Commander Adam La'Ser walked down the passageway leading to the bridge of the battlecruiser, his well-polished boots making noise on the metal deck. The uniform he wore, which was reserved for fleet commanders and capitol ship commanding officers was more casual than the regular dress uniforms but was very popular amongst those in the upper ranks. He wore a black military trench-coat, bearing little decoration save the rank insignia on his collar and shoulders, and a few campaign ribbons on the left side of his chest, over his heart. Other than that, the rest of his attire consisted of a black undershirt, the pants that went with his uniform for that day, and a combination cover on his head bearing the emblem of the Alliance Starfleet. 

Reveille had just been sounded and the crew was just beginning to wake up and begin their pre-reentry warm-ups on the ship. Despite this, Commander La'Ser was sure without a doubt that his bridge crew would be up and about when he got to the bridge. They always were. 

Adam La'Ser was the Commanding officer of the U.S.S.S. New Jersey IV. A Behemoth II class battlecruiser, and one of the largest in it's class in the Alliance Starfleet. He  was a youthful and enthusiastic CO, and very young for his position. True, he was only a Commander and commanded no ships beyond that of the Big J and the ships that resided within her, but he was proud and fully ready to do his duty for the Alliance. He had graduated from the Alliance Space Academy with full honors; the top of his class. He was well versed in military space tactics and strategy and was fully capable of handling his ship in combat despite his young age.  

Fortunately, he had been given a crew to match. The vast majority of the Big J's present crew were fresh to the fleet, young, enthusiastic, and excited at the prospect of moving out in to the galaxy and bringing justice to the enemies of the fledging Alliance. That included his bridge crew, some of the sharpest young officers Adam had ever had the chance to work with. That was why he knew what to expect when he strode onto the bridge. Those who worked the bridge were quite literally thrilled to get duty stations on a ship like the NJ IV, and worked diligently and efficiently at their tasks each morning. 

"Attention on deck!" came a cry as Adam stepped through the blast door on to the bridge. Each of the officers stopped what they were doing and snapped to attention, their observance of the smallest detail, as always, perfect. 

"At ease," Adam barked. The various officers on the bridge immediately went back to what they were doing, preparing the ship for re-entry. The ship had been traveling at warp for several days now, and they were nearing their destination: stage point OMEGA. Adam sat down in his command chair, often jokingly referred to as "the hot seat" by fleet officers. He had to agree with the sentiment. When the lives of everyone aboard a massive Terran Battlecruiser rested on the decisions of one person, the command seat did tend to take on and aura of dread and trepidation.   

He watched appreciatively as his bridge crew went about their business. Lieutenant Lucasen, the Navigation Officer, was a tall, lean but incredibly strong man with light blond hair and a angular face. Completely at ease at his station, Lucasen's service record was impeccable. He could perform even the most hair-raising, difficult and dangerous tasks with total calm and ease, an attitude that often spread, soothing the nerves of the other bridge officers.   

At the weapons station was Lieutenant Mihen, a short, thin, Japanese woman with an icy-cool head. She was intensely efficient at her tasks and, while generally personable at leisure, in combat she was frightening to observe, often procuring firing solutions with startling accuracy.  

Lieutenant Hall stood at the ops console. Of medium height, with a fair complexion, blonde, short-cropped hair and crystal blue eyes, she kept her uniform in perfect condition at all times. She was highly competent, if a little over-ambitious, but she always performed her tasks diligently and reliably.   

Finally, there was the communications officer, Ensign McCabe. His black hair was kept buzz-cut short, and his sharp, brown eyes missed nothing. Tall and lanky, his laid-back demeanor often gave him the appearance of laziness or apathy. Nothing could be further from the truth. McCabe was all business, and Adam never once had to worry that McCabe's job would be done with anything but the utmost perfection and efficiency.   

Yes, his crew was good. That was likely the reason they had been given this most recent and new assignment. The crew of the New Jersey IV had been anxious for something productive to do for a long time. While Adam knew that eagerness for battle generally wasn't a good thing, he couldn't exactly blame them. The Alliance, powerful in space but suppressed and beleaguered on the surface of Earth, had often wound up in skirmishes with the more powerful UED forces repeatedly throughout the history of the two factions. The New Jersey IV, fondly called The Big J, had been assigned to guarding and patrolling colonies least in danger, usually on the fringe. She was full of young, talented crew, and none of them wanted to spend their careers guarding colonies that didn't need them when it seemed war could break out at any moment.  

