Episode XXII:
Seeds of the Past
 

 I am Admiral David Archer, Commander of the GTI Dunwitch Hill, and in current command of the GTD Requiem. By all rights, and privileges I stand with this tribunal, and its decision. But I waver the rights and privileges to stand in the defiance of the accused.
 I served with Samuel Morrison, a man who probably saved us all. And yet, even with that, the Galactic Terran Intelligence tried to wipe him off of history’s face. I have seen you Admiral’s; you commanders jump over justice for your own benefit. Innocent men and women conspired against just so that officers like you could stay clean.
 And you Vasudan members of this tribunal, you are worst of all, you who place your own agendas above that of your own people. And you have the nerve to try an innocent man for crimes, which were never committed.
 But this is a court of justice, if only in name. And I will uphold that, and stick to the facts of this trial. I will honor that name, and I trust you will too.

     * * *

 The Requiem moved slowly through space, moved towards a singular point, a planet. David barley had a plan; it wasn’t much of plan really. Attack the enemy, and try and survive. But David knew that the likely-hood of any of this working was low. But they pushed on anyway, and hoped that help would arrive.
 
     * * *

 “Sir.” An officer said slowly. The bridge of the NTF’s super weapon was one off of an old Orion class destroyer. The commander of the might vessel slumped in his chair, he was so pushed forward, that the shoulders of his large coat almost covered his head. His head was covered by a large peaked hat. The hat was pushed forward on his head, far enough forward that if you looked at the man you could only see his mouth and his cloths. His elbows were bent on the chair’s long arms. His hands clasped together, he looked very peaceful.
 “Yes?” He asked slowly. A thick American accent. He didn’t move it seemed that not even the cool breeze, which blew through the bridge, could affect the man. Even his cloths seemed untouched. “What is it?” He asked slowly.
 “Sir, the Requiem is approaching at maximum speed.” The officer said slowly. The Admiral raised his head slowly, a small pin on his collar shone brightly in the light. It was not the pin of the NTF, but its image was obscured by the sudden light. The cap still did a very good job of covering the man’s face.
 “The Requiem?” The man thought for a moment. “The last craft returned.” The Admiral said to himself slowly. The officer spoke up.
 “Yes sir.” The officer said slowly, he was about to say something else but the Admiral quickly cut him off.
 “I know our dear, Admiral Carverson. He’s one for sacrifice, he’ll try to ram us, take us out with one shot, no matter the cost.” The Admiral began to laugh slowly; his deep voice filled the room with a quiet laugh. The officer spoke up.
 “Uh, no sir.” The officer said quickly, he looked around the room and sweat began to form on his forehead. He fixed his collar nervously. The Admiral looked unchanged.
 “Explain.” He said slowly.
 “When that ship disappeared, it was commandeered by an Admiral David Archer.” The lieutenant said slowly, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from the poor man.
 “David Archer?” The Admiral asked. “David, David, David, David.” The Admiral said as he let go of his hands and slowly tapped his cheek with his pointer finger. His voice changed tones as he said the name, over and over. Then he suddenly snapped his fingers. “Ahh, yes David. Samuel Morrison’s wingman, if I’m not mistaken. Morrison might have lost me that sword, but I will have my revenge on his friend.” The Admiral began to laugh slowly. “Prepare a communiqué, old GTI codes.” The Admirals laugh increased until it was a steady roar that filled the bridge.

     * * *

 The station grew slowly larger, David pushed his ship forward, his crew was stone cold, waiting for the attack. A tactical display flashed on another monitor, it showed week spots and areas on the ship. An officer stepped up with a tactical report; David looked over it, nodded slowly, whispered something to the officer. She nodded slowly, and taking the report headed off towards the engineering deck. The communications officer turned sharply in his chair.
 “Sir, incoming transmission.” He furrowed his brow. “It’s coming from the station.” David stood.
 “Are you sure?” The officer shook his head; he fiddled with his controls and then nodded slowly.
 “Definitely from the station, but there’s something else, I’m not sure…” David stepped over. He looked down at the control screen and slowly read the small readout on the incoming transmission.
 “That’s an old GTI Code. Try that.” The officer nodded and brought up a filter, the computer recognized the code. The officer smiled as he readied the communication. “Bring it up, let’s see what they have to say.” The screen changed. Space melted away to the form of a small bridge, moving with activity. In that central chair sat the NTF Admiral. “This is the Requiem, what do you want?” David asked, he sneered at the enemy commander.
 “You’ve done well for yourself Commander. I really should have paid more attention to the News.” David stepped forward.
 “Who might you be?” David asked sharply.
 “Oh come now David, we never actually met, but I knew Sam.” The Admiral said, he stood slowly. The camera panned in and focused on the Admirals covered face, his collar showed slightly, David caught the symbol and stepped back, a shiver of coldness flowed through him. “I’m sure you’d remember me.” The Admiral reached up and pulled the hat off, exposing his full face and white-gray hair. Memories flashed before David’s eyes.

