Lyn was almost frantic, 'why are they appearing now? We have not made any major operations lately, I don't see…'. A sudden flash of realization shot across her face as she stared at Jiri, 'your friend in the medbay… they have come for him haven't they?'.
Jiri felt the confusion set in, with Cypher dead Tyken should be safe.. right? 'It can't be the same people, he told her, 'We killed Cypher'. Lyn grunted angrily, 'You killed him? Well you ain't the first kid'.
Jiri did a double take, 'what? What the hell…'. Jiri was cut off as they entered the control room. The view screen showed the incoming fleet. It was massive, a hundred ships at least, command vessels, fighters, troop carriers. At the head of the fleet was a sleek black scout ship.
Lyn pressed her finger on her radio, linking her voice to the entire station, 'scramble all available fighters and interceptors, send the fighters to the flanks of the station. Let them engage, if they are stupid enough to attack our fixed position, fly into their flanks and we should finish them quickly.
The fighters were launched. They sat abreast of the station, awaiting the advancing fleet to attack. Lyn said under her breath, 'surely they will not be so stupid to fight us with the station able to provide covering fire'. The fleet however, continued their methodical approach. They drew closer, until they were in range of the stations turrets. Lyn's finger pressed down again, her command was loud, 'open fire with everything, bring them down'.
Laser fire burst fourth from the station, a massive hail of laser shots cascaded fourth from the turrets, careening towards the formation of ships. The accuracy was good and the fleet was moving slowly, the hits would be direct.
But as the blasts neared closer to their targets… The shots begun to slow down.
Slower and slower, until they came to a dead stop.
Then they started to slowly move in the opposite direction, faster and faster until they moved back with the same speed that they came in with. Every shot that neared the fleet would slow, stop, then be reflected back towards its origin.
A massive barrage of reflected fire hit the station, shaking it. Jiri almost lost his feet. Lyn also struggling to stand shouted into her radio, 'What the hell is going on?', a command given to no one in particular, looking for any kind of answer that anyone could provide.
The head solider begun to answer, 'we are unsure, it may be some kind of new weapon that we have not seen before'.
Lyn looked towards Jiri, 'do you have any idea what we might be dealing with here?'. Jiri was shocked at what they were seeing, his stunned silence gave Lyn her answer.
More fire came form the station, and the shots continued to reflect from the slowly advancing fleet. Suddenly the main power reactor from the station took a massive laser blast, knocking out the stations central power. All of the laser turrets stopped working. The ships lights went out. Auxiliary power kicked in as secondary lighting fired up. The lights were weak, shadows were cast everywhere.
The control rooms view screen was down. Lyn picked up her mobile com system and begun talking into it, 'we need some eyes out there, what the hell is going on?'.
'Sir, central power is down. The fleet is continuing it's approach'. There was a moment of hesitation before he continued, 'sir, the station is almost totally without power. Other than emergency lighting, some elements of the med-centre and life support, none of the stations systems are running any more, including all of the laser turrets. The station can no longer fire upon the fleet'.
Lyn was swift with her response, 'send in the fighters, we need to stop them from reaching the station'.
The fighters took off towards the advancing fleet and the ships clashed in combat. The battle was long and devastating, ships were flying everywhere, laser fire flew in every direction.
Soon there was debris floating all around the station. The sounds of battle ceased. The fighting had stopped.
Lyn had her finger on the coms, 'what is happening out there?'. There was no response. 'Report! What is the situation?'.
'Sir…', apprehension was evident in the response, 'our fighters are all destroyed. The invading fleet have devastated us… but they are all holding withing firing range of the station'. There was hesitation before he continued, 'the fleet seems to have ceased it's approach, the only ship now incoming is the head ship, the black scout ship'.
Lyn grunted in frustration as she responded to the voice over the comms, 'where is the approaching ship going to dock?'.
'The front door sir. The hanger'.
Lyn's response was fast, 'all available troops get to the hanger, we will have boarders entering the station in moments'. Lyn looked towards Jiri, 'you too, get down there, we'll want every available arm down there to fight off whoever they send'.
The hanger was filled with people when Jiri arrived, hundreds of men and women took positions, laser weapons at the ready poised to blast whoever came through.
Jiri took the safety off his rifle and took a defensive position next to Lyn.
