Okay, here goes. In this chapter, i'll re introduce a few characters, as well as bring in a few familiar faces. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Ed Carroll looked over his dress uniform, eyeing it as if it were a Stormtrooper with a blaster at the ready. Like most soldiers, he hated dress uniforms, and it was even worse now that he was a Lieutenant Colonel. The only thing he admired about the uniform was the dress sabre, attached to the uniform as a salute to the old-style United States Marines, which was a predecessor of the MACOs.

"Oh, it's not that bad," said Tex Ridder, his best friend and executive officer. "Besides, just think what Jaina's gonna think when she sees her boyfriend in that fancy getup!"

"True," Ed acknowledged, finally pulling the uniform out of his closet. It was then that he realized something was wrong. He said so.

"What, with the uniform, or with you?" Tex asked with a wide grin.

"Neither," Ed replied seriously. "There's something wrong with you."

"Aw, I'm hurt that you think so!" Tex said with mock pain.

"You shouldn't be here," Ed insisted.

"Oh?" Tex replied. "And just where should I be? At the ceremony?"

"No, not there either," Ed answered sadly as he realized the truth. "You shouldn't be anywhere. You're dead."

With that statement, Ed shot out of his bed, his body soaked with sweat. This was the tenth nightmare he'd had since "Operation: Dust", the mission that had won him his new rank, the Alliance Eagle medal that lay with his dress uniform in his closet, and his new girlfriend, Jaina Solo. The mission in which he had lost his best friend.

Ed was in his quarters aboard an Alliance Battleship, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F, en route to a rendezvous with a freighter that would take them the rest of the way to Apache. They had been in hyperspace for four days now, as they had departed immediately after an award ceremony for the participants of the successful mission to capture the Empire's new Ultra class Star Destroyer. The mission had started out without major difficulty, and would have continued to do so, had it not been for the unexpected appearance of the Sith Darth Caedus, formerly the Jedi Knight and Galactic Alliance Guard leader Colonel Jacen Solo. He had killed three good men, including Tex, before he was driven off by Jaina Solo. And Ed had not slept peacefully since then.

Ed got out of bed, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. If he couldn't sleep anyway, he reasoned, he might as well get up.

He took a sonic shower and pulled a clean uniform out of the replicator, which he put on. The MACO casual uniform was basically a black camo tunic with a unit patch on the right shoulder, a MACO insignia on the left shoulder, and a rank insignia on the collar. Ed still wasn't used to the new Shark squad patch or the Lieutenant Colonel's star on his collar.

He stepped out into the corridor, which was empty, as it was only 0500 hours, and Alpha shift didn't start until 0900. He made his way down to the lounge, which for some reason said "Ten Forward" on the door. He entered, noticed that only a few others were in the lounge at this hour, and found an empty table to sit at.

He was approached by a waiter, and he ordered black coffee. As it was brought to him, the door opened to reveal Captain Soran, the Vulcan who had been transferred along with him to Shark Squad. Soran noticed him at the table, arched an eyebrow, and moved to join him.

He sat down across from Ed.

"What, you can't sleep either?" Ed asked.

"Actually I slept quite well sir," Soran replied calmly. "As a Vulcan, I do not require as much sleep as a human. I have made it a custom to awaken at 0500 on a starship, as it allows me to become familiar with the crew as they awaken and come for breakfast."

"I see," Ed replied sleepily.

"Are you having trouble sleeping Colonel?" Soran asked.

"What gave you your first clue?" Ed answered sarcastically.

"The fact that you are present at this early an hour," Soran replied matter-of-factly. "I have noticed that your usual time of awakening is much later, except in an emergency."

"I take it you don't yet understand the human concept of sarcasm," Ed observed.

"I do not," Soran acknowledged. "If I may ask a question?"

"Seems to me that you just did," Ed replied, then realized the humor would escape the Vulcan. "Never mind, just go ahead and ask."

"Is your inability to sleep connected with the death of Mister Ridder?"

"Probably," Ed replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I see," Soran said. "Perhaps you should speak to the ship's counselor."

"I don't need a shrink!" Ed exclaimed angrily. He noticed that he had drawn the attention of the bartender, and quieted down. "I appreciate your trying to help, but really, I'm fine!"

"If you insist, Colonel," Soran conceded.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Ed asked. "No ranks when we're off duty!" Ed replied.

"Of course, sir," Soran corrected.

"Close enough," Ed said as he drained his coffee and stood up. "I'm going down to the holodeck. Try and wake myself up."

"Very well, sir. I will see you at 1200."

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Ed approached the holodeck, expecting it to be empty. Instead, though, he found that a program was still running. He checked to see if entry was permitted, found it was, and walked through the door… and into a Victorian era apartment, decorated with what appeared to be ancient lab equipment. Standing in front of a desk with his back turned was a man wearing clothing from the era.

The man turned, and looked at Ed.

"Is there something I can do for you, Colonel?" asked Captain Data. He wore a white button up shirt beneath a vest, and was, with the exception of his artificial skin and golden eyes, the perfect image of the eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes, whom he was acting as in the holo-program.

"I didn't realize anyone would still be on the holodeck at this hour," Ed replied.

"As an android, I do not require sleep," Data explained. "I often spend this hour on the holodeck. Were I to find you here, I might ask you the same question."

"I couldn't sleep," Ed said, shrugging it off. "I figured I'd come down and work out a little while I waited. What program is this? I recognize it as ancient Earth from something I saw in a history file at the academy, but beyond that, I have no idea."

