Insurrection Finale

2 weeks later

Crichton examined the selection of golden brown, pear like fruit in the small hut sized shop on Servec. The old man smiled at his selection. He gave her a small green crystal. "Next 2 weeks breakfast", he said trading the crystal for the fruit. He also held a coffee like drink. He waved good-bye and exited.

He loved the smell of Servec, especially after a rain or in the morning. The smell of the red dirt reminded him of his great aunt's place in Palestine Texas. He spotted Chiana taking a walk. She walked over to him with a surprised face. "I thought the Defiance and the Golden Eagle were out doing border raids", she said. "We were, until Nazin fell", said Crichton angrily. "John, I'm sorry," she said in s sweet voice. "I have had, 3 damn hours of goddamn sleep in the past 2 days, and now I have to go have my daily meeting with the 3 commanders, and explain that miserable failure at Nazin", he said. "I get to be criticized by that idiotic Zephram from Draconis, and worst of all, I still haven't slept with Aeryn yet!" he almost screamed.

This drew a few stares from the people in the courtyard outside the mayor's mansion. This included 3 shady individuals in trench coats. Crichton didn't notice. One of them pulled out a Serpent order standard issue scoped pistol. "Freeze command.." The agent lurched forward shot in the back by the old man who owned the fruit stand. He held a micro pistol that Crichton had given him. With the aide of the scope, another agent shot the shopkeeper through the heart.

"No!" screamed Crichton drawing a MAC 11. He quickly fired 6 auto fire shots, striking the first agent in the chest with all 6. He quickly rolled behind a marble pedestal. The remaining agent got behind a marble statue of a woman. He could barley see the top of Crichton's head in his scope. He fired several blasts, one going so close that it burned Crichton's hair. Crichton flipped a switch on the MAC 11 and fired a 3 round burst over the pedestal. 2 missed completely, the other hit the statue. The agent moved quickly and fired numerous times to keep Crichton pinned. Crichton stuck his gun above the pedestal and fired in full auto, missing of course. A shot barley missed Crichton. He was vulnerable here. Chiana noticed that the agent shot in the back was still alive and was aiming for Crichton's back. She sprinted for the agent. The one behind the statue targeted her. "Get down!" screamed Crichton. She slid avoiding a red blast, and went feet first into the agents face. She grabbed the pistol and began targeting.

Crichton used the opportunity to get to a statue 10 feet from his last position. The agent advanced as well, as the agent tracked him, he was hit by a blast to the arm. He staggered out of his cover from the shot. Crichton emerged and fired at full auto. He screamed like a wild man as blasts began striking the agent. With 12 holes in his body, the agent collapsed on the pedestal. Crichton drew his combat knife and charged. Chiana stopped him. "John, I think you got him!" she exclaimed. He was breathing hard with a twisted smile and an angry look in his eyes. Crichton picked up an agent's scoped pistol and walked to the mayor's house.

As he walked towards the door to enter, D'argo and Aeryn emerged weapons drawn. Crichton looked up. "You missed it", he said walking in. "Sorry John, that zonit Zephram electronically locked all the doors, we couldn't help you", said Aeryn. Chiana followed and almost jumped on D'argo. He showed the scoped pistol to Aeryn. "The Serpent Order" she said. "Yeah, 3 of the bastards, 1 killed Bentek the shop keeper", he replied. "Who's chief of security?" he asked. "Zephram", said D'argo. Crichton walked up stairs at a fast pace. 'John, what are you going to do?" asked Aeryn. "Kill Zephram", said Crichton reaching the door to the left of the stairs.

Crichton threw open the door to Zephram's office. "You son of a bitch!" screamed Crichton, grabbing the weak, middle aged Sebascean from his chair. He pressed the scoped pistol against Zephram's jaw. "Get the frell off!' he exclaimed. "Chiana and I were nearly killed, and a friend of mine was". "And now, you are going to die", said Crichton. Aeryn rushed in and grabbed his gun arm. "John, stop it!" she exclaimed. D'argo rushed in to help restrain him. "Get this psycho out of my office" yelled Zephram as Crichton was drug off.

