[Cnaeus Valerius]

Sokoto System, approaching Sokoto 9

“Captain, the rest of the Sonjon fleet has come out of warp near Sokoto Defense Platform Theta 6. The planetary task force is moving to meet them.” The tactical officer called from his station as the ship icons appeared in the THD. The icon depicting the defense platform began pulsing rapidly indicating the station had already begun to send out an emergency beacon. The enemy had probably taken advantage of the station’s fixed position and had their torpedoes pre-targeted and launched as they exited warp. The enemy ships turned to meet the portion of my fleet I had sent to the planet, but not before I was able to deduce where they had come from by their post-warp orientations. I felt a cold pit form in my stomach. “They have a full alae Captain. I don’t think our task force will be able to hold them.”

“Your assessment is correct Lieutenant, but things will change once the remainder of our fleet joins the battle.” I returned my attention to the gas giant and its system of moons. Where would my cautious opponent hide? I glanced at the icon representing the destroyer running beside the Tempest and smiled. Jarm had made an interesting choice when assigning that duty. “Comm, raise Commander DestinyPath.”

“Greetings Captain Ghar. It is my pleasure to be serving with you.” Destiny bobbed her head in the Charitim manner of greeting. Her eyes seemed to sparkle slightly as she looked at me over the comm channel. “What is it that you wish me to do?”

“Greetings to you Destiny. I want you to make use of those famed diplomatic skills of yours to devise a way to sooth the Sokoto government concerning that black hole. The gravity fluctuations will probably disrupt merchant traffic for a year or two. While you are doing that I want you to take your ship in close to the gas giant and boost your sensors to maximum strength. Both fighter squadrons from the Tempest will be flying between your ship and mine. They will close to give you a hand if anything attacks you.” I turned to Jarm after Destiny acknowledged my orders and told him to relay those instructions to the fighters and to launch them all.

“Fighters away Captain.” Jarm called once the last status light on the ready board changed color to show a successful launch. His tone said he wished a few of them were still on board…just in case.

“Excellent.” I turned my gaze to a planet sized moon that appeared half shadowed on the main view screen. The sensors of a ship holding position close to that moon would not have been able to detect the destruction of nearly two thirds of the Sonjon fleet. “Set a course for the day side of the largest moon. Weapons, on my mark fire a full barrage of antimatter torpedoes toward the dark side of the moon. Set them to explode on my command.”

“At this range Captain the torpedoes will run out of fuel just as they reach the moon. They will spiral in toward the moon’s surface and eventually crash.”

“I am aware of that Lieutenant. Fire the barrage.” I sat back and ran the tip of one finger over the smooth surface of the gemstone on my family ring. On the THD I saw that all of my ships were engaged in the battle close to the Sokoto homeworld. The Sonjon ad not been able to break through our line yet, but I knew that would change unless I destroyed the N’Fan’s Glory. Once their last command ship was gone the Sonjon fleet would be unable to fight as a single cohesive unit. I frowned as a squadron of fighters passed through our lines and moved in on the planet. Orbital defense platforms vaporized many of the fighters before they were able to do any damage, but a few were able to get close enough to destroy a communications relay station before being destroyed themselves.

DestinyPath’s destroyer was now skimming above the outer layers of the gas giant’s atmosphere. The destroyer was faster than my dreadnaut and as close to the planet as she was had already pulled significantly ahead of my ship. The cloud of fighters raced along at a greater distance from the planet but were also significantly ahead of the Tempest. One by one the torpedoes entered a decaying orbit around the large moon as their motors went dead from lack of fuel. Soon the destroyer and the fighter group would be in position for their sensors to detect what might be on the other side of the large moon. Prior to that happening, a cautious captain would…

“Sensor contact on the day side of the moon.” The tactical officer seemed ready to dance excitedly around his station as the new contact appeared on the THD. He managed to resist the urge, however, the grin on his face betrayed it as a close thing. “It is a Glory class battleship Captain.”

[Cnaeus Valerius]

Sokoto System, Sokoto 9-Alpha

“Helm, move to intercept. Shields up on a fifty percent charge.” I sat back in my chair feeling rather pleased with myself. Things were going well so far, but there was still an element of danger.

“Only half shields Captain?” Jarm gave me a quizzical look.

“It will be just enough to keep them from getting any sort of accurate sensor readings as to our capabilities, but weak enough to encourage them to believe we do not pose much of a threat. This will be their first encounter with a vessel like our Tempest and I want to surprise them.” I could not help beaming at my first officer. He clicked his jaws in a manner that did not indicate laughter.

“I hate surprises…even when they are for someone else…” he said in a tone that sounded suspiciously like pouting. Appians, of course, did not pout.

“Captain we have moved into the shadow of the moon. We have lost contact with the fighter group and our escort.” The Sokoto officer paused to study his tactical display. “They will move in the shadow of the gas giant in approximately twenty seconds. We will have no way of raising them until they either complete their orbits or until we clear the planet.”

“That information will not be lost on the captain of the N’Fan’s Glory who will doubtless consider it a most fortunate happenstance. I suspect he will be hailing us soon.” I tried not to let any doubt creep into my voice. Things would be far more difficult for us if the enemy captain was not the sort to hail us.

