Kalibar

A/N - this takes place in an AU where they've dumped Clarence, Fox is on his feet, Chuckie is underfoot, and they still haven't found the dimensional keys.

Prologue: The Attempt

Avocato was exhausted.

No. He had left exhaustion behind ages ago. He was completely numb and running on autopilot. It had been three days since he'd slept, two since he'd eaten or even sat down. He could not remember the last time he had seen his quarters. With his first officer back on Tera Con Prime recovering from exposure to crassa lily spores, this deployment had been particularly trying. Throw in five days of almost non-stop battle with the Sitronu fleet, and he had good reason for his fatigue.

He knew he would have to sleep soon or risk collapsing, but there so much to do. Had Nikos been here, he would not be given any choice but to rest, and he could have done so knowing that both he and the Kalibar were in competent hands. At least when they got back to Tera Con Prime, he'd have the only person in this whole blighted organization that he trusted back at his side. Until then, there was damage control, casualty lists, a ship to get repaired, and no executive officer he trusted enough to get the job done.

The engagement had been brutal with heavy casualties on both sides, but the Sitronu battle fleet had been effectively wiped out. They had won. He had kept his word and delivered once again. Another victory, another planetary system for the Lord Commander's empire . . . collection . . . toy box . . .

He wondered if there was a word that could capture how deeply he despised the Lord Commander before chasing the thought away. At least he was still allowed independent command.

At least out here in deep space, he could pretend he wasn't enslaved.

He was confident none of what he felt showed as he reentered the Kalibar's battlebridge. While not very large, it had all the instruments needed to control the Kalibar and conduct a battle simultaneously. This room had been his home – or cage – for the past ten solar days. Now it was crowded with officers and technicians, all of them working to get the wounded flagship back to the safety of her fleet.

"General on the bridge!"

"Damage report, Lieutenant Commander Yig."

The pear-shaped Chundu saluted hastily. By their very natures, Chundu lived in a steady state of anxiety. Without Nikos here to act as a buffer between the supreme military leader of the Lord Commander's empire and the rest of the Kalibar's command crew, Yig's nervousness had catapulted to levels just short of paralyzing, but it managed well enough. Resisting the desire to cross his arms, Avocato forced himself to be patient and not snap as Yig delivered the bad news.

"General Avocato, we've sustained heavy damage to decks nineteen through twenty-six on the starboard side, including the lightfold engine. Shields are down to thirty percent. Forward battery reports the main turret has sustained major damage and will require a space dock to -"

"General Avocato, we have incoming off the starboard bow!" the young Hishin ensign at the scanning station cried. "Six smaller Scoti ships, probably fighters, and . . . sir, I don't recognize this last vessel's signature and there's nothing in the database to match."

"Battle stations!" barked Avocato, all fatigue forgotten as instinct took over and he plunged back into action. "Helm, get us the hell out of here! Send a distress pulse to the fleet and notify Tera Con Prime we're heavily damaged and under attack."

"They must have been hiding behind one of Sitronu's moons!" Yig deduced, wasting time and energy as alarms sounded throughout the ship.

Why did that matter now? The only thing Avocato cared about was saving his ship and the lives onboard. The why's and how's could wait. "Alert all functional batteries to open fire the moment they're in range," ordered Avocato. "Divert all available power to the starboard shields. Helm, report."

"Sir, lightfold engines are not responding. Switching to back-up and maneuvering thrusters."

"General, those ships have the right signature for Scotia Majoran, but they're a different build from any fighters on record," called the ensign, glued to his station. "Heavily armed and shielded, possible variants on their Nitech fighters. Last ship . . . seems to be automated or remotely controlled, though there are life readings onboard. My best guess is it's some sort of modified drill or . . . mining equipment."

"Scoti?" Avocato frowned, his heart racing as he rushed across the bridge to stare at the display. Six small ships kept formation around a larger one. "Seal the bridge! Prepare to repel boarders!"

The security guard at the door opened a locker and began handing out weapons to the officers. Avocato buckled the heavy gun belt over his uniform belt automatically, issuing orders for preparation the whole while.

As if whining could argue them away, Yig wondered, "General, why would the Scoti attack? We have no standing hostilities with them."

"We do now," snapped Avocato. "Why aren't those batteries firing?"

It was a nightmare to stand and watch helplessly as the small cluster of dots drew closer and closer. This was the worst part of being in high command – waiting for other people to act when all he wanted to do was be out there on the front leading the assault himself. The risk was equaled only by the exhilaration. As he watched, the batteries managed to eliminate one of the fighters, but it took everything they had and then there was no time left. In a sharp voice Avocato yelled,

"Put me on shipwide speakers! All hands, we have incoming! Seal all containment hatches! Brace for impact!"