Aeryn walked Crichton into the war room. A Peace Keeper glass star chart stood in the middle of the room. She closed the door, and put the scoped pistol in her belt. "Would you have killed him if I hadn't come in?" she asked. "Yes", he said coldly. "Calm down, the president would have your head if you harmed him", she said. "A President that's been in office for a week, I really don't care what he thinks", said Crichton. He looked into her eyes and felt calmer. "Your right", he said begrudgingly. A young woman entered. "Sir, President Baram wants a conference with you and the others in the briefing room". Crichton and Aeryn exited.

Crichton, Aeryn, Tralk, Zephram, and Nakdorn, the Teheran, sat around the briefing table. A large monitor had President Zajuke Baram on it. He looked angry. "Sub-Admiral Crichton, how can you explain the amazing failure at Nazin?' asked Baram. "Lack of ships sir, you requested that all raiders be withdrawn to Draconis", said Crichton. "Captain Zephram said that the Peace Keepers would attack Draconis", said Baram. "Frankly sir, Zephram is a moron that can't even keep the Serpent Order out of Servec", said Chrichton. "Keep your opinions to yourself Sub-Admiral", said Baram.

"What do you have to report on Peace Keeper activities?" he asked. Crichton pointed to a small chart that showed a small world. "Kentaka system, now the most important system in the Coalition", said Crichton. "Its their next target", he said. "How can you be sure?" asked Baram. "Well Ryken didn't rise to the highest rank in the military or become a member of the high council because he's a fool", said Aeryn. "Kentaka is the obvious choice", said Crichton. He circled Kentaka then drew lines to Draconis, Servec, and Skara. "From their, its only a stones throw away from our most populated planet, Draconis, or main ship yards at Skara, and our military central command at Servec". said Crichton. "They have divided their task force into 3 groups", "Group A is Ryken's carrier, 5 cruisers, and 10 frigates, it is responsible for invading the Coalition", he said. "Group B contains the Battle Fighter and the bulk of the cruisers, it is responsible for the Urvidians and Teherans", "And finally, group C is a reserve unit made up of frigates and a handful of cruisers", said Crichton. "Our goal is simple, send every available ship to Kentaka, and use the debris field as cover, then ambush Ryken's group, if we can capture him, we win the war", said Crichton.

"It's too much of a risk, if Ryken attacks Draconis, were frelled", said Zephram. "I recommend withdrawing all ships from Kentaka and Servec to Draconis", said Zephram. "I agree", said Baram. "That's suicide", said Crichton. "Not to mention that I have 100 men on Kentaka, along with 300 civilians", said Crichton. "What unit is it?" asked Zephram. "The 8th, the most aggressive unit we have, their a combination of Sykarians, Servec Sebasceans, and Kentaka Sebasceans", said Crichton. "We will leave them on the planet to defend the populous", said Zephram. "Once we see what the Peace Keepers will do, we'll counter attack", he added. "We will have to loose Kentaka for a short time" he added. "That's what I want", said Baram. Aeryn looked at John, and she saw his eyes full of rage, and a vein coming out of his forehead. She grabbed his hand under the table. "How ironic, the president is going to surrender a planet to the Peace Keepers that didn't vote for him", said Crichton. "What are you suggesting?" asked Baram. Crichton just laughed. "Do what your ordered to do", said Baram angrily.

"No, we aren't going to loose Kentaka, not while I am in command", said Crichton. "Do it Crichton!" yelled Zephram. "No!" yelled Crichton smashing the chart against the table shattering it. He then quoted the final words of a dead ally, the words that inspired the insurrection. "I will not sacrifice the troops and people of Kentaka, we've made too many compromises already, too many retreats", he said calmly. "They invade our space, and we fall back" "They enslave entire worlds, and we fall back" "Not again, the line must be drawn here!" he pointed to Kentaka on the shattered map. "This far, no further!" "And I, will make them pay for what they've done!" he screamed. Aeryn held on tighter. He remembered the words of Maxis like they were said a minute ago.

"You leave me no choice", said Baram. "John Chrichton, you are herby demoted to the rank of Captain, and are relived of the command of Coalition forces", he said. He swallowed as the pip that he received 2 days ago was removed from his coat. "Give command to Aeryn or D'argo", said Crichton. "It was a mistake to give full military control to a psychotic criminal, Captain Zephram, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Sub-Admiral and are given the Command of the Coalition fleet", said the President. "Congratulations" he said cutting off.

