Chapter 5: Contact

Walter was beaming with pride, he had done it. His smile grew even brighter when Peter walked over and congratulated him. Chloe was reeling from her experience but she and Max were together again and seemed to be recovering. Both Kimmy and Astrid were smiling and Kevin's three men even seemed to be at least somewhat jovial about the success of the experiment. Hans's face even flashed a brief smile for the slightest of moments. His face turned deadly serious, however, when all at once every window to Walter's lab was suddenly smashed open.

Olivia wrenched out her sidearm as several cylindrical objects were hurled into the room through the broken windows. As the grenades bounced around the room Gerrard called out a warning as the door was thrust open and two more grenades were tossed inside by masked men. Reacting instantly Hans was able to drag one of the men inside and quickly dispatched him with a swift and deadly thrust to his throat. Wasting no time Canderous quickly scooped up both grenades and dove out of the room with a defiant roar.

"Walter get down!" Peter called out just before the room exploded in dazzling light and deafening noise. She had been on the opposite side of the lab from the explosions but as she came to her senses she found herself on the floor all the same. Flashbangs… the word hung in her mind as she struggled to pick herself off of the floor. Slowly, the room began to focus in front of her but the images refused to focus or take concrete shapes. The intense ringing in her ears caused an overwhelming pain to drive itself deep into her head. Olivia struggled against the dizziness and nausea and forced herself up, realizing for the first time that she still held her weapon. Aiming it towards the open door she fought to keep her aim steady but it was impossible. Two of everything in the room jumped around and danced in front of her and despite her grim determination she found herself on the floor once again.

She watched in slow motion as two masked men, dressed in black, came stumbling into the room. Olivia watched with increasing desperation as it became apparent that they were recovering much faster than she was. Her fears were alleviated when Gerrard came into view and tackled one of the men, seemingly in slow motion. The second man lurched backwards, grabbing at his neck as he collapsed to the ground. Hans was upon the falling man immediately, moving so fast his movements caused Olivia to struggle once more against feelings of nausea. Quickly finishing off the struggling man he wrenched his knife free. A shower of blood shot forth from the man's neck as Hans violently retrieved his weapon and as the man went still both Hans and Gerrard rushed out the door, presumably to deal with more threats.

By the time that Olivia had finally managed to make it to her feet she noticed that she was the exception in the room. The others were all still on the floor in varying stages of suffering. Both Astrid and Kimmy had managed to draw their weapons but neither was in any state to make us of them. Peter was desperately trying to right himself and his face was stained red with blood from his ears and nose. Walter was on the floor as well, leaning against a wall, a bemused and almost cheerful expression on his face as he blinked and moved his mouth in an odd manner. Both Chloe and Max were still safely in bed but were obviously suffering from the experience, as if they both hadn't suffered enough today…

Slowly and with a huge amount of effort Olivia managed to make her way to the door of the lab, her weapon held shakily in front of her, but ready nonetheless. As she rounded the corner to clear the hallway a woman that she didn't recognize entered the room and in a dizzying flash of movement quickly, but gently disarmed her. Blinking as she swayed unsteadily on her feet Olivia reached out to resist but the woman avoided her grasp and was soon helping Olivia into a nearby chair. Ears still ringing intensely, Olivia didn't bother speaking to the woman who patted her on the shoulder and, rifle in hand quickly cleared the rest of the room.

She was dressed in all black and wore a black baseball cap, her eyes hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses. A long, thin auburn braided pony tail cascaded down her back, taking the edge off of her menacing appearance, but only slightly. The woman gave a thumbs-up to someone outside and several more armed men and women entered the room, two of them struggling as they dragged in Canderous's massive hulking and clearly unconscious form. One of the men, clearly a medic of some kind, began to approach her but she waved him away, pointing instead to her friends that were worse off than she was. The man nodded and patted her on the shoulder and she watched as he noiselessly moved over to inspect Kimmy who was trying desperately to struggle to her feet.

Hans and Gerrard returned and seemed to be trading gestures with the new arrivals and were probably just as deaf as she was since neither seemed to be making any attempt to speak. Hans motioned towards Olivia and one of the men that she recognized made his way towards her, smiling pleasantly. Lee Martin, one of Kevin's men who had helped rescue Max five years ago approached her and handed her a piece of paper that had hastily scribbled writing on it. It took her some time to focus on the words that kept splitting and doubling before her but eventually she was able to make sense of them. Hostiles neutralized… we're here to help…

The fleet tore out of hyperspace and as the ships transitioned back to 'real' space Kevin watched as his tactical map updated, nothing had changed. Their target, Earth, appeared before them, large enough to dominate the bridge's exterior view-ports. It was easy to forget the chaos that was currently unraveling on the surface of the planet when you looked at it from above. Kevin had seen hundreds of planets but none of them rivaled Earth's beauty.

He was about to climb out of his crew-pit but a sudden alert made him pause, one of the scout craft had returned, only one. The pilot immediately transmitted a massive package of information and reported that his partner had remained behind to continuously monitor the situation. Kevin's mouth went dry as he sifted through the data and an unusual sensation gripped his heart as he scanned through image after image, fear.

A fleet was indeed trying to maneuver through his territory undetected, ships that matched no known profiles, hundreds of them. He felt the atmosphere on the bridge slowly change as the news spread from station to station. Forcing himself to focus he cast away his fears and mastered his emotions. Once his feelings had been brought into line he tore through the information with renewed vigor, his mind's focus sharpening and expanding.

The fleet consisted of just upwards of four-hundred ships… four hundred… the number hung in his mind and taunted him. Refusing to be distracted he increased his focus and pushed away the unnecessary emotional reaction and split the massive fleet into more manageable numbers. The largest ship, a massive warship roughly half the size of the Night Hammer, dwarfed the rest of the fleet, one command and control ship. It boasted an impressive array of a multitude of weapons, there was hardly a section of the hull that wasn't bristling with firepower. Weak outer armor… interesting… no shield generators either… very interesting…

Wondering if this trend continued he inspected the next largest ship and discovered that there were eleven other seemingly identical copies of this warship. Somewhat smaller than his Star Destroyers, these blocky ships were armed to the teeth as well but seemed to have superior armor than the larger ship. Clearly designed to give as much damage as they received he quickly classified these ships as battleships and moved onto the next class of ship. He hesitated however when he picked up on something unexpected.

