CHAPTER 1

The ship shook as if grabbed by an angry god. Alarm klaxons were blaring, pressure doors sealing. The Manticoran HMS Victory, a destroyer, writhed under the fire pouring into her from the Peep light cruiser. The captain, Lt. Cmdr. Thaddeus Armstrong, issued orders rapid fire.
"Roll the ship! Wait until the next gap in her fire then roll left and launch all missiles on the port broadside." Thad thought, 'If only we didn't have two helpless merchantmen to protect, then we could run away.' The Peoples Republic of Haven Light Cruiser PNS Troubadour was slightly more than the Victory could handle. It only out massed the Victory by 10,000 tons, yet those extra tons included more armor and four more missile tubes per broadside. Fortunately, the more advanced ECM and ECCM of the Manty destroyer nearly evened the ships out firepower wise… nearly. Even as Thad thought to himself, a fresh salvo of eight missiles spewed from the enemy. At the next opportunity, the weapons officer rolled ship and launched four missiles at the cruiser. They bored in on the enemy, jinking on preprogrammed evasive patterns. Their superior ECM allowed 3 to streak passed the counter missiles spat at them. Last ditch laser clusters tried to stab them, but they were too late. One more died at their hands, yet the other two continued on to explode. One hit the sidewall, which held back almost all of the laser heads X-ray fury. The other missile streamed in and exploded in a pincushion of destruction. Thanks to the other warhead, the Peep's sidewall was nearly gone. Bomb pumped lasers slashed in virtually unopposed, cutting deep into the ship.
"Captain! We got em good, her accell is slowing and there are two less missiles in her latest salvo! We must have hit a few of her nodes… accell still decreasing," the weapons officer, Lt. Jennifer Yuki announced with a quaver of hope in her voice.
'That still meant six missiles vs. four in every other salvo but it was better than eight to four for both like it had been when he started the engagement', the captain thought. Aloud, he said, "Good job Guns, now do it again."
Everyone on the bridge nestled deep in the ship had his or her skinsuits on, helmets locked tight against the cold vacuum of the bridge. The salvo came into attackable range. Due to the superior sensors and weapons of the Victory, four were intercepted by counter missiles, and another two by the last ditch laser clusters. Two bored in on the stricken destroyer. The ship bucked as the lasers struck. One struck on the sidewallless starboard side, gouging through the armor and striking laser six and missile three. The other struck soon after, hitting the fire control sensors and gutting the remaining armament on the ships starboard side. A wall exploded on the bridge, cutting the communications console, and its unfortunate operator, in half. Thad heard the hiss of slowly escaping air before the warning light in his helmet lit. A small piece of shrapnel had cut a small groove through his suit and into his arm. He quickly applied a patch to his suit. No time to check the wound, didn’t seem deep anyway.
"Fire control, missile one and two and laser six are gone on our starboard side. Were blind on that broad side now, good thing there were no more missile tubes left in action there." Lt. Jameson said.
"Roll the ship, get our exposed side out of the fire! Keep going and give em your port tubes."
"Aye sir!"
The four missiles took flight. Streaking away at over 80,000 gravities, the flight time was only three minutes. Either because of damaged sensors or luck, three evaded the counter missiles and the storm of PD lasers to strike the Peep. The first one wasted itself on the belly band of the cruisers impeller wedge. Number two hit amidships, wiping away three missile tubes in a lucky hit. The last must have been guided by divine intervention because it exploded directly in front of the open rear throat of the Peeps wedge. Malevolent lasers slashed deep into the ship, eventually finding main engineering and the fusion bottle. One second the cruiser was there, the next a blinding ball of light, its fusion plant taking out the ship when the containment field failed. Left behind was one savagely mauled destroyer, limping its way back to the inner system at only half of its max rated speed. One quarter of her company were dead or missing. The ship seemed to bleed as atmosphere and debris vented from her clawed sides.
The ship seemed to vibrate as a cheer rose up from the surviving crew. Blind luck had let them live to fight another day… hopefully it would be as kind the next time. It had been a near thing. Thad had harbored virtually no thoughts of coming through this alive. Peep or no that had still been a cruiser and he only had a destroyer. Oh he would have mauled that cruiser pretty good, but all he thought he could do was buy some time for the merchantmen to escape. He uttered a short prayer to whichever god had spared his crew and ship. Another to for the gods to look after the souls of those gone, then started giving commands again. He still had a ship to get back to spacedock. There would be time to grieve later, when those he could still save were out of danger.

END CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 3

Yes, this certainly is promising. Sphinx, eh? I wonder if there'll be any cameos later in the novel, hmm? ;-)

So, Thad Armstrong.
I was a bit surprised at the Eugenics stab (Blade Runner' replicants and "Space: Above and Beyond"'s invitros come to mind), not that it's overly rare a concept in the honor universe. What with quick heal, advanced body prosthesis and
(semispoiler)
$$$$
$$$$
$$$$
$$$$
...Honor herself, being a "genie". I'm sure she'll be partly sympathetic if she runs into Thad, although it's a great responsibility to depict this girl and her emotions.

So, to the meat and potatoes. A quick review of the chapters and my spontaneous thoughts. Remember, all is subjective.

----

The opening space battle, a classic maneuver to introduce the reader to the sugar of the genre, is pretty well explained. The mandatory losses and technological absolutes of the manticoran superiorities.
The skinsuit is a given, although I'm not sure they deliberately vent out the air before battle, as soon as everyone has their suit sealed.

"Everyone on the bridge nestled deep in the ship had his or her skinsuits on, helmets locked tight against the cold vacuum of the bridge."

I think they want to take their helmets off immediately after the danger is over. But in this case, had they perhaps already recieved a hit, making the lack oxygen coincidental?
Oh and try not to use the same word twice in a sentence. (See? I'm gonna fire away with everything I've got, you deserve nothing less than the best)

Yes, a good battle it was, a typical Weber battle, with the "spewing" of angry redheaded missiles, the metaphors about raging deities duking it out in the vastness of space and the blinding, bellowing balls of angry white light that is fusion bottles failing.
But I felt that's kind of what it was, a good Weber imitation. Not so much of your own essence.
Of course fanfic writers make it somewhat of a tradition to uphold the certain ways and forms the original writer has laid down (I know Frank Herbert's son Brian has borrowed a lot of expressions from his late father, in his prequels to the Dune Books, although that's impossible to determine since Frank left a ton of notes to base the prequels on, so those "mimicked" expressions could in fact be his own words) and I know how hard it is to try and think of something 'specifically' original (I'm not saying you're unoriginal) in the events that make up a Honor Harrington book. There is so much that already is original about the books in question.
So of course the basic outlines shall remain intact so that you feel comfortable and "at home" in the familiar feeling of returning to the HH-universe, we don't want any crazy "revolutionizing new interpretation of the stagnant old books" because they aren't.
Still, you would benefit from exploring alternative ways of depicting familiar scenes in these books (perhaps a few, good old brainstormings) so that people who read it don't think "oh now he says posterior again!" (just an example, there's nothing wrong with Honor using her fav word 'posterior'. Or, for that matter... )

----

"'If only we didn't have two helpless merchantmen to protect, then we could run away.'"

Not very brave a lad, is it? :-)
Yes, of course it would be the sane action if a ship is as outgunned as you said the Victory was, but the choice of words could make him sound like the proverbial Pavel Young, feeling the merchant ships to be a damn hindrance when they in fact are the purpose of the mission he was picked for, all naughty scapegoating aside.

----

"Roll the ship, get our exposed side out of the fire! Keep going and give em your port tubes."

