I awoke instantly as the new vessel entered the Satori system. I pushed away the glass panel above me and crawled out. I reached the control panel and checked the scanner only to find that there were, once again, no ships in the system. Only an immense cloud of debris and twisted metal. I hailed the planet.

"Greetings, launch control, this is the Sabre test fighter, requesting permission to land." There was only silence. "Repeat, this is the Sabre test fighter, requesting permission to land." Again, I was greeted by silence. "Palshife launch control, can you read me?" There was definitely something wrong here. I decided to continue, and activated the landing cycle.

As I approached the surface, the entire plot of land on which the control center had been was gone. All that remained was smoke and dirt, with unrecognizable pieces of metal shrapnel and crushed concrete. Where the Mag-Way had once been, there was a large hole in the ground, at least thirty meters wide.

My ship touched down on the smoldering soil and I stepped out. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but gigantic craters and ashes. Not a building in sight. I walked over to the space where the briefing room once stood to find a crater, at least six feet deep. I crawled down into it, and searched for survivors. I could not imagine any weapon that could do this kind of damage so quickly, short of an atomic device, which was banished long ago in the Treaty of New France. The treaty, put into affect just after the start of the Civil War, indicated that neither side would use any atomic nor neutronic weapons against other humans (be they Confederate or Rebel) during peacetime or war. This was usually respected by both sides as it would take very few of such bombs to take out each of the head worlds, and both the Rebellion and the Confederacy were well-stocked with weapons of mass destruction; just in case. The only occasion in which such weapons could be used, would be if they were used first by the other side.

My thoughts were interrupted by the blast of a plasma rifle being fired. I dove from it's path just before it contacted, the blast throwing me more than a dozen feet. My head contacted a metal beam protruding from the ground and I fell limp to the soft earth.

I slowly opened my eyes as I awoke, staring at the ceiling. I then closed them quickly again as I caught the blinding light of a campfire. My head ached like mad, and there was a rhythmic pounding in my ears causing my headache to worsen with each painful thump. I finally gained the strength to open my eyes and look at my surroundings.

"He's awake" I heard a distant voice from the right, but the pain was to great when I tried to turn my head, so I laid there as I was. "Who are you? Who are you with?" A face appeared over mine and hovered there, waiting for an answer."

"Lieutenant Dash Riprock of the Rebellion Navy, 1167528-A." I didn't know who they were, but I recited my name, rank, and serial number.

"He says he's a rebel," I heard the same voice say off to my right again.

"Are you sure?" A different voice this time.

The first man walked back to me again. "You're a rebel, eh? Prove it."

"Life is short-" I started the old identification line.

"But the years are long, " he answered.

"While the Evil Days come not."

The man walked back to his partner. "He checks out."

"What happened back at the base?" I called out, wincing at the pain that echoed through my head.

"You took a bit of friendly fire, I believe. Lieutenant Richardson over here mistook you for another foot soldier," the second man explained as he walked back, a wooden bowl in his hand.

"I can't take all the credit," Lt. Richardson, the first soldier, told the other. "After all, you gave the order to fire."

"It doesn't matter now, Lieutenant. Forget I mentioned it." He handed me the bowl. "Drink this, it will help you."

I looked down at the thin, green drink in the small bowl. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"It's safer than not taking anything. Besides, the water for it was boiled. It's clean."

I agreed and reluctantly drank the concoction. It had nearly no flavor other than a weak, bitter aftertaste which disappeared quickly. I thought back to the military base. "Were you two here when the attack occurred? What could have done this?"

Richardson looked thoughtful for a moment. "It started off quite routine. Well, as routine as such attacks can be, I suppose. They came into the system, staying in plain view for all to see. There were no more than three or four frigates and a few fighters at that point. They were no match for the defense fleet. The fleet soon destroyed them, using maybe half of their torpedoes. That's when the remainder of them uncloaked. There must have been a dozen Cruisers, armed to the teeth. As you could guess, the defense fleet soon fell. They called in the transports, and soon they were systematically bombarding the key cities and dropping off troopers to pillage what was left. Commander Matthews and I were the only survivors of the R.S.S. Renegade, the Cruiser that crash-landed here during the attack. When we made it out, we collected rifles from the armory and fled. Eventually we came across the pit where the Mag-Way once was. The rest of it collapsed in on itself, but the entrance was still standing. The troopers soon came in and tried to secure the area, but we held off many of them. This position gave us something of a tactical advantage." He took another drink from his bowl of water. "That was about a day ago. So far, we haven't found any other survivors. What's your story?" he said, looking to me for a reply.

