The Rebel Faction

Dimmed sunlight shone through the curved transparent wall that surrounded the office and helped lighten up the rather dark interior. Most of these rays hit objects all over the large room and projected their shadows over the smooth walls, ceiling and floor, stretching out to more than double the object's original size. Some, however, struck the back of the man sitting just in front of the curved viewport, being completely absorbed by the man's black clothes.

Rob Stellar sat at his large desk, his elbows on top of it, as he scanned through report after report on the floating display screen. With so many business interests and divisions within Stellar Enterprises, it was amazing how much work actually got done. That's what happens, though, when you pick the right people for the various positions.

"...Mr.Stellar, let me once again thank you for your donation of those tactical kits to our police departments. We have wanted to upgrade the old equipment for years, but it just wasn't in the funds... I'm sure you understand."

"Mr. Chancellor, please, call me Rob." He leaned back in his chair and smiled, pushing his fingers tips together in front of him. "After all this time, I think we can skip the formalities. I've never really liked being called Mister."

Rob let out a laugh and smiled.

"Then you should call me Loide ... Rob. I was never one to like formalities anyways, not among friends at least."

"Very well Loide." Rob smiled and tuned slowly in his chair to look out the wondrous view outside, at the massive canyons of skyscrapers that made up a large proportion of the landscape on Denon.

It was truly a sight to behold. Sure people will always tell you how beautiful Coruscant, but to Rob Denon was perfect for what it was. It was crowded, true, but not close to the extent the Coruscant was. There was just enough greenery and scenery to make the planet look...homie.

As Rob looked out behind his little world, he could see some of his contributions taking shape. Ever since he came to this world, he had invested great funds in making it an attractive destination for other companies as well as visitors from all over the galaxy. Rob had convinced the planetary senate to allow him the rights to purchase whole neighborhoods in which he started his transformation experiment.

His first older was business was to fix up and renovate some of the older buildings. Some of them with icons from times long past. Times when architecture was a form of art. Art that not only put up a stable structure, but also caused emotions within all that gazed upon it. There were so many beautiful buildings down below that had been forgotten and overlooked when the modern massive scrapers sprouted up around them.

Rob also started a campaign to place gardens on top of a large percentage of the buildings in the neighborhoods. It took time, but more and more beautiful gardens were planted on the lower structures. The view from taller buildings was tremendous. The colors washed away the buildings beneath and made it seem as though there was actually ground and grass below.

Some of the larger buildings even had enough room for whole parks to be planted.

All this work caused a huge stir in the population and local papers. Massive crowds were drawn to the revived neighborhoods to look at these new buildings and gardens. The popularity of it all caused the government of Denon to roll out funds for such efforts all over the city. Also, not to be outdone, other companies started to pretty up their holdings as well. All the hard work had paid off to see all the happy citizens that now had close by places that they could all go to for some natural scenery.

"So Loide, how did that assembly go today?" Rob asked as he stood up slowly and walked closer to the viewport, looking out towards a far away Tower with a massive park situated on top.

"Well that is actually the reason I am calling you. The Senate agreed to joint development and funding for the Toral Welda Trade Station. They agree that it has potential for Denon in the region."

"I'm glad they realized that it wasn't just about Stellar Enterprises." Rob reach out as he spoke and touched the curved transparent material in front of him. As he did a menu popped up instantly beside his finger. He keyed in a command and drew a square around the park he was just looked at a second before.

The image quickly localized and zoomed in closer, showing the park as if it was just out of reach outside the building. Rob ran his finger over the edge of the square, causing the image to zoom in further until he could make out actually people walking around and playing games in a grassy field. A family wondered into the shot, parents and three kids. They were all laughing and playing throw together with a six legged animal.

Rob sighed and waved his hand over the image, causing it move out of the way and quickly disappear.

"They also voted to allow you purchase of the Chraswa Building. It has been abandoned for a decade, I don't really know why it took them this long. You can now do whatever you want with it, though." Stated the Chancellor generality with a bit of disdain for the assembly.

"Well I'm glad about that as well. I have big plans for that property."

"I'm sure you do Rob and I'm also sure it will be much better than the eyesore it is at this moment." The man paused for a moment. "One other thing...Admiral Periso would like to get in contact with you sometime soon."

Rob perked up at the mention of the Admiral, he had not seen the man in a long time and rather liked the man. "What does the good Admiral want, do you know?"

"It is about a readiness report that was just completed by the DDF. Apparently we have ships that are completely unfit for duty, like that is something new. I, myself, have been saying it over and over, we need newer ships in order to protect Denon."