The twelve battleships were all unique, each one seemed to have common traits in design but during their lifetimes the ships had all been heavily modified in subtly different ways, interesting… Moving on he found the bread and butter of the unknown fleet, ships he classified as battlecruisers. Smaller than the battleships, although not by much, their propulsion systems were massive and their weaponry was imposing but their armor was almost nonexistent compared to the other ships he had inspected. More than one-hundred of these ships were scattered in groups throughout the fleet, this was their main fighting force. The rest of the fleet was comprised of much smaller ships that he designated as cruisers, frigates and destroyers, these smaller ships were obviously picket ships that were meant to screen the larger ships and protect them of threats while they closed the distance with their enemies.

The enemy fleet had vast numbers, numbers that made his stomach churn with fear but the ships that made up this fleet were far inferior to his own. The simple fact that they were lacking shields raised his spirits considerably and their weaponry seemed to be almost entirely projectile based. The enemy armaments consisted of missiles and 'slug' throwing weapons that his ships' shields would have no problem resisting… for a while at any rate. Even more encouraging, it seemed that this fleet was seriously lacking in fighter support, which he had countless of. His ships might be falling apart, be desperately short on crew, and be few in number compared to this massive threat, but he had hundreds of strike craft.

Tie-Fighters, Tie-Interceptors, Tie-Bombers, and Lambda-Class Assault Shuttles made up the majority of his strike craft but he also had hordes of craft that would have embarrassed any respectable Imperial officer. Not able to be choosey with the ships that he had acquired or captured he had never turned anything down. Because of this he had an embarrassingly large stockpile of aging Z-95 Headhunters and 'uglies'. These ships were often used by pirates or mercenaries who were unable to afford or maintain newer or better-quality ships but they were still deadly in the hands of a determined and suicidal pilot. The headhunters had once been solid, nimble starfighters boasting two laser cannons and respectable shielding, but that was a long time ago. They were now inferior in every way to the modern fighter craft, even the basic of the basic Imperial Tie-Fighters.

The 'uglies' as they were affectionally called were, to put it simply, just that. Hideous works of necessity, these craft had started appearing between the end of the Clone Wars and the beginning of the Galactic Civil War. A mounting excess of discarded star-fighter parts and an increasing demand for starfighters had inevitably led to their creation. It was easy to create an 'ugly', all you had to do was take random parts of at least two different starfighters and slap them together and hope. Not every combination worked but soon winning combinations had become favorites. Even more surprising, some of these combinations had actually improved upon some of the weaknesses of various craft. But despite these heroic efforts of ingenious minds, the 'uglies' were always frowned upon. In the right hands, however, this disdain could be easily taken advantage of in combat.

Leaning back Kevin felt much more confident about the situation. Numbers were the only disadvantage at the moment and judging on the slow progress of the unknown fleet, he would have several days at least to consolidate his position and await reinforcements from his allies.

"Admiral, deploy the emissary ships, let's send out the call." And hope that we get help faster than we usually do… As his orders were carried out he found himself guiltily rebuking himself for his last thought. He had many allies that were extraordinarily loyal that would come charging to the fight with fanatical devotion. The only problem is that so many of them are extremely far away… That was the problem with space, of course. It was easy to say 'space is big' but the human mind just couldn't fathom exactly how much of an understatement that was.

The galaxy was full of life, damned near crowded with it, but that still didn't change the fact that most of the galaxy was uninhabited nothingness. The best part about Earth's position was that it was extremely isolated from the rest of the galaxy where the major players tore at one another time and time again. Unfortunately, this isolation left Earth greatly separated from the numerous allies that he had gained over the years. Even with the time that he had before this unknown fleet reached earth, his ships would be forced to make a stand… alone.

Sithspawn… Kevin swore as he prepared a communications channel. He really liked the irony of such foul remarks, he was technically a Sith after all. Unfortunately, the situation was, despite everything, quite dire. The jewel that was the Earth was in danger and if he had any hope of successfully defending it he needed the people to stand with him. Right now, the world's governments probably had their hands full tearing out their own hair, his fleet was clearly visible and they had entered the system without their stealth systems activated, the whole world could see them. But if Kevin was going to get the whole world on his side he needed to reach out to the one man who had a chance of doing just that, Lieutenant Colonel Treize Kushrenada.

Treize was not surprised that the grand admiral was reaching out to him after boldly jumping his fleet to well within visual range of the planet. At this very moment millions of concerned people were nervously casting their gazes skyward as the menacing arrowhead shapes of the Star-Destroyers drew ever closer to their eventual orbits around the earth. Governments all over the world were reacting to the sudden appearance of the threat and militaries were being mobilized, plans were being drawn up and without any help from Treize himself, the world was quickly turning against his adversary.

However, even though everything was going according to his plans a few minor details gave him pause. The grand admiral, should have been addressing the planet at the moment, not just him, that was by far his best tactic at the moment. He needed to cement himself in whatever image he intended before his already miserable public opinion turned even worse. If this had never been his plan and had chosen instead to arrive as a conqueror his fleet should have already begun their initial planetary bombardment. Instead his adversary had chosen to do begin maneuvers that would bring his ships even closer to the planet, interesting… what are you up to dear friend?

Still in his luxurious office, Treize accepted the transmission and the grand admiral's surroundings threw him off for the briefest of moments. He had never seen Kevin in what he assumed was his command suite, he had only ever received transmissions from his stateroom aboard the Night Hammer. Kevin was surrounded by tactical equipment and hordes of information and data were displayed around him that at a glance Treize was unable to make sense of. Before he could speak a greeting, an alert chimed on one of his consoles and he paused when he noticed that Kevin was attempting to send him a very large cache of information.

"This is not a trick Treize… the earth is about to be attacked by a fleet much larger than my own. I will be blunt, I cannot win this fight alone." His adversary's expression was grave, dark, and sincere. If anyone else had been speaking to him he would have suspected a misdirection or some form of a trick, but not from Kevin. The young man was plagued by a sense of honor that tarnished his ability for greatness. The art of intrigue did not come easily to the man and his skills for politics and subversion suffered greatly because of this. Treize felt his heart grow cold as he forwarded the information to his subordinates for analysis, this threat was real.

