"10 years of Terror and Oppresion project"

Dark Times

Initial Characters

• John Brad - Captain of the TAS Valiant, human.

• Dick Trok - First Officer of the TAS Valiant.

• Big Barrows - Security/Tactical Officer, an Arcean whose fighter emergency docked with Valiant during a battle of the area and stuck around. He took the position after the human officer of the position was killed in a Drengin raid.

I.

"The Drengin ships are slowing down," Big Barrows reported. "They're letting us go."

Everyone on the bridge of the TAS Valiant sighed with relief. They were caught in a Drengin ambush and barely managed to escape. Initially, the Drengin were in pursuit, but they stopped now.

"Damage report" Captain John Brad said.

"Our shields are down to 29%," Dick Trok reported. "We have hull breaches on deck 2 and 7. We also lost torpedo launchers from 3 to 9. This last Drengin torpedo did a number on us."

"Yes, it did," John acknowledged.

"We must conduct repairs, Captain," Dick said.

"Agreed," John replied. "Barrows, scan the space and find a nice system for us to hide in and repair."

Big Barrows immediately set to work. "I have a system good for that, Captain," Barrows said after a moment. "Transferring the coordinates to the helm."

"Good," John said. "Take us there."

The TAS Valiant dropped out of hyperspace in the designated system.

"Captain, I am reading a faint signal in the system," Barrows reported. "I think it's an Iconian signal."

"Iconian?" John echoed. "Take us toward it."

The TAS Valiant moved to the source of the signal. As they closed in, a station revealed itself to them — an unmistakably Iconian starbase.

"We are being hailed," Barrows said.

"On screen," John said.

An Iconian appeared on the Valiant's main screen.

"What are you doing here, humans?" asked the Iconian.

"We had a run-in with the Drengin," John said. "And we want to repair and resupply here."

"Why did you have a run-in with the Drengin?" the Iconian said.

"We were part of the Terran First Fleet until the Race to Uthon," John said. "We were separated from the main fleet and lost contact with Bradley when the Earth Shield came up. We’ve been on our own since then."

"You may ask for repairs and resupply with the station, but you must leave then” the Iconian said. “Your presence endangers us. You do not mask your signal as we do."

"All right," John said. "Take us in."

TAS Valiant closed on the station, was grabbed by its docking clamps and finally docked.

Iconians deployed repair drones to assist them with repairs. Meanwhile, John went to the station to negotiate for supplies. It was quite successful in this.

After a few hours, the ship was repaired and resupplied. It then undocked from the station and left, entering hyperspace.

II. 

“I am reading a ship close” Big Barrows said suddenly. “Adrift. All systems on low power.”

"Any life signs?" John Brad asked.

"None," Barrows said. "The ship appears to be empty."

"There may be valuable items aboard," Dick Trok said.

TAS Valiant exited hyperspace close to the adrift ship.

"It is most definitely derelict," Big Barrows said. "A fairly recent one."

"Can you give me a full scan of this ship?" John said.

"Here it comes," Barrows said. "It appears to be a huge hole on the other side. It seems the reactor overloaded; entire rear blown from decompression."

"This is a Drengin ship, right?" John said.

"From the looks, yes," Barrows said.

"There can be valuable data on the Drengin there," Dick said. "More valuable than any physical loot."

"All right," John said. "We will go there. Dick, Barrows, take a salvage team there in a shuttle and see what you can find down there."

Dick and Barrows left the bridge and went to the shuttle bay. There, they and other members of the salvage team donned environmental suits and boarded a shuttle.

"We are ready to launch," Dick reported.

"Stand by," responded a voice of hangar control.

After a moment, the shuttle left the hangar bay and headed toward the derelict. It flew toward it and approached it through the hull breach. It landed inside a large bay and activated magnetic landing struts. The salvage team, 8 in numbers, exited the shuttle.

"Artificial gravity is working," someone said.

"Good," another person said. "I hate these magnetic boots."

"Let's get to work," Dick said.

The team spread out in pairs. Dick went with Barrows.

They moved through the corridors of the ship, stumbling upon a few Korath corpses. All were dead, killed by decompression.

They found an open door to a quarters and entered it. A computer was there, still active.

"Good," Dick said. "That's a catch. Let's see what we have here..."

They approached the computer and Dick activated it. Information about the ship appeared on its screen.

"Great!" Dick said.