A wise choice, also one that saved their lives, I'm sure. But I'm also pretty sure there in fact IS an actual maneuver for doing this, alpha-four or something, since it's pretty straightforward to execute.
You would love to check out the technical database of David Weber's work to learn the intricacies of naval tactical maneuvers. I think there's a guide or something, I don't know them myself, other than what I've read in the books. Weber is beefing up his homepages nowadays, maybe he's included those things as well, or will.

----

"Sir, it was you who ordered that only my ship be used for the escort mission."

This, and the following sentences, a very bold, but stupid approach, and one that could have him charged with screaming insubordination, questioning a superior officer before AND after asking for permission to speak freely. :-)

He was of course absolutely right in his conclusions (the Weber Color Diagram of angered facial expressions came in handy, neh?) but the statement made him sound like a civilian boat captain, lashing out at his "boss" in a conference room. It was, of course, a good way to put Thad on his way to Sphinx, but he could've swallowed some of that bile and tried to be a professional. He would still have the luxury of jawdropping when his superior dropped the Robert-bomb later.

----

"You see, Thaddeus had..."
Never mix up the forum of storytelling. There are four (five?) forms of telling a story in a book (I don't remember all of the labels by heart, literature class was a long time ago) and the present one that Weber have set for his books is the one of divine entity. Free to depict any action by any person on either side of any conflict, but can never, ever, display any form of individual opinion or reveal itself as a person speaking to the reader.
Like newsanchors, they would never say "A person was robbed at the whitehouse today and I think he was in the late thirties". They shalt be impersonal (except in countries with dictatorships, where they are expected to cry when some important little oppressor has died)
This is very important.

So an alternative would be "What no one knew was that Thaddeus had not..." or such, you get the point.

----

"Upon seeing this, his mistress had promptly said,"
Great, absolutely great, to venture into the pretty much unexplored world of the solarian league. I myself hope Weber will tie in the sols, the San Martins and the Andermani in later books. Not necessarily all those at the same time, of course.
But to return to Thad, this "flashback" into his story is very important and should be thoroughly explored later. You did well to let out a brief summary about Thad's history, like Weber himself briefly let slip a very small explanation to Honor's previous experiences with Pavel Young, right before she met with him on "Warlock", in the first book "Basilisk station".

When you described Thad's background (starting with "You see" ) you began right, with "He had been programmed to love, obey and protect", and "He (had?) saved her and killed the assassin, yet a round from a needler had nicked his face".
Very important to use all those "had"'s, they make sure the reader knows you are still talking about a past memory, something Thad remembers.

But here you perhaps got too anxious to tell about the indeed interesting history you've thought up for Thad, when suddenly letting in his former mistress to speak! "You have gone and broken that pretty face of yours."
Now you've left the summary bit and jumped right into the dialogue that comes later, when you in greater detail tell about the life and unhappiness of Thad.
Of course, maybe you didn't plan to have those chapters later in the book, you could settle for throwing the reader just this bone, in the beginning.

But Weber just laid down the outlines, "She ignored him, he got mad, tried rape, got shit beaten out, here we are now, period". If he'd put in any words spoken from the two characters in his "had"-summary, he'd have broken the form, changing it from a memory to an active dialogue.

Am I making any sense whatsoever?

----

CHAPTER 4 [On the surface of the planet Sphinx, late evening local time]

The pinnace made a textbook perfect landing on the tarmac. The base was already aglow with lights with the sun barely an orange glow on the horizon. The lush growth of forest and shrubs grew up outside the perimeter fence. Guards patrolled along the fence, not to keep out humans so much as to keep out the dangerous predators Sphinx was known for. Big, six limbed carnivores with razor-sharp teeth filling their powerful jaws and scythe-like claws at the end of each paw.

Sphinx's gravity was stronger than earth's at 1.35 Gs, making the fauna just that much stronger than your average human. There were things in the outback that wouldn't hesitate to attack a full grown human. They had not yet developed a fear of man, despite nearly 100 years of human inhabitation of Sphinx. You didn’t go out into the forest without a gun, and only fools went into it after dark.

Sphinx was still largely undeveloped, with huge sections of nearly continuous forest. Much of the trees that made up that forest had a peculiar characteristic, their branches grew out from the trunk at around the same height and connected together with the branches of the neighboring trees. This caused a network of paths in the trees.

One of the species of Sphinx made good use of these flora made roads. They're called Tree Cats, and just happened to be one of the handful of intelligent alien species humans had uncovered in their colonization of the galaxy. Despite this, most humans outside of The Star Kingdom of Manticore, or even Sphinx itself discounted them as little more than pets belonging to the humans they had bonded with.

You see, Tree Cats are an empathic species. This ability has allowed them to bond with certain humans. Though the exact nature of the bond is not fully understood, both human and cat will defend their bond-mate to the death. Separating a cat from its adopted human causes intense pain. If the human dies before the cat, extreme measures must be taken to prevent the cat's suicide. The same goes the other way, though it is generally less severe a reaction. It has even been noted on some occasions that simple ideas and thoughts can be sent to the human partner from the cat.

When humans initially settled Sphinx, they had no notion that Tree Cats even existed. The cats had noticed the intruders to their world and had decided to remain hidden and gather information. Tree Cats are arboreal creatures, about 2 feet in height discounting their tail. They resemble most closely the Old Earth species known as cats in that they have fur and a feline face. The similarities end there. Like almost all animals on Sphinx, they have six limbs, needle sharp teeth and scimitar like claws. Though generally amiable, they can be deadly when threatened. Because of Sphinx's high gravity, they had very strong muscles and moved surprisingly swiftly.

Tree Cats rate slightly higher on the intelligence scale than old earth chimps and dolphins. At the time of first contact, the Tree Cats were using simple tools, stone and wood spears, rope nets and hide bags. Once the Tree Cats were discovered, the bonding capability was also discovered. The cats themselves found that the bond was quite similar to a pair bonding, yet it didn't have the fullness of one because humans were unable to communicate to their adopted companions. The cat transmitting something then reading its partner's mind for the response achieves the closest thing to two-way connection between the pair. Generally the human receives only strong emotions from his or her Tree Cat.

Both the bonded humans and the Sphinx Forestry Service have endeavored to keep the cats true intelligence from the outside galaxy in order to protect them. The government of the Star Kingdom has even went as far as to grant Tree Cats the status of minor children, entitled to the same rights and freedoms under the law. It has also set aside vast tracts of virgin territory on Sphinx in order to protect Tree Cat habitat. Of course, this might be due to the fact that the members of the royal family have consistently been chosen for bonding by Tree Cats. Cats don't choose just anyone to bond with. They only pick those humans whose "mind glow" is just right.

Stalks Silently thought he had briefly seen such a mind glow now. Straying close to the two-leg's site on a scouting run of his clan's territory, he skidded to a halt on the tree branch. His tail snapped straight out and he rose to his full height, hand paws twitching, four back legs clenching the branch tightly. Centimeter-long claws kneaded in and out of the wood beneath them. His head franticly searching left and right, trying to find that amazing mind glow again.

He had heard the Memory Singers of his clan tell of the bonding capable between the two-legs and his people. Ever since he was old enough to hunt with his clanmates, he had hoped to find one, yet never had. Just as fleetingly as it had come, the sense was gone, replaced by a powerful longing. He knew that he had to find that person again . . . he just had to. Going back along the branch a few feet, he turned around and dashed full speed until he ran out of tree limb. With every ounce of his strength, he jumped out into space, clearing the perimeter fence by scant inches. The exquisite mind glow was closer now. Stalks Silently made a beeline for it as fast as he could.

