Gilas and Terri stood watching the main viewer as they prepared for the final fold to Ghost Station. He was unsure of what kind of reception they would receive, but he was ready to make an entrance. No contact with the Earth's Revenge or the station in the past 12 hours had him worried.
"Please Jon, hurry back, we need you," Gilas told himself as Atlantis disappeared in a flash of light.
The Ge'daes labored as she attempted to turn away from the attackers. The strikes had started hitting internal systems. Fires raged throughout her inner decks as damage control personnel rushed to battle them. Heas stumbled as another beam struck deep into his ship.
"Roll bitch, roll," Heas muttered.
"Sir, we're loosing thruster control. Engines 1 through 3 offline. Main reactors 2, 5, and 12 offline. Structural integrity is down to 40%. Decks 2 and 3 are depressurized." Damage Control reported.
"Damn it, get this ship turned and keep us rolling."
"Sir, the Wrath's Revenge and Earth's Revenge are moving into a protective posture." Tactical reported.
"What the hell? Con, order them to evacuate the area. Inform them the Ge'daes is finished, we can't hold them any longer. Spin up the hyper drive, prepare for an emergency jump."
The Wrath's Revenge, with the help of tugs, maneuvered next to the large ship trying to draw some of the fire. Earth's Revenge by-passed both ships heading straight for the two black ships. Admiral Breq was stunned, this wasn't the plan. They were supposed to protect the Ge'daes long enough for her to make a jump and then jump away themselves. The Hammer was already spinning up her hyper drive to make her jump. The Marudas was loading the last of personnel that was leaving the station and would be jumping as soon as she cleared her berth.
"Get me Captain Hawkins, right now!" Breq yelled.
"No response sir," Comm reported.
Breq swore.
"Sir, all of our teams have departed the Earth's Revenge and are on their way back to dock." Launch reported.
"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Breq asked, but no one had the answer.
Breq watched in his viewer as the Earth' Revenge slid by, the gashes showing clearly in her hull. Atmosphere leaked from the wounded ship in multiple places. Fires glowed behind containment fields on some of the exposed decks. It was amazing that she held together with all that damage. Breq had new respect for the crew of the Earth's Revenge.
Bill stood at the damaged planning table watching the black ships on the screen. He and his crew would buy the other ships enough time to get clear of the area. He ignored the Wrath's Revenge's hails for communication as he glanced over at a smaller screen and watched them as they passed the Wrath's Revenge.
"All power to engines, ramming speed. Target the nearest, Evacuate the forward compartments. Have all personnel brace for impact, prepare to repel boarders." Bill ordered.
"All power to engines," Con reported.
'All personnel evacuate forward compartments. All hands brace for impact. Prepare to repel boarders." The Con officer's voice echoed through the ship.
"Order all non-essential crew to life boats and to evacuate the ship."
'All non-essential personnel evacuate the ship.'
No one on board the Earth's Revenge left his or her post as the order rang out. The crew of the Earth's Revenge continued to fight to keep the ship together. Not one of them wanted to leave their ship or Captain. For the first time an order form the Bill was ignored.
The closer of the two black ships turned and fired on the Earth's Revenge. The beam cut a half-mile long gash in her side. Atmosphere began to leak from the wound, creating a trail that dissipated quickly.
"Structural integrity down to 15%, forward maneuvering thrusters offline. I've lost lateral control." Con reported.
The black ship slid sideways in space, turning as the Earth's Revenge flew past her target. A beam lanced out and cut a swath of destruction two miles long in her hull. Bill felt the ship shudder as she was hit. Warning sirens blared across the ship as the beam cut deep into the Earth's Revenge. The Earth's Revenge began to tumble as lights started flickering. One of her engines exploded, spinning her 180 degrees, as it gutted 10 decks. From the outside, it looked like someone had taken a spoon and scooped out part of the ship.
Bill slammed into the railing, breaking two ribs, as his ship spun out of control. Officers were torn from their seats by the force of the spin. Bill heard the sound of bones cracking as his Tactical officer was tossed into the railing next to him. Blood ran from the corner of Bill's mouth as he looked into the officer's eyes, the fear in them was clear.
Between ragged breaths Bill managed to say, "When you g... get back to your p... post you can cancel the r... repel boarders order. I d... don't think w... we'll have to worry a... about t... th... that."
The Tactical officer stared at Bill as though he had lost his mind, then cracked a smile. "Yes S... sir, I'll b... be sure to do t... that."
Bill smiled back, "It w... was an h... honor."
"N... no Sir, the h... honor was m... mine."
"I love you Kelly." Bill said.
