Dawn of Forever, Chapter I-X

[Sonnenburg]

General Delric Taar had been looking forward to a quiet retirement. He hadn't wanted to stay on in service at the Academy any more, not at his age. He certainly hadn't wanted to return to active service, nevermind to leading the Imperial war effort against the Vong invaders while trying to protect the Milky Way territories he'd worked so hard to acquire in his youth. But watching the footage of the disaster at Nellin was now definitely at the top of the list of things he hadn't wanted to do. Like all of them, he did it anyway.

Taar sighed despite himself. It was not a good thing to do when watching a crippling blow to the war effort unfold, but there comes a certain age when too much bad news exhausts the body, and Taar seemed to live life from exhaustion to exhaustion. "Let's cut to the bottom line," Taar said, freezing the image. "Are they Vong or not?"

There was a general clearing of throats. This ought to be good, Taar thought cynically. No one clears their throat for good news. "We don't know for sure," Commander Rhodes informed him. Rhodes had been put in charge of addressing the technical aspects of what happened. "They're bioships of some kind, that we know."

"The Milky Way is lousy for bioships," General Corbin pointed out.

"And nothing that's ever been a threat," Admiral Cirule said. "A bioship sounds nice, but it's hopelessly difficult to make it into a practical warship. Organics have advantages, but standing up to laser blasts isn't one of them."

"And the enemy we've been fighting the past few years?" Corbin asked with that infuriating tone of his. "Perhaps you'd like to explain it to them."

"Corbin, quit being an idiot and listen," Taar said, whose patience had run out months ago.

"I understand that the kind of biotechnology to achieve what the Vong have is absent from all the societies we've met," Cirule continued.

"Except for the aliens called Species 8472, sir," Commander Rhodes pointed out.

Taar grimaced at the memory of them. The Emperor had employed genetically modified versions as guards for a brief time after his return, and they'd always given him the willies. Thankfully they'd all been lost when Bastion was destroyed. "8472 is extinct, yes? We're sure of this?"

"I contacted the Borg, sir, and they assured me the species was completely assimilated."

"But clearly some survived the destruction of the Borg," General Hnial said.

"They lost everything," Rhodes explained, "including a way back into fluidic space. If they are still alive, they're no doubt in hiding somewhere trying not to have contact with us."

"Or trying to destroy us?" Admiral Hune asked.

"If Species 8472 went after anyone," Cirule said, "it would be the Borg."

"That would be terrible," Taar deadpanned. He held up his hand before anyone could speak. "I know, I know, old habits and all that. Now, if these are bioships, how could they stand up to that kind of punishment? I mean, coralships I get, they have all that stuff to work like armor, but this looks almost like bone."

"It's some kind of exoskeleton, sir," Rhodes explained. "Thick plates of some kind reinforced with these rib-like protrusions."

"Yes, but how can it shrug off a hit from a heavy turbolaser battery?" Taar asked.

"From our analysis," Rhodes said, "it looks like they have some kind of shielding to dissipate the blast. Some still gets through, as you can see, but the armored exoskeleton proves somewhat effective."

"Vong ships don't use shielding like that," Admiral Pomier pointed out.

"Or that kind of weaponry," Hune said. "But I can't imagine who else this could be."

"There's one other thing that bothers me," Taar said. "How'd they know Nellin was going to be the target? We could have picked any of a dozen worlds to blow away, but they were waiting for the Eclipse there. Do we think they had ambush parties at all the targets?"

"Not only that, sir," Cirule said, "was the Kazon attack on us just a provokation to ambush the Eclipse?"

Taar stared at him for a moment. "I don't think I like where this conversation is going," he remarked. He got back down to business. "How do things look in the Milky Way?"

"The news is out, sir," Pomier said. "The independent systems are grabbing knife and fork and looking at our territory."

"Terrific." Taar rubbed his eyes with one hand. "How long until the Eclipse Mark 2 is ready?"

