Chapter 36: The 2nd Supervision War

--September 5, 2016--

--32:50--

Broli's quarters on SDF-102 had been quiet for hours since the Zentradi captain left the room, though the rest of the ship had been anything but. Most of the officers were celebrating the anticipated if not hastily executed occasion, and by this time of night things were winding down and just about everyone was getting back to their ships and quarters to return to duty. The quiet in Broli's quarters was disturbed finally when someone keyed the lock from the outside, and the door slid open to reveal the Zentradi officer in a tuxedo carrying his human bridge in his arms. He turned and stepped into the room slowly, careful not to bump Corina's head against the doorway as he came in, then carried her through the living room to the couch at the end in front of the TV. "How about it Kitten?" Broli said playfully, rubbing his wife's feet as she stretched her legs across his lap. "Broli Matheson Kidronik. I like the sound of that, don't you?"

Corina smiled in agreement. "That sounds excellent. As for you, how does it feel to be a married man?"

"Not too different. Now my only worry is if you get mad at me."

Corina laughed. "How could I ever stay mad at you for ANYTHING? You always try so hard just to make me happy and you don't even have to!"

Broli shrugged. "I don't know how hard I'm supposed to try, sorry."

"Don't be sorry! Just be the man I married!"

Broli shrugged again. "How do I do that again?"

"Just be yourself! I married YOU Broli, not your checkbook or your capacity to make me happy."

"What a relief. I'm too much of a looser to keep up this act."

Corina reached up and grabbed him by his tie, pulling him down to look at her face to face. "We have just this one night together before they send us back into combat. Let's not waste it."

Broli smiled, guessing at what was implying. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Well..." Corina pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. Broli grinned, then smiled, then stopped and stared at her with his jaw hanging open.

"Kitten, that sounds kinda dangerous..."

Corina twisted her little finger through her hair. "Micronians do it all the time here. I'VE never done it, but now I'm kinda curious."

Broli could see she was serious about this, and without another word he picked her up off the couch and carried her into the bedroom. "How long do we have exactly?"

Corina craned her head around and looked past him to the clock on the wall. "15 hours."

Broli stopped and turned around, this time heading for the kitchen. "That's more time than I thought."

He stopped in front of the refrigerator and Corina opened it for him, took out a bottle of champagne and two glasses. "Onward Broli!" she said, pointing to the bedroom again.

"Yes dear!" He shifted his weight and pushed the door open with his foot, and once inside set his new wife down on the bed. "You are now in my turf, Kitten. Let old Broli make the world spin around you."

Corina laughed and stretched out on the bed. "Spin away baby!"

--September 6, 2016--

--02:15--

The battle in the Griaga sector had become a spaceborne riot, with Supervision Army and Zentradi warships trading punches in groups of thousands for a range of millions of miles. The fighting had spread out across 20 star systems, and with half a million ships between both combatants battle line there was no real end in sight. That same battle might easily go on for 10 more years at this pace before there was finally a victor, but the Zentradi forces of the 182nd Botoru fleet were used to this kind of extended engagement, it was all part of their life.

What confused them now was the behavior of the enemy fleet. Many of the ships were withdrawing from the battlefield leaving their comrades to cover their retreat, and by now thousands of enemy ships had already broken away towards the center of the galaxy. Supreme Commander Gyzol had been keeping a close eye on the enemy course ever since they started to pull out of the battle 3 months ago, and by now he had managed to calculate that their ships appeared to be headed towards the Arturo sector, a region of space on the edge of the 118th fleet's patrol zone. Gyzol could not understand the enemy thinking; they only had 200 divisions available, and yet they were headed for a region of space controlled by the Bodolza fleet as if to reinforce their allies there. The action seemed like a considerable military blunder, but then he reminded himself that all of his efforts to contact Bodolza had failed and that his forces had not heard from them in almost 8 years. As unlikely as it was, Gyzol had to grapple with the possibility that the Bodolza fleet, the largest Zentradi fleet ever assembled, had somehow fallen to the Supervision Army.