The dim lights made it hard to see, shadows were cast all over the hanger. It was eerily silent across the entire deck. Soldiers twitched uncomfortably as they awaited for the enemy. Jiri was totally focused, his gaze ran across the hanger door. It was massive, and it would be hard to tell where the enemy would arrive. He really wanted to say something to Lyn, but the silence was almost oppressive and he dared not speak above it. Slight murmurs and coughs of soldiers could be heard. One solider pulled out a medallion that had his wife's face on it. He put it to his forehead, then gave it a kiss before putting it back into his coat. A woman looked at a photograph, a tear was in her eye. She pressed the picture against her breast, then went back to her defensive position. Another solider preyed to any god who would listen to his pleas, beads in his hand, he murmured below a whisper.
Suddenly a loud crash filled the hanger, in contrast to the stark silence it was deafening. The crash sent tremors of impact across the deck of the hanger as the twisting sound of metal against metal screeched in the air. Soldiers covered their ears. Jiri's ears rang.
A large breach had been made in the hanger door. Through the breach, the nose of a sleek black scout ship pointed through. The nose opened slowly, the hum filled the hanger as every soldiers rifle was risen. Jiri swallowed hard in anticipation. Then he saw it. A figure emerged from the shadowy cockpit of the craft. A figure wearing a black robe and a mask…
'No' Jiri said under his breath. 'There's no way…'.
Lyn's command rang through the hanger, 'FIRE!'.
A massive hail of laser fire surged from every corner of the hanger. Jiri opened fire with his rifle as did Lyn, as did every available man and woman.
The shots neared their target, then… then they stopped. Laser fire sat suspended in mid air, just short of the robed figure. More shots continued to pour in and stop just shy of the target, hovering motionless. Soon so much laser energy was suspended in the air, that the figure couldn't be seen, it was just a ball of energy in the air.
Lyn rattled off a few more shots before she stood up, and commanded, 'cease fire' to the hanger. The shots begun to slowly taper off, less and less fire went towards the ball of energy that rested against the hanger door. Then they stopped all together. Silence once again was all that could be heard.
All looked on at the suspended ball of energy, Jiri looked at Lyn, hoping for an explanation. Lyn's mouth was agape, she shook her head slowly… 'What in the…' was all she could say…
Suddenly the ball of energy dissipate. Underneath the ball, he figure stood. Jiri recognized the figure, the robe, the mask… But it couldn't be Cypher, Jiri had shot him in the head.
But there was something different, Jiri couldn't put his finger on it, but… wait he could see it, there was energy visible in his fists. His robes looked like there was a breeze pushing them, but there was no breeze within the hanger. A dark red energy encircled him menacingly. Jiri felt he air around him become heavy and oppressive. It was harder to breathe.
The figure reached into his robe for something. He pulled out a syringe. Jiri couldn't see what was in it, but the figure injected his arm with it. As he did so, Jiri felt the atmosphere grew even heavier. The lights flickered. It looked like electrical discharges were happening all over the figures body. The red energy intensified. A loud noise, like a screaming whisper, roared throughout the hanger.
The figure put away the syringe, then spoke, 'My time is limited, so I will ask but once – where have you taken my specimen?' Jiri knew it as soon as he heard the metallic voice – it was him! But how?
Jiri's bile grew, his anger rose to the surface as his face twisted into a scowl of hatred. How had Cypher done this? Jiri felt the urge to charge at the robed bastard. Then Jiri felt Lyn's arm on his shoulder, he turned to see her face, almost imploring him to stay down.
After a short silence, the figure announced, 'very well, if none will help me then you are of no use to me and shall be disposed of'.
Cypher raised his hand, the power already radiating visibly from it. A massive burst of electricity flew forth. The wave was massive, it took up half of the entire hanger. Sparks flew from everywhere as power smashed against everything. The soldiers in the path of the lightning suddenly begun to writhe on the ground in pain, falling onto the ground and twitching uncontrollably, their eyes wide and moth agape. The sound of electricity rang throughout the hanger, as did the screams of those struck by it.
Lyn, feeling the pressure of her dying soldiers shouted, 'open fire! Kill him!'. The troops lucky enough to not be under the barrage of lightning resumed their offensive against Cypher.
The shots neared Cypher, but again stopped short. Cypher's hand was still outstretched and electricity still pouring from it as the shots halted just in front of him. Lyn became frustrated and desperate, 'someone hit him! HIT HIM!'.
Shots fired off even more rapidly, yet every shot fell short, being suspended in the air.