Admiral Rinuld sat up straighter. "Six months, sir." He saw the look on Taar's face. "Resources are stretched thin, general. Trying to keep the production lines running, repairs, the cost for supplies and equipment-"

"Starting now, round the clock shifts," Taar said sharply.

"But general-"

"I want that ship, not excuses."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Two drones, one at each arm, dragged the struggling form of Korri Rej through the cube. She threw curses at them for all the good that it did, but for as much as it mattered to them, she might as well have been a corpse. Eventually they entered a room that could be considered a bridge, in the sense that it had monitors and instruments and such. Still, with the Borg's haphazard approach to aesthetics, it was obvious that any room could be converted into a bridge in a matter of minutes. Rej didn't dwell on it, however, as she struggled all the way to the holding area, which was a force field emitter over an area of the floor. Once she was inside it activated, and the two drones released her and walked through it. She banged her fists on it once or twice, growling at the two other drones.

"She seems almost animal-like," the Queen remarked. "Curious."

A Devaronian appeared out of nowhere. "The Mystral are nothing if not devoted," he said.

"Let me out of here," Rej demanded, since Mystral like getting straight to the point.

"You're in a lot of trouble, I'm afraid," Romal informed her. "You've been fighting the Empire in a time of war. That treasonous behavior, punishable by life in prison or execution, so I'd watch it."

"I'm not afraid," she said, and clearly meant every word. "Let the Empire try me; I'll tell the galaxies what they've done. Not that they'll need any extra convincing, the Empire's doing a good job of alienating worlds with their rampant militarism and use of a superlaser at the drop of a hat."

"Is that not the consequence of the assassination of the Emperor?" the Queen asked. "And weren't the Mystral participants in that assassination? It would seem that you would have no grounds for complaint if you were an instrument in the causal event."

"For a collective of super-geniuses, you Borg are extremely stupid," Rej said.

"Exasperating," Romal admitted, "but not stupid. Sometimes they say things we'd rather not hear."

"Whatever, just turn me over to the Imperials. You people make my fists itch."

"We will not," the Queen said.

"You're our prisoner," Sebastian explained.

This seemed to have caught Rej off stride. "What? Hey, you can't do this! I have rights!"

"A right to a trial," Sebastian said.

"An Imperial trial," she said emphatically.

"Actually, the Empire has given the Borg Collective the status of corporate ally," Romal explained. "Legally, the Borg are well within their rights to conduct a military tribunal for captured prisoners of war, and there is no doubt that the Mystral are on the side of the Vong in this."

"We are on the side of anyone who fights the Empire," Rej said defiantly. "And I do not recognize the authority of the Borg to try me."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid your opinion doesn't count."

"They’re Borg," Rej said, putting the same twist on the name other people employ for words like "rapists" and "cockroaches." "They don't have a court, because they all think the same way. There's no crimes within the Borg, but it's a crime to be one."

"Not any more," the Queen said, and despite everything she seemed, just a tiny bit, to be pleased with that fact. "In any event, we are perfectly suited for a trial."

"The Borg analyze information and use it to reach conclusions," Sebastian said. "That is the purpose of a court: to examine the facts and ascertain truth."

Rej scoffed in her holding area. "This is a joke," she said under her voice.

"Oh, the Borg are famous for their sense of humor," Romal said with a nod. "Ask anyone, they'll say, 'Those Borg, no sense of humor at all. Make Vulcans look like court jesters.'"

"This affair is dragging on longer than is necessary," the Queen said. "Let us begin."

"Agreed," Sebastian said.

"Very well, the verdict is guilty," the Queen said.

"What?!" Rej said in shock.

"My, justice is swift," Romal said. "I'm glad I don't charge by the hour. Respectfully, trials are traditionally oral affairs."

"Orally would be inefficient," Sebastian said.

"Yes, but it is kind of an unwritten rule," Romal said with a shrug. "I'm sorry, but that is the precedent. It would make everyone feel better, I think."