 Sam stood in Admiral Shema’s office. The GTI Admiral smiled slowly. Sam stepped forward and looking up at the GTI Admiral spoke harshly too him. “I didn’t do anything,” He said slowly. “Admiral Newshire gave his life to save the GTA. Would you do the same?” Sam asked slowly.
 David and Vo’tion watched through a small screen on the flight deck. The security Camera caught the whole thing.
 The GTI Admiral looked up at the camera and then down at Sam, his smile grew slightly, almost a laugh. He extended his arms to either side and spoke softly.
 “At a moments notice Captain, at a moments notice” The GTI Admiral said slowly.

 David returned to reality. “I hear Sam is dead, and that this Catherine Norrow now carries the sword. I will have it, and it will bring ME power!” The GTI Admiral thrust his fist out, he smiled devilishly. “The GTI Was wrong to let me go, and as soon as I have the sword, I will be master.” He laughed slowly. He was mad, no longer the cool and collected GTI Admiral, now a devilishly insane Admiral bent on total control. David looked around at the small crew.
 “And what about Richtoven? You expect him to simply step out of the way?” The GTI Admiral began to laugh slowly.
 “He won’t survive long, I will use the station to eradicate him.” He continued to laugh, slowly, he laughed, it ate away at David, but he kept his cool. “Nice try David. But it won’t work. My crew is loyal only to me. That’s one thing we GTI’s were good at, manipulating fools like you and Richtoven.” The communication cut. David swallowed his fear, and all his feelings.
 “Set course. Charge all weapons.” The station began to turn; it aimed directly at them. “Take us around its right flank.” The ship fired its engines and began to pull away from the enemy sights. The lumbering station turned slowly, trying to meet the small destroyer.
 The Requiem pushed forward, the large weapon was no longer pointing at them, David turned in his chair.
 “Pull us along side.” He said slowly. The destroyer pulled itself down towards the large weapon. Blue beams of fire shot out, ripping space, pushing out towards the large destroyers. The blue anti-fighter beams bounced off the armour. The bridge shook slightly as the ship took the fire. “Report.” David said slowly.
 “No damage to hull. Minimal damage to port beam array.” David nodded slowly. He turned slowly in his chair watching the tactical displays flash. David scanned the display of the laser quickly with his eyes, and then noticed something he never noticed before; he stood and walked over to the display. They took another hit.
 “Target locked on the first collector.” David turned suddenly, he smiled grimly.
 “Charge main firing away one twenty-five of normal.” Someone barked an aye-sir, and the ship began to hum loudly as the forward firing away charged steadily. The engines cutback as power shifted from the engines to the array. David smiled to himself as he readied himself to give the order; he waited until the sign came.
 “In range.” The signal came, but David stopped, he didn’t say anything, they continued moving towards the collector. David half-sat down in his seat; he smiled continently to himself.
 “Wait for it.” David said. “Wait for it.” David came up out of his chair. “Fire!” The destroyer opened up with its forward firing array; the two beam turrets pushed large beams of bright green light into the collector. The beam turrets bit into the station, clawed at it, as if a wild beast had been contained inside the mighty destroyer and had been unleashed unto the collector. David ran over to the gunner, just as the forward beams ceased their onslaught. “Hurry charge the side cannons.” The officer hit keys furiously.
 “It’s not much Sir.” He said slowly.
 “Lock target and fire.” The side of the ship fired out beams of green light. The collector was pounded by a second onslaught. The ships engines flared as it began to pull away from the area. “Scan.” The science officer turned quickly.
 “No damage.” She said slowly, the bridge fell silent, except for a single laugh that pushed itself across the comm. unit.
 “You cannot hurt me David!” The GTI Admiral cackled slowly. David grit his teeth.
 “How can we destroy that thing?” David asked quickly.
 “We’ll have to take out the bridge, only way.” Someone yelled. David nodded slowly, he didn’t like the idea of attacking that thing head on, but he didn’t have much of a choice. The science officer suddenly spoke up.
 “Sir. Look!” On the screen, the massive base had moved, that thing had engines and was now pointed straight at them, and charging. David’s eyes went wide.
 “Full to starboard.” The destroyer pulled away just as the massive golden beam blasted across space. Nothing could compare the sheer power of the beam. It gave off flecks of lightning, flecks that could destroy a fighter. The sheer power pulled space apart; planets all around saw the light. Time slowed down, and the GTD Requiem couldn’t move fast enough. The beam flood through the ship, cutting through the right engine. Fire exploded from the ship.
 The bridge lights died. The ship was thrown about. David and his crew were thrown across the bridge. People screamed as consoles exploded, wiring fell from destroyed panels, and fire burned, electrical fires light up the bridge, and a few odd panels continued to work. The anti-gravity units had been damage, and the bridge was tilted. David pulled himself up towards his chair.
 “Report.” He said quickly. “How bad is it?” The science officer pusher herself into her chair, she quickly checked in.
 “Engines severely damaged, we’ve lost the starboard engine.” David watched as his officers tried to pull themselves up. The navigation officer threw off a dead body from his console and tried to wipe away the blood enough to read the console.
 “Give me a visual.” The navigator finally got the screen working, on the screen the large station was pointed directly at them; another hit would finish them.

