Atlantis hid in the shadow of Earth's moon, monitoring the activity in space. Jon had left Bill in charge of the station and Mike in charge of the station's engineering section. Sara assumed control of the station's security detail and the Titan was nearing completion. With the help of the combined crews the station's defenses were finally on-line as well as the twelve defensive batteries that surrounded her. Gilas had stayed behind to finalize the repairs to the Titan and monitor the installation of the drones and additional main reactor.
Engineering figured production would be able to be started in less than a week and they now had over 50% of the station on-line. What they needed were more people for the station and Atlantis, because once the Titan headed for home to make their report he would be back to less than 120 personnel.
Oojoung had actually started to be helpful if not a little annoying. He had taken a liking to Terri and could almost always be found clinging to her. Jon had finally given Mike and Brad the ok to allow the dogs to roam the station as they were getting a bit edge being locked up all the time.
Since Bill had stayed behind, Gilas had loaned Jon Carex for his mission. Atlantis also had 150 marines on board loaned yet again by Gilas. They were stationed in the newly opened Barracks on decks 20 and 21. The Barracks had their own docking bay and armory, along with training ranges and various ground assault vehicles. Atlantis's ground assault vehicles consisted of 74 Hammer tanks, 20 Bravos Class Assault Transports, various ground transports, and various artillery weapons.
They had stumbled on to this by accident, of course they knew it was there but not what was behind the massive doors beyond the security check points situated at all the lifts connecting the two decks. Marc had been too busy with training and running security for the station to bother with getting together with Jon and giving the command codes to unlock the sections. When they had decided to bring along the marines Marc snatched Jon long enough to be granted access.
It took Jon and Marc four hours to explore the massive decks and they called the rest of the command staff in for the tour. Brad and Mike discussed updating the equipment which everyone knew was centuries out of date. Terri checked the transports and launch control stations declaring they were both in need of repair and software upgrades. Even so Marc moved his marines in and started setting up operations for the two decks which included the rest of the ship. With the help of Gilas the armory was restocked with the most up to date weapons and armor he had.
Jon turned his mind back to the viewer in the center of the room watching the two massive Invaru Titans in orbit of their home world.
"Id's coming in now Sir." Carla said "Two Invaru Titan Class Destroyers. The Ge'daes and Il'las, last known position was in the Redius Sector."
Jon looked at their armaments, "Wow those boys pack a punch."
Carex nodded as he stood next to Jon. "Yeah the Titan could probably handle one without support, but two would be a death sentence. The Captains of those class vessels are not known for their kindness."
Jon watched as the two ships lazily circled Earth launching and recovering shuttles. "What's with all the shuttles?"
Carex sighed, "They are probably moving your people up and are going to be selling them as slaves."
Jon's face darkened, "Ensign Sanders do you have the planetary scans yet?"
"Yes Sir" she replied
"Put them on the main viewer please."
The devastation was massive, not one major city was standing. He kept looking at the pictures coming through the viewer. "Stop, back up one please."
North America popped back on the viewer and Jon pointed to a massive red splotch. "What's that?"
"Fort Bragg Sir, from what I can tell that's where they are moving people and loading them onto the shuttles."
Jon nodded "Ok continue."
Jon pointed out several more spots on the maps. One in China, two in Europe, one in Russia, and one in South America. They were all large red spots that were identified as pick up places. Jon called the spots 'camps'.
Throughout the next day Jon and the crew monitored everything going on in the system. Later Jon sat down at a meeting with the XO and Marc to discuss what they were going to do.
"What about the ships?" Carex asked.
"We draw them away from Earth while the marines do their thing." Jon said watching both men. "My only problem is those ships have our people on them and if we happen to destroy one, we will kill hundreds of people."
Carex leaned back and chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Marc asked with a little anger in his voice.
Jon scowled at Carex who held his hands up in surrender.
