LATENT IMAGES

          Captain Adam Reid sighed with relief as his Omega-class destroyer approached Earth for the first time in a while, having been out on patrol in the outer sectors for the last few months. The EAS Chimera endured a couple close calls, but every patrol and mission ended in success no matter how many trials and tribulations that both ship and crew had to go through to achieve it.
          "Nice to be home." muttered Reid, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair that had greyed on either side, complementing his hazel eyes. A veteran of Earth Force, he was happy to be back in Earth space, especially as the area began to fill up with other Earth Force ships, as well as ships from the Interstellar Alliance. In two days, there would be a celebration for the fifth anniversary of the end of the Earth Alliance civil war, the conclusion of which saw the end of President Clark's dictatorship, and the creation of the Interstellar Alliance itself.
          Having gone off-shift once the Chimera had jumped into the region, Reid was now in his quarters, viewing the live feed on his personal monitor. He wouldn't be needed on the bridge until the following morning, leaving him content to relax and unwind for a little while until he decided to turn in. Just as he was about to get up and get himself a cold drink, his link beeped.
          Reid looked to the back of his left hand, and frowned.
          'Hope it's nothing important....'
          He tapped one of the small buttons on the link.
          "Reid here. Go ahead."
          "This is Marzcek." replied his first officer over the comm. "We found a little patch of space and are holding position. Standard greetings from Earth have been received, and engines are at station keeping." he explained. "Did you want to talk to anyone in EarthDome, sir?"
          Reid scratched his chin with his right hand for a second or two. "No, commander. Continue to hold position, and tell the crew to relax. We won't be needed until tomorrow morning at the earliest."
          "Very good sir. Sorry to have bothered you." came the reply, as the comm channel was closed and the link beeped to reinforce it.
          Finally getting to his feet, Reid straightened his thin, grey housecoat and wandered to his breakfast nook where a small pitcher of ice water was sitting on the small table. He poured some into a waiting glass before taking a sip, feeling refreshed. Reid pondered the last couple of missions, and finally felt as if he could enjoy a little rest for a change. His crew had certainly earned it, as they had performed their duties as professionaly and efficient as they always had.
          'This time, it's my turn to get some rest.'
          Reid moved to his bed, pushing the sliding partition to the right before ditching the housecoat on the chair nec to his bed and flopping down on the mattress, making sure his head was comfortably on the pillow before all else.
          "Computer, lights off."

          The bridge monitors showed ship after ship moving in and around Earth space, with a variety of different craft taking up positions here and there. Commander Jon Marzcek watched as Earth Force destroyers were joined by Minbari Sharlin-class cruisers, Drazi Sunhawks, and even several of the White Star-class ships that were piloted by Rangers and comprised of both Minbari and Vorlon technology. He ran a hand through his short, blond hair quickly, as his blue eyes scanned the bridge.
          Having lost several friends in the Earth Alliance civil war, Marzcek was happy to see this new ear of peace, albeit a little uneasy at the memories of the civil war being brought back to the forefront of his mind due to the celebrations that had started to be held on Earth the year after President Clark had killed himself. Marzcek had been affected by the memorial service each year it had been held, not to mention the stories that some would tell each other about being in such a fierce and unrelenting campaign to restore democracy and peace to Earth at that time.
          'The difference with the civil war was simple, yet disturbing.' he thought to himself.
          'Unlike in the Minbari War, we knew everyone we killed in the civil war, and those faces will haunt a lot of us forever, whether we like it or not.'
          The previous year's celebrations had shook Marzcek somewhat, the fly bys of the various fighters during the honour guard and formation performance bringing back some bad memories of when he had been out in a Starfury engaged with the 'enemy' at the time, splashing several of Clark's Starfuries in one battle alone.
          "Damn." he mumbled under his breath. There were only a few crew members on the bridge with him, and after looking about, he could tell that no one had heard him, as they were too busy carrying out their duties. Turning his attention back to the main monitor, he watched intently as a Starfury suddenly streaked past and started him. It's markings told him it was from another squadron attached to a different ship, and not the Chimera.
          Without warning, a second Starfury whipped by, and Marzcek identified this one as Hawk Leader!
          'Did we launch a Starfury?!?!'
          Before he could query anyone about an unauthorized launch, two beams of blue light energy struck the Starfury out of nowhere, the small fighter exploding violenty, utterly destroyed by the surprise attack.
          Marzcek gripped the computer console tight ans started to hyperventilate, when someone suddenly spoke to him and put a hand on his left arm.
          'Are you all right, sir?" said the female ensign.
          Marzcek looked distant and confused, and it took a few moments for him to get his bearings. Unsure what had just happened, he looked to the ensign and quickly made up a story to tell her, as a couple other crew members looked on.
          "Upset stomach, ensign. I think I should see the doctor."
          The female ensign nodded, and managed a smile.
          "Good idea. Hope you fee better soon, sir."
          'You don't know the half of it.' he thought, before leaving the bridge.

