I am back, after a long and well overdue vacation. School has finally ended, and I expect to look forward to a bit more spare time to get things done. Here is the next chapter.

Note: I do not own The DOP series.

SUPREMACY

The single mind of the T'Hranii vessel was single no longer. It had split itself into three smaller, networked components to carry out its plan to annihilate this threat. Though it knew that a simple plan would be as effective also, It had decided instead on a more complex approach, as the simpler approach would actually be far more dangerous and would be subject to unnecessary risk.

The "Minds" had also finished the scan of the entire system known as Rukbat. What the scan revealed was disturbing at best, slightly frightening at the worst.

The newer vessel that had appeared at first glance to be an unarmed Heavy Transport above the third planet was not unarmed at all but was quite the opposite, far too exceedingly to simply protect cargo. Its weapons and armor were strong enough to take on the T'Hranii Cruiser, even an entire Fleet of them. The Freighter would be very dangerous if it was a fully operational starship. Fortunately, this was not the case, at least for the moment. The vessel was only minimally shielded and appeared to be unmanned. Though it bristled with armament, there were no energy signatures to indicate it was battle ready. It would be an easy target.

But being unmanned could not be said for the smaller Terran vessel also in orbit above the third planet, which was crowded with Terran signatures, among others. This was definitive proof that there was human life in Rukbat, and that the Human Fleet it had lost sight of was headed here.

The planet below could and did support Human life, though there were too few life signatures to make it a major colony. There were, in fact, only between six to eight million on the surface. It was most likely a small secret military outpost to be used in the event of war.

But this was disturbing, if this was a military outpost, it would have a support fleet of defending warships. If this was the case, then where were they? In addition, it readings found a lack of any orbital facilities that would indicate orbiting spacedocks necessary to support that fleet.

If the four starships, two of which were doomed without immediate intervention, were the only ones in the system, then this was not a military facility at all. After a lengthy analysis, the Minds finally came to the conclusion that this was none other than another forgotten human settlement from eons past. The scanning of the Humans' Historic records prior to the initial strike on the Human colony 'Tzu 32' indicated that the discovery human settlements not thought to have existed had, in fact, happened in the past.

Pathetic, Humans losing their own kind. Nothing would have ever happened in the T'Hranii race.

This was, for certain, the case for Rukbat. A long forgotten Human Colony, all the more enticing to destroy.

The Minds made several adjustments to accommodate this new information, as well as any future unexpected discoveries or occurrences.

And the Minds continued, now cloaked to avoid any detection, towards their ultimate goal.

C.T.S. Sargasso, 1020 hundred hours, Tzu 1 local time, Briefing Room.

Lt. Falsner was enjoying his second love, after flying for the C.T.S. Navy; He was reading.

Though the ship's data files and digital books were all wiped out in the T'Hranii raid, he had borrowed, and was now sitting in the cockpit of an F2-A Stiletto JSSF, trying to relax in the uncomfortable seat.

He was about halfway through the third chapter when a head popped up over the side, startling him and breaking his flow of thought.

"You usually read before a major Op," Lieutenant Capris said to her fellow pilot. "Why here in the cockpit?"

"The book's a biography about a former ace pilot. There isn't a better place to read something like this than the cockpit of a fighter."

"The book sounds boring."

"Biographies usually are in my opinion," Falsner responded. "But this is the only physical binded book on the ship. I got it from an officer in Engineering."

"Well whatever, we're wanted it Briefing. All the mission specifics have been sorted out," Capris said.

Falsner tossed the book back into the cockpit and hauled himself out onto the expansive floor of the hangar. Either end was covered by a huge permeable shield that kept the air in but let the ships out. Though the hangar doors were sealed shut, the shield was still active. Falsner hadn't even noticed something obvious. The shields were only left active like that in the event of a possible attack.

But minutes later, Falsner, Capris, and the other lead pilots from three other squadrons were seated around the conference table that had been occupied by the Brass from the other ships barely an hour before. He had already sat in on part of that briefing, and he understood the part about supplies on the rouge Freighter.

