Phase II

[Jake Snake]

In the blackness of space, at the center of the Federacy, floated a single manicing looking ship. Its black hull sat sillently at the edge of a dead system. All the planets were devoid of life, making the system perfect for weapons testing. Sensors around the systems kept watch so that no one would spy on it and also monitored the tests that took place.

The Praetor-Class cruiser which floated at the edge of the test site was only one of two ships in the system. The second was an old decommisioned frigate. This Federation frigate floated crewless in the center of the test zone.

"Sir, phase I has been completed and we have recieved orders to proceed with Phase II. Secure codes are coming in." called out the Comm officer.

The Captain, standing at the front of the bridge kept on looking out. "Proceed as planed. Paint the target and relay the data to Tyrant control."

"Yes, sir." was the response.

In seconds, the frigate floating 550,000 km away was target locked and the data was sent through secure channals to Tyrant Station.

[Jake Snake]

"Sir, Tyrant is on its way." the Comm officer stated.

The captain turned this time and looked at the officer. He hadn't been told what to expect. His orders were just to wait at the test zone and illuminate a target for a testing of a new weapon. What weapon, he didn't know, but he would soon find out.

He moved back to his command chair and pulled out a pitcher of water. Pouring some into a clear glass, he drank it all in one gulp. This was the part he hated, the waiting. He was a man of action and now he just had to sit here.

Soon alarms went off and he looked at the radar station, "Sir, scanners picking up a small mass entering the system. It matchs that of the Tyrant. ETA, 2 minutes."

"Very well, lets see if this test is a success or not." The captain stood and strolled down to the viewport.

"Tyrant emerging from hyperspace."

"Bring up on monitors. I want to see it."

The viewport instantly transformed into empty space and in seconds there was a flash of light as a 22 meter long cylinder sling shot from hyperspace. It was 243,000 km from the frigate and was almost parallel to it. The captain almost frowned, thinking the test was a complete failure, but almost as the thoughts came to him, tiny thrusters on the missile fired, turning it towards the frigate.

The captain looked on in wonder as the large missile's engines ignited and it lept into hyperspace. Almost instantly the rear of the frigate shook as a massive explosion ripped through it. The whole rear of the frigate vaporized as well as shattered, with parts of armor and deck flying off in all directions. In the end, the rear was almost all gone, the rear 50 meters of the vessel were no where to be seen.

"Transmit all data to Tyrant command. Tell them Phase II has been a success."

[Jake Snake]

Jake walked onto the bridge and noted that everyone was still busy at work. As soon as he entered, the XO turned and saluted, "Sir, the ship is yours. All systems green."

"Very good. Get us ready to move out as soon as possible. Tell the Warrior, Vengard, and Prosectutor that they are coming with us. We will transmit the jump coordinates before we leave."

Jake went and sat down at his command seat. He keyed in the frequency he had been given and waited for an answer. As always it came a bit late, but always before he could get impatient.

"Commodore, what are our orders?" Came the voice.

"Project Tyrant is a go. Get started with mass production right away. We need at least 10 platforms and make as many Tyrants as you can. We will need them."

"Yes sir. All materials are in place and were awaiting orders. We have the first shippment ready for the new platform. That will launch within the next twenty minutes. We will start mass production at once."

"Very well. Get on it. Out."

Jake keyed the secure channel off and smiled gently. It was beginning. They would soon have a very large tactical advantage. He turned and keyed in another comm frequency. His was another very secure link.

"Captain Raiden, do you copy? I need you to get the shield generators ready and transfer them to the shipyards. I shall be back in a few hours with ships for refitting. Get everything ready."

[Kyle Raiden]

On the bridge of his own, borrowed ship, Kyle Raiden shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. When he got a ship to call his own, he'd have his chair adjusted. But for this mission, there was no point.

He looked out of the viewport, and stared into the depths of space. Somewhere in his memory was stored a wealth of information about those stars. He knew how they worked. He knew how many there were. With enough time, he could probably name them all, and remember roughly how long each one had to live. He could have done all of that, but he didn't. Why bother? For now, he was the Captain of a freighter. He decided to get into character, and slumped in his chair.