"Sorry, but if you think you will put a dent in one of those ships, you have another think coming. But, and that's a very big but, if you do manage to take one down, your people on board will be better off. Right now the Invaru are reprogramming them for service as a slave. They remove part of the brain, putting in an electronic device that turns them into mindless creatures." Carex replied somberly.
Marc leaned back, "Do you think any of these slaves will be in the main population?"
"It's possible but the computers can scan them for implants."
Jon stood up and turned, looking out the window at the moon. "So in other words Marc, don't hesitate to kill anyone who tries to stop you. This mission has to be done extremely fast."
"I don't like the idea of killing civilians," Marc said flatly.
"Neither do I, but for the continuation of the human race, I don't think we have a choice," Jon turned back to face the men at the table.
Carex and Marc both nodded.
They finalized the plans in less than four hours.
"Production this is Control, main start up sequence initiated," Bill's voice echoed.
Mike reached down and scratched Zeus' ear. Hera was keeping Oojoung company as he had his face plastered to the window watching what was happening in the large room. Three techs were busy initiating the machinery in the room. Slowly lights started to come alive and machines started to move. Large vats started to heat up as ore was dumped into them. Robots came alive, some failed and would be taken care of later, and started to get ready to assemble what was requested.
A few machines winked back off and shut down. But most of the machinery was functional. Now the hard part, fixing what was broken and making sure the rest was in working order. At least now they could manufacture most of the parts they needed. Mike stood up and walked over next to Oojoung watching as the machines came alive and smiled.
'Please state assembly product.' Ghost's voice said.
Ghost blinked into existence next to Mike, turned and looked out the window. She smiled and turned back to Mike, "Nice job Chief, I'll have some maintenance drones start checking the machinery."
Mike turned, "Maintenance drones?"
"Yes, now that Production is back on-line, I can access the maintenance drones. They are like repair drones just on a smaller level."
"Oh, why haven't you mentioned them until now?"
"Well production wasn't on-line, so they were useless."
"So now we have maintenance drones for the station," Mike smiled.
"No, they're for Production and Fabrication, not the whole station. They're programmed to keep Production and Fabrication running."
Mike's smile faded as he glanced back out the window. He could now see smaller versions of the repair drones moving about. "We'll see about that," He said to himself.
"Sorry Chief what was that?"
"Nothing, nothing," Mike said as he grinned to himself.
The Marudas slipped from her berth at the Ne'jah Repair Yards. Commander Prasuh stood at the railing watching the yards fall behind them. He turned and resumed his seat and was about to give orders to jump to the remote system of Grax Nine when a secure transmission was received.
"Incoming transmission Sir," Comm reported.
"On screen." Prasuh said as he stood up.
When the figure appeared on the main screen Prasuh and everyone on the bridge knelt. "Commander Prasuh I have a new mission for you." A stony voice said.
"I'm yours to command your Excellency." Prasuh said with his head bowed
The figure on the screen described the mission in detail for twenty minutes. No one moved on the bridge until the figure vanished from the screen. Once gone everyone on the bridge resumed their duties.
Parsuh stood up and gave the order. "Con set course for Sol Sector."
The jump horizon engulfed the ship as it entered hyperspace.
'All hands Condition Red... Battle stations... Battle stations... This is not a drill.' Atlantis' voice echo through out the ship.
"Comm open ship wide," Jon said.
"Channel open," Comm reported.
"Crew of the Atlantis, this is the Captain. In one minute we will be engaging two Invaru Titan's. While we engage them we will be attempting to rescue some of our people from Earth. What they are doing to our people on the planets surface is unthinkable and they will pay for their crimes. Right now I need each and every one of you to do the best you can and remember what training you have had. Thank You and Good Luck."
"Tactical, execute plan alpha on my mark." Jon said watching the small counter in the corner of the viewer.
"Sir Marines and shuttles report ready to depart." Carla reported.
"Notify them thirty seconds."
Jon watched the Invaru Titans separate to opposite sides of Earth and when the one furthest away was out of sight he gave the order.
