It was dark when Reno reached the waiting room of sickbay. It was empty. Good.

He strode through the spot where hours earlier the entire group had gathered around and held little Brink, making all kinds of little baby sounds at him. He walked up to the door to the room where Brink was sleeping. He stopped and glanced over. In a room only several meters away, Palin slept. He would have to do this quickly and quietly. If Palin came in while he was working, then he would have to kill her, too. Reno was glad that Seven was far off in his quarters, sleeping.

Reno took a deep breath. He opened the door.

This was it.

It wouldn’t last long. He couldn’t leave any marks or traces on the body. Obviously his lightsaber was out of the question. He would need to use the Force. Close the windpipe, perhaps. Pop a blood vessel. Something that would leave no trace.

He stared at the crib. He could feel the child’s presence. He could feel its life. In a few moments, he would no longer feel anything from the baby.

He stepped forward as the door closed behind him. It would be a terrible tragedy, when everybody woke up and realized that Brink had died during his sleep. Seven and Palin would be quite broken up. Reno would grant them some leave, though. They would need to take care of personal issues. It was the least he could do, after a--

A green lightsaber sprang into existence next to Reno. The blade swung from the side, but stopped inches before it reached his throat. Reno’s eyes widened as he felt the heat of the blade against his throat. He had never sensed a thing. Had never sensed that anyone was in the room, aside from the child. Whoever was there could have decapitated him before he even realized something was wrong. Reno was alive only because the person next to him spared his life. He slowly turned his head to the left, careful not to make any sudden moves. His eyes widened even more as his eyes focused and he saw the man standing there.

“You take one more step towards my son, “ Seven said adamantly, “and I’ll have your head.”

Reno forced a smile. “Seven,” he said, trying his best to muster up some false warmth. He had to pretend that he was here for some other reason than killing the child. “What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you were here. Although I think you must have me confused with someone else. You can put the lightsaber down now.”

“Give me a reason,” Seven said, his voice low but harsh.

“A reason to kill me?” Reno asked, his eyes on Seven’s lightsaber which was wavering only inches by Reno’s throat.

“No, I have that already,” Seven said. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”

Reno hesitated.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Seven,” he said calmly.

“You came here to kill him” Seven said bluntly. “ You came here to kill my son.”

Reno let out a short laugh. “That’s preposterous,” he barked.

“Then why are you here?” Seven asked. “All alone…in the middle of the night…”

“I am your master, Seven,” Reno said sternly. “I don’t need to explain my actions to you.”

“If you don’t, I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Reno met his eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

“Are you willing to risk your life on that assumption?”

“If you do that, they will turn on you. Everyone. Thunder, Jen, Skate…you will have slain their master in cold blood. You would be a murderer. You, Palin and Brink would have to run. They would come after you. They would hunt you and your family down and eventually they would kill you. You would lose everything you have worked so hard to gain in your life.” He paused and stared deeply into Seven’s eyes. “You are ready to lose everything for your son?”

Without hesitation, Seven inched the blade even closer to Reno’s throat. So close that it began to burn his skin.

“Believe it,” Seven stated.

Reno did.

Seven was ready to kill him. Seven was ready to lose everything to protect his son. He was the last person Reno would ever expect to try something like this, but there it was. There was Seven, a lightsaber to Reno’s throat, threatening to kill him. Seven was such a joker, such a goof. Even though the kid had matured somewhat over the last year, Reno had still thought he was predictable. Probably the most predictable member of the squadron. He thought he knew Seven. Perhaps even knew him the best of anyone. But he didn’t know him at all. Not at all…

You must kill the one who you know best and least, or that person could be your end.

He couldn’t believe it.

It was all starting to make sense now. Everything was falling into place. Suddenly, the prophecy didn’t seem so crazy, so ludicrous. In fact, it made sense. Brink was the expected/unexpected one…Seven was the one who he knew both best and least…that meant…

By Sadow…

He flashed back to sickbay, only hours ago. A piece of dialogue he had half heard, but had paid no attention to at the time.

“Hey, don’t be mean to the kid,” Skate joked. “He’s way too cute to look like Seven. Definitely takes after his mother.”