Rob smiled as kept looking out at the skyline below. The sun was setting already, casting beautiful orange hues in all directions and against the heavy traffic below.

"I understand Loide. I would be happy to speak to the Admiral about the matter. I'm sure we can come up with a cost effective way to modernize the military."

He was about to say something else when a buzz filled the room, originating from his desk. Rob turned around to see a blue light blinking, meaning Relaza, his assistant, had something for him.

"Pardon me Loide, I have to take this." He put the Chancellor on hold, something not many people had the luxury of doing and getting away with. "Yes Rela? What is it?"

"Sir, you have private flash traffic coming through. Seems to be from S-Two-Two." Relaza sang with her beautiful voice through the comm. Why she had not gone into a singing career was beyond Rob's comprehension.

"Loide, I'm sorry to have to do this, but I have to take care of something really important here. Perhaps we can get some dinner later on in the week." Rob said as he hurried to sit at his desk, turning towards the display.

"Of course Rob, that sounds great. I'll have my people call and set up a time." With that the conversation ended.

Rob, his face filled with excitement for the first time in a long time, pushed his hand in a slot at the edge of his desk. The scanner inside tested his fingerprints, dna, venous patterns, as well as oxygen concentration, making completely sure it was Rob. He made sure to avoid the panic switch hidden inside.

Within seconds the transparent wall behind him darkened completely, allowing no light at all to pass, before his private data terminal activated and showed him the message waiting for him.

S-Two-Two was one of the many Survey ships sent into the unknown regions months ago. Now it seemed that one of the ship's had found what he was looking for.

"Rela, please arrange a meeting with Dr. Hamulson. I would like to see him right away."

"Right away, sir." Came her reply almost immediately.

Rob sighed and lean back in his chair slowly as he transferred the information to his personal encrypted datapad and deleted the copy on his personal hub. The hub was completely separate from any outside network and even isolated from the company network, however, he was not taking any chances, not with this.

With a soft groan Rob lifted himself out of the comfortable chair and stood up, stretching out his now aching muscles. He could feel the pain and weakness starting the break through and looked down at his chrono. The symptoms were returning faster these days. A few months ago he would have gone another two hours before feeling the effects and needing to take his medications. The doctors had told him this would happen, but the progression has occurred even faster than they had estimated.

Rob inhaled a long breath and made his way slowly across the office towards the kitchen. He walked to one of the corner drawers and opened it, pushing the glasses out of the away. He ran his finger along the right edge and felt the locking mechanism retracted and the small cover pop up. Reaching down he lifted the cover back to expose a hidden compartment in which lay an injector and four different vials.

At the sight of them he realized just how hungry he really was. It was another side effect of the disease as well as the medications he had to take. Rob reached down and lifted up the small injector, checking the small display to make sure it was loaded properly. Once he was satisfied, he rolled up his sleeve to expose his left forearm and pressed the business end of the injector against his skin. He paused only for a second before pressing down to trigger the unit.

The long puff noise that was emitted from the device was barely audible in the large kitchen and would have seemed insignificant to anyone else, but to Rob it was everything. The medication combination was the only thing keeping his system active and fighting the disease. It was not a cure, but for the moment it was the only thing available to him. That would change in time, but time was something he was running out of.

His stomach growled loudly as he turned towards another set of drawers and opened one, producing a meal bar. With the disease and medication he was burning more calories than he could ever replenish with a simple meal. Only the high calorie bars would sustain him for the moment and give him enough energy to do what he had to throughout the day. It was not ideal for that man that loved to dine on the finer foods in life, but just like the meds, he had to do what he had to do to keep himself alive long enough….

With a meal bar in hand Rob proceeded to the bedroom and changed his attire to something more casual. By the time he walked out, he was feeling better. The pain and weakness were all but done and for the moment he felt quite full. He returned to the kitchen for another meal bar and stuffed it into his pants pocket just in case.

Rob took a final look around the room and moved towards the opposite wall, walking across the center office. He paused at a curved projection wall, displaying various paintings from the finest artists in the galaxy. As much as he enjoyed art, he could never make himself spend the amount of money needed to purchase all of them directly. With a wave of his hand the projections ceased and part of the wall moved forward before sliding out of the way to the side, exposing a small room on the inside.