Adam knew, of course, that the prospect of war was unlikely. While each faction longed to see the other gone, neither wanted a fight it's neighbor. Ghosts and other intelligence agents had constantly covered up the incidents on both sides, and continued to do so, right up until hostilities stopped completely. That happened the exact minute the Protoss and the Zerg showed up in the Korprolu sector.

The presence of aliens shocked the denizens of earth and her colonies in to action; an action by the UED that wound up failing miserably. When the sole surviving UED battlecruiser, the Attila, showed up in UED space, half destroyed and full of crewmembers bearing stories of horror and destruction, the Alliance knew that it could not rely on it's adversary, the UED, to handle the aliens. It would take the UED time to rebuild their fleet, and action needed to be taken now. And so, the New Jersey IV and her crew found themselves on their way to point OMEGA, and almost certain and immediate combat.  

"Commander, we are about to break warp. Coming up on stage point OMEGA in fifteen seconds." Lieutenant Lucasen reported. "All systems and crew positions show green."  "Roger that, Lieutenant," Adam said. "Bring us in."

 The view in front of the Big J, full of rippling black space and the flashes of passing stars, began to warp itself. Waves of force abruptly began to coalesce at the center of the view and fan outward, bringing the star system in to view.   

"Warpdrives offline. Engines running on full. Preparing to enter orbit around New Whales II." Lucasen said.  

"Proceed, Lieutenant." Adam replied.

"Commander. We have an incoming transmission from rally point guard. They ask for identification and mission authorization." said Ensign McCabe.

"Give it to them, Ensign. And tell Commodore Chambers I hope he's got his Champaign ready and cooled for us. It's been a long trip."  

"I'll tell him, Commander." McCabe said with amusement in his voice. It was completely obvious the Commander was joking. It was also not unknown to the bridge crew that Commodore Chambers and Commander La'Ser had been friends since the Academy, even though Chambers was several years La'Ser's senior. The crew of the Big J almost felt like close friends to that of Chambers' battle-group, even though they never really met in person and often worked at duty stations light years away from each other.   

As the Big J orbited the planet, Chambers' battle-group came in to focus. Adam had to suppress a gasp. It had been considerably extended since the last time he'd seen it. The usual battle-group consisted of 5 destroyers, 7-8 frigates, and an equal number of gunships. Now the number of support capitol ships had nearly doubled and, in addition to that, massive transport ships, repair vessels, a second battlecruiser, and one of the gargantuan long range Terran Carriers resided within Chambers' formation.   

"Commander, were receiving a tight-beam visual transmission from the North Dakota." said McCabe.

"Patch it through, please." Adam responded. An image of Commodore Chambers appeared onscreen and Adam saluted the senior officer, a gesture that was promptly returned.   

"Ah, Commander La'Ser. It's good to see you," the commodore chuckled. "You look a little pale. Anything wrong?" he said with a sly grin. Commodore Chambers was a tall, muscular African-American man with sharply chiseled features and garbed in a uniform not unlike Adam's present outfit.

"Well, perhaps that's true," Adam said as he tried fruitlessly to suppress his grin. "It's just that it's not every day a battle-group gets more than doubled in size. From the look of things, I'd say we're about to invade New Whales!"  

That got a laugh from Chambers, and grins from Adam's bridge crew. The quiet, yet fertile and productive  colony that sat under them was a distant but prosperous terran colony, so it was well defended. Yet, despite the gentle nature of Adam's jest, Chamber's group did look like it was about to assault a planet.   

Chamber's grin disappeared, however, almost as soon as he stopped laughing. "That's not far from the truth, you know." he said. "I'm afraid you and I are about to see it live, my friend."   

The terminology the Chamber's used was in reference to the way most historic events were recorded and broadcast. Often, events that were monitored in one part of the galaxy were recorded and transmitted on the spot, but the signals wouldn't reach their designated broadcasting stations until much later and the viewers would only see delayed coverage. "Seeing it live" was generally a term that military personnel used when referring to taking part in the combat first hand.   

"Listen, friend," Chambers said, his tone now very serious. "We've finally got the necessary Intel on the target system. AMI spooks say it's very human friendly, but with a catch."