Men, equipment, and tools went flying as the unknown ship collided with the Kalibar. Breach alarms blared and the lights went out a few long moments. Emergency backups filled the battlebridge with an eerie glow, augmented by the instrument panels. Avocato crawled to his feet, shoving past the terrified technicians and hauling the Hishin officer at the scanners back to his station.

"Report!"

"Shields are down. Power levels are dropping rapidly. Life support on auxiliary power." The young ensign ignored the orange blood pouring from a cut on his head. "Sir, the ship has penetrated the hull at deck twenty-one and . . ." He looked up at Avocato in horror. "It's activated. Sir. They're going to drill straight through the Kalibar."

He could sense the vibration of the device boring through his ship. No. He knew they weren't here for the Kalibar.

They were here for him.

And they didn't care who got in their way.

Their hatred he could understand. He was the instrument of destruction, the front, the face of conquest in the name of the Lord Commander. General Avocato was the one who gave the orders and led the troops. He was the despised, the destroyer of worlds, the one being in the universe who had wiped out more lives than some diseases. Their hatred he expected and could understand, and he did not blame the people who hated him. What he couldn't understand was – why the Scoti? He had never waged war on them. They weren't Sitronu allies. Formidable warriors, yes, and he and the Lord Commander had privately discussed the possibility of persuading them to join the empire. Why would they attack the Kalibar? Why did they want him dead?

"Sir, the fighters have launched torpedoes at almost point-blank range. We have a spread of ten coming in. Our shields won't hold."

"Brace for impact," Avocato ordered.

Silence reigned on the battlebridge as every being present strained their senses to figure out what was happening. There was a faint series of explosions like Ptoom! that sounded throughout the Kalibar in rapid succession as the torpedoes hit, shaking the ship with new explosions. There followed a sensation of a wave passing over and through them, like riding an ocean swell, and then . . . nothing. The guns fell silent. Everything stopped. Only the heavy-duty shielding of the battlebridge had saved them, but for how long?

"Sir, they've released a sonic pulse that's nothing like I –aaaaaagh!"

The ensign collapsed at his station even as he reached to slap his headset off his ears. A sickening chime passed through the frame of the Kalibar. Avocato hissed, his ears flattening instinctively as he recognized the sound. He'd heard it only once before, and in a situation not unlike this, but it had been enough.

The Scoti had a Death Knell.

It was a weapon of last resort, so hideous and destructive that it had been universally banned. Not even the Lord Commander would allow them to be used – they were too messy in his opinion. The impulse it generated would literally cook all organic material from the inside out. The only mercy was that it moved at the speed of sound and death was almost instantaneous.

Avocato knew what he'd find before he eased the ensign back off the scanners. The Hishin ensign was dead, his limp arms dropping off the panels of his station.

"That was a Death Knell. They just killed the whole crew," stated Avocato, unaware his nose and ears were bleeding. Even that muffled echo of the sound had effected them. His voice sounded hollow. No one moved or spoke. They just stood in shock.

"Lieutenant Commander," he continued, knowing there was just one action left to them, "check if the auto-destruct is still online."

Yig pressed a hand to its head, coming back smeared with white fluid. The Chundu twitched and swallowed and almost stumbled to the engineering station. "Y-yessir, General Avocato. Still online. Sir," Yig finished helplessly, knowing what was next.

Controlling the urge to grimace, Avocato stepped over to the engineering station and entered a series of numbers he truly never thought he'd need. He'd never lost a command before, never lost a crew. If he could, he would rob these Scoti assassins of their final prize.

And, if he could, their lives.

"Auto-destruct sequence engaged," said the computer.

"You're going to blow up the ship?" breathed one of the technicians. She swallowed and added, "Sir?"

Avocato looked at the Hooblot and quietly said, "The hull is breached. The crew is dead. We can't run. We can't fight. None of us is going to live past today, crewman. Would you rather die on their terms or ours?" Calm and controlled, he turned and pressed a button on the engineering panel. "Kalibar, identify General Avocato of House Cato, Supreme Commander of Tera Con Prime military forces. Command code zero-zero-zero-supreme. Commence auto-destruct of dreadnaught Kalibar on my order. Order as follows: Destruct. Destruct. Destruct. . . Kalibar destruct."

"Command received," was the emotionless reply. "Countdown initiated."

He closed his eyes for a long moment. How many more lives did this add to his tally?

They stood and stared, not knowing what to feel or think or do as the computer silently wound down to their end. Avocato drew his gun and pointed towards the wall opposite the main doors. "The Scoti are going to come through that wall any moment now. We can let them take our lives, or we can make them pay. I'm not going down without a fight. Who's with me?"

Yig raised the gun it carried, looking to rally the scant handful of crew and officers. "For Eternity!"

"For Lord Commander!"

Avocato alone was unmoved and did not join in the battle cry. He was not here for eternity or any megalomaniacal dreams of conquest or for a tyrant bent on death. He was here because he had no choice.

Still, he was their leader, and he would lead them through this last forlorn hope.

They were good men. They did not disappoint.