"This is ancient Earth," Data affirmed. "Specifically Victorian England, late 1800s and early 1900s. It is a program based on the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about a private detective named Sherlock Holmes."

"I see," Ed said, not quite understanding.

"You wonder, I am sure, what use an android has for recreation," Data observed.

"Well, honestly, yes."

"I am not the same type of android you would find in your own galaxy, with a few exceptions," Data explained. "I was programmed to learn, and to expand beyond my original programming. In every sense of the word, I am as alive as you or any other person on this ship."

"And how do you define 'alive'?" Ed asked the android as Data sat down.

"I consume oxygen and excrete byproducts, though not in the same fashion as humans, I think, I am creative, I dream, and I procreate," Data answered.

"Procreate?" Ed exclaimed. "Forgive me, but I think I'd have heard about it if there were any little half-Data's running around."

"You misunderstand me, Colonel," Data explained. "I did not create my daughter in the usual human fashion. I built Lal, basing her positronic net off of my own. Unfortunately, she developed emotions too quickly, and she died due to a cascade failure."

"I'm, uh, sorry to hear that," Ed said. "Anyhow, the reason I came down here was…"

"Captain Data, Colonel Carroll, Major Skirata to the Bridge," interrupted the voice of the shift officer.

"I think that's us," Ed said.

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Ed and Data walked onto the Bridge, and were soon followed by Major Tom "Gunny" Skirata, Alpha Squad's CO. Data had removed the Victorian clothing to reveal his Starfleet Uniform beneath it. He sat down in the center seat.

"Report," he ordered the watch officer.

"The freighter Wild Karrde has arrived early," the officer reported. "They are hailing us."

"The Wild Karrde is the freighter that's taking us to Apache, isn't it?" Gunny observed.

"It is indeed, Major," Data acknowledged. "Onscreen Lieutenant."

The bearded face of Talon Karrde appeared on the forward screen.

"Sorry for calling at such an early hour," Karrde began. "One of our contracts fell through, so we had a little extra time on our hands."

Karrde was a mercenary, though he was very picky about who he worked for, and he never worked with the Empire since the Sith took over. When asked why this was, he shrugged and replied that they were "too unreliable."

The truth was, though, that he had dealt with Darth Vader when he was in control, and even with Thrawn. Vader had double-crossed him, though, and Thrawn had been removed from power. Since then, he had mostly taken on contracts for the Alliance or neutral powers, doing things from simple trading to blockade running, price dependent, of course.

"Whenever the MACOs are ready to beam over, we're ready for them," Karrde finished.

"Very well," Data acknowledged. He turned to the two MACOs at the back of the bridge. "How soon can you be ready to transport?"

"Give us half an hour to get our gear together," Ed replied for both squads.

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Exactly half an hour later, five MACOs stood on the Enterprise's main transporter platform, their gear setting beside them. In front were Ed and Gunny, behind them stood Jaina Solo, Soran, and "Trapper" Sken.

"Energize," Ed ordered. The five and their equipment dissolved into the transporter beam. A moment later, they resolidified on the transporter platform of the Wild Karrde. It was an older model, bought from Starfleet surplus. The same model was once used on the Enterprise D.

"Welcome aboard the private freighter Wild Karrde, said a feminine voice as they got their bearings. "I'm Doctor Jocelyn McCoy. Which one of you is Colonel Carroll?"

"That'd be me," Ed answered as he stepped off the platform.

"Then I'm reporting for duty as a member of Shark squad sir," she said as she saluted him. He returned the salute.

"Don't we also have another member of the squad here somewhere?" Ed asked.

"Actually, I'm not sure where Mister Serek is," McCoy replied. "He was called to the transporter room ten minutes ago."

As if on cue, the door opened and a man plowed through it, his uniform wrinkled as if it had just been thrown on. And actually, it had. Jerala Serek was an Alderaanian who had been off planet when the first Death Star destroyed is world. He had quickly joined the rebellion, and had excelled to the point that he became one of their best commandoes. When the Alliance had formed and the MACOs had opened up to all comers, Serek had immediately signed up, and again excelled. However, he had one habit that had kept him from ever leading his own squadron. He was a drunk. The reason he had been late was that he had not heard the alarm over his hangover induced sleep.

"Mister Serek, I presume?" Ed said distastefully.

"Yes sir," he said. "Sorry I'm late sir."

"Just don't let it happen again," Ed replied.

"Where's the rest of my squad?" Gunny asked.

"Well, we've run into a problem," McCoy replied. "The rendezvous with the rest of the team never happened. The ship carrying the other Alphas was delayed at their last stopover, and told us to go on. They said they'd meet us on the way back."

"Oh great!" Gunny exclaimed sarcastically.

"Well, what do you expect when I'm dumb enough to subcontract Ferengi," said a voice from the door. It was Talon Karrde. "Sorry I wasn't here to meet you, I had to transport some cargo over to the Enterprise before we got underway."

"So we're on our way now?" Gunny asked.

"Yes, and we should have your team aboard within a few hours," Karrde replied. "In the mean time, I'm sure Doctor McCoy can show you to your quarters, and you can feel free to make use of my ship's rec deck while you wait."

"Thank you," Ed said for them all.

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Four hours later, they rendezvoused with the Ferengi that were transporting the three Alphas. The three beamed aboard, reported in, and stowed their gear. Within twenty minutes, they were finally underway.

Here we go... As always, thank you for reading. I welcome reviews, questions, comments, criticisms, etc.