and after tapping in a few keys brought up a list of active CW ships...

"The Rapier, is out on border patrol, in quadrant three...' The officer turned to face Kaneda... "Its only a few parsecs away, we could give it a detour..."

Kaneda frowned slightly... "Why do I know that name?" He asked, his voice trailing off slightly...

"Vice-Admiral Wilkar , Sir..."

Kaneda was surprised...

"The Vice-Admiral is on border patrol duty?" Kaneda clarified as he shot the aide a somewhat bemused look...

The officer brought up an itinery, then offered up quickly "Says here, he requested it..."

Kaneda's confused expression did not wholly subside... "I see" He begun flatly, clearly none the wiser.. "well, send him a message, forward everything we have, lets see what he can find out"

As the comms officer did as he was asked, Kaneda stared at the display at the red blip emanating from what appeared to be nothing but deep space...

...Something was out there alright...

Kaneda found himself troubled, as a feeling of unease washed over him...


...but what?...

A Parsec or Two from the Border


Wilkar watched live from his datapad as news of defection of more its member states, most importanty Kashyyk, reached the floors of the major Coalition stock exchanges. It seemed that an entire quarter of solid gains brought on by months of good news throughout the last few months (good news being no news at all for the Coalition) would be erased before the trading session concluded.

The market seemed to be fire sale mode as brokers from the few remaining Coalition firms in the trading pit rushed to sell off various stocks and Coalition Treasury Bonds. Commodities and shares in various exploration ventures were the only things up as traders attempted to hedge the weakening Coalition currency. Wilkar’s assets remained healthy as he refrained from investing in anything affiliated with the Coalition on a matter of principle. The galaxy was not quite the integrated web it was during the days of the Old Republic. The various struggles playing out on the galactic stage during the last fifty or so odd years had insulated various portions of the galaxy (including the area formally known as the Corporate Sector) and allowed them to develop in an economically autonomous fashion. The bankers of Bonadan would not have to worry about toxic Coalition debt plaguing their balance books.

Wilkar switched his datapad feed to the Commonwealth markets. They were off today as well, but only a few tenths of percent. A few of the major Commonwealth banks were down on fear of the Coalition government defaulting on its exceedingly large amount loans to private firms and governments all across the galaxy. Wilkar did not let this anxiety driven pull back in the Commonwealth markets worry him. The Commonwealth banking system was sound. Its strong balance sheets would be capable of shoring up the write-downs if the Coalition defaulted.

A voice broke through the din of Wilkar’s inner macroeconomic commentary. The admiral was back on the Rapier’s antiquated bridge. The ship’s captain was trying to tell him something.

“What was that captain?” asked Wilkar.

The Rapier’s captain cleared his throat.

“We have completed the fuel transfer to the Battle Dog and the Fast Chance. The Rapier stands ready to return to Etti-IV.”

Wilkar glanced out the star destroyer’s viewport. The pair of Corellian corvettes were vectoring away from the Rapier. The Rapier’s ever present bodyguard Veteran was just out of view towards the stern.

“Captain, the galaxy’s burning down, and one of our most powerful weapons of war is being used as a fuel depot,” mused the admiral.

As the Commonwealth expanded, it became increasingly difficult for the navy to patrol its borders. Many of Commonwealth Proper system patrol craft had been shuffled to the much more politically sensitive zone around the Hapes Cluster. This left it to the navy’s flag vessels to pick up the slack. The Rapier had been on patrol for months now and it along with the Battle Dog and the Fast Chance was in dire need of a refuel. Wilkar had chosen to bleed the Rapier’s tanks almost dry in order to keep the two corvettes on patrol a little longer in order to maximize the amount of space patrolled. The larger star destroyer would limp back to port to refit before starting its next patrol.

“Sir, priority message from Orron III, level gold priority,” said the communications officer.

Wilkar walked to the conference room just off the bridge to take the message. He always took this measure of privacy when something gold level came through. Five minutes later he returned to the bridge already shouting orders.