“They are hailing us Captain!” The comm technician looked up from her station with more than a little awe in her expression. I breathed a quick sigh of relief and ignored the look it drew from Jarm.

“Open a channel and put them on Screen 2.”

The Draksan male wearing a Sonjon uniform who appeared on the screen was handsome enough to be a model for the recruiting posters. In truth he was a model for the recruiting posters. Tragically the pretty package contained roughly the same personality as a dust mote and not a particularly interesting dust mote at that.

“This is Imperial Admiral R’Char Turen DiDellan of the Emperor’s Ship N’Fan’s Glory. You entered a combat zone and will stand down to be boarded.” He spoke in a cultured voice that matched his cultured appearance.

“R’Char! I cannot express how delighted I am to see you are the one in command of the N’Fan’s Glory.” I tipped my head slightly to the side as if puzzled. “I have no trouble, however, expressing my surprise at seeing they have made you an Admiral.”

“With all of the best officers joining the rebellion Captain, no doubt the Sonjon desperately filling the vacancies with the personnel they have left.” Ensign DreamWatcher piped from its science station. Such helpful beings, the Charitim.

“Thank you Ensign. I had underestimated the desperation of the Sonjon Fleet.” I nodded and smiled at my science officer and then turned back to the viewscreen. “Well, it would seem your promotion is not so surprising after all.”

“Hmmm, very nice.” R’Char paused to give me a tight-lipped smile. “You were far sweeter when we shared a bed. My breaking up with you seems to have left you bitter. Bitter and foolish if you think you can actually defeat a Glory class battleship in whatever that is you are approaching us in.”

“Trying to embarrass me in front of my crew R’Char? I cannot believe anyone would be so very petty. I was going to offer you the chance to surrender, but now I am simply going to destroy you.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as everyone, including R’Char gave me a confused look. So much for subtle humor.

“Those are bold words for a woman so badly out numbered.” R’Char motioned toward the THD on his bridge. “Do you honestly believe that is my entire fleet? I have nearly three more Alae waiting a mere parsec from this system. It is you who need to surrender.”

Any moment now he would clear the moon enough for one of his bridge crew to realize the only Sonjon signals coming from a parsec outside the system were lifepod rescue beacons. I considered myself fortunate that no one would believe I had really shared a bed with R’Char. I had only done it on a dare from D’Nel anyway. To be perfectly honest, it had actually been rather pleasant, as long as R’Char was not saying anything, compared to what D’Nel had to do. A quiet laugh escaped my lips as I thought of the very first Ghar Maneuver.

The signal from the N’Fan’s Glory suddenly went dead and on the THD I saw the battleship begin to reverse course. Someone must have noticed the lack of reinforcements. I called on tactical to give me a status report on the Sonjon ship.

“It looks like they are powering up their warp drive Captain. Since our escorts have moved behind the planet I think the N’Fan’s glory intends to put the moon between its position and ours and attempt to escape us.”

“Agreed. Helm keep us on an intercept course, maximum speed. If they get behind the planet and break contact with us I will have your hide. Shields on full. Forward batteries fire at will. We won’t be able to do much at this range except annoy them, but that should be enough to keep them close to the moon.” I typed a series of commands into my console and studied the results.

“Very clever…if we keep them close to the moon they won’t be able to execute even a small warp jump.” Jarm pondered his own display for a moment. “If we divert some power from the rear shields we should have enough speed to prevent us from having to flay the helmsman.”

“Do it.” Unfortunately I only half heard what Jarm had said or I would have responded differently. “Comm, open another channel with them.”

“Channel open Captain.”

I rose from my chair and clasped my hands behind my back. “Leaving so soon R’Char? Won’t your masters be displeased with you for not staying until the bitter end? Perhaps this will convince them to help you pay for that spine implant you have always longed to have.”

The bridge of the N’Fan’s Glory reappeared on the Number 2 screen and R’Char glared at me from his command chair. On the main screen his ship moved in closer to the moon in an attempt to lose us. The methane atmosphere glowed like a fiery shroud around the Sonjon battleship. “You may have won here at Sokoto Ch’Ryl, but we have Draksa! The desalinization plants are destroyed, the hydroponics farms are burning, and all the cities are occupied by Sonjon troops! We will be back to deal with you and your little fleet.”

“You have been away from Draksa for too long R’Char.” I sat back down in my command chair as a small flash appeared and vanished in one corner of the image on the main screen. I tapped my keypad impatiently. “I feel I should point out that while the Sonjon may temporarily have Draksa, you include yourself erroneously with them. You, R’Char, do not have Draksa. You have only your ship. Soon you will not even have that. As the poets are found of saying – the shadow of the tempest is upon you.”

The main screen dimmed as the antimatter torpedoes began exploding in sequence. None of them were close enough to cause any real damage to the N’Fan’s Glory but on Screen 2 the bridge shook violently with each explosion.

“Evasive maneuvers!” R’Char shouted to his helmsman. The communications technician was apparently too distracted to close the channel. I smiled as the battleship took the only clear path away from the explosions. R’Char turned back to his communications screen and scowled at me. “I will get you for this, you-”

Whatever insult he planned on hurling at me was cut off abruptly by the screech of metal. With a dozen antimatter torpedoes exploding overhead the helmsman had panicked and brought the ship even lower into the atmosphere of the frozen moon. Glory class battleships were not meant for any sort of atmospheric flight – particularly at high speeds.