On this day he was restless, watching enemy vessels fold out of battles 10 at a time while their comrades covered their escape. Soon the pursuit would take them into regions of rough space where fold jumps were limited to only a few light-years, but for now the enemy ships could fold halfway across the galaxy on whatever whim had moved them to go there in the first place. He was lost in thought trying to understand the bewildering actions of the enemy when the Comms officer signaled his control room. "Commandant Gyzol, incoming message from the Arturo sector. IFF signal unidentified."

Gyzol raised a brow. "Not Zentradi? Then how could they know our frequencies?" He said, thinking out loud. "Alright, put it through."

A communications window appeared in front of him and Gyzol was greeted by the face of a somewhat intimidating looking meltran. "Commandant Gyzol, this is General Shikari Raskanos calling from the Arturo Sector. We request urgent reinforcements."

Gyzol smiled brightly. "Arturo sector? You are with the Bodolza fleet, aren't you?"

There was a pause of a few minutes while the signal covered the several thousand light-years between them, and then Shikari's reply came through. "Bodolza has been destroyed, along with his command ship and almost a third of the main fleet. The ships are scattered and disorganized, we have no central leadership."

Gyzol figured as much. In any case, a fold operation to the Arturo sector would take about 12 hours before they had to negotiate rough space to reach their objective. "What's your situation General Shikari?"

Another pause, and then on the monitors the general was smiling. "That's a bigger question than you realize, Commandant. Basically, elements of our fleet have joined forces with a small protoculture fleet. Thanks to their assistance, we have gained the use of nuclear reflex weapons and advanced technologies. On the other hand, the enemy fleet has also gained this technology, and we have also confirmed the presence of a protodeviln in their higher command structure. Their objective is to capture an old Protoculture colony and two disabled factory satellites in near orbit to rebuild their fleet strength, and with the advantage of their new weapons they would become unstoppable. We have setup a defense perimeter around the planet but we are besieged and can't hold out much longer."

This was quite a lot of information to have to digest in one sitting. The fall of Bodolza... Nuclear weapons... joining with protoculture... a protodeviln... Gyzol's entire perception of the universe had turned completely inside-out in the 30 seconds it took Shikari to summarize their situation. It was as if he had fallen asleep and woke up in some alternate dimension where the galaxy turned backwards and females incompetent weaklings. "General, we have 300 divisions and 27 Quodrono groups available. The earliest we can arrive to assist you is about ten days from now, and even then it's doubtful that Supervision Army will allow us to push through them to join forces with you."

"All we need is for you to draw some of their attention away from us, and press an attack on their opposite front. We're heavily outnumbered but if you can just buy us some time we can build up our forces and push the enemy back away from our defense line. This could be our big chance to defeat the Supervision Army once and for all."

Gyzol nodded. "Then we will be underway. In the mean time, what are we to do about that protodeviln? If they really do have reflex weapons, every Supervision ship in the galaxy will be headed strait for you."

"Leave that to us, Commandant. All we need is the time to build up our fleet and then we can overcome the enemy forces. Since you are already on your way to join us, it would be wise to inform the other Zentradi fleets of our status and ask for additional reinforcements."

Gyzol frowned. "I don't know if they'll be much help. Bodolza's fleet was by far the largest, the others are fairly small by comparison."

"Don't worry about it Commandant. Just send the request and gather as many of the others as you can. With the enemy's reflex weapons, it is going to be extremely difficult to fight them no matter how many ships you bring to the party."

--05:40--

There were already Supervision Army warships in the Bokata system awaiting the arrival of the reinforcement fleet that would be used to attack the Gallaron defense line. More than half of Lacul's forces were gathered here for the rendezvous, most of which would remain here to be deployed against the onrushing Botoru fleet in the prevailing weeks. By all rights, Lacul's forces should have been annihilated by the Bodolza fleet years ago, and Lacul wasn't about to give a second rate outfit like the Botoru fleet a chance to finish what Bodolza started.