The Earth's Revenge hull gave way to the damage and collapsed in on itself. The resulting explosion caught the closest black ship in the blast. Both ships went up in a massive explosion that shook all the ships in the area, causing the Wrath's Revenge to slam into the Ge'daes.
A flash of light announced the arrival of the Atlantis. Alarms screamed through the ship as the sensors began scanning the area. Gilas looked over the battle taking place, watching as one of the engines on the Earth's Revenge exploded, causing her to spin.
"Condition Red, shields up, bring weapons online, all hands to battle stations. Contact Ghost Station and get a SitRep NOW! Con, set a course for the Earth's Revenge, full speed. Recharge the Fold Drive." Gilas ordered.
Terri started to run for the lift.
"Where do you think you're going?" Gilas asked.
"To my squadron and fighter, you need me out there."
"Two words, dress gown. Have a seat Princess."
Terri's face turned red as she started to say something back.
"Not one word or I'll add make-up and hair-do to the list, Sit." Gilas said as he pointed to the command chair.
Terri stomped over to the chair as she fumed.
Gilas turned back smiling to himself which quickly faded as the Earth's Revenge turned into a super nova.
"By all that's holy," Gilas gasped.
Terri stood back up and moved next to Gilas, "Gilas." She said in a solemn voice.
After a second Gilas looked at her.
"That was Bill's ship, Andie's brother." She said, her eyes brimming with tears.
The silence on the bridge made Terri's voice sound loud.
"Ghost Station reports all ships friendly but the unidentified one, the Invaru are trying to protect the station. They are retreating and have sent us the coordinates." Comm reported, once he recovered from the shock.
Gilas snapped to, "Like hell, you tell Ghost Station this will be over in less than 2 minutes. Have all ships stand down from evacuation. Con bring us about and head for the enemy ship. Bring all main batteries online."
Atlantis turned towards the last enemy ship, which was firing on the Wrath's Revenge. Her engines flared as she picked up speed.
"Wrath's Revenge's hull integrity is down to 19%. I'm reading multiple hull breeches on all decks." Tactical reported. "The Ge'daes isn't doing much better Sir."
"Full power to engines; bring forward guns to bear on target, fire when in range."
The Atlantis closed the distance, swinging in between the black ship and the Wrath's Revenge as her guns fired, tearing large pieces out of the ship. The resulting explosion rocked Atlantis as she passed. Gilas looked down at the planning table scanning for any more enemy ships. When he found none he looked back up at the main viewer that held the place that the Earth's Revenge once occupied.
"Secure to condition yellow, launch all SAR teams to assist the Ge'daes and Wrath's Revenge. Launch Gold squadron and have them scan the wreckage of the Earth's Revenge for any life signs. Launch Death's Hand for patrol, have Bronze Five fly lead."
Gilas looked over to where Terri was sitting. She sat next to the command chair, weeping openly. He moved over to comfort Terri, later he had a duty he never wished on anyone. But for now he needed Andie to concentrate on helping the wounded.
Breq and Heas could have been mirror images with the way their mouths were hanging open. What they had just seen both saddened them and stunned them. Suddenly they both saw light at the end of the tunnel, maybe there was a chance.
But the loss of such a brave man had cost them dearly. Both men came out of their daze and started issuing orders to the crew.
Vaes and Carla were overjoyed to see the Atlantis arrive. When the Earth's Revenge blew up both of them felt their hearts drop into their stomachs. Carla stumbled and fell to the floor in shock as Vaes grabbed the railing in front of him to steady himself. After the initial shock wore off, he recalled the Hammer. Then launched what SAR craft he had ready to assist in rescue operations. The Marudas, which had never left berth, began to unload personnel.
Brad in main engineering sat staring at his view screen, which pointed at the spot where the Earth's Revenge had been. His brain was having trouble accepting the fact that Bill was gone.
All across the station and various ships, Humans stood next to Invaru, who stood next to Eutharans, staring at screens or out windows. They all stared at one place, the last spot the Earth's Revenge had last occupied. Together they wept for a crew and a Captain most barely knew. A crew and Captain that had gained their hearts and thanks for their brave sacrifice. Most went on about their duty, their hearts heavy, some would never be the same.
In an Atrium on deck 7 of Ghost Station, a woman by the name of Kelly Martin-Hawkins wept as she stared out a window. Kelly had just found out she was pregnant two days ago, while on leave for her physical. She was going to let her husband know about it the next time she saw him. Now the twins would never know their father, but she would make sure they knew what a great man he was.
Deatra sat as Terri approached Jon to begin her questioning. The room fell silent as Terri circled Jon. She walked slowly around him, like a predator studying its prey. When she once again faced him she clasped both hand behind her back.