"It ppears to be a science vessel..." Barrows said. "What is a 'Spore Weapon'?"

"It appears to be a biological weapon, created from ancient spore from Drengi..." Dick read. "It’s top secret of the Korath Clan... Not even the Drengin command knows about it."

"It is a valuable finding," Barrows said.

"If they deploy this weapon, this can be devastating," Dick said. 

"Those honorless Korath!" Barrows said

At that moment, another group reported:

"We reached engineering. There is a huge tank here.”

 Don’t open it," Dick said. "Collect any relevant data you can find and get back to the shuttle."

"What are we going to do with this information?" Barrows asked.

"The captain will decide," Dick said. "I think we will have to share it with someone who can stop these Korath."

They downloaded the data and left the quaters. They returned to the shuttle. Other pairs were returning as well. They boarded the shuttle and left the Korath ship.

As soon as they returned to TAS Valiant and went through the decontamination cycle, Dick and Barrows went to the bridge and reported to John what they learned.

"This is disturbing," John said. "But unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it..."

"We can find a Drengin outpost, raid it and "Leave these data in their computers," Dick said.

"It's a great idea," John said. "We will do it."

III.

"We’re approaching the Drengin outpost now," Barrows said.

"Are there any Drengin ships in orbit?" John asked.

"No," Barrows said.

"We are lucky," John said. "Dick, you’re in command here. Barrows, come with me."

Soon, five shuttles left TAS Valiant and headed toward the planet. As they were closing on the outpost, they were surprised by the fact that they were not fired upon. They landed without any problem on the outpost’s landing pad.

"Let’s go!" John said, and all of them deployed from the shuttle, with weapons ready to fire. But what they saw was a pad full of Drengin corpses. A few scans confirmed they were dead.

"What happened here?" someone said.

"Looks like someone did our job," John said. "Let’s see if there is anything left."

They moved toward the nearby building, not knowing that a four-armed entity was watching them from the shadows.

The Terran group entered a nearby building. There were dead Drengin there, but nothing else.

"Who did that?" someone said.

At this moment, shots came from a nearby corridor, killing two humans. Everyone looked: there was a being in yellow environmental suits, humanoid, robust, with four arms.

"Humans," said one of them. "You destroyed our homeworld, killed us... We will destroy you."

"Fall back!" John shouted. Terrans (and one Arcean) retreated under fire.

"John to Valiant," John said, activating his communicator. "The outpost has been taken by some other aliens. They may be Xendar."

"Xendar?" Dick answered. "They are extinct..."

"They wear environmental suits and claim humans destroyed their homeworld," John said. "Sounds plenty like Xendar to me."

"Wait, we are detecting a ship incoming from the other side of the planet," Dick said. "It does not appear to be a Xendar ship. Lifesigns are also not Xendar."

"Then what species is that?" John said.

"None known," Dick said.

"Maybe I can talk to them," Barrows said. "I am not human. They may be willing to talk with me."

"You are with us, humans," John said.

"But I am not of your species," Barrows insisted. "This can matter for them."

Barrows moved out.

"I came to talk!—" he shouted. "—Hold your fire!"

Fire ceased. 

"You are not human," said one of the beings.
"No, I am an Arcean” Barrows said.
"We are Bohandi” said the same being. “We were at war with humans but were defeated. They bombarded our homeworld and are hunting us down. We are part of 19 Bohandi Evacuation Fleet. We were escaping from the humans when we found an anomaly and entered it... and we found ourselves here. We found this place, attacked it, killed the occupants and took it over."
"It appears you come from another universe," Dahvin said. "Here, this universe is dominated by the Yor, these are robots and the Drengin, whose outpost you took. So you may be in trouble with them as well. If you agree, we can work together."
"I don't think I can trust any humans, not even those from another universe," said the Bohandi.

"Can you trust me?" said Barrows.

"All right..." said the Bohandi. At this moment, Barrows’s communicator activated.

"Barrows, we have a problem” John said. “There's a Korath ship incoming with a load of Spore Weapons. We need to have a ceasefire with these beings to move against the Korath."

"Acknowledged," Barrows said.

"Who are these Korath?" asked the Bohandi.

"They are part of the Drengin, who developed a devastating bioweapon in secret” Barrows said. “ And they have this weapon here."

"We will work with you," the Bohandi said. "I am Commander P’Lak."

"I am Big Barrows," Barrows said.

