Star Crossed Fanfic
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Darth Fanboy
- DUH! WINNING!
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he'll be more powerful simply because his mental faculties will be intact.
"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."
-George Carlin (1937-2008)
"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting."
-Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
-George Carlin (1937-2008)
"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting."
-Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
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russellb6666
- Rabid Monkey
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and his mental faculties weren't intact win ROTJ??Darth Fanboy wrote:he'll be more powerful simply because his mental faculties will be intact.
I've gone to find myself. If I get back before I return, please keep me here
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
I'd like to think of it as more balanced now that he has embraced his dark side and assimilated it. And your prediction is just about right on the money. But it won't be an ROTJ cakewalk.Darth Fanboy wrote:he'll be more powerful simply because his mental faculties will be intact.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
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Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
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Captain Cyran
- Psycho Mini-lop
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ROTJ was a cakewalk? Stravo...if you're planning something amazingly sweet...I swear to God I will buy you a cake.Stravo wrote:I'd like to think of it as more balanced now that he has embraced his dark side and assimilated it. And your prediction is just about right on the money. But it won't be an ROTJ cakewalk.Darth Fanboy wrote:he'll be more powerful simply because his mental faculties will be intact.
Justice League, Super-Villain Carnage "Carnage Rules!" Cult of the Kitten Mew... The Black Mage with The Knife SD.Net Chronicler of the Past Bun Bun is my hero. The Official Verilonitis Vaccinator
Why not make the collector a competitor of that guy who wanted Data as a collectible?
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Darth Fanboy
- DUH! WINNING!
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- Joined: 2002-09-20 05:25am
- Location: Mars, where I am a totally bitchin' rockstar.
They sure as hell arent in STARCROSSEDrussellb6666 wrote:and his mental faculties weren't intact win ROTJ??Darth Fanboy wrote:he'll be more powerful simply because his mental faculties will be intact.
"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."
-George Carlin (1937-2008)
"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting."
-Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
-George Carlin (1937-2008)
"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting."
-Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
Both the Luke and Kirk parts are great. 
My only complaint is that Luke's part should have happened rather sooner than this, as you seem to have run out of new material for his inner conflict and seem to be repeating the same old points in the last few chapters...
And I thought Darkstar was killed in the Battle for Earth!
My only complaint is that Luke's part should have happened rather sooner than this, as you seem to have run out of new material for his inner conflict and seem to be repeating the same old points in the last few chapters...And I thought Darkstar was killed in the Battle for Earth!
Busily picking nuggets out of my well-greased ass.
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Darth Yoshi
- Metroid
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One word. WOW.
Shit Stravo, that was riveting.
Shit Stravo, that was riveting.
Lore Monkey | the Pichu-master™
Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
Chapter 62: Moving into Position
The bridge of the Executor was a model of quiet disciplined efficiency. Officers moved between their stations and enlisted men worked diligently rarely looking up from their duties. Admiral Piett watched his crew with pride.
They had formed a team that had not known defeat. The Battle of Endor was the beginning of their journey of success and he did not think there was anything that could stop them. This galaxy would be no different.
He had despised Thrawn at first when the Grand admiral joined his fleet. Now he saw Thrawn as a man that he could learn from. Thrawn had ridden him hard, far harder than Ozzel ever did. But he began to see results. Piett was sharper, more alert to the little details that he had ever been.
He noticed the changes for the better in himself. And he had the Grand Admiral to thank.
Of course, when push came to shove, Piett knew where the true path to power lie and when Vader gave the order, Piett was ready to assassinate the alien.
“I have the latest tactical reports.” Jerjerrod said calmly as he handed the datapad to Piett.
Piett accepted the pad without a word and glanced down at the report.
“I am concerned by the fighter readiness status on the Iron Fist and Death’s Head.” Piett noted with a raised eyebrow.
“They suffered heavy casualties to their fighter corps and the Iron Fist’s hangar deck was badly damaged in the battle against the Shadow Fleet.” Jerjerrod explained.
Piett looked up at Jerjerrod.
“Are you making excuses for my Captains?”
“Not at all.” Jerjerrod replied stiffly. “I was merely pointing out the reasons behind those substandard readiness reports. Reasons that you should be aware of if you were fully briefed in the after action reports.”
Piett stared at Jerjerrod for a moment.
“There will come a time, Captain, when your status as Thrawn’s attaché will not protect you.” Piett promised softly.
“I look forward to the day when you will actually get your hands dirty, Admiral. Perhaps if you came out from behind Vader’s cape I will surprise you.” Jerjerrod replied coolly.
“One day, my good Captain, one day.” Piett vowed.
The doors to snapped open and Thrawn strode onto the bridge speaking calmly with Vader.
“Grand Admiral.” Piett bowed his head sharply, Jerjerrod followed suit.
“Do you have the latest fleet readiness reports?” Thrawn asked.
“Right here sir.” Piett handed Thrawn the datapad. Thrawn scanned it quickly, his crimson eyes scanning up and down like a machine.
“I see the Iron Fist is still having trouble with their hangar bays and the Death’s Head’s fighter losses have begun to impact readiness.” He noted. Jerjerrod shot a glance over at Piett. “Still.” Thrawn continued switching the datapad off. “That’s a poor excuse for a stardestroyer in my fleet to have such a paltry readiness status when we’ve been in base for weeks now.” Piett fired off a glance at Jerjerrod.
“There are other dangers that we are overlooking while in base.” Vader interjected gravely.
“Oh?” Piett replied curiously.
“The Imperium.” Thrawn said to Vader, the distaste evident in his voice.
Vader nodded.
“The Romulans have grown bold of late. I have personally executed six Tal-Shiar agents that have tried to infiltrate the fleet.” Vader warned.
“Indeed. Well, we shall give the Imperium fleet something to think about.” Thrawn replied. He turned his gaze to Piett. “Admiral, alert all commands. I want the fleet in tactical formation and have navigation prepare an oblique approach to this system.” Thrawn handed Piett a datapad. Piett examined it.
“These coordinates…they take us to a system not less than two parsecs from Andor.” Piett noted in confusion and glanced up at Thrawn.
“The fleet is to initiate stealth procedures and observe strict communications silence. Any and all messages between fleet ships will be relayed by probe droids.”
“How long will the fleet maintain this status so close to Andor?” Piett asked.
“As long as I wish it.” Thrawn replied.
“A fleet of this size will be difficult to hide from Federation sensors particularly at the distances we are discussing.” Vader pointed out.
Thrawn casualty walked down the central walkway that led over the crew pits, hands clasped behind his back. Vader fell into step after him and Piett and Jerjerrod managed to exchange troubled glances before following suit.
“The plans for Andor have changed.”
“Indeed.” Vader replied but said nothing else.
“Was there something wrong with my operation Grand Admiral?” Piett asked.
Thrawn glanced back at Piett.
“No.” He answered turning his head to look forward again as he continued walking slowly over the crew pits. The officers below nearly trembled at the collection of powers that passed over them.
“Romulus is no longer a viable home base for this fleet.”
“I have initiated security protocols for ships operating in Rebellion space.” Vader added.
“Very good Lord Vader, I knew there was no reason for me to issue such an order with you in charge of fleet security. However we need a home base from which we can operate with impunity. The Imperium fleet has this advantage here and now.”
“We outnumber and outgun them.” Jerjerrod interjected.
“Numbers and firepower are not the be all and end all.” Piett replied tightly.
Thrawn stopped at the end of the walkway and looked out the view port for a long moment of silence. Piett and Jerjerrod continued to glare at each other.
Thrawn pointed to several freighters slowly passing by the picket ships and heading deeper into the fleet. The freighters were being guided in by a Lambda shuttle towards the unloading area.
“If those freighters were loaded with explosives, exotic explosives that this galaxy seems to have an abundance of that our sensors were not calibrated to detect, they could now devastate several of our ships. The picket line would be destroyed and if they wait long enough…” the docile line of freighters passed within several hundred meters of a Carrier and a Stardestroyer lumbered overhead, her cavernous hangar bay exposed to the freighters. Piett’s mouth dropped open slightly as he watched the deadly ballet unfold. Who noticed these things? Thrawn did, that’s who.
“They could have knocked out the fighter coverage in that sector.” Thrawn finished, his voice dropping slightly. “Precious seconds pass as I try to ascertain what has happened and in that time a squadron of Romulan warbirds decloaks in the midst of the chaos. The warbirds, no real threat to the capital ships instead focus their fire on support craft and superstructure. With the fuel ships exploding into a cloud of superheated gases and fire, several of our captains seize initiative and break formation despite my orders not to do so, you see our communications would suddenly be blacked out by the detonation of a subspace mine nearby the Executor. Experts have been warning us since we arrived that this culture’s near dependence on subspace has made them very good at manipulating it and forging it into a weapon.”
Thrawn turned suddenly and looked down into the communications pit.
“Duty officer I am initiating a surprise drill.”
“Sir!” The young officer snapped to attention. Jerjerrod could see him swallow in fear.
“Simulate the detonation of a powerful subspace explosive precisely keyed to black out communications. Scramble your boards and reestablish communication. You will be timed. Lord Vader will assess your performance.”
The communications officer’s eyes widened but he did not hesitate.
“You heard the Admiral. Scramble the boards. Simulate subspace interference.”
“Aye aye.”
Thrawn turned back to his officers.