Lazuli was on the command ship that would lead the counter attack on the Botoru front, while the other command ship and a single battleship would take a group of reinforcements to attack the Gallaron front and hopefully push through them in time to further tip the scales in favor of the Supervision Army before the Botoru fleet could do more damage. Admiral Sam Bennet was impressed with the battleship Lacul had given him, by all rights it quite a bit more impressive than the ARMD carriers he had gotten used to. This ship was three and a half kilometers long and had enough firepower to take on an entire fleet of UN starships at once, but Bennet knew that the UN Spacey had a number of nasty surprises that made even ships this powerful utterly useless.

As the first ships folded into the system, Bennet's comm window opened with an image of Lazuli on the bridge of her command ship, seemingly light-years of jet-black hair streaming behind her. "Bennet, every 7th ship in this formation will be placed under your command. Keep in mind that none of them are equipped with reflex weaponry yet, so you will have to take outfit them yourself at the second waypoint just beyond the battle line. There are supply ships waiting there for you."

Bennet smirked. "Thanks for the tip, Lazuli." As always, his head was swimming as if he hadn't slept in weeks, but the overwritten personality in his head was fully alert and as usual barely took her seriously. "Lazuli, what's the deal with Sarride and Sarron? They seem to hate each other quite a bit and I'm not sure why."

"Since Lacul purified our minds, it's difficult to tell. I do know this much, Sarride and Sarron used to be married."

Bennet raised a brow. "Married? No wonder they hate each other..."

"It's worse than you think. Both of them were part of the original Supervision Army half a million years ago. Lacul's been keeping them in stasis and activates them only for special occasions, but this is the first time in thousands of years either of them have been active at the same time because they fight so much it's impossible to get anything done when they're together."

"I see." Bennet snickered again. "What about Kraken? What's HIS deal?"

Lazuli sighed. "Kraken is an inspiration to all of us. Lacul never had to purify HIS mind, he was without sin from the moment he was activated. The going theory is that Lacul created him so he could have a companion who could truly understands him..."

Sarride broke into the conversation in another window, nostrils flaring, light blue hair almost standing on end. "You're so full of it Lazuli! Kraken thinks that by kissing Lacul's ass every second of his life, Lacul might enhance his body just like he did himself. He craves the kind of power most of us can't even dream about and doesn't care how low he has to stoop in order to get it."

Bennet could relate. He had those same types of cravings himself from time to time, as did some of his companions back on Earth. "I suppose that makes Kraken our immediate superior, and since he'll be fighting at the Gallaron front I better watch my step around him. And then there's Jinai..."

"Don't worry about Jinai." Sarride said scornfully. "He's some kind of retard. Lacul didn't even bother purifying his mind because he doesn't really have one."

"Hm. Good to know." Several hundred more ships folded into the system all at once, and as Lazuli had said every 10th ship moved towards his battleship and made formation for a hyperspace fold. "As soon as we have enough ships, I will be leaving for the rendezvous point with the supply transports. The rest of you sure as HELL better fight back the damn Zentradi or else I will become very annoyed with you."

Sarride chuckled. "Bold words from the newbee, don't you think Lazuli?"

As usual, the long haired general was meek in her reply. "Lacul says he has experience, maybe he really knows what he's doing...?"

"It was a rhetorical question, Lazuli. Don't hurt yourself by thinking too much." Sarride counted off the number of ships in the system now; there were 4,000 across the entire system with more and more arriving every minute. The Botoru fleet would be right on their heels when the last of them finally arrived, and she knew they needed to make every second count if they were going to outfit all of their ships with the new reflex warheads. "Bennet, take 500 vessels of your choosing and get a move on. The supply ships are waiting for you near in the Berren System, and once your ships are outfitted for battle you are to probe the perimeter of the Gallaron defense network for weaknesses and find a way through. Weather you make progress or not, Jinai's fleet will provide reinforcements."