"An audio recording?" the Queen asked.

"That would be appropriate," Romal agreed.

"Very well. Commence the trial of Korri Rej. The defendant confessed to being a supporter of Vong forces against the Empire before multiple witnesses, and was apprehended in the wake of firing upon Imperial ships. The evidence thus shows beyond a doubt that Korri Rej, Imperial citizen, has betrayed the Empire to the enemy in a time of war."

"The defendent is hearby found guilty of treason," Sebastian said.

"Wait, you can't do that!" Rej said. "I get the opportunity to defend myself!"

"What facts could you possibly provide?" the Queen asked. "You attacked unarmed ships without provocation, and you confessed to being an enemy of the Empire. No evidence can possibly change that."

"But, but you can't use the confession," she said quickly. "You never told me my rights."

"This is true," Romal admitted. "You are supposed to tell her her rights."

"What, all of them?" Sebastian asked. "That would take several days."

"You have to tell me my rights as a prisoner," Rej said.

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"So I know what they are."

Sebastian and the Queen looked at one another. "But you know what they are," the Queen said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up."

"That's not the point!"

"The position is absurd," Sebastian said. "We will not ignore a fact because of an unnecessary procedure. It can only lead to a flawed conclusion."

"But-" Rej looked around desperately. "There's other things too! Mitigating factors."

"Mitigating factors are irrelevant," the Queen said.

"It justifies what I've done!"

"Justification is irrelevant."

"What the Empire has done is wrong!"

"That is irrelevant."

Rej gave them a look of daggers with a side of venom. "This isn't justice," she said coldly.

"Justice," the Queen informed her, "is irrelevant."

The words seemed to have emptied the room of all sound. Even Romal looked rather uncomfortable with the sentiment. "Order out of chaos," the Queen continued. "That is the Borg way."

When Rej spoke, it was like a snarl. "Then you and the Empire deserve each other."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Morgan stood in the doorway as her father slept - again. He seemed to be doing it more and more lately. Not meditating, which would be understandable if something were wrong, but sleeping. But there didn't seem to be anything wrong besides that, no signs of sluggishness or weariness, no evidence he was sick or falling under some kind of unhealthy influence. He just seemed to sleep more and more, and it was beginning to worry his daughter.

There are some things so terrible that you would never do to family, no matter how desperate the situation. But there are some things so terrible you would only do them to family, even if it was the grossest kind of violation. In both cases, it's the special, intimate caring that is the barrier; in the latter case this is because the love and fear are strong enough to break through the walls we build in our minds to say "here's a place I'll never go." One thing Morgan had been taught was never to dig through an unsuspecting person's mind unless lives depended on it, because it's a gross personal violation. There was no evidence her father was in any kind of danger, not even a tremor in the Force. It was just a gut feeling that something was wrong, terribly wrong, and as she watched him sleep, the bricks tumbled down until she could make the decision. Each step wracked her mind with guilt at this betrayal of trust, but at this point, there was no turning back. She knelt down beside his bed, took a deep breath to steady her nerves, and placed a hand on either side of his head. She closed her eyes, concentrated-

Morgan hit the wall hard enough to dent it.

Morgan's eyes were glued on her father, her jaw still hanging open in shock. There had been voices. Millions. Trillions! She pulled herself back up, still staring, trying to think of what could possibly be going on inside her father's mind. Was he being controlled? Was he under some kind of evil influence? Had he tapped into some other dimension? Whatever it was, it only furthered her resolve. She returned to her spot, positioned her hands, steeled her mind, and pressed back in, far more gently this time, to try not to get hit so hard by all the minds.

She was able to suppress them this time, but it only made room for even more bizarre experiences. Vision was skewed, almost like being drunk, but as the seconds passed Morgan realized that in its own way this actually presented more detailed visual information than her eyes normally would. As she became used to it she realized that she -that is, her father, whose eyes she was using- was on board a ship. She saw the other people around him: a Devaronian male, a human female, and-

And a Borg.

