Thanks for all your support and replies! Chapter 6 Sora Jon Devis reacted with anger as a small ship landed on his closely cropped blue lawn. Everyone jumped out of the pool, while Baby slept on a lounger, still recovering from her dance. Mulk smiled and put his hand up, stopping Jon from confronting the tresspassers. "It's ok Jon, they're friends. Baby!" He called behind him. "Zell's here." Tek'Mal helped Baby get up and then ran for the ship. The hatch opened and three men stepped out in red Beskargam, Doffing their helmets, Jon saw that all three wore one face: that of Jango Fett. One saw Tek'Mal and ran to her, taking her in his arms. "Love, I'm sorry I missed the Dance," Heavy said quietly. "Was it beautiful?" "Yes, my husband," The beautiful green skinned woman whispered. "It was exquisite." Jon stood confused. He was not used to seeing Mandalorians without their helmets. Nor had he ever seen them show any kind of gentleness. "I know what you are thinking," The forrmer heavy weapons commander said as he smiled at the thin ten foot tall Jon Devis. "We are not monsters. Nor are we cold blooded killers. We're no better, and no worse, than anyone else." Baby slowly pushed her way past all of them as Zell limped out of the ship. He gasped in pain as she wrapped her arms around him. "Careful girl!" Boom cautioned her with a hand on her arm. "He has several broken ribs." "What?" Mulk asked with shock. "How did that happen?" "Gather round my friends," Boom said as he stepped forward, a holo projector in his hand. "And be prepared to witness the most amazing thing you will ever see!" Placing it on the grass, he stepped back. They all watched as Zell had his run in with the drunk Gammorrean. Melee and Ano very gently hugged their brother, beaming with pride. "Wow!" Kinna stepped forward, grinning. "That is the best example I've ever seen of a force punch. Even I couldn't have done as well." "Wait," Heavy muttered as he pushed himself away from his wife and stepped to the blue short furred Cerinian, peering deep into her eyes. With a smile, he bowed his head. "Buir Pehn, it's so good to see you again." Shot and Boom looked at their brother like he was mad. "And it's good to see you as well," Kinna said before turning to the other two men. "It's good to see you too Shot and Boom." "Is it," Boom spoke quietly as he stepped closer. "Is it really you, Buir Pehn?" She nodded and all three hugged her like sons who were meeting their mother after a long separation. "This is quite the gathering we have here," Heavy told the assembled group. "We are the four survivors of the Republic forces that fought at the battle of Sora. While these three," He held out his hand to Zell and his sisters. "Represent the only survivor of the CIS forces. We should all go and sing for our dead to honor them." "Zell," Boom said as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's the proper thing to do. Tommorrow marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of battle." "Well?" Zell asked his sisters who agreed. Turning to Heavy he nodded. "We will go." "You know, Shot?" A long furred arm wrapped itself around Shot's waist, a very sexy, yet familiar voice, whispering in his ear. "Heavy never was very good at math, was he?" "No he wasn't," Shot said as he smiled. "Heavy, don't forget Mety here." Heavy turned, a look of joy on his face. He took a step, and then stopped and jerked his head back like he'd been slapped. He glanced around him, like he was seeing invisible enemies. "Jesus Christ! It's a trap! Big Jake, Girly Girl! Go for cover!" he shouted, his voice now different, sounding eerily like Joshua's. "What did you say, Heavy?" Kinna asked, taking him by his shoulders. Without warning he and Metla fell to the ground in convulsions. At the same time a bone chilling howl of agony floated from the house. Joshua Kirk sat on the stone railing, watching the ship carrying Zell arrive. He was getting ready to jump down and greet them when he heard stealthy footsteps behind him, soon followed by a slight scent of soap. The man smiled. He could also feel their presences in the Force. They exuded what could only be called elegance and gentleness. "Hello Ebony and Diamond," Both laughed as they leaned against the stone rail he sat on. "You two are much better at that than your mother and sisters." Kirk told the seven foot tall Ebony. "I could barely detect you." "Well," Ebony smiled up at Joshua. "Then I guess we're better than you thought, huh?" Two long arms wrapped themselves around his neck as Ruby kissed him on the top of his head. Joshua laughed. "Oh, you