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A solitary, dark grey fighter flies through the depths of space, enroute to Cicion's bar. Sundered Angel sits in the cockpit, occasionally adjusting his course and talking aloud to himself.
"That was a mistake. I should have taken the artifact for myself. Jane wouldn't have stopped me."
BEEP BEEP- Click. Beep.
"And yet I continue giving things to her. First the fighter, then that shield, and now some of my power to further the illusion I've fed her of my past. She's costing me far more than I'm gaining. Perhaps I'm getting soft as my time grows near."
He carefully adjusts some dials, and information flashes across the HUD.
"Nevermind. Jane is not a threat. Sargatanus and Verad, however, are. Now, how can I neutralise the two. Perhaps- yes, that might work. But I cannot do it myself. Perhaps Cicion could be of assistance. Yes, I like that idea..."
The fighter cruises on through empty space.
------------------ Sundered Angel , The One and Only
Ares Webboard Moderator, and all-around Nice Guy
The EVA Assault Troopers, mostly human due to their species' superior strength, stood in a line. Slug slithered up and down in front of them.
"Ok, gentlemen, what we are dealing with is a derelict obish battlecruiser of ancient imperial design. It has remained in one piece in this nebula only because it got caught in a time eddie."
One of the less technical-minded humans shifted his position "Sir? Time eddies?"
"Yes. While centuries have passed in real space, only years, perhaps weeks, have passed onboard that ship. There's probably something still alive in there and seeing that only Obish Admirals commanded ships that grand, they would probably be very grateful to our cause."
Slug Motioned to a holoprojection of the scarred, pale-blue monstrosity. "We have managed to pull it out of the eddie, we need you to capture it and secure it for sub-warp towing. Let's go."
One by one, the assault troopers proceeded to the air locks where they were ejected into outer space. One by one they landed on the ancient ship's hull, slicing holes in it with their laser torches and slipping through them.
The commstat crackled. "Area secure, sir. We've found one survivor in the ship's sick bay, been living off the lifesupport for about a year and a half. He's pretty mangled, but judging by his uniform, he's important."
Slug turned off the Commstat. "Bridge, prep our engineering lads and dock with the derelict. I want a full report on that ship even if you have to tear it apart."
------------------ I do not suffer from insanity I enjoy every minute of it
-Cantharan Commodore za'Grom After the capture of Earth
Sundered Angel walks into the bar, and, after looking around for Cicion, takes his normal seat. He does not drink, unusually.
(This message has been edited by Sundered Angel (edited 09-03-2000).)
Mag Steelglass walks into the bar, looking very pleased with himself. He orders a coke, and sits down. He types a bit on his iPad, and many pizzas are delivered. "All the drinks are on me. Feel free to have some of the pizza. You would NOT believe the amount of money that important Salrillian captains carry on-hand..." Everybody starts eating and drinking, and Mag becomes quite popular for the evening.
------------------ "I can ail what cures you."
A pair of Gaitori walked, marched rather, into the bar. Their captin took out his Grid'kmada blade and motioned to Mag's general direction. "Buy him up, boys."
-----
Onboard the E.N.S. Starbuck, Slug was interrogating the ship's surgeon.
"How's the patient?" Slug asked the Cantharan doctor.
"It's a near thing, but he'll live." The doctor replied with a nervous tone of voice.
"Is he in any condition to talk?"
"Barely."
Slug walked up to the Obiard, hooked up to the EeeVee Droids. "Allow me to introduce myself, er," Slug glanced at the few shreds of clothing that hadn't been cut away by the Droids. At the Royal General stripes. "General."
The Obiard moved his lips, shivered more likely. Words formed in his mouth, Slug leaned closer, bent over so as to not get blood on his Admiral's Uniform. "H-h-how L-l-lonnnnnng.....?"
"We.... we don't know how long. You were in a temporal sinkhole. Who are you?"
"G-genera......." The Obiard was drifting out of consciousness "..rd Primary A-armaaaada General Swtz reporting for duty......"
It took a moment for the shock to pass. "You're.... I mean..... You're dead!"
"Torpedo explosion.... anomaly.... Colony ship... sucked in." The Obish General began to gasp, the Surgeon dashed past Slug and quickly rehooked the resperator.
In the bar, the silence was broken by three loud blastershots. The trio of Gaitori fell to the ground, various chunks blown out of their bodies.....