"Well, that's how it always is, isn't it?" Adam said. "Life wouldn't be much fun without the occasional catch."

"Well, that's debatable, in this case," Chambers said. "I'm going to patch us in with the CO's of the Dragon Maw and the Yoshiyuki, the other to big guy's you see in the group. The smaller ship's CO's have already been told what they need to know, but you three are going to be right there with me for this coming operation, and we all need to be on the same page."   

Adam waited a moment, and then the veiwscreen split in to three different parts. The center section still held the visage of Commodore Chambers, the other two revealed two different officers. One was a male. He had tan skin, black hair, and deep, penetrating green eyes. The other, a fair skinned female officer, had reddish, brown hair, tied sharply back and bore a stern, serious expression on her face.   

"This is Commander Aubauch, of the Dragon Maw," the man with the green eyes nodded his head, "and Captain Malinoski, of the Yoshiyuki." The woman also identified herself with a nod, and the Commodore continued. "Your bridge crews understand, of course, that absolutely everything said during this conversation is highly classified by AMI."   

That, of course, was a given, but the warning was still necessary. Adam had absolute faith in his bridge crew, but intelligence leaks could mean the loss of entire armies these days. "Of course, Commodore," Adam said. Captain Malinoski and Commander Aubauch also gave their affirmation.   

"Ok then," said the Commodore. "Initial Intel on the planet were inconclusive, but showed evidence of a possible sentient or otherwise organized presence on the planet." Adam felt a sickening sensation suddenly grow in the pit of his stomach. There was only one kind of "organized presence" in the galaxy that didn't fall under the definition of "sentient".   

"Further analysis showed more definite results. The planet has been infested, though as yet only lightly, by the zerg."   

A visible wave of shock emanated throughout the bridge. No one on that ship had ever seen a zerg. All they had heard were the stories. Those were enough.   

"Intel believes that since the system is on the edge of the Korprolu sector, the aliens growth there has been slowed considerably. It seems they took the planet not out of need or urgency, but simply because it was there. Due to the lack of any definite threats, resistance or purpose, the zerg hive cluster on the planet has been slow to grow. However, at it's present stage, it is still a grave threat. If we are stalled or set back in any way during the initial attack to take the planet, the cluster will be stirred in to action and we might have bought ourselves defeat before we even got started." 

The expressions of everyone privy to the conversation were particularly grave. They knew of the sheer strength of the UED fleet that went to tame the Korprolu sector. Only one ship had returned. A force that could wreak that kind of destruction was not to be taken lightly.   

"Not long from now, the Unity, and the larger part of the Expeditionary force, will begin to arrive in this system. It’ll be getting very busy, very fast. We, however, will be leaving shortly after they arrive. Our destination: The Badger System."   

"Commodore," Commander Aubauch interrupted, "Are you saying that we are going to be the first to go in to the sector?"   

"That is what I'm saying, Commander," Chambers said. The anticipation was evident on Aubauch's face. But then, it was likely evident on Adam's as well.   

"In fact, we are going to lay out the carpet for the entire expeditionary force," Chambers said. "Admiral Jordan needs that planet to be occupied and completely under our control by the time the fleet gets there. To do this, we have to hit hard, fast, and with extreme prejudice. No zerg can survive. This will be a very difficult operation, ladies and gentlemen." 

"We're ready, Commodore!" Captain Malinoski responded enthusiastically.

"Yes sir," Adam concurred, "You can count on us. The Big J is ready. The zerg won't know what hit them." While Adam wasn't entirely sure about the truth of that statement, he knew if there was any ship up to this job, it was the New Jersey IV.   

"We're locked and loaded here too, sir." Aubauch said. "My crew's been aching for some action anyway."

"Well, I'm glad," Chambers said. "These next few days might be some of the most trying of our entire lives. Each of you were assigned to solo duty stations, with the exception of Captain Malinoski, before this. Your ship's crews may not be used to group combat yet, but don't worry, with enough luck, we'll pull this thing off and kick in the Alliance's entrance. The conversation is almost at an end. My com officer informs me that the Unity is fast approaching. Remember the stakes here, ladies and gentlemen. Humanity can't afford failure. If we screw up here, it's not just the Korprolu colony’s butts. It's all of humanity. Possibly even the whole galaxy. Good luck to you all. I'll be keeping in touch as the CO of this operation. Prep your ships for departure, and good luck."   