“Captain, I want you to take command of the Rapier and return to Etti-IV with the Veteran. I will be accompanying the Battle Dog and the Fast Chance to the coordinates listed in that message. There’s been some kind of disturbance about a parsec over along the border. ”

“Sir I know the Rapier doesn’t have the fuel but couldn’t you take Veteran? It be safer.”

Wilkar shook his head no. “The Rapier is too valuable an asset to the Commonwealth to risk. It doesn’t go anywhere without the Veteran.”


Some hours later the Battle Dog and the Fast Chance along with two escort squadrons of E-Wings borrowed from the Rapier arrived at the coordinates specified in the message from Orron III.

“Begin a scanner sweep,” ordered Wilkar from the bridge of the Battle Dog.

Capricia



Natalya stepped out of the refresher, and absently began to get dressed, still deep in her own thoughts. The incident during training earlier was still fresh in her mind, and as she explored its meaning the more the feeling of urgency grew inside of her.

It was unsettling, like the tidal pull from an ocean before it returns with a huge wave, or the electric quiet before an impending thunderstorm.

No matter what she did the feeling inside her remained, as if she had been permanently marked by what ever had touched her before.

It also seemed to grow within her, like an alarm one tries to ignore, but stubbornly refuses to subside, and instead grows louder.

She found herself pacing up and down her room absently, like a caged animal.

Before she stopped abruptly, and headed for the middle of the room.

"...the breath is the foundation of both movement and mental energy..."

Composing herself Natalya closed her eyes, sat down, and began to breathe deeply, regulating it as she had been trained to do so...

Steadily, Natalya gave herself to the pull, opened herself, and let the force flow through her.

Concentration is the key...

The force would not be ignored, and Natalya knew better than to try...

You must learn control...

Natalya felt the rush as the waves crashed against her, and at once, her vision returned , although this time she found she could control what she saw, albeit momentarily and despite her eyes being tightly closed, she could see, clearly.

What she found however, pained her.

Natalya now knew what she had to do, but more importantly...

Where she had to go.

Gathering her things into a sturdy rucksack, she took a moment to look around her room, then at the Holo-net relay on the desk facing opposite her.

Starting as if to use it, she stopped herself, and then reached for a data-pad instead, and after a moment of hesitation, Nat typed out a short message to both Tysico and Leia.

Natalya watched as the message was sent, they would see it first thing in the morning, but she would be long gone by then. With this thought in mind, she hitched her bag over her shoulder, and made her way out of the apartment.

Whatever lay ahead, she promised herself, this time, she would be ready.

Two days before...


'Camp Bravo'...




"Sir, the situation is worse than we thought..."

General Carl Novak looked up from the meeting table towards the young private standing before him, and stiffened, bracing himself for yet more bad news, and judging by some of the worried looks from around the table he wasn't the only one...

"I take it you have word from the Duma?..."

The young private shifted uncomfortably , clearly feeling the intensity of the room's scrutiny "Not exactly, sir, no..."

A frown already heavily entrenched upon the General's brow seemed to burrow itself in further, as if taking shelter from an impending air raid...

"What do you mean by, 'not exactly' I specifically asked to not be disturbed until we have contact with the Duma..." He replied sternly...

"Thats just it Sir" The young private answered, "Reconn have reported back..." His voice trailed off, much to the consternation of the entire room...

"Out with it Soldier!" Snapped Novak...

"There is no Duma...they're all... gone sir, dead.." The private eventually spat out, to a chorus of gasps and incredulous stares...

"What?" Novak roared in disbelief... "How? what happened?" He asked, just as incredulous...

"Toron city, the entire peninsula, everyone, everything has been wiped out, there's nothing left but ash and craters..."

The entire room seemed to deflate and a shocked silence descended upon the chamber...

"You're certain of this?..." Novak clarified , his voice heavy with burden...

The private , shook nodded slowly "Theres no doubt, Reconn says no-one's survived, the Duma was in session at the time it hit, I'm...I'm sorry sir..."