Rob stepped inside and turned around just as the wall closed after him. A number pad appeared just in front of the door, projected a centimeter away from the surface and blinked softly as if it was begging for attention. He reached out and keyed in a security code that was instantly processed and confirmed with a solo ring. Just as the ring sounded, Rob tensed and took a deep breath. Within a second the small room plummeted towards the ground level.

Without knowledge of this drop one would have been completely disoriented and thrown into panic by sheer instinct. This, however, was not Rob’s first ride and he knew he only had a few seconds to wait until everything stabilized. Within two seconds the dampening fields engaged and the acceleration of the lift was no longer felt. Even at its ever increasing speed the lift would take a good while to travel down over seven kilometers along the entire height of the Stellar Tower.

Over two minutes later Rob stepped out of the lift into a large hover tram station. The station had been dug out and built during the building’s renovation and served at his person transportation hub, connecting him securely and discretely to other Stellar Enterprises holdings around the neighborhood. Only a select few people knew about the tram system and an even fewer number had access to it. Rob was a well know person and every time he stepped out of the building he was in the media’s spotlight, however, inside his own properly, he could not be monitored.

The two waiting guards standing just outside the lift instantly stepped to attention in their black armor as soon as the door opened and Rob walked out. He nodded at both of them, knowing them personally for a while now. To his right a tram already stood waiting. It was just a small personally unit. Room enough just for him and the two droid security units that would accompany him.

He stepped inside and sat down in the comfortable chair, looking out into the tunnel beyond as he two droids walked in after him, standing guard, ever vigilant.
“GenLabs please.” Rob stated to the tram’s computer.



Planetary system S-229

Surveyor Starry Night, code name S-Two-Two, was on its last orbit of planet two in the system. It had been in system for just over two days now, cataloguing and tagging every moon and planet in the system for their final report. The crew of three were not scientists, but they were still good at their job and knew something big had happened on the planet below. All the indications were that the planet had at one point or another sustained a vast amount of life, but had been impacted with a large asteroid which had destroyed all that life.

The only mystery was why nothing had grown back. Something had to have survived the impact. It was true that the atmosphere had thinned, but planets and bacteria would still have survived and even perhaps thrived. That was not the case here, however, and it was up to men with much higher pay-grades to find out why that was so.

“Report away.” Said Ionus as he settled back in his seat and looked at the display in front of him.

Being a man of age, he missed the good old viewports present on other ships throughout the galaxy. Looked at a projection of the outside was just not the same in his mind. Stellar Enterprises had started building more and more ships with command bridges internalized. Images fed from exterior holocams were projected all around the bridge allowing 360 degree monitoring at almost all times. Ionus accepted the practicality, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

He ran a hand through his gray hair and turned the seat back towards the control console. As the seat locked into position, part of the console extended out towards him, moving the most important controls into easy reach. With a snicker, Ionus reached out and took his cup of caf, sipping it slowly as he guided the ship out of orbit towards their next target, planet number one.

They had been in the unknown regions for over a month now, moving from system to system as they charted hyperspace routes and conducted system surveys. This was his second tour in the unknows and it never got any easier. It was amazing to him how a part of the galaxy could have so many subspace anomalies and interferences that in all the thousands of years of exploration it was still largely uncharted. Hopefully the Starry Night could change some of that.

As the final thought left his mind an alarm chime sang throughout the bridge. The primary display changed almost instantly from a view of the ship’s location to a zoom out rendering of the entire system. At the edge of the system a blue beacon appeared and started flashing slowly. A window full of readings popped up beside the indicator as the ship’s automated sensors adjusted to localize the anomaly.

Ionus looked over at Nuar’Koly’Boskar seeing just on the other side of the small bridge and could see the Bothan’s fur ruffle as he played on the command console trying to get a better grasp of the matter.

“Sir, Ionus here, we got something you might want to see.” Ionus said into the comm as he pressed the transmit button.

“Wait one.” Captain Olka said in a tired tone as got out bed to check his personal data terminal. “Be right there. Prepare for course correction. Inform SurvCom of new finding.”

Ionus keyed the comm off and looked back over at Nuar. “What the hell is that do you suppose?”

“I do not know. What I do know, is that it’s an energy spike of some kind and it appeared just moments after you sent off that Hypercom report. I personally do not believe in such timely occurrences.”

“Well whatever it is, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They don’t call these the unknown regions for nothing. There are a lot of unexplained things going on in this region. That could be one of them. Or maybe a relic from times long ago. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

After a short, but high speed, ride the tram slowed to a stop beside the underground platform. The tram doors slid open and the two security droids stepped out. They instantly scanned the whole area and their sophisticated threat assessment software declared it safe enough for their assignment to exit. When the droids stepped aside to either side of the tram door, Rob knew it was their sign of letting him know they had deemed the area secure.