Zephram smiled as he put on the pip. "The president has spoken terrorist", said Zephram. "Well considering he would still be a computer tech if it wasn't for me, I really don't care what he says", said Crichton. "Or have you forgotten that my troops defeated the Peace Keepers when they were kicking yall's asses?" said Crichton. "Get out terrorist", ordered Zephram. "You and your Peace Keeper bitch better not come her again", he added. Crichton back fisted him onto the table. He pulled out his combat knife and put it on his throat. "Say one more thing about her again, and I will cut your head off and spit down your neck!" said Chrichton. Aeryn pulled him off and they left.

Crichton sat in the courtyard with Aeryn. "That was stupid John", she said. "He insulted you, I couldn't let it go", he said. Tralk and Nakdorn emerged from the house both angry. "There's no way that were doing what that guy says", said Tralk. "Don't worry, my men won't follow him", said Crichton. "I have a plan", he added.

In Crichton's house, D'argo had joined the group. They stood around a computer. He held Sun's key card. "We can use this to hack into the command carriers secondary systems", said Crichton. A diagram of the Carrier popped up. "We disable their internal sensors, and send in a team to destroy their long range communications so they can't call in their reserves and retrieve their DS frequency from engineering" Crichton said. "How do we get on board?" asked D'argo. "While the PeaceKeepers are orbiting a supposedly abandoned Kentaka, we take in the Golden Eagle under cloak and dock at this maintained hatch, which is between engineering and the comm. room." said Crichton. "To keep the Peace Keepers away from the planet, all the people will hide in their houses with no power, and Moya and the other Leviathan will starburst way as soon as they arrive", he said. "When the carriers escape pods land on Kentaka, our soldiers will come out of hiding and take them prisoner", said Crichton.

"In addition to my ship, I can promise 5 more cruisers", said Nakdorn. "I can promise 10 ships in addition to my own", said Tralk. "I will provide the 2 Birds of Prey, D'argo's cruiser the Lolan, Talyn, and 20 raiders, including 7 with 2 ion torpedoes each" said Crichton. They all began to leave. "See y'all in the debris field in 4 arns", said Crichton. "Aeryn, get a good team together, then come with me to the weapons bunker", he ordered.

Aeryn entered with 9 Sebasceans and Sykarians. "The best we got", she said. Crichton looked at them, then motioned at the weapons racks. "Gentlemen, arm yourselves", he said. They quickly went to the racks. Crichton checked over the inventory list that Aeryn gave him. "I have the luteral bombs in the crate, but what do you want grenades for, this is a stealth mission", he said. "Because if we are discovered, Ryken will send shock troopers in full body armor, they will slaughter us if we just use pulse weapons", she said. He loaded a clip into the over sized MAC 11 that he used when they rescued Aeryn on Scorpious' ship, he wondered if it was also pulled some his mind. It was bigger as a whole compared to the Ingrams and had a long, overstated perfected barrel. He hooked two gray cylinders like grenades onto his vest under his coat. "Lets get this stuff to the Defiance", he said.

As he carried the crate with Aeryn towards the Defiance, Zephram stopped them. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Tom my ship", said Chrichton. "It's my ship now", said Zephram. Crichton dropped his end of the crate, nearly pulling Aeryn over. "Like hell it is!" exclaimed Crichton. "You have been given command of the Golden Eagle, Commander Sun is your first officer", he said. "That leaves you without a weapons officer or a pilot", said Crichton. "No, I have the trelk Chiana and the Tavlek Bartok", said Zephram. He whispered into Crichton's ear. "Of course if you want your ship back, you could have Sun, you know.. I always wanted to frell a Peace Keeper", he said with a smile that soon disappeared under Chrichton's fist. He fell to the ground mouth bleeding. He got up. "The President will here of this!" said Zephram. "What, this?" said Crichton clocking him again, this time sending him to the ground semi-conscious. He walked over to Stark. "We need to talk".

Ryken stared with his good eye at the small planet in front of him. The Leviathans had just starburst. The easy victory made him wary. His new eye bothered him, he had gotten it back on the home world, but it had malfunctioned and didn't work until it was fixed yesterday. They eye socket was surrounded by circuitry and the eyeball was a red crystal. It was the same acuity as his good eye and half his field of vision was red. The Debris field worried him, and he felt less confident without Sun's council. "I want a marauder squadron and 2 frigates to search the first 100000 metras of that debris field", ordered Ryken.

