The Denobulan commander of DSS-5 stood and watched the sensor readings from his ship. He was completely encompassed in denger and romar blasts from the two fleets of battling ships. He watched as ship after ship was turned to dust; as Ram Fighters executed kamakazie maneuvers to destroy enemy Cube ships; as Warpods fired hundreds of turrets at Stealth Fighters, wiping them out within seconds; as Cube ships and Stealth Fighters alike fought gallantly to defend the station.
This was it. The final battle. The end of this period of bravery and depression. They had to defeat the Romulns.
Or die trying.
His own shield readings were not nearly as bad as those in the enormous ring of chaos around him. He was suddenly hit repeatedly by ion missiles, romar fire, and accidental friendly denger fire. He was now down to his armor.
He aimed all 135 turrets at a nearby Warpod, hoping to at least take one down before he died.
He failed
His ship went up in flames. Screams filled the entire ship so that the repeated klaxons could not be heard. He tried desperately to escape in his escape pod, but his communications officer got there first.
He ordered his crew to continue firing upon the ship. But it was hopeless.
He had been caught in the chaos and was now doomed to be ashes floating through the atmosphere. In his mind, he cried out, No! No! It's not true! It's impossible! I can't die! I won't let it happen! No! No! , and the last thing he ever said was "go to" before he was eaten by the billowing flames all around him.
The mercenary who went by the name of Brian Pilot stood at the bridge of his UE Cruiser, ready to die for the cause of ridding the galaxy of the Romulans. He arrived in the Denob IV system and was instantaneously hit with a barrage of fire from Warpods that even the Warpods themselves could not take.
He shoved his co-pilot out of the way and leaped headlong into the escape pod, hoping against hope that the auto-eject would work.
And it did.
He drifted off into space, thinking of his life at homeand realized he had none. he had no wife, no children. He had graduated from the UE Naval Academy Almost fifty years ago, and had never settled down long enough to get that kind of life. He was always preoccupied with the Voinians or the Renegades.
And now, he was barely alive.
He was suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue stronger than any other he had ever experienced. he didn't know whyhe had spent the whole time standing at the bridge, barking orders to his top officers or to other sections using the intercom. He thought of all those people who had just died listening to him, serving him almost; doing whatever he told them.
He didn't understand why he was doomed to this horrible fate. He cursed at himself for deciding to starve rather than be disintegrated in combat.
Brian Pilot gazed at the sensor display once more. He was six days out, coming near the end of his food supply, which would last him another ten or fifteen days (he was eating only half of a desirable meal, and only two a day). Finally, there was a station up ahead!
Yes! he thought. I'm saved!
But he wasn't. It turned out to be a UE Listening Post. But it was one directly inbetween Denob IV and Miranu Space! If he could just last a little longer...
He sighed and remembered when he had himself been the messenger for relations between the UE and the Miranu. If only he could survive this, he could use his billions of credits to buy a Miranu Freighter or something, and then he could go back to Earth, and retire from this horrid life of violence and destruction.
Brian Pilot, bored out of his wits, was asleep when the klaxon sounded. he woke up with a start, and realized that some idiot Azdgari had targeted him. Instinctively, he started screaming "Target Turrets to nearest hostile" and realized he was alone.
Alone and defenseless.
He had one hope. And that was to beg for mercy. He hailed the Azdara approaching him.
"What do you want?!" screamed the captain of the vessel.
"If you would please...stop trying to kill me, I have tons of money. Name a price," replied Brian Pilot desperately.
"4 million."
"I'll triple it if you take me to the nearest stellar."
"Quadruple."
"Deal."
He was saved! The shuttle pod of the ship shot out of the ship's hull, and docked with him.
But he had other plans.
Using his sidearm, he quickly made short work of the two Azdgari crew inside. He then threw them into his pod, shot several key somponents inside, and detatched. The pod erupted in a fireball as he made his way toward the once hostile vessel.
When he reached the ship, he claimed that they were searching for any suspicious evidence of him being an enemy, which was SOP, when the ship, enabled with an auto self-destruct feature, exploded when they attempted to tap into his communication logs, while he was on their pod, and that he quickly closed the hatch after the ship's explosion blasted him several meters away.
They bought it.
Three days later, Brian Pilot had killed all the threatening crew, discarded the weapons on the ship into space, and was now in command.
"Where is the nearest station or inhabited planet?" he asked the navigator fiercely.
"Two jumps away."
"Set a course."
"Aye, sir"
And he went to the captain's quarters for some sleep.
When he woke up, they were, strangely enough, orbiting Kirrim Prime. "They won't let us land," the communications officer declared cautiously.
"Fire afterburners. Arm weapons. Now!" he hollered back, hoping that they would recognize the human terms.
"Yes, sir."
The ship blasted through the atmosphere, and, as expected, were barraged with phase blasts. The tactical crew fired upon the ground turrets, vaporizing them, and forced a landing in an open clearing near the spaceport.
"You can leave as soon as I get off," he told his bridge crew.
"Aye-aye, captain," the pilot replied shakily.
He got off, and the ship was turned to flames in the air by a defense fleet.
In his brand-new Miranu Heavy Freighter, Brian Pilot left Kirrim Prime. In a few weeks, he would be back on Earth. He could settle down. Maybe get married. Maybe even have children. But he would never, ever fight another battle. He would resign his postition as commander-in-chief of the UE navy, and would never leave Earth again.
Earth. Salvation. Peace. He was there, and there to stay.