Wing Commander Skye sat at the head of the table and waited silently for the others to take their seats. Falsner and Capris were seated. Lieutenant Traska and Lieutenant Hawkins and their wingmen were also already there, the leads on the Luger and Sphinx squadrons respectively. Lieutenant Parker, the lead on the Image squadron, was the only one who had yet to show up.

"I'm not going to wait for Parker, so I'm going to get started," Skye said suddenly.

He got up from his seat and pressed a button on a small remote in his hand. A second later, a holomap of a star system appeared on the table, reaching to the ceiling. The view zoomed in on what appeared to be the third planet of six in the star system.

"This is the third planet of the nearby Alpha Sagittarius star, approximately one light-year away. Our target," and another image replaced that if the planet, this one of a starship of some kind, "Is orbiting this planet, presumably in a geosynchronous orbit, but we're not sure."

"Is there any information about the ship?" Traska asked.

"I'm getting there," Skye replied.

"Our mission, what is it, in general?" Falsner himself asked.

"Your mission is escort only. Fortunately you'll get to sit back and enjoy the show. A detachment of marines from the Leningrad are going to board the ah, freighter, and secure what cargo is needed, namely and most urgently fuel-"

At that moment Lieutenant Parker rushed in, panting from an exertion, and briskly saluted Skye.

"Lieutenant Parker reporting as ordered sir," He said, at attention.

"You're late." Skye said. "Hawkins, repeat what our mission is to this lieutenant."

Our mission is to escort a team of marines to a derelict vessel and await further orders," Hawkins replied sternly.

"Good. Now that we are all on the same page, take a seat soldier." Skye said to Parker.

Skye continued from where he left off. "As I was saying, your orders are to escort the marine transports to the freighter, until they are docked, and recon the surrounding area."

Another pilot spoke up. "Im going to wager a guess and say the target is unmanned."

You are correct. The ship is being operated by a master AI, that is networked into all of the ship's systems. Captain Falcanar has supplied me with override access codes to deactivate it and restore normal operations. The marine teams will conduct this respectively, so don't worry about it. In the event that it is necessary to extract the teams, cover them in their escape."

"Sir if I may ask, why do we need four squadrons to escort a team of marines?" Falsner once again asked.

"For two reasons. One, the ship in question is heavily armed, albeit for a freighter. And number two, if the T'Hranii have returned, which seems to be so, then there may be others out there. I sincerely doubt that they were only at Tzu 32, and could be waiting for us at every turn. So we need to take precautions like this."

"I understand sir," Falsner replied.

"There's one question, if I may ask," Parker then said."What is the name of the freighter were going to see on this little field trip?

"The ship's name? It's called the Monolith." Skye said, almost emotionless. "Dismissed."

The briefing was short as they usually go, but the mission for the fighter pilots was routine. Just make sure no one got into trouble. The Freighter, dubbed "Monolith", was for the moment, orbiting the third planet of nearby Alpha Sagittarius, still carrying out the order it had been given over two years before. Hopefully they could reach it before the AI-controlled vessel jumped to hyperspace and escaped. It would be close.

But then again, things were often close when it came to military operations.

The dressing room was already crowded with young fighter pilots and personnel. Falsner could make out the other pilots in his wing.

Texas, a Lieutenant from a deep mining colony in the Triestas System, was an easygoing, bespectacled young man who was a serious threat to the other guy when in the fighter seat. As well as being the one of the first members to the 498th Special Auxiliary Fighter Group, he was respectable and an easy friend.

The other member he saw was Chuk-Chuk, who was originally an orphan whose parents, both soldiers, were killed in action during the Farbanti Rebellion. Although he did not talk about his childhood, he was a reliable trustworthy person. There was also Valero and Raccoon, but they were not in the room.

"Hey, if you're looking for the others, they already went to the hangar," Texas said, his accent stressing the words.

"Then let's all hurry and get our own asses down to there and join them." Falsner said, fiddling with the combination on the keypad lock.

The remaining fighter pilots and crews quickly dressed and in minutes were all in their flight gear and assembled in the Hangar, awaiting a final inspection from their CO.