are good! But don't touch me! Remember what I told you about my pheromones?" "Sorry," Ebony apologized as Ruby backed off. "My daughters are very friendly, huggy types." "Oh, I'm not complaining," Kirk said as he watched three men exit the ship. "And how do you hide your Force presence, Ruby?" "I don't know how I do it, I just can." "Well, you could give Magenta and her daughters some lessons in being sneaky," Joshua then grinned. "But please don't. I have too much fun when they try it." "Maybe I could be a commando like you, then." "No!" The happiness on his face disappeared, to be replaced by pain. "Please, don't say that! I would never want you to experience what I've been through!" "It's okay," Ebony placed her hand on his arm. "She was only joking, right Ruby?" She looked up at her oldest daughter. Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she held Joshua. Ebony instantly knew what she was going to do. "Ruby don't do it! You don't know what he's been through!" "I have to mother! I've been feeling his pain since he got here!" Joshua had turned to Ebony, confused, when the whole world exploded around him. Ruby wrapped her arms around his head and went into convulsions. Falling back, she dragged the unconcious Joshua with her. Ebony grabbed her daughters arms and tried to pull them away from Kirk's head. "Ruby, please stop!" The woman pleaded. The blonde just shook her head, holding on tightly. Ebony turned to Diamond who knelt by her sister, crying, her eyes wide with horror. "Diamond! Go get your father and Uncle Mulk at the pool, now!" The young girl nodded and took off. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, the girl collapsed, and a coarse, agonized scream, burst from Ruby's throat, her convulsions getting worse. In seconds the veranda was filled with her family. Ebony's husband, Jon, pushed his way to his wife. "What's she doing?" "She's trying to heal him." "By the Force, no!" Mulk shouted. Mulk dropped to his knees to pull her arms away from his friend's head. As his hands touched her's, a wave of Force energy pushed everyone back violently against the wall, except Mulk who was pushed through the railing to the tile paving three meters below. Ruby continued to scream and thrash for an hour, pushing away anyone who tried to stop her. Finally, she went stiff for several seconds and was still. Jon cautiously approached Ruby's side. When he was not pushed away, he pulled her unconcious form away from the motionless Kirk. "Get him out of this house!" Devis growled, seething with rage. "Now!" "Jon!" Ebony shouted back. "It's not his fault! Ruby gave no indication she was going to do this! I think he would have refused her offer!" "Why?" Jon stared at his daughter for several moments before nodding. "Why did she do it?" His wife, choking back sobs told them what had happened before they heard her screams. How she could feel his pain, and wanted to heal him. Jon thought for a moment, then told the families security team to take Joshua to one of the guest rooms, while they would take Ruby to hers. Ruby awoke to find her room filled with her family, concerned looks on their faces. She felt weak, yet was so happy. "I've healed him." Ebony sat next to her on the bed. "Why did you do it? I doubt Joshua would have wanted you do this." "That's why I had to do it," Ruby replied in a firm tone. "He would never ask for help. Eventually, he would have ended up killing someone he loves or himself." "So he'll be fine then?" her father asked from across the room, still shaking with anger at the risky thing his daughter had done. "I think so," Ruby nodded, tears running down her cheeks. "What he's been through was horrendous. It happened back in his home galaxy, during the war with this Dominion." "No!" Peenk shook her head. "Please, don't tell us. It's too much like invading his thoughts." "No, you must know!" The girl said forcefully as she took a deep breath and told them of Joshua Kirk's nightmares. "He was leading fourteen other commandos on a mission deep in enemy space when most of them were captured. But it was no accidental meeting, it was a trap. These Jem Hadar as they were called, knew where to wait for them." "They were then taken to a base behind the front lines," Ruby continued, slowly. "There he was interrogated. But he would reveal nothing. So that's when they began to torture his men to death in front of him. The first was his mother's brother. He wanted to tell them everything, but they all, to a man, begged him not to. Finally, there was no one left but himself and one woman. And that's when