"I… understand… other than a complete and total suspension of hostilities, what is it that you require of me?" Kevin blinked in surprise for a moment and the tension in his posture changed somewhat as he reacted to Treize's words. Clearly, he had expected the conversation to be a drastically different one.

"I need men, materials… and all of those cunning little tricks that you were about to employ against me… I need those too…" Kevin's image glared at him for a moment before he continued speaking and for the first time in his life he felt the menace of the man's mystical powers. A creeping sense of dread wormed its way into his heart as the young man's malicious gaze intensified. "And you will release your prisoners and turn them over to my people when they arrive."

"Of course." Treize found himself saying easily, as if the all too clear threat hadn't just sent waves of terror down his spine. Fear, it was a new feeling for him. The emotion and others had no place in his mind and were counterproductive, he had purged their existence long ago. And yet, despite his best efforts, fear was back. "I just want you to know, dear friend, that some of my soldiers disobeyed my orders and initiated maneuvers that they were not authorized to undertake. Luckily, however, your own machinations prevented the situation from deteriorating further." His words had clearly confused the young man, good, he doesn't know what has happened yet… Kevin took a moment to compose himself and dismissively waved off his words.

"We will talk about that later, right now I have work to do… I need to you to designate a landing zone for several freighters that will be arriving in orbit within the next several hours."

"What will these freighters be delivering?"

"A shield generator." Treize froze once more, this time completely caught off-guard. Kevin's own planet had a planetary shield generator that protected it from any orbital landing or attack. And since his entire fleet was taking up defensive positions around earth it was obvious that he wasn't concerned about protecting that world. This could only mean that he was in possession of second planetary shield generator and he as giving it to him. Once activated the earth would be safe from any outside threat, including his own fleet.

"I assume that you will have safeguards installed to prevent me from using this against you?" Kevin's face went blank and he slowly leaned back in his chair as he regarded Treize with a penetrating stare for a few moments.

"I do but I know that you will find ways around them eventually." A small, but hard smile crept across his face as he said this. Know your enemy, and you can easily defeat him… he thinks that he knows what I am capable of… the fool.

"Then you are a fool."

"Am I?"

"No… is there anything else that you need me to do? I will ready my forces for deployment… but I will need to keep considerable assets on the ground in case the Russians try something-."

"Leave them to me, I need everything that you have Treize… everything… we will need the world to stand with us… without everyone behind us there can be no victory here."

Once the transmission was over Treize immediately consulted with his subordinates and he saw for himself exactly how desperate the situation was. Unfortunately, just as he was entering his command center deep underground his headquarters, he received a disheartening report, things had just gotten worse, much worse.

"Well… at least now we know what their plans are…" Kevin mused as he stared at the new set of information that his scouts had provided. Two hundred more ships had been sighted lagging behind the main enemy fleet. It hadn't taken him long to sort out exactly what these ships were meant for, the invasion of earth. This second fleet was almost entirely made up of slow moving, bulbous and lightly armed ships that could only have been designed for the transportation of materials, or more likely, an assault force. Millions of soldiers could be aboard these ships but despite the staggering number of troops that this invasion force contained Kevin found himself smiling anyway.

"Admiral, assemble our squadrons of Assault Gunboats, it looks like we have an Ill-defended convoy of slow moving targets for them to prey on." Natasi flashed a predatory smile as she saluted and hurriedly set herself into action assembling the strike force. They didn't have many of the Alpha Class Xg-1 Star Wings but their three squadrons would be able to cause considerable damage nonetheless. These heavily armed shuttles were ten-meter-long craft that sported a fixed dorsal wing flanked by two pairs of lateral folding wings. Armed with twin mounted laser cannons and twin mounted ion cannons the shuttles boasted a respectable armament for space combat. This, however, wasn't their primary role due to their overall average maneuverability and speed.

Their main armament consisted of two general purpose warhead launchers that could be outfitted with a variety of ordinance. Most Imperial strike-craft were not outfitted with hyperdrive systems or shields but these shuttles had both which made them perfect for hit and run attacks just like this one. The squadrons would be outfitted with a mixture of concussion missiles and proton torpedoes for this mission and Kevin knew exactly how devastating their sudden attack would be against the lightly armored, lightly defended, and unshielded transports.

There was however, a problem. The second enemy fleet did have some protection and that protection consisted of two dozen capital ships that he had identified as carriers. These massive ships were close to the size of his Star-Destroyers and even though they were lightly armed they boasted massive hangars that could quickly flood the area with strike craft to intercept any threat. His small strike-force would more than likely be cut to pieces before they could escape back into the safety of hyperspace, they would need support.

Luckily, however, he had a bold plan. Most of the enemy carriers were in the heart of their fleet, giving them the best force projection for their strike craft. If, before the assault gunboats began their attack run, four Victory-Class Star Destroyers suddenly appeared and unleashed hell upon the enemy fleet, the defenders would be far too distracted to notice them. Smiling to himself he contacted Captain Reinhardt aboard the Reaper, his aggressive personality made him ideal to lead the assault.

Finally, after years of idleness, he was heading into battle. In truth, there had been a minor skirmish almost two years ago where the admiral had handily defeated a group of renegades at the fringes of their territory. However, his ship hadn't been present for that limited engagement, no glory had gone to him nor his crew, that was about to change.

Captain Gustav Reinhardt had been given overall command of the attack group, he nearly shook with anticipation as his small task force made the jump into hyperspace. The jump would be short, their appearance would be sudden, his attack would be swift and punishing. The scouts had provided him with coordinates that would bring his attack force just 'above' the enemy fleet, well within striking range of their carriers. The main objective was to destroy as many of the troop transports as possible but he had been given strict instructions to distract the carriers for as long as possible. Oh I'll distract them! I'll distract them right to their damned graves!

At nine-hundred meters in length his ship boasted twenty turbolaser batteries and twenty more double heavy turbolaser batteries, death and destruction would burst forth from every battery upon his enemies as soon as his ship reappeared in 'real' space. The ship also had ten heavy ion cannons but these would be focused on disabling any of the transports within range as their bursts of energy disrupted or downright disabled electrical systems aboard their unfortunate targets.