"Please sir, give this ship back to Captain Crichton", pleaded Stark to Zephram in Crichton's quarters. "This is your last chance Stark, drop the issue!" yelled Zephram. Stark stormed out. Zephram touched his comm. "Chiana, could you come to my quarters please?" he asked with a smile.

On the bridge she answered. "On my way", she said half angry. She looked at the Draconis Sebascean commander and two of his men. "Someone take my spot", she said leaving.

"Fool, that was your last chance!" said Stark in the hall. He turned to an advanced pulse rifle-carrying soldier. "We start at 17 hundred, about 250 microts from now", said Stark leaving. The soldier nodded.

Crichton looked around from the weapon's console on the small bridge. D'argo and the rest of the hand picked team were onboard. He hoped this would be the last hand-to-hand battle of the war, of course one of the people he needed most wasn't there, Tanga. It sunk in at times like these that she was gone. In her place were 9 Servec Sebasceans and Sykarians that she had trained. D'argo sat at the command chair, his sword taping his shoulder as he waited to go into battle. A 17-year-old Sebascean boy sat at the ops. station.

"Ready to deactivate sensors", said the boy. "Damar, if you pull this off, you'll be a hero", said Crichton. "Your the best hacker in the uncharted territories", said Crichton. "Actually, theirs this guy who's a legend, names Naras", said Damar. "Never heard of him", said Crichton throwing off his coat. He looked out the view screen as the ship approached the massive black ship. The cloaked Golden Eagle was also spotting marauders for the fleet hiding in the debris field. The Carrier was a symbol of terror to all the subjugated worlds. It was supposedly undefeatable, but 1 had already been lost in the Uncharted Territories insurrection. "Goddamn that's a big ass ship", said Crichton. "Remember Damar, internal sensors, and docking sensors", said Crichton. "I know boss," he said. "All right, 30 microts out, G.A.T.A.", said Crichton. Everyone but Aeryn looked puzzled. "It's the Defiance's slogan, get after their ass", he said.

Chiana walked into Zephram's quarters. "You called Sub-Admiral?" she asked. "Yes", he said. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm and threw her violently onto the cot. He pulled out his pistol and held it on her. He put his other hand on her upper leg. "Now trelk, we can do this the easy way or the hard way" he said un buckling his belt.

Suddenly, the soldier burst in. He pointed the rifle at Zephram. "What the frell?" he exclaimed. "Were taking over!" yelled the soldier. His face met with Chiana's elbow to his face. She hit his nose that was already smashed by Crichton. She grabbed his gun. "Thanks", she said to the soldier.

The doors to the bridge flew open. Stark and 2 soldiers rushed in. A blast from Bartok's gauntlet struck a Draconis officer, knocking him unconscious. The Commander and the other Sebascean dropped their weapons. They were quickly handcuffed. Chiana came to the bridge and took the helm. "Cloak the ship and set a course for Kentaka, maximum speed", said Stark.

********************************************************

Crichton hung and then dropped from the Vertical maintenance hatch. He grabbed the ladder from the Golden Eagle and attached it to the floor. He caught the big MAC 11. The others quickly climbed down the ladder. "D'argo, take your team to the upper deck and plant the lutral explosives on the long range comm. dish and the main frag battery", said Crichton motioning to a maintenance hatch. "Take that up 4 decks, meet back here in 5 minutes", he said. "Good luck", he said. Crichton led his team to the hatch across from D'argo's.

"Commodore, we have just lost internal sensors", reported the security officer. "Should I put all my teams on alert?" he asked. "No, I will send some techs", said Ryken.

Aeryn looked through the window into the large room. On the back bulkhead was a large red tube that extended to the ceiling. 2 security officers and 3 techs were in the room. The hatch to reach engineering has across the room. She pulled out the scoped pistol that she took from Chrichton. "Ill take left, you take right", she said to Crichton. The burst through the double door. She popped the distant guard with a head shot, Chrichton opened full auto on the close guard. 2 techs tried to reach an alarm, but Crichton mowed them down with rapid fire. The last tech raised his hands. Aeryn pistol-whipped him. Crichton looked at the tube. "What's this?" he asked. "Chakan oil storage canister", she said. "Me and Aeryn will take this service tube, you all secure the perimeter", he ordered handing over his MAC 11.