Atlantis folded and appeared beneath the Il'las, every weapon Atlantis could bring to bear lanced out, punching holes in the massive ship's hull. They were so off guard they missed the four shuttle launch that headed for the planet. Atlantis peeled off and headed for Pluto at max speed. A few beams reached out from the Il'las and touched her.
On board the Il'las Captain Grues had just taken his chair monitoring the situation on the planet below his ship. The technicians on his ship had finally figured out how to break the will of these humans. Too bad it had cost the lives of thousands to learn the secret. Just as he started to take a sip of his drink klaxons blared to life.
'Fold detected... ' a gravelly voice said.
Grues stopped in mid sip, "How many?"
"One Sir." A midshipman reported.
Grues chuckled to himself, "Condition red and send a call to the Ge'daes..."
But before he could finish, the ship shuddered under his feet and damage reports started flooding in. His ship once again shook violently, almost throwing him out of his chair. Lights dimmed and died, seconds later they came back on as the massive ship once again rocked. Red battle lights came on as the light dimmed once again and klaxons again flared to life.
"What the hell!" Grues yelled as his cup shattered on the floor.
'Warning... Damage to deck 23 — 50... Launch bays 1- 4... 'the computer said. The list didn't stop there as it started directing damage and medical crews.
"Where did that come from?" Greus demanded as he stood up and moved to the railing to look at the viewer.
"Port bow Sir. Computer is registering it as an old Atlantis class heavy battle cruiser. She is breaking off engagement heading for system's edge." Tactical told him.
"Comm call the Ge'daes and tell them we are under attack. Con pursue that ship and order weapons loose."
Il'las turned in pursuit of Atlantis but she was too damaged and was falling behind. Beams lanced out and hit the fleeing ship but again they were ineffective, weakened by the damage.
Marc's shuttle landed next to the transport shuttle for the people they were planning on rescuing. Seventy five marines poured out as the shuttle touched down taking up defensive positions.
"Ok, quick, fast and dirty." Marc told them.
The assault on Fort Bragg happened just like it was text book. Marc lost five people in the fighting, but the opposition was very light. Ten minutes later Marc had about three hundred people loaded on board both shuttles. Now they waited for the call. The twin assault produced the about the same results.
"Fold recharging, one minute," Con reported.
They were outdistancing the large ship and were just passing Jupiter. That was until Atlantis shook briefly.
"Shields are down to 82%, no damage," Tactical reported.
"What was that?" Jon asked.
"It's the Ge'daes Sir, she's caught up with us."
"On the viewer."
The image changed on the viewer showing the Ge'daes catching up with them and passing the Il'las. Jon watched as four torpedoes streaked out to meet them. Point defense weapons shot them all down. Beams lanced out hitting them and almost knocking Jon from his feet.
"Return fire," Jon ordered.
Atlantis's rear batteries started firing back striking the massive ship several times.
"Ge'daes' shields are down to 92%, no damage," Tactical reported.
"Shields are down to 68%, minor damage to decks 2 — 7."
"Fold ready at your orders Sir," Con reported.
"Signal the rescue parties. Execute plan beta."
Once again Atlantis folded, appearing above the northern pole of Earth. Four shuttles left the planet and landed in Atlantis' launch bays.
Captain Heas watched the ship fold and disappear. He turned to his tactical officer.
"Track them." He muttered
"Sir the Il'las is requesting emergency assistance. She's caught in the ringed planet's gravity and can't escape." Comm reported.
"Sir I can't get a lock on their fold." Tactical reported
Heas' brows furrowed, "What do you mean you can't get a lock?"
"Sir the Il'las is begging for hel..." the female com officer was knocked out of her chair when Heas took three strides towards her and back handed her.
"Speak again and I'll cut your tongue out and send you to live with the slaves," He growled
The officer paled and nodded as she picked herself back up into her chair.
Heas turned his attention back to the officer at tactical who paled under scrutiny. "Now before I was interrupted you were telling me why you couldn't get a lock."