“I cannot direct my fleet and we are forced to watch in horror as Lord Nemesis drops his next surprise.” He pointed to a corner of the fleet area. “Three stardestroyers, the triumvirate as they were known in our space drop their cloaks.” Piett started to speak but thought better of it as Thrawn pinned him with his crimson eyes. “Intelligence reports have begun whispering that Nemesis may have dropped out of sight to experiment the interface of Imperial technology with this galaxy’s technology. The implementation of Romulan cloaking devices on Imperial ships has been a top priority of his fleet. You see Nemesis has imagined for some time the psychological impact upon the Federation of a fleet of stardestroyers decloaking within a Federation battle line.”
“Status?” Vader asked menacingly.
“We’re working on it Lord Vader. Interference is clearing up, I will have the fleet wide band up momentarily.” The communications officer promised breathlessly as his hands flew over the controls. The enlisted men were working furiously and not looking up.
“And as our com techs work valiantly to restore communications the triumvirate advances on our exposed left flank. Their combined firepower overwhelms the Vigilant.” Thrawn pointed to the Victory class stardestroyer out on the extreme edge of the battle fleet’s left flank. “Now watch as the left wing collapses on the Triumvirate.”
“That’s what Nemesis would want.” Jerjerrod breathed.
“Indeed.” Thrawn turned slowly and pointed to the fuel dump and armory slowly being constructed at the opposite end of the fleet assembly area. “A wing of Romulan warbirds decloaks now that our assets are concentrating their fire on the left wing as per standard Imperial doctrine and destroys the dump and armory. The chain reaction from the explosion blinds the right wing for a moment. And a moment is all they need to let the rest of the Imperium fleet decloak within our right wing, their sole purpose to start a brawl and thus nullify our superior numbers.” Thrawn looked back to the right.
“Status?” Vader asked and his voice was like ice.
“Fleet wide band will be up in three seconds my lord.” The Com officer vowed as he watched the transmitter finishing its self diagnostic.
“Look, we just destroyed one of the triumvirate, not able to withstand the withering fire. Retreat not in their game plan the rest continues forward, shields failing, armor collapsing but they are damaging us in a not so subtle manner, the entire left wing is occupied by three star destroyers while our right wing must contend with the rest of the Imperium fleet.”
“Communications restored sir!” The Com officer announced loudly.
Thrawn nodded.
“And the center?” Piett pressed, surely even without communications we should be moving forward. If the center saw the Executor move then surely they would follow.”
“I give orders for an immediate withdrawal.”
“Sir?!” Piett exclaimed.
“The Emperor’s Will.” Vader concluded.
“Indeed. There is a command ship out there hunting us. Waiting for us to break formation and out from under cover of the rest of the fleet.”
“I wager that the Executor can destroy the Emperor’s Will. We can outfight that pretender Kittaine and Lord Vader can nullify any force trickery that Nemesis would try to bring to bear. I would order us to move forward and engage quickly. Our fire power would easily over whelm any opposition until I could find the—” Piett began.
“A flash of green light fills our bridge and the tactical officer barely has time to report incoming fire when we explode in a blast of hypermatter annihilating itself.” Thrawn finished.
“You are forgetting that the Emperor’s Will out guns us, Admiral. We cannot make such basic errors on this mission of vital importance to the empire. You’re eagerness would have killed us all. I would be most displeased if I saw such rash action from you again, Admiral.” Vader said darkly, pointing a crooked finger at Piett.
Piett blanched.
“The superlaser.” Jerjerrod muttered shaking his head. “To think, that traitor Nemesis has his hands on such a weapon.”
“I ask you all Gentlemen, do we want to stay in this death trap or is it time to seize our own base?” Thrawn asked, hands clasped behind his back as he turned his attention back to the
“Andor, you mean to seize Andor!” Jerjerrod concluded excitedly.
“Its shipyards and manufacturing facilities are crude but it should prove adequate to supply our fleet long enough to secure this quadrant of the galaxy.” Vader noted.
“Admiral?”
Piett nodded, he was looking out as a new string of freighters floated into the fleet assembly area.
“I don’t want to have to think about what will happen here should Nemesis decide to strike against us.”
“So then you understand our caution. I have been examining Andorian artwork. They are a warrior people at heart, proud, stiff necked and they will do anything to be free. They even planned their succession from the Federation, a relatively benign empire and they still chaffed under its rule. They will not allow the Empire to take their world.”
“You suspect sabotage.” Vader noted.
“Do you see it?” Thrawn asked quietly. He did not like asking the Sith Lord to use his fortune telling abilities, for many reasons, least of which was his own pride in not needing such crutches but there were times that any advantage, any edge was needed to plan a proper offensive, and Andor was a key to taking the rest of this galaxy.
“There is danger. The Andorians have no faith that the Federation will hold the planet. There is a resolve among the leadership to do what has to be done.”
“And their plans, the battle?”
There was silence for a moment and only Vader’s rhythmic mechanical breathing could be heard. Thrawn said nothing, continued to look out of the view port.
“As you suspected, there are explosive devices implanted in every shipyard module and depot in orbit. They also have prepared antimatter warheads for their surface installations.” Vader lied.
“They are going to pursue a scorched earth strategy.” Piett muttered darkly.
“We will have no choice but to strike quickly and overwhelm them with raw speed and firepower.” Jerjerrod offered helpfully.
“That will not be enough. I will be working on a plan of attack that will surprise the Federation and Andorians. We cannot afford to lose that advantage.”
“We may if they detect us in orbit of this system.” Piett worried.
“Then you will see to it personally that they do not.” Thrawn said frostily. “The Federation has become adept at tracking our hyperspace passages. Despite the speed advantages that we possess, if they get wind of our coming they may decide to blow the facilities prematurely. We must strike so quickly that their early warning systems will not save them.”
“A hyper jump from this system will place the fleet within Andor’s system in moments.” Jerjerrod concluded.
“There is one problem.” Vader interjected. “The Federation will most certainly detect this fleet’s hyperspace wake approaching the system.”
“Lord Vader, it is refreshing to work with someone that thinks several steps ahead. I see your reputation as a fearsome warlord is well deserved.” Thrawn replied with a cold smile.
“How are we going to mask our hyperspace wake?”
“Simple. A single ship will be outfitted with a subspace beacon. It will put out enough ‘noise’ so that it masks our hyperspace signature from long range sensors. It also helps that I’ve ordered our special weapons units to set up a small outpost here.” Thrawn indicated a system several light years from Andor. “They began jamming operations last week, day in day out, constant white noise. The Federation long range sensor nets around Andor should be unreliable at best. They will interpret the noise from our passage as another subspace anomaly.”
“Have a care Grand Admiral. You are relying too much on these technological wonders.” Vader noted.
“Any advantage that I can gain Lord Vader. Their reliance on subspace is both an advantage and a disadvantage and I intend to school them on all the disadvantages by the time this battle is over.” Thrawn stated and calmly walked away from the view port, hands clasped behind his back. He paused for a moment and looked down at the Communications pit.
“What is your assessment Lord Vader?” Thrawn asked.
Vader looked down at the communications officer, his black lenses focusing on the obviously terrified young officer.
“The communications could not have been cleared any faster. He displayed calm under pressure. I would have put him up for a promotion after the battle was over.”
Thrawn’s left eye brow rose up by an inch, the only show of surprise evident on his face. Thrawn spared the young officer a glance and then turned his attention to Piett.
“Have this man raised up in rank and insert a letter of commendation in his record.”
“Of course Grand Admiral.”
“This may not have been combat, but I will reward those who treat any situation as if we were in combat. We must be on the razor’s edge of readiness at all times.” Thrawn announced to the bridge officers before turning on his heel and striding towards one of the lifts.
Jerjerrod caught up with him.
“Sir, there is one thing we have not discussed.”
“Oh?” Thrawn replied as the doors to the lift snapped open. He stepped in.
“The minefield, Grand Admiral. The Andorians have erected a minefield that stretches across their system. It would slow us down considerably in any assault scenario.”
“Leave that to me.” Thrawn replied with a secretive smile as the doors snapped shut.
“Stolen, right out from under our noses!” Worf snapped and pounded his fist on the wardroom table. Captain Entebbe jumped up in his seat. He had not met often with Klingons, as a scientist he was far more accustomed to staid and stale environment of a conference than this impromptu strategy session.
Worf had arrived in orbit of Scythia only hours ago after receiving Entebbe’s signal. The Klingon chancellor had been adamant that he be informed should they find and rescue James Kirk. Riker and the others were bound by their oaths of loyalty to Starfleet and follow Jellico’s orders. Worf was under no such restriction.
As a favor to his old crewmates he promised to help Leia with rescuing Kirk when the time came. He had arrived late for most of the festivities. Kirk was found and recovering in the sickbay, Nemesis was captured by a third party in this mess.
But Worf was angered by another unfortunate turn of events.
“Twice?” Leia replied frowning.
“Twice.” Worf snapped angrily and pounded the table even harder. “The first time involved a cache of downed hyperdrives we traced from a freighter we attacked not long ago. I promised the Federation remnant those hyperdrives as a gift upon my joining them and when we returned to the asteroid where the freighter lay broken, its holds were empty. The men on patrol guarding the area swore they saw nothing. Now this disgrace, stolen while my men were engaged in honorable and bloody combat.”
“Do we have any idea who they are?” Entebbe asked.
“Orions. They have their stink all over this operation and many of my people started working for them when the Empire collapsed. They would have gotten wind of our plans to steal hypermatter reactors or hyperspace motivators and acted.” Worf grumbled.