The pair climbed down the ladder to a crawl space. They both crawled to a grating in the wall over looking engineering. Aeryn put her vision enhancing headsets on. She searched all the panels and found the DS display. "Frequency is 174.8", she said removing the headset. Crichton touched his comm. "Damar, DS frequency is 174.8, repeat 174.8", he said. "Gotcha boss", he replied.

"Sir, we just got internal sensors back in engineering, but others are still out" reported the security officer. "Sir, I have a Human and a Sebascean in the service tube over engineering!" "Shall I sound the alarm?" he asked. "No, send 3 Marauder teams of shock troopers to the shafts entrance, I want Crichton alive", said Ryken readying his pistol.

Aeryn came to the surface first and slowly walked forward. "What's wrong Aeryn?" he asked coming to the surface. He saw a horrible sight. The rest of his team was lying dead on the floor, each with several holes in them. 15 shock troopers in full body armor stood rifles poised. "Drop your weapons" came Ryken's voice from the troopers' flank. Aeryn threw down her 2 pistols and her rifle. Crichton just stared. He reached for his right Ingram. "I don't thing so", said Ryken. Crichton drew his back Ingram and threw it onto the ground, but he still held 1 in his right hand. He looked behind the troopers and smiled. "Aeryn, when I drop you do too", he whispered. He smiled at her. "What the frell are you going to do?" she asked. He motioned to the chackan oil tube. "Oh dren!" she said. "Drop it!" yelled Ryken. "Alright", said Crichton.

He pointed the MAC 11 to the floor and dropped it. The troopers lowered their guns for a split second. Before the gun could hit the ground, Crichton slid down catching the small sub machine gun. He fired a quick full auto burst over their heads. They all struck the tube. Ryken jumped for a hall as the tube exploded into a deafening inferno. Flames consumed 8 of the troopers, and the shock wave knocked the rest off their feet. Crichton has left temporarily deaf. He grabbed his other gun and ran past the shell-shocked troopers with Aeryn towards the door.

They quickly ascended the shaft. Crichton, his ears bleeding, led the way. 2 security officers appeared. He let loose a volley of full auto striking both several times. They came to a T-junction. They were about to turn right when 3 shock troopers came from both directions, in the middle of the halls. They concentrated their fire on the hall occupied by the pair. 3 security officers came from behind. Crichton pulled out his other MAC 11 and fired both guns at once, cutting all 3 down. He knew that more shock troopers would be coming from behind any second. He knew they wouldn't kill him. He suddenly thought of what Aeryn said about grenades. He put away his MAC-11s and pulled out the 2 grenades. The little red strips on them glowed. He ran for the junction then suddenly turned and slid on his back, his arms crossed into the middle of the hall way. They stopped firing, puzzled. Crichton violently uncrossed his arms, rolling the grenades in both directions. The surprised troopers looked down at the grenades. Suddenly, they exploded simultaneously, throwing the troopers into the air. The concussion hurt Crichton's ears like hell. Crichton and Aeryn quickly ran right towards the ladder.

They reached the ladder to the Golden Eagle the same time D'argo's team did. Aeryn led the others up first. D'argo killed an officer behind Chrichton with a well-placed blast. Crichton returned the favor by going full auto on an office behind D'argo. "Were good", said D'argo climbing the ladder.

As soon as they were inside the airlock sealed. "Go Aeryn!" screamed Crichton over the comm. The cloaked vessel flew away at full speed.

"All ships fire into grid 15-7" ordered Ryken, his ears and head bleeding. All the escorts fired blindly into the area, but the Golden Eagle was long gone. Suddenly, the carrier was rocked by a series of explosions. "Report!" yelled Ryken. "Our main center battery was destroyed along with our long range communications," reported a tech.

"Bombs successful", reported D'argo. "Hell yeah", said Crichton. He smiled as he saw the fleet. 41 ships under his command. The Golden Eagle docked with the Defiance.

Crichton and Aeryn switched with Bartok and Chiana. She stopped Crichton. "John, I need to talk to you", said Chiana. "Can it wait?" he asked. "No", she said. "Zephram tried to rape me, but one of your crew men stopped him", she said. "The bastard will pay Chi, I promise", he said hugging her. "All weapons are set to the proper frequency", said Bartok. "Thanks Bartok, now get ready to kick some ass," said Crichton as the two weapons officers shock hands.

