The Last Hero(Unfinished)

[SirNitram]

The Last Hero. (Yet another FanFic attempt by SirNitram)

The VSD Journeyman hung in space, the last of it's support vessels
launching from it's bays and hyperspacing away. What human crew was
aboard were all anxiously making final checks. The massive droid crew
were putting the finishing touches on the vessel. Dwarved by many
others in the Imperial Navy, the small ship had still be selected for
the test of the new drive system. It was old, tired, and done with war.
It's weapon systems remained, but powered down, perhaps forever. It's
sensor arrays were visibly enhanced with the addition of a third sensor
globe to it's command tower.
The huge SSD Emperor's Wrath waited alongside it, massive by
comparison. Pacing the deck, Ceriss Kanos, formerly a Surface Marshal
in His Majesty's Starfighter Corps, was nervous. His seven foot,
corpse-white figure was visibly shaking lightly to those who happened
to look. He had barely retired a week ago, ready to settle down on some
warm planet where the women wore very few clothes, when the call had
came. In the Empire, you didn't resist when they called you. They might
take off your head. He paced the deck, looking at the little ship.
Admiral Halcyon walked up to the tall ex-pilot, his arms behind
his back. Of course, he knew the man's records. A spotless combat
record in the TIE Corps, a one man nightmare to the Rebellion...
Coupled with more disciplinary charges than most fleets had. He was a
loose cannon, and a danger. For years, no one had dared discharge him
for fear he might be next seen coming at them in an X-wing. Now he had
retired.. And High Command had found the perfect place to get rid of
him. "Mr. Kanos," He said. "I would like to introduce you. That, is the
Victory-class Star Destroyer Journeyman. She is one of the best in her
class. Surely you've heard the news broadcasts about her?"
"No sir." Ceriss had been working hard to avoid the news. Too
much of it was depressing or downright lies. Even in his best moments
of heroism, the only news about it would be lies and propaganda, never
mentioning him. He clenched his fists involuntarily and looked to the
ship.
"Well, I had better explain. The Journeyman has a very special
development onboard her. It's called an Anywhere Drive by most people,
because the technical name is far too complicated. I can't tell you the
exact workings... I don't know them myself... But it seems capable of
shifting a ship to, well, anywhere. This ship... This vessel... Is
going to be the first vessel ever to leave the Galaxy."
Kanos looked over the aging ship. He shrugged. "That's nice. Good
propaganda for the masses. What do I have to do with it?"
Halcyon smiled. "You're going to command it. I realize you
weren't the ideal Imperial officer and you have alot against High
Command. But this would be a civilian operation. You take the ship and
it's crew out to the target galaxy, chart the area, make a few First
Contacts, and become famous."
Just like the operations I've run a thousand times for the
Empire, thought Kanos. Just like every time before. I've heard this
song. But I'll be in another galaxy. I can just vanish off their scopes
and never go back. At least, I'll get some peace. "Alright. Let's see
her insides."
"I knew you'd say that. The drive test is in an hour." Halcyon
gestured for an escort to send Kanos to the shuttle bay. The Admiral
walked back to the command chair, and waited. The plan was going to go
just perfectly.


The Journeyman, for all her age, had a few things going for her.
In the eyes of her crew, she was not only a war relic, but a sign of
things to come: The constant presense of Stormtroopers, normal on
Imperial vessels, was absent here. Massive entertainment complexes were
where the army contigents once were, designed to amuse the crew on what
was expected to be a long, uneventful voyage.
Another point was a slight relaxation of the strict standards of
Imperial vessels. People were actually seen moving around the ship in
civilian clothes. The concept of being out of uniform around the
warship had led three recruits to a giddy period when they went around
entirely in their bathrobes.
Kanos found he liked the ship even more each moment. The fact
one of the recruits in bathrobes was a curvy woman with a Tatooine tan
merely elevated his thoughts on the matter. The ship was the same kind
he had first served on, before the Rebel Alliance had been founded.
He walked through the halls with his XO, a younger man who
sounded like he hadn't passed puberty yet. "This is a fine vessel.. But
surely whatever went into building this could have been used to help
prepare a proper welcome for the Vong? I understand they've already
attacked Coruscant."
The younger man smiled uneasily. "I don't know, sir. They say
we're not going to get involved unless the Vong attack us, or unless we
can retake Imperial Center."
Ceriss rumbled unhappily at that. High Command must still
dislike the idea of having surrendered to the Republic. Still, letting
those freaks overrun the Galaxy.... "Well, soon, I suppose, it won't be
our concern. How long until the drive test?"
The man glanced at his wrist chrono, before saluting. "Ten
minutes, sir. You had better get to the bridge for the big show." Pride
in his eyes, knowing that he would be making history. And perhaps, just
perhaps, finding a way to take the fight back to the Vong.
"Very well." Ceriss sighed. Pomp and ceremony. "You get to
engineering, make sure everything runs clean. I guess I'll see you at
the target." With that, the tall Kessel-born Captain jogged to the
lift. It was time. He had a knot in his stomach, and the vague sense he
was about to walk into a trap, though.

