Xanthis stepped off the boarding ramp of the shuttle and took his first step onto what he planned on using as his new command ship. The poorly though accurately named SSD reeked with the foul smell of his enemies. Their presence had tainted what was once going to be his Master Zarin’s ship. Due to Reno’s treachery and cowardice, Zarin had been unable to ever use the vessel.

He never understood his Master’s obsession with acquiring the SSD. He had questioned Zarin many times about it. The last time he had done so was right after the capture of Jace Sidrona on some small, unknown planet. Xanthis had lured him there by capturing several key Sith Squadron personnel: Reno, followed by Captain Vanicus and Nuprin. A fraudulent distress call had drawn in Sidrona, and he had promptly been captured by Xanthis and his forces. After returning to the Terror of Space, the mighty Space Grazer-class warship, Zarin had told Xanthis about how he planned to exchange the SSD for Reno and the other captives.

Xanthis had told his master straight up that he thought it was a ridiculous plan. Sith Squadron would not be so stupid as to trade their ship for Reno and the others. It was a poorly thought out plan, and he had no problem in telling Zarin so. His master, blinded by vengeance, was unwilling to see things in any other way.

To him, the SSD was everything.

To Xanthis, it had been nothing.

Why did they need it? He oft asked Zarin during the execution of the plan. They had the Terror of Space, which easily rivaled a Super Star Destroyer in size and firepower, in all of it’s custom-built glory. Why did they have to waste time attempting to steal the SSD when they already had a ship that rivaled it? As long as they had the Terror of Space, they did not need the SSD.

But now, things were different. The Terror of Space had been destroyed above Zhar Delba on that ill-fated day. The day when Xanthis’ entire life had come crashing down, and all of his dreams had been destroyed. Their Zhar Delba base…gone. The Terror of Space…destroyed. His master…dead. His dreams…now, they were just that. Dreams.

His future…

His future was not gone. Not yet.

They no longer had the Terror of Space. They no longer had Zarin. They desperately needed the SSD. He desperately needed the child. That was why he was here.

Aboard this vessel, not yet born, is my future…and I will have him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

This has to be the worst plan I’ve ever been a part of…

Seven and Tyros stood out of the way on the bridge, their hands secured behind their backs by binders. Xavier now had Seven’s lightsaber clipped onto his belt. He was off to the side, talking to somebody over the comlink. Zhukov stood a few meters away, his blaster leveled at Tyros. In fact, since they had come onto the bridge, neither Zhukov’s eyes nor his blaster had been trained on anything other than Tyros. It wasn’t too hard to see that they had some kind of history together. This guy knew Tyros enough not to take him out of his sights.

Seeing Rick again, especially partnered with Zhukov, brought back some memories. Suddenly the entire holoshow incident half a year ago made complete and total sense.

“It was you,” Seven said aloud.

“Excuse me?” Xavier said, his attention taken away from a computer panel he had been studying.

“The fake Sith Squadron show…that was you. You were the one who gave them all the information on the squadron. You were the executive producer whose name started with “X.” You started the show.”

“Oh, bravo,” Xavier said mockingly.

“I had assumed it was Xanthis. I figured it was a trap by him to lure us out into the open.”

“Close,” Xavier responded. “The plan was entirely mine. Lord Xanthis was testing me. He wanted me to create and execute a plan entirely on my own, and he wanted to give General Zhukov and his men a test run against you.”

“Aw, how cute,” Seven taunted. “Your first evil scheme. Sorry I had to ruin your first little plan. Oh, wait…no, I’m not. I hope Xanthis wasn’t too angry at you.”

Xavier let out a little grin. “On the contrary, he was quite pleased overall. The ultimate failure of the plan to kill any of you was solely on the shoulders of others…” He cast a glance at Zhukov. “Not me. My plan was fine.”

“If not a bit over the top.” There was a brief silence. “So how did you two crazy kids hook up anyway? I bet that’s a fun tale to tell to pass the time. I always loved stories where two nice people such as yourselves hook up. Did you put an ad in the personals maybe? Lonely Sith apprentice seeking strict sadistic master. Balls -- eyeballs, that is -- not required.”

Xavier was not amused.

“I forgot how much you talk,” he muttered. “I have little patience for you now, though. Be silent.”

Seven decided, for once, to actually shut up. If he annoyed Xavier any more, the kid might just decide to kill him and be done with it. Instead, he turned to Tyros.

“So we’re disarmed and tied up…what is the next part of your brilliant plan?”

“I need you to try and annoy Xavier some more…just enough to the point where he actually kills you. Once he does that, then I‘ll make my move. You can start any time now.”