“Orions? I haven’t heard of this faction.” Leia noted.
“Pirates and rogues all of them.” McCoy snorted.
“The Orions of this century seem more organized and powerful than their ancestors whom the captain and I have faced before.” Spock added.
“The Orion syndicate was an outgrowth of the pirate clans from your era. They are more formalized, richer, organized. They gave up competing with the Federation and started raiding the outlying sectors and gray areas where our power doesn’t reach.” Entebbe replied.
“You sound like you’ve had some experience.” Wedge noted.
“The Sagan has had some run ins with Orions in the past. They know better than to take on a fully armed starship so sometimes a raider decides he might be able to make a name for himself taking down a science vessel.” Entebbe explained. “After my first experience with them, I’ve tried to brush on their culture and history, try to give me an idea of who and what I was facing.”
“We also made contact with an individual in the fringe that could help us identify our attackers.” Spock noted.
“I provided them with a snapshot that one of my guys picked up before the ship went to warp.” Wedge added and touched a button. A small holographic image of a large squat ship popped up on the table. The vessel seemed to fade in and out of view.
“Something wrong with the image?” McCoy asked.
“No, doctor. That looks like a custom cloak job. They’re generating an optic scattering field along the outer hull, it disrupts photons coming off the vessel making it difficult to detect visually. Very cheap but technically difficult to pull off.” Scotty answered. “And these ports here look like thermal diffusion units, they’re scattering their plasma and ion trails through miniature sub atomic vents that make it difficult to track their vessel with standard sensors.”
“In other words a poor man’s cloaking device.” Sulu added.
“Yes, and they were obviously running silent in orbit when we arrived, we had trouble picking them up and the Sagan’s sensor package is second to none.” Entebbe said glumly.
“Whoever pulled this off had money, resources and know how. That has to limit our pool of likely pirates.” Leia surmised.
“And when we find out, we will crush them.” Worf vowed.
The companel beeped. Entebbe hit the blinking button.
“Entebbe here.”
“Sir, we’re receiving a transmission by someone who identifies himself as Vasilli Zaitsev. He says he knows Mr. Spock.”
“Indeed. He is our contact in the Fringe that is helping us.”
“Go ahead and patch it through Lieutenant.”
“Aye sir.”
The voice was distant and static faded in and out of the transmission as he spoke.
“Hello? Mr. Spock?”
“Spock here, Mr. Zaitsev. Were you able to help us?”
“Yes indeed I was but you have to promise me one thing.”
Spock looked at the others seated at the table for a moment. “Go ahead.”
“That if you get involved with this person that my name does not get mentioned at all in any way shape or form. I want your word as Starfleet officers.”
“I take it this person is powerful?” Leia asked.
They heard Zaitsev’s snort loud and clear despite the static interference.
“It was once said that a fly bit him on the neck drawing blood. He ordered the decimation of the continent by orbital bombardment.”
“Not powerful, princess, he’s obviously mad.” McCoy frowned.
“You have our word as Starfleet officers that your part in this will be strictly confidential, only the people in this room know and only I know your face. I am a Vulcan, there is no need to doubt my words now.”
“Very well.” Zaitsev sighed heavily after some hesitation. “The man’s name is Anton Hieronymous Darkstar.”
“Oh my god.” Entebbe muttered.
“Whoever said that has it right on the money.”
“I am at a loss.” Spock replied.
“Darkstar is a legend among Orion Syndicate bosses. He is the most powerful, richest, and maddest of all of them. He has palaces throughout the Orion cluster but his main palace is at Vanguard. He is a collector or oddities among his other, shall we say eccentricities.”
Entebbe was already checking the charts for the Vanguard system.
“I have a feeling that he’s the one taking your hypermatter materials. He’s expressed an interest in these invaders since they first arrived. He knows that if his faction gets its hands on hypermatter and in particular hyperdrives they will be able to subjugate the rest of the syndicate. He’s posted a very hefty bounty on any technology from the other galaxy.”
“What about people?” Leia pressed.
“He’s collected any materials, be it holoimages, pictures, discarded clothes that he could find concerning Lord Darth Nemesis, that Imperial Sith lord or whatever he calls himself.” Leia exchanged a look with McCoy. “He’s obsessed with him.”
“Mr. Zaitsev, we are in debt to you.” Spock stated.
“Is Captain Kirk alright? He saved my life and given my company a new business opportunity. I owe him much and he is a hero of my childhood.”
“Captain Kirk is in recovery sir. I assure you I will let him know you asked for him.” McCoy explained.
“Thank you. And gentlemen, one last word of advice, if you’re going to go after Darkstar you need to know, he’s not going to go quietly and he’s never lost anything from his collection, ever. He has his own private fleet nearby and he is a powerful man. Don’t underestimate him because he is a crime lord. He has a cunning that has let him rise from nothing to a ruler of many worlds in a single lifetime.”
“We will take it under advisement, Mr. Zaitsev. Thank you again for your assistance.”
“Good luck. You’ll need it.”
“Well, that explains a lot.” McCoy sighed.
“I am very curious to find out how they managed to capture Luke. He’s powerful and I seriously doubt that a crime syndicate has the resources to take him down.”
“Nemesis defeated one hundred of the Empire’s finest soldiers in single combat. He did not go down easily, I assure you.” Worf added.
“I may have an answer to that question.” Spock stated as he switched the view screen in the wardroom to the image of some sort of radiation wave form. “I detected quantum particles near the point where we found Captain Kirk, quantum particles that usually can be found in such concentrations near the leading edge of a subspace warpfield.”
Leia blinked.
“I’m not exactly up to date on your technology or this subspace I keep hearing about.” Leia explained dryly.
Entebbe slapped his hand on the armrest of his chair as he examined the readings and came to Spock’s conclusion.
“A subspace domain was generated there!” He exclaimed.
“Huh?” Wedge muttered.
“Don’t look at me, I’m a doctor not a subspace field specialist.” McCoy interjected.
“Let me explain.” Entebbe stood up excitedly. “The area around Kirk did not exist in our plain of reality for a short time because of the introduction of a subspace field. Judging by the radiation we picked up the subspace bubble completely shunted this portion of space from our frame of reference.” Entebbe highlighted a bubble around here Kirk had been found. “What happened within the bubble is essentially imprinted a new set of universal laws.”
“Is that even possible?” McCoy breathed.
“Aye Doctor, but such technology was beyond anything we had.” Scotty answered.
“What does that mean to the people within the bubble?” Leia asked curiously.
“The resulting set of a new set of rules governing reality would be maddening for a mind accustomed to our set of rules. In essence, their minds would try to shut down to avoid the exposure to a reality it cannot even begin to grasp.” Spock answered.
“So that’s how they did it.” Wedge stated and nodded his head. “Luke would never stand a chance inside that thing, he would have blacked out and they simply walk in and take him prisoner.”
“Not to mention poor Artoo.” Threepio interjected mournfully.
“That also explains some of the strange readings I got from Jim’s electrolytes. His whole biochemistry underwent some awesome strain that I couldn’t explain.”
“The question is what do we do now?” Worf asked gruffly.
McCoy’s combadge beeped. McCoy fumbled on his chest and tapped the combadge.
“McCoy here.”
“Doctor, you wanted me to inform you when the patient was fully awake.”
“Are you sure he’s awake? He should still be out for a few more hours.”
“He is quiet insistent.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “I knew I should have doped him up with something stronger.” he grumbled.
“We need to talk to him, he’ll want to know what happened.” Entebbe noted.
“Very well.” Spock agreed and rose up from his seat. The others followed suit and filed out of the wardroom.
“Well?” Picard asked.
“Atmosphere looks breathable, but there’s a lot of silicates in the air.” Captain Archer replied as he finished checking his tricorder.
“Positive evidence of the global war that the Queen relayed to us at the Unimatrix.” Seven added.
“Are you alright?” Picard asked R-7. The sight of the mauled android worried Picard.
“I am functioning well within parameters considering the state of my chassis.” R-7 replied.
“Good to hear that, R-7.” Picard replied and smiled softly. No matter how hard he tried he could not help but think of Data when he saw R-7.
They were gathering their equipment and weapons for the long trek to try and catch up with the Queen. The escape pod had soft landed in a clearing several kilometers from the Queen’s own landing point.
“She’s well ahead of us, at least an eight hour lead and she knows where the hell she’s going.” Archer commented darkly as he shouldered a phaser rifle.
“It’s going to be hard to keep up with her.” Picard replied gingerly testing his legs. He was broken up inside, held together by nano-sutures and a generous use of regenerative stimulators. He was far from 100%.
“We’ll do our best sir.” Archer replied enthusiastically.
“There is no telling what she will do once she reaches her objective.” Seven added.
“I think she’s trying to jump start a new Collective, Seven and I think you know that.” Picard said tightly.
“Why would I—”
“Because you’ve been acting distracted since we escaped from the Valhalla. I’ve been hearing it, but only snippets of it.” Picard accused, stepping up to Seven, eyes boring into hers.
“Snippets of what?” Archer asked.
Picard and Seven glared at each other.
“The Captain is accusing me of knowing what the Queen is planning.” Seven replied, her eyes not leaving Picard’s.
“And is that true, Seven?”
There was silence in the capsule.
Archer slowly reached out and touched Seven’s shoulder.
“Anika?”
She blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Archer. She looked down at the floor for a moment.
“I have been hearing the Queen’s thoughts. She is trying to influence me, she wants me to join her.”