With that, Commodore Chambers ended the transmission. A new sense of responsibility and anticipation welled within Adam La'Ser, as he contemplated the times ahead. This would not be his first combat experience, but it would be his first combat command post. Many of his crew, he knew, had never seen combat at all. Besides that, none of them had seen or fought the zerg before. Adam noticed that his entire bridge crew was looking at him anxiously with worried expressions on their faces.   

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, you heard the Commodore! Get this ship ready for Warp launch! It's almost time to save the universe." At that, the bridge crew snapped out of it and rushed to their duties. Adam's somewhat sarcastic but wholly heartfelt command filled them with confidence, he knew. The one thing that the Academy had taught him above all else was; never show indecision. Your attitude affects your men, and your attitude can never falter if you want to survive.

Adam swore one thing to himself: He would not falter.

*************************************************************

Deep within the troop deployment bays of the New Jersey IV, many other personnel were scrambling around, preparing for launch. Marine infantry soldiers and Starfleet technicians prepped their stasis pods for short term sleep and immediate deployment protocols once they exited warp. Within the vehicle bays, crewmen rushed around, re-securing and double-checking the locked-down vehicles for departure. As commander of her tank crew, 1st Sergeant Amber De’Vir's responsibility was solely her tank and her crew. As the petite, yet muscular, woman with long blonde hair tied tightly in a bun stood atop the main turret of her AS-3 Arclite Siege Tank, directing her crew, shouting orders and giving help when needed, her imagination roamed to the battle ahead. They were ordered to prep for immediate deployment after the ship exited warp and as a ground assault unit, that meant that the Big J was about to attack something. What, she didn't know, but one thing was for certain, it would be dangerous, and though her inner caution warned her to be careful, Amber couldn't help but be excited. She was ready for combat, and she was totally confident in her abilities. She felt bad for the poor suckers they were about to hit.   

"Hey Sarge, help me out with this?" her gunner asked. Amber’s aura of confidence and invincibility had made her a leader her crew trusted completely. She quickly slipped down in to the gunner's turret to aid the operator in his preparations. As they worked, the man asked her, "Hey Sarge, you think we’re gonna see action? They normally don't tell the ground crews to prep for deploy right out of warp."

"Yea," she responded, "I got a strong suspicion were gonna be seeing a whole lotta action before we hit the sack again."

"You think we'll be ok, Sarge?" the man said, obviously worried about his first combat experience.

"Oh yea," she glibly replied. "You just worry ‘bout the enemy." She smiled inwardly to herself. "They’re gonna need all the help they can get."

*****************************************************

Elsewhere, in a specially reserved cryo bay, an elite division of Alliance troops prepared each other's cryo tubes for stasis. Unknown to many aboard the Big J, these were members of the super-effective, highly elite alliance special forces soldiers known as Theta Force. Theta Force was an international, special forces division that possessed troops from virtually every nation in the alliance. While few in number, these were the best of the best, the cream of the space-marine crop, and unlike many of the other soldiers on board the ship, they knew what they were getting into. The ever-calm, ever-professional soldiers prepared their gear and cryo tubes, speaking with only the occasional joke or sarcastic remark to their fellows. A tight-knit group, Theta force attack squads generally engaged in this pre-combat banter to keep them loose and at peak fighting efficiency. The other ground troops and many of the ship's crew might not know what was coming and if they did it would have sent waves of fear throughout even the most seasoned personnel, yet the Theta Force soldiers kept their cool, knowing that lives were hinged on their success and the only way home was a job well done. Lieutenant John McGuire, commander of this platoon was a steely, grey-eyed, tanned and muscular man with close shaven hair and an extremely confident demeanor. He was pleased at his troops eager reaction to the news of their mission. They were ready.   

"Sanchez, see to the provisions. O’Reilly, do a final tech rundown on those tubes. Street, weapons inventory. Make it happen, people." McGuire barked out orders to his men and they immediately complied. Despite their professional and regulation behavior most of the time, the Theta Force did take some liberties. Generally, this meant a slight decoration to their usually squeaky-clean battle armor. Each armor suite, propped up, strapped in, and facing the cryo tube of it's user, bore a single, non-regulation emblem on it's right shoulder. Each emblem was different and each was based on the country of the particular soldier’s origin. Glancing at a few of them made McGuire think of something. Their mission was critical to the success of the operation in the entire Badger System. Failure this time would result in more than personal loss of life. Whole countries and billions of lives were at stake.