“Well, I hope so,” Seven said. “His mother is an angel. My angel.”

Palin’s broken arm…

And the prophecy was complete.

He understood it all. He understood everything. He knew exactly who it was that he had to kill.

You must kill the one who is expected and not expected, or that person could be your end.

Brink…

You must kill the one who you know best and least, or that person could be your end.

Seven…

You must kill the one-winged angel, or that person could be your end.

Palin…

He would have to kill them. All of them. Or else one of them would kill him. Would it be Seven? Maybe it was to happen right then. Or perhaps the whole thing was a trap…maybe Palin would be sneaking up on him any moment now, ready to kill him. Maybe they had used the baby as a way to draw Reno out to kill him. A family plot designed to destroy Reno…they may have been planning this moment for months.

A bold plan….

He started to slowly back out of the room, not saying a word. He didn’t know what to say. Hell, there was nothing to say. This was a man who might kill him someday. What did you say to someone like that? As he backed away, Seven followed him out of the room, his saber still poised to kill.

Reno felt another presence. Someone else was there. He turned sharply and saw Palin standing in the doorway to her room. Her face was a mask of confusion. Or was it? This was no doubt a façade. She was the one-winged angel, after all. She was planning on killing him. This was all just a trap. A set up.

“Seven, what the hell is going on?” Palin asked softly.

“Reno came here to kill Brink,” Seven replied.

“What?!”

And this was when they would double team him, Reno guessed. A two-on-one attack. Cowards. He should kill them all. Right away. Before they could create a better trap. But that wouldn’t do. Killing the boy was one thing…how would the squadron react if they woke up and found out that all three of them were dead? They would mutiny.

No, he couldn’t kill them now. He would have to do it later. He would have to wait. He would have to be more subtle. If it became known that he killed Seven and Palin, the others would retaliate against him. He would have to find a means to get rid of all three of them. A means that in no way implicated himself.

He glanced at Palin, who he expected would be staring at him. She wasn’t. She was staring…past him. Behind him. He turned his head to the other side. Standing on the other side of sickbay was Star. Was she in on it, too? No…the prophecy only spoke of three. And from the look on her face, she was both confused and terrified. She appeared just to be someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But how long had she been there? Reno had checked the area when he had entered and no one had been present. When had she come in? What had she seen or heard? Did she know why Reno was there? Had she heard Seven’s words? Was she in on the plot?

Before anyone could say anything to Star, she backed out of the room, slipped through a side door and was gone.

As Reno had already concluded, it was what he would have to do, as well. He could not win this battle today. He would have to retreat and fight another day. Killing them all now would prove to be more harmful in the long run. It would cost him too much. He was willing to be patient and bide his time a little while longer. But not too much longer…

Quickly, quietly, he backed out of sickbay.

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

“Seven, what the hell was that?” Seven barely heard her say. He didn’t really know how to respond. He was in shock.

I was right, he thought. Reno was planning to kill my son. If I hadn’t acted upon my premonition, my son would be dead now. Maybe he would’ve even killed Palin next…

Reno had only backed away because he realized he couldn’t win, at least not that day. He knew that he couldn’t slaughter two members of his squadron and a baby and not have a mutiny on his hands. He must have figured that he could leave now and act later.

I won’t give him that chance.

“We have to leave,” Seven said, deactivating his lightsaber and hooking it back onto his belt. “Now.”

“Seven, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on,” Palin said adamantly.

“We don’t have the time.”

“Seven…”

Seven grabbed her by the shoulders and let his eyes lock on hers. “Do you trust me?”

She eyed him back, curiously. “What kind of question is that?”

“The most important one I’ve ever asked you.”

Palin nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Then we have to leave,” he said. “Our son isn’t safe here. Neither are we. We need to take Brink and leave. We need to get far away from here. And we need to leave immediately. This morning. You go back to our quarters…get whatever you need that is small and easy to carry. I‘ll get Brink and meet you there in a minute.”