          Major Will McIntyre made his way into the gear room near the hangar bay and looked over his personal equipment, making sure his flight suit was in order and his helmet clean and shiny. He was the only one from his squadron still onboard the Chimera, the others having gone down planetside to visit friends and family while they had some shore leave time to do so. Not everyone was required to attend the anniversary celebrations, and no pilots from the Chimera were scheduled to take part this time around.
          McIntyre looked into his helmet's visor and saw his reflection. His short blond hair and sharp, blue eyes complemented his cheekbones and defined jaw line, making him quite the handsome fellow. His wife, Sarah, also a Starfury pilot in his squadron, fell in love with him thanks to his sparkling eyes.
          He would have joined Sarah on her visit to Earth, but respected her wishes for going alone and finally reconnecting with her family on her own terms. McIntyre respected that, and remained on the ship to personally tinker with his Starfury and lose himself in a project while he had the time to do so. Normally, he couldn't be bothered, but did have an engineering background, and wanted to do things himself from time to time.
          'It will be fun!' he thought to himself. 'Besides, can't always let Ray Park or some NCO tech have all the fun!' 
          The hangar bay was technically on stand-by only during shore leave, but because he was squadron leader, McIntyre had his own personal access codes to let himself in. Walking over to the airlock that led to the hangar bay, he keyed in his access codes, being granted admission instantly. After passing through both doors and emerging in the spacious hangar bay, McIntyre was surprised to see someone poring over a Starfury that sat away from the others. He recognized the man as the Chimera's executive officer, Commander Marzcek, who was also a trained pilot.
          "Commander! Haven't seen you near a Starfury in some time." 
          Marzcek turned and smiled slightly, acknowledging the Major while pointing at his personal Starfury.
          "Yeah, it's been a while, but she's still a beaut."
          McIntyre nodded. "Very much so. Feeling nostalgic?" he queried.
          Marzcek shrugged. "Not really. Sometimes, I just come here to admire her."
          McIntyre grinned, understanding the situation. "For sure! I have some work to do on my own Starfury, so I'll just leave you two alone."
          The commander nodded, and turned his attention back his ship. McIntrye headed to the right and made his way over to his own Starfury, and climbed into the cockpit once it was open to start making some modifications. Minutes began to pass by as he worked away adding a new circuit and some extra equipment. After twenty minutes had gone by, McIntyre looked up to see Marzcek still in front of his Starfury, only now the man was looking around, all over the place. He seemed to be visualizing something, but it suddenly turned into something else. Marzcek jumped back without warning and screamed.
          "Hawks Four and Five, come in please!!" he yelled. "Hawks Four and Five, COME IN PLEASE! Dammit, NO!!!"
          McIntyre jumped out of his cockpit and raced over to Marzcek, who had dropped to his knees.
          "Sir?"
          The commander looked around, saw that he was in the hangar bay with no one but McIntyre, and slowly got to his feet, a little embarassed.
          "Daydream." he said, clearing his throat. "I need some rest." 
          With that, he left the hangar bay, leaving a confused and concerned Major McIntyre standing alone and bewildered at what had just happened.

