Trogdor wrote:An excellent chapter, Stravo, but may I ask who human and machine could be a trinity? Should it be human and machine and something else to make a trinity?
The answer is in that chapter I promise you. Think about what Archer asked the shade and what she replied with. It is three parts to make one.
Um. No, it doesn't.
“What is the trinity then? Man and machine?”
“No. The trinity is the perfect union of human and machine not man and machine.”
Thats says the trinity is human and machine, which is two things. Unless your trying to say the trinity is man, humanity and machine?
Stravo wrote:
“What is the trinity then? Man and machine?”
“No. The trinity is the perfect union of human and machine not man and machine.”
Shades of the Motion Picture perhaps there, Stravo? Love, Humans and Machine?
"...a fountain of mirth, issuing forth from the penis of a cupid..." ~ Dalton / Winner of the 'Frank Hipper Most Horrific Drag EVAR' award - 2004 / The artist formerly known as The_Lumberjack.
Evil Brit Conspiracy: Token Moose Obsessed Kebab Munching Semi Geordie
Prozac the Robert wrote:Man, woman and machine is my guess.
Aye that would be my guess as well. Hence not Man and Machine but Human and Machine, man is Male, but Human is species cointaining two sexes, Man, Woman and machine make three. It would also explain why Archer has to go to Seven of Nine to make something new, something amazing.
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. '
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
------------
A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
The borg are flesh and machine.
The trinity would add humanity. Love's an important part of humanity, certainly, and the most applicable to Archer's situation. What isn't clear is whether this must include individuality. The Trinity could just be a more feeling, understanding, and adaptive version of the Borg, which you might just call 'something terrible, something wonderful'.
Any job worth doing with a laser is worth doing with many, many lasers. -Khrima
There's just no arguing with some people once they've made their minds up about something, and I accept that. That's why I kill them. -Othar Avatar credit
Humanity = emotions and the shit that makes us human.
Awesome chapter, Stravo. What happens to Ochoa?
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
“Go, go, go!” Kirk urged as the doors snapped open leading to the reactor core beyond. Spock, McCoy and Scotty quickly raced through the opening as Kirk covered them. He looked sharply over to his left and saw Luke being swarmed by the Jem’Hedar.
“Do not wait for us!” Worf shouted wiping blood from his mouth while snapping his pike up in a guard position near Luke.
“Captain, Go! Chewie and I will get to you.” Uhura urged as she nodded to the towering Wookiee who immediately turned and picked up a pipe blasted loose in the firefight and began swinging it in wild arcs like a scythe, bulling his way through the Jem’Hedar. Uhura leapt off her perch and supported Chewbacca with deadly fire from the phaser pistol in one hand and disruptor in the other.
“Luke!” Kirk started to move towards the fallen young Sith lord.
Luke shook his head.
“Go! Leia is in trouble!”
Kirk hesitated one last time before making a break through the door.
“What the hell do you mean she fell?!” McCoy exclaimed.
“What’s going on here?” Kirk demanded then glanced around sharply. “Where’s Leia?”
Mara shook her head, pain etched on her face as she struggled to get up on her feet.
“There were Jem’Hedar on this side of the door. The bastards got the drop on us. I blasted two of them but the last one was struggling with Leia.” She glanced morosely at the lip of the guard rail. “They tumbled over the edge before I could get to her.” She finished softly.
Kirk rushed over to the edge and looked down into the yawning chasm below. There was no sign of Leia but it was dark down there only occasionally illuminated by arcing purple electricity from the reactor. He noticed Mara’s hair beginning to stand on end, he imagined the air must be highly charged. His eyes narrowed on her suspiciously.
McCoy noticed something else.
“What happened to your wrist?” He asked with concern.
“It’s nothing.” Mara objected and rubbed it.
“No, that is a broken wrist and that is most certainly not ‘nothing.’”
“Bones, we don’t have much time.” Kirk said softly. He was fighting the dawning realization that Leia might be dead. Numbness was settling in around his heart.
“Jim, if I don’t tend to this it could get worse. It won’t take me more than a few minutes. You and Spock go on ahead. We’ll be right behind you.” McCoy urged as he inspected the wrist.
Kirk shook his head and cursed before turning to Spock.
“Spock, let’s go.”
The two ran over to the walkway and made their way towards the reactor.
“How did you get that scratch?” McCoy casually asked Mara while wrapping her wrist tightly. The ugly red gash ran down from the top of her left eyed to her cheek.
“The Jem’Hedar. They use whatever is at hand, even fingernails and teeth.”
