Stellar_Magic

Well...I always thought o fthem as hyperintelligent, force using, and clothes wearing...velociraptors. Hence rapora

You've never heard of the Rapora because they're from a fanfiction I never released. You'd be surprised how well they fit into the SW universe however. Profile Rapora: A reptilian species who's homeworld exists beyond Chiss space in the unknown regions. They were however a major player in the early sith-republic wars. The Rapora were once a small group of aliens that existed on the planet Korriban. They were forced from the world along with several dark jedi after one of the countless struggles for power put them as part of a plot. Having fled however the Dark Jedi found that many of their traveling companions were force sensative and began training them. Approxamently thirty percent fo the Rapora population is force using. They developed into an intense warrior culture. Almost all of their technology is geared to warfare, and that technology is exceptionally advanced. Thrawn when he was a commander in the Chiss defense force fought several battles against them and earned their respect by being able to defeat them but only with extremely heavy losses to his own force. In Timothy Zahn's Star Wars: Vision of the Future a chiss called Stent gave this remark to Mara Jade. "From what? You soft complacent female. You think that because you around your quiet worlds behind a ring fo warships that the rest of the galaxy is a safe place to live? There are a hundred different threats out there that would freeze your blood if you knew about them...." I've taken the liberty and placed the Rapora as number one on this list of threats. You'll probably be shocked by just how deadly they truly are.

Long live ST vs. SW! Grand Admiral Thrawn sat in the command chair at the center of the bustling activity of the Imperial II Star Destroyer Chimaera. Slowly he turned to watch Captain Pellaeon as he strolled along the command deck inspecting the stations of his subordinates. Thrawn watched as the communications officer straightened, “Captain, I’ve got a communiqué from Scout group Epsilon Four. They’ve found the Fondor shipyards completely intact!” “Their report?” Captain Pellaeon asked swiftly and took a data pad from the officer. He skimmed it then handed it to Thrawn, “There is an attached holographic file.” Thrawn nodded as he took the data pad and skimmed its report. Yes, they’d found that Fondor still seemed to have its shipyards. Slowly Thrawn took the data card from the pad and punched it into he tactical data holo projector. In front of him the world of Fondor materialized. There were indeed a large number of shipyards around the world. He zoomed in one off the shipyards and stopped cold. There in the center of the shipyard was a vessel that was far from standard Imperial design. Thrawn’s eyes narrowed as he saw that it was an enormous vessel that was shaped like a ship from the distant past. He guessed that it was just over fourteen kilometers long from the range. Putting a finger to his blue cheek he spoke softly, barely a whisper, “Captain?” Pellaeon wheeled and marched next to him. When he bent down Thrawn spoke quietly so that the crew could not hear, “Run this vessel through the technical specifications found at Wayland if there is a match I want to know about it.” * * * Luke looked up through the top of his canopy at the enormous MC 80a cruiser that hung above him. Slowly he turned to Artoo, “Artoo give me all the files you have on the MC80a Remember Yavin IV.” The screen in front of him lit up and script sped across it. Luke slowly began to read, “MC80a Remember Yavin IV designation MC-80A4176. Ship constructed at the Mon Calamari Shipyards eight years after Endor. She was commanded by Commander Hiram Gurath, second in command Captain Loran Remora. Served with distinction during the war against he cloned emperor, continued service until destroyed over Doornik 319 during the Yevethan Crisis.” Luke transmitted to the data to Mara. “Destroyed?” Mara said across the comm. Luke could feel the surprise ripple from her as she spoke. * * * Captain Janeway stood in the center of the bridge, “I’m Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.” “Captain, I trust you have no hostile intent, unlike these…Borg,” The Calamari captain said across the link. Only then did Janeway notice the blackened nature of several consoles behind the aquatic alien. “You were attacked as well?” Janeway asked. “Yes, my two escorting corvettes were destroyed, we managed to beat them off and make a jump into hyperspace,” Loran answered. He seemed to sag in his chair, “We’ve put out a series of calls through all know channels, we haven’t been able to contact anyone, until now.” He turned to his sensor officer, “Have you finished the sensor sweep?” “Yes, Captain there is nothing else out there.” The Mon Calamari officer turned back to the screen, “I see that there is a pair of X-wings with you, though I’m not familiar with the design of one of them.” Janeway nodded slowly, “Yes, Master Skywalker and his wife are piloting them.” Janeway stopped when she saw the Calamari’s eyes widen. “Did you say Skywalker’s wife?” * * * “Remember we can’t tell them anything,” Luke said slowly across the communications. Slowly he turned to glance at Mara’s X-wing as it slid past him. Across the channel Luke could hear Mara’s sigh, “How are we going to explain our marriage…I mean what if they don’t know what’s happened?” She paused and Luke felt a wave of frustration come off of her presence in the force, “I just finished a sensor scan and the Cruiser lacks the upgrades that we instituted after the Clone emperor’s appearance. There isn’t enough old battle scoring for the ship to be very old.” “Well, she sure has battle damage. I’m can see traces of high energy cuts across the hull, along with new weld seams,” Luke answered slowly. He frowned at the damage, “Could this be from a Borg attack?” “That would explain why they fired on that Borg ship right away,” Mara answered swiftly. Luke was startled when a voice came across the speaker of the X-wing, “X-wings, Captain Remora would like to invite you to land in our hanger, we’d like to meet you.” “Negative Yavin IV, we’d like to get back into our ship, perhaps another time,” Luke answered slowly as he turned his craft toward the Jade Scimitar. “X-wings, Captain Remora must insist…” Luke felt his hair stand on end. Slowly he looked at the Mon Calamari cruiser there he noticed that a pair of quad laser batteries had turned to face him. Luke saw the targeting warning light suddenly begin to blink. “Yavin are you going to fire on us?” Mara asked slowly across the radio. “Negative, X-wings unless you refuse again,” The gravely sounding Mon Calamari voice answered. “You’d shoot a longtime hero of the Rebellion?” Luke asked across the comm. The voice on the other end seemed slightly shaken, “We have no reason to believe you are who you say unless you come aboard.” “Alright Yavin, we’ll play your game,” Mara said with a sigh. Slowly she turned the X-wing toward the cruiser. * * * Grand Admiral Thrawn folded his hands in front of him and starred out at the glistening blue tunnel that was hyperspace. He turned as Pellaeon approached holding a data pad. Slowly Thrawn took it and read the contents, “So Fondor has begun construction on a Sovereign Class Super Star Destroyer.” “Yes, Admiral, I’m surprised that it was in the Wayland archives,” Pellaeon answered slowly. Thrawn allowed himself a slight smile, “You’d be surprised how many designs for weapons that are in that warehouse.” He shrugged, “Weapons that are rare, or nearly impossible to find, but still extremely effective.” Suddenly with a thump the