Bennet powered up the ship's fold systems and plotted his fold routes. "Roger. On my way." his crew worked sluggishly over their controls, signaling 500 ships of the rapidly growing formation to follow their fold route towards the Berren system. "She'll be more cautious since we have all the numbers advantage... I'll have to push my way in, inch by inch..." Admiral Bennet's fold drives activated and his battleship vanished into hyperspace along with 500 cruisers and destroyers towards the rendezvous point in the Berren System.

Sarride waited until his ship was long gone before calling Lazuli again, the one soldier in this entire army she even remotely regarded as a friend. "What's your opinion of him Lazuli?"

"He's a very brave man. Incredibly stupid, but he has plenty of courage to go around."

Sarride nodded. "Keep an eye on that one. He might turn out to be a serious liability to us."

"Liability?"

Sarride frowned. "Lacul may have purged his mind of impure thoughts, but because he is still new to the cause he retains some of the stain of protoculture. It won't be easy to purify the galaxy with people like HIM leading the charge."

Lazuli shrugged. "If all else fails, we can eliminate him ourselves after he has served his purpose. But enough of this, we need to concentrate on refitting our reinforcements, and YOU need to get to the Gallaron front to supervise Bennet's offensive."

"Of course, I know that. May you win every fight, Lazuli." Sarride closed the channel and folded out of the system right on Bennet's heals with a small escort of destroyers right along behind her. "Alright protoculture," She grumbled to herself spitefully. "Let's just see how long a bunch of primitives like you can stand against a truly enlightened warrior..."

--19:30--

Corina was sitting in the captain's chair on SDF-2, looking over the ship's systems checks and the tactical board on her screens. The Gallaron space fleet had been divided up into smaller groups to help alleviate their numerical inferiority, and by now they were divided into fleets and battle groups with whatever ships they could assemble in one place at once time. SDF-2 was in command of the 2nd fleet with 25 Thor class destroyers, 10 Zentradi destroyers and pickets and 6 gunboats, while all the other Superdimensional cruisers gathered around in similar formations. There were just over 300 ships in the Gallaron forces, with each fleet divided into two or three groups around a single cruiser or destroyer combination as a flagship. General Shikari was leading the 3rd fleet from the SDF-05 Defiant, while Hikaru and Misa Commanded the 4th fleet with SDF-04 Monitor. SDF-03 Ajax was assigned as the command ship for one of the 3rd fleet's destroyer groups, while each of the other ships moved up as flagships of groups in each of the other fleets. As more and more ships rolled off the assembly line at Alpha factory, this temporary fleet organization would be subject to almost constant change, especially as the number of Zentradi ships continued to dwindle away during battle.

The monitor in front of the captain's chair flashed the display at last, the ship's systems were up to power again and the fold system was ready. The 2nd fleet was headed towards the 18th quadrant to reinforce the ships already in combat there, and all the other ships had their destinations mapped out. All those that would be leaving would fold at the same time, those that remained in the Bolo system would see them off. "This is Delta Two calling all support ships, standby fold operations on my command." The main screen in front of the bridge registered a power surge in the ships that would be traveling with them, this was all she needed as a reply. "Amelia, prepare to fold."

"Fold engines at your discretion, Captain." Lieutenant Ryder's fingers flew over her consol like a well practiced blur, checking over all ship's systems.

Corina took one last look at SDF-102 off the ship's starboard side, one last look at the new husband she was leaving behind. "Execute."

The entire fleet was bathed in the light of SDF-2's fold drives as all 5 kilometers of the ship and all 40 of its escorts vanished into hyperspace. The departure plan had been pre-assigned and all the commanders knew when it was time to go. The departure of Megaroad-01 was Hikaru's cue to activate his own fold systems and get underway himself along with his own small battle group. "Want to give the order Misa?" Hikaru said, turning slightly to face her next to his chair.

