The remaining ships of the Taskforce met again at Daemen, directly at the Rimma Trade Route, as AICA had the starfighters jump back to where she, SunTzu and Ramrod had come from to the battle.
The flight had taken three hours for the Far Side until they had reached their emergency staging area.
At Daemen several ships of the Galactic Alliance were already waiting for them, amongst others a medical frigate for all the wounded on the Far Side and the Starstruck.
The med bay of the Far Side was overcrowded with wounded and ever since they had left the bridge both Minako and Setsuna had been busy taking care of severely injured crew members, trying to save as many lives as possible.
The bombardment from the hostile Star Destroyer had destroyed large parts of the ship's weaponry and even breached the hull on the upper frame of the Far Side.
So far there had been thirty two confirmed deaths on board the Far Side and fifteen more on the Starstruck, which meant a whole quarter of the CR-90M's overall crew. Adding to these numbers were the complete loss of the Nomad's Luck and the ninety souls onboard. The Taskforce never before had to suffer such an amount of casualties.
Mamoru was sitting on their bed at the Royal Quarters of the Far Side, watching over his now sleeping wife. He had lead her out of the bridge a minute after they were in Hyperspace and somehow, she managed to break down just after he had closed the door of the quarters behind them. Nevertheless after they had jumped into safety the loss of so many of her men had sent Usagi into a trance-like shock.
The loss of her troops always broke her heart, every single time a member of the Taskforce fell, but she never had lost so many individuals at once. On top of that, all of them almost had died. She had sobbed and cried for the main part of one hour until Mamoru could calm her down enough so that she would sleep.
The loss of his loyal troops weighed down heavily on the young king and supreme commander as well but he knew he had to be strong for the both of them right now.
Princess Lady Serenity II., Heiress of Crystal Tokyo, was helping her best friend, Michiru and Haruka with assessing the damage taken on the capital ships from the outside. Since her Y-Wing had taken damage as well, Hotaru had switched to the remaining two-seater Y-Wing. The Voyager was actually the only starfigher which had participated in the battle at Qat Chrystac which hadn't sustained damage at all.
Nonetheless, both the TIE's pilot and it's gunner, knew what had almost happened to all of them. Michiru could tell in the taciturnity of Haruka. The woman she loved was more highly disturbed by the whole incident. Not that Michiru wasn't shocked and broody as well. She and Rei had given the Taskforce the least of a warning in advance but it hadn't helped at all.
Rei, supported by her staff onboard as well as Yuichiro, had taken over the duty to find out who was accounted for and who wasn't. Certainly not the most enjoyable task but she knew someone had to do it and if the Diplomatic Service would do it, the military officers were free for other duties, like damage assessment and rescue efforts.
One of the officers that overtook rescue and recovery operations was Makoto. Together with her Commandos she supported the ship's emergency specialists, making their way into the partly destroyed parts of the ship.
In the aftermath of the almost destruction of Taskforce Sol, Captain Santos had taken command of the ship, Artemis had taken the overall the command of the rescue operations inside the Combat Control Center near the bridge.
While most of the people aboard the Far Side were busy with the aftermath of the attack on their ship, a few members of the Intelligence Service were busy putting together the bigger picture.
Ami was alone inside her office and was collecting data about the adversarial attacks that had hit all over the area of operations and especially hard on the patrolling and scouting parts of the two Fleet Groups.
Pretty soon it became clear that it had at least partly been planned from the beginning. Older and weaker ships had been used to lure the Galactic Alliance into thinking they had made great success in their counteroffensive, only to hit them hard when they were more vulnerable.
Even the attack on the combined Fleet Groups at Woostri hadn't been anything more than a ruse to keep the bigger ships and their firepower away from helping the scouting flotillas.
Ami sighed as she looked up from her datapad. So many individuals, including herself, had been suspicious but how could they still have been feigned so badly?
Suddenly her communicator ringed, she expected Ryo to call her again, she had told him what had happened when they had still been in Hyperspace and even though he usually took bad news objectively, he was a scientist after all, this time even he had been shaken.
To her surprise, it wasn't her husband.
It was SunTzu.
"This means that you're at least alive."
