Chapter Nineteen: The General

The blast doors to the private conference room slid open and the tall dark figure walked in, and stood at the head of the table. Revan stood, but Caroline and David remained seated. "General Clymore. It is an honor to be in your presence." Revan said, bowing his head.

Clymore nodded. "The feeling is mutual, my friend. However, we are short on time. Let us begin. First I want to debrief you, Revan."

"Very good." They all took their seats.

"The Operation in the United Kingdom was a partial success. Their government was shut down. However, we were unable to convince Bauer into joining our cause."

"I take it you had the package delivered via other means?"

"I did. Moving on, the operation in Florida; the outcome was unknown. A group of employees went rogue and took out Faulkner."

"Is there any good news?"

"Mr. Hower procured the suits, and We have the DNA from Wade and Fettel."

"Is, that it?"

You're here, are you not?"

Revan thought for a moment. "Indeed…"

"In addition, Darth, I do suggest you think about who is running this operation. It is not you, but I who developed this entire takeover. Without me, there would be no you."

Revan did a double take at Clymore's words, but said nothing. "Now, the DNA is being processed. The Super-Soldiers, whom I refer to as the Dark Ghosts, will begin production in only a few hours. As a test, I shall release the T-Virus into the general population. If the Dark Ghosts are a success, then they should be able to clean the infected population…"

Revan glanced over at Caroline, who simply smiled. "Soon, my friends… we shall be unstoppable. And then… we shall be referred to as Gods."

There was a loud clanging sound as the gate to the armory was swung open. "There are way too many things out there. How do you expect survive long enough to take down the ship?"

Jack Bauer looked over at Sydney Bristow. I walked up behind them. "We don't." I said simply. Sydney looked over at me, confused. "We have to board the ship, and destroy it from the inside."

"That's suicide."

"Not if we're smart about it." I turned and looked over at Chuck. "Chuck. I'm going to need Lucas's blueprints for that Super Star Destroyer."

Chuck looked around, his turn to be confused. "Uh, how am I supposed to get that?"

"You, are a nerd. A geek. A tech guy. Don't play stupid."

Chuck, with a sheepish looked, turned and went over to a drawer and pulled out a large sheet of paper – blueprints.

"Show me the bridge." I said, walking over next to him. Chuck spun his finger around the paper, and stopped, tapping on the spot where the bridge was located. I nodded. "Alright. Docking port." Chuck indicated it, and cocked an eyebrow.

"Now… the main reactor."

Chuck stared down at the blueprints, and then tacked his finger on the spot. I followed the path from the docking port to the reactor, and from the port to the bridge. It was going to be a two team job.

I glanced around at the people around me. None of them were strangers to me. But I could see it already. Who is going to want to go on a suicide mission? Not only that, but who wants to go on a suicide mission with me?

Jack, Alec, Carina, Sydney, Casey, Sarah, and even Chuck was trained for missions like this. But Vanessa? Christian? Even Ouida couldn't be prepared for such a mission, regardless of how tough she truly was. Maybe it was just me being paranoid and protective of my friends. I couldn't have been sure.

We'd all been through hell these last few days. We'd all killed someone. Not because we'd wanted to. But because our lives depended on it. Ajmina, Kirsty, Lara, Shandana, and John had been put through hell with Caroline.

How could I ask them to join me on another hellish ride? I couldn't. I looked down at the blueprints of the ISSD. We had to stop Revan. "Matt." I looked up at Carina. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that the only way to stop this entire war, is to stop Revan. And who ever he's working for. The first step… is shutting down the Imperial Super Star Destroyer."

"So, how do we do that?" Misha asked. "Oh, no." John walked over. "I'm not letting any of you girls go anywhere. We're going to sit right here and wait for this entire thing to be over."

Ajmina cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't argue with her Father. She felt like shit. She knew she looked like shit after her encounter with Caroline's torture tests. But they had to shut down that ship. They had to stop this entire thing.

"No, Baba." She said, softly. John turned to his daughter. "Mima?" He said in surprise. Ajmina looked down for a moment. "AJ…" I said, "You don't have to. I understand your father's concern. It's probably best you stay here."

"And it's best you stay too, Matt!"

I looked over at her, a sad smile forming on my face. "You still have to find Rebecca, and your family!"

It was my turn to look down now. "I believe the answers lie with Revan, or someone on that ship."

I looked up again, and smiled softly at Ajmina, Misha, and Shandana. "I'll be fine. I need you to stay here and take care of your sisters, and your Dad, and everyone else."

"You can't go up there alone." Shandana said. I looked over at the group of Government agents, then back at my friends. "I'm not."

