Unification: Civil War III Chapter Ten

Thrawn looked at the situation on the viewscreen in front of him. What he knew to be Viper fighters had now entered the fray, and a lone X-wing pilot had just taken out an entire squadron of Jem'Hadar fighters on his own. The ship shook with another impact as the Galactica rained down blast after blast on them.

"Reports coming in from the other vessels, Admiral!" Palleaon reported. "The Yorktown is suffering from a partial shield failure! The Gorgon is losing power from its weapons systems!"

"We are being overrun!" said Thrawn. "Our invasion of the planet has failed! And we are now heavily outnumbered!"

Thrawn paused for a number of minutes before he gave his next order.

"Captain, signal all other ships to begin forming a jump-point! We are leaving!"

"A defeat, Admiral?"

"No. A retreat! We will return! We will take this planet!"

 

From the cockpit of his Hammerhead fighter, Cooper Hawkes looked down as he approached the Chimaera. He had the command module in his sights. On his wing, McQueen appeared. On his other wing, the X-wing squadron leader flew.

"Hawkes! What are you doing?" McQueen shouted into his ear. "A Hammerhead is no match for an Imperial Star Destroyer!"

"With this guy next to me, I can take on anything!" Hawkes shouted. "And Thrawn's on that ship! I've got their bridge in my sights! I can almost see Thrawn! If I take him out, I score a big victory!"

"It's not worth it, Cooper!" said another, unknown voice in his ear. "Thrawn and his forces are retreating! Let them go!"

McQueen recognized the voice but said nothing in reply. He knew the man was right. The Imperial jump-point was now fully formed. As the Imperial ships entered, McQueen, Hawkes, and the X-wing only just managed to pull up in time and avoid being sucked into the point. The battle was over. The Imperials had lost.

 

As Aragorn stood near the security wing of the Pegasus station, watching the security teams herd the Imperial prisoners into their cells, he was joined by Gandalf.

"You did well today, Aragorn," he said.

"We hardly had to make a move. Their advanced weapons were useless on the Time."

As Gandalf was about to speak, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye—something he had been looking for before the battle began. Talia Winters was helping one of the wounded to their feet and was about to take him to Sickbay, so it seemed. Slowly, and without being heard, Gandalf approached Talia. Concentrating, he planted the codeword deep within Talia's mind.

He could sense the change almost instantly. The barriers in her mind came down like a tumbling wall. Talia threw the injured man to the ground and turned on Gandalf. The look in her eyes was totally different. Gone was the beautiful, caring woman who had served so well on Babylon 5, to be replaced by a dark, truly evil replacement.

"You are a fool, wizard!" she spat, taking a phaser from her pocket. "You have no hope of victory in this war!"

She fired the phaser at Gandalf. This had no effect. The wizard was easily able to erect a force field around him, stopping the blast. Seconds later, Sevrina appeared and stunned Talia with a phaser blast of her own. She slumped to the ground, unconscious. Going over to Talia's fallen form, Sevrina activated her communicator.

"Maris to Macleod! Gandalf has found the spy! It is Talia Winters!"

 

A large crowd had gathered in the main docking bay as a lone X-wing fighter docked with the station. The cockpit hatch began to open, and the helmeted pilot emerged from the fighter. When his feet were firmly on the deck, he removed his helmet. A loud cheer rang throughout as he revealed his identity. Spock was the first to step forward and extended his hand.

"James Watt, welcome to the Free Federation!"

"So tell me, Mister Spock, anything happen while I've been away?"

 

Mara Jade lay in her quarters, nursing her concussion, having been injured during one of the station skirmishes. She had been sent back to her quarters by Pulaski because Sickbay was overcrowded. Now, she began to consider her next few options. She then heard footsteps in her room. Her heightened senses told her there was a man in the room with her.

"Mara Jade?" a deep voice said.

Mara quickly sat up, searching for the intruder. She saw him in a dark corner of her quarters. The only thing she could see was the outline of his head. He appeared to be Romulan or Vulcan.

"The Psi-Corp were fools for using Miss Winters in the way they did. Because of her capture, I am to be your new contact. You will take your orders from me from now on."

"Who are you?"

"My name is not important. The only thing you will remember is the sound of my voice. You will receive your new orders shortly. Until then, rest."

As Mara's eyes began to feel heavy, she thought she could see the form in the dark corner change, as if it melted away. She opened her eyes fully, but the stranger was gone.