Misa shook her head. "I think Miko wants to try it."

At the mention of her name, Miko sat up suddenly and looked around confused. "What Mommy?"

"Tell the crew to engage the fold system so we can go."

Miko stared at her. "You mean me?"

"Yes you. Go on, it's okay."

Miko cleared her throat and in as dramatic a voice as a four-year-old can manage gave the order. "Commamer Gashi, engage the fold sysem."

Hikaru's first office smiled and sent the command to the navigators, and in another flash of light SDF-04 and its destroyer group was gone as well.

And now it was Shikari's turn, the SDF Defiant with it's 40 ships destined for the Kalibus Corridor. Shikari was still monitoring her communications link from the picket ships to the Botoru fleet en route to support them, any minute now they would come in contact with Lacul's opposite flank and the Supervision Army would be trapped in a two front war. Glancing out of the Observation bubble of her ship, Shikari found herself staring at the other cruiser in her group SDF-03 Ajax under command of Captain Harper, that silly micronian who had apparently tried to flirt with her a number of times before he found our who she really was. She reminded herself to do more research on micronian social rituals, and then she forced her mind back into focus. "Navigation, commence hyperspace fold." Another flash of light and 40 more ships faded out of the system towards their targets.

The crew of the Phoenix watched the other ships leaving dozens at a time towards their targets, knowing that when they all left there would only be a few Gallaron warships left to defend this system. The newly completed city block of the repaired Phoenix was four levels high, or 20 standard stories, which made it just big enough to fit all the personnel and merchant services required for an extended tour of duty. A large section of the bottom most level had been emptied out for the ship's mess hall facilities, basically a 5 story restaurant with balconies poised in front of a huge open viewport next to a massive food court for the ships macron-sized personnel. It was in the food court that half a platoon of macron-sized marines stared at the departing fleet through the massive viewport in the side of the ship, some of them still finishing meals but most just lost in thought. Kai Chan, for some reason, found himself thinking about Minmei again. We was as excited as she was about the twins, but for some strange reason he was afraid of what might happen next, afraid of her future and maybe his as well. Why his future could have anything to do with Minmei or her children was anyone's guess, but he still couldn't shake the image of the little pop star on the roof of her house with a tiny little pot-belly promising him to come and visit her. He made a mental calendar to get some leave in the next four months so he could be there when the babies were due... "Hey Lieutenant," Private Beecher, Forest, Alako and three other Queadlunn-Rau pilots walked across the massive room and sat down at the table next to him. "You read the papers lately?"

Kai Chan shook his head. "It just isn't the same on the big screens. I wish they could print em out for us, but that's waste of paper isn't it?"

Beecher seemed to agree, but it was besides the point. "Anyway, Captain Elensh did an interview with Stars and Stripes the other day right before Captain Matheson's wedding."

Kai turned to face them, suddenly more interested. "Go on."

"She said something about how the most recent history of the galaxy breaks down the conflict with the Supervision Army into two wars, the Schism War where the protoculture was almost annihilated, and the Supervision War that started after the Zentradi became self aware. She mentioned that since the Zentradi are finally fighting along side the protoculture again, this really is more like the 2nd Supervision War."

Kai Chan stared at her for a moment. "And...?"

"That's what they're calling this now, the 2nd Supervision War..." Alako said, looking out the viewport where a de-fold reaction was illuminating the sky. A new ship and 15 destroyers appeared outside and immediately began to offload spare fighters and powered armors onto the ships of Broli's battle group, but at the center of them was a new ship they hadn't seen before. "Speak of the devil." Alako said, a not of impression in his voice. "That's Captain Elensh's new ship."

Kai Chan and Forest turned and looked and there it was, a new superdimensional battlecruiser almost 1700 meters in length, a one of a kind vessel built from the ship Kai Chan's very squad had captured in the Mishalla system weeks ago, with a second smaller cruiser right along side of it. "Isn't that...?"