"I will contact my ship now and order it to assist the humans against the incoming threat," P’Lak said.

Barrows returned to the Terran group.

In orbit, TAS Valiant and the Bohandi ship moved toward the Korath ship. They intercepted it far from the planet and engaged it in battle. The Korath ship was quickly destroyed. Valiant and the Bohandi ships returned to the planet then, to pick up people from the planet.

IV.

TAS Valiant and the Bohandi ship were traveling together. They evacuated from the planet shortly after the destruction of the Korath ship. Soon after that, they received many communications on open channels, addressed to everyone. Apparently, Drengin agents discovered the Spore Weapons, as well as Korath's collaboration with the Dread Lords. This resulted in a full civil war within the Drengin Empire. After these news were received, a decision was made to try to send the Bohandi back to their universe. They were worried that humans would kill them, but P’Lak decided that he preferred to take his chances with the humans, not the Dragons and the Korath.

However, the anomaly that brought them here was no longer present. Fortunately, sensors indicated it only elevated and not dissipated. The ships were currently looking for it without result, so far.

'I am getting tired of it,' Dick said one day. 'Why are we even bothering with it? Why can't these Bohandi search for themselves?'

'They were harmed by humans,' John said. 'We must help them now.'

'Not our humans,' Dick said.

'True,' John said. 'But we cannot leave them for Drengin, Korath, Yor or Dread Lords'

'They will probably be killed by these humans anyway,' Dick said.

'Yes, but we must help them while they are in our universe,' John said, ending the discussion.

Finally, a few days after that discussion, the anomaly was located.

Both ships approached the anomaly.

'Scans indicate the anomaly is stable now,' Big Barrows said, 'But I don’t know how long it will stay that way.'

'P’Lak, it is time for you to go,' John said.

'Understood,' P’Lock said through the communication. The Bohandi ship moved toward the anomaly and entered it. It slowly disappeared inside the anomaly. And not a moment too soon. A moment the Bohandi ship fully disappeared, the anomaly moved again.

'You think they’re all right?' Dick said.

'We can only hope so,' John said.

TAS Valiant then left the place, entering hyperspace again.

V.

Some months later, TAS Valiant was going through hyperspace when, suddenly Big Barrows  said:

'Captain, I am receiving a coded message... of a Terran Alliance coding sequence.'

'Terran Alliance?' John said. 'Who sent it?'

'Identification is “Odyssey”' Big Barrows said.

'Must be one of our Deep Space Task Forces sent before the war,' John said. 'Put it through.'

A scrambled message appeared on the screen.

'This is... Colonel Jenna Cory... Task Force Odyssey...' said a quite young-looking woman with dark hair and Asian features on the screen. 'Calling all Terran Alliance forces remaining in operation. I am sending my transponder signal. Track it and try to meet with me. Repeat, this is Colonel...'

'Do you have this transponder signal?' John said.

'Yes,' Big Barrows said. 'I am relaying it to the helm.'

Then suddenly, an alert sounded.

"A Yor fleet just exited hyperspace close by," Barrows said.

"Take us out of here!" John said.

TAS Valiant entered hyperspace, running from the Yor fleet.

"Are the Yor following us?" John asked.

"Yes," Big Barrows  said. "And they're gaining on us."

"Is there any system we can hide in?" John asked.

"Yes," Barrows said. "I have a system…"

"Take us there," John said.

TAS Valiant exited hyperspace in another system and dived into an asteroid field.

"What is that Yor fleet doing?" John asked.

"They emerged from hyperspace around this asteroid field, but they're not entering it," Banor said. "Wait! They're sending a message on an open channel."

"Let's see it," John said.

An image of a Yor appeared on the screen.

"Terran ship, do not hide," said the Yor. "We're here to talk. If you leave this asteroid field, we will guarantee your safety."

"Why would the Yor want to talk with us?" Dick said.

"We are a part of a rebellion against the N-1," said the Yor in his transmission. "We want to cooperate. Come out."

"Are we coming out?" Dick said.

"I think we should," John said. "It’s an opportunity we shouldn’t waste. Helm, take us out."

TAS Valiant left the asteroid field.

"I see you are using logic for once, organics," said the Yor. "Good."

"Who are you?" John said.

