A/N: Please review but please no flames otherwise I'll just delete your review.

Chapter 1

Expect the Unexpected

Captain John Keller sat in the ready room of his new ship, the U.S.S. Agamemnon. It was an Excelsior-class ship which had recently undergone a series of upgrades and retrofits to its combat systems. One of these upgrades was an experimental software called 'point defense mode' that would allow the phasers to easily target smaller more maneuverable vessels, like fighters and shuttles. Phaser power would be greatly reduced but it would fire more quickly allowing for a higher degree of accuracy. His ship had passed combat trials at the Mars asteroid range with flying colors, he was now on an inner patrol mission. His mission was to keep an eye out for pirate activity and assist any ships in need. He had just concluded his log when the ship shuddered and automatically went to red alert.

He walked out onto the bridge. "Report."

His Andorian first officer responded. "We seem to have entered some kind of rift. Sensors can't make heads or tails of it Captain."

"The helm is not responding." said Ensign Williams, a recent Academy graduate and excellent pilot so far.

"Shields are holding." reported his tactical officer Sharon Adams.

The ship shuddered again twenty minutes later, then stabilized. The viewscreen came back, they were in normal space. "Where are we?" he asked

"Navigational control must be malfunctioning. I can't get any readings on our position...This can't be right sir, it says we're not even in our own galaxy anymore." reported Williams.

"We traveled to another galaxy in twenty minutes. Extraordinary!"

"Sensors?"

His ops officer was another academy graduate on his first duty assignment. "Captain, the rift appears to be stable and I'm detecting several high-speed anomalies in our area along with subspace communication traffic. It sounds like advertisements...wait...I've got something else...a distress signal, audio only."

"Let's hear it."

"This is the Republic Cruiser Resolute, we've been ambushed by a large pirate force. We've taken severe damage, require any and all assistance."

"Where are they Lt. Adams?"

"Bearing 219 mark 37 sir. About 4 light years away."

"Time to intercept at maximum warp?" he asked the helmsmen.

"Twenty-three hours four minutes."

"Send a probe back through the rift, have it send a message to Starfleet Command informing them of our situation and that we're answering a distress call. Helm lay in a course and engage at maximum warp."

A chorus of 'aye sirs' went through the bridge. The ship swiftly came about and fired a probe out of the aft torpedo launchers. The rift flashed green as the probe entered then disappeared. The ship then went to warp.

Anakin Skywalker was coughing hard from the smoke. They had been attacked by an impressive group of pirates under the command of Cad Bain. Outnumbered the ship fought hard destroying most of the capital ships and driving them off. But the fighters were another matter. The pirates had been employing a mix of uglies, fighters built from random parts of random fighter classes, and standard CIS droid fighters. Most of his fighters were destroyed and the enemy fighters were slowly tearing the ship apart. He was knee deep in what was left of the hyperdrive, trying to repair it when a call came from the bridge. Annoyed by the interruption he quickly gathered his tools and rushed to the bridge. "Captain? what's happening."

"A strange ship just came out of ftl. It wasn't using hyperdrive."

"Everyone uses hyperdrive, the sensors must be damaged too."

"No sir. We've checked, the sensors are about the only thing thats working on this ship." The Captain moved to a console and replayed the exit of the unknown ship from ftl. It was an interesting design to Anakin and like nothing he'd ever seen before. A saucer section connected to a lower cigar-shaped section with two more cylinders on either side. There were markings which clearly indicated the name of the ship...impossibly it was in basic!

"Sir, communication from the alien ship. It's on a general channel." said a clone crewman.

"Put it through."

"This is Captain John Keller of the Federation starship U.S.S. Agamemnon to pirate vessels. Stop your attack now or we will open fire."

Without pause the pirate fighters opened fire on the new ship. It's shields flared but took the hits easily.

On the bridge of the Agamemon the Captain sighed. "I guess that answers that. Time for a real test of our new phasers. Lt. Adams, set for point defense mode. Clear the area."