“Emergency power to maneuvering thrusters! Get us more altitude!” R’Char forgot me as he screamed from his command chair. The view of his bridge shook violently once more as a salvo from one of the Tempest’s batteries made contact. A pity that with the warp engines charging and the sudden drain on the shields there was not enough power left to make any difference. “Helm! More altitude! More al-”

I saw R’Char leap suddenly from his chair as the inertial compensation failed a moment before the image went blank. The audio channel carried the tortured screams of armor plating being ripped from the hull of the starship and the internal bulkheads failing in rapid succession. On the mainscreen the armor plating fell away from the ship like the petals of a flower as the engineering section of the hull smashed forward into the ship. The forward sections of the battleship were crushed between the armored engineering section and frozen surface of the moon. A moment later the entire scene vanished as the power core went critical and exploded in a geyser of energy.

I hoped the moon was not some sort of Sokoto nature preserve...

[Cnaeus Valerius]

Shadow of the Tempest, Captain Ch'Ryl Ghar commanding, Personal Log

My Alae has met the enemy in our first true battle– I imagine the historians when they record the events of this revolution will call it the Battle of Sokoto. Unfortunately they will have to record that we failed to achieve our primary mission.

There can be no dispute that we crushed the Sonjon fleet both figuratively and literally. The outcome of the battle was so certain, however, that I cannot honestly think of defeating the Sonjon fleet as a mission goal. My peers accused me of excessive arrogance when I told them of this before the battle but they all apologized after I pointed out the overwhelming advantage we had due to our superior technology, combat experienced crews, tactical surprise, and exceptional leadership.

Okay that last one might be a touch arrogant, but my ship just destroyed two (technically three, but I am not keen on calling attention to that whole “accidentally tearing a hole in the fabric of space and time” incident) Glory class battleships. I think I am entitled to a little post-battle arrogance.

It is also true that we prevented the enemy from damaging the Sokoto homeworld, but given that the defeat of the Sonjon fleet was so certain this cannot be said to be a true goal either. The more cynical beings will no doubt point out the disruptive gravitational disturbances caused by the micro-black hole and the vast oceans of liquid methane that now cover the large moon of Sokoto 9 constitute serious damage to the system. The gravimetric disturbances will fade after a few years and Ensign DreamWatcher assures me the once the methane re-freezes that moon will be as good as new and almost as spherical as it was before the battle. Hardly what might be termed lasting damage…more a temporary alteration of the solar environment…

No. The true goal of this mission, as I saw it, was to capture nearly two Alae of Sonjon starships in the gravity matrix. While Dark Nebula does posses a distinct technological advantage, the enemy has an advantage in the number of ships they possess. We both have roughly the same starship construction capabilities so we would not be able to surpass them through manufacturing. The numerical advantage does not mean much at this early stage of the war when the battles will be mostly classic naval engagements. It will take about three Sonjon vessels to destroy one of ours, but in massed combat they will not have a chance for three of their ships to target one of ours at a time.

According to D’Nel our problems will really begin once the Sonjon have been forced to flee to more remote parts of the galaxy. They will disperse their fleet and resort hit and run ambushes targeting only one or two ships at a time. If they are clever, lucky, or both D'Nel feels the Sonjon will be able to slowly grind down our fleet until they have the upper hand.

The losses we inflicted on the Sonjon today only served to balance out what we lost here at Sokoto and at Draksa. I would have liked to been able to present my brother with two Alae of starships.

I will settle, however, for being able flaunt two battleship kills to his single battleship kill. Oh…the look on his face when I tell him…

Speaking of which, the last time I spoke with D’Nel the look on his face implied he was in love again. Again! I need to meet this new woman he has found. Soon. Perhaps after we have finished mopping up the Sonjon here in Sokoto…

Oh bother...Ensign DreamWatcher just called me from the bridge concerning some research she did on Sokoto 9-A. What a stupid place for a nature preserve...

[Cnaeus Valerius]

In the darkness of space they spoke.

Theirs was not a language of sounds and words, but had it been their conversation may have gone something like this…

“Leader, the prey has joined a pack.”

“Threat assessment?”

“The scent of all targets is familiar.” There would have been confidence in the words, but the confidence would have faltered somewhat. “Threat level is…currently…nominal.”

“Currently?” This with a trace of impatience.

“Others will be joining the pack. Our prey may become frightened and take flight.”

“Understood. Such is the nature of prey. Potential threat assessment?”

“Significant. Transmitting relative data.”

“Transmission received. Threat assessment accurate. Wait for us. We shall act together.”

“I will do as instructed Leader.”

Silence returned to the darkness then, but it was the uneasy silence of hunters stalking their unwary prey…

[Scarlett O'Hara]

The Sokoto Warrior, Mai, poured himself his traditional dusk-time Noeq’L and sat back in the small chair in the outer office. It had become a rather amusing habit of his to watch the Charitim, FireIce, wait impatiently at the secured entrance each evening.