“Hmm…nasty bastards.” McCoy commented but in the back of his mind something did not sit right with him about the wound. It looked too small to have been made by a Jem’Hedar. But then again it was easy to be suspicious of the Imperium’s Dark Lady.
Mara watched McCoy for a moment, ready to reach out and snap his neck should it become obvious he suspected the truth. The heat of battle was proving a very opportune moment to dispatch enemies.
“Far better men than you have promised me death, Rulek Par. You’re more than welcome to join them in failure.” Luke stated calmly as he rose to his feet.
“We shall dance then you and I.” Rulek hissed and feinted in with a head first lunge. Luke did not fall of the feint and instead delivered a crushing snap kick to the Jem’Hedar’s knee. Rulek grunted in pain but reached out and grasped Luke’s ankle before he could withdraw his leg and pulled him off his feet. Luke spun backwards and landed in a low crouch in time to avoid Rulek’s follow through punch.
Worf was growling loudly as he battled the Jem’Hedar horde pressing them from behind. His pike snapped back and forth, striking errant Jem’Hedar across their throats or shattered an exposed joint. He moved with a feral intensity, feeling their numbers beginning to overwhelm him and the sense that this was indeed his final battle was settling in his heart.
In comparison to the deaths of billions of Klingons who died on Quo’nos as their world was blasted away beneath their feet this was a far better death he fought for. A far better resting place awaited him on the other side of the river on his way to Stovohlkor. But he simultaneously found himself wishing that he could have seen his son was last time. To tell him that he was hard on him because life was far harder and no matter what he loved his son. He wished that he could stand on the bridge of his flagship and see the end of this conflict for good or for ill.
But death won in close combat against a horde of your enemies would do for the Supreme Chancellor just fine. But first they would have to kill him. He roared his challenge as he drove his pike into the phalanx of Jem’Hedar, smiling victoriously as he heard the wet snap of bone and cartilage.
Luke leapt up over the Jem’Hedar first and landed behind him. Rulek started to turn but Luke already planted his foot into the Jem’Hedar’s spine. He shoved him forward. Rulek stumbled forward face first. Luke extended his hand and Rulek’s fall stopped suddenly. He jerked the Jem’Hedar up through his control of the Force and snapped him back into his fist.
Rulek slumped to the ground and shook off the shock of the blow, ignoring the bloody mess that remained of his nose which was driven back into his face by Luke’s fist.
Rulek spit a bloody glob of mucus and blood onto the floor the slowly rose to his feet. He laughed bitterly.
“So, this is how you intend to defeat me in honorable combat. Simple tricks and nonsense. I expected better from one who calls himself a great warrior.”
“A very wise person once told me that wars don’t make one great.” Luke commented dryly.
“So, finish me. I am no match for you and your tricks. But know that you did not defeat me Luke Skywalker and you never will. You can only kill me.”
“Were I Darth Nemesis I would laugh and gladly take you up on your offer.” Luke said coldly. He stepped around to face Rulek directly. He noticed the Jem’Hedar swarming them had slowly stopped fighting and were gathering around the two, intent gazes bore into Luke and Rulek.
Rulek stood proud and defiant, blood still dripping down from his ruined nose but his eyes were like steel.
“But I’m Luke Skywalker and I will accept your challenge. I am not a fighter with a bag of tricks, I am not someone who is defined by his abilities. I am who I am and you will soon discover that as others have and will.” Luke replied softly and stood in a defensive stance, hands swept outward in a welcoming gesture.
The Jem’Hedar first watched Luke intently for a moment. He nodded grimly.
“Very well. Let us finish this.”
“I want more fire from the heavy batteries.” Tarsi urged.
“We’re doing the best we can, any faster and we risk overheating the guns or worse sir.” The gunnery chief replied tensely as he strode from station to station, hand on each gunnery chief’s shoulder looking down at their readouts and displays, pointing to any adjustments that needed to be made and moved on.
“Status?” Tarsi snapped as he looked up and watched the Devastator looming ahead on one of the armored view ports. Angry emerald streaks of turbolaser fire danced between the two behemoths as they traded continent slagging fire.
“The Devastator is initiating another series of maneuvers, she’s trying to keep her starboard side as far away from our main guns as possible.”
“Helm?” Tarsi’s head snapped over to his navigation and helm pit.
The chief helm officer smiled coldly.
“There is no way in hell that tub is going to outmaneuver us sir. We’re maintaining range and distance.”
“Excellent.”
“Sir!” The chief tactical officer shouted in surprise.
“Is it time?” Tarsi asked leaning forward eagerly.
