Unification: Civil War III Chapter Seven

With the next round of talks between the two parties due to begin within the next few hours, Spock found himself taking a brief tour of the station. Along the way, he met up with Princess Leia.

"My aides tell me that you are still searching for one of the suspects," said Leia. "If my people can be of any help to you, then just let me know."

"Thank you, Princess, but the Free Federation security forces know the layout of this station far better than yours."

The two walked silently together for a number of minutes, taking in the sights of the station, until it was Leia who spoke.

"Is it true that you are considering postponing the talks until your final suspect has been found?"

"It is. Some on the Federation council are worried that the next target will be the conference room itself."

"Mister President, I urge you not to postpone these talks. To do so would be playing right into the Empire's hands!"

"You, Princess, are not the first to say that to me. By postponing these talks, I wish to preserve the lives of the men and women aboard this station. Perhaps they could be rearranged at a later date, at a location known only to the upper echelons of the Free Federation and the Rebel Alliance."

"I know I can't speak for Mon Mothma, but there are many in the Alliance who believe that an agreement must be reached here. We cannot let the Empire dictate the way we fight this conflict. By uniting here, on the Pegasus station, we will be showing the Empire, showing Palpatine, Servalan, Darkmagus, and all of their allies that we mean business!"

"Princess Leia, for one so young, you put up quite an argument! The talks will continue, as arranged."

 

With the next talks about to begin, Captain Pendragon placed the station on yellow alert, expecting that something could happen, and hoping that something wouldn't. The security teams from a dozen starships carried out inspections around the clock. If something was going to happen, then they would be prepared.

It was in Ops that Plato sat at his science station, monitoring the routines. Checking the long-range sensors, he found something rather interesting and alerted Pendragon.

"What is it?" Pendragon asked.

"Long-range sensors have picked up a massive sub-space disturbance, heading towards the station."

"Show me."

Plato brought the reading up on the screen in front of him.

"It looks like a whole group of cloaked vessels," said Pendragon.

"I agree," Plato concurred. "It may be wise to investigate this more closely, Captain."

"Of course," said Pendragon. "Have the Scotsman prepared, and alert President Spock of the situation."

 

The massive conference table was surrounded by men and women from many races. On one side sat Spock, with Zarkoff to his left and Potter to his right. Opposite him sat Mon Mothma, with Leia to her left and Admiral Ackbar to her right. From the entrance to the conference room, Sevrina Maris and Ro Laren watched the proceedings.

"So far, everything seems to be alright," said Ro.

"Don't count your chickens, Commander," said Sevrina. "We never learned to underestimate things in Enigma Force, and I'm not going to now! We must continue to carry out the security scans!"

 

It didn't take long for the Scotsman to reach the area of the disturbance. From the science station, Plato operated the sensors.

"The signal is coming in far stronger than it did on the station, Captain," he reported. "Short-range sensors show that it is almost on top of us!"

"Captain!" said Winthorn, pointing to the screen. "Look!"

The sight on the screen shocked Pendragon. The disturbance was coming from a whole group of cloaked vessels, a group of Imperial TIE fighters.

"How many are there?" asked Pendragon.

"Unable to determine!" Plato replied.

"Winthorn, send a signal back to the station! TIE fighters don't have warp capability, so there must be a Star Destroyer or something out here!"

"Unable to, Captain! All transmissions are being jammed!"

"Then set a course back to the station! Maximum speed!"

 

"Then it seems we have reached an agreement, Mister President," said Mon Mothma. "We should be able to combine our forces shortly."

"Indeed," said Spock. "Our first priority would be to set up our command structure, and the integration of our respective councils so we..."

Suddenly, the red alert sounded. Connor reached to his feet and headed towards Ops, closely followed by Spock. They arrived to find Sevrina and Ro standing by the entrance to Ops. The door was open, and a security field was in place.

"We know now why we couldn't find a bomb in the conference room," said Sevrina. "It was here, in Ops!"

Spock and Connor looked inside and saw the terrible devastation. There was a massive hull breach. Those who hadn't been sucked out into the empty void of space lay dead at their posts. Only residual power was left on. It was as if a giant hand had just scooped a piece of the station right out and thrown it into space. Even the normally placid Spock was moved by what he saw.