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My New Life

Part 2: Adoptions, Rescues and Battles

"Darkcloud, I'm sorry," I say as I lead her to where her parents' bodies are kept in stasis, "but, are they your parents?" I ask as I drop the opaque stasis field.

Hir eyes and body language tell me all that I needed to know...that they were indeed hir parents.

"Darkcloud, do you have any other relatives aside from your parents?"

Hir tear-streaked face turned to look at me and what I saw nearly broke my heart as shi shook hir head, I knew that shi would need someone to lean on in the dark days ahead, so I picked hir up and let hir cry hirself to sleep with the two adults nodding in approval.

Lightning whispered to me that I better put Darkcloud to bed but since shi didn't know the layout of the ship, shi suggests that I take hir to an empty cabin and let hir sleep for a while, and I knew just where to put hir.

I left the other chakats in the care of the crew with instructions on where to house them for the time being, I carried little Darkcloud to my cabin, laid hir down in a comfortable position on my bed, and covered hir with a light blanket, then I went and stretched my frame over the couch and fell asleep instantly.

Sometime in the night, I woke up with a start to find Darkcloud snuggled on top of me, with hir head resting against mine, with a smile on hir face; I wrap my arms protectively around hir and fell back to sleep.

The next day found me with a young chakat on top of me with a peaceful smile on hir furry face, turned my head to check my room and found two adult chakats grinning at me!

I almost jumped in surprise but restrained myself since a certain bundle of fur is sleeping on my chest, then asking them in a low tone so as not to disturb Darkcloud, "How did you two get into my quarters?"

Lightning replies, "Your Executive Officer let us in, after we asked around the ship looking for you...Brigadier General Nathan." Shi finishes with a broad toothy grin, then the smell of breakfast hit my nose with the force of a hurricane and makes my stomach rumble with hunger, then I felt two smaller reciprocating rumbles from Darkcloud's two stomachs as shi stirs to full consciousness.

"Good morning, little one." I greet Darkcloud gently as I gently scratch hir furry head.

"Good morning!" Shi replies cheerfully, then hir face and ears droop in sadness as shi remembers the recent traumatic events shi had just gone through, I feel my heart ache in sympathy as I intimately and painfully knew the feelings bombarding hir, so without thinking about it, I gave hir a reassuring hug; resting hir head on my shoulder, "There, there, little one. I know what you're going through, believe me, time will only ease the pain but it will never go away. The best way to remember them, I believe, is to make sure that something like this doesn't happen to another fellow chakat."

"How?" shi asks inquisitively, hir tear-streaked face curious.

"Well, you do so by making a decision that will change your life, a decision that you believe will lead to that goal, but for now let's get some breakfast, life-changing decisions are better made and considered on a full stomach."

Our stomachs growl in agreement, causing us to giggle together, so we both got off the couch and headed over to the dining section of my quarters, where I settle down on favorite chair while shi, as did the other two chakats, hopped up on the three auto adjusting chair designed for multi-species use.

I'm glad I had them installed in my quarters, just in case.

As we tucked in, I realized that I had another plate next to the one I'm tucking into, then carefully noting their bio-physical structure, I realized that the basic calorie requirement for chakats is at least 100 to 150% more than that of humans and that their high metabolism allows them to eat so much yet it's just the right amount for their fairly massive bodies.

Lightning looks up at me, "Nathan, are you...?"

"If you're asking whether I'm the captain of this vessel or the commanding officer of this battle group, the answer is I am the commanding officer of this battle group." I answer, as I turn towards hir.

Hir eye brows, as did the eye brows of the other chakats, shot up in surprise as I had anticipated hir question, "How did you know what I was going to ask?" Hir voice a little hurt but curious as well, "are you telepathic?"

"No, I'm not but over the years, I've developed, what you could say, a sixth sense on what others are going to ask before they even think about it, you see, the battle group's primary mission is, well...was, to test two experimental space-time dimensional drives whether or not time travel or dimensional travel is feasible or not, as you can see, it is quite possible, but an unforeseen sequence of events has left me and my entire battle group..."