“The Devastator’s shield grid is showing a power fluctuation.” The tactical officer paused as he focused on his display. “There it is sir. Power is shunting to the starboard shield grid.”
“Flight command, initiate bomber wing attack.” Tarsi ordered and returned his attention to the helm station. “Stand by on Gryphon feint.”
“All stations prepare for extreme maneuvers. Repeat, prepare for extreme maneuvers.” Someone announced over the ship wide band. It was a warning rarely issued on a stardestroyer. Several crewmen exchanged troubled glances.
“Bomber wings on inbound to target.” The flight commander reported as he concentrated at his station, watching the tactical displays of his fighters and bombers as they wheeled around the threat ships of the Devastator’s fighter wings.
“Light guns firing in support of our strike, sir.” The gunnery chief added.
Tarsi motioned for his XO.
“I want you to find out the status of our ground team. Where they are and if they have any idea of Lord Nemesis’ whereabouts.” His XO nodded and began to walk away when Tarsi touched his forearm. “And tell them Vader is on his way. They don’t have much time left.”
“Understood.”
Tarsi turned to the view port, hands clasped behind his back he waited patiently as the first wings of bombers and their fighter escorts peeled away in orderly wings away from the protection of the Adjudicator’s bow and raced towards the Devastator. The tiny grey metallic dots were illuminated or altogether blocked out by the storm of green turbolaser fire that rippled between the two mighty juggernauts.
He was not nervous. He was not afraid. This was battle and he was firmly in his element now and these were men that had served him well through a war that had nearly won them a galaxy. His eyes focused on the Devastator and prepared for what was to come.
“I told you!” Tom Paris crowed.
The Millennium Falcon soared up through a tunnel of concrete and steel and a bright pulsing light illuminated the far end of the tunnel. The Falcon’s computer whined and screeched,
“You most certainly did not tell me to go this way. Now lock onto the strongest power source that should be the main reactor.” Tom replied hotly.
The Falcon’s computer growled and stuttered.
On the small tactical display to his right, Tom saw the missile lock on flashing then turn a sudden sharp red. The concussion missiles were locked on to the reactor core.
“Let’s see you work all your toys now Darkstar.” Tom said with a grin but it faltered as he saw something tumbling towards him. “What the hell is that?” He peered through the cockpit window and saw the object growing in size quickly and fluttering madly. His eyes narrowed on the object and he caught a flash of emerald, the fluttering was the mad flapping of limbs.
“Oh my god!!”
Princess Leia flashed by the Falcon. Tom did not hesitate and threw the controls back and shunted what power he had into the engines. The Falcon spun on its axis and entered a steep power dive, engines flashed an intense blue as it chased the plummeting princess down through the tunnel. Slashing red and white bolts of energy whipped by the freighter.
The Falcon’s computer rumbled a warning.
“I know! I know!” He replied angrily as the pursuing craft that had chased them all through the tunnel network loomed into view, phaser and disruptor blasts streaked past the view port exploding along the walls of the tunnel. “Prepare for emergency transport.” Tom ordered as he flipped several controls and was rewarded with the familiar transporter control panel as it was revealed overhead by a sliding panel.
“God, I hope this works if not she could be reduced to a chunky soup.” Tom muttered as he energized the transporter pad. “Getting a lock on.” He said to no one in particular as her figure began to fill the view port. A phaser struck the Falcon and nearly sent the ship spinning out of control.
The Falcon’s computer emitted a sharp loud shriek that sounded like sheet metal coming apart.
“Ok, it’s now or never.” Tom exclaimed and activated the transporter.
“Spock, what do you make of that?” Kirk asked as they approached the central core of the reactor. The main core was a large octagonal shaped metallic sphere, a walkway encircled the sphere at its equator and slowly rotated around the reactor. A large bunker sat at one point on the walkway slowly rotating along as well. The bunker seemed to be surrounded by a bright pulsing energy field.
Kirk and Spock stood at the end of the walkway that led from the cloning chamber to the main reactor. The walkway ended a little over a meter short from the reactor’s rotating walkway.
“It is most likely some sort of control room, heavily shielded against these plasma blasts and errant radiation coming from the reactor.”
“Is it a hypermatter reactor?” Kirk asked as he watched another impressive electrical display shoot across the top of the reactor core. He glanced down and saw that the bright purple and indigo tendrils of electricity were dancing all along the silver shell.
Spock double checked his tricorder.
“The power readings prove that it is not. Although the plasma discharges and the growing radiation surge would indicate that there is some sort of damage between here and the core.” Spock answered. “Captain it is most likely that this reactor will breech the shell and begin consuming the immediate vicinity of the core.” Spock said grimly.