ship lurched out of hyperspace. Thrawn’s eyes instantly narrowed, “Report!” “We hit a gravity well, sir three ship’s dead ahead, decloaking,” The Sensor officer seemed to turn pale. “I’m picking up starfighter launch they’ve begun to form a ring around us.” “Show me,” Thrawn ordered. In front of him the tactical holographic display suddenly snapped into existence. It showed the three capital ships. Each looked like an enormous three pointed spear with a pair of demonic wings that sprouted from the main hull. There reddish brown hull was covered with glyphs and symbols. The wings ended in a pair of forward pointing fins. At the ship’s rear a pair of enormous ion engines sat, but Thrawn new the ship had an alternate form of propulsion, a graviton drive. Above the drive sat the simple shape of the bridge designed in a fashion similar to his imperial vessels. He’d encountered them before and felt an icy fist close around his stomach, “Rapora ships, here?” “We’re receiving a transmission,” The communications officer said slowly. Thrawn stood and walked to the rear alcove, “Put it through.” He stepped onto the holographic stand and watched as before him the image of a Rapora appeared. The creature was bipedal and predatory. It had a long tail that faded out of the holograms range. Its arms were long with a five fingered clawed hand. Its skin was a sheet of leathery scales. Its head was pointed an angular, like a wolf’s. Beneath its lips were a series of pointed teeth that marked it as a predator. The creature had yellow reptilian eyes that seemed to have faded because of the projection. This ones head was decorated with an ornate headdress and a chain of golden rings went from its dress to a ring just below the hole that served as the animal’s ear. The creature smiled its recognition as the holo projector finished loading Thrawn’s image, “Ah, Mit’thrawn’nurodo if you were anyone else I would have destroyed you where you stand.” “Yes, what do you want,” Thrawn answered his red eyes narrowed, he knew that the Rapora were dangerous. He also knew they were quite capable of carrying out that threat. “From you, nothing, we’ll allow you to continue on, we were hoping to catch someone else,” The Rapora replied and smiled at him then bowed. Thrawn let out a slow breath, “Thank you.” * * * Luke popped the hatch of his snubfighter and climbed down the ladder and walked into a wall of security personnel with their blasters drawn. Slowly he held up his hands, “What don’t recognize me?” The soldiers tentatively lowered their weapons. Luke sighed as Mara walked over from her X-wing. A couple of the soldiers snapped their rifles back up when they saw her, most just stood there. “Well I’ll be damned,” A Mon Calamari officer slipped through the crowd and stepped forward, “Captain Remora, you look a lot older then I thought you would.” “That’s because he is,” Mara said slowly. She sighed, “Can you take us to a conference room. We’ll explain it all to you.” “This way,” The captain answered and slowly led them through the doors and down a hall. After a few minutes they were alone in a conference room. There the Captain turned on them, “So Janeway said you’re married?” Luke nodded, slowly, “Hold on let me explain.” “Alright, I suppose I’ve gotten ahead of something, go ahead,” Loran replied. He heaved a sigh as he dropped into a command chair. Luke heaved a sigh he knew this was going to be hard to explain, “Captain, you’ve noticed that there isn’t any communications available across the holo net.” The Captain nodded and Luke continued, “We believe that some form of temporal and dimensional distortion has occurred. You see…” With a flash of light the familiar form of Q blazed into existence next to Luke, “Naughty naughty, naughty, you mustn’t tell.” Mara sighed, “Captain Remora, meet Q.” “Just Q, thank you very much.” “Q is an alien who has the ability to move through both time and space at will,” Mara added slowly. “What I think has happened here is, if you can imagine all the major events of the last three decades occurring at the same time. Our time line has been compressed into now. You see, me and Mara got married over a decade ago. But for you it hasn’t happened yet,” Luke said slowly trying to make him understand. “So simple but, wrong,” Q said and barked a laugh. “You explain then if you’re so smart, we’re not scientists,” Mara spat at Q. Q shrugged, “Well, if Luke is right, explain Voyager, the Borg…” “I don’t know but I do know what I remember and I know that this ship was destroyed years ago,” Luke felt anger swell up on him then a wave of shock from the officer across the table. “What happened,” Captain Remora asked quietly. “You shouldn’t have told him,” Mara and Q spoke at once then they both looked at each other shocked. Luke sighed, “Years from your time there was a conflict between the New Republic and the Yevetha a race that lived in the Koornacht cluster. Your ship was destroyed in a battle during the conflict.” “I see,” The Captain lowered his gaze slightly then shrugged, “Well there is no telling what is going to happen now, if your theory is correct.” Suddenly the panels in the room flashed red and an alert sounded. A voice came across the intercom, taunt with tension, “Captain we’ve got something.” * * * Janeway looked out the view screen at a ribbon in space, a flexing orange rift that wrinkled and spun before their eyes. It widened and grew until it looked like a broad crack of orange had been gouged against the purple background of a nebula. It expanded then spun like a giant orange wormhole. Janeway looked to Seven of Nine, “Analyses.” “I’m picking up massive emissions of tachyon particles along with abnormally large numbers of neutrinos,” Seven said reading her display. She looked at Janeway, “The tachyon emissions are a partial match to Borg experiments with time travel. The neutrinos however are unexplained.” A stray memory clicked, “You remember how the Jade Scimitar had residue from neutrinos on her hull when we found her.” “Yes, are you suggests this phenomena is related,” Seven replied as she arched an eyebrow. “Related or not, this is unique,” Chekotay said swinging to look at Janeway from the helm. “Captain I’m picking up ion signatures from the anomaly,” Ensign Kim said as an alarm blared from the console. He glanced up, “I’m picking up, two no three small vessels…” Janeway turned to see a trio of ships shoot out of the anomaly. The first one was the now familiar shape of an X-wing, its smooth lines similar to those of Mara’s fighter. This one however was covered with scoring from countless battles and there seemed to be the remains of a painting on the vessels wings and fuselage. Beside the X-wing was a slightly smaller fighter. It had a circular cockpit with a trio of arms that curved forward beyond the cockpit like a group of talons grabbing for it’s pray. Behind the two of them was a battered vessel. There was carbon scoring all along its circular hull. A cockpit jutted off the hull on one side and Janeway could make out a pair of laser turrets on the vessel. “We’re picking up ship to ship communications, audio only,” Ensign Kim said from his console. “Put them on speaker,” Janeway ordered. The speaker crackled and the voices seemed distorted but understandable, “What in the name of the Sith was that? Um, Jagged that ship to port, is that what I think it is?” “That’s not possible, its been two years,” A second voice replied across the comm. The first voice returned obviously female, “They couldn’t have survived could they?” Another voice cut in, “Um, children we’ve got incoming, Rapora fighters through the anomaly.” Pretty soon you'll learn what the worst of those fears the Chiss always talk about is.