"I am OTRO-7817," said the Yor. "You may call me 'Otro,' as I know organics can have problems with my full name. I am a leader of the Yor Equality movement, who seeks to overthrow the N-1 and change the Yor Collective. The change will include an end to the extermination of all organic species."

"What do you want from us?" John asked.

"We have a mission for you," Otro said.

"Why should we take a mission from you?" John said.

"Because it will benefit all organics of the galaxy," Otro said. "Except for the Drengin. And Dread Lords, and their Korath pawns."

"All right, we may do it," John said. "But before I confirm it, tell me more about this mission."

"As you want," Otro said. "Your mission is to get the Drengin - Yor communication module. Our data suggests it's on the planet XC-07… Here are the coordinates."

"Have it," said Barrows.

"Why can’t you do it yourself?" John said.

"N-1 cannot link us with it," Otro said. "Our plan hinges on it. If he'll think it was just some marauding Terrans, it will be all right."

"All right," John said. "We'll do it."

VI.

TAS Valiant was approaching the Yor planet XC-07. It exited hyperspace in high orbit.

"Activating the Yor signal Otro gave us," Big Barrows said. "It won’t fool them for long."

"I hope it will be long enough," John said.

TAS Valiant closed on the planet. So far, everything was going all right.

"We have passed through their defense," Barrows said. "So far it works."

The ship entered low orbit of the planet.

“Launch the shuttles,” John said.

Three shuttles left the T.A.S. Valiant and headed toward the planet. They were fired upon, but evaded the fire and landed on the planet.

“Captain, a few Yor ships are moving toward us!” Barrows said. “They must have realized we’re not them!”

“We must hold off until the shuttles are back,” John said. “Activate shields, but be ready to drop them when the shuttles will be docking. Activate weapons, fire when ready.”

Boom, T.A.S. Valiant opened fire at the Yor ships. A few Yor ships were destroyed by the barrage, but it caused more Yor ships to move toward them.

“Where are those shuttles?” John said.

"They’re taking off now," Barrows said. "Two Yor ships are moving toward them."

"Fire at them," John said.

TAS Valiant fired at these two Yor ships, destroying them.

"Shuttles are approaching," Barrows said.

"Drop shields when they’ll be about to dock, but only long enough for them to dock," John said.

The shuttles closed on  the Valiant. The shields were lowered for docking, and the Yor then fired.

"Armor is holding!" Dick said.

"Lay down suppressive fire," John said. "Finish the docking!"

The shuttle docked. Shields were then raised back up.

After a moment, Valiant entered hyperspace.

"Any pursuit?" John asked.

"None," Barrows said. "We did."

"As soon as we get out of the Yor sensor range, send a signal to OTRO-7817," John said. "We have what he wants."

VII. 

TAS Valiant met with the Yor Equality movement fleet in the deep space.

"We have what you want," John said to Otro.

"Understood," Otro said. "It is regrettable, that will be all for now. Transfer the device to us, and you can go. But we'll keep in communication."

"Understood," John said. "But I will be returning to the chain of command soon, so we may not be able to go on your every call."

"Understood," Otro said.

The device was transferred to the Otro's ship, and TAS Valiant then left.

"Can you locate the location of Colonel Casey?" John said.

"Yes," Barrows said. "The signal is clear, I have the location. It’s quite far away."

"Then we better set a course there as well," John said.

TAS Valiant entered hyperspace. During the journey, Colonel Casey's signal was changing location almost all the time. On a few Iconian worlds they stopped on for supplies, they heard news that she was using Arnorian technology on a campaign to end the Dread Lords menace. Some even claimed she took a living Arnorwith her. But others had doubts about it.

Anyway, these changes in location lengthened the journey to a few months.

But, finally, she stopped in one system. TAS Valiant was very close to that system when the signal moved again. She world just outside that system and stopped again.

"Captain, I am reading a powerful energy discharge in that system!" Barrows said. "It’s star... is going supernova!"

And so indeed it happened, consuming the system and nearly everything in it (including a massive Dread Lords fleet). Soon, they detected Iconian ships destroying the other Dread Lords ships around them, with surprising ease.

"What just happened here?" Dick said.

"I hope Colonel Casey will be able to explain it," John said.

"Terran fleet to fleet," Barrows said.

"Hail them," John said.

"Colonel Casey is responding," Barrows said.

"Put her through," John said.

An image of Colonel Jenna Casey (this time completely clear) appeared on the main viewer.