“But…”

Seven looked her deep in her eyes. He knew she was still confused. He would tell her the whole story later. But they were too short on time. He didn’t know what Reno was planning. He could be coming back to kill them at any time. He didn’t think Reno would strike so soon, but he wasn’t sure. But with Palin and Brink on the line, he simply couldn’t take that chance. He knew Palin didn’t understand, but she would. All he needed from her now was to trust him.

Before he could say another word, Palin nodded.

She simply said, “Okay,” leaned up and kissed him quickly, and then was gone.

Seven looked over to where Star had been standing. He wondered what she had been doing there. He hadn’t sensed her, and it seemed like Reno hadn’t, either. She certainly didn’t seem like she was working with Reno. She had certainly made a hasty retreat when she had realized something was going down. How much of that scene had she heard? How much had she understood? Should he go to her? Should he ask? Should they bring her with them?

No. There were too many unknowns with her. He trusted her enough, but he couldn’t be sure. He just couldn’t be one hundred percent sure of her. And with the lives of Palin and Brink on the line, he had to be one hundred percent sure. He couldn’t take any chances with their lives.

Seven sighed.

He was wasting time. He needed to grab his son, meet with Palin and leave. They could have everything they needed packed by morning. There was no way they could leave without everyone knowing. They would have to tell the rest of the squadron that they were leaving.

But could he tell them why? The real reason? What kind of reaction would that cause? For one, Seven did not have hard, concrete evidence that Reno had wanted his son dead, or him dead, for that matter. He knew it was true, but he had no evidence beyond his feelings through the Force. He’d look like nothing more than a troublemaker.

Furthermore…what would happen if he did tell everyone? Some might believe him. They might turn on Reno. There would be a fight…many would die. Thunder could die. Or Jen. Or Skate. Was he ready to sacrifice his friends like that? That would be the result if he came forward with his suspicion. Bloodshed. His friends would die. He couldn’t allow that. If he and Palin took their child and ran, then there wouldn’t be any bloodshed.

They would have to leave Sith Squadron, possibly forever, but it would save some of his friends lives, and more importantly, their own.

That, by Seven, was a good tradeoff. A great tradeoff.

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

It was the next morning.

Star had spent the entire night in her quarters, staring at the door, her hand on her lightsaber. She had seen something last night. Seen something she shouldn’t have seen. And she knew that there were some kind of repercussions coming.

Reno had gone there to kill Seven and Palin’s child.

What kind of monster was he?

She knew that he had done evil things. She knew that he had killed before. But none of that compared to what she had witnessed tonight. Or almost witnessed. Thank the Maker that Seven was there.

But Reno had seen her. He knew that she had seen something, though he probably wasn’t sure how much. If he found out exactly how much she knew, he would kill her. After all, he couldn’t have her spreading information like that. That was why she had watched the door all night. She knew her days -- perhaps her hours, or minutes -- were numbered. Any minute she expected Reno to come through the door. And when he did, he would kill her. She was sure of it.

Suddenly, her door chime activated.

Star tensed. She didn’t answer.

The door chimed again.

She couldn’t answer it. Death was on the other side of the door.

The door chimed again.

How kind of Death to have the decency to knock on the door beforehand…

The door didn’t chime anymore. Instead, it hissed open. There, blocking the entire doorframe, was Reno. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look mad. He almost had a surreal, peaceful look on his face. Somehow that made him even scarier.

“Hello, Star,” he said, stepping into her quarters. “I would’ve dropped by sooner, but I had some business to attend to.”

Star said nothing. She couldn’t say anything.

“I was hoping to clear the air about last night,” Reno started. “I’m sure you’re a bit confused by what you may have seen or heard, and I’ll get to that shortly, but first…I was hoping to do a bit of catching up with you. For example…how is your brother, Dexter? I believe he is still back on Orcania. A mechanic, if I’m not mistaken. Runs a fairly successful chain of garages. A wife, two kids. I’m sure you miss him terribly. You haven’t made any personal calls since you got here a year ago. I’m sure you miss your nephew and niece, too. They’re so young. I do so love…children.”

Star couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She hadn’t told Reno or anybody else in the squadron about them. This was all information that Reno had gathered, perhaps in the last few hours.