“Do we know how long?” Kirk asked sharply. Spock could tell that Kirk was on edge. He had a mission to accomplish yet they had likely lost the princess so far.
“Anywhere from minutes to an hour. But one thing is for certain, the reaction has built up to a point where simply shutting it down will not suffice. This reactor will detonate into a cascade of energy as soon as the reaction reaches a critical level.”
“Then we don’t have much time.” Kirk grunted as he leapt onto the rotating platform and checked the area for traps. Spock deftly followed.
“I thought that civilian reactors have safeguards against these kinds of runaway reactions Spock.” Kirk lamented as a bolt of plasma seared the air several meters away and impacted on the far wall of the massive chamber. An avalanche of shattered concrete and steel tumbled down into the abyss below.
“Federation civilian reactors do have safeguards making something like this Captain but this is hardly a civilian reactor. It has parts ranging from Cardasian, to Romulan to Klingon.” Spock sounded incredulous as he identified each major piece of equipment, many in configurations he doubted that their original creators ever dreamed of. “Is that Tholian?” Spock added with an arch of the eyebrow.
“Leave it to Darkstar. He cobbles together a Frankenstein of a reactor to power his sweet little palace.” Kirk shook his head then frowned as they approached the bunker. The energy field covering the structure looked quite formidable.
“Looks like both my aces in the hole are not working out as I intended. One is obviously lost somewhere and the other is sitting behind that energy field doing exactly nothing. Some monkey wrench in the works Mudd turned out to be.” Kirk sighed.
“Captain it was quite illogical to expect Mr. Mudd to be successful in any venture he took part in.” Spock consoled him.
Kirk glanced over at his first officer with a bemused expression.
“You know how to make a man feel better about the chances he takes, Spock.”
“Your human need to find the best in people has led to some rather interesting results, sir.” Spock observed.
“I prefer to think of it as finding hope where there is none.”
“An altogether human sentiment captain. One not suited to logic.”
“We can debate the nature of my command decisions when we’re back at Avalon. Right now we have a rather tough nut to crack Mr. Spock.” Kirk said and stood before the entrance to the bunker. A cold yellow energy field pulsed around the entire structure. Suddenly two figures stepped out into view.
Darkstar waved to Kirk and held a disruptor pistol to Anastasia’s head.
“Well Captain. It seems that we finally have come face to face. You must indeed be James Kirk if you made it through my troops, traps and clone army to get this far. But as usual brain wins over brawn. It would take starship rated weapons to cut through this force field.” Darkstar made a show of peering around Kirk and Spock. “And I don’t see any around Captain. So permit me to say that the game is over.”
“It’s never over Darkstar. Do you honestly think we’d come this far and simply walk away?”
Darkstar laughed sardonically.
“Do you worst captain. There is nothing to be gained flinging yourself against my forcefield, but please if you must, I am in need of amusement on this wretched day.”
“Surely you must be aware Darkstar that this reactor is reaching a critical stage and will explode in under an hour.” Spock noted.
“Leave it to a Vulcan to state the obvious. Of course I know fool!” Darkstar spat.
“And you intend to remain in the control center knowing that means certain death. That is illogical.”
“He is crazy Mr. Spock.” Kirk interjected.
“Think what you will, but while you batter yourselves against my forcefield I shall laugh as my fleet comes around and beams me out of here leaving you here to fight your way back out through my guards and escape this explosion.”
“Beam you through the field?! Sorry Darkstar but that detail may have escaped your precious little plan.” Kirk taunted.
Darkstar merely smirked and jammed the disruptor into Anastasia’s side.
“Say goodbye to the nice legendary starship captain my sweet. This will be the last time we see him.”
Anastasia weakly waved goodbye.
Kirk shook his head and raised his phaser.
“This is not going to end like this.” Kirk snapped and fired. The bright crimson beam lashed into the field and it flared up in a clockwise spinning bright orange burst of light around the point of impact. The field at the entrance deformed into a deep dish like crater but nothing else happened.
Spock looked from the field to Kirk.
“Captain.”
“Find me a way in Spock.”
“Captain you will drain the phaser and accomplish nothing. The field is indeed rated to withstand all but capital ship scale weapons.” Spock explained.
Kirk turned his face to glare at Spock. His anger clearly evident on his face as he tried to fight the rage clawing at him for the loss of Leia and everything else caused by this madman.
“He intends to beam out of there with the field up. That tells me there’s a way out. Now find me a way in.”
“Understood.” Spock replied.