"Aye sir."

The bridge crew of the Republic cruiser was astonished and gratified when a series of beams emanated from the saucer section. The beams fired very quickly but at a low setting however they still vaporized the fighters and in just a few minutes the skies were clear. "Now hail the large ship I assume that's the Republic cruiser and make sure we're getting scans of the ship."

"The ship is heavily damaged sir, I'm detecting multiple hull breaches, and damage to life support. I'm not detecting any containment fields they must use emergency bulkheads to seal the breaches. Its weapons and engines also appear to be damaged but there is no evidence of a warp drive however, they must use a different form of ftl...they're responding sir."

"This is General Skywalker to U.S.S. Agamemnon, thank you for the assistance."

"Not a problem sir, we've detected damage to your lift support systems and multiple hull breaches. We can have medical and engineering teams come aboard and assist with repairs."

"Yes, we took severe damage in the pirate attack. We must get our systems up quickly before the CIS arrive to finish us off. The rest of the ship can wait, we need help repairing our hyperdrive. But first some questions...your ship is unlike any that I've seen before. I would like to know more about you before you come aboard. I'll be over in few minutes."

"Of course."

The channel went silent.

"Lt. Adams, tactical analysis of the Republic cruiser."

She quickly tapped controls, focusing the ship's sensors on the cruiser, particularly on weapons and shields. "Sir, I believe they use heavy plasma weapons. I'm detecting what used to be several large turrets in groups of one or two. From what I can tell they're not dissimilar from plasma disruptors common on Romulan ships but more powerful. Our shields could take them but a concentrated volley would drain our shields quickly. They're shields are quite strong as well as the hull which is composed of heavy alloys. I'd say this ship is a dedicated warship. I'd say it'd be a nearly even match for a Galaxy-class starship if it was fully operational."

"The General mentioned something called the CIS, is it possible the Republic and this CIS are at war?"

"Possibly, the pirates might have been mercenaries. It would explain the half hazard design of some of their fighters and some of the more normal ones. Also the fighters appeared to be unmanned as well.. Sir, the cruiser has launched a small vessel on an intercept course with us."

"That must be the general. Can it fit in the shuttle bay?"

"Easily sir."

"Very well, open a channel and walk him through the docking procedures. Commander Trell you have the bridge."

Keller went to a turbolift and set the destination for the shuttlebay. It took a few moments but as he walked in the fighter was just entering the shuttlebay. It was delta-shaped, with two cannons on either side. and a cockpit in the middle. He could see the General but was confused by the lack of a uniform. The fighter extended its struts and softly touched down. The cockpit opened and the General stepped out. Surprisingly he was quite young. Keller stepped forward with a smile. "General Skywalker, welcome aboard the Agamemnon."

Skywalker bowed in the normal Jedi style. "I am Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. Thank you for your assistance but I must know where you come from."

"Please follow me, we have much to discuss."

Skywalker followed the starship Captain to a turbolift. They convened the senior staff in a conference room. The Chief engineer was especially interested in the hyperdrive from of ftl. Skywalker quickly explained the current political and galactic situation along with a rundown of common technology. He also explained the Jedi and their powers. The Federation crew was astonished to hear that the Republic spanned most of the galaxy. "We've been fighting the CIS for six months now and we're spread dangerously thin. We need any help we can get. Now I'm only slightly suspicious of your organization because one of the organizations that founded the Confederacy was the Trade Federation. I can see that your technology is more advanced in some areas though and you obviously don't use droids."

Captain Keller quickly explained his situation and about the Federation along with a brief history. Skywalker was pleasantly surprised by the Federation and Starfleet being a peaceful nation as well as having some of the best diplomats in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

"Now General, from what I understand these separatists were originally Republic worlds correct?"

"Yes."

"And they seceded from the Republic?"

"Yes."