          Sitting alone in his quarters and trying to find some clarity, Commander Marzcek was in his wing chair with his uniform jacket off and slung over the back of the chair to make himself more comfortable. He had been reflecting on his day, especially on his own episode of terror in the hangar bay earlier.
          'In front of McIntyre, no less.' he thought, frowning. 'Maybe I should have taken shore leave and gone down to Earth to get away from this anniversary nonsense.'
          Time off wasn't his strong suit, and he had always passed up the opportunity for shore leave by keeping himself busy on the Chimera. His responsibilities as executive officer were vast, and he really didn't have anyone to visit down on Earth, his father being a recluse and his mother having passed away years back. Marzcek took great solace in his work, and was happy to serve and do it to the letter. He had gained a reputation as a no-nonsense kind of officer, but one that was loyal to his captain and crew.
          Putting the current festivities as well as his job out of his mind, Marzcek drifted off and fell asleep in his chair quickly, having been a little more tired than he realized. Several hours ticked by as he dozed. It almost looked as if he'd sleep most of the night in his chair, until something brought him out of his sleep, and quickly. His nostrils picked up the scent of smoke, and as he came to, Marzcek could tell it was coming from burning consoles throughout the bridge.
          He jumped out of the captain's chair, and looked about to see comrades lying dead on the decks, blood all over the place. The ship rocked violently as something else behind him exploded, and a solitary voice broke in with bad news.
          "Direct hit, sir! We've got fire on all decks now!!"
          Marzcek staggered over to a console that had fire damage, but still worked. He wiped off the charred remains of a broken conduit, and looked at the readout to get the full scale of damage that had been done to the Chimera. 
          Looking around once more to see that the situation had become hopeless, Marzcek turned to the surviving officer who had taken over at the comm console.
          "Give the word! All hands, abandon ship!!"
          The officer nodded, her face that of confusion and sadness as she relayed the message several times before leaving the bridge herself. Marzcek took one last look at the destroyed bridge of the Chimera before heading for the exit. 
          'I have to get off this ship! No choice now!'
          Leaving his quarters, Marzcek ran out into the corridor and headed for the nearest lift, knowing that there was only once place he could go to leave the carnage behind, and maybe even take some of those Clark sympathizers with him!
          'Got to get to my Starfury!'
          Marzcek jumped into a lift and let it take him to the hangar deck. 
          'I'll get some payback soon enough!'

          Captain Reid was just waking up, when he heard the door chime to his quarters sound, telling him that he already had a visitor to start the day. Sliding out of bed quickly, Reid hurriedly put on his housecoat and wandered towards the door to his quarters, instructing the computer to turn up the lights. Once he had adequate illumination, he answered the door.
          "Come in."
          The door slid sideways, revealing the familiar form of Major McIntyre, sporting a black jumpsuit in place of his flight uniform. 
          "Sorry to wake you, sir." said McIntyre.
          The captain smiled. "No worries, Major. I was just getting up anways. What's on your mind?"
          McIntyre stepped into the captain's quarters and waited for the door to close fully before speaking again.
          "It's about Commander Marzcek, sir."
          Reid raised an eyebrow. He couldn't remember a time when someone wanted to talk privately to him about his executive officer, a man that was liked and well-respected by all who served alongside him.
          "Do tell, Major."
          McIntyre sighed. "I ran into him in the hangar bay late last night. I went there to modify my Starfury, and I saw him staring at his. We talked for a minute, then I went to do my thing. About twenty minutes later, I looked up, and saw him talking to himself and then screaming about Hawks Four and Five being destroyed." he explained.
          Reid said nothing, and continued to listen.
          "I ran over and asked him if he was okay, but was told that he had been daydreaming for a moment, and needed some rest. I don't know what to make of it, sir. And, with the doctor away on shore leave, I thought it best to come to you."
          Captain Reid thought for a moment, and stroked his chin. 
          "Very out of character for him." he replied. "Where is he now?"
          McIntyre shrugged. "He said he was headed to his quarters for some rest, and that's the last I saw of him."
          Reid's brow furrowed as he tried to think as to why Marzcek had acted in the way he did, or if something triggered it in some way.
          "We'll respect his privacy for the time being, but if you see something similar happen, I'll have to have a talk with him in private." explained the captain. "Perhaps all the stress from out last set of missions has--"
          Reid was interrupted by the beep from his link.
          "Reid. Go ahead."
          "Unauthorized Starfury launch, sir! You'd better get up here!"
          McIntyre thought back to the previous night, in which Marzcek was staring at his own Starfury, and suddenly had a bad feeling about everything.

