Breakaway Rebellion: Civil War II Chapter Eighty-Two

As James Watt flew through countless star systems at a speed far exceeding that of light, memories flooded his mind—memories from centuries of life. He began to wonder how he could have forgotten all of these: his two children, his two wives, and the way he had helped forge alliances across the Alpha Quadrant.

He began to wonder how long he had been in his amnesic state. Had it been a day, a month, or perhaps far longer? How long had it taken for the Imperials to gain control of the better part of the galaxy? How did they manage it? These were questions that had to be answered.

They would have to remain unanswered for the time being because, for the first time in ages, he had found what he was looking for: a Class-M world. He stopped in space and looked at it for a number of minutes. From this distance, it looked very much like Earth, but he knew it couldn't be.

He decided to go in for a closer look. Circling the planet many times, he discovered several bodies of water and several landmasses covered mostly by forests. One part of the land was not covered by forests, however. Several buildings, uncharacteristic for this world, were located on this landmass. Could the Imperials have established some sort of base on this world? If so, then it could prove dangerous for him to find out.

He was about to enter the planet's atmosphere when something stopped him. About thirty meters dead ahead was a lone fighter craft. Even without sophisticated sensor systems, he could tell that all of its weapons were armed and targeted on him. The fighter was of unknown design, but he could tell it wasn't Imperial. The pilot signaled to him to follow the fighter. Although he could probably have destroyed or outrun the craft, he decided not to.

 

The wind swirled as the Lord of the Isles landed on the surface of the world. A few minutes after landing, Magus and Drathro emerged. The young Time Lord began to scan the area with a tricorder.

"Looks like a typical Class-M world, really," he remarked.

Magus approached the area the Star Destroyers had attacked with their phasers. Kneeling down, he examined the scorch marks on the earth.

"The Imperials can be rather brutal," he said. "They obviously didn't know that that sort of energy weapon wouldn't have killed James."

"Doctor, I'm picking up life signs near..."

Drathro could not complete his sentence. Suddenly, he found himself dragged toward the ground. Seconds later, as Magus stood up to see what was happening, he found himself grabbed from behind by a taller man. As Drathro threw off his attacker, the one holding Magus was surprised when a seemingly unseen hand pulled him away from the wizard.

"That's enough!"

Magus looked dead ahead and saw the third member of the party. Crouched in front of him was a man-sized chimp—a sentient chimp—pointing a rifle in Magus's direction.

 

Watt followed the fighter to the base, and once there, he was escorted to what appeared to be a control room of some kind. Once there, he was taken to a tall man who had long grey hair and a mustache.

"This is the man we found, General," one guard said.

"The man floating in space?"

"Not floating," said Watt. "Flying."

The man turned from his computer terminal and stared at Watt. He was surprised by what he saw.

"Could it be? I thought you were dead!"

The man began to walk around Watt as if he was looking over a gift he had been given. Moments later, he ushered the guards away.

"Well, well! I never thought I'd actually get to meet the legendary James Watt!"

"You have me at a disadvantage," said Watt. "Who might you be?"

The man walked to Watt's front and smiled.

"My name is Garm Bel Iblis, former Imperial senator and co-founder of the Rebel Alliance!"

 

The chimp continued to point the rifle at Magus.

"Surrender, human. We outnumber you three to two."

"I assure you, sir, that your weapon will have no effect on me," Magus smiled.

Then, the blond-haired man who was restraining Drathro suddenly let go of the young Time Lord.

"Wait! Galen, put the rifle down! What he says is correct! It's Magus!"

The man walked over to Magus, and suddenly, something clicked in his mind.

"Can it be? Colonel Burke and Colonel Virdon from NASA's Outward Bound flight project! History recalled that you were lost just over three hundred years ago!"

"If I recall my Earth history, just three years later, Zefram Cochrane invented the warp drive, making the Outward Bound flight project obsolete," said Drathro.

"What's warp drive?" asked Burke.

As the interplay between the four of them continued, Galen could do nothing but watch in awe at what was going on. It seemed that, at last, Burke and Burton had found someone they could identify with.