Now it was Seven’s turn not to be amused. “Let’s call that Plan B. What’s Plan A?”

“We wait.”

“For what?”

“A distraction.”

“A distraction?”

“Yup. A distraction.”

“And you think one will just come along out of nowhere?”

“I doubt it’ll be out of ‘nowhere,’ but I have a good feeling that something will come along presently.”

“And why is that?”

Tyros shrugged. “Something always comes along sooner or later.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Skate peered around the corner. Two guards stood outside the blast doors to the bridge. Only two? This would hardly be fun. Not fun enough for her. She turned to the group behind her.

“Two guards. I’ve had my share of guards today. Any takers?”

Everyone raised their hands.

“I’ll get them,” Sky said.

Skate shook her head. “Sorry, we need this to be quiet.”

Sky shot her a hurt look. “Hey, I can be quiet. I can do this. Just give me the Fangs here, and we‘ll take them out.”

Skate’s every fiber told her to say no. She wanted this to be done quietly. She didn’t want the soldiers on the bridge to have any time to set up defenses. She knew that if she gave Sky the Fangs that would not happen. And yet…she needed to trust Sky some time. Eventually Sky had to become something of a leader and be in charge. This was as good a time as any.

“Okay…but make it quiet.”

Sky grinned and went to confer with the Fangs.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Markov still stood valiantly in front of the blast doors that led to the bridge, his eyes wide open and scanning the area. He was still not a happy man. He had been ready for action. He had wanted some action. He had wanted to fight. Instead…he got two prisoners who surrendered without so much as an argument. And he was still guarding a door.

Granted, it was still an important door…but it was still a door, nonetheless.

Movement off to his right caught his eye.

A brown-haired woman casually strolled around the corner, as if she had not a care in the galaxy. Markov knew better than to trust appearances, though. She was no simple woman. He recognized her. She was a Sith. Sky, he recalled. One of the newer ones. Still, though, a Sith. She would have to die.

But before either he or Kozlov could open fire, she did something that wasn’t entirely unexpected this time.

She tossed down her lightsaber and raised their hands in the air.

“Are you surrendering?” Markov asked.

Sky let out a small laugh. “More like distracting you.”

Suddenly, the hallway seemed to be filled with troops. They were everywhere.

Markov and Kozlov were surrounded. If they even tried to fight their way out of this, they would die. Markov did not want to die. Fighting was not an option. His only way out of this was to surrender.

Markov dropped his weapon. Kozlov was a bit slower and more reluctant to relinquish his weapon, but he eventually followed suit.

Sky smiled. “Are you surrendering?” she asked, throwing his own words back at him and adding in more than a touch of a mocking tone.

He nodded quickly. “We are your prisoners.”

Sky’s smile widened even more. Suddenly her discarded lightsaber leapt off the ground and back into her hands. The blade ignited.

“Unfortunately for you, I don’t take prisoners.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The screams of the guards could be heard through the blast door. It caught the attention of everyone on the bridge, from the captive bridge crew to their captors. Xavier and Zhukov barked orders to the troops who all took cover behind consoles and prepared themselves for an attack. As they waited, the screams continued. They were the screams of people who were terrified. They were the screams of people who were dying.

To Tyros, they were nothing more than the distraction he was waiting for.

He turned to Seven and smiled. “Told you so. Something always comes along.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Skate shook her head as she surveyed Sky’s handiwork. It was, to say the least, messy. To say more, it was loud. There was no way that they could catch the bridge by surprise now. That was what she deserved for trusting Sky…

“I hate you…” she muttered to Sky. “I really do.”

“You said to do it quiet,” Sky shot back. “That was quiet. For me.”

“Was it really necessary to cut off their legs before you killed them?”

“I had to disable them.”

“And did you have to cut off their arms, too?”

“I had to disarm them.”

Skate groaned at the poor pun. “If you ever make a joke that bad again I’ll disarm you.” Skate turned her attention to General Pax, who was tiptoeing over the severed limbs of the guards and punching buttons on the door panel. “General?”

“Still no power. We’re locked out.”

“Not for long.” Skate activated her blade, thrust it into the blast doors that led to the bridge and started to cut them a nice big, makeshift doorway. She shook her head slightly as she realized that this was the second door she’d cut her way through that day. It wasn‘t even the first time the bridge doors had been cut open with a lightsaber, as Seven and Palin had used the same tactic when Jace had taken the bridge during the Narska Plo’kre incident. She silently wondered how much they spent on replacing doors each month.

“You know, we go through more doors this way…”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Xavier ignited his red lightsaber and waited anxiously.