Rob ducked down a bit and exited the cabin into the care of the two security personal guarding the tram station. Both were wearing the same black carbon matrix armor as the ones stationed at Stellar Tower.

“Sir, welcome to GL. Right this way please.” Stated one of the guards.

The woman turned and walked towards the heavy blastdoor at the other end of the platform. Rob followed as the other guard took up position behind him, completely silent. These people took their jobs very seriously. They didn’t know what they were guarding, but they knew it was something very serious and secretive. Secretive enough that even they did not have access to the rooms beyond this point.

Once at the large door, Rob stepped forward and pressed this right palm against a nondescript spot on the right blastdoor. After a few seconds the section started to glow red and scanned his palm, making sure to note that the hand was indeed from a living Rob Stellar, just like the scanner in his office. The confirmation also initiated a shutdown of the weapons scanner within the room beyond, just before the central locking ring spun open and the massive doors slid out of the way effortlessly.

As he stepped into the darkened room on the other side, he witnessed the dark clad guards turn on their heels and position themselves along both sides of the entry. Lights within the room slowly brightened, allowing the person entering the room to adjust quickly to the increased intensity. Behind him the security doors closed quickly and Rob could hear them lock into place. Just as they did a brighter glowlight turned on at one corner of the room, drawing his attention, almost beaconing him over. As he walked towards the light, a locker extended from the smooth wall and opened to reveal a pristine gray laboratory coat.

With the coat donned, Rob straightened it a bit around him and frowned to himself. He hated wearing the coat, but knew it was a laboratory precaution that had to be complied with. Not even Rob, the boss, himself could get away with accidentally contaminating the sterile working conditions. He moved towards the entrance hatch and waited for the door to slide open, revealing a white corridor with different colored tracks and markings on the walls and floor. Some of the tracks were a steady color, while others were flashing slowly.

This was not Rob’s first time in the labs, however, so he knew his way around well. He took the corridor down until the blue track split off to the left along another hallway. After what seemed like a good while, he saw the blue line along the floor turn into a green shade and veer off to the right. Rob went along with the green and walked a few more steps before pausing at door marked “PXR”. Once more he placed his hand against a security scanner and the door slide open quietly.

Inside was a control room with a massive window along the entire left wall. Underneath the window was a row of computer consoles. At one of these consoles sat a tall Kamino female, so concentrated in her work that she did not even hear Rob enter the room and the door close behind him. He put his hand up to his mouth and coughed softly, trying to draw her attention. Nothing happened, however. The Kamino was typing away quickly as she was before. Finally with a louder cough, the Kamino turned towards him surprised.

“Mr.Stellar! What are you doing here? Our appointment isn’t until tomorrow.” She gracefully turned towards him in her odd shaped chair and rose up gracefully.

“Qui-soia, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Rob? We’ve known each other for years.” He sighed and smiled at her as he met her halfway and took her hands in his, shaking them while leaning towards her in greeting.

“You know I cannot Mr. Stellar. You are my employer. Now please answer my question.”

Rob almost laughed, but stopped himself. Qui has been like this since the day he had hired her to work on various genetic projects. Some days her genius was only surpassed by her insanity.

“Relax Qui, I just wanted to stop by and see how everything was going. I needed to get out of the office for a while. Also…I wanted to bring you this data personally.” Rob reached into his coat and pulled out the datapad containing the recently received planetary data from the Unknowns. “Seems like we might have found the perfect planet for our experiment.”

Qui took the pad quickly and rushed to plug it into her station, looking over the data carefully, nodded every now and then.

“Yes…Yes…I think this could work well. We will need more samples of course. The project is not yet ready to progress into that phase anyways.”

“How long will you need Qui?”

“I cannot say, but we shall know more after this test. The team is getting very close to a final sequence. You may watch the test if you like.” The scientist said as she sat back down and started to punch in commands for the automated testing cycle.

Without answering, Rob put his hands behind his back and moved closer towards the window, looking towards the room on the other side. It was like staring into another world. The room was huge and over two stories high. Grass and trees filled more than half of it, seeming to grow from the floor. Light inside the room was the same wavelength as Denon’s sun, allowing the plants to grow in a natural-like environment. As looked at one of the taller trees he was amazing that only two months ago it was a little sapling.