In the many days since their attack on The Holy City of Ch’Chock’pi, Cadet Yhanna, despite his severe wound, had insisted on returning to BL’Hala Headquarters each day. He had argued that N’Fan would figure out who the informant was if he did not show up for work the day after the palace attack. Mai, with the help of the Charitim doctors at the official military hospital, had arranged a cover story to give the young Sonjon a couple of days of hospital care. They had set up a cover story of a ‘failed assassination attempt’. It had made the story more believable when Mai and the small group of Appians had quickly found and assassinated 3 other low level staff members from BL’Hala. As a result, Lord N’Fan had promoted the young Sonjon, thus giving him even more information access.

FireIce, however, was an emotional wreck each day until the handsome Sonjon arrived cloaked and had entered through the secured underground tunnel. It was an open secret among the small staff that FireIce was smitten with Yhanna. If Yhanna suspected, there was no indication. Each evening as he arrived, FireIce would become a constant companion. If anything, Mai suspected that Yhanna was annoyed by the overactive chattering of the petite blue Charitim. It was this little show each evening that had become the amusing “the day has gone well” ending for the Sokoto.

Once P’Aylie had gotten over the initial shock and fury at the Sonjon assassination of her family, even she had noticed the difference in FireIce. “Someone should really tell Yhanna, don’t you think?” she had asked the previous day.

“Let’s call it a test of his observation skills.” Mai had chuckled. “There is something to be said for finding out the traditional way.” he added, which garnered raised eyebrows from P’Aylie and almost a question.

FireIce, like its parent DestinyPath, tended to be more effeminate than androgynous like most Charitim. And since its lovesickness over Yhanna had struck full force the night of the palace attack, FireIce seemed to have become even more feminine in appearance and action.

Mai took another drink of Noeq’L. Yhanna was later than usual. That was not a good sign. But suddenly he noticed FireIce’s nervousness expanded exponentially. It began to chirp happily, chattering “Ian! I’m so glad you’re back. And safe!” It always found a way to shyly touch his arm or place a small hand on his wide chest. Yhanna would usually smile and the two would talk all the way across the small office until they reached Mai’s office for his nightly debriefing. But tonight, Yhanna’s reaction was far different.

The Sonjon pushed the Charitim away angrily, snapping harshly through gritted teeth “Out of my way!” The Charitim looked as if it would cry. Yhanna’s long determined stride carried him quickly towards the Sokoto’s office. Mai, spotted the anger in the man, and quickly met him at the corner office.

Yhanna stormed into the office with FireIce running right behind. Mai saw the clenched jaws flexing and the rigid body posture. The young Sonjon was wound tightly like a caged predator. “The bastards! Look at what they’ve done now!” His voice roared and his black Sonjon eyes seem to flash his anger. P’Aylie had seen the indications as well and had quickly followed, closing the door with the four of them in Mai’s office.

Ian shoved the small datacrystal into Mai’s computer and the holo-display focused in mid air. Immediately, the propaganda appeared. Mai was not shocked at the information. He knew it would come eventually. What was shocking was that it had taken Lord N’Fan so long to do it!

It was an Imperial death sentence issued by the Royal High Court for treason. Tried in absentia, P’Mela Piaue LeonDocTchi, D’Nel Abahai Ghar, and Chiang-Zhaizu Mai had been found guilty of a multitude of crimes, the worst of which had been the attack on the royal palace and guests, as leaders of a rebellion. The empire wide communication claimed that among other crimes they had committed, were: attacks on dozens of rim colony worlds and destroying their food supplies; confiscation of food relief transports for personal gain; intentional poisoning of agriculture worlds as a way to cause rebellion and uprisings; and the list went on. The Royal High Court had put an old-fashioned “bounty” on each of them.

Mai stood and pointed to the display. “Now I am really angry. Really trully angry! Why should the two Draksans’ bounty be more than twice as much as a Sokoto’s? This is clearly rascist.”

P’Aylie snickered “With respect, sir, but perhaps it is because each of them is over twice as pretty as you.”

“Don’t be insubordinate, Commander!” Mai pretended to frown at P’Mela’s Draksan assistant and then the two laughed.

Yhanna was stunned, as was FireIce. Yhanna’s complexion seem to darken in anger as the two looked back and forth between Mai and P’Aylie. “THIS IS NOT FUNNY!” Yhanna growled loudly. “The General and the Admiral are out there and everyone will be looking for them. Look at the fortunes to be gained. And note the communication says ‘Dead or Alive’!”

Mai stepped closer to the Sonjon cadet and placed a large reddish hand on the young man’s shoulder. “No, it is not funny, Ian. I apologize for upsetting you unnecessarily. But trust me when I tell you, they are both very well protected. They are safer where they are than they would have been here on Ch’Chock’pi. I can not go into any further details with you at this time. If you are discovered by N’Fan, as our insider at BL’Hala, I can’t afford for you to be.....” his sentence trailed off as Yhanna’s expression of realization hit. “Just trust me on this, Ian!” he added confidently. “Trust me.”

Yhanna’s eyes searched the Sokoto’s. It was that he really liked the two Draksans and this Sokoto and he couldn’t imagine what type of security they could possibly have besides the small bands of Appians. And, he reasoned, they had to be onboard Te‘Zsing or Sonjon Glory. Even though Admiral Ghar’s Alae had gone to cloak and disappeared after the attack on the palace, the one large Alae was not sufficient against the vastness of the remaining Sonjon fleet. Yhanna was frustrated because Mai had been keeping more and more details from him lately.