Whoever was coming through the door was using a lightsaber. Sith. Who would it be? It didn’t matter. Whoever it was, he would kill them. He was looking forward to it. He had spent his entire time in the squadron being held back by the others. He spent the entire time wishing he could fight and kill them. Now…he would get his vengeance.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Zhukov checked the power cell on his blaster.

He had a bad feeling about this. Markov and Kozlov were no doubt dead. From the sounds of it, their deaths hadn’t been pleasant, either. The bridge team now only had eight men, including Zhukov. Nine, if you counted Xavier. Who knew how many people were outside.

And those outside aren’t even our only threat!

Zhukov cast a quick glance behind him, where Seven and Tyros Dakon were being held. He couldn’t decide who was the bigger threat: the unknown assailants outside, or the man who was tied up behind him.

As Zhukov glared at Tyros, the captive former Guardsman gave him a smile and a wink. It was the kind of smile and wink that told Zhukov that Tyros felt he was in control, that he had everything exactly where he wanted. It was alarming to Zhukov that he felt like Tyros was probably right. Tied up and unarmed, he was still the biggest threat around.

No, not an issue at all as to which was the bigger threat.

Tyros. Definitely Tyros.

He should just shoot him right there. It would be the easiest way to get rid of him. If Tyros was somehow able to free himself from the binders…well, it wouldn’t be easy at all, then. Might not even be possible. It was best to shoot him…

“General Zhukov, pay attention!” Xavier snapped at him. “Dakon is tied up. He is not our concern right now!”

“If you think having his hands tied up will stop him!”

“Quiet! Focus! Here they come!”

Zhukov begrudgingly turned his attention back to the door. How he hated taking orders from a child. Xavier didn’t know Tyros like Zhukov did. He didn’t know the threat that that man represented. He didn’t know…

What Zhukov himself knew was that he could break Xavier in half if he wanted, if he willed it. Boy, how he would love to break him in half. Someday…perhaps he would.

Suddenly, the door fell inward and all hell broke loose.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sky and Skate were the first two through the brand new door that led to the bridge, followed closely by General Pax and the Red Fangs. The two Sith deflected blaster bolts as the Fangs laid down fire.

Skate wasn’t sure what she expected to see on the bridge when she entered, but what she did see more than surprised her. Rick? Working with Xanthis’ forces? Whatever. She hadn’t cared about Rick when he was with the squad, and she didn’t care about why he was working against them now. All that she wanted to do was to kick his ass from one side of the ship to the other for causing all of this trouble.

Rick stepped forward and faced Skate and Sky as blasterfire filled the bridge. Two soldiers on both sides of the battle fell.

“Skate…so good to see you again,” Rick said. “I was hoping I would be able to kill you.”

“You can keep on hoping, Rick.”

“The name…” he said dramatically, with a flourish of his red lightsaber, “…is Xavier.”

“Oh, how cute,” Skate commented sarcastically. “Xanthis and Xavier. Maybe I can join you guys and call myself Xena. We can change the group name to Triple X.”

Xavier didn’t seem find that funny, but he said nothing to her. Instead, he turned his attention to Sky.

“And you would be my replacement,” he said. “I don’t believe we’ve ever been properly introduced. I am Xavier, formerly of Sith Squadron, currently of AOL. You would be Sky. It was the mission to recruit you which led to my departure from Sith Squadron. I suppose, in a way, I should thank you. Instead, as a token of my gratitude, I‘ll just kill you more quickly than I kill the others.”

“Quit talking and get to it, then,” Sky responded.

Xavier smiled. “As you wish.”

He attacked.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“If you’re going to make a move,” Seven said to Tyros as he dodged stray blaster bolts by rolling on the ground, “then now would be a good time!”

Tyros couldn’t agree more. All of the enemy troops were focusing on his Fangs. Xavier was dueling with Skate and Sky, and doing quite well, actually, from the looks of it. Even Zhukov seemed to have temporarily forgotten about Tyros and Seven. If ever there was a time to act, it was now. The only problem was that his hands were still secured behind his back. That would make things a bit more complicated. Not impossible…just more challenging.

Tyros liked challenges.

He rolled back and did a kip-up, made more impressive due to the fact that he had to do it without his hands. He immediately charged the nearest solider, who didn’t see Tyros coming until it was far too late. The man swung his gun towards Tyros, but the former Guardsman quickly kicked the weapon out of his hands. He gave the soldier a kick to stomach, forcing the man to double over in pain. Tyros kneed him in the face, then swept him at the knees and knocked him to the ground on his back. A decisive boot to the face ended that fight.

He moved to the next guy.