"Why shouldn't I? Those bastards had it coming. They attacked the wrong people. Actually I'm already back at Woostri. But what's more important than me, how bad is it?"
"So far, almost fifty dead, a few dozen still unaccounted. And that's for the ships that made it out. You saw what happened to the Nomad's Luck."
"We stayed until a Mon Cal Cruiser came in and started it's rescue operation. But there we're definitely no survivors. I'm sorry." A pause. "I'm sorry I wasn't there in time to safe everybody."
"Without you and the Star Sheriffs there would have been a lot more of dead. Thank you SunTzu. Thank the Star Sheriffs from us as well."
The Bavarian pilot sighed. "How are the others?"
"Shaken but unharmed. We're still busy with the rescue operations, although we received help from other ships here at Daemen. But nonetheless the losses were heavy. The Starstruck and the Far Side are both heavily damaged."
"I understand. You guys need more help?"
"Even you couldn't change things here anymore. We're heading to Bestine for the most necessary repairs soon, hopefully the Starstruck still can endure the trip."
"I see. Nevertheless let me know how and if, I'll be there asap."
"We're out for at least a few weeks. Maybe you should take some time off as well. Your little… trick probably was very enduring. It's almost your birthday. Get some rest."
"You're worried I'm drifting over to Darkness, right?"
SunTzu had to smile, after the battle, after the Force-outburst was over, his connection to the Force had decreased immensely, even more than before the outburst. But it was bearable, it had been like this before, even if not that bad. Not that he ever had an outburst like that, not even when Marvin had died. But he knew the Force would come back, maybe in a few hours already. He wasure of it.
"You're my good friend. Of course I worry with you. But I'm pretty sure, that saving over a thousand people is something reprehensible."
"But you still will report it."
"Only to Ada, she can decide what to do with it. On the other side, since you're back with the Fleet Groups and General Farlander is leading one of them, you might will have a visit from some curios Jedi soon."
A wheeze was audible on the other end.
"You're probably right. Listen, I'll have to get AICA checked by the ground crew here, might have been a bit much on her engines and deflectors. I'm available anytime, if you need me."
"I know. Talk to you soon."
"Bye Ami."
They hung up and SunTzu got out of AICA's cockpit. He had thought about calling Anniten but it would have been the middle of the night on Coruscant and he didn't want to wake her up. He walked over to the closest mechanic and asked him if they could do a proper checkup on AICA. The AI had shut down to standby after the last spike of the Force-outburst had ebbed away. Something hadn't seemed to be right with the sublight engines and SunTzu was worried, that he overdone it, although AICA's backup system hadn't reported anything until they had jumped back to Hyperspace.
So apart from feeling horrible that he couldn't safe everybody of his former comrades and the sympathy he was feeling for the Taskforce, Usagi and the others probably were feeling horrible, he now also worried about his beloved AICA.
It didn't take long and the mechanic and his foreman walked up to SunTzu, who was standing nearby, not even having taken a meal or a visit to his quarters yet.
He wasn't surprised but still anything than pleased to hear that AICA's engines had taken some damage and needed to be changed soon.
A few thousand kilometers, one or two Hyperspace jumps, that would be it. Of course they hadn't another engine here, AICA was an unique specimen. New engines would have had to be ordered at Fresia, because nobody else than Crystal Tokyo had those available.
SunTzu was upset when he climbed back into the cockpit.
Before he could ask the AI how she was or what the best course of action would be for her, and first and foremost apologize, a holo call came in and SunTzu took it.
"What do you think you're doing, young man?" An angry middle aged female voice scolded him.
"Karlena?"
"Yup, and you better apologize to your starship really quick. You're not too old to get slapped, young man."
"I… I'm glad you seem to be okay. I'm sorry to what I did with AICA, but that weren't my intentions. I just sat down to apologize to her."
"Is that the truth?"
"I swear on my mother. If I have one. At least I think I have one… Anyways, I'm sorry. I did it to save you all."
Karlena let out a deep breather and seemed to calm down significantly.
"I know, and you did good out there my boy. But AICA just sent over her post flight check and her engines are done. Someone needs to fix her and the only spare engines that are immediately available are on Earth."
"I don't think we can make it there. I'm back at Woostri."