“And you decided not to tell us this?” Picard shook his head.
“Perhaps we should leave her behind Captain. Standard Shadow Fleet protocol is to exterminate all Borg drones before proceeding to the next objective. We still do not know what level of control the Collective or the Queen for that matter can exert over a drone.”
“I am not a drone!” Seven exclaimed.
“Anyone even thinks about touching her has to deal with me!” Archer snapped and stepped between Seven and the others.
Picard held up his hands.
“Alright, alright damnit! This pointless bickering is playing precisely into the Queen’s hands. We need to start after her. Once we are on the move then we can decide what it is she is doing and try to figure out a way to stop her.”
“I’m all for moving.” Archer replied glaring at R-7.
“Then let’s go.” Picard ordered and led them out of the escape pod.
As Picard and R-7 walked along side each other, the android spoke quietly.
“We must maintain surveillance of the drone.”
Picard said nothing as they walked into the dark blasting winds. A perpetual black gloom in the air as whirling clouds of blackened soil and blasted sand whipped around them framing the desiccated landscape of the ruined planet. Cities could be seen in the distance like fossilized bones jutting into the sky.
“Anika, whatever happens here, I’ll stand by you.”
“Why?” Seven asked suddenly turning to look at him. Archer paused uncertain but shook his head ruefully.
“I’m standing here on the true Borg homeworld, most likely never coming back and here I am afraid still to say I love you.”
Seven stared into his eyes.
“That’s right Anika, Seven of Nine, whatever you want to call yourself I love you. I’ve almost died a few times before this moment without telling you but I’m going to do that now.”
“I…” Seven looked into his beautiful calm eyes. “I do not know how to answer you.”
Archer looked disappointed for a moment but smiled warmly.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something before this mission is through.” He laughed and helped her up out of the crater they had landed in.
Kirk smiled softy as he saw the others walking into the sickbay.
“Well, looks like my rescue mission was a command performance.” He said weakly.
“You should be sleeping. You just had major surgery.” McCoy complained as he glanced at the bio bed monitors to check his vitals.
“Your bedside manner has me making a comeback.” Kirk shot back and smiled.
“Jim!” Leia rushed over and hugged him tightly. “You’re alright.”
“Leia.” Kirk said softly, his eyes looking into hers for a long moment. Many things were said between them with that one glance.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
“First, I want to know what happened to Luke.” Kirk said sitting himself up, Leia helped him, amazed by how weak he still was.
“He was taken by a band of pirates in the employ of the Orion syndicate.” Spock answered.
“They hit us with something…weird. I lost all sense of reality I guess would be the best term.”
“That is consistent with the evidence we found of a subspace domain generator that was used in that cave.”
“And what do we know about this Orion syndicate?”
“The man’s name is Anton Hieronymous Darkstar - seems he’s rather a big wig among the Orions.” Entebbe replied. Leia watched the exchange with interest and a secret smile. He was in his bed recovering and all these starship captains and officers were gathered around him and briefing him without hesitation. She felt such a bond of loyalty and trust between these people that Jim inspired. It brought her a sense of hope she had not felt since Jim left.
She had forgotten the leader that he was when she focused on the man she was looking for.
Kirk nodded, he absently squeezed Leia’s hand.
“Look, I know you came looking for me to bring me back, but this mission is not over.”
“Sir?”
“I met with Luke Skywalker down on that planet. He’s still in there.” Kirk turned his head to Leia. “I saw him Leia, he’s still there buried beneath all the hate and anger. I saw him and he reached out to me when they snatched him away.”
“Sir, you do realize that what you’re talking about is a rescue mission.”
“That’s precisely what I’m saying, Sulu.”
“Captain, that’s Darth Nemesis we’re talking about. He’s the brains behind the Imperial forces that have taken the Federation.”
“Perhaps it is best that he rot in the hands of the Orion syndicate.” Worf snapped.
Kirk’s eyes narrowed on Worf.
“You’re a Klingon aren’t you?” Kirk noted.
“Of course I’m a Klingon.” Worf replied.
“You’ll have to forgive me, in my day you guys weren’t sporting…” Kirk made a motion to his forehead. Worf sighed.
“It is a long story and we do not speak of such things.”
“The Klingons of my day were fierce warriors, sly but honorable. I fought alongside a Klingon named Kang when our crews were being manipulated by an emotion controlling entity.”
“That story is one retold many times.” Worf stated with a hint of awe.
“I also heard that Nemesis fought bravely, defeating one hundred of the Klingons’ finest warriors.”
“Indeed.”
“So, you prefer that a warrior that fought honorably to end a war rot in the hands of some filthy Orion pirates? What happened to the honorable Klingon warriors I knew, what happened to the Kangs and Kors?”
Worf fumed.
“That man ordered the destruction of the Klingon homeworld and is directly responsible for the deaths of billions. There is no honor there. Why should we risk our lives to save him?”
“Because the man that ordered those deaths is dying and the young man that can help us is being held by pirates. If we free him we give him a chance to redeem himself for what he has done. In the end we all deserve a second chance.”
“He does not.” Worf replied darkly and crossed his arms. “Somehow I thought that the great James Kirk whom my people looked on with admiration as a worthy adversary would not have been so soft when it came to his enemies. Would you have shown such mercy I wonder were it not for the obvious relationship between Nemesis and the princess.”
Leia frowned and started to say something.
“Then we don’t need your help. We can go on without you.” Kirk snapped losing patience with the obstinate Klingon.
“You are welcome to do so.” Worf replied tightly.
“Uh, perhaps I can offer an alternative.” Leia began. The assembled officers and men looked at her.
“We also suspect that this same crime lord stole some very valuable technology, technology we will need of the Federation is to have any chance at stopping the Empire.”
“What kind of technology?” Kirk asked.
“Hypermatter generators and hyperdrives.” Worf answered. “Stolen from under my nose after honorable combat by that Patahk’s forces.”
“So, then it looks like we can come to some accord. We need those generators and hyperdrives, they can be our primary objective.” Kirk regarded each of his men. “Rescuing Luke can be a secondary objective.”
“Our sole objective SHOULD be the technology.” Worf stated grimly.
“That can be your objective if you wish.”
“But how do we go about it sir? We’re far from any fleet assets. I’d feel a lot more comfortable with a few starships backing us up if we’re going deep into Orion space.” Entebbe asked.
“Unfortunately, the direct approach would fail anyway. If Darkstar saw our starships coming or if we orbit overhead and threaten him with force he could just as easily destroy the hyperdrives and kill Luke.”
“We will need to infiltrate his palace then.” Spock surmised.
“You are right, again, Mr. Spock.” Kirk said with a wink.
“We will need to get ourselves into the palace without drawing too much attention.” Leia said thinking aloud.
“Or” Kirk wondered. “We could draw the right kind of attention.”
“What do you mean?” Leia asked confused. Kirk started eyeing her up and down. She felt uncomfortable.
“Tell me Princess.” Kirk asked with a boyish grin. “Do you like the color green?”
Some of the men were smiling, Sulu choked back a laugh and McCoy rolled his eyes.
The bridge of the Executor was a model of quiet disciplined efficiency. Officers moved between their stations and enlisted men worked diligently rarely looking up from their duties. Admiral Piett watched his crew with pride.
They had formed a team that had not known defeat. The Battle of Endor was the beginning of their journey of success and he did not think there was anything that could stop them. This galaxy would be no different.
He had despised Thrawn at first when the Grand admiral joined his fleet. Now he saw Thrawn as a man that he could learn from. Thrawn had ridden him hard, far harder than Ozzel ever did. But he began to see results. Piett was sharper, more alert to the little details that he had ever been.
He noticed the changes for the better in himself. And he had the Grand Admiral to thank.
Of course, when push came to shove, Piett knew where the true path to power lie and when Vader gave the order, Piett was ready to assassinate the alien.
“I have the latest tactical reports.” Jerjerrod said calmly as he handed the datapad to Piett.
Piett accepted the pad without a word and glanced down at the report.
“I am concerned by the fighter readiness status on the Iron Fist and Death’s Head.” Piett noted with a raised eyebrow.
“They suffered heavy casualties to their fighter corps and the Iron Fist’s hangar deck was badly damaged in the battle against the Shadow Fleet.” Jerjerrod explained.
Piett looked up at Jerjerrod.
“Are you making excuses for my Captains?”
“Not at all.” Jerjerrod replied stiffly. “I was merely pointing out the reasons behind those substandard readiness reports. Reasons that you should be aware of if you were fully briefed in the after action reports.”
Piett stared at Jerjerrod for a moment.
“There will come a time, Captain, when your status as Thrawn’s attaché will not protect you.” Piett promised softly.
“I look forward to the day when you will actually get your hands dirty, Admiral. Perhaps if you came out from behind Vader’s cape I will surprise you.” Jerjerrod replied coolly.
“One day, my good Captain, one day.” Piett vowed.
The doors to snapped open and Thrawn strode onto the bridge speaking calmly with Vader.
“Grand Admiral.” Piett bowed his head sharply, Jerjerrod followed suit.
“Do you have the latest fleet readiness reports?” Thrawn asked.
“Right here sir.” Piett handed Thrawn the datapad. Thrawn scanned it quickly, his crimson eyes scanning up and down like a machine.