Jane wakes up only to find that nightfall has come without her notice. She slowly sits up, shaking herself from her deep sleep. As she feels that her skin is healed, she notices that the cave is cold and dark, only lit by the distant starlight and... "Searchlights?" Jane jumps to her feet.
A group of heavily armed hunters and a trio of officers lead the way into a desolate cave. The commander had obviously arrived there only moments before for he was still putting on his jacket and buttoning up his uniform. "When did our informant send the leak?" the commander asked his assisting lieutenant who was keeping close behind. "Can't say sir. Originating signal was out of range." "Then, when did it say their party got here?" The young lieutenant hesitated "Twelv-.. uh it-" "Time lieutenant!" the commander snapped. The assistant quickly grabbed a pad from a nearby hunter "-uh. Thirty-six hundred hours ago, sir." The commander quickened his pace, slinging a light mounted rifle on his side. A sudden infusion of determination ran through him as they entered the caves. "We'll be lucky we don't get fired within that same amount of time. Let's move!"
Cornered and outmatched, Jane realized the only way out was through them. As the soldiers began to get closer, Jane could begin to see their thoughts. She counted 26 in all... all armed with soft kill weapons. -so... they're planning on taking me in alive- Jane sprinted forward, running up the side of the cavern wall, round the corner, and into the group of armed soldiers. Flipping over sideways, she came slamming down from the ceiling into a pair of hunters. As their weapons popped into the air, Jane grabbed one and slammed the butt of the stun rifle into the head of another hunter's helmet sending him reeling into the wall. The rest of the militia readied their weapons, but they were seemingly unable to pull the triggers. A couple tried drawing their wrist blades, but those too refused to budge. The commander, seeing the problem, barked at the men "Grab her if you have to!" Jane smashed another hunters ribs, and spun around to give a deadly blow with her leg to the assistants jaw. She stepped back a bit as the men threw down they're weapons. Moments passed as they stared at eachother waiting for the others next move. A few pressed their hands into eachother, cracking knuckles in expectation. In seconds, the squad rushed up against her. Jane slammed the first few with some pretty well place punches, leaving them gasping for air, but in short time they had her pinned to the ground.
Clothed in a regal uniform, a third officer came out from behind the rest of the group."Ok, Missy. You're going to give us either another artifact, or another hostage. Take your pick." Jane felt helpless. There had to be something she could do. Unfortunately, once they had her bound up, there was little hope. They made their trek through the moonlit night back to their landed freighter which sat over the desert sands of the planet. At first, she didn't think much of the craft, but later realized it was Bazidian. "You're Bazidian. I didn't know your kind was so faithful to the cause." Jane said, finally breaking the silence. "Well, the Divine Galactic Powers has been raving about you lately. So it seems to our advantage that we have you in our custody. It's good business." The commander replied. "Is it 'good business' to be trading with a race that always takes 25% of your income?" The commander paused, completely surprised at what she said. "How did you know that?" "You'd be surprised at how much we can do." Jane said. The commander was readying a tort reply, but the regal officer cut him off. "Well, forget about whatever you have helping you now. It wont save you." "I dou-" A hunter cut her off as he jabbed her shoulder. "Keep moving!" Jane thought about it for a while. She seemed puzzled, and, slowly, as she began to probe his mind, it dawned on her.
------------------ No Guts, No Glory.
"She had nice legs. Well of course she had nice legs! She had nice Everything! " Titan AE - Cale Tucker
The Hatchway at the bottom of the ship opened and a ramp extended to the pale dirt beneath as two collumns of soldiers lined up on each side. Jane felt the tip of a blade in her back, digging ever so slightly into her flesh, clearly saying get in.
"Alright, girly, get in!" One of the soldiers ordered. Jane went limp slightly as she gave in. Then something, just a green blur caught the corner of her eye before it disappeared again.
Pretending not to see it Jane began walking, surrounded by soldiers, towards the Bazidanese vessel, then a brilliant flash of light and a roaring sound surprised everyone. The light died down, revealing a rising fireball and a shower of debris where the transport was. A pair of Cantharan supersonic fighters ripped through the fireball, and starting their turn.
Jane capitalized on the confusion, snapping a trooper's arm against her knee and snatching the rifle he was holding. The slammed the trooper behind her with the base of her palm, knocking him out. With a blur, she spun around with a flying kick to the head of another soldier, who dropped his knife and fell to the ground.