"Weapons! Fire at all targets of opportunity on first contact, we will worry about coordinating fire with the rest of the fleet once the situation has been established." His young weapons officer saluted and turned to relay his orders, smiling excitedly as he did so. It's a shame that some of our weapons are still non-operational… his ship was by far not in the worst shape but every inch of his ship had once functioned at one-hundred percent capability, but that was a long time ago.

"Thirty seconds to contact!" His navigations officer called out and he noticed with satisfaction that his entire bridge crew was tensing with anticipation for the approaching fight.

"Hit them hard, hit them fast, hit them some more and then hit them again until there's nothing left but space dust!" His crew cheered at his words and he allowed his deep voice to join in as they let lose their battle cry as they rid themselves of fear. Their enemies would not have this chance, their enemies would only feel panic and confusion as his ships tore into them like demons, this is going to be glorious!

Moments later the strike force tore out of hyperspace dangerously close to the massive enemy fleet. Just over one-hundred turbolaser batteries opened fire in every direction, their destructive force immediately apparent as their targets quickly became rippled with explosions. Several transports quickly succumbed to the sudden and ferocious attack and hundreds of escape pods shot away from the doomed ships. Orders were barked and weapons were redirected and soon every available weapon was focused on the enemy carriers.

"Helm! Realign and standby for immediate jump once Tau squadron has completed their attack run!" The lights of the bridge flickered momentarily as the shields struggled to withstand the last barrage of enemy fire. The enemy carriers hadn't been sitting idle while their charges had come under attack and the space around the Star-Destroyers was now swarming with enemy strike craft. Captain Reinhardt watched as a dozen explosions dotted the space around his ship, his point defense gunners were doing well, but they were being overwhelmed.

He had been given strict orders not to launch his own star-fighter squadrons, it would have been an act in futility. The victory class star-destroyers had smaller hangars than their newer, larger cousins and thus only held two squadrons of strike craft. Even if his strike force had managed to launch all eight of its squadrons in time, they would still have been woefully outnumbered. Standard Imperial starfighters were unshielded and lacked hyperdrives, but they were fast, very, very fast. The lack of hyperdrives meant that they needed ships like his to support them in engagements like this. It was becoming increasingly clear that his fighters would be hard pressed to launch from their hangars, let alone return to them while under fire.

This, of course, had been planned for and his ship, along with the Vanguard, Monarch, and the Hydra had exited hyperspace in a lopsided diamond, any enemy craft passing between them had to pass through a torrent of death as point defense weapons from every ship spat fire at them. The good news was that the enemy strike craft seemed to be just as flimsy as their own, slower, and armed with projectile weapons and small rockets, not lasers. The shields of his ship were struggling to hold back the onslaught but they were holding, for now. Where the hell is Tau squadron? we can't sit here all damned day! As if his very thoughts had summoned them, one of his watch standers called out that the assault gunboats had arrived and were commencing their attack run.

"Tau leader to all ships, kill your safeties and pick your targets, we're only getting one shot at this so make it count!" A cacophony of confirmations crowded the channel for a few moments as thirty-five voices spoke all at once. "Sigma and Upsilon squadrons stick to your own damned channels, I can't hear myself think over here!" Almost immediately the channel cleared as the three squadrons separated and switched to their respective channels. Shaking his head, he checked his course again and made sure that his squadron wasn't doubling up on targets, one of us per transport is overkill as it is. But orders were orders, the massive enemy fighter presence was a dangerous threat to them so they were limited to a single attack run. Pick a target, dump the payload, run away, easy.

He never would have considered his Alpha Class Xg-1 Star-Wing a fast ship, but as he accelerated to full throttle he found himself grinning nonetheless. In space everything was relative and the enemy transports that were accelerating for all they were worth away from the battle made his craft seem nimble and agile in comparison. The enemy ships were rapidly increasing in size and his targeting computer steadily began pinging as the distance to his bulbous target decreased. A second alert caught his attention, several squadrons of enemy fighters had broken off from the main fight and were scrambling to intercept his squadron, but it was too late.

The steady pinging solidified into a constant tone and his ship shuddered as a dozen concussion missiles and several proton torpedoes sprang forth from the massive launchers on either side of his cramped cockpit. He had approached his target from below and to the rear and had disabled the guidance functions on the warheads. As he quickly overtook his target the first missiles struck home and as the engines exploded several more warheads dug into the lower flank of the ship. Multiple hull breaches erupted across the lower section of the massive transport and as he angled his ship away from the dying craft he quickly noted that the rest of his squadron had had similar success with their attack runs, save one. His squadron of twelve ships had somehow managed to destroy thirteen transports.

"Tau 5… you greedy bastard..." Even though there was no evidence that it had been the young hotshot his gut told him that he was the only one who would try to pull a risky maneuver such as that. It was true that their ships had carried more than enough ordinance to destroy a single target but even with that knowledge it was still quite risky to assume that half would do the job just as well.

"Not greedy lead, just being efficient." The young hotshot's response came back quickly and he couldn't help but smile as he shook his head.

"Your orders were to use all of your ordinance on a single target…"

"Apologies sir… seemed like a waste."

"Showoff… alright boys form up and prepare for hyperspace jump, those fighters will be here soon and we do not want to be around when they get here!" As he said this he noted that the other two squadrons had finished their attack runs as well and thirty-seven of the enemy ships were in varying stages of destruction. Escape pods beyond counting were streaking away from the dying ships, so many his targeting computer was having difficulty tracking them all. With their mission complete he led his squadron away from the enemy fleet and just his hyperdrive began to spool up he overheard panicked voices on the communications channel, one of the Star Destroyers was in trouble.

"What the hell happened?" Captain Reinhardt bellowed. He had just watched the assault gunboat squadrons disappear into the safety of hyperspace and was about to order his ships to do the same when one of his watch-standers had informed him that the Hydra's engines had suffered damage.

"Sir, the Hydra's shields went down for a moment and she took a hit to her engines… maneuvering capabilities are limited and her hyperdrive is non-functional!"