 "Highwind!" he called. A young, well-built Corporal with light brown eyes and a blonde crew cut immediately moved over to McGuire. "Sir?"

"I want you to see to the package. Make sure everything’s in order. No point in going in there without being able to finish the job. No mistakes." said McGuire.

"Don't you worry about it sir," Highwind said. "That baby'll be all set and ready to go when we hit. We're gonna get this one sir, no mistakes." As he walked away, McGuire took confidence in the young man's tone. There was absolute confidence and determination in his voice. They wouldn't fail.

They never did.

***********************************************

Back in the vehicle bays, the ground personnel were finishing prepping their various vehicles and many were moving towards the doors to the cryo deck. Some of the last men to get going were Captain Mike "Jackhammer" Wachowski, and his lancegroup. Wachowski was deceptively skinny, belying his incredible strength and agility. Dark stubble shadowed his jaw matching the black, short locks on his scalp parted neatly on the left. The only hair of any length on his bony skull was the trimmed mustache sported above his upper lip. His nearly black eyes burned out of his deeply tanned face. His group was the last to mobilize due both to the fact the vehicles he and his fellows worked on were difficult and complicated to keep in shape and because the Goliath pilots generally worked a little more "at ease" then many of the other crews in the massive well-lit bay. Cocky, calm, and completely professional, the Goliath "mechwarriors" were a rare and hard-to-find breed.

 This crew was both extremely talented and highly confident. As the men and women finished work on their respective machines, they stepped down off their service scaffolds to the main deck and began to walk towards the lift doors at the far end of the bay.

 Not to anyone's surprise, the infamous and roguish Vulture pilots met up with Goliath pilot on the way. Equally cocky, and perhaps a little less professional, Alliance Vulture pilots were a bit better behaved then those of other organizations, but they were still a pretty unique group. Given extremely dangerous jobs for somewhat low pay, it was only their streak of adventure that kept the Vulture pilots planted firmly in their MOS's. As they met up with the Goliath pilots and walked through the now nearly empty bays, the vehicle operators jostled back and forth with each other, joking and making crude remarks, totally at ease despite the coming conflict. Mike and his lancegroup fell in stride with one particular biker squad. All of those men had become good friends over the course of their stay on the NJ4 and they got along perfectly.

One pilot, Sergeant Tommy "Tomahawk" Pierce, a short, thin man with a lackadaisical attitude elbowed Mike and said, "So, where are you guys headed when we break warp? Off to die with the footies?" A near maniacal grin was etched across his face, showing no fear whatsoever. Saner soldiers would look down on such attitudes, but there were few of those in this group.

 "Eh, I don't know," Mike said, feigning indecision. "I heard there are some pretty slick nightclubs where were headed. I figure I'll just tell the Commander I'm sleeping in and head down there at happy hour." They laughed, and the jokes and remarks continued, all the way down to the perpetually dark cryo bays.

******************************************************

Meanwhile, in the small-ship, flight crew cryo bays, Valkerie, Wraith, and Dropship pilots walked down a single, dim hallway that ended in a 3-way fork. As the pilots reached it, they split off into different cryo bays based on the ships they operated. Lieutenant Ace "Talon" McCloud, an up-and-coming wraith pilot walked beside a dropship operator he was slightly familiar with, Lieutenant Anna "Hammerfall" Gerome.

"Time to go nighty-night," Ace said. If wraith pilots were said to be laid back, then Ace was the extreme.  Well-reputed throughout the NJ4's flight wings as unpredictable, yet extremely talented, Ace could keep a squadron loose and mentally prepared even in the most intense situations. The tall, slender and well-built Lt. Gerome just laughed. "Afraid I got a busy schedule when we wake up," she said. "Gotta baby-sit a bunch of marines all the way down to the stinkin surface. Somethin about them being top priority."

"Heh heh heh," The man chuckled, raking a hand through his long, unkempt blonde hair, "Just leave without em! Nobody'll even notice."