Leaping up, she summersaulted past the remaining conscious soldiers, only to see one of the Cantharan fighters hovering above the ground, it's weapons trained on her and blocking her only possible escape route. A hatch opened at the front of the fighter, revealing an Obiard pilot. That explained the slick maneuvering.
"Get in!" He said, his alien accent barely distinguishable.
"Who are you?!" Jane screamed over the roar of the engines.
"A friend. Just get in!"
Just then, the soldiers got back to their feet with their weapons drawn. "Get 'er!" One of them yelled and they started to take aim. Without hesitating, Jane climbed into the capacious cockpit and the fighter, along with it's twin, darted off into space.
"You've got to get me to Cicion's bar." Jane said panting. "You're friend's there?" The pilot asked. "I hope so."
Mag was busy eating his pizza and drinking some coke when Sundered Angel walked up to him.
"Mag, the UNS may need your help."
"Oh, not AGAIN... Can't they keep track of themselves?!? Why is it that I always end up cleaning up their messes?!?"
"Whoa, Mag. Hold on. You know about the Salrillians' new scheme for 'enlightening' all sentient life in the galaxy, right?"
"What the heck are you talking about?!?"
"Ok. A fighter was dispatched to the Rogue when you tried to stop the Absolution, right?"
"You're makin' sense so far."
"Was the pilot harder to fight than normal?"
"Actually, yes. I remember he didn't seem to notice when I blew his foot off. He just sorta kept coming."
"That pilot was 'enlightened.'"
"I see. So the Sals want to do that to everybody, uh? So why does the UNS need me?"
"Well, we've noticed some reports of the Salrillians amassing a fleet. We think that they're preparing to invade."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You want me to help defend in a huge battle, right? Do you realize how dangerous battles are compared to piracy? And I've recently found that Salrillian captains carry plenty of money on hand. I can make a fortune in no time."
"We can do a lot for you. We can get you a UNS Gunship."
"Now why the heck would anybody want a UNS Gunship?!? They're slow, they have some of the worst superlight boosters around, and they can't maneuver worth a piece of astrotrash!"
"Alright, we could get another Onas Pulse Gun put on the Rouge..."
"NO alien technology. That ship is staying purebred Ishiman."
"Okay. We can give you 100,000 credits survivors fee."
"I'll do it. Just as long as you keep quiet the fact that I own the Rogue. If that got out, I'd be so famous. Crowds following me everywhere, getting my picture taken 24 hours a day... That would be so horrible..."
"Alright, we'll keep that part quiet. Here's the details..."
Mag and Sundered talk back and forth for hours about the particulars of the battle.
Once he has finished his chat with Mag, Sundered Angel speaks quietly into a personal comlink for a while. Then he chuckles, and relaxes back into his seat, letting his eyes close slowly. They flick open again immediately.
"Damn."
He turns his head, and no one notices his eyes blaze red for several seconds. Then he swivels on his seat and watches the entrance.
"Where are you going?" Jane demanded as the fighters flew towards the nebula. "Cicion's bar is in the other direction!
The Obiard turned to her, his face totally blank. "We need to get withing transmission range of the fleet."
"What fleet?!" Jane started to get suspicious.
"That is none of your concern. I need to send a transmission to the Admiral first. He will meet you at the bar."
"Who?"
The Obiard ignored her and started mumbling into the microphone. Using her enhanced hearing and some knowledge of the alien language the obiard spoke, Jane was able to understand certain parts of the conversation: "..range...247 by 849 bearing....station...think she knows where...missing half fleet is...yes....yes....We'll meet you there....bar. Trnd out."
He turned to her. "We have found someone who claims to be an aquaintance of yours."
"I have very few 'acquaintances' still alive with the governments out to kill me. He'd have to be pretty old."
"He's ancient. He was a general during the third and fourth Gaitori/Obish wars."
Jane raised her eyebrow. "You don't mean...."
"General Harl'prllr'Swtz of the third primary armada."
Jane had to suppress a gasp. " Swtz?!. Swtz died in battle a long time ago!"
"During the final hours of the Battle for Gaitor, he claims, a torpedo explosion opened a drapson's wormhole, throwing his entire ship and several others towards the Harrapan's Nebula. We found his battlecruiser a few days ago."
"Bring me to him!" Jane commanded.
"That is just what we are doing. Setting a course for Cicion Station."
The two fighters seemed to blink out of existance as they entered hyperspace...