Suddenly the alert alarm blared to life; I was out of my chair in a flash, running the short distance to the wall comm station, stabbing a button which linked me to the bridge, "Bridge, what's the situation?"

Kirha answers my call, "Sir, we have detected eight, correction, nine Stellar Federation warships heading in our direction. They are in a battle ready posture, weapons and shields are charged, energized and ready to fire; group composition as follows: 3 frigates, 3 destroyers, 2 of either cruiser or battleship class and one that looks like a blend between a cruise liner and a heavy cruiser. That ship ID's itself as the FSS Pegasus, personal flagship of Adm. Boyce Kline, Jr. of Star Fleet. Sir, it is Task Force Pegasus."

"All right, spread the word to the battle group: 'weapons tight; no one is to open fire without my authorization also ready shields but do not deploy them, we don't want the Pegasus group to think that we're hostile and I'm on my way up in a few minutes. Out."

I was about to cut the link when another thought occurred to me. "Oh, Kirha, scan the Pegasus for any chakat bio-signatures, I want to make sure that our guests are returned safe and sound. That'll be all."

I turn back toward my guests, "Well, my dears, looks like your ride home has just arrived in-system."

The two adults' faces lit with expectation and happiness, but Darkcloud's face had the look of intense concentration one would find on the faces of kids when they are thinking about something, then looked at me with a strange look on hir eyes; I couldn't help but give hir a curious look back.

It was then that shi dropped the bombshell: "Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lao, will you be my new father?"

Lightning, Nightstreak, and I traded looks of surprise but I couldn't help feel honored that Darkcloud has asked me to be hir father, albeit adopted, and I also couldn't help but wonder why shi choose me instead of other chakats who could and will provide and teach all that shi needs to be a well-rounded chakat, "Why me, Darkcloud?"

"Because when you tucked me into your bed; when you gave me hope for the future; when you gave me the support and encouragement that I needed...I never felt more happier now than to be with you, you gave me someone to live for again; someone to be proud of me; to be happy for me; and in a way, while we were in the hanger bay, I became your daughter; someone you could cherish and be proud of for the rest of your life, even if shi is not of your own species...I became your little chakat." Shi finished it with a look of longing and the hope of acceptance.

I couldn't help but smile as shi put into words what my heart is telling me: to find a way to adopt Darkcloud as my daughter, someone whom I can teach, train, correct, and love; the little cub that Tasha and I could never had; a reminder that despite a failure in one endeavor, one can always find success in another; I knew that I would break hir heart if I decline, so there was really no choice for me, Tasha would have called me an idiot if I didn't accept and besides it's what my heart wants, not to mention what Tasha would do to me if I didn't if she was still around, "Yes, my little chakat, I will be your new father."

Next thing I knew I'm on my back with Darkcloud wrapped around me, all six limbs plus tail, purring happily and contentedly.

The dark storm in hir life has been broken; a new and bright dawn is shining through for hir.

"Ummm...I'd hate to interrupt this beautiful moment, Nathan, but aren't you forgetting about the Pegasus?" Lightning quietly reminded me.

"Oh, crap! I almost forgot about it." I quickly got up, gently put Darkcloud down on the floor, ran to my closet, and rapidly change into fresh utilities and uniform plus my usual complement of dual force lances, SOCOM pistols, and a matched pair of ser'vec'nar blades, the Kilrathi version of short swords but are designed for strength, speed and lethality.

The adults frown at my rather blatant display of weapons but they probably thought that this is just for show, not knowing that I am extremely proficient with all three weapons and then some; Darkcloud, however, is showing a marked interest on my personal arsenal. I pass a wink to Darkcloud who nods in agreement to my hidden message, then shi pads up to me to be outfitted into some new clothes.

Of course, being a father isn't all that its cracked up to be especially if it's been done on short notice, but like any good soldier would do when things are in doubt, improvise; so I did, finding one of my old but well maintained T-shirts, tossing it into the replicator for resizing and adjustment, then gave it to hir to wear, "Be gentle with that shirt, squirt, that's one of my favorite hand-painted shirts, now it's yours."