Mai stood quietly studying the emotions playing across Yhanna’s facial expressions. Apparently, N’Fan was not releasing information about the attack on Draksa or Sokoto, to the lower echelon of BL’Hala staffers, like Yhanna. Ian had not reported anything about the two worlds in his evening debriefings. Obviously, he had not heard anything on Sonjon open communications, or the secured communications he dealt with at BL’Hala. This had to mean that N'Fan had yet another layer of officers between him and the BL'Hala, which was not good news. In addition, all the staff working for Mai were under strict orders not to discuss anything with Yhanna while he was at the secured facility. He had been, by necessity, cut out of the information chain.

Mai understood that information is power but control of the information is even more power. Mai knew it was an extremely emotional and difficult position for Yhanna to be in. His loyalty to P’Mela, D’Nel and he, had been proven to Mai beyond doubt! In reverse, he had to work daily with those he hated, while appearing to believe as they. He had more access to their information regardless of how skewered it was than he had to Mai's.

Seeing the hurt and concern written on FireIce’s expression as it stared up at Yhanna, made Mai realize he had a bigger problem. He had to do something with FireIce. It had become conflicted with romantic emotions for the Sonjon. FireIce had access to a great deal of rebellion information. It might try to tell Yhanna things to sooth him. Thus Mai’s decision was made. Tomorrow morning without warning, he would send FireIce off the planet in the scheduled small evacuation of families. Part of Admiral Ghar’s Alae had been scheduled to meet three cloaked Appian transport shuttles on the dark side of Ch’Chock’pi’s moon to take the first group of family members to safety. Among them were Mai’s wife and daughter, and now his godchild, FireIce.

A brief look between Mai and P’Aylie was exchanged. He saw her slight nod and knew she understood what he was thinking. She said “By the way, FireIce, I will need your assistance tonight on a special project. Please come with me.”

The Charitim looked around with surprise. “But...I had scheduled off tonight to spend with Ian.”

P’Aylie smiled and shrugged “Sorry but you know how unexpected things are right now.” The Charitim looked back at Yhanna, who was lost in his own thoughts. Mai saw the sad frown on FireIce, who’s small shoulders seem to sag as it turned to follow P’Aylie from the room.

[Zack Ryan]

"Boro'Ches," his aide, Morfar, said as he entered the command deck, "the shuttle has left the shell and is headed back to the other ship.” Stepping up to the display, Morfar adjusted the screen and pointed to the now four distinct shapes. “The anomaly we have been tracking for the past several ships hours have turned out not to be a single entity, but at least four distinct craft, possibly more. Their course will bring them directly here to this area, with a course that will intercept ours in about 2 ships hours. As the anomaly gets closer, we should get clearer status."

Mos thought for a several moments before speaking. "Contact the shuttle, ask for P'Mela LeonDocTchi, and request a meeting aboard her craft. Tell her it is I and that I wish to speak to her, about things important to both of us. Then a message to the Prince and tell him about the anomaly and when it is due. I have a very uneasy feeling about those ships."

Mos stopped the Boro'Sug as he reached the door. "Contact the shell and tell them to prepare for pickup, and take us out of cloak. I suspect those are Son’jon war vessels and they are never friendly. I want to be prepared to protect the shell, and if need be, the other ship."

When the ship decloaked, alarm klaxons began blaring. Mos quickly got on the comm. and requested status. "I have attempted to call the shuttle twice. When it docked aboard the larger ship I had the comm. operator try to contact the other ship. It is refusing to acknowledge our request for communication. When we decloaked it's weapons systems came on line and are powered up to max."

Mos frowned and then said to the Boro'Sug, "Do you have the burst frequency of the message we intercepted and the tags?"

"Yes sir."

"Then quickly encode the message to P'Mela LeonDocTchi, tell her it is important to contact me immediately and be sure to tell her that we believe that the anomalies are hostile. Sign it Mat'Tepin Gilpali, Klinghow of the Z'Kin'Dros freighter Kuchow. Keep our weapons systems powered down. We must show them we are not going to attack.”

[Scarlett O'Hara]

Originally posted by Zack Ryan
Mos thought for a several moments before speaking. "Contact the shuttle, ask for P'Mela LeonDocTchi....
I was just engaging the shuttle’s thrusters as we yawed away from the shell, when I heard the initial hail. My eyes raced over the sensor displays. Nothing showed but Te’Zsing and our small shuttle, along with the conspicuous electronic absence of the Aurora Shell. I heard my name hailed a second time as the hail repeated automatically until acknowledged. I knew it was a Copani voice! Though fluid in Sonjon Standard, the Copani’s enunciation still bore the hallmarks of the soft-vowel, sing-song chant punctuated with abrupt guttural consonants of its own language. Before the hail could repeat a third time, I ordered the communication cut.

Behind me, as if from a great distance, I heard the anxious mutterings of the female Appians, Enna and Osala. Surl, beside me in the second flight seat, was doing as I - leaning forward and frantically searching visually for a Copani ship. Our eyes locked once and I wondered if he could see the fear and dread in me.