"Y... yes Sir. It's like they just disappeared. I can't find any trace of an out of system jump."
One of Heas' four arms raised as his hand scratched his chin.
"One minute for fold charge." Con reported
Jon watched the viewer as the Il'las was being pulled into Saturn by gravity. He was watching the Ge'daes slowly move away from her, still on her out bound trajectory.
"Why is the Ge'daes not helping the Il'las?" Jon asked Carex
"I told you the Captains of these vessels are notoriously vicious. I still can't believe you damaged her that badly."
"We were lucky and we caught her off guard. Sitting at this post for the past month has made them lazy. I'm sure that will not be the case any more."
Jon watched as the Ge'daes steadily got further out. The Il'las slowly spiraled into Saturn and broke apart, explosions covering her hull.
"Can you always count on them not helping each other?" Jon asked as he turned and looked at Carex.
"The Titans yes, other ships no, the Titans' officers are hand picked, because of how ruthless they are. Those ships are used for world suppression."
"Nice to know," Jon filed it away for use later. "Con take us to point Zulu."
"Aye Sir."
Atlantis left her hiding spot and headed towards Venus. Halfway between she disappeared in a flash of light. Jon was taking the long way back, but he wanted to be safe.
Atlantis was moving to her next fold point when Jon and Carex walked into Landing Bay Alpha. Scattered all over the place were hundreds of people young and old in various states. Marc caught sight of him and moved to his side giving a little salute which Jon returned.
"Report," Jon said.
"Sir Landing Bays Alpha, Beta, Charlie and Delta each contain one hundred and fifty people, give or take a few. The mission was a success and we only lost six people. Medical is in the process of helping the sick and wounded and is also scanning for devices."
Jon nodded as his eyes watched a little girl no more that six years old wander up to him. She reached up and tugged on Jon's sleeve.
"Mister."
Jon knelt down, "Call me Jon."
"Mister Jon, I can't find my brother," She said looking back.
Jon looked at her closely. Her deep red hair was a tangled mess and her faced was smudged with dirt. She turned back to look at Jon and her emerald eye captured him. Jon reached down and carefully picked her up.
"Let's go see if we can find him. What are your and your brother's names?" He asked, brushing her hair back.
"My name is Samantha and my Brother's is Timothy," Was all she said, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Carex you have the bridge," Carex nodded and left. Jon could swear he saw a tear in the man's eye.
Marc had disappeared too.
Jon walked from bay to bay searching for the better part of six hours.
"Samantha," Jon said.
Samantha lifted her head from Jon's shoulder where she had been sleeping. "You can call me Sam, everyone does, only momma and daddy used to call me Samantha."
"Ok, Sam I'm tired and I can't seem to find your brother. We can try again tomorrow if you want."
"Ok." Was all she said, laying her head back down.
Jon had just entered Medical, carrying Sam, when she woke up. He had motioned Andie over and introduced her to Sam. Andie ran basic scans on Sam telling Jon other than a little dehydration and malnourishment she was fine. Jon turned to leave so he could go lay down when Sam hopped down off the table and ran over and hugged his leg.
"NO! Don't leave, everyone leaves me! Please don't leave me I'll be good I promise." She screamed
Jon knelt down and gave her a huge hug. "I'm not leaving Sam I'm going to go get something to eat and go to bed. I'll come get you in a few hours."
Sam shook her head and tightened her grip on Jon's neck.
Jon reached up and tried to loosen her grip but stopped short of hurting her. "Andie is going to take care of you, get you cleaned up and fed."
"No please don't leave me." Sam whispered
Jon looked up at Andie staring down at him. He could swear she was grinning at him. What the hell could be so amusing?
"Looks to me like you have a new friend." Andie said
Jon groaned and muttered something, then picked Sam up off the floor.
One hour later Jon laid back in bed and closed his eyes. He had managed to get Sam cleaned up and fed and put to sleep. He rested his arm over his eyes and shook his head.
