Written by author
In one of the myriad systems of the Meddler's Empire the moltley collection of ships that was the Resistance Fleet floated alongside an impressive assembly of an Imperial Armada. Familiar ships from numerous space faring civilizations of a number of universes were in the process of being repaired and prepared for their respective missions. To give a sense of scale to the assembage, the instantly recognizable shape of a Death Star floated ominously in the background.
Onboard the powerful battlestation The Meddler was in conference with one of his best military minds, Grand Admiral Thawn.
"What is the status of the preparations?"
Thawn: "Everything is in readiness, my Emperor. Chain of Command protocols between our forces and theirs have been ironed out. The waystations in other dimensions for them to fall back to are fully operational. All forces will first stop at one of them before returning to the Empire, to eliminate any chance of pursuers following and to vet all vessels against any possible tracking devices. The battlegroups to accompany both the HALST and Border Universe Liberation fleets are ready to go."
"Excellent job Grand Admiral. You may return to the Executor now."
Thawn: "By your command, your majesty."
With that a gate opened up before the Grand Admiral, leading to the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer. The Grand Admiral walked through and it closed behind him.
Once Thawn was gone, the Meddler opened another gate, through which his minion Mirror Cheeks could be seen.
M-Cheeks: "Hi boss. What's up?"
"Many things beyond your understanding. Come in."
M-Cheeks walked through the gate and it closed behind him. Immediately M-Cheeks rushed to a table laden with food.
M-Cheeks: "Mmmm, sandwiches." 1
*Sigh*
"Listen to your assignment first, then eat."
M-Cheeks: "I'm all ears boss."
"Obviously. Now Cheeks, you will be accompany HALST on their flagship Death From Above to act as my observer and liason. You will do your best to watch their operations to make sure nothing detrimental to my interests occurs. You are outside the normal chain of command and answer only to me, understood. You are to merely observe and lend aid to HALST when requested, unless such aid would be contrary to my interests. Understood?"
M-Cheeks: "Perfectly boss. Can I take my dragon army?"
"By all means. You may go now."
And with that, a gate opened up and M-Cheeks left the room.
Meanwhile on the Death From Above, Benedict waited with HALST, looking thoughtfully at Wayfinder while the crew made final pre-cruise checks.
Benedict: "How long till we're ready to go?"
Ramz: "Should be just a little while now. The fleet's fully replenished and repaired. Once we finish with the pre-cruise checks we'll simply be waiting for clearance to depart."
Benedict: "And steer head on to our doom perhaps. Oh well, if we are to die, best to do so fighting for a cause that's worth it."
Ramz: "True dat."
On the Andromeda Tanith and Rommie were discussing their own pre-flight preprations.
Tanith: "Are Z-man and Zen-Aku onboard?"
Rommie: "Yes. Zen-Aku is currently in the hangar bay and Z-man is walking around the ship. Would you like to talk to him?"
Tanith: "No, just wondering about his whereabouts. What about the Meddler and his people?"
Rommie: "Most of them are already settled in their various quarters, and all of their equipment has been properly stowed. The only ones not onboard are the Meddler himself and his Imperial Guard."
Tanith: "Hmmm, probably making last minute preparations. He should be here shortly."
Rommie: "It feels strange to be almost fully occupied again. On the one hand, it's a nice reminder of my days in the fleet. On the other hand, some of the Meddler's entourage make me uneasy. Like that Techno 2.1 fellow, or that Machinesmith B guy." 2
Tanith: J"ust because they can merge with machinery doesn't mean they're a threat to you. You've got defenses. Anyway, we're supposedly all on the same side, so they shouldn't try anything. And we'll be ready to deal with them if they do."
Rommie: "You're right. I've just been suspicious about such beings ever since that Deviljon tried to take control of the ship."
Tanith: "Well keep being suspicious. You never know who can betray you."
There was a hint of bitterness in Tanith's last phrase, as she was reminded once again of Jaffa. She quickly changed the subject.
Tanith: "Why don't we call the Meddler and see what's keeping him. Raise him on the comm, please."
The screen came on to show the Meddler donning a grey trenchcoat over his matching jumpsuit, while in the background the crimson-garbed figures of his Imperial Guard stood at attention.