Similar to the old tradition, the Auspexes entered the ornate chamber and formed a semi-circle at a table. Although these days, only one figure sat where the line of ministers used to be. The Auspex cabinet was becoming more diversified as time went by; only three of them were Salrilian: Sathin, Lophathid, and Shij. The newcomers were the Phylydion Verad, the Cantharan Cal Sev, the Obiard Kagstz, the Gaitori Gath'Roik, the Bazidanese Dumiar, and the Ishiman Sothos. All of them forming a crescent around Sargatanus.
Sargatanus pulled up to the table and began in what those unfamiliar with the process to be informal. "As usual, let's try to keep this short. I have been fully informed about the events during my absence, so just stick with what has happened since my awakening." He turned to Verad.
"Nothing too entertaining, I'm afraid. The humans keep screaming about a war, Phylydion free-lancers continue to harass the border without retaliation from their government, the Ishimans continue to protest along the quiet parts of the Free Trade Zone, the Gaitori isolationists made three terrorism attempt, all of which failed, and a few resistance cells have been popping up within our protectorate zone of Nijayias territory and are being dealt with.
"There are however, some strange goings on near the Elejeetian periphery. A surprisingly large renegade fleet has been lurking around the nebula and prodding an outpost on an uninhabited planet. There are rumors circulating about the possible discovery of another Verasi-class artifact, but even aside from that, this fleet is just large enough to be a minor threat. My recomendation is that we capture their ships and interrogate them."
Sargatanus shook his head. "Unacceptable. We know almost nothing about them. Dispatch some of your finest recon teams and observe them; learn everything you can about them. For all we know, they could end up doing us a favor."
"Of course, your eminance."
"Shij, what is the status of the Sisircahad (the Ring) imigration?"
The old Salrilian arched up slowly and cleared his throat before he spoke. "The sites for cities, industry, and farming are completely mapped out, and we have imported 87.43% of the resources required for full-scale imigration. The imigration itself is almost non-existant."
Sargatanus raised an eyebrow, and Shij continued: "Our technicians have not yet completed the equipment to open and sustain a permanant jumpgate large enough to move 20% of a homeworlds population. Though we are having much success in alieviating the population within the Salril system: 40% have been transfered to Sisircahad."
"Thank you. Cal Sev?"
The Cantharn stood and gave a slight bow. "I apologize for the delay. It was discovered that a permanant jump gate would be much more difficult to sustain when some 40,000 large transports were passing through. Although we have found a way to solve the problem, we will not be able to complete the modifications for about four months."
"Spare me the details, and be sure to get it done before the Cantharans complain. What is the status on Lucifer's Hammer?"
"The superstructure is completed, as are all of the major systems with the exception of the Zero Point Reverberation Projector, which I am pleased to announce is nearing the end of testing in the Oculus Nebula. With luck, we will be able to implement it within eight weeks."
"Excelent. Well are there any other matters or opinios that need to be expressed before we adjurn?"
Kagstz stood. "In regard to Verad's claim of a large renegade fleet, I would like to bring attention to this intercepted transmission. It was garbled by the nebula and difficult to translate, but you can make out enough information to get the picture."
The recording played mostly static fuzz, and codded obain language. But two words caught the attention of the cabinet: "Swtz," and "Thrz'gei'hol."
Sargatanus scrathed his cheek while he pondered. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Thrz'gei'hol the prototype battlecruiser given to the Obiards by the old Grand Oracular Council?"
Kagstz nodded readily. "It was also the flagship during the third and fourth Obish/Gaitori wars. All ships of that design should have been destroyed or scrapped a long time ago. This one went missing in battle and was presumed destroyed. But its carrier signla was never transmitted, as was standard for all obish ships in that time when they were destroyed."
"Mutiny?"
"Not a chance. The ship was commanded by General Swtz, cinsidered the best and most loyal of all the Obish command to this day, and I don't think I need to tell you about Obish loyalty."
"Well that does change things. Verad, you have a change in orders. Assemble your recon team, and lead the investigation yourself with the Absolution once its repairs are completed. Kagstz, you will accompany Verad with the 22nd and 23rd divisions of the second fleet, to be led by the carrier Cold Crescent at your command."
Both Auspexes nodded, and Sargatanus continued: "Anything else?"
Silence.
"Well in that case we adjurn." With those words, the assembly dispersed in a matter of seconds.
Sargatanus toyed with a communicator for a moment before speaking into it. "Tactical, have the Vindictive prepared for my arrival, and order them to set a course for the Gault system; Cicion Station."