So this is Sphinx, Thad thought. Somehow, I thought it would be more industrialized, considering it is the second planet in the Manticore system to be colonized and has the second largest population. Oh well, exploring those imposing forests should be entertaining at any rate. Then, he heard one of the sentries behind him shout. He stopped and started turning around to discover the source of the commotion.

Then, it was as if some piece of himself that he had never even known existed snapped into place. Thad's head whipped around and locked on to a gray and black striped missile of fur heading straight for him. A giant smile exploded on his face, hurting from long disuse. He opened his arms in welcome, and a surprisingly heavy creature leaped into them. The sudden weight nearly knocked Thad over, yet he barely noticed. His steel blue eyes gazed into the Tree Cat's feline purple ones. The cat was letting out a buzzing purr so loud that it was more of a force of nature than a mere sound. Both human and cat were lost in the moment for almost five minutes. Finally, Thad began to notice his surroundings again. A smiling ground tech with Lt. tabs on his uniform came up to him.

"Congratulations sir, it looks like you have just been adopted by a Tree Cat!"

Posted this on another bord aswell. They said it should be broken up more so its easier to read. They were right, so here it is!

[ September 09, 2001: Message edited by: HappyTarget ]

The victims of this dastardly attack are in my prayers.

Any way, here's Chapter One redone much better. Hope it gives a little happiness on this miserable day.

CHAPTER 1

The twin suns shone brightly down on the planet of Manticore from high overhead. Within the city limits of the capital of Landing, people were going about the mundane tasks of their daily lives. A small restaurant was doing a brisk business during the noon meal. It was a pleasant looking place, with warm red brick walls and large windows with red and white curtains. Inside it was designed like an old earth bistro. Its name was The Cerberus Restaurant.

What its happy patrons didn’t know was what hid beneath that fa�ade. Through a back door lied a hidden elevator. At the bottom of the deep shaft lies a room. It is well insulated and protected from the outside world. Its banks of computers housed millions of gigaquads of information. People manned this room's terminals around the clock. They were constantly sifting through the vast quantities of information, always searching for items that could be of use. Their shadowy organization had sources ranging from a ghost link to the Department of Defense's computer network, to a plant in the primeminister's office, to near instant access to every major, and most minor, news feeds throughout the entire planetary system. All terminal operators were expert hackers. If a trail of desirable info presented itself, they would follow it until every path was exhausted.

One such had the beginnings of a smile on his face as he scanned his assigned block of information. He went over it twice to be sure, then paged his boss feeling sure he would get promoted for bringing this to the organizations attention. The Director entered the room minutes later. She was a short, heavyset woman with completely gay hair, wearing a simple gray business suit. Her only adornment was a pair of tiny wolf's head earrings, ruby eyes glittering when they caught the light. They were almost hidden by shoulder length hair. She had the air of a grandmother about her, with pronounced laugh lines and wrinkles creasing her cherubic face. She looked completely harmless, except for one small flaw in her mask… her eyes. They were the eyes of a predator. The blue/green orbs seemed to stare into a person's very soul, uncaring and detached.

Upon looking over the information block, a wild grin sprouted on her wrinkled vissage. With this data, it would be possible to execute Operation Renegade on schedule. The warm smile turned ice cold and her eyes flashed in a way no mere grandmother's should. She deleted the data block and any ties to it from the system. Going all the way to the top of the organization had made covering your tracks and ruthlessness a common currency for her. Making a mental note to have the hacker disposed of as well, she turned on her heel and walked back through the double doors to the hidden elevator. Thaddeus Armstrong had become a major player in a very dangerous game. The kicker was he didn’t know a thing about it.

The courier ship completed its download and commenced receiving the outgoing messages. One of those downloaded messages went to the commander of Her Majesty's Naval Forces stationed at Klein Station. Rear Admiral of the Red Sir Peter Thanguae was the commanding officer of the system's picket. Thanks to prolong treatments, he didn’t look a day over 25 years old, despite being over 130. Admiral Peter was imposingly tall at almost seven feet. His jet-black hair was perpetually swept straight back from his forehead, giving all that saw him an unobstructed view of his haunted brown eyes. He was looking over star charts and Peoples Republic of Haven fleet dispositions when his com system beeped. Peter rolled his chair over to the terminal and activated it.

What appeared on his screen initially was a simple text message: One of THEM is under your very command! The message stayed up for five seconds, then was replaced by paperwork and receipts that both shocked and enraged Sir Peter. He roared around his office, trashing furniture until he finally collapsed in a broken heap on the floor. He dragged himself into his adjacent quarters and fell into bed. Weeping bitter tears, it took him hours to finally fall into a troubled sleep. When they were sure he was asleep, his staff officers and his steward set about quietly cleaning up his office. They were used to his infrequent outbursts by now. He had never been the same man ever since that fateful day. They couldn’t blame him, if they were in his shoes they might not be able to hold it together as well as he has. He was a good man who had had his life shattered by events outside of his control.

Lt. Cmdr. Thaddeus Armstrong was nervous, but outwardly he looked totally calm. He sat in his chair, bristly black hair mostly covered by the white beret of a starship captain. His lively baby blue eyes roaming the bridge agitatedly were the only external sign of his disquiet. Recently, his CO had taken to giving him the more dangerous jobs that came up as a matter of course for a system picket. Thad and his ship, HMS Victory, had been assigned as the only escort to three superdreadnought sized merchantmen to the nearby system of Mendoza. Orders were orders but these were virtual suicide if the convoy ran into any major opposition. Thad had tried to voice his concerns, but the Admiral had dismissed him before he had barely said three words. He still could not figure out why Sir Peter had suddenly went from distant but friendly CO to one seemingly out to get him. When he got back to Klein Station, he intended to have a talk with Sir Peter. He needed to get to the bottom of what was eating the Admiral in order to prevent unnecessary future danger to his ship and crew. Thad blanked his mind, translation to n-space was coming up and he needed to be totally concentrated if the shit hit the fan.

The four ships of the convoy translated smoothly across the alpha wall and reverted to normal space. Their Warshawski sails were quickly reconfigured to impeller wedges, then began accelerating towards the inner system and safety. The ships formed up into a warped diamond formation, the three merchies in the back with the Victory dropping in to the far front point of the arrangement. This way, the destroyer could be in the best position to cover all three merchants' form the most likely course of attack, ahead of them. If there were any commerce raiders or pirates here, they would set up further in system so they could move into a position to meet incoming prey. Then all they had to do was lie in wait until their prey was in weapons range, power up their wedge and attack. That’s what I would do in their place, Thad thought to himself, I just hope like hell that they haven't!

The Peoples Republic of Haven Light Cruiser PNS Troubador's sensors picked up the hyper footprint of the four ships. Her captain had an intercept point generated. All he had to do was go to that point and wait. His prey would come to him, making his job much easier. They would be far away from the inner system and its collection of picket ships that it would all be over before they even began to respond. By the time they got to the intercept point, he would be gone and all they would find would be debris. His sensor operator told him that it looked like a convoy of three merchies and only one escort, a destroyer at that. The intercept brought the enemy nearly into a perfect down the throat shot. This is going to be to easy, the Peep captain thought.

Recon drones raced ahead of the Manticoran ships. They were very good at their job, yet even their advanced sensors missed the powered down Havenite ship until it was almost too late. Weapons Officer Lt. Jennifer Yuki scowled at her console as that intermittent sensor ghost appeared again. Her green oriental eyes stared intently at her board as she absent mindedly twirled a strand of her reddish/brown hair. Then the contact firmed up. She gasped in surprise and dread.