This one hadn’t noticed Tyros yet. He was still focused on the attacking Red Fangs. Tyros ran at him full speed. When he reached the trooper, he jumped into the air, twisting as he did so and catching the solider with a flying head scissor. His legs wrapped around the man’s head and forced the soldier to flip to the ground. Both of them on the ground, Tyros tightened the grip on the soldier’s neck and twisted with his legs. The neck snapped quite easily.

One of the soldier’s friends saw that happen. He quickly pointed his weapon at Tyros, who was still on the ground. Tyros only had one option, and he followed it. He lashed out with his foot, which crashed into the man’s knee. The snap he heard as he shattered the man’s knee cap was drowned out by his scream of pain. The soldier fell to the ground next to Tyros, clutching his knee. Tyros raised his leg into the air and brought it down on the man’s throat. With his windpipe crushed, the man would die.

Two down from the Fangs attack. Tyros had gotten three of them. That left just three soldiers, one of whom was Zhukov. As good as Tyros was, he couldn’t fight Zhukov without the use of his hands. Correction…he couldn’t fight and win without the use of his hands. Tyros didn’t like to lose. He would just have to take out the others instead.

He moved on to the next man, instantly conjuring up in his mind an array of unique ways to kill.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In between picking off enemies from behind his cover, Zhukov quickly glanced over at the duel. Despite doing well in the beginning, it looked like Xavier was now on the losing end. He was no longer attacking, but now backpedaling. He was on the defensive. He was losing. Perhaps he would be able to win one-on-one, but two-on-one appeared to be just too much for him. He was going to lose. And after that, he was going to die.

Good, Zhukov thought. I would gladly be rid of him.

But now was not the time for such personal allowances. If Xavier died, then Zhukov would follow suit. With Xavier around, the Sith would focus their attention on him. If Xavier died, they would turn their attention to Zhukov. Xavier also possessed the datapad that held all of the command codes for the SSD. If they wanted to escape, he was going to need Xavier.

To make things worse, a quick look behind him showed that his worst fears had come true. Tyros was single-handedly destroying his team on the bridge. Already, the former Guardsman had taken out four people. To make it even more incredible, he was doing so using only his body and legs. His hands were still secured behind his back.

Amazing, Zhukov thought. No wonder he was selected when I was not…

Zhukov would have to do something, and quickly. There was only one more person left alive on the team, and Zhukov had already given up on him. Tyros had his sights on the man, which meant that he was already dead. But Zhukov still had time to escape with Xavier and the datapad.

The bridge was going to fall, and the SSD would be back in the hands of Sith Squadron.

The battle was lost.

But if they escaped the ship and made contact with Xanthis on the Scimitar, they could still execute their backup plan.

He couldn’t simply shoot his way out, though. He would never get past all of the enemy troops. There were just too many of them. He hated to do it, but he was going to have to take a hostage. It was dirty warfare, but it was necessary in this case for the purpose of survival.

He carefully made his way over towards where the bridge crew was being held captive, squeezing off a couple of shots towards the enemy to cover himself. He grabbed one of the prisoners and jammed his blaster in the man’s forehead.

“Captain Vanicus…you’re coming with me.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Rick had definitely improved his dueling skills. Skate thought this as she fought back and forth with him. She had trained with him when he had first come aboard and had found his skills back then to be laughable, though he always thought he was the best. While he was still far from being the best, he at least had a reason to call himself a decent swordsman.

Apparently, he had even been taught how to fight with two sabers at once. Once it became clear to Rick that he was not doing so well, he grabbed what appeared to be Seven’s lightsaber off of his belt and used that one in concert with his own.

Even so, he was still outmatched.

While he had definitely improved, the combined skill of Skate and Sky was just too much for him. He probably would have been able to defeat Sky alone, as she was still something of a novice, but Skate was far too skilled. Adding her into the mix tipped the balance too far to their own advantage.

Rick would fall. Xavier would fail.

It was just a matter of time.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Xavier couldn’t believe it. He was losing!

How could he lose? He was the greatest Sith alive. He was stronger than Reno…had more potential than Jace…was a better dueler than Thunder…a better pilot than Jen…he was the best features of all of them rolled into one…and yet, he was losing!

It just wasn’t possible. How could this happen?! It was Zhukov. If his people had done their job correctly in the first place, Skate and Sky would have already been killed and he wouldn’t be in this situation.

He made an error. He overextended on a stab and was caught off balance. Sky swung down hard, the impact of her saber on his forcing him to drop both of his weapons. They deactivated as they fell to the ground. Skate caught him with a boot to the back of his leg, causing him to drop to his knees. He felt the heat of a lightsaber against his throat. He could feel his skin burning. It was Skate’s lightsaber. He looked into her face and saw that she wasn’t going to show him any mercy. It was just as well. He wouldn’t have shown any if he were in her place. Not in her place as in being in a position to kill himself, but…bah, he knew what he meant.