Crichton spoke into the comm. "First, the Defiance, and the Golden Eagle will fly ahead under cloak, and use torpedoes to disable the hanger doors", he said. "When we return, all vessels except for the Urvidians and non-torp raiders will target this coordinate on the Carriers hull". "The core is in the center of the ship, this is the point where the top rear armor plates connect, if it is destroyed all armor connected do it will float off into space", said Crichton. "Torp raiders, your priority is to launch your torps, think of nothing else, all other raiders cover the torp raiders," he said cutting off.

The cloaked Birds of Prey flew a direct course for the carrier, while the rest of the fleet stayed just to the edge of the debris field. All the ships were now wrapped in the red light of their DS's. Crichton looked at his weapons monitor, it showed that the Golden Eagle was in position. "Zhaan, fire torpedoes in 3 microts, 2, 1, fire!" he ordered over the comm.

The two elegant war ships faded into view and launched 2 torpedoes each. As soon as the torpedoes were launched, both ships cloaked. Frag cannon blasts fired all around them. The 4 torps penetrated the DS easily and impacted on the closed maw of the carrier, jamming it shut.

Inside the field, 3 raiders suddenly destroyed 2 marauders. The Urvidian cruisers except for Tralk's opened fire at extreme range with their blue compressor beams. The beams impacted on 2 frigates shields, but penetrated a cruiser's. Immediately, all 10 ships fired on the same cruiser, cutting it to peaces. Some ships had the same frequency as the cruiser.

The Golden Eagle decloaked behind a frigate, and fired its torpedoes. 2 torpedoes smashed into the frigates rear shields, bringing them down, then several disrupter blasts struck the core, destroying the ship. The 7 torp raiders here behind the Teheran cruisers, which were flanked by regular raiders. The Lolan and Talyn led the group towards the carrier. The Urvidians continued to pound away from a distance. Suddenly, the Defiance decloaked behind a cruiser and fired both torps. The DS crashed down, and the particle cannon hit the core, causing a massive explosion. The Defiance then turned It's guns on a frigate; The powerful green bolts brought down its DS and caused severe damage. 2 raiders finished it off.

The other frigates were concentrating their fire on the Golden Eagle and the raiders. The 3 Cruisers fired powerful blasts on the Teherans. A pair of the Teheran cruisers replied with their powerful anti-matter torpedoes, 3 flew from each. The first 2 torpedoes brought down a cruisers DS, and the 3rd impacted doing sever damage. The volley from the second ship hit the same ship, the first torp going strait though the cruiser, the other 2 exploded, ripping the cruise apart. The battle was stacked heavily against the Peace Keepers; the Teherans were just too powerful. They had been caught completely by surprise and were still trying to get into the ridged formations they were accustomed to. The Urvidians were now concentrating on the frigates. 2 more frigates went up in explosions.

The last cruiser was under attack by 6 raiders and the Golden Eagle. A frag cannon hit a glancing blow on a raider. They heavily damaged limped for the debris field. The swarmed cruiser's hull gave in under the constant disrupter and blaster fire and exploded. The Golden Eagle then launched 2 torpedoes on the cruiser under Urvidian attack. 1 hit the shield generator and the red field collapsed. Blue beams began to thrash the hull.

The cloaked Defiance and the rest of the ships directed to attack the command carrier, approached they barley defended huge ship. Several frag cannons opened fire on the Lolan and Talyn. The Leviathan made some expert moves around the blasts, but the Lolan was slow and caught 3 shots to the mid section. Several of the Teheran vessels took hits from the cannons too. Tralk's vessel fired out of the carriers range, destroying 2 cannons.

Crichton looked out the view screen as the Defiance maneuvered into optimum range for the "sweet spot". His console beeped as it was reached. "Sir, all capital ships are in position and standing by", reported Tak. Crichton watched as the carrier got off a few more shots. "Fire!" exclaimed Crichton as he pushed buttons on his weapons console.

The Defiance decloaked as the Lolan's 4 ion torpedoes flew overhead, followed by 2 torps from the agile Talyn. The Defiance launched 2 purple torps. The 8 purple balls of energy all hit the same place in a huge explosion. Talyn flew extremely close and fire his main cannon at the spot. Several disrupter blasts from the Defiance's wing tips caused mini-explosions on the hull. The point began to buckle. 18 blazing green torpedoes flew from the 6 Teheran ships simultaneously. They impacted into the sweet spot causing a massive firestorm/energy wave that rivaled hell itself. Huge plates of black armor flew off into space, pushed by the massive explosion of the torpedoes. Crichton could see small specs that used to be Peace Keepers floating in space.