Meanwhile the soldiers under the lightning begun to stop moving. One by one they would cease their struggling and would simply begin twitching under the electricity, their eyes open and vacant.
As the final solider ceased his struggling, Cypher stopped the barrage of lightning. He looked over the pile of corpses he had just made with satisfaction. He turned his attention to those left.
The energy was still suspended in front of him, hovering there, piling up as more shots were added. Cypher swatted with his hand, as if he were swatting at an unseen insect. All of the shots were pushed back in the direction they came from, Flying out, smashing into the walls, cover, several troops were hit. The rest took cover.
Cypher reached out with his other hand, like he was choking someone. Suddenly, all of the nearby soldiers were lifted into the air, clutching their throats. Cypher lifted his arm, the soldiers rose higher into the air. The troops struggled against the unseen force suspending them, confusion and fear on their faces.
As they were lifted, a shot hunchbacked figure came out of hiding. Wern emerged from behind his cover tentatively, 'please master, don't kill me' he begged as he came out.
Cypher passed him a slight glance, 'ah, the informant. You will come to Omega station for your reward. You stand to be a very rich man. Get on the ship now'.
Wern looked around the hanger quickly before meekly inquiring, 'sorry master, but when I spoke with Kinshoo he promised me the girl. Plex'. Cypher's response was aggravated, he was running out of patience with the little man, 'she is not here, get on the ship. we shall compensate you for not securing the girl'. Wern became slightly more assertive, 'but I spoke with Kinshoo and was promised money and the girl… that was the deal'. Cypher turned towards Wern this time, Wern cowered and fell onto his backside. Cypher's voice was lower, but somehow louder as he spoke, 'then I have altered the deal, should you fail to follow my instructions again I shall alter the clause involving your survival'. Wern lowered his head in submission as he waddled as fast as he could towards the scout ship.
Lyn gritter her teeth and sprang from her position, 'Wern you filthy traitor!', she charged at Wern firing her pistol at him. The shots again fell short of the target, hovering just in front of Wern's face. Wern fell down again, whimpering. Cypher threw his hand to the side. The soldiers who were suspended in the air were thrown viciously against the hanger wall. Lyn closed the distance to Wern, almost reaching him. Cypher reached out with his hand gesturing slightly upwards. Lyn swung her fist at Wern's head, it was centimeters from his head when Lyn was pulled into the air, clutching her throat.
Wern stopped holding his breath, panting and gasping for air. Between breaths he managed to stammer out, 'she's the leader of the resistance, Commander Lyn'.
Cypher said through a grin, 'thank you Wern, although she was correct about you being filthy, you have earned your reward. Get inside the ship now'. Wern got back up and resumed his path back to the ship.
Cypher was indeed happy, the leader of the resistance, the one who had been causing him so much trouble was in his grasp. He savored the moment as much as he could. 'Thank you for this commander, you who have caused me no end of grief, and now here you are, at my mercy'. Lyn struggled to get her words out as she remained suspended in the air, 'we both know that you have no mercy Cypher. You can kill me, but you cannot kill an idea. You cannot kill peoples desire for freedom. You cannot kill that which is eternal!'.
Cypher pulled Lyn right to his face. He whispered, 'soon the only thing that will be eternal in this universe will be me!'.
Cypher drew his light-saber, the red light illuminating the darkened area, it's hum ever threatening. Cypher raised Lyn high into the air with his free hand, Lyn struggled against the unseen force pushing her upwards until she hovered just above Cypher. Then he then dropped her, gripping his light-saber with both hands. As Lyn fell, her body dropping in front of Cypher, he swung the blade. He put his entire body into the swing, swathing the blade through Lyn's body.
Her corpse toppled to the floor with a dull thud. Jiri roared, 'Lyn! You bastard Cypher!'. Cypher's attention snapped immediately as soon as he heard Jiri's voice.
He reached out with his arm and caught Jiri by the throat with his force powers, lifting him into the air. He floated rapidly towards Cypher. 'You…', Cypher found it hard to mask the anger from his voice. 'Oh I've been looking forward to this moment'.
Jiri struggled against the force crushing his throat, but managed to get out… 'we.. killed… you…'. Cypher grunted as he answered, 'yes you did kill me… but death is not enough to stop me'.