He was prepared to die. His master had taught him more than the Force, more than swordplay. He had taught him life. He had taught him how to live. He had taught him how to die.

Xavier just wished that he didn’t have to put that last part to use so soon.

“Let him go!” a voice yelled out, audible over the cacophony of blasterfire.

Skate stopped and looked up. Xavier let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding and turned to look over his shoulder. There stood Zhukov, stepping out into the open, holding Vanicus in front of him as a shield. Zhukov’s blaster was pointed at the captain’s head.

“Let him go, or Vanicus dies.”

Xavier let out a small grin. Clever.

Blasterfire on the bridge had stopped. Not entirely out of concern for Vanicus; mostly because there were no commandos on Zhukov’s team left to return fire against the Sith. Everyone from Xavier and Zhukov’s strike team had been killed. They were the only two left. They were the only two who could live to fight another day. Assuming, of course, that Skate was going to let him go.

He looked back up at her. Her eyes were moving back and forth from Zhukov to Vanicus to Xavier. She was making up her mind, and frankly, she was taking too damn long for his comfort to do so.

“Don’t do it, Lady Skate,” Vanicus said. “My life is not worth it. Kill him. Kill them both.”

Skate shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Vanicus,” she said. She deactivated her lightsaber.

Xavier wasted no time jumping to his feet and distancing himself from Skate and Sky. He reached out with the Force and called his lightsaber to his hand. He didn’t even bother to take Seven’s. Zhukov was already nearing the door with his prisoner by the time Xavier reached him.

We may just survive this yet…

As Zhukov left the door with Vanicus, Xavier turned around and faced the people on the bridge. “If anyone follows us, Vanicus dies immediately.“ He glared at Skate. “Another time.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Eltrar Vanicus cursed himself for wishing he could see more action. A simple space battle would have been nice. That he could deal with. Being held as a hostage was simply not something that he had had in mind.

He was going to have to do something, though. He knew that while the bearded man might keep him around as long as possible, Rick would kill him at the first opportunity. After all, if Rick couldn’t kill any of the Sith, Vanicus himself would probably have to suffice. He couldn’t give the young punk that chance.

“You have the datapad?” the man who held Vanicus from behind asked as they left the bridge.

Xavier produced it from his pocket. “Take it. Enter in the codes and open us up a path to the docking bay. I’m going to call the Scimitar.“

The captor released Vanicus, holstered his blaster and took the datapad. Rick stuck his lightsaber hilt into the captain’s back and push him along. As the other man punched in buttons, Vanicus noticed a door ahead of them opening up. So that was how they shut down the SSD. That datapad was probably filled with command codes for the entire ship. He needed to get that datapad and return to the bridge. It was the only way to get out of this mess.

Wasting no time, he immediately crouched and, using all of his weight, pushed out and rammed the man hard into the wall. They both fell from the impact. Most importantly, the datapad fell to the floor. Vanicus snatched it off the ground and began a mad scramble for the bridge.

The entire incident happened so quickly that Rick never had time to react. The bearded man, however, recovered quickly enough. He grabbed the blaster from his belt and fired madly at the captain.

Almost there…almost back to the bridge…

Just as he reached the door, he felt a searing pain in his right shoulder. The force of the impact threw him forward and into the safety of the bridge. Immediately he was surrounded by friendly faces. Skate, Sky, Tyros, Seven...they were all around him. He held up the datapad, which thankfully looked like it had not been damaged.

“This is what they used to shut down the SSD,” he said weakly. “It has…command codes. Use it to restore the ship‘s power.”

Skate took the datapad from his hands and tossed it towards one of the bridge crewmembers. “Do as the man said,” she ordered.

“And Lady Skate?” he said.

“Yes?”

“Go kick that detestable toe rag Rick’s ass.”

Skate let out a feral grin. “Gladly.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Zhukov and Xavier sprinted down the corridors of the SSD. They didn’t have any time to waste. Their path to the ship was clear, but they couldn’t close any doors behind them and they had lost their hostage. That meant that they could expect pursuit. They had to escape. They weren’t going to get lucky a second time. The galaxy didn’t work like that.

“You fool!” he yelled at Zhukov. “How could you let that old man surprise you!”

“I didn’t see you reacting quick enough to stop him!” he shot back.

“This is terrible!” Xavier yelled. “The entire mission has been ruined! The SSD was ours! You lost it!”

“I lost it!?”