"I just returned from an attack on a Confederate convoy. When I got back, there was nothing here but wreckage. Are you two planning on staying here on Palshife, or do you plan to leave sometime soon? I have a ship capable of holding at least three, maybe more."

They glanced briefly at each other and the Commander spoke. "That is probably the best course of action." We rose and walked to the landing pads, avoiding wreckage and cadavers, until we finally reached the ship.

"What is this? I have never seen a ship class anything like it." The Commander looked around it, figuring it's dimensions.

"A new class, actually. Not yet in mass production. The Sabre Hybrid Fighter, they call it." I lifted the panel on its side and pressed the door release. It slid open with a hiss. "Go ahead, get in."

Once we were in lower orbit, I activated the cloaking device. There were still many Confederate ships in the vicinity. We proceeded to Clotho Prime, that being the closest major planet, and the next largest in the Rebellion. When we arrived, we found the beginnings of an immense fleet, at least three dozen Rebel ships. I received a hail from one of the many Rebel Cruisers.

"Good to see you made it back, Lieutenant Riprock." It was the General. "Luckily, I was not on Palshife during the disaster. What you see in front of you is the strike fleet. Since you left the planet, the Confederates have occupied Palshife. From long-range scanner readings, we can assume that the present Confed defense force consists of the remainder of the fleet that took the planet. Many of them were destroyed in the initial battle. Our job is to destroy the fleets, then re-take the planet. Are you available to help us?"

I thought for a moment, and then answered. "I certainly am. I have to drop off a few passengers first, but I don't think it will be a problem. When are you due to leave?"

"Oh-eight-hundred hours. That's about twenty minutes from now. Be with the fleet by then. We will not be able to wait."

"Understood. Over and out." I closed the connection and piloted the ship to Clotho Prime and began the landing procedure. Once on solid ground I turned around and spoke to the passengers. "You two might want to get off now. I'm going to refuel and restock, but afterwards I will not be making any stops."

"Good luck, Lieutenant Riprock," encouraged the Commander. "I hope to see you again some time, preferably under better circumstances."

"Likewise. Goodbye and good luck." The two of them rose from their seats and walked out the sliding door. I activated the comm systems and contacted the Clotho Prime docking manager.

"This is Lieutenant Riprock of the Sabre Test Fighter, do you read?"

"Loud and clear." The manager stated, routinely.

"I need refueling and restocking of all class three supplies. Thank you." I settled back in the seat and waited for the signal to take off. After nearly five minutes, I received it.

"Restock complete, launch permission granted."

I activated the takeoff sequence and began to hover over the pad. After assessing my supplies, I continued into orbit.

"Glad to see you made it." said the General as I approached the fleet. "Prepare for hyperspace on my mark. Threeƒtwoƒone...mark!" As he gave the command, each ship jumped in unison, streaming out of sight. I readied the chamber and crawled inside. It would be more than twelve hours until we arrived, and I wanted to be ready for this battle.

I was suddenly awakened by the beeping of the comm panel. I opened the capsule and approached it. As of now, there was less than fifteen minutes before we entered the Satori system. I pressed the button to receive the call. It was from the General.

"Greetings, pilots. I'm sorry to disturb you, but it is necessary to make a last-minute briefing. From what we can tell from our long-range scans, we should outnumber the Confederates nearly two-to-one. Their resources should be exhausted from the earlier battle. I must remind all ships with cloaking ability not to do so until your shields are dead. Once they have been depleted, you will have nothing to lose by activating your cloaking device. This should be an easy victory for the Rebellion. Fighters, you should take out the Patrol Ships first. Once you have them taken care of, attack the capitol ships. Good luck, soldiers. Over and out."