they started on him. Because for some reason, the torturer would not touch this woman." Ruby wiped tears from her eyes with shaking hands. "For three long months they tortured him. He told them nothing, as he'd promised his men. But they made a mistake and let down their guard. They decided the leaders ordered the torture ended and told him they were going to execute him the next day. He managed to escape that night and found a ship and programmed it to fly to the nearest Federation base. They gave chase, convinced that's where he was going." "He then spent three days setting up their own explosives throughout the base," The girl said, a tone of deep pride in her voice. "When he was ready, he went for the one who had betrayed him and his men to the Jem Hadar. The same traitor who had tortured them for months. His twin brother, Mackenzie." "That's what he meant," Peenk muttered to her mother as their eyes widened with horror at Ruby's revalation. "When he said he killed his brother for the crimes he commited." "At first he was going to try and take him back for trial," The girl continued. "But when he finally stood face to face with him, he just took out his knife and cut his throat." "He freed the woman," Ruby said as she turned to her mother. "Then left for one of their ships, setting off the eplosives. But he made one mistake. The reactor that powered the base went off before he got inside. He almost died. She managed to drag him inside the ship where he'd left her baby. Their's I think, and lifted off. But she soon died.But he was back in safe territory in a day, welcomed as one of the heroes who had killed fifty thousand Jem Hadar. You see, he lied to his superiors and told them that the others died destroying the base. He felt that he had to honor them. He wanted everyone to think they died heroically." "Aunt Peenk?" Ruby looked over at her aunt. "He's going to wake up in a few minutes. Your's should be the face he sees when he does. He loves you very much." Admirals Janith Solana and Dave Richards watched as Dr James Pok and their superior, Admiral Jess Wu, jogged through the woods to where they were standing. "Alright Dave, we're all here," Solana, Starfleet's Chief Of Combat Operations said to the head of the medical center. "And out of uniform like you asked. So tell us what's so important that we have to go through this cloak and dagger routine." "Well," Dave Richards, Commander of Star Fleet Medical, took a deep breath. "First, let me tell you that Admiral Sakht, and General Martok are listening in from the Admiral's hospital room, where she's recovering from the "scratches" she received in the attack on her ship during the final battle." "Bah! I've had worse!" A woman's voice spoke from a floating cambot. "Let's get to the business about Major Kirk." "Yes, let's." said the new Klingon Chanselor. "Now what?" Solana shot a glance at Jess. "Has our golden boy disgraced himself again?" "Give it a rest!" Jess said angrily. "We know your feelings about Joshua Kirk. And right now, the only way he could disgrace himself would be to kill a school full of war orphans. No, Dave here has something to report about what the empath treating him has found." Solana looked at Richards and raised her eyebrows. "Joshua Kirk is lying about what happened at Teros 6." "What?" Martok roared. "Dr Sa Min told me that she was convinced that he was not telling us the whole truth about what him and his men did there," Richards continued. "So we decided to bring in a telepath. Since his uncle Jim here is a telepath, and he was going to be on Mars, we asked him to help us. I know he'll keep this confidential," Jim nodded. "Now tell them what you discovered." "The destruction of the Dominion base at Teros 6 was the work of Josh alone. His men were already dead, tortured to death, one at a time, in front of him to get him to tell them about the secret bases we had in Dominion territory. His men made him swear that he would stay silent. And he did. As each man was tortured for weeks in front of him. The only one not tortured was Sasha Marx." "And when the last man died, they started on Joshua," Jim stopped for a second, fighting back tears. "For three months they put him through the worst torment I've ever witnessed. And I work with former prisoners all the time." "When they found it was a lost cause," Pok struggled for a moment. "The Jem Hadar commander, at the request of the Founder that was there, stopped it and decided to honor him with a military execution. That night, he finally had the chance to escape in one of their ships. Instead, he