Crichton smiled as the Coalition ships approached the now exposed red core. All the torp raiders were in position. "All ships, fire on the core", ordered Crichton. Suddenly, the carrier fired a vicious 3 cannon salvo; all 3 blasts struck the Defiance in the front shield. It barley held, but a power surge went through the bridge. A conduit behind a metal panel exploded, sending shrapnel all around the upper bridge at knee level. A piece got under the weapons console and struck Crichton in the left knee. He jolted from the impact, and let out a short scream. His adrenaline and anger was high enough where he could phase it out. "You going down bastards!" screamed Crichton. He got on the fleet comm. "Remember Sykar, remember Nazin!" he screamed over the comm.

The Defiance approached firing its disrupters and particle cannon. The Lolan and Talyn each launched their torpedoes and began to use their cannons. The Teherans fired 3 torpedoes each, and the small, graceful raiders launched their pair of ion torpedoes. The Defiance also fired its torps.

The disrupters, particle beams, and Talyn's cannon all penetrated, doing extensive damage to the cores casing. Then the 8 purple ion torpedoes impacted, partially detonating the core. Then 14 more ion torpedoes and 18 anti-matter torpedoes arrived at the hull breech. Each torpedo increased the violence of the explosion exponentially. The atomic hell fire quickly spread, shredding armor as it traveled through the guts of the ship. Escape pods shot out of the forward section of the ship as the energy wave erupted through the ship. 10 escape pods launched, however, 6 survived the final explosion as the energy escaped the hulk of the carrier.

Crichton smiled at the cheers of the bridge crew. He saw the remaining frigates lower their shields and surrender. "Aeryn", he called. She walked up to him. "Yes?" she asked. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He deeply kissed her. A "Whew" went up from the crew. She returned with another deep kiss. Crichton could hardly breath. "Baby, I hate to interrupt, but could you get Shaleena up here?" he asked pointing to his blood gushing leg.

The last Peace Keeper escape pod landed with a crunch in the center of Kentaka city. The 30 Peace Keepers, including Ryken all gathered together. Suddenly, 100 troops with rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers appeared from every store and every rooftop. "Drop your guns!" said the commander. "Frell!" screamed Ryken as he threw down his pistol.

Crichton sat with a regenerator on his knee, on a blanket, under a huge old tree. The Defiance, and several drop ships were behind him in the grass. Around stood all of Moya's former crew except for Chiana and Rygel. 15 armed rebels watched the captured Peace Keepers in a corral. Crichton was fiddling with 1 of his MAC 11's. Suddenly, Chiana appeared with Ryken. "What are you doing with him?" asked Crichton. "Who, this guy?" she said kissing Ryken like Crichton had Crais, she laughed. "He was trying to escape through the woods," she said. "Well, well, if it isn't Santa Anna", said Crichton pointing his MAC 11 at Ryken. "How was your day Commodore?" he asked. "What are you going to do Crichton?" he asked.

"Well, seeing as this is a democracy, lets put it to a vote", he said. "Who wants to kill him?" he asked. All raised their hands including Crichton. "Thought so, Sunshine, will you do the honors?" he asked. Aeryn walked over and kicked him in the knee to get him on his knees. She pointed her father's gun at his forehead. "This is for my mother", said Aeryn. She pulled the trigger as he closed his eye. The gun clicked.

"How stupid do you think were are?" said Crichton. "Your this regions ticket to freedom", he added. "Just signal your fleet from under this tree to surrender", he said. Aeryn stared at Ryken. "You deserve to die Ryken, and after you return to the home world after loosing a command carrier, 1000 men, surrendering a task force, and granting us our freedom, you will", she said. "Especially since we found out that you were going to use this victory to get popular support, then join with the supposedly dead Evereck Tain, and the Serpent Order to overthrow the council and make yourself Co-dictator with Tain", aid Crichton.

Ryken picked up the transmitter. "All ships, this is Commodore Ryken, surrender to the enemy, repeat, surrender", he said. Chiana took a picture of the moment. A great general surrendered to a wounded rebel commander under an old tree.

Chapter 17 | Epilogue