Shi looks at the shirt's design and sees a Thunder Wolf starfighter, guns blazing on a background of a star field and a howling wolf up front plus the Confed Star with crossed swords and a flying Excaliber on the back.

Shi quickly removes hir old halter and puts the shirt on, a snug fit, shi grins and gives me a firm hug, "Thank you, daddy. I promise to take good care of it."

"I'll hold you to that, kiddo. Oh, you'll need to wear this," strapping to hir wrist a standard issue military wrist-communicator/chronometer/identifier.

Shi looked at it curiously and asks me, "Why do I need to wear this, daddy?"

I answer hir, "Well, from personal perspective, you're my little chakat now, but from a legal one, you're not mine just yet, until I get the paperwork and legal issues settled which, hopefully, shouldn't take very long, for you to be mine, both legally and personally, and on board a military ship, regulations require all personnel to wear these."

Then Lightning added hir two cents worth, "Nathan, if you truly want to adopted Darkcloud as your daughter, I suggest that you apply for legal custody on Chakona, the courts there are very favorable to custodial parents."

"Yeah, so I heard but you forget that I'm not a Stellar Federation citizen just yet until the Federation Council decides what to do with us."

"That's not entirely a problem," shi states firmly.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well..."

Suddenly my wrist communicator beeped, and Kirha's disembodied voice came out of the tiny speaker, "Simba, our guests have arrived in transporter room 3 and are now waiting for you in conference room 1. By the way, our guests' group is composed of two chakats, one Caitian, one Rakshani, one Voxxan, and five humans."

"Copy that, Kirha. I'm on my way with umm...wait one," I said as I turn to my guests, "do any of you want join me in meeting the Federation representatives?"

All three of them nod in agreement.

"Right. Kirha, pls. tell our Federation guests that besides me three chakats will be joining us to convey their side of the story and also show them the compiled data log of the engagement."

"Aye, sir."

"Come on, Darkcloud, let's get going." I said as I picked hir up and carried hir across my shoulders.

Leaving my quarters with Lightning and Nightstreak in tow and Darkcloud on my shoulders, I led them to turbolift 4 and proceeded to conference room 1, two deck up and three frames aft, which also overlooks the entire port side length of the Eagle's Vision and space.

Getting there barely took three minutes; as we came in, my Federation visitors' eyes widened in alarm at my war-gear, and then their expressions lighten as they see the young chakat that I'm carrying on my shoulders and the two adults following me.

Gently putting Darkcloud down on the floor, I snap a salute the highest ranking officer in the group, Adm. Boyce Kline, Jr., a handsome human male in his (my guess) late 40s, from the data files my Intel team was able to quietly hack into, Admiral Boyce has gone through a lot of hardship and challenges, both professionally and personally, he is the father of two alien-human hybrids, five human-chakat hybrids, one of which was born with Stariionae bio-armor (as I call it) and structuring but has no human offspring, although the ones he does have make for an interesting family.

"Good afternoon, Admiral Kline. I am Brigadier General Nathaniel Lao, callsign "Simba", of the Terran Confederation Space Forces-Special Operation Command division, over-all commanding officer of Task Force 'Chrono-Storm.' I assume my XO Kirha has briefed you all regarding the recent convoy attack?"

"Yes, he did, General and frankly I would like to know how you and your people got to the convoy so fast and responded in such short notice."

"Very well, to answer your first question the answer is that my ships are equipped with the most advanced interstellar propulsion systems we could develop, the first one: warp, which you also use, but our warp system is enhanced with super focusing crystals that amplify warp energy and also allows us to maintain warp travel for extended periods of time; the second is translight, as we call it, basically this system creates rifts in the space time continuum that allows us to travel between star systems near-instantaneously ; and the third is slip, this system opens a dimensional rift into a dimension called Slipstream, which we use to travel from one point of the galaxy to another instantaneously; once inside the realm of Slipstream, time has no meaning or effect, we made some recent testing using slip drive-equipped recon drones and found out that both inter-galactic and intra-galactic travel is possible with this drive system but due to economic concerns, the drive system is utilized by the military until a smaller and cheaper version is developed. As for the second question, my communications officer accidentally intercepted the transmission and priority tagged it to me, a quick conference with my officers led to us to rescue the convoy and save as much as we can. That's basically it."