"SDF-06 Modimel, and the big one's SDF-07 Macbeth, Imura's boat." Forest said impressed. "They dug up the hull of a ship on Gallaron that'll probably be SDF-08 when they're done, but the crews are Alpha Factory are already working on the factory programs to build a cruiser from scratch."

Kai Chan looked back at Forest in recognition. "I heard about that! They're calling it Project Victory, right?"

Beecher nodded. "That's right. It'll be the first Gallaron cruiser to be built from scratch instead of salvaged from old wrecks. They've got a new batch of destroyers in the works already, but of course it takes 6 months to finish the whole load of them."

Kai Chan checked this over with his mental calendar. "6 months isn't very long, we can manage that." Even as he watched, the two cruisers began a field test of their new transformation systems, the improved modular fittings that could perform a full ship transformation in only 3 minutes. "2nd Supervision War, huh? You know, when I joined this colony mission I figured we might run into trouble out there in space somewhere, but I never figured on us running head first into a war."

Beecher nodded. "If you'd told me then I'd be 50 feet tall fighting in Zentradi powered armors, I would have had you committed."

There was a commotion in the back of the room, and Kai Chan looked over his shoulder to see two macron soldiers burst in with rifles in their hands. "Lieutenant Chan, enemy ground troops have infiltrated the forest region near the third gunnery station! Captain Broli wants the 2nd and 4th platoons to make planetfall within the hour!"

Kai Chan grinned at his marines around the table. "Well that's that. C'mon guys, we got some asses to kick." Kai Chan left the table and headed off towards the door, followed by dozens of marines in the two assigned platoons and dozens of micronian pilots running along the catwalks at shoulder height. Kai Chan grit his teeth in anticipation; it was finally time to find out how Zentradi grunts fought their battles.

--September 13, 2016--

--04:40--

The sky was almost full of light. In the space all around her there were explosions on top of explosions as beams from both fleets crisscrossed between and through the ships. Minmei wasn't much of a military expert, but she recognized the Thor class destroyers and superdimensional cruisers on one side, with a massive armada of Supervision Army warships on the other. There were thousands of ships lined up, exchanging punches with energy weapons large and small, and there were millions of variable fighters and strange powered armors swarming about every which way to engage the enemy fighter pods. For some reason, her focus centered on a super dimension fortress near the front of the formation marked SDF-09. Though transformed for battle, it was already badly damaged and half of its weapon systems were out of action, but it still pushed on through the enemy fire as if it were invincible. It was apparent to Minmei that this ship was moving towards some very specific objective for some reason she could not understand, but a dozen other ships were following and soon hundreds more followed them. Whoever was on that ship was certainly someone who inspired them to bravery she decided, considering the madness of the battle all around him. Even as she watched, 10 ships took hits and broke apart as they advanced towards their target, but the lead ship still pushed on, even as beams and missiles ripped larger and larger pieces out of her hull.

She moved towards this ship, drawn in by some force she knew not what, and passed through the clear dome around the bridge and control room to set her feet in the deck just in front of the rear door. There were flames all around the bridge, and the rear walls were stained with the blood of two dead officers on the floor, one of them headless, the other missing a leg and an arm. The captain of the ship lay dead in her chair with a piece of shrapnel protruding from her skull, but someone else was in charge and had been apparently for quite some time. The floor rocked violently as still more enemy fire pelted the ship form all sides, but she could see from the display on the holoscreen in front of the bridge that they were nearing their objective. And then she noticed two officers standing in front of the bridge, one of them barking orders into the radio while the other frantically attempted to keep the ship's offensive systems operating. The ship's first officer lay dead on the floor, and the woman who was now standing at the first officer's station had tied her hair on one long braid she draped over her right shoulder. She had a commanding presence that seemed to demand attention from anyone in the sound of her voice, but the voice itself was gentle and redeeming, as if she spat orders and obscenities to her crew and added "pretty please" after every sentence.