“Flight leader we’ve got bandits inbound at 23 degrees.”
“I see it. Stay in formation and stabilize shield grid.” Grey Wing leader said coolly. The sound in his spacious bomber cockpit was dominated by the high-pitched whine of the high performance Sienar ion engines. Many TIE pilots learned to make that sound a background noise during their flight, some even found it soothing on long missions.
He hated it. Always did.
The Devastator loomed on his view port. Emerald bolts of pure death spun out around him, exploding in the vast inky blackness of the void and illuminating the battlefield for brief moments, like tiny sunrises. Save he was not exactly thrilled by what was illuminated by these bolts. The space between the two battling space battleships was quickly filling with the shattered remains of fighters and bombers as they did battle for their motherships.
What bothered him was that these weren’t Federation ships, or Klingons or even Romulan. These were Imperials and he knew the Bomber wing leader on the Devastator. Tar Iklis, good man, great flight leader. Taught him everything he knew. Now he might be dead out here, destroyed by one of the Adjudicator’s guns, or shot down by an Imperium pilot.
It was a travesty that would have made him bitter and angry. Were it not for the fact that these bastards had waltzed in here and were keeping them from their Lord. Nemesis had led them to victory after victory and forged an Imperium that they were all proud to be part of. It was something that he could call his own, something that he could say that he had helped create and that spoke so much more than the cold dead Empire that he had defended half of his life.
The Imperium was his. History would forever remember those that helped found it. In the Empire he would simply be another faceless pilot the rest of his life, quickly forgotten with the next influx of pilots.
His Bomber shuddered but he kept a steady hand at the controls. The Devastator loomed much closer now and his HUD lit up as it fought through the electronic noise the stardestroyer was flooding into almost every conceivable band.
“Come on.” He urged his targeting computer. One of the most advanced targeting systems in the Imperial arsenal began its battle against the electronic jamming and noise.
His Bomber shook harder this time and an alert buzzed.
A TIE fighter swooped by and began a quick spinning recovery to come around again for another pass. Grey leader glanced up at his shield display. If the Bomber had not been shielded he would most likely be a field of scattered debris at this very moment.
“Grey flight maintain attack run. We have your bandits in our sights.” A voice announced grimly. A pair of TIE Interceptors flashed by his view port, one on each side of his bomber and fired a steady burst of fire. The TIE fighter splintered, the flaming central cockpit spinning away from the shattered panels and vanished out of view.
“Grey leader my shield grid just collapsed.” One of his pilots exclaimed nervously.
“Hold formation boys. I’m getting tone.” Grey leader stated. His targeting recticle began to pulse a steady yellow, a sign that a targeting solution was now possible. The bomber was getting a solid targeting lock for its
“Same here.”
“New group of bandits inbound.”
The pair of TIE Interceptors spun madly and shot off to head off the new incoming threat fighters.
“Stay on target.” Grey leader ordered tersely as the anti starfighter batteries began to open up on the incoming bombers.
Grey leader focused on his HUD now. Any radical movement would ruin the lock on and they may have to initiate the attack run again. This was the tensest moment of any bomber crew’s mission. They were locked into their attack. Even with the new shield grids a direct hit from one of the anti starfighter batteries would vaporize them.
He opened up his missile bay and ran his fingers down the arming switches and was rewarded with an aggressive hum. He smiled coolly as his HUD’s targeting recticle suddenly glowed a steady red and beeped steadily.
“Payload, armed. Lock on achieved.” Grey leader announced.
The same phrase was repeated by his flight.
“Hits away.” He savagely pressed down on his firing stud and his bomber shuddered. Bright blue streaks rocketed away from beneath the bomber frame and raced over to the Devastator.
“Break now!”
The tight bomber formation spun away from the bright stream of blue missiles that lanced down towards their targets with unerring precision. The anti starfighter batteries pounded away at the fleeing bombers in a merciless barrage that blossomed along their flight path. Many of the bomber flight were caught in the explosive bursts, their shield grids flaring up in brilliant white or green cascades of light before vanishing into flaming debris.
The Devastator quickly began to shrink in his rear view port and he wiped sweat from his brow as he set his beacon to link with the hangar guidance systems and breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly a titanic blast enveloped the Devastator’s port side as the Bomber’s ordinance detonated simultaneously on target. Grey leader smiled grimly.
“Mission accomplished.” He checked his view port then looked down at his short range scanner. There was too much silence on his band. The visual check confirmed only two other bombers on his wing. The others were either atomized or were still back in that mess trying to find their way out.