"Get me the Hydra!" Almost immediately a holographic image of the ship's captain appeared in front of his command chair. The younger officer was on his feet and was frantically calling out orders, his words weren't panicked but his face was morbidly grave. It took several moments before the man noticed that a communications channel had been opened but once he did he nodded gravely and began speaking.

"Captain Reinhardt, my engineers need time to make repairs but refuse to tell me how much time… our shields are back up and holding but-." The image flickered for a moment as the Hydra took more fire, it seemed that the enemy strike craft were focusing their fire on the ship now and it was only a matter of time before her shields failed entirely. Acting quickly, he ceased listening to Captain Stillwell and modified the communications channel to include the other two ships in the strike force.

"All ships launch fighters! All squadrons will provide cover for the Hydra!" Captain Stillwell's image nodded gravely again and hastily saluted before vanishing. The fighters would be horribly outnumbered and it was almost a certainty that they would all perish but the brutal reality of the math was that if ninety-six pilots died to save a Star Destroyer with a crew of thousands then it would be worth it. But if the Hydra's crew can't get their hyperdrive operational in time…

"Send word to the admiral of the situation! Helm maneuver to these coordinates and have the Monarch and Vanguard take up defensive positions around the Hydra!"

"Sir, long range communications are being disrupted!" Damnit… If the Hydra wasn't able to effect repairs in time he would have to abandon her and her crew. Even though most of the enemy fire was focusing on the wounded ship enough was still being directed at the rest of his fleet and their shields were slowly being drained, it was only a matter of time before they began to take damage as well. And again, it was all about numbers… he would rather report the loss of a single Star Destroyer than several. Captain Reinhardt grimaced as his two fighter squadrons screamed away from the hangar.

The pilots were bravely going to their deaths and he knew that not one of them had hesitated upon hearing the order to launch. A bright explosion caught his attention and his grimace turned into a grim smile, a third enemy carrier had succumbed to their turbolaser fire. He allowed himself a moment to watch as the massive enemy warship was torn to pieces by a massive internal explosion. His gunners would now be acquiring new targets, no matter what happened, they weren't going down without a fight.

Almost entirely isolated from the rest of the bridge crew within his tactical command pit Kevin was overcome by an odd feeling, an odd feeling that he, Grand Admiral Anderson, would perhaps never get used to. At this very moment men and women were risking their lives, fighting for him, and he was handling matters that seemed trivial in comparison. He had just finished and distributed a message to Russia's military leaders and government officials. Within this message he sent up to date satellite images of their forces massing along and within the Ukrainian border and detailed simulations on what would happen to them if he chose to bombard their positions from orbit. He couldn't help but smile and feel proud of his blunt threat. I know where your forces are and I can obliterate them if I so choose… not to mention your cities. Even though he would never order a planetary bombardment of a civilian target… they didn't know that.

However, now that Russia's momentary obedience had been achieved it was time to deal with a more personal matter. It was true that at the moment there was a truce between himself and Treize, but how long would that last? If the truce proved to just be a matter of convenience and necessity then he needed to be sure that he was prepared for the future. The Earth was Treize's domain and his influence would certainly be expanding but there was one man who might resist him if his ambitions grew too overwhelming, General Douglas Heihn.

Unfortunately, the man had grown increasingly hostile towards Kevin over the years and did little to hide it. It wasn't that the man didn't like him personally, he simply despised the amount of power that Kevin had gained over the years and was vocally against it. Using the same logic, however, he would certainly be against the latest power grab that Treize was undertaking, or at least he hoped. General Heihn personally answered his communication almost immediately and visibly recoiled at the sight of the man whom he detested.

"Admiral?" Collecting himself but doing nothing to hide the disdain in his voice he spoke after hesitating for a few moments. The man's image was imposing and would probably intimidate lesser men. The general wore a dark black uniform that was mostly concealed underneath a black leather trench coat while his hands were covered by slick black leather gloves. His black hair was neatly slicked back adding an extra layer of hardness to his already rigid face. His cold penetrating gaze bore into Kevin through the view-screen, his pale blue eyes seemingly lifeless and unforgiving.

"I'll get straight to the point general, I need a favor." The grave man scoffed at this and his demeanor became even more insolent and uncooperative.

"Treize has already informed me that you will be needing my troops, what more do you want from me?" Suppressing a sigh Kevin forced himself to keep a calm demeanor and ignored the man's attempts at baiting him to anger.

"This isn't about troops general, it's a favor on a more personal level." An almost mocking smile erupted on the man's face and he folded his arms across his chest, responding haughtily.

"Oh, this ought to be priceless."

"I'll be frank with you General Heihn, I have a number of critically important individuals that I need kept safe. I would like to transport them to your base for protection and safe-keeping. I would also need you to withhold enough soldiers to protect your base against any enemy, can I count on you to do this?" The question caught the man completely off-guard and he slowly unfolded his arms and blankly stared back at him, dumbfounded.

"You're asking me…"

"Yes, I am asking you… can I count on your support?"

"I am no fool, Admiral, you know that I disapprove of you and everything that you stand for… why would you willingly hand over people that are important to you… to me? What would stop be from using them as hostages against you?"

"Again, I'll be frank, I am not worried about you at the moment, I am worried about Treize. He has already made attempts to seize these individuals and should he capture them again in the future…"

"Ah, I see your point admiral…" The man's appearance changed as he pondered the situation. He had even managed to say the word 'admiral' without making the word sound like a taunt. "If Treize were to get a hold of them-." If Treize had managed to get a hold of everyone and they were still at odds… Kevin wasn't sure if he had the resolve to resist if even the vaguest of threats had been made… especially if Treize had managed to get a hold of… her.

"I would rather that didn't happen General Heihn, can I count on you to keep them out of his hands… should the worst happen?" The worst being we somehow manage to defeat these invaders and Treize and I go back to open war… my fleet will be greatly diminished and I will have so many of Treize's own soldiers aboard my ships… even if we win this I could end up losing everything. Save the world from alien invaders only to lose it to Treize…

"Send me your… friends… I will do all that I can to keep them safe. Don't worry I won't let Treize get his greedy hands on them, they will be safe here. Just make sure that you do your job and protect the planet, I can't keep them safe if my base gets bombarded from orbit."

"If Treize gets the damned planetary shield generator up and running in time you won't have to worry about that general."