“I see the Iron Fist is still having trouble with their hangar bays and the Death’s Head’s fighter losses have begun to impact readiness.” He noted. Jerjerrod shot a glance over at Piett. “Still.” Thrawn continued switching the datapad off. “That’s a poor excuse for a stardestroyer in my fleet to have such a paltry readiness status when we’ve been in base for weeks now.” Piett fired off a glance at Jerjerrod.
“There are other dangers that we are overlooking while in base.” Vader interjected gravely.
“Oh?” Piett replied curiously.
“The Imperium.” Thrawn said to Vader, the distaste evident in his voice.
Vader nodded.
“The Romulans have grown bold of late. I have personally executed six Tal-Shiar agents that have tried to infiltrate the fleet.” Vader warned.
“Indeed. Well, we shall give the Imperium fleet something to think about.” Thrawn replied. He turned his gaze to Piett. “Admiral, alert all commands. I want the fleet in tactical formation and have navigation prepare an oblique approach to this system.” Thrawn handed Piett a datapad. Piett examined it.
“These coordinates…they take us to a system not less than two parsecs from Andor.” Piett noted in confusion and glanced up at Thrawn.
“The fleet is to initiate stealth procedures and observe strict communications silence. Any and all messages between fleet ships will be relayed by probe droids.”
“How long will the fleet maintain this status so close to Andor?” Piett asked.
“As long as I wish it.” Thrawn replied.
“A fleet of this size will be difficult to hide from Federation sensors particularly at the distances we are discussing.” Vader pointed out.
Thrawn casualty walked down the central walkway that led over the crew pits, hands clasped behind his back. Vader fell into step after him and Piett and Jerjerrod managed to exchange troubled glances before following suit.
“The plans for Andor have changed.”
“Indeed.” Vader replied but said nothing else.
“Was there something wrong with my operation Grand Admiral?” Piett asked.
Thrawn glanced back at Piett.
“No.” He answered turning his head to look forward again as he continued walking slowly over the crew pits. The officers below nearly trembled at the collection of powers that passed over them.
“Romulus is no longer a viable home base for this fleet.”
“I have initiated security protocols for ships operating in Rebellion space.” Vader added.
“Very good Lord Vader, I knew there was no reason for me to issue such an order with you in charge of fleet security. However we need a home base from which we can operate with impunity. The Imperium fleet has this advantage here and now.”
“We outnumber and outgun them.” Jerjerrod interjected.
“Numbers and firepower are not the be all and end all.” Piett replied tightly.
Thrawn stopped at the end of the walkway and looked out the view port for a long moment of silence. Piett and Jerjerrod continued to glare at each other.
Thrawn pointed to several freighters slowly passing by the picket ships and heading deeper into the fleet. The freighters were being guided in by a Lambda shuttle towards the unloading area.
“If those freighters were loaded with explosives, exotic explosives that this galaxy seems to have an abundance of that our sensors were not calibrated to detect, they could now devastate several of our ships. The picket line would be destroyed and if they wait long enough…” the docile line of freighters passed within several hundred meters of a Carrier and a Stardestroyer lumbered overhead, her cavernous hangar bay exposed to the freighters. Piett’s mouth dropped open slightly as he watched the deadly ballet unfold. Who noticed these things? Thrawn did, that’s who.
“They could have knocked out the fighter coverage in that sector.” Thrawn finished, his voice dropping slightly. “Precious seconds pass as I try to ascertain what has happened and in that time a squadron of Romulan warbirds decloaks in the midst of the chaos. The warbirds, no real threat to the capital ships instead focus their fire on support craft and superstructure. With the fuel ships exploding into a cloud of superheated gases and fire, several of our captains seize initiative and break formation despite my orders not to do so, you see our communications would suddenly be blacked out by the detonation of a subspace mine nearby the Executor. Experts have been warning us since we arrived that this culture’s near dependence on subspace has made them very good at manipulating it and forging it into a weapon.”
Thrawn turned suddenly and looked down into the communications pit.
“Duty officer I am initiating a surprise drill.”
“Sir!” The young officer snapped to attention. Jerjerrod could see him swallow in fear.
“Simulate the detonation of a powerful subspace explosive precisely keyed to black out communications. Scramble your boards and reestablish communication. You will be timed. Lord Vader will assess your performance.”
The communications officer’s eyes widened but he did not hesitate.
“You heard the Admiral. Scramble the boards. Simulate subspace interference.”
“Aye aye.”
Thrawn turned back to his officers.
“I cannot direct my fleet and we are forced to watch in horror as Lord Nemesis drops his next surprise.” He pointed to a corner of the fleet area. “Three stardestroyers, the triumvirate as they were known in our space drop their cloaks.” Piett started to speak but thought better of it as Thrawn pinned him with his crimson eyes. “Intelligence reports have begun whispering that Nemesis may have dropped out of sight to experiment the interface of Imperial technology with this galaxy’s technology. The implementation of Romulan cloaking devices on Imperial ships has been a top priority of his fleet. You see Nemesis has imagined for some time the psychological impact upon the Federation of a fleet of stardestroyers decloaking within a Federation battle line.”
“Status?” Vader asked menacingly.
“We’re working on it Lord Vader. Interference is clearing up, I will have the fleet wide band up momentarily.” The communications officer promised breathlessly as his hands flew over the controls. The enlisted men were working furiously and not looking up.
“And as our com techs work valiantly to restore communications the triumvirate advances on our exposed left flank. Their combined firepower overwhelms the Vigilant.” Thrawn pointed to the Victory class stardestroyer out on the extreme edge of the battle fleet’s left flank. “Now watch as the left wing collapses on the Triumvirate.”
“That’s what Nemesis would want.” Jerjerrod breathed.
“Indeed.” Thrawn turned slowly and pointed to the fuel dump and armory slowly being constructed at the opposite end of the fleet assembly area. “A wing of Romulan warbirds decloaks now that our assets are concentrating their fire on the left wing as per standard Imperial doctrine and destroys the dump and armory. The chain reaction from the explosion blinds the right wing for a moment. And a moment is all they need to let the rest of the Imperium fleet decloak within our right wing, their sole purpose to start a brawl and thus nullify our superior numbers.” Thrawn looked back to the right.
“Status?” Vader asked and his voice was like ice.
“Fleet wide band will be up in three seconds my lord.” The Com officer vowed as he watched the transmitter finishing its self diagnostic.
“Look, we just destroyed one of the triumvirate, not able to withstand the withering fire. Retreat not in their game plan the rest continues forward, shields failing, armor collapsing but they are damaging us in a not so subtle manner, the entire left wing is occupied by three star destroyers while our right wing must contend with the rest of the Imperium fleet.”
“Communications restored sir!” The Com officer announced loudly.
Thrawn nodded.
“And the center?” Piett pressed, surely even without communications we should be moving forward. If the center saw the Executor move then surely they would follow.”
“I give orders for an immediate withdrawal.”
“Sir?!” Piett exclaimed.
“The Emperor’s Will.” Vader concluded.
“Indeed. There is a command ship out there hunting us. Waiting for us to break formation and out from under cover of the rest of the fleet.”
“I wager that the Executor can destroy the Emperor’s Will. We can outfight that pretender Kittaine and Lord Vader can nullify any force trickery that Nemesis would try to bring to bear. I would order us to move forward and engage quickly. Our fire power would easily over whelm any opposition until I could find the—” Piett began.
“A flash of green light fills our bridge and the tactical officer barely has time to report incoming fire when we explode in a blast of hypermatter annihilating itself.” Thrawn finished.
“You are forgetting that the Emperor’s Will out guns us, Admiral. We cannot make such basic errors on this mission of vital importance to the empire. You’re eagerness would have killed us all. I would be most displeased if I saw such rash action from you again, Admiral.” Vader said darkly, pointing a crooked finger at Piett.
Piett blanched.
“The superlaser.” Jerjerrod muttered shaking his head. “To think, that traitor Nemesis has his hands on such a weapon.”
“I ask you all Gentlemen, do we want to stay in this death trap or is it time to seize our own base?” Thrawn asked, hands clasped behind his back as he turned his attention back to the
“Andor, you mean to seize Andor!” Jerjerrod concluded excitedly.
“Its shipyards and manufacturing facilities are crude but it should prove adequate to supply our fleet long enough to secure this quadrant of the galaxy.” Vader noted.
“Admiral?”
Piett nodded, he was looking out as a new string of freighters floated into the fleet assembly area.
“I don’t want to have to think about what will happen here should Nemesis decide to strike against us.”
“So then you understand our caution. I have been examining Andorian artwork. They are a warrior people at heart, proud, stiff necked and they will do anything to be free. They even planned their succession from the Federation, a relatively benign empire and they still chaffed under its rule. They will not allow the Empire to take their world.”
“You suspect sabotage.” Vader noted.
“Do you see it?” Thrawn asked quietly. He did not like asking the Sith Lord to use his fortune telling abilities, for many reasons, least of which was his own pride in not needing such crutches but there were times that any advantage, any edge was needed to plan a proper offensive, and Andor was a key to taking the rest of this galaxy.
“There is danger. The Andorians have no faith that the Federation will hold the planet. There is a resolve among the leadership to do what has to be done.”
“And their plans, the battle?”
There was silence for a moment and only Vader’s rhythmic mechanical breathing could be heard. Thrawn said nothing, continued to look out of the view port.
“As you suspected, there are explosive devices implanted in every shipyard module and depot in orbit. They also have prepared antimatter warheads for their surface installations.” Vader lied.
“They are going to pursue a scorched earth strategy.” Piett muttered darkly.