The Bridge of the Journeyman was spotless and up to
Imperial standards, even if the rest of the ship wasn't. As the final
countdown to the ultimate jump began, various stations called out.
"Communications online, hypercomm and holonet transceivers at
full power."
"Propulsion online, ion drives, hyperdrive, and repulsor on
standby."
"Defenses online, light turbolasers charged, shield grid at one
hundred percent."
"Engineering online, life support and internal power grid fully
operational."
"Flight Systems online, all TIE's and Preybirds operational.
We're go."
Ceriss relaxed in his seat. No need to tense up. They had tested
the drive before, but he was about to do what no human ever had done.
He keyed the comm unit. "This is the VSD Journeyman. We are go for
jump."
Across the hundreds of worlds still held by the Empire, cheers
rang out. The ultimate example of advanced Imperial science was about
to cross the boundary that, for so long, was considered impossible.
"Begin the countdown. One minute." Ceriss rubbed his hands
together. This was it. No turning back. The timer began the countdown,
and across the Imperial Remnant, and those few Republic worlds who
listened in, people of many species held their collective breath.

The VSD Journeyman vanished. There was no moment of
psudeomotion, no blast of radiation. It was there, then it wasn't.

***

The VSD Journeyman reappeared, without so much as a flicker or
energy spike. Where it reappeared was a Binary system, where a tiny
blue star orbited around a massive Red Giant, creating a breathtaking
visual. The Star Destroyer sat quietly, as no one at all enjoyed the
view.

"What the hell do you mean?" Ceriss snapped, as he was led down
to Engineering. Smoke was everywhere, and emergency sprinklers had left
everything damp. Engineers and R- and LE-series droids were working to
get everything dry and running again. Near the center of the cavernous
engineering bay was the dominant structure: The Anywhere Drive, seven
meters tall, and currently glowing angry red and looking partially
melted. Which it was.
Eleas sighed, looking over his datapad. "Sir, it looks like the
dimensional vortex created by the trans-dimensional nature of the..."
He got no farther, because Ceriss had drawn his hand back, and mightily
smacked it upside the Chief Engineers head.
"In -BASIC-, Engineer." Snapped the Captain.
Eleas rubbed his head, frowning. "It blew out when we made
transition. Must be because of the distance we travelled. That really
hurt, sir."
Ceriss didn't waste time quibbling. "Can it be repaired?"
"Possibly. We've got a full Military-grade Duplicator, so we
can make almost anything if you can track down a rich asteroid belt,
but we don't know everything about this drive system. We can try."
Eleas didn't say, 'Hell no, are you nuts?', partly from fear of
something worse than a smack in the head, partly because he didn't like
the idea of never going home.
"Get to work. I'll organize the crews to start mapping and
patrols."

It was several hours later. TIE Redeemers, the newest model to be
created from the Interceptor frame, were flying long range patrol,
scanning nearby systems, taking note of every anomaly and gravwell.
Support ships flew close to the Journeyman, as the great ship hung in
space, it's powerful sensor arrays mapping constantly.
"This section of space has alot of anomalous activity in it.."
Muttered Ceriss as he looked over the scans, present as a ten meter
tall Holo in the Bridge.
The Helmsman, Dalton, scratched his head. "Strange, really.
Subspace vortexs and gravity warps and all manner of other junk. You'd
think it was the Maw."
"Something's out of kink, that's for sure." Ceriss agreed,
leaning back. "What's the word on our propulsion?"
Dalton shrugged. "Hyperdrive should be good to go in another
two days, sublights are running now. By then we'll be able to make a
few dozen parsecs an hour, but that's tops in this sort of soup. Once
we're clear and into normal space, it'll be easier."
"Do it." Ceriss nodded, leaning back. There wasn't much
intelligent life around here. Pity, really. But at least he wouldn't be
making First Contact in a busted ship.

"Admiral Halcyon!" Called one of his Captain's, the hologram
reaching up to his knee. "Our sources have confirmed: The Journeyman is
stranded at the target coordinates. And the dinner bell has been rang."
The Admiral smiled to himself. "Excellent... Let's see if Kanos
still has what it takes. When will our own attack force be ready?"
"Drive installation is complete in twelve of our Battleships,
estimate another month for completing the smaller ships."
"Excellent... And our spy in the target government?"
The Captain smiled. "He is delivering the documents as we
speak."