He rested his helmeted head against his controls and breathed deeply. This war was going to get very bloody very fast.
“We have direct hits all along his port side.” The flight commander reported excitedly.
“You have your orders. Navigation, initiate gryphon feint. All gunnery crews prepare for all out strike on my mark.”
“Targets marked and locked in.” The gunnery chief announced gruffly.
“Gryphon feint initiated. All power to main drive, standby all port side stabilizers.” The chief helmsman ordered. He stood proudly in the center of the navigation pit as he directed his crew. “Drop power on Starboard inertial compensators on my mark.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Main thrust increasing to flank speed.”
“Structural integrity in the green.”
A low rumbling could be felt on the bridge, anyone touching or holding onto a station could feel it vibrating in place as the Adjudicator accelerated to attack speed. Tarsi stood impassively watching his crew working to pull off a maneuver designed for vessels orders of magnitude smaller and faster than his own.
“Watch that backwash and prepare for emergency braking.” The helmsman said coolly as he brought the stardestroyer into a classic Gryphon Strike position. The Gryphon strike was a classic maneuver to slip in on a weakly shielded side of an enemy vessel. The Gryphon feint was a variation of the strike, meant to look like a standard Gryphon strike until the very last moment. Then an emergency change in speed and heading brought the ship back around to deliver a strike on the opposite end of where the strike is expected to land.
In order for the feint to be effective the maneuver had to take place after the initial thrust into a standard strike. This ruled out large warships that needed time to make an emergency maneuver. It also made the maneuver particularly effective because there was no way of knowing whether the attack would be a standard strike or a feint.
Of course once you got to ships the size of cruisers and star destroyers the maneuver was no longer a safe idea. As far as anyone knew a vessel as large as a stardestroyer had never even attempted a Gryphon feint. There was a very real chance that the Adjudicator would tear itself apart halfway through the maneuver.
“Port side braking system primed.”
“Starboard stabilizers are running at maximum.”
“We are at flank.”
The Adjudicator rumbled hard and fast, lancing down straight below the Devastator’s bow. The Devastator began peppering the enemy ship with fire, but most of her guns were no longer clearly lined up with the Adjudicator as she ran straight down and along the ventral side of the ship.
The Devastator began to tilt drastically into a matching port side dragging turn.
“He’s keeping us away from his Port side.” Tarsi’s XO noted, excitement coloring his voice. If Tarsi’s instinct was right, they were about to score a stunning victory against one of the finest stardestroyer’s in the entire Empire.
“Our allies know when they must strike?” Tarsi asked coolly as he watched the mighty warship pitching at an angle it was not supposed to. He was not facing a fool. There was a reason why Captain Tyco and his ship were considered one of the finest crews in the fleet and had been Vader’s flagship for years. He could afford to take no chances especially now.
“They are standing by and know precisely when to strike. This is their element after all, striking from a cloaked position.”
“If they strike too soon it will all be for naught, too late and Tyco will have reestablished his shield.” Tarsi growled lowly.
“At this point there is no other choice but to trust in our allies and your plan.” His XO replied.
Tarsi nodded then stepped forward.
“Now helm. It is time for the impossible.”
“Aye Aye Captain.” The helmsman replied and turned to his men. “Right. Cut in auxiliary power to the port side engines. All power to the starboard braking system and lock down the stabilizers.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Adjudicator rumbled loudly and several men in the pits nearly stumbled off their feet as the ship began to sideslip. The hull shuddered slowly at first but as the helmsman called out more orders the hull began a low pitched moan. No one on the crew had ever heard a sound like that before.
“The Devastator is shunting power to the port side shields!” The tactical officer reported excitedly.
“Now! All back full, retrothrusters all to Port.”
“She’s going to spin out of control!” one of the helm crew cried out in alarm as a series of alarm warnings illuminated his control screen like fireworks.
“Belay that and follow my instructions.” The helm officer shouted over the growing din from the hull. The deck plates themselves were starting to hum beneath their feet.
“Aye sir!”
The helm officer leaned in over the shoulder of one of his men and eyed the readouts.
“Cut power to N through Y stabilizing thrusters and shunt all available power to the port side engines. Give me 24 degree positive Y axis thrust starting now.”
“On it.”
The bridge shuddered even harder and parts of the superstructure moaned in protest. A blaring ominous alarm began to sound in the depths of the ship.
“Structural integrity failure.” Tarsi’s XO answered Tarsi’s inquisitive glance.
The last time any of them had ever heard that warning was during simulations in the Academy.
“Now, one last big push. All back full and give those stabilizers everything we’ve got.”