That got a laugh from everyone within hearing range all the way down the corridor. They reached the fork and the two fearless pilots, the tall black-haired female and fair, shorter male walked down their separate avenues to their respective cryo bays.

******************************************************

The regular ground personnel cryo bays were a series of massively long, tight corridors. Each corridor sat on top of the other and the various ground personnel got off the lifts at the level of the corridor in which their chambers sat. Most of the infantry units finished their preps way before the vehicle crews and got to the bays earlier. Many were just preparing to enter their tubes and some of them were already in stasis. The vehicle crews began to pour in to the darkened corridors as the infantry worked. As they passed, many of the vehicle and ground personnel exchanged high-fives and good lucks, getting each other psyched for the coming engagement. Most didn't even know each other, as infantry quarters were in a different part of the ship then vehicle crews, but they were all in this together. The sound of their excited, upbeat voices rang throughout the dim halls lit only by the eerie green glow of the cryo-tubes. Sgt. Amber De’Vir strode down the corridor with her tank crew. It was a single file line, due to the narrow dimensions of the hall. They, too exchanged high-fives and reassurances with the infantry personnel along the tubes to her right.

 Standing in between her own cryo-tube and one for a marine in her squad, 1st Lieutenant Cadence Sparrow prepped her pod and exchanged reinforcing pleasantries with the infantry around her and the vehicle personnel that passed on their way down the long passage to their own tubes. She shook the hand of Amber De’Vir, and though she didn't know the woman at all, they spoke encouragingly as though they were best friends.

"Good luck marine!" Amber said.

"You too!" Cadence said.

Cadence was a Combat Medic. Fair-skinned and petite, she usually left her auburn locks flying free framing her heart-shaped face and off-setting her emerald green eyes. She always kept a cool head, even in the heat of battle, and her caring, calm, and friendly nature was well-received by all her comrades. Though she was nervous about the fight to come, she was mentally prepared and more than happy to bolster the confidence of her fellows as they would likely be going through just as much if not more danger than she in the coming battle.

 On the same level, far behind Sgt. De’Vir, the Goliath Mech Warriors and Vulture Hover Bike Pilots eventually entered after waiting behind the backed-up line of personnel entering that level of the cryo bays. They joked and teased what the few infantry they passed that had not yet entered cryo-sleep. Their cocky attitude never faded and they laughed and joked right up until the last of them closed his cryo-tube and fell asleep.

********************************************************

"All still active, non-essential personnel, please enter your cryo-stasis tubes and prepare for warp. All essential personnel, please report to duty stations, and begin final warp jump preparations." The calm, computerized female voice resounded throughout the ship, repeating it's message over and over again. Commander La'Ser knew it's message fell mostly on deaf ears. Almost every cryo tube had been activated, their occupants fast asleep. The ship was about to leave.

"Prepare for final countdown to warp." the voice resounded. No one on the bridge said anything. They knew their jobs.

 Adam looked out on the system one last time. He didn't know if he'd ever see New Whales again. He wanted a good look at the amazingly, peaceful little colony. Suddenly, a large patch of space near the planet seemed to ripple. Adam La'Ser watched with amazement as the U.S.S.S. Unity, flagship of the Alliance fleet and most powerful battlecruiser in the alliance arsenal, emerged from warp. It's sheer size and sleek prowess amazed the Commander. As the computer began to prepare for the final countdown, more ships began to arrive in system, many of them battlecruisers. The AEF(2).

 "Captain," the Lieutenant Hall said. "The shuttle Commodore alerted us that it has successfully docked. It's occupant is moving to the pre-designated cryo-tube. Preparing final warp countdown."

"Proceed, Lieutenant." He responded.

 The unnamed occupant of the shuttle was part of the mission that Adam hadn't been informed of until the last second, right as the last cryo-tubes went online. Commodore Chambers had suddenly hailed him and said he would be taking a single extra guest and that the presence of this person was Top Secret. Also, he informed Adam that he would have to transport the shuttle and give its occupant a cryo-tube, no questions asked. He had actually seemed a bit worried and the Commodore was never worried. Adam hadn't asked any questions.

The computer's calm voice pierced his thoughts.

"5......4.......3.......2.......1......0......warp drive engaged."

Space seemed to tear apart in front of them and the New Jersey IV disappeared in to warp space.