As he watched, a small hovering droid emerged from a door in one of the walls and floated towards a test bench on the other side of the room. Once there, it extended a robotic, in which a large beaker could be seen. The beaker was turned over and the fluid inside flowed out into the sample dish lying on the table.

For a second nothing happened, as the cells inside the fluid took in the DNA within the sample dish. Then suddenly the fluid coalesced and turned a greener shade. The cells within started to divide and proliferate quickly, taking the shape of a green germinating seedling. Within minutes thing was a sapling and still growing at a tremendous pace. The droid came back again and lifted the growing tree from the bench, placing it on the nutrient rich floor. Instantly the roots extended out, seeking out all the nourishment they needed to grow. In another couple of minutes the sapling was no more, in its place was a tree about three meters tall.
It was sprouting out more branches and leaves as the monitor station beside Qui sounded an alarm. As Rob looked back he could see the growth rate slowing before the top leaves and branches started to wilt and die quickly.

“What happened? It was going so well?” Rob asked softly as he turned to towards the Kamino woman.

“Temperature! We were so close! Protein Degeneration.” Qui mumbled as she monitored the data coming back to her through her station.
“I don’t understand Qui.”

“Mr.Stellar, what is there not to understand? We had another failure. I wish you would have come here next week. We were not ready yet.” She took a deep breath and turned towards Rob. “The cells are proliferating at a fast pace and causing heat in the process. The heat is in excess of what the cell proteins and enzymes can handle. They are denaturing and causing the cells to stop working properly. Basically, the heat generated by the growth is killing them.”

“Well I’m sure you will find a way to fix this. I have faith in you Qui.” He paused and put his hands into his pockets, walking away from the window. “Anyways…what about my test results? Any good news?”
The Kamino shook her head and looked at Rob. She was not very subtle could never be said to have good patient-doctor manners.

“I’m afraid the tests did not come back well, sir. The compound is adapting quickly and changing form so that our treatments are becoming less effective. We need to synthesis another treatment to combat the new form.”

The news was something Rob already knew. He had been feeling it for weeks now and Qui only confirmed it. He ran his hand through his hair slowly and looked up at her. “How long?”

“That’s hard to say. Perhaps two months? Maybe a possible four month if we are lucky. We should do the procedure soon, sir. All the tests have proven very successful.”

Rob nodded slowly. “I have to prepare for it. I will let you know as soon as I am ready for us to proceed.”

He moved towards the door and watched it open for him slowly. “Qui, good luck with your experiment. We need this to pan out.”

Planetary System S-229
Starry Night was half way to the beacon when it detected the burst of energy generated by ships coming out of hyperspace. Alarms on the bridge rang out and the sensor once more switched their targets towards the new signatures as the fighters quickly closed with the slower survey ship.

“Unknown contacts sir! Looks like twelve fighter type ships, but they seem too big to be fighters. Heavy too. Possible bombers.” Called out Ionus and he pushed his head closer to the displace.

“Shut up! We aren’t here to speculate. Record the data, catalogue it and transmit it out. Let the higher-ups figure out what they are.” The Captain shouted as he strapped into the command chair. “Shields up! Engines to full. Plot us a course out of the system.”

As he commanded, the ship’s shields powered up and the deck vibrated as it accelerated away from the formation of fighter, which was now forming up into groups.

“We can’t outrun them sir. This ship wasn’t built for that.”
“I know that damn it!” Captain Olka growled as he ran his hand through his hair.

Who were these guys and where did they come from? They were serious too. You didn’t just send in twelve large fighter type craft to have a friendly chat with someone. He looked down at his console and saw that would still be a while until a new course could be plotted. He had to do something…maybe buy some time.

Reaching over, Olka hit the transmit button and opened all channels. “This is the survey ship Starry Night. We are unarmed and request you state your intentions.”

He paused for a bit, never being the best talker. “IF we have violated any of your laws or trespassing within your territory we are sorry and will leave this system at once. Please respond.”

“We are not the enemy…” He added at the end without much confidence, unsure of why he just said it.

On the display he could see the ships getting closer by the second.

The Starry Night was trapped with no way out. There was not a chance in hell of out running the fighters pursuing it nor was there time to calculate the hyperspace jump needed to leave the system. As if they didn’t have enough worries, another alarm sounded onboard the bridge.

“We have incoming! Four missiles…wait, eight missiles now! Unknown designation.”

There was no way they could survive that kind of assault, not with the meager shields that equipped the survey vessel.

“New contact! Corvette or Frigate size.”