"Captain, there's a Peep cruiser in front of us!"

"Shit… execute plan Epsilon four now!" That plan called for a rapid change in bearing of all four ships. They would turn right 90 degrees off of their current heading. "Sound the alert again." Expecting trouble, Thad had gone to general just before exiting hyper. Even as Thaddeus issued his orders the Peep opened fire. Thad's quick response managed to save two of the merchantmen, but not the third. The helmsman had been just a second too slow in executing the turn. Counter missiles raced to intercept the deadly salvo, but three of them got through the barrage and exploded right in front of the merchies open throat. Since she was a merchantman, she mounted nothing in the way of defense and very little armor. The Havenite missiles detonated, sending powerful lasers deep into the merchie. She never stood a chance, exploding seconds later in a blinding boil of white light.

"Scatter the formation! Transmit a distress call to system command. Helm, plot an intercept course bearing…", Thad checked his repeaters, "324 mark 887!"

"But captain, that will take us closer to the Peep!" the helmsman wailed.

"Just do it damn it, we need to buy those two merchies some time to get to safety!"

Seeing the destroyer coming at him and the merchies turning to run, presenting him only their belly bands as targets, the Havenite captain decided to deal with the Manty warship first. He could always run down the merchantmen later with his superior acceleration.
The Peep light cruiser turned to engage the outclassed Manticoran destroyer, launching another salvo of missiles at the oncoming ship. The Victory shook as if grabbed by an angry god. Massive bomb pumped X-ray laser beams savaged her side, opening compartments to space. Of the first eight-missile salvo, one had slipped past the counter missiles and point defense laser clusters to hit the starboard sidewall. By some miracle, it missed all the weapon mounts and slashed deep into the ship. It was a touch, yet not a deadly one. Depressurization alarm klaxons started their mournful wail. Pressure doors slammed into place to contain atmosphere within undamaged sections. Thaddeus Armstrong issued orders rapid fire.

"Roll the ship! Execute attack plan Theta! Initiate damage control procedures!"

A chorus of ayes circled the bridge. They knew the odds, yet no one said anything. They had a job to do, and they would go down fighting. The Victory waited for the next gap in the enemies' fire, then rolled left and launched all missiles on the port broadside. Thad thought, 'If only we didn't have two helpless merchantmen to protect, then we could run away. Instead, I have to sacrifice my entire crew to buy them time to get away.' The Peep Light Cruiser PNS Troubador was slightly more than the Victory could handle. It only out massed the Victory by 10,000 tons, yet those extra tons included more armor and four more missile tubes per broadside. Fortunately, the more advanced ECM and ECCM of the Manty destroyer nearly evened out the ships firepower wise… nearly.

Even as Thad thought to himself, a fresh salvo of eight missiles spewed from the enemy. At the next opportunity, the weapons officer rolled ship and launched four missiles at the cruiser. They bored in on the enemy, jinking on preprogrammed evasive patterns. Their superior ECM allowed 3 to streak past as the counter missiles spat at them. Last ditch laser clusters tried to stab them, but they were too late. One more died at their hands, yet the other two continued on to explode. One hit the sidewall, which held back almost all of the laser heads X-ray fury. The other missile streamed in and exploded in a pincushion of destruction. Thanks to the other warhead, the Peep's sidewall was nearly gone. Bomb pumped lasers slashed in virtually unopposed, cutting deep into the ship.

"Captain! We got 'em good, her accell is slowing and there are two less missiles in her latest salvo! We must have hit a few of her nodes… accell still decreasing," the weapons officer, Jennifer Yuki announced with a quaver of hope in her voice. "Now down to 45 000 gravities! Captain, she won't be able to catch the merchies before they meet up with the system picket! You did it sir!" The mood on the bridge lightened considerably at that. They had saved the merchantmen. They were still going to die, yet they had done their duty. The missile strike had also taken out two launch tubes because only six spat out at the Victory.

'That still meant six missiles vs. four in every other salvo but it was better than eight to four for both like it had been when he started the engagement', the captain thought. Aloud, he said, "Good job Guns, now do it again."

Everyone on the bridge nestled deep in the ship had his or her skinsuits on, helmets locked tight. The enemy salvo came into attackable range. Due to the superior sensors and weapons of the Victory, four were intercepted by counter missiles, and another two by the last ditch laser clusters. Two bored in on the stricken destroyer. The ship bucked as the lasers struck. One struck on the sidewallless starboard side, gouging through the armor and striking laser six and missile three. The other struck soon after, hitting the fire control sensors and gutting the remaining armament on the ships starboard side. A wall exploded on the bridge, cutting the communications console, and its unfortunate operator, in half. Thad heard the hiss of slowly escaping air before the warning light in his helmet lit. A small piece of shrapnel had cut a small groove through his suit and into his arm. He quickly applied a patch to his suit. No time to check; the wound didn’t seem deep anyway. Everyone left on the bridge was buttoned up tight against the hard vacuum that now permeated the bridge.

"Fire control, missile one and two and laser six are gone on our starboard side. We're blind on that broad side now--good thing there are no more tubes left in action there." Lt. Yuki said.

"Roll the ship, get our exposed side out of danger! Execute attack with port tubes as they bear."

"Aye sir!"

The four missiles took flight. Streaking away at over 80,000 gravities, the flight time was less than a minute. Either because of damaged sensors or luck, three evaded the counter missiles and the storm of PD lasers to strike the Peep. The first one wasted itself on the belly band of the cruisers impeller wedge. Number two hit amidships, wiping away three missile tubes in a lucky hit. The last must have been guided by divine intervention because it exploded directly in front of the open rear throat of the Peeps wedge. Malevolent lasers slashed deep into the ship, eventually finding main engineering and the fusion bottle. One second the cruiser was there, the next a blinding ball of light, its fusion plant taking out the ship when the containment field failed. Left behind was one savagely mauled destroyer, limping its way back to the inner system at only half of its max rated speed. One quarter of her company were dead or missing. The ship seemed to bleed as atmosphere and debris vented from her clawed sides.

The ship seemed to vibrate as a cheer rose up from the surviving crew. Blind luck had let them live to fight another day… hopefully it would be as kind the next time. It had been a near thing. Thad had harbored virtually no thoughts of coming through this alive. Peep or no, that had still been a cruiser and he only had a destroyer. Oh, he would have mauled that cruiser pretty good, but all he thought he could do was buy some time for the merchantmen to escape. He uttered a short prayer of thanks to whichever god had spared his crew and ship. Another was sent to have them look after the souls of those gone, then started giving commands again. He still had a ship to get back to spacedock. There would be time to grieve later, when those he could still save were out of danger.

Wanted to make Sir Peter more human and less of a Jackass. Also wanted to introduce The Director sooner than I initially planned. Also wanted to add parts to flesh out the initial battle. Hence major changes to chapter one.

CHAPTER 2 [Later that week, Admiral's quarters, Superdreadnought HMS Killdeer]

Thad stood at attention ramrod straight, his eyes boring into the bulkhead above the Admiral's left shoulder. He awaited with dread the verbal storm that was coming. Knowing his CO, and the after action report he had submitted to him, there would be no avoiding it. Admiral Thanguae was seated behind his desk, with a hint of a out of place smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Thad wondered what that was about yet kept silent, staring at the wall.

"I take it from your report that you thought you did everything you could to complete your mission, Lt. Cmdr.?"

"Yes Sir! I DID do everything I could. The results, I think, speak for themselves."