"Companies, atten-shun!" Everyone instantly snapped to.

Commander Skye and Captain Falcanar briskly entered; the latter in dress uniform, the former the same.

The captain stood off to the side as Skye continued to the front of those assembled.

"I'm not going to go into a long speech, you all know how I dislike those," Skye began. "I know that many of you have suffered your own personal grief, your own pain. Many of us have lost loved ones in war and in this most recent-engagement. But despite this, this last week I have had the honor to work with many of the bravest people I have yet known. And I have full confidence that all of you will perform your duties flawlessly, to the letter. All of our futures depend on this one mission." And at that Skye crisply saluted the soldiers before him.

"Dismissed."

Pilots and crew hurriedly dispersed, making to their Craft as quickly as possible. Falsner climbed into his Stiletto F-121-AC cockpit, seeing Capris in the neighboring fighter do the same. He buckled on his helmet, now strapped into the seat, as the cockpit canopy was swung shut by a crewman.

He was through the relatively short flight checklist quickly, as were thee other five members of his squadron. Capris, Texas, Chuk-chuk, Valero, Raccoon. All of them were already cleared for takeoff.

"This is Bravo One, requesting launch clearance."

"Clearance granted, Bravo One." Flight Control responded. "You're cleared launch."

The Yoko, above Pern Yoko

A'rak, I cannot tell how big or far away it is.

"It's about eighteen kilometers long, twenty-one away." He had gotten those numbers from the console on the Yoko's bridge before he left it. He also knew that he would be something that was stupid and risky. But considering the huge opportunity placed before him now, he was willing to take the risks.

He also found something else disturbing. The Yoko was only a few thousand feet long, but the Vessel was many times that, almost as large as many of the Ring Islands. It certainly seemed to be, at least. What purpose could such a ship serve?

He entered the cavernous Hangar and was at least glad that it was devoid of human life, if not dragon. Several of the noble creatures lay off to the side, two of which he recognized as Ramoth and Mnementh, the dragons of the Benden Weyrleaders. I wonder how bad a punishment I'm going to get for this, He thought.

It can't be as bad as the last time you did something insane, His dragon replied. Though you were lucky it was a gather and a marriage celebration.

You sound like you're criticizing me.

A small utility room connected to the Hangar. It had originally been a storage room for the maintenance of space vehicles. But it was now used to store the pressure suits for excursions into space when necessary. There were about thirty in all, so A'rak hoped that no one would miss one while he borrowed it. He slipped the suit on as quietly as he could, doing his best not to wake the slumbering dragons in the neighboring room.

A'rak, there is something happening, his dragon said urgently.

What is it?

The Vessel, it is changing, Lageth replied.

Let me see.

The crystal clear image of the Vessel sprang into A'rak's mind, as if he was seeing it himself, and not through Lageth. The image He saw was too startling to be believed.

Panels on the vessel's side were shifting, changing shape. Some slid out of place to expose strange objects or other equipment of some kind. Almost every surface of the vessel was brimming with sudden activity. The lighted image was changing too; some of the patterns shifted in appearance or disappeared. New ones appeared elsewhere.

Lageth, meet me in the hangar, now.

The dragonrider, now in a full pressure suit, rushed from the compartment and hurried out into the middle of the hangar. Lageth suddenly appeared from between gliding toward the deck, his huge bronze form touching down almost without any sound at all.

He was about to mount his dragon when the immense form of Ramoth suddenly rose from where she slept, alert and wide awake. For the briefest of moments, A'rak thought that he had been discovered. But he realized suddenly that it was something else that woke her

Lageth and Ramoth looked at each other a moment communicating unheard, telepathically. Then Lageth's huge bronze head swiveled back to look at his rider.

Ramoth says that there is something happening, and that you should go to her rider. He said.

"Tell Ramoth that I already know."

I did. She said that her rider still wants you.

A'rak, still about to mount, now turned to the gold dragon. Mnementh too had woken, most likely in the same fashion as his mate.