"And if he doesn't?" The tension between the two men dissipated and Kevin stared back at the man, for the first time there seemed to be no malice between them. Sighing heavily, he shook his head slowly and momentarily closed his eyes as he spoke.

"If that shield generator isn't online before the enemy fleet attacks then my fleet will engage them in battle and we will do as much damage to them as possible. My ships outclass theirs in every way but without reinforcements their greater numbers will give them a significant advantage." General Heihn nodded gravely before ending the transmission. Even though Kevin hadn't said the words it was obvious what would happen if the shield generator wasn't operational in time. His fleet would fight and one by one they would be wiped out. He needed more time. He needed more ships. He needed that blasted shield generator protecting Earth.

His grim thoughts were thankfully interrupted as an alert appeared on one of his tactical displays. The assault gunboat squadrons had just returned from their attack mission and the squadron leader was broadcasting an alert. Not needing to process the information flooding onto his displays Kevin bolted into action, the Star Destroyers hadn't returned, something was wrong.

"Ash, where are my lads?" Gerrard's first words since the attack were directed towards the woman who had disarmed Olivia. The woman, who just like Hans, had yet to remove her sunglasses, adjusted her hat slightly and looked around the room as if wondering how much she should say.

"They are… currently engaged in an operation at the moment…"

"Damnit woman speak plainly." She nodded towards Olivia and Gerrard made a dismissive noise in response. "Don't worry about it, these people are on our side." Clearly reluctant to speak so plainly in front of everyone the woman hefted her assault rifle over her shoulder as she leaned her back against one of the lab's many brick walls.

"Treize is scheduled to release the clone and his woman, they are on route to retrieve them. General Heihn provided transport. Orders are to muster at his base."

"Why would he go to so much trouble to capture them just to release them now? What's changed?" Olivia's question hung in the air and most of the armed soldiers seemingly ignored her. Their medic had checked each one of them over and was currently assisting Peter with an inspection of Chloe and Max. Once Walter had recovered enough to move he had fussed and raged that no one had gone to see if Gene was okay. With some help from Astrid the pair had discovered that Gene the cow was only slightly agitated and was perfectly safe.

As Olivia's hearing had slowly returned she had overheard a few of the soldiers conversing amongst themselves about their discovery of Gene with the usual 'is that a cow?" remarks. It was these remarks that had enraged Walter and he had lamented that the medic hadn't checked her over yet.

If the soldiers weren't interested in Gene they were certainly interested in Kimberly, which made Olivia very uneasy. Not seeming to notice the extra attention that she was receiving Kimberly slowly recovered but was urged to remain seated once a chair was provided for her. Olivia's question went unanswered and Hans burst into the room followed by two soldiers. Even though it was impossible to tell, she was certain that he took a moment to lock eyes with the auburn pony-tailed soldier and she returned the glare. Even though it became clear that he was about to speak he found himself interrupted and all eyes went to Chloe.

"What the fuck is it with you and those sunglasses, what are you, cyclops or something?" Despite the tense atmosphere a few of the soldiers chuckled but Hans expertly ignored the comment even though Ash clearly bristled unhappily.

"Jager, take my team outside and secure the landing zone, evac will be here shortly." Barely had he finished speaking when five of the soldiers quickly filed out of the lab. He then turned towards Olivia and spoke to her in a matter of fact tone that stated he was not interested in any argument.

"I have my orders and I am inclined to believe that you may interfere so I am extending a courtesy to you and your team Agent Dunham. You may accompany us or you may remain here, those are your only two options."

"Who's us?" Responding defensively, she shifted her stance and as she did so saw Ash and another soldier tense. Lee waved them down but cast Olivia a look of warning nonetheless. Seemingly not noticing the events transpiring around him Hans continued speaking in the same tone.

"Our primary objective is the safety of Kimberly Dominic, but we are also interested in the well-being of Maxine Caulfield and Chloe Price, all three will be coming with us to a secure location. As I said before, should you wish to accompany us a courtesy has been extended to you but should you choose to remain here I implore you not to interfere." Olivia's eyes shot towards Kimberly who was doing her best not to meet her gaze. The room had gone deathly quiet, all eyes were on her. Max and Chloe, she somewhat understood, but what did Kevin's forces want with Kimberly? Her thoughts were interrupted as Canderous began to chuckle softly. The noise steadily grew until most of the room's attention was on him until he burst out into full blown laughter. Somehow, despite his state, he managed a few words between his cackling.

"And here I thought… you guys had been sent to… rescue us… but the boss… he sent you… to save his… his girl!" His girl? Kevin's men in the room shifted uncomfortably, even Hans seemed slightly embarrassed. But none were as embarrassed as Kimberly, her face was bright red, confirming everything.

Olivia didn't know when it had happened but somehow, even though the two hadn't spoken when they had met so many years ago, a common interest had formed. The pair had apparently started a secret relationship and that could only mean one thing.

"Those soldiers that attacked us… they weren't trying to retrieve Max and Chloe… they were here for her, weren't they? Treize sent them here for her!" Hans nodded at her question and Kimberly managed to look even more uncomfortable concerning the situation.

"We don't have to worry about him for the moment… but I'm sure that you can appreciate the need to get her, and the others, to safety. Should the disagreement between him and our boss continue your team might also find themselves targets. So it would also be in your best interest to come with us, you did after all assist in disrupting Treize's kidnapping attempt of the two girls."

"Assist?" Her thoughts immediately went back to the odd discrepancies in the after-action report. "Let me guess, some of your men were involved as well." Hans nodded towards Canderous before answering.

"His men to be more specific, but yes." Canderous smiled at hearing this.

"How many did Glaz get?"

"Four it seems, unfortunately none of the grunts took credit for his kills, I'm sure he's rather upset about that." Lee Martin reported quickly without thinking, apparently the after-action reports had been 'acquired' by Kevin's men. How the hell did they manage that?

"I'm sure as hell not, about time that boy did something wrong… he makes the rest of us look bad!" Still laughing Canderous rose to his feet and cocked his head to the side as a low whine could be heard in the distance. "Our ride's here, we better move." Before the invitation could be extended once more Olivia found her voice.

"I'm coming… we're all coming."