"Mr. President!" Called an aide, running through the hallways of the
Federation's Capital. He caught up with the most powerful man in the
UFP, and handed him a dossier. Somehow, no government could ever be
'Paperless'. "These are the suggestions from your advisors that you
asked for."
The newly elected President flipped through the reports,
frowning to himself. "This calls for a lot more state-run
industries.... Didn't we all agree that we could start transferring
control to private groups, now that the Dominion and Borg are
neutralized for the time being?"
The aide shrugged. "They were unanimous, sir. It increases
efficiency. The citing of examples is on page thirty three,
paragraph..."
"Yes, I'm sure it is." The President sighed. "I'll look over it
in more detail soon."

1 unknown vessel identified by vessel 5 of 23. Current Status:
Partially functional. Unknown vessel is emitting high energy signature.
Possible objective of unknown vessel: Rebuild Unicomplex. Destruction
priority: 7.32
Vessels 1-20 of 23 online. Transwarp active. Optimize flight
paths. 12 hours to target.


Chapter 3

The Journeyman's bridge was abuzz with activity, most of it around one
of the sensor stations. Some crew were shaking their heads, others were openly
gasping, some were accusing others of rigging 'it'. As Kanos pushed his way
through the crowd, he clasped the sensor operator on the shoulder. "What in the
Force is so interesting to you kids?"
The sensor operator looked up into that face, swallowed hard, and
pointed a finger at the console. "Subspace sensors are picking up.. Well..
Ships. But not in realspace, in subspace. That shouldn't be possible, that
can't be real..."
"Anything can be real if someone puts their noggin to it long enough."
Ceriss replied, looking it over. "They've got a decent turn of speed for the
amount of junk in the sector. Mind you, they -look- like junk. Just a bunch of
boxes made of piping, with a few coated in armor."
"Standard First Contact procedures, then?" Asked one of the men who was
holding rather more credits, now that it was confirmed they were real ships.
"Yes, everyone to your stations. Go." Ceriss snapped, moving back to the
Captain's chair. First Contact, what a joy. Oh well.
"Bring shield grid to full, keep defense guns on standby. Retract
fighters within range." He ordered, as the Victory-class Destroyer moved to
meet the new arrivals.
Even if they looked like junk sewn together, the appearance of twenty
starships of that size was an impressive sight. It reminded Kanos of Death
Squadron, when it would swoop it when he and his comrades in the disrespected
Merciless Fleet were about to make history. He surpressed the memory as the
craft approached. Just before he moved to open a comm channel, a transmission
was acquired.
"We are the Borg. Prepare to be assimilated. Your existance, as any know
it, is over. You are attempting to restore the Unicomplex. This cannot come to
pass." With those words spoken, all twenty ships unleashed balls of glowing
energy. They struck the Journeyman's shields, seemingly harmlessly.
Kanos frowned. "Well, guess they don't want to welcome us in. Defense,
what's the status on those weapons? Flight Ops, get our squadrons targetting
data on those." The commands were barked out, and even on the
partially-civilian Destroyer, they were carried out.
As laser beams stabbed at the shields, the defense tactical officer
looked afraid. "Shields are dropping rapidly, sir. Those weapons they fired
first are draining it somehow. The more power I pump to the fore arc, the
faster it drains."
"Fire maneuvering thrusters and Engine Three at full power, engineering,
get our starboard side presented to the attackers. Defense, cold boot the fore
shield and pump the starboard shields up as high as the emittors can take." He
turned his head, snapping orders out quickly. He was a Misfit, legendary for
it, but this was a time for cold professionalism. "Get the Quads online, and
start bringing them down, pronto. Missile bays, I need some dispersion fire.
Max yield, set to three degree arc for directed blast."
The Journeyman turned, as it's foreward shield flickered under the
draining effects of the Borg's weaponry...

Primary target aquired. Align beam arrays 4, 8, 10 to target. Fire. 78% damage
to unknown vessel's shields. Unknown vessel is returning fire with hybrid
particle beam/electromagnetic quad-mounts. Damage to 95%....

Monitor switch to vessel 7 of 23. Weapon characteristics identified. Attempting
to adapt shielding. Error. No frequency found on weapon system. Align beam
arrays 4, 8, 10 to target. Fire. Damage to 2% of unknown vessels shielding.
Analysis: Vessel has seperate shields for each quadrant. Unknown vessel is
returning fire with hybrid particle beam/electromagnetic quad-mounts. Damage to
40% of superstructure. Adaptation successful. Request additional processing
power within subcollective to analyze for superior adaptation.

Unknown vessel is launching eighty new sensor contacts. Scans indicate
high-yield antimatter warheads. Engaging standard anti-missile adaptations.
Missile contact in 1 seco-...

Vessel 1 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 2 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 4 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 6 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 7 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 8 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 9 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 10 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 11 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 12 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 13 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 15 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 16 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 17 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 19 of 23 destroyed.
Vessel 20 of 23 destroyed.