“If your teams hadn’t failed in killing the Sith, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“If you had given me proper intelligence then we wouldn’t be in this mess! My intelligence files said nothing about Tyros Dakon being here!”

“I didn’t consider him important enough to even mention,” Xavier said. “I didn’t even think of him. The only ones who were threats were Sith. Tyros is just a man.”

“Tell that to all the men he killed.”

Xavier had no response.

Xavier grabbed the comlink at his waste and activated it. “Commander Targ, this is Lord Xavier. The situation on the SSD is Omega. Zhukov and I are evacuating. Initiate Operation: Hammer Fall.”

“Sir, Lord Xanthis is still on the SSD,” Targ responded.

What?! Since when had Xanthis come aboard the SSD?! Why hadn’t his master told him? Xavier could have used his help in defending the bridge! What was his master even doing on the ship? He would have to go and find him. He would have to help his master get out.

Or would he?

If Xanthis happened to perish aboard the ship during Hammer Fall, then Xavier would be in full command of the AOL forces. After all, it wasn’t Xavier’s fault that Xanthis had come aboard the ship without telling his apprentice. How could he have known his master was here?

Xavier was sure that it would be a terrible tragedy to learn that he had lost his master, but he was also sure that he would get over it soon, and that he would lead the AOL forces even better than his master had.

“I will inform Lord Xanthis to evacuate,” he lied to Targ. “Commence Operation: Hammer Fall.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Seven looked around at the chaos that was the bridge. Dead enemy soldiers…dead Fangs…several crewman killed by stray blasterfire…consoles that were utterly destroyed. He had never seen the bridge look worse.

Skate approached him quickly. “Xavier and Zhukov will be heading for their ship. They have a good head start.”

Seven knew she was itching for a fight. She wanted to go down there and give Rick the ass kicking that he deserved. She couldn’t just leave, though. She had to follow the proper chain of command, and right now Seven was the ranking Sith officer on board the SSD. For all intents and purposes, he was in charge.

“Can you catch them?” he asked.

Skate shook her head. “I don‘t know,” she said honestly. “Like I said, they have a good head start.”

Seven turned to the technicians who were hard at work on the datapad. “Have you guys cracked that thing yet?”

“Working on it, sir,” one of them told him. “Since Captain Vanicus stole it while it was being used, none of its security measures had a chance to be activated. We just need to find the right codes and we can get the ship entirely back online.”

“Get to it, then,” he told them. He turned back to Skate. “Go get Xavier and Zhukov. Don‘t let them leave this ship.”

“Roger that, sir,” Skate said.

“I’m coming, too,” Tyros interjected. Seven had actually forgotten that he was even there. Tyros had a way of doing that. No one that Seven had ever known could sneak up and surprise him the way that Tyros could. The man could seemingly come out of nowhere. “I have unfinished business with Zhukov.”

Seven nodded, and Skate and Tyros ran off. He smiled briefly. Suddenly, everything seemed to be going a bit better. All of the invaders, save two, had been driven off of the ship. And those two that were left were on the run. He had the codes to get the SSD back on line; all that the techs had to do was to find out how to get them working. Even the space battle outside appeared to be going well.

A painful groan caught his attention.

He turned to see several of the bridge crew tending to Captain Vanicus’ blaster wound. Seven was no doctor, but he didn’t think it was serious. Or at least the deadly kind of serious. It appeared to be just a shoulder wound. He would still need to go to sickbay, though--

Then it hit him.

Sickbay.

Palin was there. She was delivering their baby.

But…there was something else. Something…wrong. He didn’t know what. He reached out with the Force to try and feel her presence. He found her, right where he left her. She was still in labor. He could feel her pain, but also her joy. He could also feel her worry, her fear. She was afraid; afraid for him. She didn’t know where he was, or where anyone was for that matter. Power was still out. She had no idea as to the situation. He would have to go to her…

No, that wasn’t it. There was something else. He couldn’t describe it. There was something…wrong on the ship. Something very wrong! Something bad was going to happen in sickbay. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that it was something bad. He would have to stop it.

Without saying a word to anybody, Seven grabbed his lightsaber from the floor where Xavier had dropped it and broke into a sprint. He was out of the bridge in a matter of seconds.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Palin was getting close. It wouldn’t be long until her baby was born. Force meditations didn’t seem to be helping her much with the labor pains, although to be fair, her mind was in so many places right then that she wasn’t exactly focused. The SSD was powerless and under attack. Seven, who should have been there with her, was on another deck somewhere. Was he in trouble? She didn’t know. Who was attacking them? She didn’t know. Had any of her friends died, on a day that should have been the happiest day of her life? She didn’t know.