“Are they here to witness our deaths as well? Change course towards that ship and send out an updated data package!” Called out the Captain. “Prepare for ejection.”

He felt the ship slowly turn towards the larger unknown one and looking over at the display to watch the missiles closing on his ship. He hoped the explosion could at least cause some damage to the corvette as his one last defiant act. As Olka strapped into his command chair the memories of his family members passed through his mind. He would probably never see them again…not like he saw them that much these days anyways.

“Sir! The missiles…”

“The missiles what?!” The captain questioned as he turn his head and watched the projected display show the two groups of missiles get closer just before detonating softly and forming a net. “What the hell…”

His voice trailed off as the first net hit the shields and caused the ship to vibrate slightly under the impact. Within seconds the shields overloaded and lightening raced over the entire hull. Lights onboard flickered as energy was drained from them and control boards shorted. The bridge stations resisted the first assault on them for a short period of time, but when the second net closed around the ship, those systems shut down as well, as the generator powering them switched off.

In second the backup interior lights came on softly, flooding the darkness with much needed light as the ship drifted in space on its present course. Olka’s only hope was that the compressed emergency transmission had made it out before all systems failed.

Denon – GenLabs

Rob slowly walked back out onto the GenLabs Tram Station and took a deep breath. Even though he had a feeling the news would not be good, he still had hope that perhaps it was just him being pessimistic. He had been slowly dying for a while now, but it was only now after hearing he only had a few months left that it real hit home like a punch to the chest. For some reason he felt like every breath he was now taking were his last. There was only one option of how to survive this and it was not yet completely. Maybe it would never be completed in time…

Rob suppressed the thought almost as soon as it emerged. He would fight for life until his last breath, that he promised himself years ago. He did not make it this far just to quit. Plus, whoever had done this still had to pay.

That thought alone brought a smile to his lip as he walked one of the guards turn towards him.

“Sir, we were notified that you have a message waiting for you on your private terminal.”

For a second Rob was puzzled, he should have received the call or message on his personal datapad, but then remembered that the GenLabs had been completely isolated from any network on or off the planet. It was like an island within the city in order to protect all the secrets inside.

He pulled out his pad and sure enough there was a message from Admiral Polso, marked urgent.

Rob motioned for the guards to not follow and moved to the far end of the platform. He activated the small sound dampening field generator built into the datapad and commed the Admiral.

“Admiral, what seems to be the urgency.”

“Sir, we seem to have lost all contact with Survey Ship Two Two. They reported moving to investigate some beacon that turned on within the system and the next update was them being pursued by a number of unknown fighter craft. Just before you called, however, we received a new transmission; this one was broken off prematurely. It indicated that the vessel was fired upon by at least two of the fighters with unknown type of missile and that another vessel has entered the vicinity. We don’t know anything about the vessel, however. Only thing to make it through was an image.”

The Admiral paused. “We sent the image to your personal terminal in case you would like to see. I am preparing a small taskforce to go investigate the area. Perhaps we can recover something useful or find those responsible and make them regret what they have done.”

“Admiral, please delay that last for now.” Rob calmly ordered as he smiling a bit, admiring the other man’s enthusiasm. “We don’t know the full story and it wouldn’t do anyone any good to go in there in full force. There are many peoples and cultures in that area of space that we just have never meet and know nothing about it. Until we do we have to try everything in our power to be diplomatic.”

After a short pause to get his thoughts straight, Rob continued. “Admiral, are there any ships that are in the vicinity of Denon that can make the trip into the unknown regions alone?”

“Wait one, sir.” The Admiral asked as he checked for the information. “We have a Stellar Class with escorts in system for protection, of course. There is a Griffin class Cruiser about an three hours away on anti-piracy missions, two Caster Class Cruisers within two and five hours away respectively. Seems like the Grappler, a Binder MKII Class Frigate, is just two hours by hyperspace from Denon. It’s finishing up a shakedown tour, however.”

“Is it ready for duty, though, Admiral?”

“Yes, sir. She’s a fine ship with a fine commander. The only problem is that her crew is mostly green. Wait…sir if you are thinking of doing what I think you are, I would really recommend taking a ship with better protection.”

“That is exactly why I want the Grappler, Admiral. I do not to provoke whoever was responsible for this. I want them to see we are not there to fight, but to talk.”

“Understood, sir, but let the record show that I’m against it. Anyways, the ship will need to replenish at Denon and take on enough supplies for the journey. If you request, she will be ready in three and a half hours.”