programed it to fly to the nearest Federation base, and they chased it. He then spent three days setting their own explosives throughout the facility. Then he went after the one who had betrayed and tortured them." Everyone jerked at the word betrayed. "Yes. It was a traitor who told the Jem Hadar where they would be. And it was this same traitor who'd tortured them. A Federation traitor." "Who was this traitor?" Sakht hissed. "Yes, tell us who the traitor is!" Martok demanded. "I'm sorry Jess," Pok whispered as he looked down for a moment. "His brother, Mackenzie," Jess shook her head in shock. Joshua and Mackenzie were her nephews. Solana balled her hands into fists and launched into a tirade of profanity aimed at Richards. Dave Richards was once the Commandant of Starfleet Academy. He had allowed Mackenzie to remain after it had been discovered that he was a Follower of Singhe. Solana had been an instructor there at the time. The younger Kirk brother being allowed to remain at the Academy was why Janith had returned to Starfleet. Jess Wu put her hand on her arm and told her to let it be for now. "What we need to do is decide what to do about Joshua Kirk," Richards said. "Do we tell everyone the truth, or do we go with his story." "Surely you jest!" Martok instantly spoke up. "Go with Kirk's story. Those men died like warriors, let's honor them like warriors." "Yes. This is what you humans call a no brainer," The Romulan admiral said. "Use his story. It inspired my men and women like no victory we ever won." "All right," Richards said. "Then it's agreed. But what do we do about the late Makenzie Kirk?" "If he were a Klingon," The Chansellor said angrily. "His entire house would be cast out. But I know the Kirks are an honorable family. I say just continue to list him as missing in action." Again, all agreed. "Thank you," Wu said. "That's what we'll do. Enjoy your stay here on Mars. I'm off to tell Joshua's parents what we've found." "Very well," Richards replied. "Will you be telling the families of the other men?" "Yes," Jess said with a nod "We do not like to lie to each other. And they deserve to know how their sons died. How my brother died." "But first," Martok spoke up. "I would like to inform you that Emperor Kahless has decided to give Major Kirk and his commandos our highest honor, and the Romulan Empire is as well." "I'm sure that will comfort the men's families to see the honors their sons are receiving," Sakht added. "They do so deserve it, Jessica Wu." "Thank you Admiral Sakht, Chansellor Martok, for joining us," Wu said, still stunned at the news. "As Chief of Star Fleet Operations, I'm glad for your input in this. Good day," Wu turned to Pok. "Now Jim, what's this I hear about Josh refusing help from his trauma specialist?" "He thinks that wiping his memory of the event will erase those men, and the sacrifice they made. And he's threatened to kill himself if they try. Because removing those memories would also mean destroying what happened at DS9. He said he's lost Khindie once, he'll not do it again." "I'm also backing him in his request to go to the reserves," James Pok told her. "The boy is a mess. They say they can successfully bury the memories if he wants, not erase them. But the problem is, they will resurface in times of great stress. And it could lead to self destructive behavior. He said he doesn't want to endanger anyone. He said that all he wants to do is live quietly here on Mars and raise his daughter." "Jim?" Jess eyed Jim Pok warily. "What are you holding back, Cousin?" "Well it's..." The son of Kinna Banka and James Kirk shuffled his feet like a child caught in a lie. "I've had another premonition. This one was about Joshua. I see him on a ship, surrounded by people he loves very much. But he's in incredible pain. I also see him wielding a power that will either save him and his loved ones, or damn them." "A premonition?" Solana said, smirking. "Janith," Jessica Wu began. "His premontions are always right." "You should pay heed to what I've seen Admiral Solana. Because I saw you there, also. You were hiding on a hidden ship, conspiring. I saw you standing over a naked, unconcious Joshua, kicking him in a rage, your amber eyes glaring down at him." "Doctor?" Solana laughed. "If you haven't noticed, my eyes are blue." "I only know what I saw. And as Jess said, my premonitions always turn out to be correct. Well, I've got to get back to the hospital. I want to see Josh and Cynthia before I return home. I'm afraid I have some very bad news for them. And for the rest of the Family. Uncle Spock has died."