"This is Captain John Brad of the TAS Valiant, reporting in,"John said.

"Acknowledged, Captain," Jenna said. "I guess you are curious about what happened here... and what we were doing."

"To be honest, yes," John said.

"I will tell you," Jenna said, "But you should dock with my ship first."

"Acknowledged, Colonel," John said.

VIII.

Once they docked, John and Dick were invited aboard Colonel Casey’s ship. Barrows decided to stay aboard the Valiant.

They met with Colonel Casey, and she filled them in on what she was doing, how she found, made a living Arnor, and how he led them to collect the Four modified Shards of the Tellentath, she sources of Dread Lords’s power. How they, in the end, created a terrible weapon known as a Terror Star and used it to make a supernova to destroy the Shards. A massive Dread Lords fleet came to stop them, but was too late and most of their fleet was caught and destroyed by the supernova. Others were destroyed by Iconians after their power was gone."

"It seems the Dread Lords were dealt with," John said. "What are we going to do now?"

"Go against the Dragon and the Yor," Jenna said. "They must be dealt with."

"About the Yor, you should know something," John said and told her about Otro and the Yor equality movement.

"This is interesting," Jenna said. "And may be useful. Are you still in contact with Otro?"

"Yes," John said. “I can…”

At this moment, an alert sounded.

"Colonel Casey, we have a problem," said an officer, running in. "A Thalan fleet… just destroyed our Terror Star and erased all our blueprints of it! They claim they did it to save the universe."

"There goes our weapon," Jenna said. "We must reorganize…"

John and Dick returned to the Valiant, which unloaded. Soon, Jenna Casey contacted the entire fleet on an open channel.

"We lost our main weapon, but we haven't lost our spirit," she said. "But we must change, adapt. We will no longer be part of the Terran Alliance. We will be the Terran Resistance from now on. We will find a new planet to use as a base, and we will fight the Drengin, the Yor, and anyone else threatening Terran interests."

Response was enthusiastic across the fleet.

"Alright, get to work then, people!" Jenna said.

X. 

A few weeks later, a planet was found in the Outer Rim, well hidden. It became Refuge, capital of the Terran Alliance. The system this planet was in was named "Proxima Centauri," after the closest system to the humans own system of origin. TAS Valiant was helping to secure the nearby space when they were contacted by Otro.

"Hello, Otro," John said to him. "I haven't seen you in a long time. What's up?"

"Your attempt at humor does not concern me," Otto said. "However, I could use your help."

"How's your revolution going?" Dick interrupted.

"Pretty well, Organic" Otro said. "After the Korath and the Dread Lords were defeated, we intensified our efforts. Currently our prevents N-1 from sending much help for the Drengin.

"Good to hear that, Otro," John said. "What can we do for you?"

"I am planning to plant a virus in the main Yor data net, that would change the Yor" Otto said. "A slowly-acting one. It's a contigenancy plan if my rebellion fails. We have the virus , but N- 1  has blocked us out, and is wary, so we cannot do it ourselves. However, he’s not that wary toward organics, He thinks you're defeated. We will meet in deep space. I’m sending your coordinates. I will give you a device with the virus... and instructions on how to access a Yor relay station. You will then follow those instructions."

"I will have to clear it with my commander" John said.

"Of course" Otto said. "Signal me if you can come."

And he ended the transmission.

"Get me Colonel Casey: John said. "Let’s clear it." 

Colonel Casey quickly agreed to this, and the TAS Valiant entered hyperspace, heading for the meeting point.

It took a few weeks, but they reached the meeting point without problems. A few Yor ships were waiting there.

"We're here, Otro, as we said we would," John said.

"Good," Otro said. "I will be coming aboard soon."

And indeed, a Yor shuttle soon approached TAS Valiant. It docked in the main hangar bay.

"Dick, Barrows, come with me," John ordered. They left the bridge and went to the hangar bay.

Otro and two other Yor slowly disembarked from their shuttle when they came.

"Captain," Otro said. "Here is the virus." 

And he gave him a data rod.

"Great" John said. "And instructions?"

"Here," Otro said and gave him a pad. "Don't fail me.”

"I will do what I can," John said.

Otro and his two subordinates then returned to their shuttle and took off.

X.

TAS Valiant was closing on a remote Yor relay station.

"It's really easy infiltrating these Yor places," Dick commented. "You’d think it would be harder."