          Blasting away from the Chimera as the glow of it's engines grew brighter against the black of space, the lone Starfury headed directly towards the rest of the armada that had been assembled for the celebrations, but with intent to disrupt them. It's weapons systems were being heated up, with Marzcek checking and re-checking everything in the cockpit to make sure that nothing could hinder him from inside his own craft.
          'Must succeed.'
          It wouldn't take him long to reach the rest of the assembled armada, and from there he would start his assault on the unsuspecting Earth Alliance destroyers that were unaware of what was about to happen to them. Marzcek switched his targetting scanners on and set them to full, ready to attack. The normally rational and sensible first officer was now a prisoner of his own mind, and the mental suffering and anguish that inhabited it. For a long time, he'd been able to push aside the burdens of having killed a few of his friends back in the civil war, but the fifth anniversary of the end of said war had cracked him.
          Marzcek was as strong as they came, especially as an Earthforce officer, but even he was susceptable to the ravages of post-traumatic stress syndrome. He had seen a lot over the years he'd spent in the military, and been involved in many battles. Nothing however, could have prepared him for going up against his own government, and helping to kill friends and colleagues, even if his cause was righteous and justified.
          'This is the only way out....'
          Convinced that he had to attack his own once more and go out in a blaze of glory to make amends for what he had done in the civil war, Marzcek felt a lump in his throat, and swallowed, finding it hard to breath for a split second as some dout washed through his mind, but then passed as quickly as it had begun.
          "Pulse cannons now at full power." reported the craft's computer in it's monotone digital voice.
          'Good.'
          Marzcek could now see a lot of ships coming into view, starting with a small fleet of White Star-class ships, and followed by a mix of Earth Alliance destroyers and Minbari cruisers all in the same vicinity.
          'The Minibari won't get involved, but those White Stars might.'
          He resolved to reduce speed and make it look like he was joining the armada upon arrival, before making a bee line for the destroyers and starting his attack run. Marzcek knew he'd only have a certain amount of time to do what he needed to do before his own destruction, so it would have to be one hell of an assault from the start.
          'Not long now.'
          Time ticked away as he got closer and closer to his target, his mind now clouding more and more along the way. He was not insane, but his plan was, and in his mind, it was the only thing he could do at this point.

          "Can you confirm that Commander Marzcek is the one piloting the Starfury?" asked Captain Reid of the ship's operations officer, who was stationed behind his console.
          "Yes sir. ID and lifesigns confirmed."
          Reid muttered a curse, a rare thing for him, but understandable given the circumstances. He was trying to coordinate an effort to go after Marzcek, but the Chimera didn't have it's full crew complement present. Will McIntyre was also the only pilot still onboard the ship due to shore leave, and was starting his pre-flight before launching to go after the rogue first officer.
          'Doesn't make sense, really.' thought Reid to himself.
          He'd served with Marzcek for quite some time, and never saw any inclination over those years that his first officer would do something like this. The Chimera has been on countless missions, and everyone on the crew had always seemed normal after each one, albeit a little tired. Reid had a good crew, with resilient people working for him. The only thing that crossed his mind was after the civil war had ended. Several of the crew had stayed on edge longer than others, but had been given counselling and extended shore leave to cope with what had happened.
          'All except Marzcek! Damn!'
          Reid forgot that his first officer had not only taken part in some of the bigger engagements, but had also been in his Starfury as an extra pilot on a couple of occassions. Being someone who never took shore leave, Marzcek had stayed with the Chimera during her repair and refit, and never taken any shore leave.
          "Dammit. That's it!"
          Reid hurried across the bridge to his own personal computer console located two steps up on a raised deck, and queried the computer.
          "Computer, run a check on battles the Chimera fought against other Earth Alliance ships in the years twenty-two sixty, and twenty-two sixty one, and cross reference a list of personnel that lost their lives in said battles."
          "Working." replied the digital female voice. "Estimated completion time of ten minutes. Please stand by."
          Captain Reid surmised that something had to have happened in one of those battles that Commander Marzcek had never been open about, like who he saw, or who might have died in those battles and what those people meant to him. They had all been fighting against friend, colleagues, and other Earthers that had gotten caught on the wrong side of the war and ended up getting killed because of it.
          His train of thought was broken by a young NCO who was manning the communications station for the time being.
          "Hawk Leader is ready for launch, sir."
          Knowing that if reason didn't work and this situation couldn't be resolved peacefully, McIntyre would have to destroy Marzcek's Starfury to keep anyone else from getting hurt.
          "Launch!"