"I say your wrong. It was your personal negligence that caused the loss of that merchantman! You're lucky you're not before a courts martial board now, lord knows you deserve it!"

Thad nearly exploded at the lies and insults laid out by his commanding officer. He choked back his initial hot retort that that rose to his lips. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, he grudgingly followed military protocol. By the malevolent sparking of the Admiral's eyes, he had been hoping to set off just such an outburst. When his plan failed anger flashed onto his face. But only for a moment, the serene mask falling back into place rapidly.

"Request permission to speak freely, SIR!"

The grudging response finally came.

"Permission granted."

"There is no way that either my crew or myself can be held accountable for the loss of that merchantman. If there had been more ships assigned to escort those merchantmen, as dictated by the book, we would have lost none of them! It was your orders that allowed their destruction to occur. You and you alone are responsible for assigning only one destroyer to a mission normally carried out by THREE CRUSERS! Your orders placed my ship and crew in that position. We saved them. It was no fault of theirs or mine that we lost one of the merchantmen.

"What do you mean it wasn’t your fault!" Rear Admiral of the Red, Sir Peter Thanguae exploded from behind his desk. "You lost an 8,000,000 ton merchant ship, plus its cargo, one quarter of your ships company and got your ship shot to hell! She'll be at the yard for almost a year for repairs. All this and you have the gall to sit there and tell me that it wasn’t your fault?"

Since day one, almost, Thaddeus and his most recent superior hadn't seen eye to eye. Thad had never understood the sudden animosity that had come over his CO one day. It almost seemed that from that point on, Admiral Thanguae was out to get him. That was why only Thad's ship had been attached as escort for the three superdreadnought sized merchant men, when the book dictated that at least two destroyers and a cruiser should be used.

"Sir, it was you who ordered that only my ship be used for the escort mission. You knew that the Peeps had been stepping up their commerce raiding in the surrounding systems. It's not like you didn’t have ships to spare, there is a whole squadron of the wall here with all their associated escorts. Surely a few could have been added to the escort. If there had just been a cruiser or another two destroyers along, we would have wasted that Peep without even breaking a sweat." Thad could see it now, his CO would finally get his wish. He had set Thad up for failure just so he could get rid of him. Thad new that was what he had done, he just wanted to know why.

"Why in HELL was my crew and the crew of that merchant ship made to suffer just so you could get me out of here?" Thad had hit that nail on the head hard. Sir Peter turned a shade of purple that would seem comical had it been in a different time and place.

"You want to know why… I'll tell you WHY! It’s the scum like you that drag down the human race. I know what you really are, Robert 48589 . . . you and all the other monsters created by Manpower Inc.!" Thad couldn’t help it, his jaw dropped wide open. He thought he had left his past dead and buried, yet this sorry excuse of a man had found out his deep dark secret. You see, Thaddeus had not been born in the traditional sense, he had been grown. Someone custom designed his genes to fit buyer's desires. Manpower Inc. even had its own world on which to do its dastardly deeds. To his owner, he was nothing more than a set of desirable traits and something to be used for her entertainment.

Thad was not your average human. He had higher than normal intelligence, for one. For another, his muscles were stronger than any normal human's had a right to be. He also would have had killer good looks, if not for a scar that ran down the side of his face from above his left eye to the middle of his cheek. His short hair was raven black, and he sported a goatee. His eyes were baby blue, what in older times would have been called dreamy. Modern medicine could have removed the scar, yet he wanted it as a reminder. Thad had been grown to be the confidant, guard and bedmate of a spoiled Solarian League aristocrat. Of course, such things were illegal in the Solarian League, illegal in every civilized system in human space. Yet that didn’t stop the flow of human slaves to out of the way places.

Robert 48589 had been programmed to love, obey and protect his mistress even at the expense of his own life. She had made more than a few enemies from her wheeling and dealings with the seamier side of the planets populace. It was in defending her that he had gotten that scar. An assassin made an attempt on his mistress's life. He saved her and killed the assassin, yet a round from a needler had nicked his face, leaving a nasty wound and destroying his left eye.

Upon seeing this, his mistress had promptly said that he would have to be taken back to Manpower. She only wanted the most expensive and perfect items in her possession. Anything less would be beneath her dignity. She would have to get one of those newer models that the Manpower contractor had been telling her about. To be so callously tossed aside by the woman he was programmed to love broke his heart. He finally saw though the blinders that had been placed on his mind by Manpower's heartless geneticists. She didn’t really love him. He was just a thing to her, something to be used and cast aside when no longer needed.

Then the reality of his situation set in. Manpower Inc. would be coming to 'dispose' of the evidence that could link them to their customer as well as to keep him quiet. Manpower prided themselves on being discreet. All the programming Manpower had stuck in his head was telling him to obey his mistress and wait in his room; yet, long dormant survival instincts took over. Once night fell, he stole his mistress's credit card and proceeded to the nearest bank machine to withdraw a large amount of money. He would need it all to fix his eye and book passage off system. He had to move quickly, Manpower goons would soon come to remove his mistress's imperfection problem.

Thanks to his mistress' dealings, he had been exposed to the seamier side of the planet's populace. It was to one of these people that he fled -- a surgeon that would do anything if the money was right. And, for a little extra, he would keep his mouth shut. The doctor hid him for the week it took to replace his damaged eye. The new one was virtually indistinguishable from the original. Thad didn’t ask where it had come from, he most likely wouldn’t have liked the answer if he had. The doctor offered to remove the scar on his face as well, but Thad was adamant that he leave it. Thad wanted it as a reminder of how low mankind could stoop.

He then proceeded to book passage (using fake documents under the name Thaddeus Armstrong to hide his identity) on a ship bound far away from his mistress and Manpower Inc. -- to the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Eventually, Thad chose to enlist in the Star Kingdom's rapidly expanding Navy. He hoped there he could make a fresh start and protect himself from Manpower's long reach. Even Manpower would not draw attention to itself by killing a person in the Royal Navy. They were considered outlaws by much of the civilized galaxy already and didn’t need to give the Star Kingdom an excuse to come down on them and ruin the nice business they had going. Thad had surprisingly good grades at Saganami Island (the major training center for naval personnel in the Star Kingdom), and had graduated top in his class.

He had proceeded rapidly up the chain of command until he got his first hyper capable command. That had been HMS Victory. He had fallen in love with that ship the instant he had seen her gleaming white hull from Her Majesty's Space Station Hephaestus. For the first time, he wore the white beret of a starship captain, instead of the black of a crewmember. He had made doubly sure his creases were straight in his gold on black uniform that day, both out of personal honor and desire to make a good impression on the crew… no, HIS crew. Now all his dreams were shattered. Victory was being taken away from him and a commander who had some grudge against him was transferring him to a dead end desk job. The air seemed to grow thick as Thad assimilated what his CO had told him, he KNEW what he really was.

"It was monsters like you that killed my wife and unborn child!" The anger was still present in the Admiral, but it was hand and hand with great pain. "The police said that it was a home robbery gone bad. That they were just a couple of addicts needing money to get a fix. They left out the fact that they were evil creations designed by Manpower Inc. They left out the fact that they were part of a group that escaped Manpower's control and were on a crime spree just for the hell of it. They were caught and brought to justice, but that wasn't enough. I have made it my personal mission to expose all of these abominations in our midst for the evil they really are!"

Thaddeus could only stand there stunned for a few seconds. Then he replied, "But Sir, I'm not like them…

"Silence! You are no longer in a position that concerns me. Imagine giving a monster like you control of a star ship!"