“I’m glad D’Nel moved Te’Zsing closer to the shell for us.” I muttered, hoping to distract both of us from my discomfort. My hands were visibly shaking. “Thrusters at full. Six kilometers to dock.”

“Perhaps Te’Zsing took the initiative....” Surl began, his voice a little off.

Far too harshly, I bit back “Te’Zsing would never violate regulation minimum safe distances in a peaceful situation.”

“Peaceful until now.” Surl’s voice held as much anxiety as mine, I thought. It was not a comforting thought. I had come to think of him as strong and cool, and like D’Nel, dispassionate in threatening situations.

“Distance to Te’Zsing?” I asked Surl as I concentrated on messaging Te’Zsing’s landing bay controls, with a footnote to the ship itself to prepare for immediate cold jump.

“Three kilometers. Slowing speed to half.” Surl’s voice had regained its professionalism....for a moment.
Originally posted by Zack Ryan
Mos stopped the Boro'Sug as he reached the door. "....take us out of cloak
“DAMN!” Copani mother ship is decloaking...right on top of us!” Surl barked.

I jumped, noting that the Copani ship was phasing into detection on the electronic displays. Te’Zsing’s docking bay was open in front of me and the landing lights were pulsing along in sequence. I quickly entered the command codes and released shuttle helm to Te’Zsing’s central computer. I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t breathe deeply. I wanted to vomit. The slight fluctuations in the shuttle as it aligned itself to the pulsing dock lights added more urgency to my stomach’s queasiness. For a brief moment, I remembered the one mother ship I had been able to destroy before the Copani had become wise to the maneuver. It had taken me two years to chart the ship and note its pilot’s patterns before I caught it coming out of jump near Quinif Primus. In the 18 seconds while it was dumping inertia, I had......
Originally posted by Zack Ryan
When the ship decloaked, alarm klaxons began blaring. Mos quickly got on the comm. and requested status. "I have attempted to call the shuttle twice...When we decloaked it's weapons systems came on line and are powered up to max."

Mos frowned and then said to the Boro'Sug, "...."Then quickly encode the message to P'Mela LeonDocTchi, tell her it is important to contact me immediately and be sure to tell her that we believe that the anomalies are hostile. Sign it Mat'Tepin Gilpali, Klinghow of the Z'Kin'Dros freighter Kuchow. Keep our weapons systems powered down....

Te’Zsing has powered his weapons.” Surl announced firmly with only a trace of concern detectable. “Copani ship has lowered its shields and does not have power to its weapons.”

I stared at the Appian and asked shrilly “Lowered shields?” My eyes quickly reverted to the sensor displays to verify. “And no weapons! What is he playing at?” I added incredulously.

“I do not believe this Copani is playing.” Surl added thoughtfully. “He does not wish to provoke us and possibly incur damage to the Aurora Shell. With nearly 5000 people on board that shell, he is protec.....” his thought went unfinished as our shuttle snapped to a hard stop. Our eyes met again as we unbuckled from our seats and felt Te’Zsing’s jump power plant coming online. I smiled as I realized that with his shields down, the Copani would be extremely vulnerable to the magnetic disruption of Te'Zsing's time dilation jump. But then I frowned as I realized the Aurorans on the shell would be just as vulnerable.

"All a Copani needs to do to provoke me is be in my space!” I added irritably as we moved quickly off the shuttle and into Te’Zsing’s tight-fitted docking bay.

As we rushed towards the exit to the ship’s inner decks, Te’Zsing began to broadcast a decoded message over the ship’s comm. Again, I heard my name called, this time in Draksan Standard - so eloquently enunciated even by a Copani. I stumbled badly when I heard the name ‘Mat’Tepin Gilpali‘. That was the name of the Z’Kin’Dros I had fallen in love with. His pale blue form had been so beautiful and I had hoped his baby would be a blessing to us. Of course, it had been MosGaladstin in shapeshifted form, pretending to be a Klinghow {Captain} of culture and gentility. He had known so precisely how to seduce me and hurt me with giving me a baby in his Copani likeness.

“P’Mela!?” Surl snapped as he grabbed me to keep me from falling. I looked up at him through hot tears. Once again, Mos had proven how vulnerable I was to his manipulations. Something he had no doubt counted on when he had the message sent!

As Surl held me and we began to rush to the bridge, three decks away, I listened as Te’Zsing played the entire message. I wondered why D’Nel had not ordered it discontinued. Again, I winced at the bittersweet memories evoked in me, and the self-hatred I had suffered at giving away my own child. But I shook it off, albeit without eaze, and listened.

He was warning us about hostile ships, possibly Sonjon. Yet I knew that no Sonjon vessels had been detected on long-range sensors before our departure for the Aurora Shell. I was sure it was another of Mos’ ruses to buy himself time to recover the Aurorans. I knew that D’Nel was sitting in the captain’s chair, methodically using this time to plot strikes against the mother ship. After all, without their shields and cloaks, and with weapons down, he could get 4 or maybe 5 shots off before they could react. And if he targeted the 3 power plants on the ship, then they would not be able to get power to weapons or shields ever again. I hoped he was just short of giving the order to blow the bastard to pieces.