Morgan knew all about her family heritage, and being one quarter Borg wasn't a problem for her. But the image of her father on the bridge, or whatever it was, of a Borg ship talking to a Borg was disconcerting. However, that same heritage gave her the ability to adapt quickly and to put together small details into larger ones. The voices, the skewed vision... her father was a Borg too.

Sebastian, or whatever the Borg her father was when he was here, was speaking. His voice was devoid. If asked to explain this thought, Morgan would have explained that there was no emotion in the voice, no feeling, no thought, no trace of her father. It was as if his brain had been completely turned off and some machine was controlling his mouth and lungs. Sebastian Skywalker's voice was devoid of Sebastian Skywalker.

The human said, "This trial is a farce. I demand you turn me over to the Empire. At least they'll treat me like a humanoid and not some damn robot."

"Under Imperial law," the Devaronian said, "we don't have to."

"The evidence demonstrates beyond all doubt," the Borg said, "that you deliberately committed treason against the Empire. The punishment for that is incarceration for life or death. Since we have no facilities for incarceration, that leaves a single option."

"You have no right!"

"You have killed," the Borg Sebastian said in the same voice as if he'd just announced their navicomputer was ready for a jump. "There is no logic holding others to a standard you repeatedly refuse to follow."

"I was fighting for my people," she said in exasperation. "I never pretended that what I was doing was right, but I did what I had to do!"

"And we will do what we have to do," Borg Sebastian said. "Verdict is decided, sentence imposed."

"I appeal," she said quickly.

"On what grounds?" the Devaronian asked.

"I was denied council."

"Council is not required," the Borg said. "We look only at facts, all facts."

"There was no one to defend me!"

"As I said, we look at all facts. A defender would seek to obfuscate the facts. We have no use for them-"

"Ahem," the Devaronian cleared his throat somewhat louder than necessary.

"We have no use for them within our own investigations," the Borg corrected.

"You can't do this!" the human screamed, and began slamming herself into a forcefield. "I deserve my day in court! Let me out! Let me-"

The forcefield collapsed, and the human tumbled out, but was caught by Borg Sebastian. Unfortunately, what he caught her by was the throat. She was gasping and banging at the limb as her eyes bugged out. "Verdict is decided," he repeated. "Sentence imposed." He gave a twist and her neck snapped, and the woman slumped like a limp marionette.

Morgan removed her hands from the sides of her father's head. Tears were running down her face, and she got up and ran from the room. Sebastian never moved.

[Stuart Mackey]

First post!
You have saved me from a moment of boredom! thank you!

*now that I have read it*

Great work. It will be interesting how that Morgan line will pan out, given who, or rather, what Moragan is.

[Star Empire]

I really like how this is playing out. Should be very interesting. I've been trying to figure out how this will end, and can't come up with too much. I'm not sure the Empire can come out of all of this united, but you never know. Maybe Janeway's plan will be turned on her at the last minute, and their will be a new united Federation outside her influence, kind of like Palpatine being beat by Sisko.

[darthdavid]

I think Morragan, and infact the entire mental cast, could be sebastian's subconsious desire to leave the borg. Now that it's had the wall between it and reality cracked it's only a matter of time before it tries to separate him from the borg. Hopefully with interesting consequences.

[Crazedwraith]

Wonderful. Liked the borgs idea of a trial. Very evil. Is it just me or oes sebastion seem to become more and more simple dronelike as the story progresses?

[Chris OFarrell]

"This affair is dragging on longer than is necessary," the Queen said. "Let us begin."

"Agreed," Sebastian said.

"Very well, the verdict is guilty," the Queen said.

"What?!" Rej said in shock.

"My, justice is swift," Romal said. "I'm glad I don't charge by the hour. Respectfully, trials are traditionally oral affairs."

"Orally would be inefficient," Sebastian said.