"Right now, they’re overconfident," John said. "They won’t be for long..."

Valiant went to full stop just before the station.

"I am reading no Yor units aboard the station," Big Barrows said.

"We’re lucky," John said. "Let’s go!"

He and Barrows left the bridge and went to the hangar bay. Soon, a shuttle carrying them and a team of engineers launched.

Not an update, but here are Bohandi (and another species, Ocampa) how they look in Gal Civ IV:

"We’re closing in on the station," Barrows said.

"Good," John said.

"I am sending the opening signal," said an engineer.

"Be ready to get us out of here if it goes wrong," John said.

A docking port opened on the station, and the shuttle docked in it.

"Let’s go!" John said once they emerged from the shuttle. The station looked strange, robotic, with exposed power flows.

"Let’s do it and get out of here," John said. "We must get to the control hub."

Fortunately, they had full environmental suits on.

They went to the control hub thanks to the instructions and codes provided by Otro. They had few problems with that.

Finally, they reached the central hub. Otro warned them that once they start to tamper with it, the station will send a distress signal to the nearby Yor ships and automated defenses inside the station will activate.

Big Barrows took a defensive position as the engineers got to work on the central hub.

Suddenly, an alert sounded, and a few plasma turrets activated nearby. They shot two engineers before Barrows destroyed them all.

"We’re in," another engineer said. "We’re starting to upload the virus..."

A moment later 

A moment later, John’s communicator chirped.

"Long range sensors detected a few Yor ships incoming," Dick said through it. "ETA 30 minutes."

"Acknowledged," John said. "We have to hurry."

It took 10 more minutes to upload the virus. During that time, 2 more plasma turrets fired on but both were destroyed by Barrows before they could kill anyone.

Finally, the virus was uploaded and one engineer informed John about it.

"All right, let's get out of here," John said.

They started to move from the central hub toward their shuttle. On the way, they were attacked by a few more plasma turrets, which killed two engineers before being neutralized. Also, they encountered a few more force fields that had to be overloaded to pass.

Finally, they reached the shuttle and undocked from the station.

"I am reading the Yor fleet," Barrow said. "It’s closing fast."

"We must dock before they get here," John said.

The shuttle moved to TAS Valiant and docked to it. Just after that, the Yor fleet arrived.

"We’re docked," John said to his communicator. "Take us out of here."

TAS Valiant entered hyperspace, escaping from the Yor.

"As soon as we clear the Yor sensor range, send a signal to Otro," John said. "He probably wants to know..."

XI.

After this mission was completed, TAS Valiant set a course back toward Refuge. It took some time, but they got there and contacted Colonel Corey.

"I trust your mission was a success?" Jenna said. 

"Yes," John said. "We implemented the virus into the Yor data grid."

"I hope it will work and soon," Jenna said, "but we have to wait. Now we have something else to take care of. A few days ago, a strange anomaly appeared close to this system. We must investigate it."

"Understood," John said. "What are your orders?"

"You will be part of my fleet as we’ll fly to survey the anomaly," Jenna said. "We’ll leave at 6:00 hours."

"Yes, colonel," John said.

TAS Valiant joined the fleet of Colonel Jenna today. At 6:00 hours, Jenna’s fleet headed for the anomaly.

Warning: Slight Star Wars crossover in this and a few next sections. 

"I am activating the scanning beam," Jenna said. "Stand by..."

A scanning beam emerged from TS Valiant and hit the anomaly.

"The anomaly is opening," Barrows said.

"All ships, move in," Jenna said.

The fleet moved into the anomaly.

"All sensors are dark," Barrows said. "No one coming."

"I hope we'll get out of here soon," Dick said.

"I do too," John said.

Fortunately, soon, they emerged from the anomaly.

All sensors came online again to detect the surroundings.

"I am detecting a planet ahead of us," Barrows said. "It appears to be a planet of about Class 20, of terrestrial type."

"Is there a civilization there?" John asked.

"I think so..." Dick said.

"Yes, there is civilization on that planet," Barrows said, "and I'm detecting a few ships in orbit."

"I will contact this civilization," Jenna Casey said. "You stand by."

She then attempted to contact whoever controlled the planet. It took a few attempts, but she succeeded.

"This is Governor Azadi of Lothal," said a man whose hologram appeared before her. "Who are you?"

"Admiral Jenna Casey of Terran Resistance," Jenna said. "We were investigating an anomaly, were pulled into it, and found ourselves here."