Several pairs of eyes are wide in amazement at vast power for inter-stellar travel we had at our beck and call but some of the humans had narrowed their eyes in suspicion, probably wondering if all the stuff I said was merely a smokescreen for an invasion or just utter BS, apparently the same thoughts went through Admiral Boyce's mind, "General, excuse my skepticism but how do we know that what your telling us is the truth?"

"Truth is relative, Admiral, I also know about the psychic empathy abilities of chakats, two of whom form your party." I reply with a smile.

He grins back at my answer, and looks at his chakat officers for confirmation; they nod back at him to confirm my truthfulness, then he looks back at me and says, "Well, General, looks like your telling the truth after all but if it isn't too much trouble, I'd to like see a demonstration of your deep space technology."

"No trouble at all, Admiral, in fact, we can head out straight away!" The admiral and his officers widened in surprise at my statement, "Are you sure?" he asks me a little apprehensively, "Won't that put a lot of stress on your crews and ships, just to jump out on such short notice?"

"Admiral," I answer him, "you need to know two things about my crews and ships; first, all of them are combat veterans, short notice and emergency jumps are a way of life especially when you need to leave in hurry, plus all of them have at least 15-to-25 years line experience; second, every single one of my ships, in fact, every ship in the Terran Confederation, have been tested rigorously, by experienced line officers, who have pushed the hulls and frames to the utmost. Ah, excuse me, I'll be informing the Andromeda's crew that we'll be demonstration her slip-stream and translight drive aboard her."

Then I turn to my right and talk into thin air, "Eagle, inform Romy that she'll be having guests aboard to see her slip and translight drive in action."

Suddenly a hologram projected to life revealing an eagle perching on one of the models in the room, looking at me with intelligent if translucent eyes.

Some of them half jump out of their seat in surprise but Darkcloud took it in stride, I was quick to turn and add, "I forgot, every ship in this battle group is equipped with AI avatars, state-of-the-art, fully independent, very capable AIs, complete with personalities."

"So you mean to tell us that even if the ship's crew is incapacitated, the AI..." one of the chakat officers ventured.

I complete the thought for hir. "The AI takes over fighting for the crew, assists with medical procedures, handles hull breaches, reports ship status, internal defense, the whole shebang, even going on a random slip-stream jump as a final resort to protect the crew, hell, it can activate the self destruct on it's own to prevent capture."

"So every ship here is capable of independent action even without a crew?" the Caitian officer, Rosepetal Silpurr, Boyce's Flag lieutenant (or XO, anywhere else) and First wife by her people's marriage custom: Second wife is Zhane ap Nashene na Zhane or Zhane for short, a Rakshani, Third is Forestwalker, and Fourth is Midnight, according to Intel anyway.

I answer her, "Yes and no, yes, because since the avatar is connected to all the ship's vital systems, it is capable of operating without a crew; no, because without a crew, some ship's operations can't function without physical interaction, and prior to the avatars, our crew compliments used to be quite large, some ships before used to have over a 2500 crew requirement, now, well," I couldn't help grin. "Let's just say that it's one hell of a conniption fit when it comes to assigning new crews to old ships and vice versa, since we couldn't afford to squander whole ships into the meat grinder of war, so mixing veterans with green crews can be very problematic."

"General," the Voxxan officer, raising his paw in a question. "Do you mean to say that, for example, a veteran XO could immediately usurp command from his captain at anytime?"

"No, absolutely not, the only time a veteran XO would do something like that is when the ship's existence is in jeopardy, or if the captain has made a critical error in his judgment in combat and could lead to the ship's destruction, does the veteran XO usurp command, besides which our regulations dictate that green officers must listen to the advise given to them by their veteran members of their staff, regardless of rank disparity."