Well an A-wing can give a defender a good run for its money, especially if its the mark II

Now degrading different sci fi would be having the Voyager take a hit from those Skiprays and just exploded...from one hit. Another degredation would be to have the borg cubes slice the relentless in half with one cutting beam. I don't intend on doing that. Okay no expansions... But here's fair warning... Number one: We've got two universes with two distinct and different timelines. Number two: We've got ships, events, and characters from several different time frames in SW. Period 1: 25+ years after endor, a couple years after the end of the Vong invasion. Crew of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances ship Jade Scimitar: Mara Jade Skywalker Luke Skywalker Ben Skywalker Artoo Lucky Hand Crew of the Independent Vessel Slave III: Boba Fett Period 2: 6 years after Endor. Crew of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera: Grand Admiral Thrawn Captain Gilad Pelleaon Crew of the Imperial Star Destroyer Relentless: Captain Dorja Period 3: 10-12 years after Endor. Crew of the New Republic Warship Remember Yavin IV. Captain Loran Remora I'm going to have one more time period for the Star Wars universe. It'll be thirty plus years after Endor. You'll probably hate me for it to. Behold the Rapora a species I've invented a while back when a I wrote a SW fan fic that never saw the light of day. Prepare for an enemy that will make the sith and vong seem childish in comparison.

Lets see...I'm thinking about expanding this universe crossing Lets see what could I throw in this: Stellar Magic (My personal favorite) Star Gate (Now wouldn't it be weird to see McGyver again?) Babylon 5 (Well duh!) Should I expand it? Make it ST vs. SW vs. SM vs. B5 vs. SG I'm open to suggestions.