          None of the thoughts going through Will McIntyre's head were of any use to him at the moment, as they all produced the nightmare scenario of having to see innocent people get hurt or killed before having to kill Commander Marzcek. 
          "Maximum burn." he reminded the onboard computer, pushing the engines to their highest level at an attempt to catch up with the rogue Starfury pilot before the inevitable started to happen.
          "Hawk Leader to Chimera. I hope you're going to be warning that armada as to what is going on, or this is going to turn into a massive misadventure."
          Captain Reid's voice came back over the comm. "Affirmative, Hawk Leader. Doing all we can on this end. Continue to pursue, and if necessary, engage the rogue Starfury as quickly as possible. Reid out."
          McIntyre shook his head inside his helmet best he could, not happy with the whole situation at present.
          "Roger that."
          His own weapons were now hot and ready to be used, and his targetting scanners set to maximum as well, hoping to pick up on the other Starfury and intercept it before things got out of hand.
          'If Marzcek is suffering from some kind of illness that is inhbiting his mind and/or control right now, this might become tougher than I anticipated. I don't want to splash him whatsoever, but I may be left with no choice in the matter.'
          The thought of having to be left with no alternative but to kill Commander Marzcek didn't sit well with him at all. He had served with the man for quite a while, and had a great deal of respect for someone who had started off as a pilot, but rose through the ranks to become second in command of an elite Earth Alliance destroyer.
          Off in the distance, the armada of different ships got closer and closer. It wasn't long until McIntyre got a glimmer of a reading on his scanners, and he was finally close enough now to get an identification. It was another Starfury, and more importantly, it was Commander Marzcek's Starfury.
          "Once more unto the breach." muttered McIntyre under his breath, knowing that this was not going to be easy in any way or form. According to his computer, McIntyre would reach the armada a half minute after Marzcek did, unless something were to occur that would slow the Commander down beforehand. Hoping for a miracle, the silence was suddenly broken by a comm signal.
          "Hawk Leader, do you copy? This is Reid." said the voice of the Chimera's captain inside McIntyre's helmet.
          "This is Hawk Leader. Go ahead."
          "Listen up," started Captain Reid. I've been doing some research in regards to the Commander. I have a few names I will read to you, and you must remember them. Is that clear, Major? You must remember these names, as they mean the difference between life and death out there!"

          His proximity alarm having gone off a few seconds earlier, Marzcek knew he didn't have a lot of time left to do what he needed to do. He slowed the Starfury and positioned the small craft so it looked natural in the midst of all the other ships in the armada, and slowly used his controls to locate the nearest Earth Alliance destroyer so he could be ready with his targetting system and prepare his assault. It happened to be the Omega-class destroyer EAS Nimrod, which had also been loyal to President Clark's forces during the civil war.
          "That will do...." mumbled Marzcek, his voice trailing off inside his helmet, his control nearly gone and operating almost entirely on instinct. A quick, soft scan revealed that the Nimrod wasn't even close to being battle-ready, and didn't seem to be carrying any of her fighters at this time either. One small Starfury would never be enough to take on a destroyer and win, but this time it just might.
          All Marzcek had to do was wait a little longer, and use the element of surprise to it's full potential once he decided to strike.