"Yes, but it is kind of an unwritten rule," Romal said with a shrug. "I'm sorry, but that is the precedent. It would make everyone feel better, I think."

"An audio recording?" the Queen asked.

"That would be appropriate," Romal agreed.

"Very well. Commence the trial of Korri Rej. The defendant confessed to being a supporter of Vong forces against the Empire before multiple witnesses, and was apprehended in the wake of firing upon Imperial ships. The evidence thus shows beyond a doubt that Korri Rej, Imperial citizen, has betrayed the Empire to the enemy in a time of war."

"The defendent is hearby found guilty of treason," Sebastian said.

Oh God, that cracked me up something absurd...

[Sonnenburg]

It was in the late hours of the night, so late that morning was preparing to make its big entrance soon. For now, however, the darkness still claimed the sky, and if it hadn't been for the presence, Sebastian never would have known anyone was out there. He opened the front door and saw Morgan sitting in the chair; she'd been crying. "Sweetie," he said, coming over quickly, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Morgan said, and looked at him with enough pain in her eyes to freeze him in his tracks. "Yes, something's wrong. In fact, everything is wrong."

"Morgan, what's-"

"You killed her."

Sebastian gaped at her as the full implication of the words burrowed into his mind. There had been no accusation in her voice. When he looked back on this moment through the years to come, that's what he'd remember. No accusation, no condemnation, and that's what made it so terrible. Without that, all that left room for was the sound of bitter disappointment, that he had failed to measure up to his daughter's expectations. Nothing could have been worse. "How do you know that?"

"I saw it father," she said quietly, and new tears followed the path blazed down her face by earlier ones. "I saw it through your eyes."

Sebastian felt his heart starting to pound as the metaphorical ground began to shift beneath his feet. "How did you-"

"Put yourself in the here and now, father," she said sharply. "However it happened, I saw it! I saw what you did; you killed that woman in cold blood!"

"Executed," Sebastian explained. "She was a very, very bad person who killed many people and has been trying to hurt even more."

"But you are a Jedi," she said in a voice like liquid nitrogen. "You don't execute people."

Sebastian bent forward, running his hand through his hair in the hopes it would reach in and stimulate the brain. "In that place, sweetie, I'm not."

"You can't live that way father," Morgan said. "You can't be a Jedi here and a Borg there. We're both, remember, and however difficult that is, you always taught me that we can't forget the responsibilities that entails."

"Morgan," Sebastian said, "this is too much for you to understand all at once."

"No, it isn't," she said, and her lip trembled as she tried to hold the emotions in. "You made me too smart, father; too crafty. If you hadn't, then I wouldn't have figured out the secret you'd been hiding all this time." She looked down and shook her head. "It's a hell of a thing to find out you're not real."

"But you're real!" Sebastian pleaded. "As real as-"

"This is Unimatrix Zero, father!" she shouted. "A programming glitch that one Borg in a million taps into whenever they regenerate. That's why you've been sleeping so much, because when you sleep here you awaken in the real world."

"This is real!" he insisted.

"It's a lie!" she replied. "It's a lie you want to believe in, but at the end of the day, no amount of wishful thinking can make a lie real." She shook her head. "Why did you do it? Did it make you feel important? Is it nice being the center of a world built around you?"

Emotion burst through. "Everything I did here was because I love you!"

"I'm not real!"

"That doesn't change anything, not to me!" Sebastian wiped at his eyes. "You started as a dream, a wonderful dream, a dream of what should have been. And like it always happens, the dream ended." He wet his lips; this was so hard to explain to anyone, especially under the circumstances. "But there was a way to keep the dream going, here in Unimatrix Zero. With no other Borg to influence it, it reshaped under my willpower. But I never did it for any reason other than... other than the fact that I couldn't lose you again."

"You can't lose what isn't there, father."

"But you are here! You know you're real!"

"I know I'm real only because you want me to be," Morgan said. "Like I said, you made me too clever. I'm not me, I'm you, the part of you that wants a child to live up to all your expectations." She paused. "You said 'again.' What happened to the real me? Did she not measure up?"