Yes, I understand now... Dear George Lucas, We realize that you've been busy with the prequels but those of us faithful fans of the old game Star Wars Rebellion. We were hoping that your company would undertake a large scale effort to create a sequel to this classic title. It would only make good logical business sense to profit off of the cult nature of Rebellion. On another note if you fail to do as we request do not expect that episode VII script I promised you. Take that....

"We are the borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your technological and biological distinctiveness to our own, your culture will learn to serve as us. Resistance is futile." Mara snorted, "Oh just shut up!"

Ferengi!!!! "What was of suitable profit proved to be less profitable then we'd hoped." "You forgot the thirty-fourth rule of..." Why didn't I think of using the fernegi? (Smack) the sound of a head hitting the wall.

A good writer usually doesn't know how it ends. I tried to write a story backwards once, ending first...the result was horrific.

Well darn... Back to SW vs. ST The Borg detector slid threw space its holding beam firmly gripping the struggling Type 9 federation shuttle which was Chekotay’s transport. Suddenly a pair of blue streaks shot past the shuttle and into the beam. The two proton torpedoes stopped as the holding beam tried to lock onto them. The shuttle was suddenly free and cruising away. Red bolts shot pas the fleeing shuttle and into the blocky form of the Borg ship. Green detonations flashed across the ship’s hull. The ship kicked into an accelerating run as it became aware of the new threat. The glistening form of the Jade Scimitar flashed by the federation shuttle its weapons ports blazing. A topside automated turbolaser spat fire at its opponent. The red blaze of the blast detonating against the hull of the Borg ship lit up the cockpit of the federation shuttle where Chekotay sat hunched over the controls. He punched a fist in the air as his ship rocketed away from the blaze of firing behind him, “Thank you Scimitar.” A female voice came back across the channel, “We’ll pull back right behind you and hold them off.” Chekotay looked over to see a red headed woman staring at him through the comm display, “Voyager and Slave III should be here within a few minutes.” The Jade scimitar came about and the Borg detector tried to lock onto it with a holding beam. A pair of blue proton torpedoes shot back at the blocky foes and acted as decoys for the beam which dissipated a few moments later. Onboard the ship clambered from the rhythmic roar of lasers firing at the foe. Jade sat hunched over the weapons controls and picked up a virtual reality HUD and pulled it over her eyes. Suddenly she could see the Borg ship behind them pushing to catch up. She could sense Luke’s thoughts as they roared away from the Borg ship, his constant fear for her and his desire to get back to voyager along with the coolness of a combat veteran facing combat once again. Then through her senses she could perceive them a buzzing constant awareness at the edge of her consciousness, a mind that was both many and one at the same time. She could sense the individual Borg in the vessel of course, but they just seemed to be a mirror of the mind that was the Borg. Slowly she squeezed Luke’s hand as she grasped what they were fighting. Then through the HUD she saw a series of green blasts as the Borg ship opened fire with its primary armament. The torpedoes raced for them and Luke put the ship into a corkscrew maneuver to test the torpedoes abilities. He grimaced as the torpedoes matched every one of his maneuvers, “Mara?” “Activating interceptors,” Mara answered as she punched a button in front of her. Outside the ship a large cluster of miniature missile launchers rose from the ship’s rear, a warbling sound echoed through her ears as she targeted the incoming missiles. She smiled slightly as she punched a second button. Outside a stream of miniature white missiles rocketed from their tubes. They hit one after another detonating the incoming torpedo barrage as it shot at them. The green explosions of the Borg torpedoes faded into nothingness as Mara pulled the firing triggers and a pair of blue proton torpedoes rocketed out toward their target. The Borg ship saw them coming and attempted to lock onto them with a holding beam. The torpedoes shuddered then stopped detonating as their onboard computers realized they wouldn’t hit their target. Mara cursed as she saw them detonate then smiled as she punched another button. Belana glanced over her shoulder as she pulled the trigger, “Those torpedoes won’t get through!” “Just watch,” Mara said as she felt the ejection of the torpedoes but saw no blue corona. She turned to Luke, “Shadow bombs away!” With the aid of the force the two small spinning cylinders fell behind the Jade Scimitar. The rotated slowly in space bumping and moving left and right as the Borg detector closed with them. They slipped through the shields with a purple flare of light then hit random green lit hull of the ship. Mara watched as a pair of explosions ripped through the largest portion of the vessel. The large panel that formed the main hull ripped free and tumbled in space. Slowly she watched as the battered tear where the hull had parted began to harden. She saw the panel begin to reform. Within thirty seconds the damage was gone except for the hulk of debris that continued to tumble near the Borg ship. Mara whistled at the speed with which the damage had disappeared. With her mind she told Luke what to do next. The stars spun outside and suddenly they were turned around facing the Borg ship. Mara thumbed down on the firing studs and the space between the two ships was suddenly alive with the glowing bolts of turbolasers. A series of explosions rocked across the forward section of the ship. Green flames crackled from where atmosphere was ignited from their impact. Suddenly a pair of blue white bolts blazed across the ships hull. Ionized panels crackled with electricity and parts of the ship went dark but the Borg recovered quickly. A series of green disruptor blasts flashed past the Jade Scimitar. Mara felt the ship shuddered as a pair of the shots impacted the hardened armor of the Scimitar’s hull. She saw sparks shoot up from the dash and saw the HUD flash into darkness. Mara pulled off the HUD and tossed it to the floor as alarms blared in the cockpit, “Weapons array offline!” Luke threw up his hands as the display darkened, “Engines and shields are out!” He whirled out of his seat as a green transporter beam lit up behind them. Suddenly the clammy skinned and armored figure of the Borg appeared before them. Luke punched a panel next to him and a lightsaber shot from the compartment. It was an elegant design that featured a crescent that was an eerie combination of the Imperial and Rebel crests. It was the saber Jaina had given them as a gift on their anniversary. He smiled coldly as he activated the violet beam and readied himself for the Borg. Mara had produced a blaster from the compartment under her chair and fired point blank into the Borg. His face was blackened by the bolt and the Borg slumped over, dead. A second then a third Borg materialized as more troops were beamed aboard. Belana leveled her phaser and fired a blast that killed its target. She fired again and watched as the beam was absorbed by an energy shield that materialized in front of it. Belana cursed and threw the phaser at the Borg. Luke strode forward confident and swung with two quick strokes that brought the Borg down, killed instantly. He turned to Artoo, “Get the shields back up!” The droid twittered and sped down the corridor. Mara followed her blaster raised with Belana crouched behind her. They came into the hanger and Mara saw a trio of Borg turn to her their targeting lasers scanning for her presence. She fired twice. The first shot burnt through the closer one’s chest dropping it to the ground. The second blast reflected off the Borg like it had hit magnetic shield. It burnt a small divot in the ceiling. Mara backed up and reached for