“You have two sisters, as well, both younger than you. Fiona and Mira, I do believe. Fiona is married to a local politician in Cani, Orcania’s capital. No kids, no job. Her husband makes enough through shady deals for them to live comfortably. Mira, though, is married to an accountant. No kids yet, but she is expecting. Only two months left. Quite the family you have there, Star. I’m sure you miss them…and they miss you, too. You really should call them. Family is so important, after all. And you never know when something…tragic…will happen.”

Star was too stunned, too shocked to say anything. He didn’t even try to hide the implications. He may as well have come out and said that he would kill her family if she said anything about what she saw. She still held her tongue, not trusting herself to say anything.

“Now, about last night…” Reno started.

She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to let him blackmail her with this threat. But she didn’t have too much of a choice. She knew that if anyone had the power to simply wipe out a family, it was Reno. She didn’t want to do this…but she really didn’t have an alternative.

“Last night…” she said, her voice hoarse, “…I was here. Sleeping.”

Reno smiled. “Good.”

Without another word, he turned and left.

Star exhaled, unaware of when she had even started to hold her breath. That was it. She had allowed it. She was compromised now. He had something over her. She had shown Reno that she would allow herself to be blackmailed, threatened. He had power over her now. She would have to do as he said.

Star hung her head low.

What had she just allowed to happen…

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

The entire squadron had gathered in the docking bay to see Seven and Palin’s shuttle off. As Seven had expected, word of their departure had traveled through the SSD like wildfire, though the true reason had been kept under wraps. For everyone who asked, Seven simply smiled and said that he and Palin were going to go on a little vacation, and wanted to spend time with their son in a safe place, away from danger. It made sense. Some looked suspicious, but none questioned it. Why would they? Was it so odd that two people in love who had just recently had a child would want to spend some quiet time away from a war vessel that was constantly either attacking someone or under attack itself? Maybe they figured that the couple would get married while they were away, preferring a private ceremony. Where would they get married on the SSD? In the bar?

Palin had already said her goodbyes and was aboard the ship with Brink. Also aboard the ship was Nuprin, the squadron’s quartermaster. Knowing how young both Seven and Palin were, and how inexperienced they were with raising children, Nupe had offered his knowledge and expertise. Having always enjoyed Nuprin’s company in the past, and knowing him to be as trustworthy as possible, Seven and Palin had both agreed that he could come with them. If nothing else, it would give them someone from “home” to talk to.

The squadron formed a line, organized by call sign from highest to lowest. Seven started at the end with Jen. He shook her hand, bid her goodbye for now, and continued down the line. Each person offered congratulations, best wishes, or other words of sentiment. He went down the line. Jen, Skate, Star (they exchanged a knowing glance with each other, but neither said anything about the previous night), Fox, Sky, Jace, Ryvo, Thunder…

And finally, last of all, Reno.

He held out his hand to Seven, smiling, as if they were best friends. Seven wished nothing more than to activate his lightsaber and cut off that extended hand. But he couldn’t. He needed to keep up appearances. He needed everyone present to think that nothing was wrong. If they didn’t think that, it could endanger their own lives.

Seven extended his arm and shook the hand of the man who had planned on killing his child.

Seven’s eyes met Reno’s as they shook hands. “I hope this isn’t goodbye, Seven,” Reno said.

“I’m sure it isn’t,” Seven responded.

“I look forward to our next meeting,” Reno said.

“I’m sure I’ll be hearing from you again,” Seven said.

“Believe it.”

Seven let Reno’s hand go, grabbed his bag and headed up the boarding ramp. Those last words Reno had said to him…they were a warning. Seven had uttered the same thing to him in sickbay.

He’ll be coming after us. It won’t be today. It won’t be tomorrow. But he’ll come.

And when he does, I’ll be ready.

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

As the shuttle prepped for launch, the squadron moved from the docking bay to the bridge. It was a better place to watch a departing shuttle from.

Reno watched as the shuttle flew away from the SSD and eventually shot into hyperspace, to a destination that they thought would be secret from him. Nothing could be kept secret from Reno, though. Nothing.