As he cut off transmission the ships simultaneously exited hyperspace and arrived in the outskirts of the Satori system. As the fleet approached the system's center, I checked the scanner to find that there were no more than three Confederate Frigates in the system, accompanied by a Patrol Ship. I hailed the General immediately.

"Sir, I don't think this is right. There are too few ships here to have taken over the planet. I think it is a trap of some sort. I recommend that we leave some of the ships behind to guard over the attack."

The General's face soured as I spoke. "Many of the ships would have been destroyed in battle. I think your logic may be faulty, Lieutenant." He was not ready to turn back at the first sign of danger, which under any other circumstances would be a good thing. He was about to place his reputation above the lives of his crew. That was one action I could not condone.

"Sir, I will stay behind myself, if you are not willing to send back others."

"That's fine with me. We can take these ships out on our own. I will have to have a word with you when we return though. From now on, there will be complete radio silence unless we come across an actual emergency. Over and out."

I pulled out and proceeded to the outer section of the system. I stopped at a ready position and waited for any sign of something to go wrong. After a few minutes the General's Cruiser sent a message.

"This is the head Cruiser with a general message to the fleet. The four Confederate ships are abandoned, I repeat abandoned. Pull out immediately! It's a trap!" The ships slowly turned about and attempted to leave.

Before they could make it to the jump point, a ring of ships decloaked around them, at least thirty, maybe more. A horde of torpedoes was fired from the ring towards the center, completely destroying most of the Rebel fighters. The Rebel capitol ships returned fire, but to little avail.

I moved inward at full speed, trying to hit one of the patrol ships from behind. I fired the first missile into it's aft, knocking it forward and sending it into a spin. I opened fire with the proton bolts and soon had disabled it. Another round of fire was enough to collapse it's hull. It soon exploded in an orange ball of flame.

Before I could celebrate, I felt the force of a torpedo from the right. I turned about and discovered a Frigate was approaching at full speed. I readied my Javelins and fired, showering it with dashes of fire and forcing it back. I pulled around him to his aft, where I fired the last three missiles, one by one. Though it weakened him, it was not enough to collapse his shields. I began to fire proton bolts relentlessly. The vessel returned fire with turrets and missiles, but it was too late. A final burst of Javelins was enough to breach its hull, consuming it with empty space. It was now completely disabled. Ahead I saw the General's Cruiser, swarmed with heavy rockets and missiles. I received a message.

"Sabre Test Fighter, prepare to take crew members. We are about to beam aboard the General."

"Understood." As soon as they received my acknowledgment, the process began. A bright blue beam appeared in my ship as the opened the emergency transport connection. Before my eyes, the Cruiser caught fire and collapsed. By the time the General had arrived and the connection closed, all that was left of him was a scorched carcass. I quickly dragged it into the airlock and disposed of it. I hated that he could not receive a proper funeral, but only for the sake of his family. It was his own damn fault that he died, but he had to take thousands of soldiers down with him. This was the final straw. I would have to take matters into my own hands. I approached the comm panel and sent a message out to the fleet.

"All remaining ships must pull out! Leave the system immediately. The General and his ship have just been destroyed, making that the last of the Cruisers. You must now retreat to the Clotho system. Over and out."

I prepared the hyperdrive as I pulled away from the center. As soon as I reached the jump point, I activated it. It automatically stopped me, and as it prepared to jump I felt the ship shudder as a tractor beam locked over it. Sensors indicated it to be a Confederate Cruiser. I received a hail from my captor.

"You have made move that was as bold as it was stupid, Captain. You will pay for your mistake." The Captain of the vessel grinned in victory. "In blood, preferably."

"It is a good day to die," I told him boldly. "I just hope you are ready." His grin fell suddenly.

"You are in no position to make threats."

"Let me be the one who decides that." I closed off communication and began to fire my Javelins into his forward hull. As soon as his tractor beam broke off, I activated the cloaking device and jumped into hyperspace. I readied the rejuvenation chamber and crawled inside, hoping that the rest of the fleet made it out in time.

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