"She-" Sebastian faltered. "You died before you were born. I never got the chance to know you." He punched the duracrete porch, which cracked under the blow. "It's not right," he said, more to himself than to her. "It's not right to have to watch the annihilation of all that matters to you. And it’s not right to dangle it before someone a second time only to snatch it away again. No, this is real, Morgan. It's real enough for all of us." Morgan was crying harder now. "I promise, everything-"

"You are a LIAR!" she screamed. "This has nothing to do with me!"

"That's not tru-"

"It is! Because if you loved me, you'd mourn for that dead little girl instead of making some fake to take her place! It's not about me, it's about YOU!!! You and your selfishness that says you'd rather turn away from emotion so you wouldn't have to feel anything!"

"That's not true!" Sebastian insisted.

"Is it?" she demanded. "Is it really, father? Well, if so, then let's put that to the test, shall we?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hypospray; Sebastian’s eyes widened. Before he could move she held it to her neck and hit the release. Sebastian cried out and snatched it away, but it was too late; he could feel her weakening from the poison already. "What will you... what will you do now, father?" she asked. "Will you burn my remains and move on, or will you... will you move on to daughter number three?"

"Morgan hold on," Sebastian said emphatically, "I'll get some help."

"There's no time, father. No," she coughed weakly, "no time. What will you do? What will you do..."

Morgan slumped out of the chair and Sebastian caught her, weeping. "Please," he pleaded. "Please don't die Morgan... Please... I don't want to live without... it's not fair... I love you more than anyone... please don't die... we'll be so happy together... there’s so much I had planned for us...please don’t die again..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

This is the life of Sebastian Skywalker.

There was still the faintest hint of the sunrise taint on the eastern horizon, and the smell in the air of damp from the storm the night before. The solitude is a weight on his soul, because he knows that he's lost one of the people he wants to share this life with, and in a larger sense, he's lost everyone here. At the center of this place full of the people he loves, he is horribly alone.

The presence was felt long before he arrived, but Sebastian didn't turn until after the grunt of exhaustion as his father took a seat beside him. There was a blue and white aura around Luke Skywalker as he looked sternly at the tightly folded hands before him. "So..." he said gravely, "what happens now?"

Sebastian looked away, back towards the rising sun; it was easier. "I can remake her," he pointed out.

"Yes," Luke said, his voice like an echo in a mausoleum.

"I can make it so this never happened," Sebastian said. "I can do anything I need to."

Luke nodded. "Because this place isn't real." Sebastian felt the words coming, but he didn't speak them. The argument with Morgan had covered all he could say on the subject. "I don't fault you for this," Luke went on. "I can't see how anyone could. The human spirit is strong, courageous, resolute..." Luke's eyes were downcast. "...but still only human."

"I haven't turned my back on the galaxies," Sebastian said, perhaps a little too strongly. "I have been fighting the good fight."

"Killing in cold blood," Luke said.

Sebastian jumped off his stoop and whirled around on his father. "What do you want from me?!"

"'From?'" Luke asked. "Nothing. I want things for you, not from you. Happiness, love, success, for your life to be wonderful, just like every parent... just like you do for Morgan." Luke leaned forward. "That's what's got you torn up right now, isn't it." It wasn't a question; Sebastian could see his father completely understood. "We all want our children to be smart and strong and good, to be better than we ourselves are, to excel. And Morgan did that, and because she did, she was able to find out your secret."

"Then I'll make sure that doesn't happen again," Sebastian said.