Star stood by her side, talking to her, reassuring her, telling her to “push!” As if she really needed that advice. Still, she was glad that Star was there. If Seven couldn’t be there, it was nice to have at least one friendly face around.

She felt something.

It wasn’t the baby, though.

It was a new presence. An evil one. A familiar one.

She looked over Star’s shoulder and saw someone silhouetted in the doorway. The room was still fairly dark, with only some emergency power generators creating any kind of light, but she didn’t need lights to know who was standing there. It was her worst nightmare.

“Hello, Palin,” Xanthis said softly, menacingly, “I apologize for being late. But on such a joyous day, how could I not show up?”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Commence Operation: Hammer Fall,” Xavier commanded.

Commander Targ sat in his command chair on the bridge of the Scimitar, surveying the battle. It was not going well. His fighters were being destroyed by Sith Squadron with ease. And, apparently, the battle on the SSD had not gone well. Hammer Fall was to be ordered only as a last resort, only when all else had failed.

Apparently, all else had failed.

Hammer Fall was the backup plan.

He opened a comm channel to all of the ships. “Attention. Operation: Hammer Fall is a go. Repeat. Operation: Hammer Fall is a go.”

He leaned back in his chair and smiled. Lord Xanthis had really wanted possession of the SSD. But Xanthis had also decided that if he could not have the ship, then no one could.

And once Hammer Fall was done, no one would.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Reno realized that something was wrong.

Although to be fair, it wasn’t exactly hard to notice.

For the entire battle, all of the freighters had hung back behind the enemy command ship. It was obvious that they weren’t armed, which had made Reno wonder why Xanthis had brought so many of them along. He had figured that they were there simply to be the decoys.

He was wrong.

They were moving now.

And he now knew why they were there.

“Heads up!” he yelled through the comm. “The freighters are on the move! They’re heading directly for the SSD! They’re suicide ships! They’re going to ram the SSD! Drop whatever you‘re doing and take out the freighters. Target engines only. We can‘t destroy that many freighters, but we can stop them.”

What they really needed was the SSD back on line. With its firepower, it could destroy all of the freighters within a matter of moments. Until then, though, Reno and the Siths would have to do the job themselves.

Reno switched over to torpedoes and locked on to the nearest freighter. They weren’t going to have enough torps to stop the freighters. They only had six fighters and a limited amount of torpedoes. Not enough to stop all of them. The best that they could do was to take out as many freighters as they could and minimize the damage to Reno’s mighty warship.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sky’s eyes widened as she looked out the viewport at the battle. It really wasn’t the battle that she was focused on. It was the freighters. The freighters that were headed directly for the SSD.

“Pax…” she said to the General.

“Yes?”

“How close are you guys to getting things back on line?”

“Pretty close,” he responded. “We’re getting there.”

“Well…get there more quickly. We’re going to have some company really soon.”

Outside, the freighters loomed closer.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Well, it seems I’m a bit early,” Xanthis said, striding into sickbay. “I was rather hoping you would’ve already delivered the child by now. That would’ve expedited matters. As it is right now, I’m afraid I’m in something of a hurry at the moment. You’re going to have to come with me.”

Before Palin could respond, Star stepped into Xanthis’s path. She grabbed her lightsaber from underneath her doctors scrubs and ignited it, bathing sickbay in a purple glow.

“Take one step closer and you won’t live to regret it,” she told him.

Xanthis let out a small grin. “How cute. You want to play warrior with me. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to play games with you right now. Perhaps another time.”

Xanthis suddenly hit her with a powerful Force push, throwing her aside like a rag doll. Star flew into a wall and landed hard on a table full of medical instruments. She was not unconscious, Xanthis could tell. She stirred slightly on the ground. She was of no consequence to him. He turned his attention to Palin.

“My apologies for that distraction, dear Palin,” he said as he approached her bed. “Now, I realize your condition doesn’t exactly permit travel, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to suffer through that discomfort. It’s a necessity.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Palin said adamantly.

“Oh, I’m afraid…that you are,” Xanthis responded. “Otherwise, I can make things…unpleasant…for you. Or, if need be, I will kill you now and take the child from you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she restated, her voice strong.

Without warning, he reached out with the Force and snapped some of the bones in her right hand. She screamed in pain, and not from the labor this time.

“This is your last chance,” Xanthis warned her.

Palin didn’t respond. Her stony face told him all that he needed to know.

“So be it.”

Xanthis opened his cloak and drew his lightsaber. He activated it, once again bathing sickbay in a purple glow. As he started to move towards her, he heard the familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber being activated, and sickbay now glowed with purple and…green. The purple was from his own lightsaber. The green…

He turned sharply, just in time to block a swing from Seven, who had somehow managed to sneak up on Xanthis. They locked sabers for a moment and circled each other until Seven was standing between Palin and Xanthis.

