Dawn of Forever, Part XXVII

The Oracle gestured and images of Ben Skywalker and Molly O'Brien appeared on the monitors. "You have succeeded, I see."

"Yes, my master," Ben said.

"That is good. Perhaps you will be a useful servant after all."

The word visibly stung Ben. "Thank you, master," he got out.

"I have another assignment for you," the Oracle said. "You will go to the planet Vidik in the Delta quadrant. I want you to set up a system-wide jamming field to cut them off. Shortly after you arrive the Vong will be launching an assault on that world. I want you to assist them by assassinating the leaders of the opposition there."

"As you command, master," Ben said. The Oracle waved and the monitors went blank.

"A little gasoline on the fire, Seven," the Oracle said, turning to Annika.

"How could you kill all those people?" Annika said, shocked that she'd ever considered this inhuman thing a friend.

"I picture an Earth with the sun blotted out by star destroyers, and it becomes easy," the Oracle said. "But the time for discussing my motivations is past. The Empire's crumbling even as we speak, Seven. No one will save you now, no one but me."

"No!" Annika said fiercely.

"Time is running out, Seven," the Oracle said. "Vidik is an important stronghold, an advance Romulan system. Many of the independent powers have sent representatives there to discuss ways of bringing war charges against the Empire for their use of planet-destroying weaponry. It's supposed to be a secret, but with the frightening image of the Death Star being used against the Empire's own people, the word will be officially released that the Vidik Council is going to hold the Empire responsible for their atrocities. Unfortunately for them, Nom Anor will see that as a perfect opportunity to absorb a wide-range of high-ranking officials into the Vong creature, and to eliminate a key launching platform for attacks against the Vong."

"Didn't you tell Ben to kill the leaders?"

"Naturally. Nom Anor and the Vong are no friends of mine. Helping them now that the Empire's fallen would be a mistake. No, let them put the fear into people's hearts again for a brief time, so that the next phase of the plan can advance." She began working with some of the unfathomable equipment on her bench. "If Vidik -and the loosely-aligned forces present there- are to have a chance of surviving the assault, then someone -some champion of the Light side- must come to their aid, and I think we both have an idea who will."

Annika's face fell as the implication got through. "Sebastian."

The Oracle looked up from her work and offered her sickening smile. "Two days, Seven. The clock is ticking. We both know that Sebastian is not as strong as Ben... not in the light, anyway. That's why he ran the first time, after all. But then again, the Vong attack on his mind has fueled his anger, hasn't it? Maybe he'll tap into that same power and win the day?" Tears were running down Annika's face, but she said nothing. "I have seen the confrontation, Seven. Only one of two possible outcomes will transpire. Either Sebastian Skywalker will die, or he will embrace the Dark side and kill Ben. Either way, you're going to lose him." Annika closed her eyes and bit her lip. "The only son you'll ever have. The only piece of your fallen husband you have left." The Oracle shook her head. "I win no matter what happens, Seven," the Oracle said. "If he does turn, how do you think he'll react when I tell him that you could have saved his wife, and refused? I think I'll be the one having to hold him back from killing you."

"How can you take such pleasure in my pain?!" Annika finally shouted. "How can even the Dark side twist your soul into this thing that you've become, so that you would do this to someone you once called 'friend?!'"

"I will take whatever steps are necessary to see this through, Seven," the Oracle said. "I take no pleasure in your suffering, but you suffer only because you refuse me. You destroyed the Borg once, help me do it again!"

"The Borg are all that stand between the innocent people of the galaxy and your evil, captain!"

The Oracle made an amused sound. "Really? Are you sure?"

Annika was about to reply, but something in the Oracle's expression gave her pause. Nevertheless, she knew who was the danger here. "I'll take the Borg at their worst over you, captain."

"At their worst?" The Oracle said, apparently mulling that over. "Well, let's see... They took away your father, killed your mother, stole your life away from you..." Annika cringed a little as the Oracle closed in on her. "They took everything away, Annika. I was the one who gave it back! I was the one who gave you Luke! Every good thing that has ever happened in your life has come from me!" The monitors lit up, and Annika recognized the confrontation on, and over, the Borg homeworld. "They drove Luke to the Dark side," the Oracle said emphatically. "It was all their fault! And they were the ones who infected you with the fungal disease, they who blackmailed your son into joining with them! You couldn't save him from the Vong because the infection left you bedridden in the hospital. The Borg have brought you nothing but pain and misery, Seven! Help me destroy them, and I can make you and your son happy again! I can save him from falling to the Dark side!"

"Listen to me," the Annika on the monitor said to Luke, "stop this. Listen to me, stop this. Listen to me, stop this." Annika closed her eyes and covered her ears, but the Oracle stepped forward and yanked her hands away.

"This time you can stop it before it happens," the Oracle said. "You can save him before he crosses the line." Annika tried to pull herself out of the Oracle's grip, but amazingly, even Borg-enhanced strength couldn't do it. "How can you hate me, Seven, when I'm offering to raise the dead for you?" Annika said nothing, and finally the Oracle released her and turned back to her monitors. "Two days, Seven," she said. "I hope that's enough time for you to see reason."