          Even though he would get her there too late to do any good, Captain Reid had called everyone available to their stations, and had the Chimera sent as fast as she could go to rendezvous with the armada and try and help put a stop to what was about to happen. Reid knew that McIntyre would soon arrive at the armada and do what he could, but the Chimera wasn't just going to sit on the sidelines while one of her own was in trouble out there. Not on his watch!
          "Time until optimal firing range?" he asked aloud.
          "Uh, ten minutes or less, sir." stammered the acting communications officer, still having some issues coordinating with all the other stations. Reid couldn't get mad at this, and even felt bad for having to set off with low-ranking personnel that hadn't really been thrust into these roles in quite some time. 
          'Drills are never the same as the real thing, especially when most of the regular crew aren't even present. But, we do what we must!'
          "Operations, let me know the instant you have more information available regarding the status of the armada."
          "Yes sir!"

          'What the hell?'
          McIntyre had hoped for a miracle to happen to be able to catch up with Marzcek's Starfury, and it looked as if the miracle just happened out of the blue. His scanners had indicated that the other craft had slowed to less than half it's original speed, and changed course to bring it in line with the armada. McIntyre scanned the other fighter again, and noticed that it's weapons were at full power.
          "What's he waiting for?" 
          McIntyre suddenly felt a little stupid for questioning this, and maneuvered his own Starfury to intercept Marzcek via a flanking motion, hoping he could catch the other pilot off guard and stop this nonsense before it even began.
          "Computer, weapons to fifty percent."
          Blowing Marzcek out of space right away wouldn't serve any purpose, and McIntyre knew that he had to save his first officer rather than kill him outright. If he could disable the other Starfury with a quick strike, it would be better for everyone.
          'Here goes nothing!'
          Locking in his target, Hawk Leader put caution to the wind and vectored in his approach to initiate the flank as soon as possible.

          It was time to initiate the assault, and Commander Marzcek knew exactly how he wanted it to proceed. He would break formation in thirty seconds, fly on an attack vector towards the Nimrod, and open fire at the dorsal rotating section to disable the artificial gravity and cripple the ship before it could return fire. Once complete, he was free to let loose several barrages of pulse cannon fire before anyone could stop him.
          'Counting down from thirty.'
          Marzcek re-checked his weapons and their power levels, making sure everything was at optimal efficiency before doing anything. He also felt as if he was now living inside a bubble of some sort, with the whole mission feeling like it was on autopilot. Marzcek felt like he was going through the motions, and that everything was playing out around him like some kind of ancient motion picture.
          'Ten seconds left.'
          Once his count got to three, he personally said the last seconds out loud.
          "Three, two, one, break!"
          His Starfury suddenly manuvered to port and vectored towards the Nimrod at best speed, just as he locked his target and prepared for the opening volley.
          "Ready to fire!" he muttered to himself, about to pull the trigger and unleash the plasma cannons, when out of nowhere, his Starfury shook violentky.
          "Direct hit." announced the computer. "Hull integrity down twenty five percent, available power now at sixty percent of normal. Trying to figure out what had just happened, Marzcek saw two bolts of blue plasma energy fly past him, and soon he realized that he was being shot at.
          "How is this possible?" he wondered aloud.
          His Starfury shuddered again. hit from behind a second time. Still on a heading to intercept the Nimrod, Marzcek had to divery power from the weapons to keep his engines going and continue his mission. A third shudder told him that he was hit again, and now the onboard computer had gotten angry in it's own way.
          "Unable to use weapons. Power reserves damaged." it said.
          Knowing that he wouldn't be able to strike the Nimrod with weapons now, there was another option that he hadn't considered until the present. Marzcek diverted everything save life support to the engines, and plotted a direct run at the Nimrod. If he couldn't shoot her, he'd plow straight into her and go out in that blaze of glory.
          The power shunt to the engines gave him what he needed, and the Starfury continued to hurtle to it's own doom at the expense of the EAS Nimrod.
          'Not long now....'