Initially the sudden appearance of the Tie-Fighters and Tie-Interceptors had shifted the balance of the engagement. The enemy pilots had immediately become overwhelmed from the vicious attack of their adversaries and they were blasted out of existence a few dozen at a time. The impressive skill of his pilots and the breathtaking speed of their craft was a nightmare to behold for the enemy fighters. The combination of the point defense guns from all four Star Destroyers and their now deployed vengeful fighter squadrons wreaked havoc on the enemy. But skill and determination were no match for numbers.

With each passing minute Captain Reinhardt watching with increasing futility as the ninety-six brave men and women met their ends. Currently less than half of his fighter squadrons remained and their numbers were steadily shrinking. Standing next to his commutations suite he could hear their elated cries of triumph as they scored kill after kill and he tried not to wince as their voices were cut short in screams of desperate panic and anguish as their craft were ripped apart by enemy fire.

"Intensify point defense fire! We need to give them more time!" His orders were acknowledged but his words were meaningless. His gunners were already desperately fighting with everything that they had and then some, there was simply nothing more that he could do for his pilots. Most of the pressure had been taken off of the Hydra, and her shields were steadily regaining strength as her crew desperately tried to repair the damage to their engines but they were quickly running out of time. As their fighter squadrons numbers slowly declined the enemy pressure would increase. The mood on the bridge had deteriorated to such a point that not a single cheer of elation erupted as the fifth enemy carrier exploded in a brilliant blast of fury. It no longer mattered how many enemies were slaughtered, one of their own was in danger.

"New Contact! Danger close!" Captain Reinhardt felt his blood go cold as he turned towards his sensors officer to discover what the new threat to his ship was. He froze in mid-motion as his eyes swept across the exterior view-ports that lined the bridge. The unmistakable sight of the Night Hammer dominated the view, the admiral had come to their aid and he had brought his flagship right into the fray. All at once thousands of turbolaser batteries unleashed a magnificently deadly barrage in all directions at the enemy ships and over a thousand strike-craft of varying types screamed into the fight. The crew on his bridge erupted in a great cheer, the grand admiral had come to the rescue with fire and fury.

"Tractor beams lock onto their transports, hold them fast! All weapons intensify and focus fire on those carriers! Nothing escapes!" Natasi was growling orders out across the bridge while Kevin calmly gave out orders of his own.

"Maximum fire to port. Squad leaders proceed starboard, make sure you stay out of our fire envelopes. All squadrons are to assume defensive posture around the fleet, interception of enemy craft only." Hopefully once the battle was over Natasi wouldn't be too hard on the crew, most of the enemy fleet was already safely out of range but several unfortunate transports had found themselves caught and being dragged back towards the fight. Most of the remaining carriers were still well within range of their weapons and the effect was devastating. Two of the ships were immediately crippled and put out of action, a third was ripped apart by a series of internal explosions by the first volley of nearly a thousand turbolser batteries. The ship had probably already suffered heavy damage during the fight but the effect of his flagship's weapons made him smile. His enemies may have numbers, but he had the Night Hammer. The mere presence of the mighty warship was enough to send enemies running but along with its massive size it boasted more firepower than the rest of his fleet combined.

The nineteen thousand meters of his ship were armed with two thousand standard turbolaser batteries and another two-thousand heavy turbolaser batteries, the destructive capabilities of his ship were equaled by none. This statement was boldly being made at the moment as the enemy fleet visibly withered from the sudden assault while his strike craft screamed into the battle to save their overwhelmed comrades.

Two hundred and fifty heavy ion cannons added to the chaos but their effect was less apparent. Each blast from these weapons wreaked havoc on the electrical systems of the enemy ships, with enough hits a ship could be disabled entirely. These weapons were being focused on the transports that were still in range while an equal number of concussion missile batteries remained silent. These weapons were not needed at the moment and he only had a finite amount of ammunition onboard that would most certainly be needed for the upcoming battle for earth.

The forty tractor beams had all snared prey and the doomed transports were slowly and unmercifully being dragged back towards the fight. Like a predatory spider Natasi would certainly save those meals for later once the enemy carriers had been dealt with. The five-hundred point defense laser cannons were mostly being directed to the port of the warship and away from the fleet so that their fighter squadrons could engage their enemies without fear of being hit by their own weapons. Fully stocked with starfighters the hangars could hold thousands of starfighters but at present fifteen-hundred craft occupied the hangars and many were still blasting into the fight.

The fight, however, was mostly over. The enemy fleet had obviously been given orders to retreat and most of the transports and the remaining carriers had managed to escape out of the effective range of their weapons. The remaining enemy strike craft who were unable to break off from their engagements were mercilessly hunted down and destroyed.

"Admiral, capture and retrieve a dozen escape pods and leave the rest, I would like to meet our enemy." Natasi's gaze hardened and she walked over towards his command pit and lowered her voice.

"Sir, we should destroy them all." She did have a point of course, there were thousands upon thousands of escape pods, most of them from the enemy transports that undoubtedly mostly contained soldiers that would be used in the invasion of Earth. They were his enemy and they would need to be dealt with and he would certainly have no qualms in ordering their execution. However, he had other plans for them.

"Our enemies' greatest weakness is time. The more time we can steal from them the more time we are given to prepare our defense. Every moment that is wasted recovering their army from space gives us more of a chance for victory." Nodding his second in command acknowledged his orders but still didn't look happy about them so he tried a different approach. "Also, we must show our enemy that we are not evil. Those escape pods are no threat to us at the moment and are at our mercy. If we were to mercilessly destroy them we would prove to their soldiers that we are evil and they would fight that much harder to defeat us. However, by allowing them to live we show them that we are only their enemy by circumstance and if we can convince them not to fight because it is clear that they cannot win…" Natasi finished his thought for him as her expression softened.

"If their forces feel that they cannot win they will flee or even turn on their leaders who are sending them to their deaths… you're not fighting the Empire anymore, sir, but you are right… the tactic still may apply."

"Indeed, our enemy is most certainly humanoid… maybe even human and I'm willing to bet we are dealing with a totalitarian form of government due to the massive focus on military resources that such a large fleet would require but we still need to know more about our enemy… please acquire two dozen prisoners, we should be able to hold that many for a time?" Natasi nodded but frowned as she regarded him for a moment.