"I am sorry, but tell your riders I am busy." He then turned and mounted Lageth, and together they lifted off and went between.

What is it doing now Harper?"

That was the phrase that had gotten old very quickly in the last few minutes.

There were now what seemed like hundreds of people on the bridge now, and things were getting all the more confusing. Masterharper Sebell was trying to hold a dozen different conversations with a dozen different Lord Holders and Craftmasters. Amidst the noise of countless questions, journeymen running from console to console and an alarm somewhere sounding, a familiar voice shouted out.

"Well, we're gone for a while, and everything falls apart."

Two of the most important people Sebell could use help from at that moment had just walked onto the Bridge area, and into a room full of chaos and confusion. F'lar and Lessa, the Weyrleaders of Benden Weyr and perhaps two of the most important people Sebell could have ever hoped to see at that moment, had vust entered.

F'lar and Lessa's presence seemed to instill order in itself, as the entire room suddenly began to quiet as they entered. F'lar glanced at the new images of the Vessel and knew that the situation had begun to be far more serious. Lessa too, one look at the image and Sebell saw the same nervous look as F'lar.

"What, what is it?" He asked, now nervous himself.

"What is it? I certainly hope it's not what it's starting to look like," Lessa replied.

F'lar walked over to the monitor that displayed the image of the Vessel. "Sebell, you did read all of the records that AIVAS kept, did you not?

"I read most of the reports about Pern's early history, yes," Sebell replied, now sounding nervous himself. The others on the Bridge had all stopped what

"What about the ones before Pern, before the idea of this colony was even conceived?"

"Uh, no, not really, I only touched on those."

"Then you'd have no idea what is happening, do you?"

"No, I don't. Humor me."

Lessa began. "Some months ago I found reports about the old FSP stashed away in the databanks AIVAS kept. Reading these I found that many of the original colonists were survivors of an ancient, galactic war between Humans and another race, what were they called-" Lessa said, trying to remember.

"-The Nathis, I think," F'lar ended.

"Yes. But the point I am trying to get to is that I saw pictures of starships, others different that the Yoko. Ships built for the purpose of fighting this ancient war."

"So are you saying that this Vessel was one of those ships?"

No, the ones in the images were different. But parts of the Vessel now bear resemblance to those warships."

The Masterharper spun around to look at the image on the screen. "How so?"

F'lar began to speak now, in a faster pace. "The Vessel now bears what were called, back then at least, 'gun turrets', and a lot of them too. Weapons they put on spaceships to fight in space. The Yoko never had any weaponry because this ancient war had already ended and because the Yoko was only a colonizer."

"But there are no other ships here for it to fight," the Master said."

"Are you so sure then? You're standing on one. But if it wanted to attack us it would have done so by now. Or it could just have been gauging our actions and waiting for us to move first. Or and I fear I may be right, it is after a much bigger target."

"Like what?" Sebell asked, now very nervous. Everyone else was simply frozen where they stood, captivated by the conversation they were witness to.

"Well, it might simply attack Pern directly." Lessa said. "It certainly appears to have the capacity to do so. From its current orbit it could make a pretty big chunk of the Southern Continent unlivable-"

The Weyrwoman was suddenly interrupted by a seemingly louder-than normal alert klaxon, sounding from the radar station. The person stationed there, as almost everyone else, snapped out of a daze. The operator began typing frantically, trying to find something on the console.

"There's a new contact, off the starboard bow," the operator said, frantically. "Just appeared there. It's closing fast."

"Towards us?" Sebell asked, half shouting.

"No. It appears to be moving towards the Vessel, not us."

Everyone, Lord Holders, Craft Masters and Journeymen, Dragonriders, all moved towards the windows of the Yoko's Bridge, trying to find what was coming.

The images of the chaos and destruction over roughly the next short half-hour would forever be etched permanently into their minds. And they would watch this almost helplessly from their sole foothold in space.

They would also realize that there really were bigger fish in the pond next door after all. But fortunately, not all of them were completely alien.

Well, that's a wrap. Should have another update very soon, hopefully sooner then the last.