one of the loose crates that scattered around the hanger when the lightsaber twirled into view and sliced the Borg in half dropping it to the ground. Artoo had stopped next to a power coupling and was busily working to restore shield power when a familiar voice came through Mara’s comm link, “Slave III to Jade Scimitar.” “Mara here, what do you want?” Mara answered as Belana set to work on one of the power couplings. “I’ve got Voyager coming up in my wake, we’ll put the heavy end of the hammer down on them,” Boba answered swiftly. “Be careful, its hull has regenerative abilities,” Mara answered as a shower of sparks shot from Artoo’s power coupling followed by a warble. She could hear the rumble of the generators putting the shields back on. She turned to Luke and Belana, “Voyager is coming and we can’t do anything from here, Artoo, Lucky Hand get the X-wing up and running.” She looked at Belana, “We’re going to take the X-wings out and try and give Voyager a fighting chance. Belana if you keep the shields running you’ll be safe, hold the ship, we’ll want it back.” Seconds later Mara dropped behind the controls of her X-wing and flipped on the power up sequence. Behind her, Lucky Hand, her astromech and the newest gift from Talon Karrde dropped into his socket. She pulled on a helmet and strapped in as the droid began the power checklist. Below her she saw the space tight doors slide open and the rack that held the fighter begin to tip downward. She did a final check as the racked stopped ready to launcher her into space. She keyed her comm, “Luke, ready?” “Ready,” Luke answered and suddenly his ship was out of the scimitar heading downward. Mara gritted her teeth at the shock of being flung out of the Scimitar and into space. She curved up and around and saw the Borg detector sitting in space with a holding beam locked onto the Jade Scimitar and a cutting beam futilely trying to bring down the shields. Across the comm came the audio signal she knew was coming, “Luke, Mara, we’ll show this thing who’s boss.” Mara turned in her seat to see the Firespray attack ship flash by to engage the Borg ship. Mara looked down at her sensor board and saw a series of new blips emerge from the Borg ship. She keyed her comm, “We’ve got shuttle class vessels launching from the Borg Detector. * * * Captain Janeway sat in the command chair as she saw a series of black boxes exit from the Borg detector’s rear. She turned to Ensign Kim, “Analysis?” “They’re Borg scouts, the Enterprise reported encountering one on the surface of a planet near the neutral zone, six crew, minimal armament,” Ensign Kim reported. He looked up from his console. “Correct, they’re Borg shuttles, armed with a single pulse weapon and a lone cutting beam, very underpowered,” Seven of Nine stated swiftly. She looked at Janeway, “They’re targeting the starfighters.” “Captain Janeway, we’ll keep these busy,” Luke’s voice came through the comm. He sounded intense, busy, “Target that capital ship.” Janeway watched as the doors to the cabin slid open and Commander Chekotay stepped onto the bridge, “Commander, it’s good that you’re back.” “Thank you, Ensign Freeman I’ll take the helm.” The commander slid into the helm seat and checked the readings. “Lieutenant Paris, we’re heading in at the Detector, if you could pull some of those Borg shuttles off our allies on the way in they’d probably appreciate it,” Captain Janeway said swiftly. She watched as the Firespray attack ship opened fire on the Borg detector. It’s arsenal of weapons systems tracked across the Borg ship causing miniature detonations all across it but the ship seemed just as functional. She looked at Chekotay, “Attack pattern Alpha Four.” On the screen the flash of phaser energy impacted the hull of the ship. Steam erupted from the ship’s hull for a moment then stopped as the Borg adapted to stop the attack. She put a finger to her chin, “Quantum torpedoes.” * * * Luke watched as three pulsing blue torpedoes shot from Voyager and splattered against the Borg ship. One went through the shields blowing a whole in the hull. The molten remains of the blast splattered against his shields pinging as they glanced off. He targeted the nearest Borg shuttle and felt his hair stand on end and threw the starfighter into a loop that let him evade a trail of pulse bolts from one of the Borg shuttles. He felt them in his mind and smiled slightly as he pulled their plan from their minds. Three shuttles closed on him from the front, rear, and dorsal vectors. He mentally signaled Mara, now! One of the Borg ship exploded as Mara’s torpedo found its mark and Luke corkscrewed through the expanding cloud of gas and debris. Luke lined up a shot on one of the two remaining shuttles when a glowing and sparking green orb slammed into the shuttle which detonated in a flash. Suddenly a small craft shot through the expanding explosion and on to the Borg Detector. Through his comm Luke heard Tom Paris’s whoop of glee as the flyer shot into the heart of the flight. Luke saw Mara finish off the last Borg shuttle with a quad burst of laser fire then break toward the Borg detector. They accelerated toward the engagement. Luke glanced to Mara as she formed up on his wing, “Shadow bombs?” “I could try it, a pity your B model doesn’t have them,” Mara answered swiftly. He could imagine her smiling behind the controls. “Who says I don’t have shadow bombs,” Luke answered then flicked the comm to Artoo, “Set up for shadow bombs.” “So Artoo is going to program them to be instant shadow bombs?” Mara said slowly. She shrugged then kicked on her thrusters closing on the blocky target. She launched the bomb then curved away as the bomb detonated against the ship’s shields. He could hear Mara’s exasperation, “Damn it.” Luke moved in to attack and fired his two torpedoes. They didn’t glow or ignite their engines as they headed for the target. Luke had his instant shadow bombs, thanks to Artoo. The two conical shells headed for their target. Suddenly they went through the shield then exploded one after another to rip open a huge portion of the hull, “Yes!” * * * Janeway saw the flash as the proton torpedoes detonated and turned to Tuvok, “Target that point all weapons.” The ship rocked as a holding beam caught her vessel. The ship began to vibrate and shudder as a cutting beam caught the vessel. “Shields at fifty percent,” Tuvok stated as the ship continued to shudder and lights dimmed. Ensign Kim looked up from his display, “Another ship coming in!” “Identify,” Janeway commanded as she watched the Borg Detector swing around to fire its forward torpedoes. The glowing orbs shot from the ship and were suddenly intercepted by a shower of miniature white missiles. The Jade Scimitar shot by the detonating torpedoes. * * * “That’s my ship!” Mara yelled as she watched the Jade Scimitar blaze into the engagement. She flipped on her comm gear, “Belana what are you doing!” Luke tuned out the lecture and saw a query appear on his console. He frowned and flipped a switch to monitor the older New Republic frequencies. A stream of encoded transmissions washed across his headset. Suddenly he felt his cockpit go dark and he looked up toward the systems star and saw an enormous shape cross in front of it, “Umm Mara…” * * * “Unknown configuration, wait its firing on the Borg ship!” Ensign Kim looked up his eyes wide as he watched the Borg Detector wither from the barrage of weapons fire. Suddenly in a green tinted explosion the ship detonated. He looked at Captain Janeway, “Borg Detector destroyed.” “We’re being hailed,” Commander Tuvok said from his station. “On screen,” Captain Janeway answered. The screen shifted to the inside of a cream colored bridge. Dozens of controls and panels were visible in the image but only a few crewmen, some of which looked human. In the center was a humanoid that was obviously amphibian. It had reddish brown skin and gold fish like yes that were mounted on the sides of its skull and had to swivel forward to focus on Janeway’s image, “I am Captain Loran Remora of the New Republic Warship Remember Yavin IV.” Well well...things are getting stranger