“This is D’Nel Abahai Ghar, acting Captain of Sonjon vessel designated Te’Zsing. Maintain your shields-off, weapons-down status. Your request for a meeting onboard this vessel is denied. This communication channel is quite secure for anything we wish to discuss.” D’Nel’s voice was cool, confident and unemotional. I knew he had to be stalling for time until complete scans were made of the mother ship. Then he would blow it to pieces!

“I am MosGaladstin, Boro’Ches of the Copan Royal Science Ship.....” came that all too familiar voice. We were only two decks away from the bridge now. I was glad Surl still had an arm around my waist, otherwise I think my legs would have collapsed from weakness.

“You previously identified yourself as Mat’Tepin Gilpali, Klinghow of the Z’Hin’Dros freighter Kuchow. Please verify your identity. I like to know to whom I am speaking.” D’Nel’s voice was still calm and confident. My heart nearly sang as I envisioned him quickly verifying sensor data for a weapons lock.

My stomach flipped sickly as I heard Mos’ gentle laugh answering D‘Nel. It was exactly the same as the laugh I had known from Mat’Tepin. I wondered how much of Mat’Tepin’s persona had been the real Mos. “I am Boro’Ches MosGaladstin, Admiral Ghar. It is a privilege to ‘meet’ you after studying all those Copani intelligence dossiers on you and your....exploits.....on the rim.”

“A privilege, hum?” D’Nel’s voice seem to hold some surprise in it, along with a touch of humor. “If you would kindly forward your dossier to me, Boro’Ches, then perhaps after studying it I could also say it’s a privilege to meet you.” he added with that typical Ghar arrogance which could be charming or annoying, depending on one’s mood at any given moment.

I could see the bridge door as we quickly rounded the corridor leading up from the second deck. “I am not your enemy, Admiral Ghar.” I heard the words of Mos coming through the comm with feigned seriousness. “But I believe we may have quite a few Sonjon as common enemies. This, and more, is what I would like to discuss with you and P’Mela. I have offered to bring a one-person shuttle to Te’Zsing to forward these talks in our mutual interest.” Mos added.

D’Nel’s answer was not forthcoming. I could not believe that he was listening to this Copani! I could see the bridge door less than 200 feet ahead and my anger was boiling........at Mos or at D’Nel, I could not tell which.

[Cnaeus Valerius]

“Admiral, I am detecting a tight beam transmission from a cloaked source being directed at the shuttlecraft.” Te’Zsing said with a trace of uncharacteristic hesitation.

“Are you able to intercept it or pin point the source Te’Zsing?” I stared at the THD and drummed my fingers as I ran through all the races known to possess cloaking technology.

“Negative Admiral.” Again I thought I heard a trace of hesitation in Te-Zsing’s voice, almost as if he were holding something back.

‘Te’Zsing, is there something-,” I stopped in mid-sentence as the warning sirens flared to life and the bridge lighting shifted to combat lights. The THD flickered as it automatically adjusted the scale of the display to accommodate the Copani mother ship decloaking directly above our position. I slapped the combat actions switch out of habit, but Te’Zsing had already brought the shields up and powered the weapons systems. I felt the deck vibrate slightly beneath my feet. “Status of Copani ship?”

“Shields are down, weapons are off line.” Kov stated in his characteristic monotone. “Should we need it Warlord I have incorporated the axial transmitter from the assault shuttle into Te’Zsing’s systems and augmented the ship’s self destruct capabilities. Even if the Copani raise their shields we should have enough energy to at least”

“You what?!” Te’Zsing spoke with no hesitation now. “It is not possible for you to have made such modifications without my consent.”

“You gave my mate, Enna, consent.” Kov’s monotone was broken by a more than a little smugness. “While she kept you busy I made the modifications.”

“What?! I feel so…so…used…” The ship said in a tone appropriate to someone on the wrong side of a relationship triangle.

“As fascinating and disturbing as this conversation is I would prefer for everyone to focus on the Copani vessel prior to their captain deciding to blow us out of space. TeZsing, lower rear shields and get that shuttle back to the hangar as quickly as possible. Kov target the Copani’s powerplants with luck we can get off enough shots to cripple their weapons systems.” I turned to the hangar deck status board and watched the shuttle land. Te’Zsing must have been still distracted by what Kov had told him because the shuttle landed forcefully enough for me to feel the vibrations ringing through the ship.

“The Copani ship is now transmitting directly to me Admiral.”

“Very well. Put it on ship’s intercom so the away team can hear the message.”

I felt my stomach flip as the Copani captain hailed for P’Mela by name. It made sense for a Copani captain to know the name of the greatest Copani Hunter in the Empire, but it did not bode well.

“Open a channel, but do not acknowledge the hail.” The Copani would be able to detect that a comm link had been established, but as long as they could not confirm P’Mela was actually on board we might be able to stall them. I sat back and listened as the Copani captain warned us of approaching Sonjon vessels and requested a meeting. I had to give the Copani credit for possessing good intelligence. If their intel was that good however, then they would most likely know that P’Mela was aboard.

“Put the captain on screen.” I straightened my uniform and took up a casual pose in the command chair. “This is D’Nel Abahai Ghar, acting Captain of Sonjon vessel designated Te’Zsing. Maintain your shields-off, weapons-down status. Your request for a meeting onboard this vessel is denied. This communication channel is quite secure for anything we wish to discuss.”