"How?" Luke asked. "By holding her back?" The question hung in the air, practically taunting Sebastian to try and answer it. "It's different, you see. If Morgan was born with a sub-standard IQ and irreversible blindness, it would break your heart, yet you would love her with all your being. But not a day would go by when you wouldn't wish that you could do something to help her, anything to make her better. What do you think drove so many parents to genetically enhance their children? Oh, some were selfish monsters, I'll grant you, but most simply couldn't live with themselves if they couldn't help, no matter what the law said. But for you, Sebastian, the only thing holding you back would be you... and you would know that the one thing you couldn't do was to make your daughter what you want her to be, because then she'd find your little secret out. And this paradise that you've created will lose all its charm... it would just remind you all the more of what you've lost." Sebastian said nothing. “Why didn’t you save her just now? If you truly have the power to make it so that this never happened, shouldn’t you have had the power to prevent it in the first place?” Sebastian still didn’t have an answer. “She wouldn’t let you, would she… and she’s a part of you. I think you’re trying to tell yourself something.”

“She’s real,” Sebastian said quietly.

“I’m starting to think that’s true… it’s just not in the sense you mean.”

Sebastian dropped wearily on the stoop. "It's not fair," he said finally, his voice crushed with defeat. "And yes, I know life isn't fair... but it won't stop me from commenting on it."

Luke put his hand on his son's shoulder; it felt surprisingly solid. "You remember your mother's story about the city of Ohr, yes? The city that came from nothing?"

"What about it?" Sebastian asked.

"You do know that it's not just a story."

"What, the Force taking advantage of the situation to do some good? What about it?"

"Some things are needed, Sebastian. Something... or someone, needs to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, even if that's supposed to be impossible."

The remark froze Sebastian to the core. It was the question he never asked; no, the question that was asked once and just dismissed with a shrug, never to be thought about again. You don't dwell on questions like that, but here it rose like the fetid contents of a swamp and demanded an answer.

How does a Borg have a child?

And the answer, of course, was, they can't. But here he was all the same. They'd had Sisko's cryptic remarks, and that had been enough. But now... now there was an answer, and Sebastian didn't like it very much. "So," he said slowly, like a man about to begin a very long climb, "I'm here because I'm needed, and that's all. My life never belonged to me; I was just a tool."

"No," Luke said emphatically, "you know better than that. Your life is yours, your choices are yours. But you're here because-" Luke ran the back of his hand down Sebastian's face with a smile, "because you're my son, and are smart and strong and good and thus will make the right choices."

"After all that's happened?" Sebastian asked. "'They're going to take it all away,' and they did."

"Yes," his father conceded.

"It keeps happening, father. Knock me down, wait for me to pick myself up and dust off, then do it again." Sebastian shook his head. "I can't go back to that."

"No, Sebastian," Luke said, "it's because of that that you can. The enemy-" He cut himself off, biting his lip as he fought some kind of internal battle. "The enemy that you face can spot your every weakness, Sebastian. It knows how to pick it out and exploit it. If you face it, you will find everything you care about taken away, all at once; it will destroy you."

"But when the worst has already happened," Sebastian said, more to himself than to his father, "what's left?"

Luke nodded. "The yammosk found a way in, Sebastian. It preyed on your love, and used it as a weapon against you. No matter how strong in spirit, you were still vulnerable. You weren't ready then, because you hadn't endured all that you have. But now you're going to face something even worse." Luke looked washed out as he spoke. "Evil is ultimately self-defeating," he explained. "They've sought to destroy you a piece at a time. What they didn't realize, though, was that with every blow they only hardened you, until you can withstand the worst they can throw at you."

"'That which does not kill me makes me stronger?'" Sebastian asked.

"That which makes us stronger does not kill us," Luke corrected, "it just feels like it does."

"So," Sebastian said with his head down, "I go back. I fight the good fight and try to save the universe, right? Because it's my destiny?"

"Because you're Sebastian Skywalker," Luke said, "and it's impossible for him to stand aside and do nothing." He got up, grabbed Sebastian’s shoulders, and pulled him to his feet. "Remember what I told you," he said. "I may have moved moons... but you will move civilizations." He walked to Morgan's fallen form and vanished; as he did, she blinked her eyes and got back to her feet. He was a little surprised with himself he didn’t feel different about that, but then, he wasn’t looking at the world quite the same way any more.