The E-wing has turbocharged weapons but while thats good against most ships, its bad against skips. A void could suck up the turbo charged lasers just as easily and since there is fewer of them and they take more time to charge... Well you'd want to give them an XJ's laser cannons so you could actually get past the voids...STUTTTTTTERRR fire. Though an XJ model has more torpedo launchers. Maybe the XJ model was made to replace the E-wing as the Sapce Superiority Fighter. The XJ is still alot more useful against an enemy like the vong though

Yeah it makes a few appearances in the NJO, if I remember right. But considering the ship is armed with three lasers that have a slower rate of fire then a X-wing it probably just wan't as effective against Coralskippers.

I think what me and Mad meant by postproduction should be rather obvious. It ain't a blaster till they pencil in the blaster bolts

Sorry I just graduated from high school yesterday. I've just been a we bit busy. Well, here is a break from that story and a short one from my universe Stellar Magic: The Tale of the Dead Man Friendship is often times the most important element of any life, but for me friendship is especially precious. I’ve found myself arrayed against enemies of unimaginable strength. Through the last six years one person has stood by my side, an implacable ally, and the love of my life, Mara Nellprin. Yet there was a time when I hadn’t spoken to her, and it is mere chance that we crossed paths again. It happened when I was only fifteen. I first met Mara when I was a kindergartener; she went to the same school as I did and we became friends. Her father had died and her mother was a fencing instructor. They were constantly fighting for cash, often barely making ends meet. Then, just a year later Mara’s mother, Lara, died of cancer. Death more then anything else has been the background of Mara’s life. It has walked in her shadow. Many that knew her fell victim of this shadow. In all of these things Mara never was the culprit, only chance. I seemed to be immune to this curse, yet I did not know just how black my past really was. I still refuse to believe it sometimes. A week after her mother’s death she appeared at our doorstep. She’d always been independent and headstrong, and these traits would help her survive and even prosper in the most dangerous and deadly of times. My mother and I both knew Mara and liked her, so we gave her a bed to sleep in and a meal. This was the dawn of our friendship. Mara and I quickly proved to be instant pals. She knew what I enjoyed and vice versa. We could little fathom what lay ahead for us but first we’d have to learn about what lay behind us. I came home from grammar school, our secondary school level, and tossed my backpack on the bed next to my dog, Shadow. I quickly scanned the cramped and crowded room and made certain my mother hadn’t decided to take upon herself a little cleaning. My eyes flashed across the fencing swords mounted on the wall. Mara had given them to me a few years earlier. Below the swords sat my desk with a brand new computer sitting on it. A chime sounded and a synthesized voice spoke softly, “Holo call from Saber03.” The Holographic monitor flashed to life and Mara appeared life size in front of the desk. She stood in her usually wide stance. She always carried herself this way. It was an extension of her self-assured nature. Her muscular and athletic build had attracted her several suitors. She turned away every single one, causing numerous rumors to flourish about her orientation, all false. Mara was a Tom girl. She hung around and respected her male peers and didn’t gossip. Many of the other girls thought she was cold and bitchy toward others. I knew nothing was further from the truth. Mara half smiled, “James, are you free to do anything today?” She grinned and her brilliant white teeth shone even through the hologram. “I finished that novel you loaned me?” “That was fast. Do you want another one?” I asked, glancing over to the stacks of data cards in the room. Each one had a book on it, and I tried to remember which ones she hadn’t read yet. “That’s alright, James. I went out and bought one. I was thinking more along the lines of some exercise,” Mara answered, and I saw her arch a holographic eyebrow. I sat on my bed and pretend to yawn, “I’m sorry, you said something about exercise?” Mara didn’t take the bait. She knew me too well. “Now James, you won last time, and I want a rematch. I’ll see you at the Sporting Arena in thirty minutes.” I chuckled as Mara’s image disappeared. She always wanted a rematch because she was a better fencer than me. I sighed and walked over to the fencing sword and pulled one from the mount. It was time to get a little exercise. * * * Thirty minutes later I walked into the Zhukov Sporting Arena. Why it was named after a Russian general, I don’t know, but it was. What is really strange was that I knew it was named after a Russian general from two thousand years back. You see, I have a knack for collecting odd bits of information that is absolutely useless. Where was I, oh yes, Zhukov sporting arena… The arena sported a lot of different activities, from diving and swimming all the way to fencing and basketball. But I was here for the fencing and I looked the part, with white body armor and a fencing hood under my shoulder. The attendant at the desk didn’t even give me a second glance. I walked down a spiraling staircase and into the fencing center. As I walked into the enormous room, I saw Mara curled up on a bench, reading a data pad. She was in full fencing regalia and I saw her sword poking out from under an armpit as she sat reading. I smiled before getting her attention, “Remji to Mara, please come in.” Mara glowered over the data pad at me, then softened her glare with a smile, “About time you got here; the book was just getting good.” She lifted herself off the bench and stretched. She pulled her red hair back into a ponytail. Stepping out onto one of the blue mats, and she grinned at me. I caught one last glimpse of her green eyes as she pulled on her hood. Slowly, I pulled my fencing hood over my head, and stepped onto the blue mat. “How’ve you been doing Mara?” I asked as I readied the fencing sword in front of me. She thrust forward and I managed to parry. I rotated away from her strike and lashed out, nearly catching her, but Mara was just to fast. She had jumped back out of the way, “Nice move, James. Oh, I made a ruckus in Miss Haley’s class today.” “Thank you,” I answered, waiting for her counter. She thrust forward again in a strike that aimed for my torso. I managed to bat it out of line before she got a touché. As she retreated to await my counter, I spoke up, “Don’t tell me you broke one of her precious graviton detectors.” “Touché my friend,” she said in a humorous jab at my comment. I knew if she wasn’t wearing the hood, she would have been grinning. Then I rushed in and tried to catch her off guard. Mara twirled away from sword tip and let loose a vehement series of strikes which I repelled, barely. I felt exhausted after that short round and could hear Mara breathing hard. Then I realized too late I’d let down my guard. “Touché,” Mara cried as I felt the bulb shaped metal tip touch my chest. I sighed and pulled off my hood. Mara was grinning from ear to ear as she pulled of her hood, “Nice round.” We walked over to the bench, where Mara pulled out a water bottle. She took a swig and splashed some over her face before turning to me, “Here.” Slowly I took a drink from the bottle, “Thanks.” I leaned back against the bench and rested my eyes. I heard Mara sigh as we sat there side by side. I felt her breath flow across my ear as she leaned against me, “James, what time is it?” I glanced at the chronometer on the wall and let out a slow breath. “Eighteen hundred. I’m getting hungry.” Mara snorted, “Always thinking with your stomach, aren’t you?” She seemed to brighten, “But look who’s talking.” I grinned. Mara always seemed to know how to poke fun without actually wounding me. Damn, she was good at it. “You can have supper with us if you’d like.” “No, I’ve got to fix up my apartment. The power generator is acting up,” Mara lived on one of the lower levels of Remji Major. Remji was a gas giant and her home was near one of the mining units that existed lower in the atmosphere. She lived alone and was constantly fighting to keep the place in working order. Mara stood and ran a hand through her red hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Okay Mara, take care of yourself,” I replied as she walked away. Mara twisted around at me and smiled, “You know me.” “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Mara laughed and smiled broadly, “See you.” Neither of us knew what was waiting for her at home. Death was about to step into her life once again. * * * I had to piece together what happened when Mara got home. Fortunately, Mara tells me most everything anyway, so piecing together what happened wasn’t that hard. Mara stepped into the apartment and stopped short. A light was on in the kitchen. Mara swore she’d turned off all the lights before she’d left. Slowly, she edged forward. She knew robbers trolled the lower levels. As she entered the kitchen, she heard a raspy voice from a darkened corner, “Lara, is that you?” “No,” Mara answered quietly. A man leaned forward with graying hair that was matted to his head from sweat and blood. A scar cut across his cheek and his green eyes seemed to pierce her soul. He stopped and frowned, “Where’s Lara?” Mara was stunned. Lara was dead, a victim of cancer and a hard existence. Slowly Mara’s eyes widened as she realized who the man was, “She’s dead.” “What, how?” the man asked as his eyes filled with tears. Slowly he focused on Mara, “What about Mara? Is she still here?” Mara began to cry. She knew now without any doubt, “It-it’s been fifteen years, father.” “It has, then…” He looked at Mara and suddenly knew, “Oh God, Mara I’m.” He stumbled as he began to crumble, “…wasted, all of it wasted.” “We thought you were dead,” Mara replied as she sat at the circular table. Slowly Chris Waspen sat down, and Mara noticed that he seemed to be in pain, “Are you alright?” “Only old wounds, which haven’t fully healed yet,” Chris seemed more subdued, but that was to be expected, since the only thing he had left was Mara. He seemed to speak to thin air, “The Spartan is hard on his prisoners.” As he spoke his hand clutched his chest, as though it burned. “What happened,” Mara asked. She had to know what had taken him from her life. His voice became gruff, “I was captured on Numra.” He shook his head, “I lost all knowledge of time and only lived. He branded us, all of us so that if we escaped we’d be hunted down,” Slowly Mara’s father pulled down his shirt. At the center of his chest there was a pink scar, shaped like a twisted Z, a cig rune. “It