“Dually noted Admiral. Please have the ship ready for me.” Rob turned to walk back towards the tram. “Oh and Admiral, if you don’t hear back from us, bring in as many warships as you need to in order to secure the area.”

Back at Stellar Towers, Rob rode the turbolift up towards his office and penthouse. He was actually happy, for the first time in a while. The thought of the trip into the unknowns excited him immensely. Even with the prospect of never coming back, the trip was something he was looking forward to. He had not been off planet in a long time and finally something comes along to pull him away from the mundane world he had been living. It would also give him a chance to think about something other than the business and his health problems.

The lift stopped off a few levels below the penthouse and he walked out into a short hallway that lead to the office of his friend and CFO, Xander Lo’Vas. He took a breath and switched off his happy attitude for a second. He had everything planned out since the tram ride over. For the plan to work, people had to wonder why he was mission for long periods of time, without asking too many questions. The plan was to start seeming as if he was having mental breakdowns.

He nodded to the secretary sitting beside the office door and pushed the heavy wooden door open, peeking inside. There, at his desk, like always, was Xandar, slaving away at report after report.

“Xandar, I’m heading off world for a while. Just letting you know.” With that Rob turned and briskly walked back towards the turbolift.

“Wait, what?!” He hear Xandar exclaim as the doors sealed shut and the lift traveled up to his penthouse.

Two and some weeks later

The journey to S229 had been longer than Rob had expected. Even with the charted hyperlanes from the Starry Night and other survey ships in the area, each hyperspace jump was dangerous and close. Instead of simple long straight runs like in the known galaxy, jumps were forced to be short winding ones that curved back among themselves at various points. This was because of all the various anomalies within that part of space. At certain points the sensors had even picked up what seemed to be returns from different ships, but they had disappeared almost as soon as they were cataloged and studied.

“Coming up on S229. Reversion in three…two…”

Rob stood up and moved towards the front of the circular bridge, past the V shaped monitor stations. He paused to stare out at the hyperspace tunnel spinning before them. In one corner of the display was a large map showing their estimated position in space. They had entered S229 seconds before and were closing in on the second planet form the sun. The one that was being investigated for the Revival Project.

“One!” Called out one of the officers as the ship emerged into subspace.

As the captain started issuing orders to put shields up and weapons on standby, Rob stood at the display and saw that the jump was slight off target. That was the problem with new hyperspace routes as well. They were not yet perfected enough for pinpoint exits. They were some distance away from the planet, they should have been only a few hundred thousand kilometers away. In fact they had emerged between the first and second planet.

As Rob watched, the fast frigate began its turn back around in order to gain speed and reposition itself. A shudder ran through the vessel as its powerful engines pushed the sleek, rounded edge ship through space. The corrected course would hopefully allow them to retrace the course taken by the Starry Night before the ship was attacked. In the display, Rob could see just over the forward hull, noting that the forward section was in the closed position, making the ship narrower in the front. He knew, however, that the forward section could open wide enough to accommodate most of the smaller freighters in production. If the other ship was bigger, however, each side contained hull cutters for quick breaching and assaults.

Rob wondered if the unknown people that attacked one of his ships would still be in or near the system. He hopped this whole trip had not been for nowt.

Rob slowly paced around the rear of the small bridge with a big cup of caf in his hand. He took a sip of the hot drink and ran his other hand through his hair, trying to stay in control a little longer. The pain was starting to increase again instead of him, crawling through his nervous system and distributing like pinpricks all over his body. It took all the mental strength he had to keep the pain from showing on his face and in his gestures. The crew could not know what he was going through. These were not the trusted people on his list, but that would have to change since they now know the location of this place.

They had been moving through space the past few hours and closing on the last known location of the Starry Night. In that time Rob could have went to take his medication, but he choose to stay with the rest of the man and woman on the bridge. He was a part of them now and if they could not leave, he would not either.

Looking forward, he could see the forward display showing only blackness of the space beyond. Somewhere in the distance was a transmission beacon that had caused all of these events to transpire. They had already mapped it on sensors and a three –dimensional projection of it floated on the bridge, being analyzed by the onboard computer systems. From the initial readings it did not seem to be as highly advanced as previously thought, meaning that it was either older or these aliens did not have technology of the same caliber as Stellar Enterprises. This did not mean they could be underestimated, however.

“Sensor scan complete, sir. No sign of the Starry Night or any remains from battle damage.”

“Either everything was cleaned up, which doesn’t make much sense, or they were captured.” Commander Holsin said as a matter of fact.