“We will have no choice but to strike quickly and overwhelm them with raw speed and firepower.” Jerjerrod offered helpfully.
“That will not be enough. I will be working on a plan of attack that will surprise the Federation and Andorians. We cannot afford to lose that advantage.”
“We may if they detect us in orbit of this system.” Piett worried.
“Then you will see to it personally that they do not.” Thrawn said frostily. “The Federation has become adept at tracking our hyperspace passages. Despite the speed advantages that we possess, if they get wind of our coming they may decide to blow the facilities prematurely. We must strike so quickly that their early warning systems will not save them.”
“A hyper jump from this system will place the fleet within Andor’s system in moments.” Jerjerrod concluded.
“There is one problem.” Vader interjected. “The Federation will most certainly detect this fleet’s hyperspace wake approaching the system.”
“Lord Vader, it is refreshing to work with someone that thinks several steps ahead. I see your reputation as a fearsome warlord is well deserved.” Thrawn replied with a cold smile.
“How are we going to mask our hyperspace wake?”
“Simple. A single ship will be outfitted with a subspace beacon. It will put out enough ‘noise’ so that it masks our hyperspace signature from long range sensors. It also helps that I’ve ordered our special weapons units to set up a small outpost here.” Thrawn indicated a system several light years from Andor. “They began jamming operations last week, day in day out, constant white noise. The Federation long range sensor nets around Andor should be unreliable at best. They will interpret the noise from our passage as another subspace anomaly.”
“Have a care Grand Admiral. You are relying too much on these technological wonders.” Vader noted.
“Any advantage that I can gain Lord Vader. Their reliance on subspace is both an advantage and a disadvantage and I intend to school them on all the disadvantages by the time this battle is over.” Thrawn stated and calmly walked away from the view port, hands clasped behind his back. He paused for a moment and looked down at the Communications pit.
“What is your assessment Lord Vader?” Thrawn asked.
Vader looked down at the communications officer, his black lenses focusing on the obviously terrified young officer.
“The communications could not have been cleared any faster. He displayed calm under pressure. I would have put him up for a promotion after the battle was over.”
Thrawn’s left eye brow rose up by an inch, the only show of surprise evident on his face. Thrawn spared the young officer a glance and then turned his attention to Piett.
“Have this man raised up in rank and insert a letter of commendation in his record.”
“Of course Grand Admiral.”
“This may not have been combat, but I will reward those who treat any situation as if we were in combat. We must be on the razor’s edge of readiness at all times.” Thrawn announced to the bridge officers before turning on his heel and striding towards one of the lifts.
Jerjerrod caught up with him.
“Sir, there is one thing we have not discussed.”
“Oh?” Thrawn replied as the doors to the lift snapped open. He stepped in.
“The minefield, Grand Admiral. The Andorians have erected a minefield that stretches across their system. It would slow us down considerably in any assault scenario.”
“Leave that to me.” Thrawn replied with a secretive smile as the doors snapped shut.
“Stolen, right out from under our noses!” Worf snapped and pounded his fist on the wardroom table. Captain Entebbe jumped up in his seat. He had not met often with Klingons, as a scientist he was far more accustomed to staid and stale environment of a conference than this impromptu strategy session.
Worf had arrived in orbit of Scythia only hours ago after receiving Entebbe’s signal. The Klingon chancellor had been adamant that he be informed should they find and rescue James Kirk. Riker and the others were bound by their oaths of loyalty to Starfleet and follow Jellico’s orders. Worf was under no such restriction.
As a favor to his old crewmates he promised to help Leia with rescuing Kirk when the time came. He had arrived late for most of the festivities. Kirk was found and recovering in the sickbay, Nemesis was captured by a third party in this mess.
But Worf was angered by another unfortunate turn of events.
“Twice?” Leia replied frowning.
“Twice.” Worf snapped angrily and pounded the table even harder. “The first time involved a cache of downed hyperdrives we traced from a freighter we attacked not long ago. I promised the Federation remnant those hyperdrives as a gift upon my joining them and when we returned to the asteroid where the freighter lay broken, its holds were empty. The men on patrol guarding the area swore they saw nothing. Now this disgrace, stolen while my men were engaged in honorable and bloody combat.”
“Do we have any idea who they are?” Entebbe asked.
“Orions. They have their stink all over this operation and many of my people started working for them when the Empire collapsed. They would have gotten wind of our plans to steal hypermatter reactors or hyperspace motivators and acted.” Worf grumbled.
“Orions? I haven’t heard of this faction.” Leia noted.
“Pirates and rogues all of them.” McCoy snorted.
“The Orions of this century seem more organized and powerful than their ancestors whom the captain and I have faced before.” Spock added.
“The Orion syndicate was an outgrowth of the pirate clans from your era. They are more formalized, richer, organized. They gave up competing with the Federation and started raiding the outlying sectors and gray areas where our power doesn’t reach.” Entebbe replied.
“You sound like you’ve had some experience.” Wedge noted.
“The Sagan has had some run ins with Orions in the past. They know better than to take on a fully armed starship so sometimes a raider decides he might be able to make a name for himself taking down a science vessel.” Entebbe explained. “After my first experience with them, I’ve tried to brush on their culture and history, try to give me an idea of who and what I was facing.”
“We also made contact with an individual in the fringe that could help us identify our attackers.” Spock noted.
“I provided them with a snapshot that one of my guys picked up before the ship went to warp.” Wedge added and touched a button. A small holographic image of a large squat ship popped up on the table. The vessel seemed to fade in and out of view.
“Something wrong with the image?” McCoy asked.
“No, doctor. That looks like a custom cloak job. They’re generating an optic scattering field along the outer hull, it disrupts photons coming off the vessel making it difficult to detect visually. Very cheap but technically difficult to pull off.” Scotty answered. “And these ports here look like thermal diffusion units, they’re scattering their plasma and ion trails through miniature sub atomic vents that make it difficult to track their vessel with standard sensors.”
“In other words a poor man’s cloaking device.” Sulu added.
“Yes, and they were obviously running silent in orbit when we arrived, we had trouble picking them up and the Sagan’s sensor package is second to none.” Entebbe said glumly.
“Whoever pulled this off had money, resources and know how. That has to limit our pool of likely pirates.” Leia surmised.
“And when we find out, we will crush them.” Worf vowed.
The companel beeped. Entebbe hit the blinking button.
“Entebbe here.”
“Sir, we’re receiving a transmission by someone who identifies himself as Vasilli Zaitsev. He says he knows Mr. Spock.”
“Indeed. He is our contact in the Fringe that is helping us.”
“Go ahead and patch it through Lieutenant.”
“Aye sir.”
The voice was distant and static faded in and out of the transmission as he spoke.
“Hello? Mr. Spock?”
“Spock here, Mr. Zaitsev. Were you able to help us?”
“Yes indeed I was but you have to promise me one thing.”
Spock looked at the others seated at the table for a moment. “Go ahead.”
“That if you get involved with this person that my name does not get mentioned at all in any way shape or form. I want your word as Starfleet officers.”
“I take it this person is powerful?” Leia asked.
They heard Zaitsev’s snort loud and clear despite the static interference.
“It was once said that a fly bit him on the neck drawing blood. He ordered the decimation of the continent by orbital bombardment.”
“Not powerful, princess, he’s obviously mad.” McCoy frowned.
“You have our word as Starfleet officers that your part in this will be strictly confidential, only the people in this room know and only I know your face. I am a Vulcan, there is no need to doubt my words now.”
“Very well.” Zaitsev sighed heavily after some hesitation. “The man’s name is Anton Hieronymous Darkstar.”
“Oh my god.” Entebbe muttered.
“Whoever said that has it right on the money.”
“I am at a loss.” Spock replied.
“Darkstar is a legend among Orion Syndicate bosses. He is the most powerful, richest, and maddest of all of them. He has palaces throughout the Orion cluster but his main palace is at Vanguard. He is a collector or oddities among his other, shall we say eccentricities.”
Entebbe was already checking the charts for the Vanguard system.
“I have a feeling that he’s the one taking your hypermatter materials. He’s expressed an interest in these invaders since they first arrived. He knows that if his faction gets its hands on hypermatter and in particular hyperdrives they will be able to subjugate the rest of the syndicate. He’s posted a very hefty bounty on any technology from the other galaxy.”
“What about people?” Leia pressed.
“He’s collected any materials, be it holoimages, pictures, discarded clothes that he could find concerning Lord Darth Nemesis, that Imperial Sith lord or whatever he calls himself.” Leia exchanged a look with McCoy. “He’s obsessed with him.”
“Mr. Zaitsev, we are in debt to you.” Spock stated.
“Is Captain Kirk alright? He saved my life and given my company a new business opportunity. I owe him much and he is a hero of my childhood.”
“Captain Kirk is in recovery sir. I assure you I will let him know you asked for him.” McCoy explained.
“Thank you. And gentlemen, one last word of advice, if you’re going to go after Darkstar you need to know, he’s not going to go quietly and he’s never lost anything from his collection, ever. He has his own private fleet nearby and he is a powerful man. Don’t underestimate him because he is a crime lord. He has a cunning that has let him rise from nothing to a ruler of many worlds in a single lifetime.”
“We will take it under advisement, Mr. Zaitsev. Thank you again for your assistance.”
“Good luck. You’ll need it.”
“Well, that explains a lot.” McCoy sighed.