The Adjudicator pulled away from beneath the Devastator’s bow and performed a stunningly agile turn back to the starting position. The Devastator, still turning away to keep her port side away from the Adjudicator was totally out of position. Her starboard side was exposed to the Adjudicator’s guns and her crew and captain stared in utter disbelief as an Imperator agilely pulled back from a flank speed dive in an opposite direction to take up a primary fighting position precisely where it should not be.
“Gunners. Alpha strike, time on target. Show them why we have conquered a galaxy.” Tarsi ordered.
“Aye sir!”
The Adjudicator’s guns opened fire and a tempest of green turbolaser bolts struck the starboard shields of the Devastator. The impact of the broadside seemed to shove the Devastator to Port as her shields were shredded by the blasts. Bright white ion bolts preceded each salvo, striking vital areas, electrical ionization dancing along the Devastator’s hull, wreaking havoc with gunnery stations and shield generators.
Soon the mighty stardestroyer’s weakened shields were pushed past their breaking point but as Tarsi predicted, his guns were in the cool down phase and would take moments to recharge and fire. Moments that Tyco would not give him before having the shields reestablished before any damage major or permanent could be done to the Devastator.
At that moment of weakness, with the Adjudicator maneuvering for another in close pass of her main guns and the Devastator drifting to port while desperately trying to recover from an but impossible maneuver followed by an all out assault, a wing of ghostly green Romulan warbirds slowly appeared, wavering at first and translucent, they solidified and unleashed a torrent of plasma torpedoes and disruptor fire against the warship.
The Devastator was illuminated by explosions rippling all along her upper hull and bridge tower. One of her sensor globes exploded into a cascade of debris when a pair of plasma torpedoes found their mark. A potent explosion venting fire and molten metal jetted from one of the armored gunnery stations along the starboard side belt of the stardestroyer, resulting from a heavy turbolaser emplacement detonated by a torrent of disruptor fire.
The Warbirds made their pass and vanished as quickly as they appeared. The Devastator’s counter fire managed to clip the last warbird in formation and force it into a spin, trailing a glittering stream of plasma as one of her nacelles ruptured. The rest like ghosts faded into the starry sky.
Tarsi nodded and gripped the railing.
“Fire at will. Prioritize her bridge and engines. Let’s see if we can’t reduce Grand Admiral Thrawn’s fleet count by one.”
“Sir! Navigational systems are all overloaded. It will take time to reestablish the system. We’re not going anywhere.” His helmsman reported grimly.
“I don’t intend to go anywhere until we have Lord Nemesis.” Tarsi replied and the Adjudicator’s guns came alive again.
Luke slipped to the left and countered a quick kick to his head. Rulek stalked after him with a predatory gleam in his eye.
“It doesn’t have to be this way.” Luke offered.
“Do not insult me by talking peace while we have killing to do.” Rulek growled and back spun with an elbow to his throat. Luke bent backward at his waist and the blow passed over him. He jerked back up and caught Rulek’s arm, twisted it at the shoulder and heard a soft wet crack and pop. Rulek’s arm went dead but the Jem’Hedar did not halt his forward momentum and pulled Luke along, jerking him off his feet and sending Luke tumbling towards one of the shattered cloning chambers.
Luke tucked into a tight spinning ball and landed with his feet against the wall of the cloning vat and jumped off on it right back at Rulek. Rulek spun kick and caught Luke on the chin, sending him crashing to the ground.
The Jem’Hedar growled and brought his foot down to crush Luke’s throat. Luke brought both hands up and trapped the Jem’Hedar’s foot and twisted it hard to the left, snapping the ankle and then shoved it backwards, sending Rulek spilling backwards onto the ground.
Luke kipped up and spun around to face Rulek.
The Jem’Hedar hobbled up to his feet and stood in a defensive crouch.
“You don’t stand a chance. End this senseless slaughter.” Luke urged softly but he already knew the answer. He knew the answer before this battle had even started. He had read this Jem’Hedar’s heart when they first faced each other.
Rulek smiled coldly.
“You win this battle yet you do not have the heart to finish it? Let me make it easy for you.”
Luke sprang up as Rulek rushed forward. He landed behind the Jem’Hedar and planted a foot firmly into the base of his spine. The Jem’Hedar crashed face first into the floor but spun quickly on his back and kipped up.
Luke moved in for a quick disabling strike but Rulek roared and delivered a series of killing swipes with his good arm and managed to wrap his leg around Luke’s right foot and sent him to the floor. Rulek landed an elbow into the back of Luke’s head, snapping his face forward into the metal grating.