"Ah! I thought you'd be calling. I was just finishing up gathering some extra personal gear for our expedition. The rest of my stuff should already be in my quarters, so once I get over there we should be ready to embark. Permission to come aboard, Captain Tanith?"
Tanith: "Permission granted, Emperor Meddler."
And with that a gate opened up and the Meddler and his guardsmen walked onto the bridge.
"Now that the gang's all here, why don't we get under way? No need to delay our mission any longer. Destiny awaits us."
Metaphysician (muttering under his breath): "Yeah, but what kind?"
Rommie: "No reason to wait around."
Tanith: "All right then. All hands prepare to depart."
And with the signal given, the Andromeda cloaked, fading from view, while the HALST and Liberation Fleets got under way. The new campaign to oppose the tyrrany of the Overload had begun.
*****
Footnote:
1. Yes of course the Meddler knows M-Cheeks is a fool, but with his power to annoy taking him to interesting situationss and letting him encounter interesting people, he's a useful fool.
2. These two are copies of the originals, who downloaded their mental engrams into bodies they built to go on this expedition. Hence the designations. The originals themselves are staying at one of the Meddler's many facilities.
Written by CheeksTheToyWonder
M-cheeks sits in the middle of the floor, cooing softly.
I love you.
I have ALWAYS loved you.
Ever since I first laid eyes upon you, you've haunted my dreams, filled my every waking thought.
My love for you is as wide as Oprah after touring the cookie factory, as deep as the question "If a tree fell in a forest and it hit a guy who was clapping with one hand, what's for breakfast?..
And let it be known, my dearest darling, my love for you will never falter, though rain may fall, wind may blow, and a flock of winged monkeys may choose to fly over the car after I've just washed it.
But now it is time for us to part. Goodbye, my love. I shall always remember you... In every drop of rain, every singing bird, every bright...."
DRAGON ARMY SINGS: Bright
Bright Sunshiney day.
And, with one last, fateful tear, MCheeks eats his sandwich. It's an impressive feat, exibiting the kind of gusto usually resolved for small children of Christmas morning, and Mcheeks concentration on his task is total. By the time he's done, there's not a square inch in the surrounding room not covered in stray mayonaise or tomato juice.
Buuuuuuuuuuuurp. Man that was a good... Hey... Wait a minute!
Where the heck...?
And then, with a shock of regognition, Cheeks leaps into the air, throwing hampsters brandished!
Ahhhhhhh! It's that horrible nightmare with the three-bummed tigers eating my underwear come to life! (Without the tigers, the underwear, and some strange spaceship added in.)
Looks down at his sandwich...
Ah. I get it. Somebody spiked the pastrami, and this is all a dream. And HEY! Here's some of my old Halst-mates. Heya guys! Howzit hangin? Lemme guess. Some interdimensional conquerer has threatened the collective well being of the galaxy, and we have no choice bu to take up arms against his dictatorial rule!
Or is it Foosball night? I *LIKE* Foosball night.
Written by Tanith
Krispy Kreme stared at M-Cheeks. "Eh... riiiight."
At that moment, Ramz entered the bridge of the DFA. "Are we all ready to go?"
Ignoring the bumbling M-Cheeks, Krispy nodded as he punched in some commands on the console beside him. "Yep. The DFA is ready." When he finished tapping in the commands, Nobody appeared on the viewscreen. "You set, Nobody?"
"Ready to go here," came the reply.
"Hey, snazzy sword there, my man," Ramz commented.
Nobody shrugged as he fingered the hilt of the dark rune-covered sword Tanith had given him. It was held in a make-shift sheath that was attached to his Asgardian belt. His lightsaber hung next to it on the belt as well.
As one by one, the other ships in the fleet signalled their readiness. The GSV Dream Within a Dream was last, since Benedict had just returned to it after coming on board the DFA and a few other lead ships to discuss a few sensitive documents labelled "The Helios Protocols" with the various Resistance leaders.
When everything was ready, the ships clustered together in formation. Benedict's GSV went first, as the one to lead the way. Nobody's Corellian Corvette and HALST's DFA followed immedately behind. They were trailed closely by the dragon army that M-Cheeks had brought with him. The rest of the Resistance fleet, including those provided by the Meddler, followed.
Silently, the fleet glided underway. Soon to fade from that universe as Wayfinder led them into the realms of Shadow.