------------------ Throughout their history these "unenlightened" beings have continually opposed and fought abuses of power wrought by their own bretheren. We, as the prophets would do well to learn from these Humans. -Final statement of the Salrilian reformist Sirthis shortly before his execution.
Without taking his eyes from the door, Sundered Angel mixes himself a Devil's Breath. He then looks around the bar, smiles at everyone, and, after a swig of drink, spits a foot-long jet of flame.
"You know, there are a lot of people converging on this bar right now" he observes. Taking another sip of his drink, he spits a bolt of fire across the room, which glows brightly until it disintegrates against the far wall.
"This might be a little tense. Anyone who has a particular liking for their limbs, or their life, would be well advised to leave now."
He grins slightly, and resumes watching the door.
A very beautiful woman enters the bar. All male patrons in the bar, with or without dates, look her up and down and keep staring as she makes her way to the counter. "Hey, can I buy you a drink?" say Mag. She looks away from the three other people that are trying to do the same thing, and is about to start talking when Mag and the three other guys are jumped on by some other male partrons. More and more people join in, and soon the entire bar is in the middle of a bar fight. Even Cicion's droid joins in. Chairs and people alike are flying across the bar with incredible speed... ---------------- "Otmsr, you are cleared to dock with Cicion Station. Have a nice day."
"Thank you, control," said the Obiard a the controls of the cantharan fighter.
"What does Otmsr mean?" asked Jane.
"I do not think it can be translated into English, but the closest word of yours is 'speed.'"
The fighter touched down on the docking pad, and the two headed for Cicion's bar. When they go there, they saw the brawling and fighting, and joined in. Several minutes later, several Salrillians came into the bar, and were caught up in the fighting as well. Still later, Swtz and Slug arrived, and the same thing happened. The brawl was becoming massive, and people kept arriving and joining in...
Chuckles to himself. He leaves the safety of the bar and walks over to Angel's table. A man swings a chair at him, which he dodges and taps in just such a way that the weight and momentum of the chair pulls the man into the wall and down onto the floor. Cicion draws his blade just in case. The action makes people a little more hesitant of attacking him. He finally reaches Angel's table. Interesting little skirmish, eh? I suppose every bar has to have one every so often to release its tensions. Now, let's see... Pulls out the control remote for his droid and presses the beckon button. The droid comes to his side. I just patched this piece of junk together. I won't have it torn asunder- glances at Angel- no offense.
------------------ -Traek Cicion of the Taeskor
"Never tell me the odds!" -Han Solo
"I revived a man in Memphis just to watch him live." -Anonymous Doctor
The door hissed shut on the executive lounge after the last guards marched through. The room was featureless save for the octogonal table in the center. Swtz joined Slug, who was already sitting down.
"You have saved my life and gratefull, Admiral. However I must ask one final favor of you and your remnants of the fleet."
"This is a pretty serious request, General," Slug began, "You are aware how half the fleet disappeared after a short battle."
"How do you think the Thrz'gei'hol found it's way to this section of space? Watch." Swtz brought up a holomap at the center of the table. "The region we were in was the Orion Nebula. It is well known that that area is laced with time distortions and micro-wormholes that lead nowhere." The view shifted. "We have a similar region called The Dead Planets. It has been seperating Obain and Gaitor for time beyond history."
"The two regions are linked?" Slug asked.
"During the battle for Gaitor, three of their juggernauts broke through our lines. My ship was isolated and was in the process of being cut down when a torpedo explosion widened one of those wormholes. We were sucked through by the gavitational currents, which ripped the juggernauts into atoms. By the time we reached the other side, I was the only one left aoard the ship, solely because I had been hooked up to a life supporter during the battle."
"We were in that exact region." Slug realized aloud. "Could it be possible that Mag's Weapons opened up several of those wormholes that later pulled the the missing half of the fleet through?"
"Yes" Swtz concluded.
"Helm, set a course for the Dead Planets. The Betelgeuse system, maximum fold!"
The half-fleet jumped into omnispace with a wink.
(In case you don't know, General Swtz is a character in Iron Fist)
"None intended, none taken." Sundered Angel smiles, deflecting a drunken brawler away from himself.
"If you don't mind, I don't think we can speak in this. Can we go to a backroom?" Cicion nods, and leads the way through the brawl. A dozen meters and two dozen random conflicts away, the two slip into a backroom.