"Captain Raiden, do you copy? I'm ready to recieve that shipment of Shield Generators."

Despite knowing that he could not be seen, Kyle straightened up and breathed slowly, and added the slightest hint of a smile to his voice. "I read you loud and clear, Commodore, sir. Freighters are preparing for their approaches...we should have everything unloaded within half an hour, barring any incompetance on the part of the locals."

He turned to his Helm officer, and nodded, dropping his voice to a volume below what the microphone would pick up. "Begin your approach."

He smiled a little more, letting his feigned amusement slip into his voice, as he spoke to his superior once more. "Don't be too long...we may run out of things to do."

[Jake Snake]

The Demolisher came out of hyperspace flanked by one Nihlist Class and 2 Praetor Class Cruisers. They drifted in space, awaiting the arrival of the Solarrian ships. This has been the arranged meeting point. Jake was here for escort and protection against any SOV ships that might have followed the Solarrians.

Jake was happy that it didn't take long before the ships started to appear on their sensors. They came in one at a time, on different vectors, just like instructed. Each one transmited secret codes and were accepted. The ships were nothing like the federacy cruisers. This is why they needed the shielding, to help them survive against greater odds and firepower.

Once they had all arrived, Jake transmitted the new jump coordinates to them. When ready, the whole group jumped into hyperspace.

[Jake Snake]

Light burst out in all directions as Jake's group returned to the planet. A mass of ships followed his small group of 4 ships. All set course for the refit facilities in orbit.

"Captain Raiden, this is Commodore Snake again. Solarrians are enroute. Help them dock and tell the crews to start the refits as soon as possible. I will be there to join you shortly. I hope everything is already in place."

Jake finished up the conversation and turned to his XO. "Ready my shuttle. The ship is yours."

With that he walked to the back of the bridge and into the turbolift. This shot down, into the belly of the ship. The door opened inside the hanger bay, were a black shuttle awaited him. Two troopers stood on each side of the hatch, guarding it. As Jake approached, they saluted and stood at the ready. Once aboard, they followed him inside.

Jake sat down near a viewport and watched the shuttle gracefully lift off and exit the large hanger.

"ETA to destination, 5 minutes." Called out the shuttle pilot.

Jake nodded to himself and looked out at the ships that were getting smaller. The Solarrians were already being guided into the docks by large space tugs. Some were already being secured and others were lining up in given positions. There were too many ships to refit at onces, so a large number had to float in space. Jake noted that fact and would dispatch engineers to those ships to do the refits away from the docks.

As the shuttle closed on the orbiting docking facility, its hanger bay doors opened to admit him. Onces inside Jake could see that there were only a few shuttle craft. That could mean that either everyone was here or that not everyone had arrived yet. As the shuttle settled onto the deck, Jake stood up, as did his two speechless guards. He walked out of the ship and looked around the hanger, waiting for Raiden.

[Kyle Raiden]

Kyle was waiting. He knew exactly where to stand, so that his superior wouldn't see him. It was probably because he'd spent the hyperspace trip studying the plans of the station. Right now, stood beside a fueling pump beside where the fighter had landed, he was out of site of Jake.

He stepped forward silently, his feet not even making the slightest sound as he walked. "Sir," he said formally, just loud enough to catch Jake off-guard. His brain produced another of his secret, inward smiles, and he held out a hand. "It is a pleasure to see you again."

[Jake Snake]

Jake had sensed eyes watching him. He had had enough training to know that feeling even though he wasn't a force user. The training had also allowed him to not be scared when something unexpected happened.

Jake heard Raiden speak and turned around slowly. He looked down at Kyle's hand and his eyes narrowed, "Captain , are you forgetting yourself? You are in the presence of a superior officer. How dare you hold out your hand? Stand at attention when talking to a superior and offer a proper salute. Have you not gone through basic training?"

Jake didn't know who this man was, but he knew he wasn't a real soldier. He looked like a paper pusher and didn't even know his manners. Turning away quickly Jake started to talk toward the blast door at the end of the hanger. "Are you ready to begin the refits or not? I'm sure I could find someone to replace you if things aren't in order."