          "He's making a suicide run!" exclaimed Will McIntyre inside his own helmet, before checking his instruments and confirming that course of action that Marzcek had decided on without warning. Having managed three good hits on the other Starfury, McIntyre had thought that Marzcek would give up after sustaining enough damage, but had never considered he'd go on a kamikaze run.
          'Damn! I've got to do something!'
          Just then, McIntyre remembered the short list of names that he had been given over the comm by Captain Reid, and resolved to get close to the other craft and open a comm channel to mention said names, in hopes they might trigger a positive reaction.
          "Here goes!"
          McIntyre vectored in and chased down the other Starfury, locking target once more and bringing his own weapons back to one hundred percent. If the names didn't do something, he'd have to blast Marzcek to pieces before he could inflict any harm on any other ship in the armada.
          'Not something I'm looking forward to!'
          Regaining a close pursuit of Marzcek's Starfury, McIntyre opened a comm channel to the other craft, and spoke carefully.
          "Commander, can you hear me?" he asked. Moments ticked by that seemed to last forever before a response came back.
          "Yes, I can hear you. I am however, too busy to talk right now."
          McIntyre's brow furrowed. "That's fine, sir. Just listen to me then."
          Silence was the response.
          "You need to stand down and let us help you, sir." started McIntyre. "There's no need to continue on this path whatsoever. Come back to the Chimera with me, please."
          Silence again. McIntyre was running out of time. His scanners indicated that the distance to the EAS Nimrod was closing by the second.
          "Listen, Commander. You don't want to do this! I know you lost some friends during the civil war, people that you cared about. Will it help their memory to go through with this suicide mission? Tell me Commander! What about Franson, Becker, and Gomez? Will it bring them back? Is this even worth it?"
          Silence again.
          McIntyre locked in his target, and prepared to splash Marzcek's fighter. All of a sudden, the other Starfury powered down, just like that. It's forward momentum cut right down to almost nothing, just as other ships in the fleet started to move out of the way.
          'The Captain must have gotten a hold of the armada.'
          McIntyre brought his Starfury to a holding pattern near Marzcek's, and waited for the Chimera to arrive so they could both go home. Breathing a sigh of relief, McIntyre looked ahead and saw the Nimrod and how close she came to a premature destruction.
          'Whew.'

                                                       *          *          *          *

          Laying on a bed in the Chimera's medical bay, Commander Jon Marzcek was happy to see both Captain Reid and Major McIntyre walk into the facility and head right over to him, a look of relief on their faces.
          "How are you feeling?" asked Reid, looking at his executive officer with an expression of concern mixed with happiness.
          "Better. The doc told me what happened before he went off shift. I can't believe I did that, or more importantly, what I almost did."
           McIntyre patted the first officer's shoulder. "Well, you didn't end up doing it, and we got you back. That's what matters."
          Marzcek smiled. "I owe you one."
          The leader of Hawk squadron grinned. "Another time! I'm off to the hangar bay to tinker with my Starfury before the others get back. I'll check in on you later." he finished, before nodding and leaving the medical bay.
          Reid watched McIntyre leave, then turned his attention back to his first officer.
          "Post traumatic stress syndrome is not an easy thing to deal with, but you have support here, as well as a lot of shore leave time saved up."
          Marzcek started to say something, but Reid put his hand up to stop it.
          "This ship will be at Earth for a couple week until we get new orders. You my friend, are going down to the planet and are going to forget all about work." he explained.
          "There will also be a counselor waiting once you disembark the shuttle who will help you with all of this, at least until you come back here. From that point on, if there's any issues, come see me. I might be your captain, but I'm also your friend, Jon."
          Marzcek nodded his acknowledgement. The captain was quite right, and he would have to make sure to rely on others for the foreseeable future to help get him past all of this and back to a better version of normal. 
          "Thank you, Adam."
          Captain Reid smiled. "Don't mention it! Now, get some rest. You can ship out tomorrow, when you're ready to hit space again. Enjoy your time off."
          The Captain turned and headed out of the medical bay, taking one quick glance at his first officer before heading out into the corridor.
          Jon Marzcek went over the events of the last couple days best he could, and realized that everything might not have ended well, had it not been for the efforts of his colleagues/friends here on the Chimera. He instantly felt remorse for putting them through what he did, not to mention what he almost did to the memories of his fallen friends from the civil war. While Marzcek would have to undergo counselling and keep on top of his PTSD, he already felt that his mind was in a better place, and resolved to remember all of the good times he had with his former friends, pushing their deaths in the civil war out of his mind for good.
          'No matter which side we are all on, they're still my friends, as are Captain Reid, Major McIntyre, and the rest of the Birds. I am truly lucky indeed.'
          Smiling, Marzcek let his head settle into the pillow and dozed off.

                                                                   -