Part 4 - Resurgence

Chapter 72 - Mutiny

The Empire's home fleet was predominantly based out of the former Sol Galactic Command orbital headquarters. Venom snarled at a pair of officers.

"Your uniforms are very...wrinkly. Learn to use a press."

The officers just stared wide-eyed. Venom retreated back into Edward who chuckled. The officers relaxed a little, glancing around to look for CCTV cameras.

"It's good to see you again, Admiral." Said one.

"It's good to be back here, although the maintenance team might need to get out the paint quite soon and cover up those Jolly Dodgers."

Teresa nudged Edward in the ribs.

"You can reminisce later. Right now we need to steal the largest ship in the SGC fleet."

"Right. You two wouldn't happen to know where the SGC Bastion is parked, would you?"

"I'm guessing you mean the old ship under that name? Like the ship that replaced Valour after it was scrapped?"

"You can't do much with a ball of metal impersonating a ship."

"The IHF Dromos is docked in drydock one at the moment. You won't get anywhere near it with just the two of you."

Miles turned visible.

"Just the three of you, I mean. If you guys can stay hidden for an hour or so, we can try and get some of those still loyal to you, Admiral, to join us."

"Thanks. And good luck. We'll try and stay around here."

The ex-admiral and commander hid behind a plant while Miles sat, invisible, on a window ledge. He could see the former SGC Bastion from here, although its name had been replaced quite scrappily with IHF Dromos. The ship looked almost identical to the SGC Valour, although its hull had obvious edges to it instead of a round, almost egg shape. It still held the spotless white of all its predecessors, but the Sol insignia was now, predictably, a Jolly Dodger. Miles sighed, imagining how desperate of a struggle it must have been after the slaughter of the Sol fleet at the hands of Gwen and Lucifer's fleet of Reapers. He was beginning to wonder how he could ever justify still loving Gwen, if anybody ever asked. But she had merged with the plate out of desperation to get him back. It dawned on him that she rarely did anything for herself; it just so happened what she did do had disastrous consequences. That could, of course, be blamed on the plate and probably was its fault. At least that object would be split from her soon. The war was coming closer and closer to ending. More and more Reapers were being destroyed, Lucifer's forces were being defeated again and again. Only a handful of humans still supported the imperial regime. Once the Quintari were back, the final battle could begin and Lucifer brought to justice in whatever form that may take.

A group of officers walked into the corridor and stopped, standing to attention and saluting Edward who appeared from behind the plant. Miles could see the admiral was enjoying this.

"Listen up. We have to hijack the IHF Dromos. She's the only ship large enough to set up the Animator and use it. I'm told to expect heavy resistance. We're going to be fighting your fellow officers; they might be friends, maybe even family. They may choose to join us, they may choose to fight against us. Wherever their loyalties lie, they are still people. Set your weapons to stun. If anybody shoots to kill I'll have you court marshalled. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" Came the replies.

The officers formed up with Edward and Teresa. Miles ran ahead, scouting to see how much resistance they could meet. He found himself in a main concourse where someone was giving a speech about loyalty to the Empire. He saw an opportunity to save these officers from death by PowerPoint, and he took it. The person was a demon; his spidey sense told him so. On closer inspection, he also noticed a curved knife outlined in their pocket. Miles leapt into the air, firing a web at the roof and swinging forward to plant a foot in their head. The demon was knocked flat on the ground and snarled. Miles didn't give them a chance to stand up; he charged a venom strike and put his hand to their forehead. The electricity knocked the demon out. He couldn't kill them, it was somebody else's body. Perhaps the demon could be cast out later. For now he webbed them to the wall and stepped up to the podium, removing the demon dagger and giving it a curious twirl. The officers seemed shocked at what had just happened and to suddenly be face-to-face with one of the most important people in the rebellion.

"I understand the Empire probably has a gun to all of your heads: step out of line and they pull the trigger. But right now I'm offering you a chance to tear them down once and for all; a chance to bring back everyone that has been lost throughout the many years of temporal conflict. All I ask is that you stand with me and tell people like Lucifer 'no more'. The Empire's end draws near; who's side will you be on when the last pillars of hatred and grief crumble?"

He noticed the team had arrived, holding their weapons ready in case this turned into a riot. And a riot it was, but not aimed at the resistance side. Instead the officers stood up and began cheering and roaring. Some drew their weapons and started shooting out CCTV, shredding the many Jolly Dodgers, and finally turning to see who else was with them.

SGC Bastion was guarded like the fortress its old name implied, but many of the guards turned on the Empire when they realised the resistance had arrived. Those that didn't realised their mistake as they saw Edward and surrendered themselves. There was a transit system in place to carry people and cargo out to the drydock in which Bastion was idle. A large number of the resistance group boarded it while others went their own way to liberate other ships under Teresa's leadership. The travel time between the main station and the drydock was less than thirty seconds. As soon as the doors to the capsules opened, more officers turned to their side. A lone pair attempted to fight back, killing a few resistance members before being dealt with.

Miles and Edward entered the bridge with two slowly aging officers who had served with Edward under his first command. There were three stations, a captain's chair and a first officer's chair. All five were filled. The captain stood up and tapped her com badge.

"This is Captain Hannover to all hands. The SGC Bastion is now under resistance control. If you wish to keep serving the Empire, get off Admiral Melbourne's ship."

The captain saluted Edward. Edward gave a quick salute.

"Thank you, Captain. I hope you kept her in one piece."

"She's in less pieces than she was when she was handed over to my command."

"That's always good. Tactical, helm, first officer: you are relieved."

The older officers took the places of the younger ones. Edward beckoned for Miles to take the first officer's chair. The admiral took a deep breath as he sat down.

"Ops, status report."

"The ship has been secured. I'm receiving similar reports from the SGC Arachnid, Republic and Marvel. I can't make anything else out from the rabble right now."

"Acknowledged. Helm, begin undocking procedures. Tactical: code red, shields up and arm weapons."

"Aye."

A klaxon began to sound throughout the dreadnought, accompanied by flashing red lights. Miles felt almost as if he were back in the days of the war with Conall. It was almost poetic how quickly the tyranny of the Empire had collapsed, and it proved both a light and dark side to humans: they desire freedom above all else, but they are willing to turn on even those closest to them to gain it. A clunking sound and a slight bump brought Miles back to his senses. Out the view screen he could see the drydock folding away...no, the ship was pulling away. After some orders from Edward, the ship was consumed by a bright display of colours and disappeared into temporal warp.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Venom
- Lucifer