"Capt., and I use that title loosely, Hunte..." Terri began.
Oojoung jumped up, "Oojoung objects! Jon Commander has not been convicted of anything. So he is still Captain of Atlantis and Commander of Ghost Station, is he not?"
Deatra smiled an inner smile as she watched Terri's surprise at the objection. "Objection sustained, Prosecutor Terri please stick to the facts and keep the comments to yourself," Deatra said to Terri.
Oojoung just nodded as he sat down and got a hug from Sam.
"Yes, Princess," Terri replied as she bowed.
"MR. Hunter how did you come to command the Atlantis?"
Jon looked up at Terri, "We stumbled on to what we thought was base. During an attack on that base we found out it was actually a spaceship."
"By we what exactly do you mean?"
"Me, you, Andie, Bill, Brad and Mike."
"Why was it you that was selected to Captain the vessel?"
"For that answer you would have to ask Atlantis herself, I really don't know."
"You say you got attacked?"
"Yes, Earth was attacked and Atlantis launched during that attack."
"So you saved Earth?"
"No the..."
"What do you mean no? Did you flee the battle?"
"Yes, Bec..."
"So you ran off instead of helping Earth fight off its attackers. Wouldn't you say that was cowardly?"
Jon stopped and stared at Terri, that question was a catch-22. No matter how he answered, it would be wrong. Terri stared at Jon as a large grin spread on her face.
With out looking back Terri said, "Princess could you please order the accused to answer my last question?"
Deatra was furious; she wanted to stand up and walk down there and strangle the life out of Terri. But she had no choice.
"Captain Hunter you will answer the question," Deatra said.
Oojoung and Atlantis were whispering to each other. Atlantis was about to stand up and claim Badgering but Jon spoke.
Jon stared back at his sister and returned her grin, "I would have no idea of how the events happened once we left Earth's atmosphere. I as well as the rest of the crew were passed out at that point. Atlantis was on Autopilot, because the AI we know as Atlantis had not fully woken up yet. So as far as if Atlantis tried to defend Earth or not, well no one will ever know."
Terri's face turned a slight shade of red, "I guess we'll just have to get the flight recordings then. Then we'll see if you're telling the truth."
"You can try, but you can't do that unless I release them. Right now that's kind of impossible because you have, in a way striped me of my rank. Which means that I can't command the Atlantis, which makes my command codes on her useless for the time being." Jon's grin got even bigger.
Deatra was beside herself with joy, this was the first time she had seen him defend himself.
Terri calmed herself, "Ok, well we can come back to that. Why did you run from the engagement where the Princess was rescued?"
Jon caught the fact that Terri hadn't said 'where YOU rescued' so he did. "After I had rescued the Princess, it was two on one and I didn't even have half the crew I needed for Atlantis. So I played the better part of valor, I ran, but not far."
"So you ran from battle?"
"Yes and no," Jon laid the trap.
"What do you mean yes and no?" Terri fell into the trap before she realized what she was doing.
"I was ordered to 'run form battle'."
"You command the Atlantis, you were senior officer, who outranked you? That was on board at that time?" Terri asked, slipping further into the trap.
"The Princess, so I guess in a way you're calling her a coward. Maybe she should be sitting next to me while you question me."
Terri paled.
Deatra tried not to laugh at Terri's discomfort as Terri glanced at her. "Well, prosecutor is that what you're suggesting? Should I be sitting next to Captain Hunter?"
A loud murmur came from the assembled crowd.
Terri turned to face Deatra, "Of course not Princess, I would never suggest such a thing."
"I'm glad to hear that."
As the trial went on Jon's strength grew with each question. The size of the crowd shrunk until finally it was just Jon and Deatra. Jon stared at Deatra as she stood in front of him, tears streamed down her face. Her heart swelled because of his strength.
"Why are you still here?" Jon asked.
Deatra smiled, "Do you object to my presence?"
"No, not at all, I'm happy to see you, even though you're a figment of my imagination."
"I'm not a figment of your imagination my love, I'm here. I've been here from the beginning."
"You're real?" Jon asked stepping closer.
"Very much so, I wanted to help you recover from this illusion."
"Thank you, for your help." Jon bowed his head and started fidgeting.
"What's wrong?" Deatra asked as she stepped closer to Jon. Concern crossing her face.
"Deatra," Jon said, looking into her face. His face colored slightly, "I have never said it before, but I love you. I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I've fought it because I thought it was a childish crush. You've shown me that it's anything but a crush."
Deatra closed the final steps and fell into his arms, as tears again filled her eyes. Jon leaned in and kissed her, a feeling of completeness filled them both.