“I am very curious to find out how they managed to capture Luke. He’s powerful and I seriously doubt that a crime syndicate has the resources to take him down.”
“Nemesis defeated one hundred of the Empire’s finest soldiers in single combat. He did not go down easily, I assure you.” Worf added.
“I may have an answer to that question.” Spock stated as he switched the view screen in the wardroom to the image of some sort of radiation wave form. “I detected quantum particles near the point where we found Captain Kirk, quantum particles that usually can be found in such concentrations near the leading edge of a subspace warpfield.”
Leia blinked.
“I’m not exactly up to date on your technology or this subspace I keep hearing about.” Leia explained dryly.
Entebbe slapped his hand on the armrest of his chair as he examined the readings and came to Spock’s conclusion.
“A subspace domain was generated there!” He exclaimed.
“Huh?” Wedge muttered.
“Don’t look at me, I’m a doctor not a subspace field specialist.” McCoy interjected.
“Let me explain.” Entebbe stood up excitedly. “The area around Kirk did not exist in our plain of reality for a short time because of the introduction of a subspace field. Judging by the radiation we picked up the subspace bubble completely shunted this portion of space from our frame of reference.” Entebbe highlighted a bubble around here Kirk had been found. “What happened within the bubble is essentially imprinted a new set of universal laws.”
“Is that even possible?” McCoy breathed.
“Aye Doctor, but such technology was beyond anything we had.” Scotty answered.
“What does that mean to the people within the bubble?” Leia asked curiously.
“The resulting set of a new set of rules governing reality would be maddening for a mind accustomed to our set of rules. In essence, their minds would try to shut down to avoid the exposure to a reality it cannot even begin to grasp.” Spock answered.
“So that’s how they did it.” Wedge stated and nodded his head. “Luke would never stand a chance inside that thing, he would have blacked out and they simply walk in and take him prisoner.”
“Not to mention poor Artoo.” Threepio interjected mournfully.
“That also explains some of the strange readings I got from Jim’s electrolytes. His whole biochemistry underwent some awesome strain that I couldn’t explain.”
“The question is what do we do now?” Worf asked gruffly.
McCoy’s combadge beeped. McCoy fumbled on his chest and tapped the combadge.
“McCoy here.”
“Doctor, you wanted me to inform you when the patient was fully awake.”
“Are you sure he’s awake? He should still be out for a few more hours.”
“He is quiet insistent.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “I knew I should have doped him up with something stronger.” he grumbled.
“We need to talk to him, he’ll want to know what happened.” Entebbe noted.
“Very well.” Spock agreed and rose up from his seat. The others followed suit and filed out of the wardroom.
“Well?” Picard asked.
“Atmosphere looks breathable, but there’s a lot of silicates in the air.” Captain Archer replied as he finished checking his tricorder.
“Positive evidence of the global war that the Queen relayed to us at the Unimatrix.” Seven added.
“Are you alright?” Picard asked R-7. The sight of the mauled android worried Picard.
“I am functioning well within parameters considering the state of my chassis.” R-7 replied.
“Good to hear that, R-7.” Picard replied and smiled softly. No matter how hard he tried he could not help but think of Data when he saw R-7.
They were gathering their equipment and weapons for the long trek to try and catch up with the Queen. The escape pod had soft landed in a clearing several kilometers from the Queen’s own landing point.
“She’s well ahead of us, at least an eight hour lead and she knows where the hell she’s going.” Archer commented darkly as he shouldered a phaser rifle.
“It’s going to be hard to keep up with her.” Picard replied gingerly testing his legs. He was broken up inside, held together by nano-sutures and a generous use of regenerative stimulators. He was far from 100%.
“We’ll do our best sir.” Archer replied enthusiastically.
“There is no telling what she will do once she reaches her objective.” Seven added.
“I think she’s trying to jump start a new Collective, Seven and I think you know that.” Picard said tightly.
“Why would I—”
“Because you’ve been acting distracted since we escaped from the Valhalla. I’ve been hearing it, but only snippets of it.” Picard accused, stepping up to Seven, eyes boring into hers.
“Snippets of what?” Archer asked.
Picard and Seven glared at each other.
“The Captain is accusing me of knowing what the Queen is planning.” Seven replied, her eyes not leaving Picard’s.
“And is that true, Seven?”
There was silence in the capsule.
Archer slowly reached out and touched Seven’s shoulder.
“Anika?”
She blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Archer. She looked down at the floor for a moment.
“I have been hearing the Queen’s thoughts. She is trying to influence me, she wants me to join her.”
“And you decided not to tell us this?” Picard shook his head.
“Perhaps we should leave her behind Captain. Standard Shadow Fleet protocol is to exterminate all Borg drones before proceeding to the next objective. We still do not know what level of control the Collective or the Queen for that matter can exert over a drone.”
“I am not a drone!” Seven exclaimed.
“Anyone even thinks about touching her has to deal with me!” Archer snapped and stepped between Seven and the others.
Picard held up his hands.
“Alright, alright damnit! This pointless bickering is playing precisely into the Queen’s hands. We need to start after her. Once we are on the move then we can decide what it is she is doing and try to figure out a way to stop her.”
“I’m all for moving.” Archer replied glaring at R-7.
“Then let’s go.” Picard ordered and led them out of the escape pod.
As Picard and R-7 walked along side each other, the android spoke quietly.
“We must maintain surveillance of the drone.”
Picard said nothing as they walked into the dark blasting winds. A perpetual black gloom in the air as whirling clouds of blackened soil and blasted sand whipped around them framing the desiccated landscape of the ruined planet. Cities could be seen in the distance like fossilized bones jutting into the sky.
“Anika, whatever happens here, I’ll stand by you.”
“Why?” Seven asked suddenly turning to look at him. Archer paused uncertain but shook his head ruefully.
“I’m standing here on the true Borg homeworld, most likely never coming back and here I am afraid still to say I love you.”
Seven stared into his eyes.
“That’s right Anika, Seven of Nine, whatever you want to call yourself I love you. I’ve almost died a few times before this moment without telling you but I’m going to do that now.”
“I…” Seven looked into his beautiful calm eyes. “I do not know how to answer you.”
Archer looked disappointed for a moment but smiled warmly.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something before this mission is through.” He laughed and helped her up out of the crater they had landed in.
Kirk smiled softy as he saw the others walking into the sickbay.
“Well, looks like my rescue mission was a command performance.” He said weakly.
“You should be sleeping. You just had major surgery.” McCoy complained as he glanced at the bio bed monitors to check his vitals.
“Your bedside manner has me making a comeback.” Kirk shot back and smiled.
“Jim!” Leia rushed over and hugged him tightly. “You’re alright.”
“Leia.” Kirk said softly, his eyes looking into hers for a long moment. Many things were said between them with that one glance.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
“First, I want to know what happened to Luke.” Kirk said sitting himself up, Leia helped him, amazed by how weak he still was.
“He was taken by a band of pirates in the employ of the Orion syndicate.” Spock answered.
“They hit us with something…weird. I lost all sense of reality I guess would be the best term.”
“That is consistent with the evidence we found of a subspace domain generator that was used in that cave.”
“And what do we know about this Orion syndicate?”
“The man’s name is Anton Hieronymous Darkstar - seems he’s rather a big wig among the Orions.” Entebbe replied. Leia watched the exchange with interest and a secret smile. He was in his bed recovering and all these starship captains and officers were gathered around him and briefing him without hesitation. She felt such a bond of loyalty and trust between these people that Jim inspired. It brought her a sense of hope she had not felt since Jim left.
She had forgotten the leader that he was when she focused on the man she was looking for.
Kirk nodded, he absently squeezed Leia’s hand.
“Look, I know you came looking for me to bring me back, but this mission is not over.”
“Sir?”
“I met with Luke Skywalker down on that planet. He’s still in there.” Kirk turned his head to Leia. “I saw him Leia, he’s still there buried beneath all the hate and anger. I saw him and he reached out to me when they snatched him away.”
“Sir, you do realize that what you’re talking about is a rescue mission.”
“That’s precisely what I’m saying, Sulu.”
“Captain, that’s Darth Nemesis we’re talking about. He’s the brains behind the Imperial forces that have taken the Federation.”
“Perhaps it is best that he rot in the hands of the Orion syndicate.” Worf snapped.
Kirk’s eyes narrowed on Worf.
“You’re a Klingon aren’t you?” Kirk noted.
“Of course I’m a Klingon.” Worf replied.
“You’ll have to forgive me, in my day you guys weren’t sporting…” Kirk made a motion to his forehead. Worf sighed.
“It is a long story and we do not speak of such things.”
“The Klingons of my day were fierce warriors, sly but honorable. I fought alongside a Klingon named Kang when our crews were being manipulated by an emotion controlling entity.”
“That story is one retold many times.” Worf stated with a hint of awe.
“I also heard that Nemesis fought bravely, defeating one hundred of the Klingons’ finest warriors.”
“Indeed.”
“So, you prefer that a warrior that fought honorably to end a war rot in the hands of some filthy Orion pirates? What happened to the honorable Klingon warriors I knew, what happened to the Kangs and Kors?”
Worf fumed.
“That man ordered the destruction of the Klingon homeworld and is directly responsible for the deaths of billions. There is no honor there. Why should we risk our lives to save him?”
“Because the man that ordered those deaths is dying and the young man that can help us is being held by pirates. If we free him we give him a chance to redeem himself for what he has done. In the end we all deserve a second chance.”