"Your conclusions… I know that Thrawn trained you for a time but I've never been able to understand how you make these deductions. I don't doubt you, sir… I'm just curious." She added the last bit quickly as if to ward off any offense her words might give. As usual she was completely oblivious to the fact that no matter what she was incapable of offending him, no matter how brittle she might be at times. She was a hard woman no doubt and was perfectly fit for her position but this came at a cost, her ability to communicate peaceably with others suffered and her icy disposition didn't help matters. But she was his second in command, he had chosen her for a number of reasons but over the years she had nurtured him as young boy in her own way and he would never forget that. He may have been robbed of his family and his youth when he had been abducted by Darth Vader but Admiral Natasi Daala had proved to be an unexpected foster mother even if she hadn't intended to be.

"Well the ship design is unmistakably humanoid… we always build in straight angles and very rarely design ships with beauty in mind. Their ships are functional and purpose built, just like ours. Them being human is just a hunch really, I'm leaning towards that thought because all of our closest neighbors are human's like the Taidani but I could be wrong. Their form of government and organization is only a natural deduction. A fleet as large as theirs can only be fielded by a very efficiently run form of government which as we have seen with the New Republic, the more freedom you add the less efficient you get." Natasi scoffed at the mention of the New Republic, her old sworn enemy. Long ago, shortly after the fall of the Empire she had led an effective guerilla war against them and done considerable damage with only three Star-Destroyers at her command. She had tried and failed to rally other Imperial warlords to her side. Her increasing frustration with the breakup of the Empire had led her to attempt a risky theft of an Imperial Super Star Destroyer that was nearing construction by one of the more powerful warlords.

Unfortunately for her it had been a trap and her small force had been ambushed and surrounded by Superior General Sander Delvardus's forces. Natasi had been leading her commando teams aboard the near complete Night Hammer when the trap had been sprung and they too had been accosted. The pompously self-titled warlord would have succeeded in his trap if it hadn't been for Kevin's own plans at stealing the ship. Kevin and his own forces had already been aboard the massive warship as well and he had personally rescued the infamous Admiral Natasi Daala and his own fleet had arrived. Once it became clear who he was most of Delvardus's forces had surrendered, and Daala's fleet, unsure of what to do had also stood down.

Back then Kevin hadn't been called Grand Admiral Anderson but had been known by several different names. Darth Vader's Apprentice was the most common name but those who knew him respectfully referred to him as Darth Revan or simply Lord Revan. It was widely known that he had fought against the Empire before it had fractured but it was also known that he was no friend of the so called 'New Republic' either. He was also seen as an ally to Grand Admiral Thrawn at the time who was succeeding where Natasi had failed as he slowly tried to piece the Empire back together while he continued the desperate struggle against the New Republic.

In truth though, Kevin had never been officially inducted into the Sith line of succession so he had never been dubbed a 'Darth' but he had found an ancient Sith relic while on an exploration of the Sith home world of Korriban, the mask of Revan. The scarred mask had seduced him, he had received a similar wound during his fight against Darth Vader which at the time was still quite gruesome. He had it repaired and wore it in battle and quickly noticed that former Imperials trembled when they saw his masked presence, memories of Darth Vader still plagued their minds.

Even though it had never been official he had been hailed as the heir to the Sith which gave him massive support from former Imperials but condemned him in the eyes of the New Republic. He was fine with this however, because once he had learned of the location of Earth he took the forces most loyal to him and left for his true home. Many of his followers had chosen to stay and fight for the dying Empire alongside Thrawn. The blue skinned, red eyed Chiss had been responsible for much of Kevin's military training and the two had become quick friends but Kevin's hatred for the Empire and his desire for home prevented him from joining Thrawn's crusade to restore the Empire and the two had gone separate ways.

Kevin often wondered if Thrawn's tragic death could have been prevented if he had fought by his side but during a decisive battle against the struggling New Republic Thrawn's own personal bodyguard had killed him. Lacking Thrawn's tactical genius the battle had turned and what could have been the end of the New Republic turned into the deathblow for the reforming Empire. Kevin had always liked the blue skinned genius but his lust for home and his desire for peace had been too great to ignore. He had always felt like a stranger back then and when he had learned of his true home he had understood why. Unfortunately, he still felt like a stranger but at least not he had something to protect. If Kiera had never been taken from him, if he had never failed her, he might have remained but…

"Sir?" Shit… she noticed… how long have I not been paying attention… damnit… Natasi's face softened noticeably but she quickly recovered and regained her icy composure. She motioned her head towards her stateroom door which was attached to the bridge. She usually did this when she thought he needed to talk about personal matters. Kevin sighed and shook his head slowly and did his best to show her that he was alright and didn't need to talk but she saw straight through him.

"Admiral, let's make sure that the crews of those transports that we have captured have more than enough time to abandon ship before we destroy them… the more survivors the more time we gain."

"Yes, sir." She shot him a fierce glare to show him that he hadn't fooled her but she nonetheless did a swift about face and quickly returned to her command chair to carry out his orders. Sighing heavily, he quietly reprimanded himself for allowing his thoughts to drift to Kiera in the presence of Natasi, she always noticed.

Returning his attention to his tactical displays it became apparent that the battle was over. The Hydra was moderately damaged and his four Victory-Class Star Destroyers had lost almost all of their strike craft. But as his thoughts went to the men and women who had lost their lives defending the Hydra he forced himself to look at the bigger picture. The enemy had suffered greatly, just about half of their troop transports had been destroyed or disabled and only half a dozen of their carriers had managed to flee to safety, many of them heavily damaged.

Their strike craft squadrons had suffered as well but not in loss of numbers, even though they had suffered devastating casualties. For every carrier that had been destroyed they had lost the ability to refuel, rearm, and resupply. Due to the large number of the enemy carriers it was clear that their strike craft were almost exclusively short range and would run out of fuel long before they reached earth. It was going to be a logistical nightmare for the enemy fleet to retrieve all of the escape pods and soon to be stranded strike craft from the battlefield.

Thinking of this he frowned. He had missed something… why was his enemy traveling through this system using only conventional drives, they certainly had faster than light capabilities so why would they be plodding through this empty section of space?