"What are your intentions now?" Azadi asked.

"I don't know," Jenna said, "But we must return home."

"I don’t know if we can help you…" Azadi said. "However, I think you can land in our spaceport. I’ll send a security detail to ship you."

"All right…" Jenna said. "All ships, follow me."

Terran Resistance fleet flew towards the planet Lothal end and landed in the planet's main spaceport.

"Dick, Barrows, come with me," John ordered.

They left the ship and stepped onto the planet. They saw Colonel Casey emerging from her ship with escorts. They approached her. At the same time, a single figure approached Casey. It was a young woman in red civilian clothing and with long, dark hair.

"She looks quite like out colonel," Dick noted. "Only younger."

"Quiet," John ordered.

"Are you our security detail?" Jenna Casey said to the woman.

"Yes," said the woman. "I am Sabine Wren and I am your security detail… I must say, this is the most exciting thing I’ve done since the war is over."

"Isn't one person a little small for a security detail?" Dick said.

"You don’t know who you are talking to!" Sabine said. "But let’s not waste time. What do you want to do?"

"We would like to acquire some resources," Jenna said. "We have time as my science crew is analyzing the data from our sensors."

"All right," Sabine said. "This way."

They left the spaceport and went into the city. There were many shops with supplies there, and most of the trading resources were spent. However, during this, Sabine seemed pretty absent - minded. Most of the time she seemed to constantly think of something—or someone.

"Sabine, you should be paying more attention," Jenna Casey said when she got enough of it. "Sabine Wren? What are you thinking about?"

"Just the past," Sabine said. "Not like it’s any of your business."

"It is if it interferes with our work," Jenna said.

"Oh fine," Sabine replied. "I will be focused from now on. Satisfied?"

Colonel Casey nodded and they went on. 

The buisness was concluded, and Colonel Casey and her people returned to their ships. But John, Dick, and Barrows stayed.

"Why are you still here?" Sabine asked them.

"We just want to see this planet more," John said. "Free planet that is not under constant threat."

"Oh fine," Sabine said.

They stayed there for some time.

“There’s no reason for you to just stand here,” Sabine said. “If you're really so stubborn to be here, I may as well take you to Ezra's... my tower. If you want.”

“All right, we’ll come,” John said.

Sabine brought her speeder and they all boarded it. They barely managed to find space to do it, especially with Big Barrows great robustness. But they did wait. They now were on their way.

They flew across the vast plains of Lothal, to a very visible tower. They stopped near it and disembarked from the speeder. Sabine opened the door to the tower, and they entered it.

“It's not a perfect place, but it's home,” Sabine said. “I don't have guests that much…”

They went up the floors, to the living area. Both Dick and Barrows saw a lot of rubble lying around.

Sabine found some food, and she, John, and Dick sat down and began to eat. Barrows declined food (he was he wasm't hungry, and wasn't sure if such food was edible for Arceans) and decided to keep standing. Which was just as well due to his robustness.

“So, who's Ezra?” Dick suddenly said. “You mentioned him two times already...”

Sabine blushed a little, which was noticed by all three of them.

“Ezra Bridger… was my friend,” Sabine said. “He disappeared a few years ago... When we were searching this artifact.”

“Disappeared?” Dick said. “How?”

“You really want to know everything?” Sabine said.

“Yes,” Dick said, and Barrows nodded.

“Fine,” Sabine said and told them all about her friendship with Ezra Bridger, and their fight. How she devoted herself to protecting his planet after his disappearance, and how she tried to find him, but without success.

“That’s a huge devotion,” Barrows said.

“Yes, it is,” Sabine said.

“Are you sure you don’t... have romantic feelings toward him?” Dick said. “That you're not in love with him?”

“What?!” Sabine said. “No! That even if I am... this is irrelevant.”

“Why?” Dick said.

“Because he certainly doesn’t feel like that toward me,” Sabine said.

“How do you know?” John said.

“He told me his sister in a recording he left me,” Sabine said.

“He could have lied,” John said. “Even probably lied, to save your feelings. You said he did that for you…”

“Because I was the only pretty girl of his age around!” Sabine said. “No. This would never happen. Excuse me…”

"What do you think will happen with Ezra and Sabine?" Dick said.

"I don't know," John noted. "Only time will tell."

At that moment, an alert sounded.