Some of the officers exchange surprised glances with each other, Admiral Boyce looks impressed, and it looks like that I won some converts, especially the Rakshan and Caitian officers who saw the positive effects of adding combat hardened crews and ships into Star Fleet and the new interstellar technology systems that we brought along with us, could give them a much needed edge against some of the more aggressive worlds.

"Now if you'll follow me, we'll transfer over to the Andromeda and begin our demonstration. Come on, squirt!"

I bend over, easily picking up Darkcloud, placed hir on my shoulders, and led the way to transporter room 3.

Admiral Boyce caught up to a few seconds later, "Nathan, can I call you that?"

I nod in acquiesce.

"Nathan, what's with the chakat cub on your shoulder?"

My answer somewhat surprises him, "Shi's my daughter."

"What?! Care to explain that?"

"Sure, but let me get your officers transferred over the Andromeda first."

"No hurry, some of them want to inspect this ship first before transferring to the other vessel, is that fine with you though?"

I give it some thought, then came to my decision, "Sure, why not? But don't take it personal if we don't allow you or your officers access to sensitive areas, since technically we haven't formally joined the Federation."

He nods in agreement. "Not a problem, I understand your position."

"Good. Eagle, inform Kirha to organize a tour for the Admiral's officers, the Admiral will be my guest in my quarters, and inform Romy that her demonstration has been put on hold until further notice."

As I gave Eagle her instructions without breaking stride, she responds with a curt "Acknowledged, boss."

In a few minutes, Kirha came trotting down the corridor at easy pace, he salutes as he stops in front of me, "You summoned me, General?"

"Yes, Kirha, I want you give the Federation delegates a complete tour of the ship, avoiding restricted access areas, and ending at mess hall; the Admiral and I will be in my quarters in an one-on-one meeting. Contact me there if there's any problems."

"Aye, sir!" he responds sharply.

"Right, now if you'll follow me, Admiral."

Boyce follows me and Darkcloud to our quarters, where I gesture him in and to the couch, "Make yourself at home, Boyce."

A bit taken back by my rapid switch from formal to informal, he goes in and is surprised how relaxed the atmosphere is in my quarters; classical music by Mozart playing from hidden speakers, recessed lighting gives the room a comfortable glow, books lying around in a haphazard manner, pictures of loved ones and family hanging securely on wall mounts, war memorabilia from two-and-a-half decades of war lay in the topmost shelves, giving the place a feeling of home.

He turns to me in surprise, and blurts out, "This is incredible! I've never seen quarters that have such a feeling of home."

"Yeah, well," I answer with a shrug. "It's not much, but ever since I lost my fiancé, I was never at home on a planet but I'm more at home on board a warship, so..."

I shrugged at my unfinished answer.

"I see...well, care to explain to me how this little cub became your daughter even though you're not a Federation citizen yet?"

Darkcloud and I traded a look, then shi shrugged indifferently and I nod back, "Sure, no problem."

It took 20 minutes of explaining and recollecting recent events, when Boyce finally realized the depth and firmness of the emotional attachment Darkcloud and I had developed, since we both shared similar childhood traumas and relied on others for support, we had developed a rapport of love, trust and support that no one could break, it is something he could understand as well.

"I certainly can understand how you two developed such strong feelings for each other."

"Yeah, no kidding," I thought quietly. "You had to undergo similar conundrums yourself, especially in your personal life."

"Nathan, if you like, I could arrange a formal adoption for you and Darkcloud. Given that the two of you have already developed a strong emotional bond with each other, I don't think that the courts will have any objections to you adopting Darkcloud but they will ask if you are going to let hir develop normally or will you let hir grow in a military environment."

I pondered on this and quietly glanced at Darkcloud, dozing lightly against my side, then I came to a decision.

"I want hir to develop normally like a chakat hir age should but I also intend to counter balance that with at least some form of martial training so shi could defend hirself if shi has to or if shi finds hirself in trouble."