"From what I read she should make it here, we still need some time here to get going. Damn mess, they're still retrieving corpses from the upper decks of the midship. Listen, I heard what you did with that Impstar, it's maybe not the best moment to be on the Far Side, as it would distract people too much. The whole ship wants to shake your hands, but we need everybody working right now. You mind if I send Hotaru over to get AICA? She's the second most acquainted when it comes to flying her. Haruka or Michiru can bring her over."
"Sure. I don't mind. I'm sorry that you have to take care about AICA as well now."
"Most our snubs need repairs so one more or less doesn't make any difference. But it will take quite some time. The Far Side itself has to get to Bestine for a proper checkup and emergency repairs first. Maybe I can speak with Command if AICA gets a place in one of the Galleons they'll use to bring the first batch of us home."
"Karlena? You're the best. Thank you so much."
"You saved our lives, it's the bare minimum. I'll tell Hotaru to give you a heads-up when she's leaving."
"Okay, I'll be here then. Bye Karlena, take care."
"Will do. You take care as well, sugar."
SunTzu hung up and then began to pet the side of the cockpit. Maybe he could had AICA back in just a few days. And bring revenge for the Taskforce to the enemy.
"AICA, Baby. How are you?"
"Already been better, but thanks Darling."
"I'm sorry i did this to you. I didn't meant to damage you in the process."
"It's okay, we saved our friends. This is worth more than any broken engine. And also I heard I'm getting a holiday on Earth. And getting to hang out with Hotaru."
"I'm glad you take it so well."
"I have to, but the sensorical sensation that my engine is falling apart is horrible."
"The things you do for your friends, right?"
"You can say that again, Darling. But as you always say, duty comes first and we're both here to protect the Royals and the Senshi."
SunTzu thought about that for a second, so AICA was with him here. He was glad that the AI saw it the same way.
"Good thing I know that Hotaru knows to honor it. My well formed rear is killing me." SunTzu had to laugh at that remark.
"You're the best AICA, you know that, right."
"I know. And now try to get some rest. My sensors tell me you're tired. And I can imagine you need a shower."
SunTzu smirked again and stroke over AICA again.
"You're right. Let me know if anything is up. And AICA?"
"Darling?"
"Thanks for helping me to save our friends."
"OUR friends. Point of honor. And let's not forget we couldn't safe everybody."
"Yeah." SunTzu replied after a moment.
"Get going. And don't take it too hard. You did great."
"You too. See you later."
SunTzu patted her frame again before he walked over to the ground crew and told them about what would be done with AICA.
After a last glance at her, it was still weighing hard on him that he had damaged her, at least Karlena would take care of her, SunTzu headed out of the hangar and towards the premises of the crew.
SunTzu stumbled out of his refresher and towards his telephone. He had went to have some chow, reported to the flight control of the Virtue of Drall, which took way longer than anticipated as they were still busy with their own after-battle reports, and then finally was good to head for his quarters. By then he was dead tired, he had forgotten how enduring it was too use that much amount energy with the use of the Force. Not to mention that he wasn't able to draw energy from the Force in the slightest right now, neutralizing the ability to draw energy to keep going from it.
Nonetheless he had decided to hit the sonic shower before he would finally get some well needed sleep in.
And now he had almost slipped on the floor in the refresher and had fallen when he had run to his phone, just a small towels around his private parts.
"SunTzu." He took the phone.
"Finally. That took like forever."
"Hotaru?"
"Hello SunTzu."
"Let me guess, you're getting ready to leave for Woostri."
"Not exactly, five minutes and we're arriving. Michiru is bringing me over onboard the Voyager."
So much for some sleep.
"Right, I'll be waiting at the hangar of the Virtue of Drall."
"Okay, see you soon."
"Yes."
And then SunTzu took a deep breather, although he really needed sleep he was happy to at least get to see Michiru and Hotaru.
A few minutes later SunTzu was back in the hangar, and while he sat on top of AICA, he watched the Voyager touch down in the Virtue's hangar.
He waved a single time as Hotaru appeared in the TIE-Aggressor's top hatch, desperatly trying to not make a grim face as he thought about what had could have happened.