“Which tells us that we are not dealing with some blood thirsty beings here. They could have simply destroyed that small surveyor and went on their merry way, but they took the time to capture our people.” That came from Rob as he stopped pacing and took a few steps forward.

“Or they could be being tortured at this moment, for all we know. They could have been executed as well for all we know.”

“That’s right, Commander, we don’t know. There is not use in speculating either.” Rob said calmly as he moved to sit down in his seat, gritting his teeth slightly as he lowered himself into it.

“Try to expand our detection range if you can. I don’t want to be caught with our britches down if those aliens come back.” Commanded Holsin as he glared out into space, his hands crossed over his chest.

It was at that moment that the transmission came through and a beep resounded from the communications station situated at the right half of the bridge.

“Sir! Receiving transmission. It appears to be originating from the beacon.”

The Commander turned away from the forward display and looked at the man in charge of the comm station. “Put it through.”

The message came through as static at first, but quickly cleared up as the sophisticated filters onboard the Grappler scrubbed away the background interference. Captain Olka’s voice could clearly be heard and did not show any signs of distress. As they all listened to the short transmission coming through, everyone was both relieved to hear the Captain’s voice as well as surprised as his message and cooperation with the people that had captured him. It was obvious they had put him up to relaying the message, however.

Rob looked over at the communications officer and watched the man punch some codes in before looking up. “Voice analysis confirms that is indeed Captain Olka and there is a ninety three point four five percent certainty this was not a recorded transmission.”

Commander Holsin walked a little closer and looked at the man. He could tell there was more. “But?”

“Well…the authentication code he gave us was a little off. Only one number, thought. It could just be the stress of being a prisoner.”

The Commander shook his head slowly, looking at the green sailor for a moment. “Or more likely it’s his only way of staying defiant. A Captain of that many years does not simply get their codes wrong. He was sending us a message.”

He took a deep breath and moving his hands behind him as he turned back towards the forward display, ordering the channel to be opened for a reply. “Captain Olka, this is Commander…”

He cut off as Rob Stellar himself stood up slowly from his seat. “This is Rob Stellar of Stellar Enterprises, on board the Grappler, Captain. It is great to hear your voice and find out that you are alive. Are you being treated well? How is the rest of your crew? I truly hope no one has been harmed.”

He caused for the answers, confirming that everyone was indeed being taken care of and not harmed, before continuing.

“Now, would it be possible for me to speak with whoever is in charge of the Free Colonies, or at least perhaps to the person there with you now? I apologize for the intrusion into this system.” Rob kept talking, knowing that the others holding the captain would be listening as well. “However, we are here in order to negotiate for the release of our people held in your custody. It is very unfortunate they had to get caught up in this and that was not or my companies intent. All I ask is for an audience with you in order to talk about this transgression and see if we cannot work out a solution that benefits us both.”

He paused and took another bring of his caf, feeling the pain medication start having little effect on his body’s state. He had to concentrate, however, and fight through the pain even as if clouded his mind, making it harder to think and react.

“I want to reassure you that we did not come here to fight or take this territory from you. We were simply exploring the Unknown Regions for uninhabited systems and for general curiosity. If you so wish we will leave your land completely and never return, but not without our people. We are not violent, but I will do everything in my power to get my people back, we are not leaving here without them. If that starts a war between us, then so be it, but that is not my intention and hopefully not yours either.”

Rob stated the last part with all the conviction inside his heart. He would not stop until he got those people back, alive or dead. They had taken up a mission for him and he was going to offer them all the support and assist he could.

“Let us sit down and discuss all these matters in a civilized way and find a way to coexist. Seeing as you have not harmed my people in any way, I believe we can be much better friends than enemies. I will await your reply. Please consider all that I have said.” With that he gestured to the comm station to cut his mic.

Once the bridge could not be heard, the sensor officer perked up. “Commander, we are in weapons range of the beacon.”

“Very well, target it with ion cannons and hold for further orders. If they decide to fight we will deny them the use of that system. It seems clear that is not just a relay beacon, but also a sensor array of some kind. There are no other active sources we can detect, yet they knew we were here. The same thing happened with the Starry Night. The enemy knew just where she was when they dropped out of hyperspace to attack her.” The Commander exclaimed as he turned back towards Rob.

“They are not the enemy…not yet at least. Let’s try to see things from their perspective. We were trespassing. Sure they didn’t handle things the way we would have, but they have a different culture. Perhaps they have reasons to be suspicious of everyone.”