     * * *

 “Sir, the Requiem has been severely damaged.” The GTI Admiral smiled to himself. “Their engines are down, weapons, and scanners are all off line.” The GTI Admiral laughed slowly.
 “Excellent. Now, I will finally have my revenge.” He continued to laugh. “Charge main weapon, and finish them.” The collectors on the massive station began to charge, the central beam grew strong, and charged to a point of sheer power. Soon the Requiem would die.

     * * *

  Subspace flickered in spiralling blue flames. The GTD Danton, a ship named for an ancient French rebel, a man, who incited the French Revolution, and then, was killed by the very same people he helped free. But Admiral Dravus knew that after all this was over, after the fighting was over, he more then likely would lose this ship. His rank, taken for all time. And so Admiral Richard Dravus would be lost, but if the battle was won, it would all be worth it.
 “Reactors at one hundred percent.” The navigator reported. Dravus nodded. He knew time was short, and he had to push his ship for every ounce she would give. He tapped the arm of the command chair lovingly.
 “Just a bit more, old girl.” He said slowly. “Push generators to one hundred-twenty percent.” The officer shook his head.
 “We’ll break apart.” Dravus shot back, quickly, and with full fury.
 “Either that, or we all break apart.” The navigator nodded, and pushed the reactor up. The indicator bounced as it began to rise into the red, past one hundred and up towards a hundred and ten. The ship began to bounce around, as subspace was pushed by the ship. The speed brought the catalyst closer to the hull; currents and tides pulled at the ship's hull. Dravus gripped the chair with all his strength; he gritted his teeth and hoped that it was enough.

     * * *

  The screen sparked. David’s forehead hurt, he reached up and wiped the blood away. On the screen the station turned slowly, it came to bare, looking directly at the Requiem. As if the Cyclops had reared its ugly head, the station began to charge. David gripped the arm of the chair hard with his hand.
 The station fired, it’s beams rushed out across space, ripping it apart, straining to reach the Requiem. It flung out towards the disabled ship at amazing speed.
 The GTD Danton emerged from subspace in front of the Requiem. The beam ripped into the Orion. The bridge erupted in flames. The beam constantly fired, it ripped along the Danton’s hull, pulling at it, stripping it off the ship. Officers and crew were tossed around like rag-dolls as decks filed with vacuum and fire. The Danton moved at surprising speed, the beam caught the engines of the mighty ship, and they exploding. Like a rocket through the space the Danton moved out of the way, just as the beam shut off. Dravus suddenly appeared on the David’s screen. Blood soaked half his face, and flames leapt across the bridge. But he was alive.
 “Danton to all ships.” He pushed. “Open fire!” The Aristogoth and several other destroyers opened fire. Fighters filled the sky as they arced towards the ship's bridge. Space was filled by the beam cannons of a hundred vessels. Cyclops warheads pounded at the stations hull.

     * * *

 Warning lights filled the bridge. Officers rushed about. The GTI Admiral stood. Shocked, and full of rage. “No!” he yelled at no one in particular. “How can this be?!” he asked in pure rage. The station took another volley and the automated systems began to call for evacuation. “You are not deserting me!” The GTI Admiral yelled at the fleeing officers. He pulled a gun and shot the one nearest him. But the bridge was soon empty. “Revenge was to be mine!” The Aristogoth came around, and opened fire on the bridge. “No!” The GTI Admiral yelled. “I was so close, so--”

     * * *

 The station exploded. Metal screeched in the dead of space as bombs and beams still crashed into its hull. The bridge ripped in half and exploded in a fireball. A magnificent blue shockwave pulled away from the dying station and swept over the assembled armada. A massive cry emerged from the fleet. David shook a fist in glee. The bridge was on fire, tilted, but the navigator jumped to his feet and yelled. They congratulated themselves. And slowly, pieces of the station began to fall back to the planet.  Dravus came on screen.
 “Did we miss the party?” He asked slowly, a medic had cleared away the blood and was tending to Dravus’ wounds. He sat in a half-chard command chair; most of the fires were under control.
 “Just in time.” Dravus smiled.
 “We would have been here sooner, but traffic was murder.” David smiled, and fell back into his own half-charred chair.

     * * *

 Richtoven pushed his sword into the wall. Leaving a trail as he walked. Kate wasn’t far behind him. Richtoven had watched the station die, but that puny station was no longer of consequence. When Kate dies he will be able to return to avenge his dead master, the Shivan would have been proud of him. An officer ran up to tell Richtoven the bad news. Richtoven pulled the sword from the wall, and stabbed the man. He fell slowly to the floor and died. Richtoven laughed and continued with his trail, his trail to the landing pad. Kate would follow; he knew that, but what a better time to kill Catherine Norrow, the Leader for the Shivans, then at the break, of dawn.

    To Be Continued.