The same Sith who brought her in grabbed Annika's arm and dragged her back to her cell, tossing her onto the cot before sealing the door. Annika curled up and cried for a long time. "Not my baby," she whispered, weeping. "Why does it have to be my baby?" She's finally done it, Annika thought distantly. She's found a way to break me. She buried her head under the pillow, and thought again about snapping her own neck.

There were two paths before her. Take the one, and it would bring back almost all the joy and happiness she'd lost over these past few years. Take the other, and what little she had left would be taken away. In those simple terms, it was so easy to choose, but Annika was cursed with intelligence, and that was why she knew that the first choice was no choice at all.

Annika didn't have the ability to see across time and space like the Oracle, but she had a vision of the future nonetheless. It was the future of the Oracle's "Federation," which would be nothing more than a dictatorship under her absolute control, as oppressive as the Empire was in its darkest days. And her Federation would be worse in another important way. The Rebels had been able to organize and oppose Palpatine and the New Order, but how could you hope to plot against someone with her vision? She could eliminate any adversary before they even considered opposing her. No enemy could arise from within and not be destroyed, and no enemy could come from without and not have their arrival foreseen and prepared for. Once the Federation was in place, the Oracle would ensure that it never, ever, was destroyed. And that was the scariest part of all. Because in her corruption she'd found the key to immortality. Once she was in position, she would remain there until the end of time.

Annika shook her head. Janeway had started with nothing, and somehow had managed to manipulate events to topple an Empire that spanned two galaxies. If this was what she could do with nothing, imagine when she had resources on a galactic level to work with. And would her own personal power continue to grow, until she was able to rival the Q? Could she threaten the universe? All universes? With the ability to cross time and dimensions, what kind of dark god could she turn into?

Annika shivered. There was no way she could take that risk. No matter what the Oracle offered, the answer would have to be no. No matter how much she would be tortured, she'd have to resist. Even if Sebastian did fall, as much as the thought froze her heart, she'd still have to say no. Because anyone who opposed the Oracle was possibly the only hope of aborting living hell before it could arrive. If it meant losing everything she cherished, Annika knew she'd have to stand firm, because against power like this Sith master, every possible edge mattered.

Things were perfect. That really should have been the first tip for Han that it was all going to go straight to hell.

The weather had been gorgeous, the ceremony went off without any problem, the reception was in full swing. Anakin and Laudica looked too happy for words, everyone was enjoying themselves. Roger had had a suit made to his abnormal specifications and was dancing with Kilana in a way that wasn't entirely offensive and only called for execution in a few of the smaller religious orders in the galaxy. Then Han made the fatal mistake of enjoying himself.

The party came to a screeching halt as bride and groom stumbled during the dance, and they weren't alone. The other members of the Academy were grabbing on to things for support, and Han knew it couldn't be because they'd had too much to drink. Afterwards, it all made sense. After all, he'd seen it before with a crazy old wizard. Chandrilla, the place where he'd raised his family, was gone.

Han found Volgo Terraine, who was one of the many civil representatives who had been invited and led him out into the hall away from prying eyes. The moment they were alone, however, Han tossed him against the wall. "When the hell did we build a Death Star?" Han fumed at him.

Terraine straightened his suit. "We didn't."

"Don't feed me that crap! I've seen two of those things up close, so don't tell me I don't know what that was!"

"Mr. Solo, I'm as puzzled as you are."

"I'm not puzzled, I'm pissed off!"

"Listen to me," Terraine said. "The Emperor cancelled the order to build the Death Stars. He said he never wanted another built. When the military took control, the resources simply weren't there to build one. The war effort has been a black hole sucking in everything. And let me tell you, building a Death Star is no easy task." He hesitated a moment. "Leia said you can be trusted with a secret. She's right, isn't she?" Han made a face but nodded. "Taar's been pushing for the Eclipse Mark II, a more powerful replacement for the lost ships. He didn't tell me about it, but if you know where to look, you can find the trail. Solo, that was for a ship insignificant in size compared to a Death Star! It would be impossible for Taar or anyone in the high command to build one without my finding out about it, the number of personnel, credits, and resources would be too big to hide."

"Then how do you explain Chandrilla?" Han demanded.

Terraine shrugged. "I can't. It doesn't make any sense; no one has the resources to build something like that... except possibly the Borg, but they have their hands full with the Vong and the raiders, and all their resources are focused in the Milky Way. They couldn't get it through the Wormhole without being found out."

"Then that just leaves the Empire," Han said.

"I'm telling you, Mr. Solo, it's not possible!"

"Great! So you're saying that Chandrilla wasn't blown up, is that it? Because it's not possible for anyone to do it!"

"Listen, we will figure out what's going on, but right now, I have no answers."