"What have I gotten myself into?" He said to no one.
"I'd rather take on two Invaru Titans."
Jon fell asleep.
Jon woke feeling something warm curled up beside him. Sam was still asleep snuggled up next to Jon lightly snoring. He slowly got out of bed and went and took a shower and got dressed. Sam was standing on the bed staring out one the windows when he got back.
"Morning Sam." Jon said.
Sam's head whipped around and looked at Jon. She jumped down out of the bed and ran to him hugging him tightly.
Jon patted her on the head, "What was that for?"
Sam let go and backed away, "I wanted to make sure you were real. I thought I was dreaming all this."
"Nope this is real." Jon smiled
Sam took his hand and pulled him towards the window. "Are we in space?"
"Yes you're on board my starship, the Atlantis."
She let go of his hand and stared out the window some more. Jon saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head in that direction. Atlantis was standing watching what was going on. Atlantis slowly moved up next to Jon while watching Sam.
"Sir you're needed on the bridge." Atlantis said
Jon nodded and whispered back, "See if you can come up with a suit and some clothes for her."
Atlantis nodded and faded right as Sam turned around.
"Sam I have to go to work now." Jon said as he knelt down next to her.
"Can I go?"
"No it wouldn't be a good idea. Why don't you stay here and watch some of the vids we have in the data banks?"
Sam pouted and Jon almost broke down but then Sam nodded her understanding. "You promise to come back?"
"Yes I'll be back. Where else am I supposed to sleep? I'll be back in a few hours and we can go look for your brother again. Ok?"
"Ok"
Jon showed her how to operate the small viewer and showed her where the food was. Five minutes later he stepped onto the bridge.
"Captain on deck." The marine stationed at the lift yelled.
Everyone stood and saluted.
"At ease. Report."
"Sir we have just entered the Octuras System and we have detected a disabled ship at heading 201.075." con reported.
"What's the status of the ship?"
"Life support failing, main reactor off-line, secondary reactor off-line, and multiple hull breeches." Tactical reported.
"It sounds like she was in a battle of some kind. Put it on main viewer."
The main viewer showed a small ship with multiple hull breeches that were leaking atmosphere.
"Any life signs?"
"I'm picking up about twenty Sir." Tactical reported.
"Con come along side her. Comm get me the marine duty chief."
"Link established Sir."
"This is Captain Hunter with who am I speaking?"
"This is Sergeant Leasan Sir."
"Sergeant I need you to form a boarding party to rescue survivors on board a ship that has taken massive damage. I'm dispatching Medical now to assist." Jon waved his arm at the com officer who nodded.
"Yes Sir."
Two minutes later the marines boarded the small craft.
"Tap into their comms, I want to know what's going on." Jon told the com officer
"Ok people look sharp this is a rescue mission not a hunt and destroy."
"You two take aft, you two take the bow, you four stay here and protect the ship and medical crew. The rest split off into pairs and begin operations. Bring any survivors back to the shuttle."
Jon listened as they searched and started to find survivors.
"Sir I have an event forming by the third planet in this system." Tactical reported
"Get me an ID on it when you can. Condition Yellow."
Lights dimmed slightly and Atlantis appeared next to Jon.
'Condition Yellow through out the ship.' Atlantis's voice said.
"Sir I have and ID on her now. It's a Buranis Heavy Battle Cruiser, says she's the Hammer."
Jon watched as the Hammer turned headed their direction.
"Relay to marines we might have a problem and to act with all haste." Jon told the com officer
When the Hammer slowed and stopped in front of the Atlantis without powering weapons, everyone watched.
"Sir, they're asking to speak to the commanding officer." Comm said.
"Open the channel." Jon said as he turned back to watch the main viewer.
"This is Captain Hunter of the Atlantis how can I help you?"
"Captain Hunter you can help us by lowering your shields and prepare to be boarded." A deep voice replied.