Boyce leans back in thoughtful silence and ponders what I say.

A few minutes later, he comes to a decision, "That sounds reasonable. Given that the sociological and political environment for furs is not very stable at the moment, I think that's the best course of action for your daughter."

"Yeah, my crews and I noticed the problem when we were stealth observing the Federation; if you like we can solve this problem for you to show our allegiance to the Federation and to its core beliefs."

Suddenly alarms began to blare and the lights instantly switch from white to light-red, then Eagle's voice came through the PA system, "Alert! Alert! All hands man battle stations! Inbound enemy ships! ETA 10 minutes! All personnel prepare for battle!" I look up and shouted, "Eagle, what's going on?"

He materializes in front of me, wings flapping, hovering in mid-air, "Sir, my sensors have detected a large formation of starships coming in from two different headings, they appear to be hostile."

"Distance?"

"At their current speed of warp 8, ETA 10 minutes and 45, correction, 40 seconds."

Then comprehension dawned upon me and on Boyce as well, we both looked at each other with apprehension and said together, "It's a trap!"

Then my expression changed from worried to more of a predatory gleam, Boyce looks at me worriedly, "Nathan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; I just had a sudden brainstorm. Come on, follow me to the bridge. You too, squirt."

All three of us ran to the bridge with me in front since Boyce and Darkcloud didn't know the layout of an Explorer-class ship by heart; we stormed in just in time as Kirha is bringing his wrist comm at his muzzle.

He looks up and sees me enter the bridge, "Simba, I was just about to call you."

"Eagle appraised me of the situation, what do you suggest, Kirha?"

He answers with one sentence, "Ket'tad Me'resh'tok'var."

I couldn't help but grin evilly, "Yeah...that will work."

Boyce and his officers look at me and Kirha curiously, then suddenly I began giving commands, "Comm, spread the word to our ships: 'we will be using the Ket'tad Me'resh'tok'var maneuver and also that Omega protocols and ROE is in effect.' Helm, reposition us in the middle of the Federation task force. Defense, deploy holo drones and engage the 'Ghost' ECM. Tactical, ready all weapons and raise shields; have all fighters readied for magnum launch, load the Dragons with 8 Flash-Paks each, bombers with heavy anti-ship loadouts are to be launched as a secondary wave, X-Bombers as a reserve bomber force, Saber-wings have break-and-attack discretion, have all ships engage cloak and take their positions, and have my crew chief prep Star Hunter for combat and for some head hunting. Sensors, keep an eye out on those inbound ships and give me the numbers and classes as they arrive."

My officers answer with a simultaneous "Yes, sir!"

On the viewscreen, I watch as the battle group separate and cloak, then it changes into a tactical map showing the precise coordinates of the battle group's cloaked ships as well as the Federation ships and inbound attack fleet.

To the uninitiated, it looks like screen with a grid and moving dots with names attached to them, but to experienced veterans, it shows the overall picture of the battle; Boyce waits until I finished giving orders, then he asks, "Nathan, can we get back to the Pegasus right away? I don't like to be separated from my command when we are about to be engaged."

"Can't let you, Boyce," I answer without turning my back.

"Can't or won't?" He asks, his worry evident in his voice.

"Both," I answer back. "But don't worry; we won't hold you here longer than it is necessary."

"What do you mean?"

"To put things simply, when we both realized that the attack on the convoy was merely a lure to bring task force Pegasus into a trap which none will escape, you thought to exit the area as quickly as possible but I saw things differently; I saw a chance to neutralize a potential threat. What Ket'tad Me'resh'tok'var means contextually is ' to ambush the ambushers, allow them reach their prey, and to sink in their claws but strike before the killing blow...and let none survive." I finish the statement with the cold, emotionless clarity of liquid nitrogen.

Boyce and his officers see that I am deadly serious, "What if one signals that he/she wishes to surrender, what orders will you give your captains?" asks one of the chakat officers, a calico w/ a silver base and tan patches.