He thought about the night before. He had known then that Seven and Palin would leave the SSD and go into hiding. He knew he would need a way to find them, a way to locate them. He would need to get a mole in with them.

“Nuprin,” he had said as he approached the little, yellow alien in the bar. Nuprin was drinking shots of ghedre, the powerful drink that could knock out any human after one shot. “I have a mission for you. An important one. Something I can trust only to you. But I’ll need it kept on the low-low. Do you get my meaning?”

“Nuprin get meaning,” he had said. “No want people find out what Nuprin doing.”

“Exactly,” he responded. “Tomorrow morning Seven and Palin will be leaving the SSD with Brink. They’re going to go off somewhere and raise him…away from us.”

“Why they do this?” the alien had asked.

“I know you consider them to be your friends, Nuprin, but I’m afraid I have bad news for you…Seven and Palin have betrayed us.”

“What?!”

“I discovered that the attack Xanthis and AOL led on us today was because of information that Seven and Palin had provided him. They wanted AOL to capture the SSD, and kill all of us.”

“Nuprin not believe this,” Nuprin had said. “Seven and Palin are good humans.”

Reno had smiled. “Believe it.”

“No…”

“If you come to my quarters, Nuprin, I will show you the information. You can make up your own mind on whether or not they betrayed us.”

“If is true….” Nuprin hesitated for a moment “Show Nuprin information.”

The stupid yellow alien had fallen for it. The information he had shown Nuprin had perfectly implicated Seven and Palin in today’s attack. It had more than fooled Nuprin, who was outraged at their “betrayal” and had immediately agreed to Reno’s plan.

Reno was just glad that the information he had created had worked well enough to fool Nuprin.

The group began to break up and leave the bridge. Reno stayed behind and continued to stare out the viewport.

I’ll be coming for you, Seven. You and your whole family. Not today. Not tomorrow. But I will be coming.

Believe it.

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

Andrei Zhukov walked through the corridors of the SSD decked out in the red-and-white colored armor of an SSD trooper, the last person of his strike teams still alive. Out of fifty men, he was the only one left! Those were his associates. His comrades. His friends. And they were dead. All of them.

Next to him walked another trooper, his partner in their patrol. He didn’t know who he was, nor did the other man know who Zhukov was.

After escaping Tyros in the docking bay, he had fled deep into the SSD. He had found a trooper to kill after the emergency was over, whose body he had stuffed in a locker, but not before taking the armor. It was the only way he could hide. Sometimes, the best place to hide was right out in the open. This was as “out in the open” as he could get.

They marched down the hallway, neither saying anything.

The attack on the SSD had been a miserable failure. Everything was ruined. Everyone was dead. He had heard Xavier was a prisoner aboard the ship. He thought about going there to fee him, hoping that maybe together they could escape. He nixed that idea, though. Xavier would be well guarded. Any kind of prison break would cause too much attention. Besides…Zhukov had a better idea.

He wasn’t going to leave the ship. He was going to stay.

When this operation had started, it had only been about the money. He had had no personal hatred of Sith Squadron or its personnel. It was just another job, and a high paying one at that. Nothing personal, just business.

But now forty-nine of his friends were dead. It didn’t get more personal than that. So he would stay on board the SSD. He would be the snake in the garden that would strike at their heels, the dagger in the dark that they wouldn’t see coming until it was too late. When they least expected it, he would stab them in their vital organs and kill them. When they least expected it--

His partner suddenly stopped walking. “Hold up, I need to tie my shoe,” the trooper said.

What? That didn’t make any sense. Stormtrooper boots didn’t have shoe laces…

Oh no…

In a blur of motion, before Zhukov could even respond, the trooper reached out from behind him, grabbed his head and twisted violently.

Zhukov’s neck snapped quite easily and he was dead long before he hit the ground.

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

Tyros Dakon took off his helmet and tossed it aside flippantly. He looked down at Zhukov’s body and shook his head.

He turned and walked away down the corridor, leaving the body of his former friend behind. The former friend who had made it personal by killing several of Tyros’ Red Fangs.

Zhukov should’ve known better than to think he could escape Tyros Dakon.

No one escaped Tyros Dakon.

Believe it.