[Kyle Raiden]

"Oh, sorry sir," he replied, throwing a belated salute, and casually standing a little more to attention. He worked in an office...usually people didn't care about saluting so much. Why am I even here? he wondered.

He looked across the hanger bay with a politely disinterested sigh. "We were ready to begin work a long time ago. Just bring the ships in, and we'll fix them up."

He checked the time on his datapad. "I'm sorry...I have some documents to send to Admiral Piett before dinner..." He smiled, and saluted again. "I'm sure I'll see you later...if I am excused, of course."

[Jake Snake]

Jake nodded, "Yes, you may leave. I'll finish everything up on my own."

He walked through the blast door and made his way to the command center of the facility. Crews were working and talking to the docking controlers. "Welcome to the CC sir. All 6 of the docks are now full. Installations are ready to begin."

"Alright. Start the transfer at once. We have to move people. Those ships need to be refit quickly. Get two teams on the ships. One can install the generators while another one wires the system to the ships main control units. We will just replace their old shields.

"Get more teams to start work on the other ships that are floating in sector Z. Send out shuttles with generators to all the ships and start installing them in space. Get more teams on boards. I want people pulled from other jobs, send them here at once. Move people. Let;s go."

On his orders people started to run and relay messages. shuttles launched and hover tractors started to haul the large generators toward the docked ships. Engineers rushed back and forth, working as fast they could. The solarrians were allowed to get out and walk around. They were watched of course, but to them, they were free.

[Jake Snake]

Moored to the space docks were the last of the ships to be refited with Federation Shields. Workers ran all over the ships and floated outside, afixing different systems to ships hull and interior. They worked fast, but always double checked their work to make such everything worked fine.

"Commodore Snake, the last batch will be ready in 5 hours. All other ships have gone through testing and check out."

"Very good." Replied Jake, "You should be pleased with your men captain, they have worked hard and fast. A very good group of men and women."

"Thank you sir."

"It is time to send the engineering team back into the ships that are finished. I want you to refill their blaster gas tank with our own gas. Also see to it that their weapons systems and engines, as well as power systems are running at maximum efficiency. I want those ships to be better then they ever where."

With the Captain's reply, word was sent to tankers. These were filled with Federation blaster gas and started to take off from the surface of the planet. The tankers docked with the solarrian ships and their federacy operators started the transfer process. Along with this transfer, engineers reboarded the ships and started to tweek their weapons and engines.

Meanwhile, in space around the planet, 5 new Tyrant launch platforms were taking shape. Their frames were coming together and soon they should be covered with hull plating. A few of them had engines already installed to them, so they could be moved if need be.

[Jake Snake]

As Jake watched, shuttles started to depart from the Solarrian ships in orbit. The Solarrian crews who had been on leave at the docking stations were now being shuttled back to their ships and the return shuttles contained the engineering crews who had worked so hard to install shields generators and upgrade the solarrian engines and weapons systems. All systems were now working at 100% and the engineers were ready for a break. They done in 4 days what should have taken 2 weeks to complete. This was at the cost of stopping other projects from advancing, but it had to be done. The orders had come in and Jake did as told.

As the last of the tankers pulled away from the Solarrian warships, Jake looked over the data charts. All workers had checked in and all systems were double checked. He admired the hard work of the Federacy engineers. They had worked tirelessly at the projects given to them and had not made mistakes.

Jake looked at the commanding officer, "Tell those men and women to take two days leave. Get other engineers to replace them from some of the surface jobs. They deserve a break."

"Yes sir, right away."

Jake relaxed and tapped into his neural link, Imperator, solarrian ships are fully ready to depart, what are my orders?

[Jake Snake]

"Solarrian ships, this is Commodore Snake of the Federacy Navy. You are clear to depart from Wor Tandell. Good luck with everything."

"Thank you for all that the Federacy has done for us. If you ever need a favor and more, you know where to turn. Solarrian fleet over and out."

With that the solarrian fleet jumped out.