"Shir, since you're unfamiliar with ConFed rules, so I'll clarify them. I told my officers that Omega protocols and ROE is in effect, that means that I just ordered the complete destruction of the enemy fleet with every weapon, bar super-weapons, at our disposal...and we won't stop until every single enemy is dead, no survivors, no mercy."

Shi is shocked at my answer, "How...how could you be so callous...so cold-hearted."

"When you been through a thirty plus years long war, eventually you become used to death and destruction at a large scale. And besides, I lost all regard for humanity except for those who have fought by my side on the battlefield."

"How...how or...or when did that happen?" shi asks with noticeable tremor in hir voice. My voice came out cold as methane ice as I recalled those dark memories.

"In a word...betrayal. It was nearing the middle of 2nd decade of the Human-Kilrathi War, we, the front line troops, received word that the Society of Mandarins, a group of humans who willingly collaborate with the Kilrathi, just betrayed Epsilon Vera III, a vital fortified base on the Vega sector's right flank to the Kilrathi, and that the civilian government just declared them outlaws and ordered the military to hunt them down for trial. You can probably guess that we took the news rather badly but accepted the new orders very eagerly. Several veteran ships and squadrons were pulled from front-line duty to form a task force dedicated to hunt down the Mandarins, and boy, did we hunt them down all right, every one we caught is first vigorously interrogated and then tried by military tribunal and sentenced to death, mostly either by summary execution, by firing squad or by spacing; when we finally found out where the main Mandarin base was, we closed in on them and destroyed both the star base and the planet they were residing."

"You never gave them a chance to surrender peacefully?" asked the calico chakat.

"No, we weren't in the mood for that, all we had on our minds at the time is vengeance for Epsilon Vera III and we weren't satisfied with putting the lot of them on trail; we wanted blood payment."

Shi winces at my harshness.

"How did you do that? Destroying the star-base and planet with one shot each, I mean." asks Boyce interestedly despite the grimness of my story.

"For the star base, I used an experimental Mk. 7 anti-ship torpedo loaded on the belly pylon of my Thunder Wolf. The Mk. 7 is our newest, most powerful torpedo we ever developed, loaded with a combination antimatter/150 MT directional nuclear warhead, one is more than enough to destroy a carrier like the Lexington; the star base was of the old, decommissioned Delta-Star class, a class that had plenty of vulnerable spots and, unfortunately for the Mandarins, it had none of the modern anti-torpedo defense systems available to more modern bases. I programmed my torpedo to burrow as deeply as it could then detonate, taking out the whole star base along with its entire crew of 2900 odd humans; after I cleared the heavy ships into orbit, we debated whether to orbitally bombard the planet or simply let the Mandarins starve by laying siege to them, but I settled the argument by suggesting that we use a planetary buster to settle the problem and so we did, any ship attempting to leaving the planet is intercepted and destroyed. A planetary buster as we like to call it or a PTXD-857 in military code-name parlance is a deep burrowing torpedo that triggers a massive geo-seismic destabilization of a planet's core destroying it in the process."

"You have a weapon that destroy a whole planet?!" Boyce blurts out, shocked and a bit apprehensive.

"Better actually. We have a weapon capable of destroying a star system. We call it a Nova bomb, for the supernova it creates as it collapses the target star." I answer coolly.

"You have the capability to destroy a star?!" Several officers simultaneously blurt out.

"Yep, however, we only have a grand total of 10 Nova bombs currently in storage right now, two of the ship-launched variants on aboard each the four Panthers and two of the long-range fighter variants in storage aboard the Lexington."

Then a growl-snarl from sensors interrupted us, "Kal Shintar, three of eights, confirm three of eights hostile vessels, classification tentative as Constitution- and Excelsior-class, their shields are raised and weapons armed. I am detecting a large number of target lock-ons on the Pegasus."

"Here we go...Kirha, are our forces in position?"

"Yes, sir, they are ready and waiting for your order." I nod in response. "Comm, on broadband, 'let the hunt commence.'"