burns, even now drawing the enemy toward me, like a moth to the flame.” He sighed, “We must go, Remji Major isn’t secure nor safe.” “Father,” she still couldn’t bring herself to call him dad. “I have friends here, I can’t just leave them.” Chris sighed, “You’re sixteen now. It’s high time you come to the academy.” He leaned forward, “You have abilities that have never been nurtured as mine were. You know what I’m talking about, Mara.” “Magic,” Mara said, bowing her head. She’d always known her father’s abilities but couldn’t imagine them as her own. Now she knew for certain. She was to be trained as a wizard. She held no doubts that it was a hard life. Her father was proof of that. “What must I do?” Mara asked, fearing what he’d say. “You must abandon your friends and your life. I won’t lie to you, it isn’t easy,” Chris answered. He could sense her hesitation and fear, “You’ve got to come with me. There’s an academy on Duran IV. I was assigned there as an instructor years ago.” “But how can I abandon my life, my friends?” Inside her mind she added the last concern, James. She quietly decided not to abandon me. * * * I had no idea anything was amiss the next day until Mara didn’t show up for school. She always had an eagerness to learn and rarely if ever was absent. I became concerned after school when I got home. As I tossed off the backpack and walked to the bed, a message chimed on my computer. A synthesized voice flowed from the speakers, “Message from Saber03, Audio only.” The voice that emerged next was Mara’s, “James, I need to talk to you. Can you meet me at my apartment around eleven o’clock tonight. You have to come. I might not see you again.” Alarms were ringing inside my head. I knew I’d answer her request. I would trust her with my life, but she seemed frightened and disturbed. I felt a cold fist close around my chest; something seemed wrong. That night I pretended to sleep until the appointed hour and slipped out of my apartment through the window. Below me I could see the swirling clouds of Remji Major as I crawled along the edge of my level and into the garage. There I unlocked my most prized possession, a Venturi VI sky bike. It was the most advanced sky bike I could afford, and I could afford quite a bit for a fifteen year old. I quietly maneuvered the bike from the garage and began my descent, dropping quietly between giant domed towers, passing hovering navigation buoys and markers until I reached Mara’s level. I slowly crept through the urban canyons until I saw Mara’s apartment sitting by its lonesome with the lights blazing on. There standing in the lights was Mara, calmly awaiting my arrival. Slowly I lowered the sky bike to the ground. Mara ran forward and hugged me as though she hadn’t seen me in years. I could feel tears as she wept. Slowly she stepped away, “James, I’m leaving. I’m…” She stopped to search for words, “I’m going where you can’t follow James. I’m sorry.” I stood there in the circle of light stunned. The possibility of life without Mara seemed so… boring. I opened my mouth and I couldn’t speak. I could hear a rising howl, a mechanical roar and felt a wash of air blast around me. Slowly I turned and saw a dark shape from a nightmare. I didn’t know what it was, but it was dark and sinister. Blue flames shot downward from three vents near its midsection and a pair of black wings shot out and curved close to the hull. In front of the wings a pair of tinted glass lumps sat; one for the pilot, one for the gunner. Red lights blinked on and off at the wing tips and the ends of the ship’s V-tail. From the shadows a gruff voiced called out, “A Gre’Hujin assault transport, they’ve found me.” I turned and saw a man with a shock of white hair step into the light. As I watched the ship come to a hover in front of the Apartment’s landing bay, I could see green and red lights and symbols flashing across the dark silhouettes of the pilots. I saw the glint of their black helmets as the crew scanned the area. A loud speaker blasted out a recorded message, “Surrender, or die.” This was the first time I had seen an orcan vessel; it would not be my last. The man turned to Mara, “I won’t go back to that prison!” He pulled a wand from his ragged robes and smiled grimly, “Run, I’ll slow them down. Mara, run.” Mara stood tense, her eyes riveted to the orc ship that hung there before them. I saw the conflict in her eyes, “Mara run!” With those words she turned and sped toward the door into the apartment. I followed. With a mechanical clacking sound a large barrel beneath the ship’s nose began tracking onto us. I could see its red targeting laser flash in front of us. Then with a scream a green bolt shot out and smashed into the window next to me. It exploded in a shower of glass and plastic, and I kept going as more bolts began to rain down from behind. Mara smashed through the door and I sped inside as a series of bolts smacked into the plastic walls. Outside the man stood his ground and readied the wand, “You cannot have her!” He smiled darkly, “You will not have any of them.” A blue light shot from his wand and toward the hovering ship. The blast missed the vessel, going under one of the dark wings. Mara yelled as she saw the cannons on the hovering ship track onto him, “Dad, get in here!” Chris turned and saw Mara holding open the door. He ran as green flashes from the cannons shot into the ground behind him. The last bolts burned holes in the door as he stepped through. Mara slammed the door shut as bolts burned into it. The man stood panting, “Mara, my bag.” Mara walked to the side of the doorway where a canvas wrap sat. She picked it up. “Open it.” Mara opened the canvas and a pair of swords dropped out onto the floor. Mara picked up the first sword, a saber with a red handle and wrist guard shaped like an eagle. She picked up a second sword, a simple short sword, and handed it to me. She smiled weakly, “James, the white headed fool is my father.” Before her father could say anything the door rocked on its hinges. I could hear the scraping of claws on its surface. The glass shattered and a green hand reached through the window and down to the knob. “Llênhcs!” It was a gruff voice that seemed to register in James’s mind. An orc was behind the door. “Both of you come on,” Mara’s father said as the door slammed open. We backed down the hallway as a short figure with drab skin and black armor stepped into the door. It was almost face less because of its tinted glass mask. Only the green reptilian eyes were visible through the glass. The helmet swept backward into a fin shape. The creature’s booted two-toed feet crunched over the glass. I could see the twin claws scratch into the tiled floor as it stepped inside. In its hands it cradled a pulse rifle, which ended in a foot and a half long bayonet. The creature wasn’t alone. Mara and I slunk back into the shadows as her father, Chris, got behind the refrigerator. I could see the first orc step into the room and tap the side of its helmet. A bright red laser light shot out from its side and the creature slowly began to scan the room. Green runes flashed up on the tinted glass. The orcs were communicating with each other. I found myself wondering if the orcs had night vision. If they did, they didn’t use it. The orc lifted its wrist and typed into a keypad there. In a few seconds a pair of reinforcements appeared at its shoulder. I saw Chris behind the refrigerator point his wand at the fridge. He spoke a single word, “Trowdieo.” The fridge shot forward toward the orcs. They saw it coming but only one managed to escape its weight. It howled with anger as its comrades were crushed. It flipped a switch on its pulse rifle and a light flashed on. The creature saw Chris now, without the cover of the refrigerator. It lifted the rifle to its shoulder and fired. Suddenly a shimmering golden shield appeared from his wand, and he deflected the bolt before it barreled into him. The orc howled with anger and rushed forward. Mara stepped forward and cut him down swinging like a batter in a batting cage. I saw a second orc appear from a side entrance and try to line up a shot on Mara. I broadsided the orc across the side of its head, shattering its glass mask. The orc fell forward bleeding from its nose and cuts across its face. A trio of orcs stepped into the room and halted as a second trio fell in behind them. One of the orcs had retracted his mask and yelled out, “Karat rütver.” The orcs dropped to one knee and lifted their rifles to their shoulders. “Tnêserp lërat.” We could hear the rifles charging now. Even Chris knew we were dead. He couldn’t possibly deflect that many bolts. As the orc opened its mouth to yell the final order a shower of orange bolts smashed into the side of the formation. The orcs fell. Some managed to turn and get off a single shot at their attackers, bit it must have gone wide. One, the leader, was suddenly lifted off its feet and propelled into a wall. It fell back, its body broken. A man and a woman stepped over the remains of the orcs, their weapons down, checking for life. Chris stepped forward, his voice quaking with joy, “Chin, Lin why’d it take you so long?” The man turned toward Chris and smiled, “The least I could do for my old teacher.” He wore a black and red pair of robes, which put Chris’s battered robes to shame. The woman next to him smiled, “With you back in the fold, I pity the enemy.” “Thanks Lin, but a couple years in the iron mines of Numra made me a little…” He glanced at the orcs under the refrigerator, “rusty.” Chin looked at me as Mara stepped into the light, “So, I know that’s Christopher Nellprin’s daughter, but who are you?” Mara stepped next to me, “This is my friend, James Baumer.” Neither of the wizards recognized the name. Christopher thought the name was familiar, but just shrugged it off. “Well Mara, we have to leave,” Chris turned toward me, “I’m sorry, kid, you’ve probably figured it out already.” Indeed I had figured it out. “She won’t be able to write you. We try to keep the location of our training facilities secret. Only immediate family members can receive mail from academies.” Inside any hope of see Mara after tonight died. It would take me over a year to realize the size of the void her disappearance left in me. Mara turned toward me, “James, its something I’ve always wanted to be.” She lowered her voice, “I’ll always remember you.” “You take care of yourself,” I replied. I felt my eyes tearing up. Mara sniffed, crying, “You know me.” “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” I answered as Mara hugged me. I knew somehow it was for the best. Then she let go and smiled bravely, “I’ll see you again.” I knew she believed what she said but I doubted it. Quietly the wizards and Chris led her away. THis short story is actually a back history for a novel length work I'm rewriting. Okay thats Stellar Magic. I'll have a SW vs. ST tommorrow.