The teenager climbed down, closely followed by her teal-haired foster mother.
Usually the three of them would smile brightly at each other if they'd meet but not this time. Even Michiru seemed to have lost a part of her natural grace as she climbed down her starfighter's frame.
Apart from the exhaustion coming from the battle, and the further measures afterwards, the death of their comrades and the loss of the Nomad's Luck weighed heavy on all them.
SunTzu climbed down from AICA and just had touched down at the ground when Hotaru arrived next to him and immediately the two hugged without saying a word.
Hotaru was still having her arms around SunTzu when Michiru arrived where SunTzu and Hotaru were standing and her and SunTzu's tired gazes met, with the slightest twitch of their lips.
The Senshi of Deep Sea then joined Hotaru in her hug.
"Thank you for saving us." She whispered into his ear.
They ended the hug and SunTzu took a look at both of them.
"You look tired." He then voiced quietly.
"Look, who's talking." Michiru replied.
SunTzu looked to the ground with the hint of a forced smile. He needed a moment and when he finally spoke again, he couldn't bear to look into their faces.
"I'm sorry I came too late."
A hand appeared under his chin and Michiru forced him to look at her.
"Don't say that. Without you the Taskforce would not be anymore."
And then she shook her head with a faint smile.
"You and Haruka are just so similar. She's brooding about not being able to save everyone as well."
"Don't take it so hard, SunTzu. We were playing it too safe and you know what SunTzu said about being ignorant." Hotaru told him.
"Yes, you're right." He forced a smile to his former protégé, it always fulfilled him with pride when she quoted SunTzu.
"Listen, I'm sorry but we have to get going, the Far Side and the Starstruck need to get to Bestine."
"I understand. She's ready to go, but maybe you want to go easy on the engines."
"Don't worry, I'll be gentle with her." Hotaru replied.
"What about you?" Michiru asked.
SunTzu shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess I'll look for a way to get back to Coruscant and meet with my girlfriend."
What SunTzu didn't see was Hotaru next to him, rolling her eyes after he said that. Michiru on the contrary saw it and slightly raised an eyebrow in question.
"Why you don't come along to Earth with us? You know, to celebrate your birthday."
"I'm sorry Firefly. But I promised to Anniten that I come back to Coruscant as soon as I'm done here."
Now Hotaru shrugged. "Your call. Anyways, I'll get going now."
And then she began to climb in AICA's cockpit.
"Think about to come visit us soon, Haruka would be happy."
"I'll do. Give my regards to her and the rest of the girls." Michiru and him hugged again.
"I'll talk to you on your birthday, mon ami."
They shared a small broken smile and then the teal-haired turned around and walked back to the Voyager.
In the meantime Hotaru had finished settling in into AICA's cockpit.
"Oh, by the way, Mom says hi. She thanks you for saving us. I guess she'd reward you with a dinner if you'd ask."
Most of this was very, very exaggerated and not exactly what her adoptive mother had said, but she had her reasons. SunTzu wouldn't believe it anyway, Hotaru knew.
"That's… nice. Tell her hi back. Maybe I'll get back to the invitation. And now you better get going."
"Yes, Sir. I'll take good care of AICA and let you know when she's repaired again asap."
"Thanks. I'll see you then."
"Hopefully soon. Bye SunTzu."
"Bye Hotaru."
"Farewell, my darling."
"Don't make it harder as it already is, AICA."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too. Karlena will take good care of you. And I'll call you, okay?"
"Okay. Don't let me wait too long."
With that the canopy closed and Hotaru who had been listening nodded a last time at SunTzu, who reciprocated the greeting. Both starfighters lifted off and left the ship.
SunTzu's gaze followed the girls' departure and when they were gone he went back to his quarters. Time to get some sleep in, and when he would wake up, he would call up Anniten and tell her, that he was coming back.
SunTzu was able to get some few hours of sleep in, looking forward to the little blonde princess that was his girlfriend. As soon as he had woken up he called her up, it was morning on Coruscant as well now.
"Good morning. I'm glad to hear from you. I was pretty worried, you know."
"Good morning beautiful. I was thinking about to call you earlier but I didn't want to wake you up in the middle of the night."