“He does not.” Worf replied darkly and crossed his arms. “Somehow I thought that the great James Kirk whom my people looked on with admiration as a worthy adversary would not have been so soft when it came to his enemies. Would you have shown such mercy I wonder were it not for the obvious relationship between Nemesis and the princess.”
Leia frowned and started to say something.
“Then we don’t need your help. We can go on without you.” Kirk snapped losing patience with the obstinate Klingon.
“You are welcome to do so.” Worf replied tightly.
“Uh, perhaps I can offer an alternative.” Leia began. The assembled officers and men looked at her.
“We also suspect that this same crime lord stole some very valuable technology, technology we will need of the Federation is to have any chance at stopping the Empire.”
“What kind of technology?” Kirk asked.
“Hypermatter generators and hyperdrives.” Worf answered. “Stolen from under my nose after honorable combat by that Patahk’s forces.”
“So, then it looks like we can come to some accord. We need those generators and hyperdrives, they can be our primary objective.” Kirk regarded each of his men. “Rescuing Luke can be a secondary objective.”
“Our sole objective SHOULD be the technology.” Worf stated grimly.
“That can be your objective if you wish.”
“But how do we go about it sir? We’re far from any fleet assets. I’d feel a lot more comfortable with a few starships backing us up if we’re going deep into Orion space.” Entebbe asked.
“Unfortunately, the direct approach would fail anyway. If Darkstar saw our starships coming or if we orbit overhead and threaten him with force he could just as easily destroy the hyperdrives and kill Luke.”
“We will need to infiltrate his palace then.” Spock surmised.
“You are right, again, Mr. Spock.” Kirk said with a wink.
“We will need to get ourselves into the palace without drawing too much attention.” Leia said thinking aloud.
“Or” Kirk wondered. “We could draw the right kind of attention.”
“What do you mean?” Leia asked confused. Kirk started eyeing her up and down. She felt uncomfortable.
“Tell me Princess.” Kirk asked with a boyish grin. “Do you like the color green?”
Some of the men were smiling, Sulu choked back a laugh and McCoy rolled his eyes.
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Crayz9000
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Interesting how the board goes down just as the latest chapter of StarCrossed is posted...
Now for the commentary.
The constant competition between Piett and Jerjerrod is amusing to be sure, and for a change, is completely in character.
In other news, another Magical Subspace Plot Device comes out of nowhere
Now for the commentary.
The constant competition between Piett and Jerjerrod is amusing to be sure, and for a change, is completely in character.
In other news, another Magical Subspace Plot Device comes out of nowhere
A Tribute to Stupidity: The Robert Scott Anderson Archive (currently offline)
John Hansen - Slightly Insane Bounty Hunter - ASVS Vets' Assoc. Class of 2000
HAB Cryptanalyst | WG - Intergalactic Alliance and Spoof Author | BotM | Cybertron | SCEF
John Hansen - Slightly Insane Bounty Hunter - ASVS Vets' Assoc. Class of 2000
HAB Cryptanalyst | WG - Intergalactic Alliance and Spoof Author | BotM | Cybertron | SCEF
Hey, its Startrek! Magical Subspace Plot Device are more common than hydrogen in StartrekCrayz9000 wrote: In other news, another Magical Subspace Plot Device comes out of nowhere
CJvR wrote:Green?
Orion Women are green. And are commonly used as sex slaves.
Yes.Do I sence another armored bikini for the Alderaanian animal woman?
"Okay, I'll have the truth with a side order of clarity." ~ Dr. Daniel Jackson.
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias." ~ Stephen Colbert
"One Drive, One Partition, the One True Path" ~ ars technica forums - warrens - on hhd partitioning schemes.
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias." ~ Stephen Colbert
"One Drive, One Partition, the One True Path" ~ ars technica forums - warrens - on hhd partitioning schemes.
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NecronLord
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Ghost Rider
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Nice set up.
I'm glad you had Vader used more as a tactician then brooding Sith Lord killing subordinates(not saying you did...but the usual protrayal of Vader makes one wonder if he actually has a brain more then a chimp)
Thrawn was used well and nice that him being an opposite to Vader, still.
As for Andor...I'm curious to what they have that would make the Empire not go in brute style...course this is just pre-lim to when the Emperor arrives.
I'm glad you had Vader used more as a tactician then brooding Sith Lord killing subordinates(not saying you did...but the usual protrayal of Vader makes one wonder if he actually has a brain more then a chimp)
Thrawn was used well and nice that him being an opposite to Vader, still.
As for Andor...I'm curious to what they have that would make the Empire not go in brute style...course this is just pre-lim to when the Emperor arrives.
MM /CF/WG/BOTM/JL/Original Warsie/ACPATHNTDWATGODW FOREVER!!
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
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NecronLord
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Humm... Just to annoy you, Admiral would be a big step down from Moff Jerjerod, given that Admiral Pelleon has to report to the council of moffs, and Grand Moff Tarkin (presumably only a rank above) had no problems pushing Admirals around.Stravo wrote: Thrawn promoted him when they met on the DSII way back IIRC.
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Andor has a minefield throughout their system that would slow down any advance and Thrawn really wants to get his hands on those shipyards and factories. He is in a rough spot now depending on the Imperium's resources. As he pointed out in this chapter, his fleet is badly exposed and he needs a secure base to work from.Ghost Rider wrote: As for Andor...I'm curious to what they have that would make the Empire not go in brute style...course this is just pre-lim to when the Emperor arrives.
He knows from studying Andorian artwork that they would rather destroy their own resources than let it fall into the hands of the Empire, so speed and surprise is of the essence.
Also there is a one word little surprise in the dialogue between Vader and Thrawn that no one has picked up yet that throws doubt on the interplay between the two. Its one of those little things that rewards readers that read closely.
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Ghost Rider
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Vader Lying.Stravo wrote:Andor has a minefield throughout their system that would slow down any advance and Thrawn really wants to get his hands on those shipyards and factories. He is in a rough spot now depending on the Imperium's resources. As he pointed out in this chapter, his fleet is badly exposed and he needs a secure base to work from.Ghost Rider wrote: As for Andor...I'm curious to what they have that would make the Empire not go in brute style...course this is just pre-lim to when the Emperor arrives.
He knows from studying Andorian artwork that they would rather destroy their own resources than let it fall into the hands of the Empire, so speed and surprise is of the essence.
Also there is a one word little surprise in the dialogue between Vader and Thrawn that no one has picked up yet that throws doubt on the interplay between the two. Its one of those little things that rewards readers that read closely.
I wonder why.
MM /CF/WG/BOTM/JL/Original Warsie/ACPATHNTDWATGODW FOREVER!!
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
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lukexcom
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You mean this??:Stravo wrote:Also there is a one word little surprise in the dialogue between Vader and Thrawn that no one has picked up yet that throws doubt on the interplay between the two. Its one of those little things that rewards readers that read closely.
stravo wrote:What is your assessment Lord Vader?? Thrawn asked.
Vader looked down at the communications officer, his black lenses focusing on the obviously terrified young officer.
?The communications could not have been cleared any faster. He displayed calm under pressure. I would have put him up for a promotion after the battle was over.?
Thrawn?s left eye brow rose up by an inch, the only show of surprise evident on his face. Thrawn spared the young officer a glance and then turned his attention to Piett.
?Have this man raised up in rank and insert a letter of commendation in his record.?
-Luke
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NecronLord
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He knows about Vader's plans?“Lord Vader, it is refreshing to work with someone that thinks several steps ahead. I see your reputation as a fearsome warlord is well deserved.” Thrawn replied with a cold smile.
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Ghost Rider
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He says there is one word that implies doubt between the interplay.
He doesn't say Vader said anything specifically
So I wonder...why is Vader doing this?
Perhaps to ensare Thrawn into a trap and kill him?
or does he have seperate plans that might have something in pertaining to himself or the Emperor?
He doesn't say Vader said anything specifically
This line of dialogue...notice something different in it then everything else he's written persay here, or something he wanted hidden yet emphasized?“As you suspected, there are explosive devices implanted in every shipyard module and depot in orbit. They also have prepared antimatter warheads for their surface installations.” Vader lied.
So I wonder...why is Vader doing this?
Perhaps to ensare Thrawn into a trap and kill him?
or does he have seperate plans that might have something in pertaining to himself or the Emperor?
MM /CF/WG/BOTM/JL/Original Warsie/ACPATHNTDWATGODW FOREVER!!
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
Or did that Lie refer to the fact that much of the Propehcy side of the Force is being locked out, so Vader could not tell but decided not to Inform anyone of that weakness.
Perhaps that entire situation was set up in advance by Vader and Thrawn...
Perhaps Perhaps... too many Perhaps, Although my main guess is a part of Vader wants to remain near the Imperium Fleet till Luke returns.
Perhaps that entire situation was set up in advance by Vader and Thrawn...
Perhaps Perhaps... too many Perhaps, Although my main guess is a part of Vader wants to remain near the Imperium Fleet till Luke returns.
From a review of the two Towers.... 'As for Gimli being comic relief, what if your comic relief had a huge axe and fells dozens of Orcs? That's a pretty cool comic relief. '
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lukexcom
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Augh! How could I not see this?! It was right there, staring at my face all the time!Ghostrider quoted what Stravo wrote:"As you suspected, there are explosive devices implanted in every shipyard module and depot in orbit. They also have prepared antimatter warheads for their surface installations." Vader lied.
I must be getting blinder by the minute...-Luke