"Sir I am going to appeal this to the Lords of the Admiralty, what your doing . . . it just isn't right."

"And have what you really are plastered on the front page of every news service in the sector? I think not! You don’t want that to become common knowledge or else you wouldn’t have lied on your citizenship request. No, no, you'll keep quiet and be stuck where you can do the least damage. Now get out of my sight you sorry excuse for the Queen's uniform!"

Thad knew that his past would not matter to the Admiralty, he could have his command back and have all black marks on his record expunged. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to admit his shameful past to what would amount to the entire Kingdom. He saw his past as highly dishonorable and was not willing under any circumstances to admit that he was a product of Manpower Inc. genetic engineering. He accepted the lesser of two evils as long as it kept his origins a secret. He could live being Thaddeus Armstrong, fall guy. He couldn’t live, being known as Robert 48589, a Manpower created monster.

"You are dismissed Lt. Cmdr.!"

CHAPTER 5 [Night, Planet Sphinx]
By now, almost everyone not otherwise occupied on the tarmac had encircled the happy pair. Excitement filled the air. Although it was not unusual for the odd new arrival to be adopted, very few bondings happened as suddenly and dramatically. They all knew that something special had happened under the harsh glow of the landing ground spotlights.

"So, have you thought of a name for your cat yet sir?", one of the well-wishers asked. "I've seen many adoptions during my time on Sphinx. They usually go one of two ways, you either instantly know a name or you take days finding just the right one."

"I think I'm one of the former then." The name for Thad's new furry companion had surfaced in his head almost immediately. It was one he remembered from a ancient earth cartoon. "What do you think of the name Taz?", Thad asked the cat. The cat's buzzing purr grew measurably in volume at this. "That settles it, Taz it is!" Just then a hawkish looking man with brown hair and eyes came puffing up to the huddle.

"So… it… was… true…!" The words seeped out between gasps.

"Why don't you take a minute to catch your breath, then start again?" a grinning Thad suggested. The newcomer just nodded, breathing in and out deeply. Once he had gotten his wind back, his face erupted into a huge grin.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners! My name is Bob Roberts. I'm in charge of human/cat interaction studies here on Sphinx. What is your name, if I may ask?"

"My name is Thaddeus Armstrong, and this is my Treecat Taz!" Upon hearing his name, Taz rubbed his head on Thad's lower jaw.

"Taz, what an interesting name… Well Mr.… err… Lt. Cmdr. Armstrong, I have a feeling you and I shall become rather well aquatinted these next few days. If you have any questions regarding your new companion, feel free to come by my office. I can tell you now, you'll need some new uniforms. Reinforced ones allow you to carry your cat at the customary place, upon your shoulder. Reinforcement is needed to preserve the fabric from a cats claws."

"That will be the first stop I make after I see the base commandant tomorrow morning then."

"Very good! Well I'm afraid I have to be going. I am sure well be in touch Lt. Cmdr. I wish you good luck and good night." Thad wondered what he meant when he said good luck. Mr. Roberts had a twinkle in his eye when he said it.

"Well some guys get all the luck! Not even on Sphinx a full minute and already adopted by a treecat!" Jennifer Yuki said with a mischievous look. "He's a little on the scrawny side isn’t he Thad?"

The cat gave a disdainful sniff and looked in the exact opposite direction from Jennifer.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't get your sense of humor. And don’t dis my cat. He's just right!" Taz commenced his buzzing purr again, and Thad felt love flood into the newly forged bond between them. Taz was about one and three quarters of a foot tall, discounting his tail. His luxurious fur was gray with black stripes, much like a tiger. His feline eyes were dark purple in color, and deeply expressive. With his cat in his arms, Thad proceeded to the organized chaos of the cargo hold.

"Excuse me," Thad asked the loadmaster politely, "but where can my friend and I pick up our things?"

Barely looking up from his cargo manifest, the master chief gestured to their left. Thanking him, Thad, Taz and Yuki made there way though the rapidly expanding cityscape of boxes and cargo canisters. They eventually stumbled across their lockers, already stored on grav sleds. Taz jumped down from Thad's arms and onto the sled, bleeking in excitement as it shifted under his sudden weight. Yuki and Thad proceeded to gingerly make their way around the rest of the cargo. Grav sleds might lower weight to next to nothing, but they didn't remove inertia. If they weren't careful with the sleds, they could easily lose control and knock down a pile of crates. If anything were damaged as a result, they would have to pay to repair or replace the item. That would also surely bring down the loadmaster's fury on them, because it would be he that had to repile the cargo.

The group of humans and treecat had nearly left the landing area when something happened. Taz leapt off of the cart sideways just as it passed a small stack of boxes. This caused the cart to swing into said boxes, knocking the entire pile to the ground. The cat's leap carried him to the top of a large canister nearby. After a few moments of shocked silence, what could only be described as chittering laughter came out of Taz. He lounged on the canister with a smug look on his face. It was then that Mr. Roberts' words struck home.

"Why do I get the feeling that he did that on purpose?" Thad turned to look at his cat, a stern look on his face. "Why did you do that?" The cat just chittered louder in reply to his tone.

"If I remember correctly from my xenobiology class, treecats are said to have a slightly malicious sense of humor." Jennifer said, twinkling eyes staring at Taz.

"Sure, now you tell me! Let's get out of here before the loadmaster notices that his carefully stacked boxes of letterhead have upset and takes a strip off us." Staring at Taz he said, "You and I are going to have a little talk when we get to our quarters mister!" Taz, still laughing, jumped back onto the sled. He seemed quite proud of himself for executing the joke so flawlessly. Thad could only think that controlling this loveable little monster was going to be a chore.

CHAPTER 6 [5 min. later, officers quarters, Tilley Base, Sphinx]

Lt. Yuki and Lt. Cmdr. Armstrong made their way up to the watch officer. Although security had been tight originally, since the war began it had tightened considerably. Instead of just having an identity check at the perimeter fence, passes now had to be scanned at the entrances to all major buildings in the base. A bored looking ensign stood guard. He was about to ask the two for their passes when Taz gave a menacing hiss form his seat on Thad's luggage.

Startled, all three humans looked at the angered treecat. Taz was puffed up to double size, ivory white, centimeter long claws out digging into Thad's baggage. Taz's lips were curled back to expose jaws filled with needle sharp teeth, and he was looking straight at the ensign. Something had evidently set him off, but for the life of him Thad couldn't figure out what it could be. He passed his ID to Jennifer and tried to calm down his angry companion. The guard quickly passed both of their ID's through his reader. When both came up green, he quickly allowed Jennifer, Thad and one angry treecat to enter the building. On his way in, Thad apologized to the guard through an armful of hissing treecat. No amount of scolding and pleading seemed to placate him. Even after the guard was out of sight the cat refused to calm down, looking back down the hall with the beginnings of a growl at the back of his throat.

Once the door had closed behind the party, the ensign let out the breath he had been holding in since the treecat had began hissing at him. He punched a series of numbers into a secure link com and raised it to his face. Only four words were spoken.

"The package has arrived."

"Excellent!" said the electronically distorted voice on the other end. Then the line went dead. The Ensign lowered the com, moonlight catching the ring he wore. It was just a simple silver wolfs head, with rubies for eyes. The company would forward a large sum of credits to his account for his service. He had no idea what they wanted with one Lt. Cmdr. Thaddeus Armstrong, but the pay given for letting them know he had arrived safely was very good.