"So, what is it old friend?" Cicion asks, noting that SA is back to his usual self.
"Verad. I've discovered a way to break his links to Sargatanus."
"What? How?"
"Wait a second Cicion, before you report this to the your superiors. This is a dangerous, critically balanced project. I need your help for it- but somewhere above you lies a leak. I cannot risk divulging this plan until I have your word that it stops with you. I need your help- but I need your help alone. What do you say?"
Closes his eyes for a minute. All right, friend. I'll help you, and not spread the plan to anyone until I ca-" Frowns. Wait a minute. Extracts his sense tendrils from their cheek pouches. Walks casually backwards two steps, and then quickly whips around, drawing and throwing his blade. The knife flies behind a crate and a cry is heard. He walks back and drags a whimpering Phylydion from behind the crate with Cicion's knife in his leg. Withdrawing his blade, Cicion looks into the spy's eyes. Come on, out with it. How'd you get here? "I'm not talking. Go ahead and kill me." Look, kid, you can either tell me how you got in here or I can kill you in such a way that every second feels like a terrible death, and it takes you three hours to die. Angel looks at Cicion with a funny look, knowing this is out of character for him. But it becomes evident that the spy only said he would die before talking for dramatics, and he talks. "The Salrilian-Phylydion Rebellion Alliance has developed a short-range teleporter and a personal cloaking device. The ship I came in attached to the outside of the station and teleported me directly into this room. I then used my personal cloaker to hide my presence." Show me this cloaker. The spy points to a pile of ash on the floor. "If it deactivates prematurely, it assumes the wearer has been found and self-destructs, which reminds me..." The spy suddenly goes stiff, and falls to the floor, dead. Well, well. A suicide capsule. And also, an automatic one. The Sals aren't taking the chance that their spies will chicken out. Quickly checks the room for anything else, and finds nothing. As I was saying, Angel, I'll give you my help. And as for a leak above me, do you have any specific ideas on who it could be?
"Then we'll do it real quiet-like." -Han Solo
"What do you figure, Commander?" Slug glanced at the viewscreen, showing a veritable belt of debris.
"Sir.... Astromech reports it's the fleet.... Was the fleet, Sir."
"Run a full spectral analysis. I want to know what destroyed it." Slug commanded, his voice showing no sign of remorse for the thousands of lives that had been aboard those ships.
"We.... we have three seperate weapons signatures on these fragments, two of which are Audemedon, the third.... unidentified."
"The Audemedons?! This is the Dead Planets! What would the Audemedons be doing in Obish Space?!"
"Insufficient Data."
"And the third Waepons Signature? Can you get me a reading on it?"
"Not possible"
"I don't care if you have to raid the Oracular Network itself, I want answers, Commander." Slug barked. "Set a course for Salril Prime."
"Battlegroup Alpha Gamma in position," said Mag Steelglass. He had some friends with ships who had some friends with ships who had some friends with ships, and he'd gotten an entire battlegroup together for the defence of the UNS. The fleet was massive. The Elejeetians, Ishiman, Bazidaneze, and Obish had sent in battlegroups to help. Gateships were even sent in. The end result was a very grand fleet. Mag's battlegroup included ships from all races, because independant captains fly many varieties of ships. There were even some Salrillian ships. The rest of the battlegroups gave confirmation that they were in position, and Admiral Grammaticus' voice came on. "Before we leave, I will quickly review our plan. Our gateships will create several jumpgates to a system directly between Sol and Salril. There, they will act as jumpgate inhibitors, and the Salrillian fleet will drop out of jumpspace short of their destination. We will then take advantage of their surprise and engage them. Now comes the bad news. We have detected Cantharan, Gaitori, and Audemedon ships in their fleet. Our chances for success are 35 that we will win, and 65 that we will lose. If any independant captains do not wish to continue, you may leave now." A quarter of Mag's battlegroup left. "We have taken precautionary measures. We have taken all military forces out of mothball, and that should be enough to defend Earth after we weaken our enemies. However, the United Nations of Sol would be crippled. I urge you to perform at peak effectiveness. Earth's future depends on it." There was a dramatic pause. "Gateships, create the jumpgates." On each of the five gateships, green rings formed and lengthened into tubes, which continued on until they could not be seen. "Fleet, begin transfer through jumpgates." Mag entered a jumpgate, and checked the total jump time. Five minutes. "Sure beats the heck out of hyperspace..."