The Captain looked at his first officer then back to Skywalker. "I figured the issue of Federation assistance would come up. Unfortunately the Prime Directive forbids us to interfere in other cultures. This conflict by definition is a Civil War and we cannot interfere unless we are threatened by the CIS. But I have another idea, perhaps we can act as a third party to negotiate a cease fire."

"All the diplomats in the Republic weren't able to settle the conflict before it started. What makes you think you can broker a peace treaty?"

"The Federation is committed to peace and while we won't interfere militarily in this war, we can act as a third party and help broker peace. Our diplomats are skilled and highly successful. We may at the very least be able to get a cease fire agreement in place. If you follow back through the rift, I will escort you to the nearest Starbase where you can more fully repair your ship."

"I appreciate that. I'll send a courier to General Kenobi, I was supposed to rendezvous with him and his fleet. In the meantime I welcome your assistance."

"Very well, Commander Trell, please assign a medical and repair team to the Resolute."

"Aye sir."

"Lt. Adams will escort you back to your ship General."

"Thank you."

The General and Adams entered a turbolift and Commander Trell began to exit the conference room. "Commander, a moment. It seems these people have no idea what a transporter or replicator is. Use shuttles for now. A transporter might startle them."

"Aye sir."

Ten minutes later four shuttles, two each of medical and engineering personnel, exited the Agamemnon and entered the ventral hangar bay of the Resolute. The medical teams were led to sickbay where they assisted the medics there. The main engineering team along with the Chief engineer went to see the hyperdrive. The other team began patching hull breaches and activating portable force-fields allowing Republic technicians to get to critical life support components.

The hyperdrive was online in twelve hours which impressed Skywalker. The hull breaches were patched with portable force-fields and life support was restored. The medical teams also helped saved many clone crew. A shuttle was sent to Kenobi's last known position to inform him of Skywalker's delay.

The computer was given the equations to calculate a hyperspace jump and it calculated a four light-year jump in under three minutes.

Needless to say Skywalker was impressed. "Our fastest navi-comps are two to three minutes slower!"

"From what my Chief engineer tells me, your computer system uses duotronic algorithms. We were using those about fifty years ago. Of course your hyperdrive is exceedingly faster than warp." Keller said with a smile. Almost like a transwarp drive. He thought. "It will take you only twelve hours to get to the rift, it took us almost a day to reach you."

"I have an idea Captain. Why don't you dock your ship with ours. Our ventral bay is large enough."

The helmsman winced. "It'll be a tight squeeze Captain."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes sir, I believe I can."

"Give it a try, if it's too tight for you they'll just have to wait twelve hours for us to catch up."

"Aye sir. I'll need shield control routed to my station, if I can contract the shield bubble we should be able to fit and have a decent margin for error."

The helmsmen tapped his console.

The Agamemnon lept forward, then swung around to point in the same direction as the cruiser. The ship slowly and carefully lowered itself into the ventral hanger bay. The shields scraped against the outer hull of the launch area but the ship settled into station keeping. The hangar doors closed over the ship and magnetic lines coupled to the ship and held it there.

"Well done Ensign."

He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thank you sir."

"Agamemnon to Resolute we're ready for hyperspace."

"Acknowledged, engaging hyperdrive."

The Federation crew was treated to a live feed from one of the outer cameras. They saw the stars stretch into blue lines, then the molted blue of hyperspace. "Incredible! Captain, according to sensors, we're traveling at the equivalent of warp fifteen." said the Chief Engineer.

"Understood...could this technology be adapted for our ships?" he asked

"Well sir, it would take a massive fleet-wide retrofit. But yes I believe we can integrate a hyperdrive into our systems. General Skywalker was kind enough to give me the schematics for a class 1 hyperdrive. It's the smallest kind there is and normally mounted on fighters and shuttles. I'm gonna try and put one on a shuttle."

"See what you can do Commander. Keller out." he shook his head and smiled. Engineers, always giddy as school kids around new engines.