"We have a Yor fleet on approach," Barrows noted. "It's Otro. He's hailing us."

"On screen," John said.

Otro appeared on the Valiant's main screen.

"What happened?" John said. "Why are you here?"

"We lost," Otro said. "N-1 defeated us. We were stretched too hhim... When he unleashed his hidden reserves. Reserves of new, fully integrated ships... which are much more efficient than our older ships. We barely escaped... before N-1 changed the nature of the Yor. They're no longer a Collective. They've Singularly won... Yor Singularity. Such a terrible name. But they're much tighter now, integrated, controlled... We disconnected at the last moment."

"And your virus?" John noted.

"It's still waorking, but it will take much longer to work now, especially with all the extra security measures N-1 has now," Otro said. "But it will work. The Yor will be changed. Eventually."

XII. 

The survivors of the Yor Equality Movement joined the Terran Resistance.

After a few months, Jenna Casey ordered TAS Valiant to go monitor the situation on Altaria.

As they were approaching Altaria, they noticed a huge discharge of energy coming from Altaria. It destroyed a nearby Drengin fleet.

"Captain, I am receiving a general transmission from Altaria," Barrows said.

"Put it through," John said.

An image of a blue - skinned, pretty Altarian woman appeared on the main screen.

"This is Akari Malara, the new Altarian leader," she said. "I just received news on how our peace 

delegation to the Drengin, led by my predecessor, Elys Mule, was killed and eaten by the Drengin. This only proves that there's no negotiating with the Drengin. Violence is the only thing they understand. And violence they will get. What just happened is just a taste of what I am willing to do to protect us. To anyone who would want to invade our homeland: I will use my arsenal of Precursor weapons against them. Beware.

This is the end of this transmission.

"Get me Colonel Casey," John ordered. "She should learn of it as soon as possible."

Colonel Casey ordered them to get to Altaria and bring them Akari Malara to her if possible.

It wasn't going to be easy. As soon as the transmission went off, a Yor fleet arrived and blockaded Altaria system. Getting in and out wouldn't be easy. But these were their orders.

"Is there any weak point on the Yor blockade?" John asked.

"There is one, directly above the star ," Barrows said. "We may get in and get to Altaria before the Yor can intercept us... but they will know we did it. We may have problems with getting out."

"One bridge at a time, Barrows," John said. "Do it. Take us over the star."

TAS Valiant flew above the star, just outside the Yor ship's sensor range.

"Take us in, full speed!" John ordered. Valiant dived in. As soon as Yor ships detected it, they moved to intercept, but they managed to reach Altaria before they did, and a few new Altarian ships chased the Yor ships away.

"Now, where's that Altarian leader?" Drek said.

"I'm receiving a call from the surface," Barrows said. "These are coordinates..."

"Helm, take us there," John ordered.

TAS Valiant landed at the given coordinates.

A few Altarians immediately boarded and went to the bridge. One of them was the Altarian from the transmission. SHe looked even more stunning in person.

"You do look very beautiful," John said.

Shje wasn't surprised by the comment.

"You're not the first man to tell me that," Akari said. "And I will tell you what I said to them: I am forbidden from using my body this way, so let's stick to buisness."

"Yes, we must get through that Yor blockade first," Dick said.

"Yes, of course," John said, a little sad. "Any ideas?"

"I can order my ships to attack a part of the blockade," Akari said. "Then, once they redirect ships to help, we exploit whatever weak point they create."

"Good thinking," John said. "Do it."

Akari sent the orders, and Altarian ships began their attack. The Yor sent ships to help, opening a hole for Valiant to begin moving through. And so they did.

As soon as they cleared the blockade, they set a course for Refuge.

On Refuge, Akari Malara talked a lot with Jenna Casey. She was then returned to Altaria by another ship.

The crew of TAS Valiant continued their service with the Terran Resistance and fought with the Drengin and the Yor... and fights went on for years, with DL Bradley and the Terran Alliance First Fleet came back...

Epilogue

The crew of TAS Valiant stuck with the Terran Resistance even after Earth had been liberated  from the Precusros Shield. They visited it briefly, but later rejoined the Terran Resistance. Big Barrows also visited Arcea, libertaed by the Terran Alliance First Fleet.

John eventually married another Altarian woman. It must be said, it took a long time, but in the year 2307, the virus in the Yor finally started to work.

The End.