For an instant, Minmei thought it must be Misa, but her hair was black and much longer. When she stepped through the flames and came up behind her, she noticed an Ensign's rank pins on the tattered and bloodied shoulders of her uniform. She decided if it was not Misa or Corina, then surely it must be Miko 16 years from now... but for some reason that didn't seem right either. she pondered over this question for a moment or two before she ultimately gave up on guessing and started walking around in front of her to see her face. But even as she made that first step, the large holoscreen in the front of the room began flashing as the ship reached its destination, and the woman at the first officer's station took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and started to sing a song she had never heard before. She knew immediately who it was though she could just barely believe it, but before the name could leave her tongue a blinding beam of light from the main cannon of some kind of gunboat appeared in front of them and smashed into the ship... the image lasted only a fraction of an instant but it was now burned into her mind like a photograph tattooed into the side of her brain; Minmei was looking strait into her own terrified face at the moment of her death the instant before she was swept away by a destructive force powerful enough to blast entire cities into atoms. She watched the uniform char and ash, she watched her skin peel and crack in the wash of particles, and in an instant she watched herself turned to vapor and scattered into the nuclear inferno of what had moments ago been a variable battlecruiser...

She woke up screaming in her house, sheets soaked in sweat and trembling in terror. This was the third time she'd had this dream since Kai Chan left for the front lines, but this was the first time she had seen herself in it, the first time she had seen her own death on a strange battlecruiser. She waited a few moments to catch her breath, then stood up slowly and walked to the window, watching the thin haze on the horizon of approaching sunrise. "A dream before dawn comes true doesn't' it?" she said to herself, still grappling with the bizarre image of watching her own demise in a distant battlefield. She was sure there was some hidden meaning to it, perhaps Gallaron was going to loose the war after all and she, along with everyone else on this planet, would be killed in the final battle just like her parents. Or maybe it was a dream about her own life, that something about the path she had chosen was leading her into self destruction. She remembered Hikaru once told her he'd had a similar dream, and now she remembered the timing of it had been shortly before Richard started to become abusive... self destruction again.

She felt a flutter of movement deep inside her and patted her belly with her fingers. One or both of the babies was moving again, and every day the sensation became more and more acute until she could almost count the number of toes on the baby's foot. "Sorry guys, didn't mean to wake you up." She still felt shaky and nervous from the dream, so she made up her mind to go to the kitchen downstairs and make some breakfast. Just getting down the stairs was becoming more and more difficult, and by the time she got to the bottom she heard the thump on the front door of the morning newspaper hitting the house. She opened the door just a crack and pulled the paper into the house, still weary of paparazzis that might want to snap a shot of a very pregnant Lynn Minmei, and then stopped and stared at the headline on the newspaper and the eerie parallel she was now seeing. "Superdimensional Fortress Victory to begin final development and final planning this weekend." She said, reading the article aloud. "A spokesman for the Alpha Factory Development project states that the ship will probably be given the model number SDF-09..." She felt a sudden chill, then read it again. "SDF-09..." she thought back to that last terrifying image again, by now the only thing that she could really remember clearly from the dream. But while she considered this, her eyes drifted down to a second headline near the bottom of the page. "Jan Morris to take over the Tonight Show starting Monday, October 21st..." Minmei got an idea. She went through the address book she had recovered from her apartment after Richard's death and looked up a number. Jan had original given them the number in case of problems with their honeymoon, and now Minmei would use it to tell Jan, and soon the whole colony just how it had all worked out. Naturally, it was none of anyone's business, but she was certain more than enough people out there would get a kick out of it.

Even as she dialed the number, her eyes drifted back to the writing on the other headline, "SDF-09... the Superdimensional Fortress Victory."

_____________________________________________________________

ON THE NEXT CHAPTER

Strongly recommend you read it and not skip it, and don't get scared or nervous anything. This is not the end at all, trust me on this. There's still plenty more to come from your old pal Newtype Alpha ^_^