“You won’t touch her,” Seven said, his voice strong and stern.

It was the most serious tone he had ever heard Seven speak in. He was almost…intimidating. He probably would have intimidated a normal person. Xanthis, however, could not be intimidated.

“So you want to play warrior with me, too?” Xanthis laughed.

He thrust out his hand and tried to hit Seven with a Force push, as he had with Star. Seven, however, was ready for it. He thrust out his hand and countered it. For a minute they stood still, their hands almost touching, each trying to Force-push the other back. It was a contest of wills. A contest of strength. A contest of determination.

Xanthis would not give. He would not quit. He would not--

His defense broke. Seven won. Xanthis felt himself being flung backwards through the air. He landed hard on the ground, but used his momentum to roll backwards and onto his feet. He immediately raised his saber in defense.

Seven smiled at him. “I don’t play games.”

He charged.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Palin didn’t know what to do.

She was helpless.

She wanted to help Seven somehow…but she couldn’t. She had to deliver this baby…but how could she focus on that when Seven was in such danger? On the other hand, it wasn’t exactly easy to focus on Seven’s duel when there was a baby trying to squeeze his way out of her. And having a broken hand wasn’t helping matters any.

Movement to her side caught her attention. Star was getting to her feet. She looked a bit dazed from the attack on her, but was otherwise okay. Star moved to Palin’s side.

“Palin, try and forget them,” Star told her. “Focus on the baby. Focus.”

“How can I focus when Seven is--”

“Seven is fighting for you, Palin!” Star responded. “He’s fighting to protect you, to give you time. To protect your child. Focus on the child. Seven can take care of himself. Remember…he kicked Jace’s ass a while ago. And he had less on the line than he does now. Just focus, Palin…focus…”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Reno fired again.

That was it. The last of his proton torpedoes. The rest of his squadron was empty, as well. He had managed to take out several of the freighters, but that was all. In a generous estimate, ten of the thirty freighters were disabled. Not enough.

“I’ve got some fighters on my tail!” he heard Fox yell. Ironic, since Fox was the only one who actually had a tail.

“Two, go help out Six,” he ordered.

“Can’t comply, Lead,” Thunder said back. “I’ve got my own troubles.”

“Three?”

“Who the hell is Syxx?” Ryvo asked.

Reno sighed.

“Four?” he asked.

“Got a freighter making a suicide run on the engines, Lead,” Jace responded. “Shields are weakened, though. I can stop it.”

“Eleven?”

“I don’t really like Fox,” Jen answered. “Do I hafta?”

“It’s too late!” Fox yelled thought he comm. “My ship has taken too much damage! I’m punching out!”

Over to starboard, Reno saw yet another one of Fox’s Naboo N-1 fighters explode. The ejection pod from the fighter successfully cleared the explosion, along with his astromech.

“Fox is EV,” he reported. “Repeat, Fox is EV.”

He resisted the urge to add “…again” to that statement. Reno wasn’t sure that Fox had made it even through one battle where he hadn’t gone EV. Hell, the kid had even gone EV during a speeder bike chase through the sprawling spacescrapers on Coruscant.

Reno winced as two of the freighters collided with the SSD.

He needed the SSD on line. He needed his ship at full strength. He needed his ship to survive.

He didn’t know what would happen if he lost her.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Staring out the viewport, Sky was starting to get more than a bit worried at how close the freighters were getting to the SSD. Entirely too close…

“Pax, I can tell that this pilot hasn‘t shaven today,” she yelled sarcastically. “Get power back on line, now!”

“I’m trying!” General Pax yelled back, working hard with the datapad.

Sky sighed.

“Pax, a wise woman once said…do or do not, ’cause if you try, I’ll kick the crap out of you.”

The general nodded. “I’m doing it.”

“Good.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The trip to the shuttle had taken longer than Xavier had wanted it to take. Zhukov had failed to open a several of the blast doors on the way to the bridge, so Xavier had had to open them up the old-fashioned way…with his lightsaber.

He just hoped that Zhukov’s failure to open the doors had not cost them too much time. He knew that they would have pursuers. Sith, no doubt. He especially needed to hurry since Hammer Fall was in effect. He had already felt several ships hit the SSD. He didn’t want to press his luck and overstay his welcome.

As they approached their ship, the boarding ramp lowered. They were almost to the foot of it when Xavier suddenly stopped. He closed his eyes and sighed. He and Zhukov hadn’t made it.

They were here.

* * * * * * * * * * * *