All non-tactical vessels destroyed. Unknown vessel belongs to Level 12 species.
Tactical vessels retreat at maximum transwarp to Unity Complex. Optimize flight
paths. ETA four days.

The Journeyman had taken moderate damage in the skirmish, mostly to her
armour belt. Still, the attackers had been very strange. Two days later, they
were still being discussed in Kanos' Ready Room. Recordings from the battle
played out in holograms over their heads, while still shots were being
examined. The readouts were baffling, and all that came of it was more
questions, never more answers.
"Right.. We know those main vessels had almost no protection at all.
Even when our missiles went off early, the directed blast ripped their hulls
apart. Yet.. There was some strange evidence that the second of our turbolaser
broadsides was much less useful than the first. They erected some sort of
defense."
Kanos nodded, and drummed his pale fingers. "Those other ships though..
Nice armour. Took the hits without flinching, but they retreated. Must have
decided the losses were too great.. But that transmission..."
"We haven't a clue what this UniComplex is. Whatever it is, they don't
like the idea of it being built very much." A sigh from Eleas. "At least the
hyperdrive is running again. We won't make good speed in this junk, but we'll
be able to progress towards the Core. If we're lucky, the next race we meet
won't be so hell-bent on our destruction."
Kanos was silent, and shook his head. "Unless those things were the only
race in this galaxy. What if the eggheads sent us to a galaxy full of nothing
but those wierdos, trying to kill us?"
No one had an answer.

Down in the collosal cargo bay, three Borg Drones looked around, and
steathily moved through the containers, watching. Waiting.


Chapter 4

Earth, the homeworld of Humanity and the center of the United Federation Of
Planets, was still the beautiful blue-green jewel in space she had been when
mankind had first seen it from the outside. In the Capital, where the huge
buerecracy that actually ran the Federation toiled, a single Runabout
descended, heading for the nearest landing pad. Few people could arrange for
private runabouts, but as this one came to a halt on the pad and the occupant..
Only one, which was strange.. emerged, it was clear that the government took
care of it's own.

Moving through the halls of the building, the man whistled to himself, checking
a wristwatch absently. He slapped a folder full of papers against his hand as
he went, turning down a hallway. He continued past guards and secretaries,
nodding as he went. Turning one last corner and in through a guarded door, he
found the President of the Federation. Without any ceremony, he slapped the
folder on the desk. "The latest designs from the main Shipyards, sir."

The President looked up, still flipping through another report. "Yes.... You
mentioned. And inform my advisors that despite their persuasive arguments, I
will be vetoing their plans for the creation of more state-run industries on
our new colonies." He closed the folder he had and opened the new one, his
eyebrows raising. A few moments passed as he flipped through. "Quantum torpedo
tubes... Pulse phaser batteries... Three foot thick armor belt... This is a
warship." He said flatly, with the sort of tone one used to describe what you
found under an overturned rock.

"Yes, sir." His aide said, quite simply. "The advisors..."

"...Are not running the Federation. /I/ am. Now the advisors have always served
me well, yes, but this is ridiculous. First they suggest we all but become a
new Communist regime, and now they want to build this.. this... Battleships?
The Borg and Dominion are dead, man. We don't need this. I'm not going to throw
away peace in our lifetimes on this. That is all. Call an immediate session,
get the press, I will tell them I'm vetoing all of it."

The aide smiled still, and nodded. "Of course. I will leave you now, sir."
Turning smartly, he walked out, leaving the President to look over the other
stacks of paper and data that constantly grew around him.

Some time later, he returned to his Runabout, looking around just in case
someone was nearby. Confirming no one was watching and there were no cameras,
he touched a button on his watch... And the Runabout twisted and changed, and
moments later, the hologram vanished, revealing a Lambda-Class Shuttle.
Stepping up the ramp into the vessel, he keyed one of the buttons.

In the President's Suite, something began to beep. At first it was slow, but it
rapidly became quicker and quicker, causing the most powerful man in the system
to stand up, irritated, and move to the viewscreen. "I thought I told you to
hold all my-"

>From the Imperial shuttle hidden on the pad, the 'aide' had a perfect view of
the explosion of what had been the President's Suite, the President, and any
obstruction. He keyed the communications system. "Admiral Halcyon, this is
Darth Kronos. I am ready to begin with the next phase of our plan."

The hologram, shaky and distorted, nodded. "We will be ready."

[premiergordon]

You need to write more to that, it just leaves you hanging like one of those season finale shows that i hate so much.

[Soontir C'boath]

That's the greatest thing. To be left Hanging. It is the most amazing experience you can ever have not to mention it makes you realize..

THAT YOU WANT MORE!!!!

Cyaround,
Jason