There was a moment of silence, as AJ glared at me. Then Carrie stepped forward, and looked at the blueprints. "So, exactly what's the plan?"

I looked at her, and then shrugged. "It's simple, actually. We're going to steal a small aircraft, and fly up to the ISSD. Once docked, we're going to split into two teams. One will head to the bridge, and take down Revan. The other will head to the reactor, and rig it to explode."

"Escape plan?"

"A ship of that size always has escape pods." I tapped my finger onto the blueprints, showing the pods. "Both teams will head there, once the reactor's rigged."

"If you aren't dead by then!" We all looked over at the president. He shot me a look. "Why are you forming this plan?" He looked over at the agents. "Why is a civilian forming the plan?"

"Mister president… with all due respect… shut up." Casey said. "Why you…!" Suddenly Jack drew a pistol and pointed it at the President's face. "Mister President. I respect you. But humanity's survival is on the line. I will not hesitate to kill you if it means everyone else lives."

"That's treason and murder!"

"Rules don't apply until this mess is cleaned up. Mister Smith over there, seems to be one of the few in this room who understand that. Now stand down."

The president gave Bauer a glare, but took a step back, saying nothing. "Matthew. I can have Chloe track down a smaller ship to steal, when your ready." He said to me. I nodded. "Good. Thank you." I replied softly.

"Um, pardon me." We all looked over at Tony Stark. "Are you all forgetting that my suit is out there somewhere? It's a danger to you, if you encounter it."

"What's your point?"

"I'll be coming with you. I still have my suitcase armor."

Rhodey blinked. "What about me?"

"You'll meet up with this Chloe O'Brian and become our eyes and ears."

James blinked. "Fine." I nodded. "Great." I pointed at Vanessa. Tim. Christian. Lara, Kirsty, AJ, and both her sisters. "You all go with him."

"Who the fuck died and made you boss?" Kirsty hissed. I just looked at her, unsure of what to say. She was possibly right. What right did I have, saying who could and couldn't risk their lives to save the planet?

I didn't. I sighed, and turned, walking over to the armory cage. "Do what you all want. I refuse to accept anymore blood on my hands. I'm going to stop Revan and find my family." I took out a nine millimeter Beretta Pistol and cocked it. (Dramatics).

"Do you even know how to use that?" Alec asked. I looked over at him, and smiled. Jack sighed. "I'll get Chloe on the aircraft theft. You all have about a half an hour to figure out what's going to happen." He said, and left the room.

I sat with my side facing the mirror, dabbing at the gash with a pad damp with alcohol. It burned like a son of a bitch. It needed to be stitched badly. I finally applied the entire pad of alcohol firmly against the gash, and let out a hiss and closed my eyes, wishing I could vanish.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and I winced. I placed some gauze against it, and placed a large bandage over it. "Come in." I said, pulling on a clean t-shirt. The door opened and Ouida walked in and sat down in a chair behind me. I could tell she caught sight of the bandage as I pulled the shirt down over it.

"Hey." I said softly, looking at her in the mirror. She smiled sadly at the mirror. At me. "So," She started, "Vanessa, Tim, Christian, and John have all decided to remain behind with Rhodey, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey."

I turned the chair around and looked at her. "What about you?"

"You think I'm going to let you go up there into a hell hole by yourself?"

"Bauer's going."

"Whoopee."

I smiled softly. "AJ, Shandana, Misha, Kirsty, and Lara are going?"

"And Carrie."

I cocked an eyebrow. "She's fully intent on getting payback for Mike."

I sighed and nodded slowly. "Fair enough." I leaned forward, and took her hand in mine, sliding my fingers over the top of hers, almost as if I was examining them. Then I looked up into her eyes, and gave another sad smile. "Thank you, Ouida."

She just looked down and nodded. Then the door swung open. Casey rushed in. "You might want to see this…"

I followed Ouida and Casey into the main room, where everyone was gathered around the main big screen. "We received this just a minute ago…" Bauer looked over at me. "It's addressed to you."

I nodded, and Bauer hit a button, causing the face of a man, with slick hair and dark sunglasses. "This video is for one Matthew Smith. I hope you are watching, Mr. Smith. Because if you do not stand down and surrender to our forces, then… well, it's easier to show you."

The screen went dark for a moment, and then the image of a young teenager girl appeared on screen. I stared at her for a moment, as she seemed to be sobbing, but I was unsure due to the lack of sound. "Emily…?"

Suddenly the screen flashed and she appeared closer, sobbing, and she spoke; "Matt… please. Don't listen to them…"

The screen flashed and the man in the sunglasses appeared again. "Mr. Smith, again. I hope you surrender. You and your friends. Because if you don't… I will kill miss Spence."