"You know what I'm going to do," Sebastian said.

"You're going to do the right thing," she said with a nod. "Just like I knew you would." He reached out and squeezed her with all that a father's arms had. "And you better," she said with a choke, "because I'll be watching you," she tapped the side of his head, "in here."

"In here," he said, tapping his chest. "Forever... forever, my little dawn."

Sebastian opened his eyes and stepped out of his alcove. The Borg Queen had been examining a holographic display, but she stopped as he walked, and turned towards him slowly. She looked him up and down, as if never seeing him before. Then she spoke; it was as close to regret as anyone had ever heard in a Borg's voice. "Our thoughts are no longer one."

"No," Sebastian said. "No they're not."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Romal scratched just below his right horn. "I'm still not sure I get this. Why are you not a Borg?"

"I am a Borg," Sebastian said, lacing up his boot. The foot inside was real; most of the cybernetics were able to be removed without a problem, although his other cybernetic leg was still necessary. "But I'm a Jedi too. I can't keep being one or the other, it's really messing with my head."

"But-" Romal looked about as if the answer would be written on the walls, "but you can't just leave the collective!"

"I made it," Sebastian said. "I'll leave it any time I like."

"No," the Queen said. "You will not."

"Don't try anything," Sebastian warned, although the whole conversation seemed odd, given how the Borg had not only removed his implants and such, but had replicated new clothes and equipment.

"Not all who are members of the Borg Collective LLC are drones," the Queen pointed out.

"I can't stay here," Sebastian explained. "I've got greater concerns than running a business."

"We are capable of running the business without you," the Borg Queen said.

"People skills, people skills," Romal said under his breath. "Gotta work on those people skills."

"You are part of the Borg Collective," the Queen said. "You won't walk away from that."

Sebastian finished tying the boot. "Watch me."

"I mean that you will not walk away from us," the Queen said, "because we are going with you."

Sebastian blinked. "What, all of you?"

"Well, if it's all the same," Romal said, "I'd be more than happy to mind the store while you go off into certain death."

Sebastian ignored him. "Why are you doing this?"

The Queen hesitated. "We remember the time before you re-united us. Were it not for you, the Borg would remain pathetic refugees, throwbacks to a forgettable era. We will not let you become an outcast."

"The Borg have no sense of obligation," Sebastian said.

"We adapt," the Queen said.

Sebastian shook his head. "Are you sure you want to do this? If you go, there's going to be lots of bloodshed."

"Yes," the Queen said, "but that's their problem, isn't it?"

Sebastian grinned despite himself. "Bravado? From you?"

"We adapt."

"I see," Sebastian said with a nod. "Then in that case, we'd best be moving."

"Uh, where exactly would we be moving to?" Romal asked.

There was a snap and a glow of blue, quickly followed by a second. Sebastian examined the blades of his new lightsaber. "The right place, at the right time."

[End Act I]

[darthdavid]

YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!! He's Back!!! *does happy dance*

[Stuart Mackey]

Gooooddd. Another excellent chapter, well done.

[Star Empire]

Very good!! I like the changes to the Borg.

[Chris OFarrell]

Oh fun. Now the Borg are the good guys about to bring their entire collective asswhopping down on the Vong.

I pitty them....well....no, I don't

[Crazedwraith]

Very nice. Especially the little variaton on the "that which dioes not kill me..." line,

[Sonnenburg]

Thanks for all the positive responses. I'm on my way out the door, but I wanted to toss this out there just for shits and grins. If you like, check out the last quarter or so of this.

http://www.sfdebris.com/PL16.html

[Stuart Mackey]

Thanks for all the positive responses. I'm on my way out the door, but I wanted to toss this out there just for shits and grins. If you like, check out the last quarter or so of this.

http://www.sfdebris.com/PL16.html

Ahhhh..its the small details one forgets.