Novak nodded, his face grim as he spoke "We all are" And with that dismissed the private, and fell silent.

"Nobody left..." A young colonel by the name of Zotova, voiced everyone's thoughts...

...but it was Novak who broke the trance... "We're left, and so are millions of others..."

He cast a stern gaze towards the military men around him...

"Listen up people! This planet is being destroyed, and if we don't act fast enough, we'll go the same way.
Also, it appears we are all thats left of a government that at this rate soon won't exist at all. Make no mistake, this is it gentlemen, worst case scenario, extinction level event, judgement day, whatever you want to call it, its about survival now. I want martial law declared, I want all ideas on the table , and I mean all, no matter how crazy, everything is considered. We meet again in an hour, I want a full status report on every option we have at our disposal, what do we actually have?"

As the men looked at each other, Novak slammed his fist on the table... "NOW! people now!"

His outburst, did the trick, and the various people jumped into action.

Novak sat back for a moment, and exhaled slowly, he could feel the rush of emotions stirring inside of him, but now was not the time, not here, not in front of the men.

The news of the city's destruction had come as more of a blow than the others had either realised or noticed.

What had remained of the Military had all taken refuge here , at an old Military compound they had coined as 'Camp Bravo' far from the coast, after what happened all coastal areas were on high alert for Tsunami warnings. This was pretty much as far inland as you could get. The Duma were supposed to have evacuated here also, but had evidently not made it out of Toron city, (the capitol city for this entire region)
Still the word had spread, and they were already attracting a steady stream of refugees daily. If this kept up, they would soon be overwhelmed. 

He thought about his Wife, Annika, and his daughter Janna, their smiling faces coming to the fore...

Until a voice brought him from his thoughts...

"My Condolences General, I know your wife and family were in Toron"

Novak looked up to see Brayden, a Colonel, a friend.

The General nodded slowly, as Brayden reached out with his right arm, resting and rested it upon Novak's shoulder in a show of solidarity.

Novak looked up at his old friend, and smiled faintly.

"Its good to see you Brayden, to see you've survived gives me some hope"

Brayden was a tall , slender man, with sharp , alert eyes, those same eyes now studied the General as he spoke...

"I take it things really are that bad"

Novak, laughed slightly...but it sounded hollow and unconvincing . His eyes settled on Braydens as he spoke, they were drawn out, bloodshot and tired.

"Yes, my old friend, I'm afraid it is, nothing short of a miracle is getting us out of this mess"

The Colonel smiled slightly...

"Couldn't hurt to pray" he replied, prompting a half-smile to tug at the corner of the General's mouth...

"No" Novak said wryly "I guess not"

"Still" Started Brayden "On the bright side, things can't get any worse"

Novak let slip a laugh, as he poured himself a glass of water from the jug on the desk before him...

"Ever the optimist, eh Brayden? I always liked that about you" he said as he took a swig...

He looked down at the glass, and then back up to his friend...

"Lets go and pray for that Miracle"

The present...

Onboard the "Victory" Star Destroyer - Undisclosed location - (deep within Commonwealth space)





"Do a fly by Admiral, lets take a look at her..."

"As you wish, Executor Vinda, Helm, take us past....impulse power"

"Yes Admiral, impulse power"

Vinda looked up towards Omar with a look of subtle surprise at the mention of his official title, he had not gotten used to it yet, and the old man could have sworn he saw the faintest hint of a smile flicker across the Admiral's lips...

The Vinda-Corp figurehead had just opened his mouth to respond, when it suddenly came into view across the entire bridge, and the usual flurry and noise of deck activity was replaced by a moment of suspended silence...

Vinda's mouth remained open.

...Holy... mother... of...

From somewhere behind someone whistled...

The ample viewing area on deck which had only moments before been showing nothing but the endless void of deep space, was now entirely filled with the solid man-made superstructure, and it loomed over them all like a massive monolithic tombstone, marking the spot where some unfortunate, yet clearly loved, deity had been laid to rest.

It was Omar who broke the reverie...

"Well, I'm impressed....but...what the hell is it?"