[Tinnian city, Sphinx, that same time]

The person on the other end of that call closed her com with a satisfied smile. Looking out the large windows in her 17th floor room gave her an excellent view of the nighttime cityscape. Tinnian was the second largest city in all of Sphinx. It was also home to THE largest military base on the planet. She could just make out Tilley Base's runway lights near the left edge of her field of view. The director of The Cerberus Corporation decided that the time was right to introduce herself to the young man she had labored to get here. But there would be time for that tomorrow she told herself.

She made her way back to the room's personal hot tub. Lowering herself into the churning water, she let out a delighted sigh. It was a pity, the director thought, that she couldn't use the penthouse. The company could afford it of course, but it liked to keep as low of a profile as it could. Sacrifices had to be made to keep Cerberus as far below the radar as possible. So far, these plans had succeeded.

The Cerberus Corporation had been in existence almost since the beginning of the Star Kingdom. It had chosen a silver wolf's head with red eyes as its company mascot. Through the years, it had grown until it had quietly become one of the largest companies in the Kingdom. This was not common knowledge within the Kingdom of Manticore though. Cerberus had gone to great lengths to hide its true scope and power from both the Star Kingdom's people and its intelligence community.

Cerberus Corporation had hidden ties to almost every major industry within the Manticore system. Its intelligence arm rivaled that of Naval Intelligence itself. It also had ties to many of the less desirable elements of society. Even criminals and pirates had their uses, and Cerberus never discarded something useful.

Once it had silently taken over as much as it dared, it ran into a conundrum. What it had was not enough to suit its leaders. They had grown more and more power hungry as their influence grew. Cerberus thus set its sights on destabilizing the current government of Manticore in order to place one of their puppets into power. Thus, Operation Renegade was conceived. It was just the first step in their plans for gaining control of the Manticoran government, but it was a vital one. Now, with Thaddeus Armstrong on side, it would succeed. The director lounged in the hot tub, knowing that the time of hiding in the shadows was almost over.

[Officers Quarters, Tilley base, Sphinx, that same time]

Thad found his room with little trouble. Taz had finally quieted down, but still seemed edgy. Jennifer's room was just across the hall. Thad commenced unpacking his belongings while Taz seemingly scouted out the room. Once satisfied that nothing was lurking behind the desk and in the closet, Taz jumped onto the top of the high-backed desk chair, significantly calmer. Thad hoped that his furry friend would not have many of such outbursts as this in the future. The cat looked much more his loveable self now, so maybe it was just an isolated incident.

"So is he calmed down yet?" Jennifer asked from the open door.

"Seems to be. I wonder what set him off?"

"Cats have a strong protective instinct over their partners. It applies to both real and perceived threats. Maybe he thought the guard was dangerous to you for some reason."

"You seem to know a lot about treecats for a layman!" Thad said.

"My sister was adopted by a treecat. I couldn't help but learn a lot about them when one lived in my very house."

"Really! I could use any help and advice you have."

"Well, there isn't much you really need to do." Jennifer said as they made their way to the two chairs set up in Thad's spartan quarters. "They are more intelligent than most people give them credit for. I have seen that firsthand, as well as their slightly mischievous sense of humor. Beware if you give him any thing like a ball or a Frisbee as a toy. You'll need fast reflexes, trust me! They are excellent swimmers, but don't go in the water if they can help it. Just like Terran cats they hate getting wet, so bath times are interesting. As long as you wash him, it should be fine though."

"I wonder why Taz thought that guard was dangerous. He seemed perfectly normal to me anyway."

"I was wondering the same thing. He seemed harmless to me to, but since nothing came from Taz's and his encounter, I wouldn't worry about it. The guard might have even been jealous of your having a treecat. The cat picked up on that emotion and interpreted that as a threat towards you."

"Maybe…" Turning to Taz, Thad asked, "Was that all it was boy? Was he just jealous? Well in my opinion he had every right to be! Who wouldn't be jealous of anyone lucky enough to end up with you!" Upon hearing his tone of voice, Taz jumped down from his perch on the desk chair and scrambled onto Thad's lap. Once there, he placed his hand/paws on Thad's shoulders and nuzzled his head into Thad's lower jaw. His buzzing purr started up and love flowed into the link between them. Looking at the time, Jennifer stood up.

"Well, I'm going to hit the sack. You two should as well. You have a hectic day tomorrow and I'm sure you want to look your best for your first meeting with our new CO."

"You're right Jen, see you in the morning then." On impulse, Thad added, "And thanks for being my friend." Jennifer turned a bright shade of red.

Thad made his way toward the officers' mess with an easy stride. Taz ride in a bonded treecats customary position, on Thad's shoulder. Thanks to a stop at the base tailor, Thad now had garments that could withstand a treecat's nasty set of claws. The meeting between Thad and his new CO went surprisingly well. Admiral of the Red Glinnis McAllister had started out by saying that whatever your history, all personnel started out with a clean slate under his command. All previous honors and reprimands meant nothing to him, all that counted was how you carried out your duties while on his base. All of the base personnel were fiercely loyal to him because of this policy.

Surprisingly, Thad found himself actually beginning to enjoy his new post. It was nothing compared with captaining or even serving on a naval vessel, but it was no where near as dull and boring as he had imagined. The other officers he worked with were all very welcoming and Thad even saw the possibility of becoming good friends with most of them. Admiral Glinnis, despite issuing all his people a clean slate, expected them to prove his faith in them. He worked them hard, yet they all said that he was a great person to work for. Thad hoped that all the good things he had heard today were true. This just might be a good assignment after all.

The duty shift that had just finished was streaming its way towards the mess hall. Everyone was joking and conversing with each other, seemingly without a care in the world. Then Taz laid his ears back and exposed his teeth. A snarling hiss escaped his parted lips. Thad quickly turned his attention towards the cause of this outburst. The culprit was a short, plump, gray haired old lady. On her creased face was a look of surprise. She quickly looked away and lost herself in the crowd. Thad tried to search for her, but she vanished almost as quickly as she appeared. Taz was still in a highly agitated state. Thad placed a calming hand on him, sending calming thoughts through their link. It was hard though, because this time, Thad himself had seen what had set his cat off. Though the old lady appeared to be normal, he had seen her eyes. Just before she had turned and fled into the crowd, Thad had a most terrifying look into the mysterious lady's soul. Taz had every right to be defensive this time. That lady was bad news guaranteed!

By now a few of Thad's acquaintances had come up to see what the fuss was all about. Thad told them it was nothing to worry about. A few thought different, yet chose not to press the issue. Since Taz was still agitated, Thad went directly to his quarters. He had lost his appetite anyway.

[Elsewhere on the base, that same time]

Everything had gone so smoothly up till now, The Director thought to herself as she exited the base. Not a single flaw had cropped up other than those greedy pirates. They would be dealt with in due course, but this new development posed a new set of risks. Who would have known that he would have been adopted by a treecat? She had hoped to approach him alone and convince him to join the Cerberus community. That would be impossible now. She tapped her foot impatiently while the guard scanned her ID, thinking hard as to how this situation could still be brought to her advantage.