Cypher put his blade away, and gestured to the rest of the soldiers in the hanger with his free arm. They rose up into the air by their throats. Cypher whispered as he turned Jiri's body to face the soldiers. 'Here's what I'm going to do, I am going to murder every single one of these people, and you are going to watch, powerless as I take away all of their lives. Then I shall take yours'.
Cypher focused his power into the airborne soldiers. All of them begun to desperately struggle against the force pushing against their throats. Jiri could see them struggle for breath, the fear in their eyes as they desperately tried to get air, their bodies struggle and twitch from the lack of oxygen.
Then Cypher clenched his fist. Jiri could hear the crunching sound as the throats of the soldiers were totally crushed under Cypher's force powers. All of the air borne bodies stopped moving. They floated in the air motionless with eerie dread.
Cypher dropped the bodies, they collapsed to the ground, leaving the hanger empty save for Jiri and Cypher. Cypher drew his light-saber and lifted Jiri into the air, 'I shall enjoy ending your life young one… farewell…'.
Suddenly, before Cypher could drop Jiri a voice filled the hanger, 'WAIT!'.
Cypher's head turned towards the voice. Jiri struggled in the air to face the sound as well.
Tyken stood in the doorway. He was covered in a blue liquid. His stomach was patched up. He was leaning against the side of the doorway. He appeared to have very little strength in his body. But he mustered what he could to have his voice carry across the hanger, 'let him go, and I will hand myself over to you'.
Cypher grinned, 'you do not have any chips to bargain with here my friend, I can kill your friend and take you by force'.
Tyken picked up a pistol front he ground. He pointed it at his own chest. 'If you kill my friend, I shall destroy myself'.
Cypher paused, considering his options. He asked aloud, 'you are really willing to die for this one?'.
Tyken responded, 'I owe him much more than I can pay, but my life might be a start. Release him and I will come with you of my own accord'.
Jiri struggled through his constricted throat, 'don't deal with this bastard Cypher! Get yourself out!'. Cypher dropped Jiri, he hit the ground hard. Cypher drew his light-saber over Jiri, he really wanted to kill him, but getting the specimen back intact was what he was really after. He could always come back and kill Jiri after they had finished the procedure.
'Very well my friend', Cypher's voice was almost happy. 'Come aboard my ship. You have my word that I will spare your... companion', he gave a very slight bow as he said it.
Tyken hobbled forth towards the ship that was still lodged in the hanger door. Jiri was still struggling for breath, but managed to get out, 'Tyken, don't'. Tyken smiled as he continued towards the ship, 'I'm sorry Jiri. I'm sorry for everything that I have caused you… but despite all of that, I'm glad to have met you'.
Cypher coughed as he spoke, 'get on the ship now'.
Tyken entered the cockpit of the ship. His hands and feet were immediately bound by the piloting droid.
Cypher continued to cough as he gave his farewell to Jiri, 'enjoy the stay on the station'.
Cypher's cough became more violent as he entered the ship. He spoke through the interrupting cough, 'get us back to the station immediately'. The ship withdrew from the hanger bay door.
The vacuum of space pulled against everything in the room for a moment before emergency force fields went up. The last of the ships power went into pushing the emergency bulkheads shut. The lights begun to dim. Jiri was all alone in the hanger. Alone with a giant pile of bodies.
In the scout ship, they cruised past the remnants of the space battle. Cypher's forces had prevailed convincingly. Scrap floated about everywhere, bodies of humans and aliens were littered about the massive amounts of debris.
Tyken looked onward, he could hear the coughing from Cypher getting worse. He looked over to see Cypher having a blanket put over him by a service droid. He looked weak, frail even. Cypher spoke weakly, only just managing to get out, 'get us back to station omega now'.
Th ships hyper-drive fired up, and the ship disappeared from space. Shortly followed by the rest of the fleet.
Jiri lay on the ground. He already knew that there was no way off the station and Cypher must have known it too, all of the ships had been sent out to meet the incoming fleet. Jiri was stuck. Eventually life support would fail and he would die a slow and painful death.
All he could do was send out an SOS and hope that there was someone nearby to receive it.
He staggered towards the control room. He hit the emergency broadcast button and begun to speak into the microphone. 'Is anyone out there? This is an SOS, there has been - ', he heard a voice that was unmistakable. 'Jiri? Is that you?'. Jiri couldn't believe that he as hearing this voice, 'Plex?'.
Plex responded, 'stay there, we're coming in to get you'.