Deatra broke the kiss, pulling back to look Jon in the face, "Do you think we can stay here for a little while?"
Jon grinned, reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "I think that can be arranged. I happen to know the person who owns this place." Jon said as he winked.
Deatra laughed, "Just kiss me you big silly goof."
Atlantis strode down the hall towards CIC on Ghost Station, Ghost followed on her heals. Anger flashed in Atlantis' face as she stepped through the doors. Vaes looked up at Atlantis as she entered, a questioning look on his face. Carla glanced in her direction then turned back to what she had been doing.
"Atlantis, what are you doing here? You should be on your ship helping with SAR operations." Vaes said.
"You and Carla have some explaining to do," Atlantis growled.
At the mention of her name Carla turned around and looked at Atlantis, "What are you talking about?" She asked.
"You two have screwed up, I want an explanation and I want it right now," Atlantis demanded.
Carla turned back to her work, "I don't have time for this."
"Atlantis, return to your ship, that's an order," Vaes said.
Everyone in CIC had stopped what they were doing and were now watching the exchange.
"No." Atlantis said bluntly.
"Ghost, cut Atlantis' connection and force her to return to her ship, that's an order," Vaes ordered as he turned back to the planning table.
No one but Vaes and Carla were doing anything.
Atlantis spun on Ghost, "Do it and wipe your system completely, I have authority here, I have the command codes to this station."
Ghost's eyes widened, as she was caught in the middle, an order was an order. Yet she didn't want to be wiped and Atlantis did hold the key codes. She did the only thing she could, she faded out.
'Command code authorization needed for command over-ride.' Ghost's voice said throughout the station.
Atlantis silently transmitted the codes, as she turned back to Carla and Vaes. "Now where were we?"
"This is an outrage! You don't have the authority to do this," Carla screamed.
"Atlantis, please resume your tasks and allow us to get back to our job. There are people in need of our help," Vaes begged. "We can talk about this later, after the operations are complete."
"Ghost and I are handling the SAR operations now. I want an explanation and I want it NOW!" Atlantis yelled.
"I'm not explaining anything to you," Carla said.
"Atlantis, you need to be following orders. I Order you to release Ghost and to return to your ship," Vaes calmly said.
"You no longer command here Vaes, you and Carla have been stripped of your rank. You have no authority over me."
"Who striped us of our rank?" Carla asked.
Vaes looked over at Carla, concern crossed his face. Atlantis might have gone rogue and if this was the case, they were in trouble.
"I did," Atlantis said, taking a step towards Carla.
"You? Hahahaha, don't make me laugh you don't have that authority," Carla laughed. "Besides, what can you do?"
"Carla, Shut up," Vaes said.
"I carry the honorary rank of Commander incase the Captain is unable to perform his duties. As you know Jon is in no condition to perform his duties. Which makes me the highest ranking Military official on this base since Atlantis is the flagship of the ADF."
Carla stopped laughing.
"As to what can I do, well you have never seen me pissed. I want an explanation and I want one now," Atlantis growled.
"An explanation to what?" Vaes asked.
"Why was Captain Hawkins not given access after he had transmitted his Authorization codes?"
"Oh that, that was a misunderstanding," Carla replied offhanded.
Atlantis now stood in front of Carla, glaring at the lounging woman.
"Misunderstanding? He was second in command under Jon, he transmitted his codes. I have reviewed the information in the data banks. Vaes and you decided all on your own to increase security here and instituted a command code authorization on top of the regular authorization routine," Atlantis fumed.
Vaes had just shut up at this point and stepped back.
"Yeah so it was a mix up, we were trying to make the station more secure. Nothing we did would have affected the outcome of this battle. It would have still happened." Carla said with no emotion.
"Your little mix up cost the lives of over 300 personnel and the loss of the Titan. Thankfully, Captain Gilas made it along with about 75 crew members. It also cost Jon his sanity, which he and Deatra are fighting for right now in my sickbay. From what I understand we could lose them both."
Everyone present gasped at the news of the Titan, Jon, and Deatra.
"Oh now we're surprised and upset, probably even feel terrible that such a little thing caused such a big fuss." Atlantis admonished.
"Atlantis, I had no idea," Carla started, hanging her head.
"The sentence for causing the loss of the Titan and causing such a massive loss of life is Death."
Carla looked up into Atlantis's face, a look of confusion on her face. Atlantis suddenly snapped her hand up and grabbed Carla by the throat. Atlantis started closing her hand, as Carla looked her in the eyes in amazement. Carla was unable to understand how Atlantis was doing this. Vaes gasped, then ran for the door as fast as he could.
Before he got out Atlantis said, "Be right with you Vaes."