"Thank you, I guess. Uhm… there's something I have to tell you."
"What is it? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just. Listen, I need to get back to Linta. Urgent princess business, you know. And I was thinking…"
"Thinking what, Anniten?"
"Come to Linta with me. I want you to see my home. And I want to make it official. Meaning, to introduce you to my parents and stuff."
SunTzu needed a moment to respond. He expected her to ask him when he would come back to Coruscant or that she'd misses him a lot but this sounded even better, way better.
"Your birthday is coming up, let me gift you a few unforgettable days on my planet."
"Sounds great. When do you have to leave?"
"Like soon. When can you join us?"
"AICA needs some bigger maintenance so I'm basically without a proper mean of transportation. But on the other side it shouldn't be a problem for me to leave."
"Oh… where are you? Are you allowed to tell?"
"Woostri, with the rest of the Fleet. I can see how I can get back to Coruscant. Or Linta."
"Wait a sec, I gotta check something."
SunTzu waited while two voices, one of them Anniten, the other probably Dischna, talked with each other. A moment later Anniten was back again.
"Uhm, stay at Woostri, we'll make a small detour and pick you up. Just get to the planet."
"Is that okay?"
"Hey, I'm the princess, I'll make it okay."
"Thank you."
"We're not there yet." She sad with a laugh. "Okay, I need to get going. I'll let you know, when we'll be there. I'm looking forward to you."
"I'm looking forward to you too, Anniten."
They hung up and SunTzu smiled, this meant he had no rush at all and a few hours to get ready.
Still smiling he laid back on his bed again and treated himself to another hour of sleep.
After finally getting up for real, SunTzu got ready and dressed up in an Intelligence Service uniform.
Before he left his quarters he called Ada and told her about his plans for his birthday. Although she and Leon wouldn't have mind to have his birthday celebrated on Coruscant, she understood and was happy that he would have a few nice, and well deserved, days off for his birthday. She ended the call telling him she would call him in three days for his birthday.
After his phone call with Ada, SunTzu visited the Admiral and told her about his plans and to say his goodbyes.
Admiral Delpin thanked him for his actions in the campaign and also told him he always was welcomed back in the Third Fleet. She also told him that the Fleet Group would now switch back into a defensive stance and move out to the West, where the enemy was still active.
Finally SunTzu saluted and she reciprocated the greeting before he left for the hangar.
SunTzu was lucky to catch a shuttle, which was about to bring back ground forces to the Virtue, to Woostri and arrived at it's capital, which had been spared from combat.
He took public transportation to a civil spaceport and on the way got the message from Anniten that they would arrive in two hours.
This meant SunTzu even had time for a proper lunch.
At least not everything had gone to hell, he thought to himself.
And then he smiled as the thought of a naked Anniten in front of him crossed his mind. She would make sure he would feel better.
On time, the luxurious SoroSuub-yacht of Anniten touched down and SunTzu was lead inside by a steward. The man didn't say a single word as he lead the Earthling up the ramp and further into the main room of the shuttle.
The steward motioned to a door in the corner of the large room and SunTzu entered the room.
The German began to grin widely and closed the door behind him when he saw what, or rather who, was inside the room.
It was the bedroom of the princess and she was sitting on top of her bed, wearing a pink dress and smiling back at him.
With her finger she motioned him to get over to her and he crossed the space between them in the blink of an eye.
She slung her arms around him and pulled his face down to hers. She bit her lips before she let them crash on his.
Hungry lips and claiming tongues met and she laid down while he climbed on top of her, in that moment both could feel the ship lifting off.
Suddenly she pulled him around and was on top of him.
"I really wish you had come to Coruscant earlier."
Her hand reached to the back of his head and yanked his head up on his hair. Her other hand traveled down her side and under her dress. SunTzu's lip curled up while their lips met again, she seemed to really be in need and he was eager to give it to her.
"Yeah?" He asked while his mouth traveled down her neck.
"Yeah. So I wouldn't need to do this."
Her hand shot up from under her dress, something in it and she rammed a small injector into his carotid.
With a mixture of shock and disbelief in his eyes SunTzu looked into Anniten's ice-blue eyes the second before he fell unconscious.