"Here you go. Have a good night Sargent Cogsworth." the guard said, as he passed back her card. Nothing like an alias and the best fake ID card money could buy to get you in and out of a secure area unnoticed. As she made her way to the aircar lot, it hit her. She merely needed to invite Thaddeus Armstrong to a parley and show him the right carrot. Maybe even the stick if he proved unreasonable. Part of her wished he would be difficult, those were the most enjoyable ones to bring into the fold. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

[Thaddeus Armstrong's quarters, night]

Taz had finally fell asleep, after over an hour of reassurance. Thad himself found sleep unattainable. He paced his room, mulling over just who that lady was and what she was doing at the base. Then his com terminal chimed quietly. He made his way over to his desk and activated the panel. A message appeared on it, requesting his presence to a formal welcoming ceremony. The base commandant Admiral Glinnis McAllister himself singed it. There was only one special consideration on it, the admiral requested that his treecat be left at home. That is an odd request, Thad thought, the admiral seemed to have no problem with Taz when we met this morning. Yet, what an admiral orders, a lieutenant commander can only follow. Thad looked in on Taz. He was still sleeping soundly. Though Thad felt bad about leaving his companion behind, he felt that he didn't have a choice. He opened the door and quietly slipped out into the hall.

[Restaurant just outside of Tilley base, five minutes later]

Thad entered the cozy little establishment expecting a party, but found none. Searching for first the Admiral, then military personnel of any kind, Thad came up empty. Then he felt a hand grip his upper arm. Thad turned and was concerned because of who he saw holding him.

"You!! Who the heck are you and where is the Admiral?!" The old lady on his arm merely smiled and turned him towards a private booth towards the back of the restaurant. She was surprisingly strong, despite her appearance to the contrary. "Let go of me now! If you don't, you will regret it!" In response, the lady rolled her eyes and made a show of letting go of his arm. Thad turned to go, but was stopped dead in his tracks by her voice.

"Now, now Mr. Robert, that isn't very polite. All I want to do is have a little chat. Do we have an understanding, or do you wish to be bullheaded?"

Turning quickly, Thad leveled a deadly stare in the old woman's direction. "Give me one reason why. You have evidently have access to secure com systems, you know more than you should, and you creep me out. All these things individually would be enough to make me leave, together they make me want to run!"

"Simple, I can be a very, very good friend… or your worst nightmare! Which you want me to be is up to you." Seeing little choice, Thad sat down. "There now, isn't that better!" the old woman purred. "I know that you really want to go back to space. What if I said I could arrange that for you?"

That piqued Thad's interest, though he showed no sign of it outwardly. Though he wasn't totally upset with his present assignment, he still longed for space. "So what if you can get me back into space! You must have a reason for it. Don't tell me you are doing it out of the kindness of your heart!"

"Your right, I do have reasons for getting you into space again. But first, I need to have you on side. I can guarantee that you will be where the action is. It’s the old you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours kind of deal. All you need to do is say yes…"

Thad looked deep into the mysterious lady's eyes. Part of him was screaming run away. Yet a larger part of him was urging him to accept the woman's cryptic offer. In the end, there was really only one choice for him to make.

"All right… what do I have to do." The woman flashed him a wolfish smile.

"In good time, in good time. I'll be in touch Lt. Cmdr. I'm sure its going to be a pleasure doing business with you." She rose and left. Thad remained seated for a long time afterward, worried that he had just made a deal with the devil.

Thad mulled over his decision again and again. Had he done the right thing in accepting the old lady's offer? She had to have powerful connections to be able to hack into the secure base com net, and to forage ID papers capable of passing intense scrutiny. Yet at the same time, she had an evil air about her. Both Thad's treecat with his empathic sense, even he himself had seen that much. Yet here she was offering him the one thing that could make him accept. He needed to return to space, to make a difference. Despite the loss of life and damage to his command, saving those merchantmen had been the highest point in his life. In that singular moment, he had realized truly what self-sacrifice meant. Seeing his crew's grim resolve to press on, even if it gave a mere shadow of a chance of the merchantmen escaping stamped a mark on his soul. He made a personal vow to be worthy of such fine men and women and the system that they fought for. Then being forced dirtside shattered all his hopes. He had been judged unworthy of being a part of the elite fraternity of ship's commanders. Had everything he had worked so hard to attain ripped away from him.

He made another vow to himself as he hurried back to his quarters. He would make any promise to that lady if it got him back into space. He would just choose which ones to honor based on his personal moral compass. He didn't care the cost to himself. That lady was up to something bad, and he wanted to be in a position to stop it. Despite all of the tampering his mind had undergone, he was still a very moral humanbeing. If he saw injustice he tried to right it. If he saw crime he tried to stop it. He still mourned every life he had been forced to take in the service of his mistress. Their faces haunted his dreams, despite the fact that it had been kill or be killed. Although Manpower had endeavored to remove every trace of human compassion in him, they failed. Instead of their envisioned flesh and blood robot, they created a human being with feelings and a sense of right and wrong.

Thad knew that he was stepping into a minefield. He would have to be very careful if he was to succeed in foiling whatever that evil witch had in store. One misstep would get him killed. He knew that there would be no hesitation on her part to eliminate him if he outlived his usefulness. He was within sight of the main gate to the base when a figure stepped out from a shadowy alleyway. He had keen eyes and an amicable air about him.

"Sir, a word if you please."

"All right, but make it quick." Thad said, half his mind still in a world of its own.

"I am from the Office of Naval Intelligence." The stranger produced an authentic looking ID. "My name is Major Sterling. I want to ask you what you know about the little old woman you met at the restaurant just now."

So ONI is checking up on her, Thad thought, just what have I gotten myself into?

"I actually just met her. Why? Has she done something illegal?"

"She is under suspicion of certain activities that may be very dangerous to the Kingdom of Manticore. I am not allowed to say more, only that she is very bad news. I need to know what she said to you. It is of vital importance."

"To be frank, she promised me a command slot again if I would do a favor for her in the future." Thad felt that he could trust this man, he just seemed like one of the good guys.

"Did you accept?!" Major Sterling asked a bit to quickly.

"Why is that so important?" Thad responded baitingly. He needed more information on just what he had stepped into the middle of before he said one way or another.

"Don't play games with me mister! I have been in the spy business since before you were in diapers. Now did you accept?!"

"Yes I did." Thad said. So, they don't know who I am yet Thad thought. Thad had never wore diapers. Accelerated growth induced by Manpower had eliminated any childhood he might have had. ONI didn't have all the cards in this game either. Thad was glad he wasn't the only one in the dark.

"Excellent! This is the break that we have been hoping for since we got our first hint of her and her compatriots activities. You have know idea how important you are! This could break our case wide open. Woo boy!" Major Sterling looked like a kid on Christmas who had gotten everything he had asked for and more. Thad put on his best look of utter incomprehension, hoping for more crumbs of info. "Sure, stand there looking dumb. Hoping for more info eh! Well, since you are now my main lead, I'll let you in on what I know."

"Cerberus Corporation and/or its subsidiaries have quietly acquired controlling interest in almost all major corporations and industries within the Star Kingdom. Not satisfied with this, they are now in the process of either buying or emplacing people who answer to them within the government. They want to be the ultimate puppet masters, controlling everything from the shadows. They have something big going down, and I think you are a major part of it. The sweet old lady who you just met is the director of Cerberus Corp. Most of the board do not dirty themselves with the day to day operations of the company. She is quite the opposite. She involves herself constantly, like the way she initiated contact with you. Instead of sending an underling to do it, she came herself. She seems to crave the exhilaration the risks that such actions entail. We need someone on the inside so we can effectively protect the Star Kingdom. You have to be our eyes and ears. From now on, you follow our instructions as to how you proceed in dealings with her."

Thad had stepped into a much more deadly mine field than he had originally bargained for. "Ok, I'll do as you ask. I was planning on doing something similar on my own anyhow. She and her buddies need to be stopped, no matter the cost."

"Good! I'm sure you'll do fine. Just follow instructions and don't do anything stupid." With that, he walked back down the alleyway into the darkness.