“I am MosGaladstin, Boro’Ches of the Copan Royal Science Ship.....” I noted with amusement that the Copani had assumed an identical posture to my own. The Copani seemed equally amused, but it was hard to read Copani sometimes.

“You previously identified yourself as Mat’Tepin Gilpali, Klinghow of the Z’Hin’Dros freighter Kuchow. Please verify your identity. I like to know to whom I am speaking.” I politely held up a hand to halt the Copani’s introduction. Their ship was enormous and it was taking time to locate the tertiary powerplant. I needed more time.

The Copani captain laughed politely, but there was a trace of tension to it. He had to know what we were doing, but he still had not raised his shields. I wondered what his game was…perhaps another ship was inbound. Capturing the greatest Copani Hunter alive would surely be worth more to them than killing her.

“I am Boro’Ches MosGaladstin, Admiral Ghar. It is a privilege to ‘meet’ you after studying all those Copani intelligence dossiers on you and your....exploits.....on the rim.” The Copani’s manner seemed to be approving without being condescending…more like one warrior admiring the work or another. I did not read too much into it though – a Copani would almost certainly approve of anyone causing the Sonjon grief.

“A privilege, hum?” I turned to Kov and spoke quietly. “Do we have anything in ship’s stores for one of my many fans?”

“Our ship’s stores are fully stocked with autographed holo’s and other Ghar Fan memorabilia, Warlord.” Kov bared his teeth in a grin while on the monitor behind him Te’Zsing played a small animation of an Appian getting sucked out an airlock. The animation stopped when Kov turned back to his station.

“Ah, excellent.” I turned back to the main screen and addressed the Boro’Ches. “If you would kindly forward your dossier to me, Boro’Ches, then perhaps after studying it I could also say it’s a privilege to meet you.”

“I am not your enemy, Admiral Ghar.” The Boro’ches spoke with notable urgency – he obviously wanted me to believe him before I opened fire. His life would be much less stressful if he raised his shields, but they remained down. Perhaps there was some truth to what he was saying – the enemy of my enemy is my friend after all. “But I believe we may have quite a few Sonjon as common enemies. This, and more, is what I would like to discuss with you and P’Mela. I have offered to bring a one-person shuttle to Te’Zsing to forward these talks in our mutual interest.”

It was possible the Copani were willing to overlook P’Mela’s highly successful career in exchange for crippling the Sonjon. They would probably demand she be handed over to them after the war was over, but we could distract them simply enough by pressing forward with the invasion of the contested space. I was about to answer when the blast doors to the bridge opened suddenly and the deck seemed to vibrate again as P’Mela stormed onto the bridge.

[Cnaeus Valerius]

Shadow of the Tempest, Captain Ch’Ryl Ghar commanding…

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the edge of the bath. The final battle to secure Sentinel 7 had left me feeling sore all over and a nice hot bath before bed seemed like just the thing I needed. The room was filled with the scents of home and the invigorating sounds of a Draksan contemporary band. I tapped my foot in time with the beat of the music and inhaled slowly, savoring the smell of flowers that the ancients had believed to be magical. It was easy to understand why. I imagined what it must have been like to have sailed across the vast Salt Sea and have been among the first to see the towering black cliffs and lush green valleys of-

“Bridge to Captain.” Jarm’s voice sounded somewhat apprehensive over the comm speaker…but then Jarm’s voice always sounded apprehensive to one degree or another. I tried very hard to shake the image of Jarm standing beside me on the quarterdeck of an ancient sailing vessel.

“I imagine the Sokoto have finally gotten around to filing a protest about the little black hole incident or melting that methane moon…” I sighed and reached for a towel.

“No captain, it isn’t the Sokoto.”

“What? They really should have called by now. I don’t like it. Send one of the scout ships – the Paladin I think, they came out relatively unscathed – back to see if the Sonjon have launched a second attack.”

“My apologies Captain, but the Sokoto called to lodge a protest while you were aboard the Sonjon Glory inspecting the damage. The Glory’s comm system was down again so I had them speak with Ensign DreamWatcher while I arranged to have a runner find you.”

“Ensign DreamWatcher?” I thought on this a moment. “I imagine in her enthusiasm to defend me she went into extensive detail concerning the temporary nature of both incidents?”

“The term ‘exhausting’ is what I would have chosen Captain.” Jarm joined me in a quiet chuckle.

“I take it the Sokoto no longer wish to complain?”

“Not so long as the good ensign is our science officer.”

“Things like that are what makes the universe conspire against you, you know.” I chided my first officer and heard his jaws click in laughter again.

“Doubtless, Captain.” The Appian’s tone suddenly became serious. “We are receiving a distress call from the Sonjon Glory – text only.”

“Another distress call? Timot is having a bad day.” I stepped up out of the bath and grabbed my towel. “Put it through to the viewer in my stateroom.”

[Ogg]

From behind the viewer the strange little creature known as Ogg watched. He had managed to avoid detection by the Copani, by simply letting the game run out, but the situation was getting very grave, he would have to act to save her, to save him, to save life itself. Yet he was forbidden to act directly in the affairs of others, of course that had never really stopped him before and after all a little humor never hurt anybody…