Luke grunted and spun around trying to get behind Rulek but Rulek wrapped his arm around Luke’s neck and began to squeeze. Luke gasped and struggled against the Jem’Hedar’s grip. He drove his head backwards into Rulek’s face and delivered an elbow to the throat. Rulek gasped and his grip faltered.
Luke rose against the Jem’Hedar’s weight and fought his way out of Rulek’s grip, putting him under his own viselike grip. Rulek struggled against the grip on his throat.
“Stop struggling.” Luke grunted with effort.
“Never.”
“You want to die.” Luke realized suddenly as he felt the thought crystallizing in Rulek’s mind.
Rulek said nothing but his struggles intensified.
“Why?”
“Because…I cannot…live…free.”
Luke paused.
“You can now.”
“No. My gods…are far…from here.” Rulek replied bitterly.
Luke shook his head.
“Damn this galaxy.” He whispered. He jerked hard once and Rulek’s neck snapped. Rulek relaxed in Luke’s arms. Luke slowly released his grip and gently lay Rulek back against the floor.
The Jem’Hedar’s head was at an odd angle. His eyes were still open. Luke’s eyes widened slightly.
“Do not…fear. This…is not…your doing. We are…Jem’Hedar. We are not…easy to kill.” Rulek whispered in a raspy weakening voice. “Release…is short in coming.”
The horde around Luke, Worf and the others was silent. Some bowed their heads solemnly.
“I cannot live…without my gods. At the…mercy of a madman…who bargains away my honor…as…if it were nothing…more…than a…commodity.”
Luke nodded as he felt the warrior’s life force fluttering away. Even now, he fought for every second of life. Of course, one could argue that he was engineered that way. But as Luke watched First Rulek Par’s eyes slowly close with a smile of relief on his face he knew that there was more here than simple engineered survival instinct here. This was a creature of honor that did not want to end his life in bondage to another and away from those he though of as gods. So he entered a duel he knew he could not win to feel alive in those last few moments of life.
“When they end comes, I hope I face death with the same ferocity and honor as you did.” Luke whispered and gently closed his eyes.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's GuildCybertron's FinestJustice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
{} Thrawn wins. Any questions? {} Great Dolphin Conspiracy {} Proud member of the defunct SEGNOR {} Enjoy the rythmic hip thrusts {} In my past life I was either Vlad the Impaler or Katsushika Hokusai {}
Wow. The Luke vs. Rulek fight was REALLY well done. Powerful. I also loved Tarsi's little maneuver.
Justice League, Super-Villain Carnage "Carnage Rules!" Cult of the Kitten Mew...The Black Mage with The KnifeSD.Net Chronicler of the PastBun Bun is my hero.The Official Verilonitis Vaccinator
Damn fell alseep right before this got posted, now to read
Excellent little manivor there, thouh it makes me say... Were's Vadar?
He should have spotted such a thing were he still aboard the ship, which mean he's elsewhere...
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Mr Bean wrote:Damn fell alseep right before this got posted, now to read
Excellent little manivor there, thouh it makes me say... Were's Vadar?
He should have spotted such a thing were he still aboard the ship, which mean he's elsewhere...
They stated that he went down to the surface of the planet, didn't they?
Justice League, Super-Villain Carnage "Carnage Rules!" Cult of the Kitten Mew...The Black Mage with The KnifeSD.Net Chronicler of the PastBun Bun is my hero.The Official Verilonitis Vaccinator
Mr Bean wrote:Damn fell alseep right before this got posted, now to read
Excellent little manivor there, thouh it makes me say... Were's Vadar?
He should have spotted such a thing were he still aboard the ship, which mean he's elsewhere...
They stated that he went down to the surface of the planet, didn't they?
Yeah there's a scene in the previous chapters that has the Devastator launching shuttles and when they try to shoot them down the blasts go wild, indicating that Vader is obviously aboard and using the force to protect the ships. Also in this chapter, Tarsi urges his men on the surface to find Nemesis as quickly as possible because Vader is on his way to the surface. If Vader had been on the Devastator, Tarsi could not have pulled this one off.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's GuildCybertron's FinestJustice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Mlenk wrote:Wow, great chapter! I really like the way your writing the new Luke so far.
Just out of curiosity what is it that you like about the new Luke?
IMHO he is much more balanced as a person which makes it easier to relate to.
Via money Europe could become political in five years" "... the current communities should be completed by a Finance Common Market which would lead us to European economic unity. Only then would ... the mutual commitments make it fairly easy to produce the political union which is the goal"
)
"
- PeZook