"Aye, sir. Broadcasting...now!"

Instantly, the ambush is sprung, the Humans First ships never stood a chance; taken completely off guard and disoriented, we slaughter them.

The bridge crew and I watch impassively as they are slaughtered; Particle Laser Arrays tear through shields, armor and hull with ease; Quantum Torpedoes instantly turn what was once elegant ship into so much space junk; we see ships in their death throes as Flash Paks superheat their artificial atmospheres; smasher cannons rend massive tears on hulls, venting their contents into vacuum; antimatter mines explode in rapid succession; the communications panel intercepts their pleas of mercy but they fall on deaf ears; phasers reach across the void to rend and tear apart their targets; elite veteran squadrons tear into unblooded and inexperienced squadrons with contemptuous ease; bombers easily avoiding defensive fire to deliver their torpedoes.

All that we saw on the view-screen, then I spoke, "Kirha, tag that runabout as the survivor. Let it take the news of this slaughter back to its fellows. Terminate the rest."

"Aye, sir."

He responds curtly and taps several commands into his console, instantly four EMP missiles leap out from two of the reserve Star Claws which tractored the disabled runabout to a point outside the battle under the cover of their fellow pilots.

The calico chakat noticed what they were doing and asks, Kirha responds with gentle growl, "They are towing that runabout out of the battle zone, Simba has designated it as the sole survivor of the enemy fleet so that it may get word of this...slaughter," he adds a meat-eating grin, "back to its fellows."

I notice Boyce is looking at me with comprehending eyes via his reflected image off the view-screen, he understands that I'm using a powerful psychological weapon against the Human Firsters, the fear of the unknown, the lack of comprehension and knowledge of how their fleet was so easily decimated or who their new enemies are; especially if word was brought to them by a single surviving ship which I had deliberately designated as the 'survivor' while the rest is being annihilated with cold, ruthless efficiency.

In under 10 minutes, the entire enemy fleet is wiped out and with little or no damage to either Task Force Pegasus, Chrono-Storm, or the convoy; the fighter and bomber squadrons report in with no casualties and are now beginning their battlefield clean-up sweep, then I turn back to Boyce and his officers and say lightly, "Well, now that our battlefield experience has been confirmed, do you still want to take that tour or do you want to escort the convoy back to Chakona?"

Most of them look at me incredulous at how I could so cavalierly dismiss the destruction of an entire enemy fleet and how I could so easily switch for deadly, cold and ruthless to warm, friendly and kind, then Boyce spoke up, "Nathan, can I talk to you...in private?"

I nod and say, "This way," leading him to my ready room.

"How..." He began.

"How could I be so cavalier about the death of the enemy and how could I live with two different personalities within me, is that what you were going to ask?" I finish for him.

"Yes, how did you...?"

"I have a sixth sense about people, and I have a talent for anticipating questions. You see, in the Human-Kilrathi War, the savagery of the Kilrathi forced us to respond in kind but most of us grew to respect the other and both sides knew that it would be disrespectful if we didn't fight with every fiber of our being so..." I left that part unfinished.

"I see," Boyce responds.

Then I continue, "As for the second question, I don't really have an answer to that."

Boyce nods in understanding, "Then I suggest that we set course Chakona with all speed."

"You got it," I said, then keyed my comlink, "Simba to all ships, initiate hyper-tow operations immediately."

"Hyper-tow?"

"A new system we recently implemented prior to our 'accident', essentially all our ships fire towing cables and harpoons, then we extend our warp and slip fields and hyper-tow any disabled or crippled ships to the nearest base or planet, since most of the civilian convoy is composed of mostly small ships, a cruiser can tow up to four ships at once, but for ships of your task force, it's a one-to-one ratio."

"In that case, Nathan, I'll happily accede command of this ad-hoc fleet to you."

"Thank you, Admiral. Simba to all ships, set course for the Chakas'tra star system, maximum speed, exit point A2D. Out."

Twenty minutes later, the fleet jumps out to Chakona and destiny...

To Be Continued