"So you don't know who may be next, right?" Han said. "Destroying Chandrilla was just the first step, you can bet on that. And it doesn't make sense for anyone else to bother with it, because the military is running everything from the fleet now. The only thing it threatened was Taar and his hold on the galaxy."

"Think about this a minute," Terraine said. "So what if Chandrilla is there or not, from the point of view of the military. They're enforcing rule by force. Destroying Chandrilla is nothing to them. It sounds good, but what will it accomplish? All they would have done was given the systems reason to reject their rule, it'd only make things worse for them."

"Maybe," Han said. "But nothing else is even close to making sense. That thing didn't pass through the wormhole, so that means it was built here. You've got the Vong, who wouldn't touch technology with a ten foot amphistaf, you've got Borda, who is using outdated technical supplies to keep his forces in play, pirates, smugglers, a few crime syndicates, and that's it. Nobody else but the Empire could possibly have built that thing."

"I understand that," Terraine said. "But I'm telling you we didn't. We just don't have the ability to do it right now, I'm telling you. Besides, Taar isn't stupid. If he had a Death Star, he wouldn't fire it on Chandrilla, he'd fire it at a Vong target, and let the Senate on Chandrilla fill in the blanks."

Han shook his head. "This is even better. He fires it on Chandrilla and let's all the other systems fill in the blanks. 'Do what we say or you're next.'"

"Rule by fear isn't going to work in this day and age," Terraine said. "The Empire was in chaos before this happened. It doesn't matter if Taar has a Death Star or not, nobody's going to listen to the military command any more."

"It's still the only thing that makes sense," Han said.

"Listen," Terraine said, "I know General Taar, and if there's one thing he hates, it's a war on two fronts. He would not go after the Senate unless the Vong were dead and buried, and we know that's not the case."

Han was about to retort, but he thought about it. That was a valid point. He had been privy to some of the goings on and knew that Taar had even surrendered to Garak, just to keep him out of his hair. He'd always treated the military machine like a knife rather than a hammer; put all your pressure on one point and push until the thing is killed. The Vong were reeling, but the fight Han and Kilana had with them during the revolt showed they weren't out for good. Putting down revolutions would draw forces away from the front lines where Taar needed them to finish the mop-up.

Han added it all up. Terraine was shifty, but if he wanted Han off his back, he would have concocted a more convincing lie than a shoulder shrug. So, it meant one of two things. Either someone else in the military had found a way to pull this thing off, or some other faction in this galaxy had somehow managed to do it. Either way, it meant more digging would need to be done.

Han went in and found Kilana and Roger. "We're leaving, and take that ridiculous thing off."

Roger looked at Kilana. "I think it's a lovely dress."

"Not her, idiot, you." Han led the rest of the trio out of the room. "We're going to hook up with Borda, see what we can find out."

"Do you think the Empire was really behind this?" Kilana asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "No other answer makes sense, but it seems to be right only because it's the least stupid answer, not because it sounds right."

"-all evidence confirms that a Death Star was seen in the vicinity-"

"-again, Chandrilla has been completely blown away-"

"-no official word, but the Imperial military command seems the only likely culprit-"

"-death toll still being calculated-"

"-all queries to General Taar go unanswered-"

"-almost every Imperial world has announced withdrawal from the Empire-"

"-condemnation from sentient rights groups-"

"-experts agree that the Empire cannot be held together by force any longer-"

"-question of the Vong menace looms-"

"-rumors that many high-ranking military officials have been murdered as well-"

"-Vidik Council promises to bring those responsible to justice-"

"-economic turmoil, with the Imperial credit potentially becoming worthless-"

"-the Empire may have done to itself what the Vong could never do-"

Romal shook his head as the reports continued pouring in. "This is bad," he said gravely, turning to the Borg Queen and the hologram of Sebastian. "Bad for the galaxies, bad for us."

"If the Empire had a Death Star," Sebastian said, "they would have used it on the Vong, not on Chandrilla."

"No one seems to be seeing it that way," Romal said. "And if the rumors are true, that Taar and his high command are dead, then the Empire is finished. They can't fight the Vong and hold their territory together by force, not even with a Death Star."

"Then our business license is useless," the Borg Queen said.

"Yes," Romal said, "but frankly, that's the least of our problems." Sebastian's eyebrow twitched, then he whirled, igniting his lightsaber and beheading a drone that had apparently come up behind him on his own ship. Romal freaked. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"Do not resist," the voice of the Collective said. "Your biological distinctiveness will be added to our own."

Romal backed away, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a hold-out blaster, pointing it at the drones filtering into the room. "We had a deal!" he protested.

"Deals are irrelevant. The need for your service in this capacity has ended. From this time forward, your service will be direct and efficient."

"Don't do this," Sebastian warned. "You're making a mistake."

"The Empire is no longer a threat to us," the Collective said. "The Vong are no longer a threat to us. Negotiation is no longer necessary. Both will be assimilated. We will continue towards our own perfection, and raise the quality of life for all species. That is the way of the Borg."

Go To Part XXVIII
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