A broad almost mischievous- like grin began to spread across the old man's face as he looked up at the Admiral standing next to him , which had the effect of making him seem years younger than he was...

"That, Admiral, is Vinda-Corp's latest venture, and Bonadan's newest drive yard, one of six we have built, so far anyway"

Omar turned back to study the vast structure dwarfing them all, and shook his head slightly in disbelief...

"That, is a shipyard?..." His tone incredulous...

His eyes took in the massive docking yards , filling up their entire view like hungry gaping maws, he could just make out movement in some of the windows dotted all over the station, there were people onboard, many people by the look of it...Laiden tried to make a quick rough mental calculation, but found himself getting lost in the figures...

"Of sorts" Replied the businessman "It fulfills a number of roles, but, primarily, yes, in effect it is one giant shipyard, or perhaps to be more accurate, I should say, three shipyards..."

Vinda smiled faintly as he talked... "Bonadan's drive yards are extremely important assets, not just for Vinda-Corp itself, but strategically for the Commonwealth as a whole, and we realised, with their static nature and rather limited defensive capabilities, that they make a most, inviting target to anyone who would see us harm, so I commissioned a new design, one which could, if all goes well rectify this oversight"

"But its so damn big" Omar responded flatly... "All you've done is create an even larger, more inviting target! Remember what happened to Kyoto station?"

"Ah , yes, but you haven't seen its capabilities yet...have you?"

A slight frown crept across the Admiral's face as he listened to Vinda continue...

"Kyoto station was a prototype, a beginning, and a good start I might add, but it had one fateful drawback..." The old man let his words hang in the air as he waited for Omar to follow his logic, watching with amusement the frown upon the Admiral's brow furrowing deeper as it began to dawn on him...

"That thing...can....move?" He started cautiously...

The corporate mogul's grin returned...

"In a manner of speaking, yes, well, actually, that is why we are here, to find out for sure, we haven't tested that yet, but we're about to find out"

The Admiral turned back to study the station and spoke his thoughts aloud...

"I see no engines, no obvious sign of any drive or propulsion system..." his voice trailed off... "just what in the hell have you got on that thing?"

There was a glint in the old man's eyes as he replied "Wait and see Admiral, wait and see" and with that he activated his comm-link "This is Vinda, have the preparations been completed professor?"

There was a moment's silence before a reply stammered through.."Ah, yes, I think so, we've had a few teething problems, but I believe we're all set"

Admiral stood next to Vinda and listened intently, curiousity raging inside of him, the two had been through a lot together, and they knew each other well, as well as anybody could know a man like Vinda.
He reflected upon this as he watched the old man talk over his comm-unit. When you've faced mortal danger together, any air's or graces tend to get stripped away pretty damn quickly, apply that kind of pressure and you'll find out someone's true character.
The Caprician conflict had been just that, sometimes the whole experience had seemed like a dream, or a nightmare.
It was then and there the old man had constantly surprised , no, amazed Laiden, he' d earnt his respect, and if it hadn't been for Vinda, he probably wouldn't be here today... Sometimes it seemed there was nothing the old man couldn't do...

"Recommend falling back to a safer distance Admiral" Vinda said eventually, as his conversation with whoever was onboard the station was completed... "Take us to these co'ordinates, and begin preparations for the rest of the fleet to begin receiving personnel..."

"We are expecting visitors?" Omar asked carefully, slightly irritated he had not been told of this until now...

Vinda inclined his head as if apologetic.."Yes forgive me for not briefing you beforehand, but it was imperative this be kept under wraps , otherwise everything we are trying to achieve here could be jeopardised"

Omar nodded slowly as he spoke " How many?"

"Oh about twenty thousand, approximately..." Vinda replied offhandedly, causing Omar to raise an eyebrow in reaction...

"Any more surprises I need to be made aware of?" He asked with a wry smile...

Vinda returned the smile as he placed a cigarra between his lips, causing him to mumble his response slightly...

"Without doubt, Laiden, without a doubt"