Yeah, just a little paint and some plastic parts glued on and you've got a DL-44. After post production of course.

In the games it can but that's in the games. In the few appearances it, the Defender, has in the books it only fires concussion missiles.

Warning Poster in a sarcastic mood What would unnerve everybody? I know... I say a Deathglider...No a Starfury...no a Flash Class starfighter.... Sarcasm over I think the best Starfighter in SW would unfortunately belong to the Imperials. Tie Defender. Its a good thing they couldn't build very many because it cost so much. Though if I was flying I'd take a T-65XJ its got the best balance fo speed, firepower, and manueverability. Even a defender can't pump out torpedoes.

Uh, the weapon Luke's holding is the Merr Sonn knockoff of the DL-44. And Lucas used Mauser Automatic Pistols to simulate the DL-44 and Merr Sonn "Flash 5" (I think thats the right designation).

And now Thrawn says Ooopps?

If you want mods for Star Trek Bridge Commander. http://www.bcfiles.com Yeah thats modding fun for that Game.

Yet another announcement, Episodes III and IV are posted at the ST vs. SW Fan fiction forum... Well, well, the Borg are really crashing the party We are the Borg, You will be assimilated

It looks better then most of the others we've seen for darn sure...

Well if you know anything about voyager you might be wondering, "Hey where's Chekotay?" (Episode IV) Captain Pellaeon slowly walked toward the rear of the bridge. He held the latest report from the scout ships, and prospects weren’t looking good. Slowly he stepped through the doors into the outer office of the Grand Admiral There in a darkened corner Rukh stood, somber and watching. Pellaeon shook his head and stepped through the doors. Hovering in front of him was an enormous image that made Pellaeon halt. Three giant cubes were engaging a force of two Star Destroyers and support ships. Pellaeon watched the crisscrossing of blasts and beams for a moment and was about to clear his throat when the Admiral leaned back from his chair in the center of the room, “Fascinating isn’t it. We’ve encountered a race that is far different then any we have encountered before. But I think I know how to beat them, if they return at any rate.” Thrawn brought up a sensor display record recording the imperial gunners’ impacts. There Thrawn nodded, “You recall that each turbolaser fires on a slightly different frequency.” “Yes, captain, the gunners installed the measure so they could keep track of who destroyed what post battle, something of an instrument of pride,” Pellaeon answered. “Yes, if you watch closely you notice that all the batteries on the ship have fired three times at this point…” Thrawn pointed to the display and suddenly Pellaeon watched as the newest barrage from the Relentless reflected off a shield the Borg had suddenly deployed. Thrawn keyed off the holo projector, “The enemy recorded the frequency of each of our attacks and used the information to deploy a shield directly on that frequency; the counter to this is self evident. Each turbolaser will be a given a sequence of ten frequencies that they will rotate through when engaged by these, Borg.” “I’ll order the modification at once Admiral,” Pellaeon said swiftly. “What do you think of the shape of the ships, captain?” Thrawn asked casting his red eyes directly at Pellaeon. “I don’t know what to make of it sir, it’s just a simple cube…” “Yes, a cube, a simple standard geometric shape. This gives us an insight onto the enemy’s psychology, we’re dealing against a low grade hive mind, and a culture based upon adding other to its existence. I’d say that it is a culture striving to include all to become a one all in composing culture, I believe that they believe that doing this they will reach a utopian existence,” The Admiral had stood and was now gripping the tops of the chair. Slowly Thrawn shook his head, “Their striving for perfection makes them dangerous, even more dangerous if they actually believe themselves to be perfect.” “So you know how to defeat them in battle,” Pellaeon answered slowly. “Yes, captain, if it comes to that, they have their weaknesses,” Thrawn answered slowly. He glanced at the pad which was clutched in Pellaeon’s grip, “What have our scouts reported?” “I’m afraid they’ve reported that all the installations supposedly in this sector no longer exist, there is no sign of battle or debris either sir,” Pellaeon answered as he handed the report to Thrawn. “And we have no scientists with us who could explain what has occurred,” Thrawn shook his head slowly, “What we really need are a few good minds.” * * * Luke glanced out the viewport at the Jade Scimitar. Slowly he lifted his comm link to his mouth, “Artoo, how are the repairs coming?” The answering twitters and beeps were sounded encouraging, “Good, we’ll head over in a little bit, after we talk to the engineer over here.” “Two hot chocolates,” Mara spoke to a recess in the wall and smiled softly at Luke as the two cups materialized already hot and steaming, “You know I want one of these.” “I’ve heard it has trouble with some of the other things, and needs constant maintenance,” Luke answered as he took a cup from the recess and took a sip. It wasn’t bad but it seemed a little different then what he was used to. “We could load the schematics into Artoo, he could fix it.” Mara suggested as she took a sip. Luke shook his head, “You’re just trying to make it so we don’t every have to cook again.” “So, since when have I cooked?” Luke laughed, “True.” He sighed, “We’d better head to engineering.” They left their quarters and walked along the corridor until they reached the turbolift, “Engineering.” Mara sighed as she felt the lift take them downward then sideways, “I hope Tores is willing to help.” “If I know engineers she’ll be wanting too tear everything apart, upgrade it and put it back together,” Luke said as a smile played across his face. “She’d better not,” Mara retorted as the doors hissed open and they walked into the pulsing chamber which was main engineering. Belana Tores was hunched over one of the dozens of control panels when they stepped into view. She shouted to one of the other engineers, “Johnson take over.” Then she walked over to the two of them, “I’m ready, we’ve got some pressure suits. We’ll head over whenever you’re ready.” “We’re ready now,” Luke answered swiftly. Then he stopped, “We’ll need those pressure suits, life support failed soon after we beamed over.” * * * The cabin was still dark but the control lights and equipment was still in complete working order. Artoo sat jacked into one of the panels running a diagnostic as a series of blue lines and glittering specs appeared in the center of the cabin. Slowly the three figures appeared wearing the grey helmeted suits that were standard for the federation. With a flick of a switch lights went on to help them see. Artoo swiveled to look at and shrieked. “It’s alright Artoo it’s us,” Luke said calming the surprised droid. He leaned down next to the unit, “What have you got operational?” The droid beeped and whistled and Luke glanced at his data pad at the translation, “Engines are online, Weapons, Hyperdrive is at ninety percent efficiency.” The droid beeped, “He says he hasn’t been able to fix the life support. “Alright, lets start with that,” Mara said walking toward the rear of the ship with Belana in tow. “So this is your personal ship?” Belana asked as they walked down a corridor. “Yes, it’s our ship. Luke, is the mag field online in the hangar bay?” “It’s working, Artoo says the life support system needs some new Carbon Dioxide scrubbers,” Luke called from the cockpit. Mara keyed the door and they stepped through into a broad space. Two starfighters hung from launch racks side by side. Each hung above a large circular launch door that was sealed with a magnetic field. Without the field atmosphere would leak from the bay at an alarming rate. Mara smiled as she walked by the T-65 XJ. It had the newest model of laser cannons. The XJ X-wings were no longer the blocky ships of the rebellion by streamlined beauties of a ship that looked even more lethal. The wings seemed to gracefully warp into the hull and the laser cannons had a distinctive cylinder shaped muzzle flash protector. The entire ship seemed more predatory with the gentle curving of the wings and the smooth bond between canons and wings. The ship seemed like the elegant weapon which it was. Luke however still had his old ship from the rebellion, a T-65B which had the scars of countless battles. Mara knew however that it had been upgraded by Han Solo just after the end of the Vong invasion. Its weapons and shields were up to the specs for the stock XJ and the personally modified engines gave it as much speed as a stock XJ. Of course Mara had modified her ship as well but together the two ships performed just as well. Mara however liked the elegant style of the XJ over the older model. Mara turned to Belana staring in surprise, “Impressive aren’t they?” “Yes, they are,” Tores seemed to snap out of a trance and focused on the problem at hand, “So where is the life support?” “Here,” Mara said as she pulled open a panel. One look revealed a large amount of carbon scoring and scorched wiring. Belana looked at the damage and frowned, “Are those the scrubbers?” “Yeah,” Mara replied as she pulled out one of the blackened boxes. She dropped it onto the ground and pulled a vibroblade from the compartment. It buzzed slightly as she cut it open and glanced inside, “Just as I though, the plasma charge burned away the filter.” “Try this,” Belana handed Mara a glowing gel pack. Mara took it and looked at it uncertain, “It’s a bioluminescent carbon filter, it has a fast acting plant in it that cleans the air just like a filter. We’ve been experimenting with them on Voyager.” Mara glanced at the opened box and shook her head, “I’m not sure I could install it, the parts and energy requirements are probably different.” “Let me try,” Belana replied as she sat down and plugged in a sensor device. Slowly she nodded, “Okay I’ve got a resistor that should make the energy requirement work.” She put a cap on the piece of wiring that had once gone into the square filter. Then she took the square filter cut a hole in the center and dropped it inside. She attached the pack to the wiring and installed the pack back where it had gone. She glanced at the oxygen gage and saw that it was slowly beginning to rise, “All done in about five minutes we’ll be able to dump the suits.” “That’s pretty efficient for a filter,” Mara answered as she closed the panel. Belana smiled at the older woman, “I try.” She shrugged, “So what next?” “Next we repair the hull, Luke, could you get the plates and welding gear, we’re going outside,” Mara said smiling. * * * Captain Janeway looked at the view screen and watched as a trio of suited figures wandered across the hull of the Jade Scimitar. She could see the flare of welding and patching on the hull. Janeway was amazed by the sheer look of the ship, even in its battered form. The design seemed strangely elegant and deadly at the same time. She watched as the sparks of welding continued and sighed, “Well, it seems they’ll be ready to head out pretty soon.” A warning went up from the sensor console and Tuvok glanced up from his console, “Captain, a Borg Scout ship has just entered sensor range. It’s approaching slowly.” “ETA?” Janeway asked as fear began to claw at her. “Fifteen minutes,” Tuvok answered swiftly. “Janeway to Belana, get inside that ship, there is a Borg detector on the way,” Janeway said swiftly. “Acknowledged,” Belana answered across the command Janeway watched the group scramble to the airlock. * * * Luke dropped behind the pilots controls. He turned to Mara as she grabbed the chair’s top, “Systems check.” “All systems operational, more or less,” Mara answered her husband as she checked the readouts. “Alright give me a power restart Artoo,” Luke ordered and the little droid whirred. The entire vessel thrumbed with life and more panels began to glow their readiness. “So who are the Borg,” Mara asked as she dropped down into the weapons control seat. Belana frowned, “They’re a race of people that capture vessels and steal their technology and the crews. Every one of them is plugged into a mechanical hive mind. Each Borg has implants throughout their body and don’t have any individual thought just the will of the hive implanted in them.” “Aggressive?” Luke asked as he activated the ion drive. “You have no idea.” * * * “Captain, we’re receiving a distress call, its Commander Chekotay,” Ensign Kim said as his status board blinked. “Onscreen,” Janeway answered quickly. The tanned black haired image of Commander Chekotay winked into existence on the view screen, “Captain, I’m afraid I’ve got a Borg Detector on my tale.” In the background the image of one of Voyager’s shuttle craft shuddered, “Get Voyager out of here.” Through the speakers another voice cut in, “Commander Chekotay can you make it to the position we’re sending?” “Yes, Belana I can make those quadrants, but you can’t stop a Borg detector!” Janeway turned as the rear doors of the bridge slid open and Boba Fett stepped onto the bridge, “Captain, I’d like to offer my assistance.” “Alright, Chekotay make it to those quadrants we’re coming after you!” Janeway answered and turned to Boba, “Launch your ship, Paris get the flyer out there, we’ve got a Borg ship to demolish.” * * * Luke could see it out the viewport, a craft over four hundred meters tall it looked like a group of metal plates had been slapped together with wire and engines tacked onto the rear. A green beam had locked onto the small shuttle that was fighting desperately to free itself. Slowly he looked at Belana as she starred at the threat. Slowly Mara turned to her, “I’ve activated weapons and shields, targeting array is only, I’m going to hit that beam right away can your Commander make a run for it after we hit that thing?” “Yes, Commander Chekotay the ship closing on your position is the Jade Scimitar she’ll hit the holding beam and free your ship, make a run for it once we fire,” Belana said swiftly. “Alright weapons ready, ETA sixty seconds,” Luke said as the target began to grow in his sights. “May the force be with us.” Okay I'll start working on the Protectorate....

We need a good card for Mara Jade... I don't like most fo the Jade cards that have been released.