A/N: Howdy folks! Any review responses will be at the END of the chapter, so that the story can get right on with it! Here will be reserved for important stuff.

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Disclaimer: I OWN HOMEWORLD!... or at least a copy of it.. I believe THQ currently holds the copyright though

-66AHL, Soban settlement, Hiigara-

The laughter of children echoed throughout the streets of a small town on Hiigara. I watched as a small child played with his friends, outside my window, and gave a nostalgic smile- remembering playing similar games to them- albeit at a place halfway across the galaxy.

A light clink brought my attention back to the man before me- he set his cup down on the table, and gave me his most eager look, picking back up his notepad. "Alright, are you ready to start, Admiral Soban?" he asked, politely as he flipped open the pad, and set his pencil to the top of the page.

I blinked for a moment, my short term memory failing me- Who was this man again? He looked a lot like my Weapons officer, from the [i]Veer'nal[/i]. "Oh that's right... Like I was saying- I had finally managed to convince the brass to let me..." I said, shaking the cobwebs out of my mind- He couldn't be my weapons officer- He's been dead for nearly 70 years.

It was a young historian that I had been speaking with for the past month- probably no more then twenty years old. He'd finally convinced me to give him the whole tale of my exploits during the great migration to Hiigara. The images of what seems to have occurred lifetimes ago slowly flashed into my view. Faint echo's of sounds long past, and the feel of objects long gone tingled my senses- and it seemed as if I was there... Back over Kharak. Back on the Mothership's Scaffold...

1 BHL, Tiir, Kharak

I sat on a bench, inside of a hall, waiting outside a particular door in a building on the outskirts of Tiir. I heard faint talking inside the room, but couldn't really make anything out- so I settled for drumming my fingers on the side of the bench, waiting to be called in.

I spared a glance around at the others, in similar situations- some with eager faces, others looking bored, and one or two looking afraid. Next to me sat a man of small stature- I hadn't caught his name, but he had said something about being of Kiith Manaan, when the officer at the end of the hall asked for his papers.

Speaking of papers, I reached inside my pocket, and pulled out the little slip- still hardly believing that this was real. There, staring back at me was my own face, underneath small font reading "Rear Admiral Khalur Soban". I flipped the card over- for lack of anything else on the front, save a Soban Kiith Icon watermarked into the background, and various other information about myself.

"Rear Admiral Soban?" a woman's voice called out of the room, and I raised my head to see a lieutenant looking around the hall. "Here," I said, startling her- as I was the closest one to her. "You don't look old enough to be a..." she started, before spotting my card, half turned over in my hand. "-Of course, Admiral LiirHra will see you now." she said, quickly cutting herself off.

I thanked her, stood up and quickly smoothed my uniform down, placing my card back into my pocket, and following her into the room. I saw the silhouette of an older male admiral- With a badge for Fleet Intel shining off his chest- reflecting the sunset from the large window beside him.

"Admiral Paktu, thank you for making time to hear me out-" I started, getting straight to the point. I knew he was a busy man, and I was determined to make my case heard to him this time. Last time, the Admiral had dismissed me without giving an answer, and there was no way I was going to 'leave well enough alone' as far as the Mothership went.

"Rear Admiral- I didn't accept your request to hear another lecture on the purposes of fleet defense." my jaw clicked shut as he cut me off, waving his hand in my general direction, as he continued to face the window. I looked up over him, and I'll never forget the backdrop- small hovercraft moving this way and that, as beads of light shone out from a particularly tall building, almost fully eclipsing the sun.

My attention was quickly brought back to him, as he continued his statement: "Last week, I had brought your case to the Admiralty that's going to be leaving on the Mothership." he said, pausing slightly while turning his chair from the window towards facing me.

"It has been decided, by the general majority, and recommended by Ms. Sjet herself, that your points are all valid, and that it would indeed be wise to bring an active military contingent with the Mothership." he finished, clasping his hands together, and resting his elbows on the desk. He stared at me, over his hands- and the look he gave me.. It almost felt like he was weighing my soul.

"It's also been decided that we want you on board this ship. Your previous expertise in the command role, and your actions in your former war have proven just how efficient you are- and the entire current staff agreed to your recommendation." My jaw slackened a small amount, and I blinked disbelievingly at him for a moment.

"Th.. Thank you, Sir!" I said, still a little bit surprised. He grinned at me behind his hands, and reached into his desk, fishing around one of the drawers for just a moment, before pulling out a small stack of papers. I cringed, and nearly groaned aloud. 'Great... as if the three dozen forms- In triplicate!- that I had to fill out to even get here weren't enough... More paperwork!'

"These are your registration forms for The next shuttle up, and access forms to all the parts of the ship which you'll be allowed entry." He said, before his grin widened. "I'll need them back on my desk before sunrise." And as if that wasn't bad enough- the sun just finished setting behind him- and the sky faded from a myriad of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks, to a rich, and quite dark, blue.

A/N: Before anyone asks- No, I won't be needing a beta- I've read far too many stories where the beta seems to simply use the auto spellchecker- and I can do that myself... I've seen several good stories almost ruined by breaks in the immersion, caused by similarly spelled words... with entirely different meanings.

Besides, I can re-read my own work, thank you very much!

Read and Review, please! I'd like at least one review, before I continue- just to make sure that there's a little bit of attention to this story. :D