On The Hunt...[HOLD]

Posted on Mon Jan 17th, 2022 @ 5:49pm by Captain Mattias Richardson [Reece] & Captain Gary Taylor

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Various
Timeline: 2394
6258 words - 12.5 OF Standard Post Measure

In the back of a bar on Androria Prime, sat a man. He was cloaked in shadow and had the atmosphere of someone that shouldn't be messed with. He was man in pain, a man in anguish, a man who would peel the flesh from those that destroyed his world without batting an eye.

It had been three weeks since the funerals. They had been private, only himself and Kara. Saundra had been an only child and her parents had died a few years prior. Afterwards, he told Kara that he loved her, then vanished. Using backchannel connections to keep moving.

Until now.

Satisfied that he was in the wind and no one knew who he was or where he was, he sat in the bar, at the table that had been agreed upon nearly a decade prior, as he waited for the one person who would know where he was.

A chill came to the bar. A chill of death, cold and foreboding death. One that asked no quarter and gave none. An apex predator had entered the bar and a shadow of mystery and pain came with it. It moved silently to the table and the lone occupant and sat across from it. Several seconds, the silence was unbearable until the stranger spoke in voice of gravel and nails. "Good to see you Matt."

Nodding to the man who was his brother, in more ways than one, Mattias replied, his voice devoid of any emotion. Well..all except boiling vengence awaiting release. "Thank you for coming, Tim." He had barely moved a muscle as he spoke. "What do you know?"

Tim didn't reply right away. Several seconds passed before he did. "Saundra and Charlie were family to me too, Matt." Another pause before continuing. "Three guns for hire. That's what we're after. We get them then we can find out who sanctioned the hit and deal with them accordingly."

"Okay," Mattias said simply as he stood, the sudden movement startling the nearby patrons who hadn't seen him move at all since they arrived. "Let's roll."

As the two men started towards the door, their path was suddenly blocked by a rather large Nausican, who had pivoted away from the bar and stood in Mattias's path, sneering down at the smaller man.

"Hoomans, you not wanted here!" He poked Mattias's chest as he spoke to the smaller man.

Without a word, Mattias snatched the offending fingers and twisted hard, causing the Nausican to bark out in pain. As Mattias kept twisting, the Nausican turned back towards the bar. That was when Mattias stomped the back of the other man's left knee, causing him to buckle, as his fell, yelling in pain, his open mouth collided with the edge of the bartop, breaking several teeth.

Mattias was upon him instantly, holding him against the bartop as his spoke in an eerie calm into the man's ear. "Now, word of advice, never start something with someone you know nothing about. Should I ever see you again, I will force feed this bar to you. Do you understand me?

The Nasican nodded as best he could, with the makeshift gag in his mouth.

Without a word, Mattias released him into a hacking heap, reached into his pocket and pulled out a few slips of latinum. Tossing them to the bartender, he said, "For the damages." He then turned and left the bar. The whole event had lasted less then a minute.

"Nicely done." Tim observed quietly. "Now that the floor show is over, let's be on our way."

"What kind of ship did you get?" Mattias asked, all business at the moment. "And I'm guessing you grabbed my kit as well?"

"A ship perfect for our needs." Tim replied as the pair exited the bar and made their way to an out of the way spaceport. "Ta Da." Tim announced as the pair looked at a banged up Danube class runabout. "Don't let the outside fool you, Matt. She's in good shape inside. With the outside appearance we won't attract any attention."

Mattias did a slow walk around and quick visual inspection. "She looks good. Full tactical loadout, I'm guessing?" He ask as he moved to the sealed hatch. It slid open as he neared it.

Tim made a sour face. "You wound me, Matt. Of course it's got a full tactical loadout. We're not going into this with our dicks in our hands. We're going to be prepared to kick some serious ass."

Smirking slightly, Mattias moved over to the pilot's seat. As he started to fire up the systems, he gave Tim a sidways glance. "No offense, Tim, but your flying is abysmal. Now sit down and let me show you what this girl can really do." He brought the engines on line and, after activating the landing thrusters, brought the ship up off the landing pad and went airborne. "Utopia really made a damn good ship with this one," he said as he worked the flight controls expertly, flying the runabout as if it was second nature.

Tim shook his head as he settled into the co pilot's seat and checked his instrument panel. Everything showed in the green. "Maybe so but you didn't ask me to come along for my flying ability. I'm here to protect your ass and blow stuff up and there's no one better at that than me. So let's get a move on Buck Rogers. I'm suitably impressed with your awesome flying ability." Tim replied sarcastically.

For the first time in weeks, Mattias actually chuckled. "You forget, I grew up on a sixty year old Merchantman class freighter, and learned to fly her like a pro. This girl here," he gave his friend a grin. "She's like driving a hot rod after learning to master a harvester."

They quickly broke orbit and Mattias looked over at his friend. "Okay, tell me what you've learned. Where are they, what kind of defenses ate we going up against?" While he would acknowledge that Tim was a natural at explosives, he was also a master at gathering intel. Probably better than Mattias but, he'd never admit that willingly.

"Three guns for hire as I said earlier. They are holed up on Janus VI. Yes, you heard right. The planet as been devoid of any Federation presence for the last decade after the mining operation closed down. The underground tunnels are still there as are the Horta but these three gunslingers think they're safe. As for defenses, none around the planet. A rudimentary detection system that can be easily circumvented. The mining colony has standard defenses. A laser gridwork is in place across all the entrances and we can transport in only at the main lobby .... so they think. I've got a way around that to disrupt the sensors and we can beam in anywhere and take these bastards out."

Imputting the coordinates, Mattias frowned slightly. "It's a week away at warp four. Guess we've got some time on our hands." He locked in the course and speed, then set the autopilot.

Once the ship jumped into warp, he stood. "I know you want to talk about things. But right now, I need a shower and try to get some rest. I haven't slept more than two or three hours a night since...." he couldn't bring himself to say the murder of his wife and child.

"Go." Tim replied simply. "I'll be here when you wake up. We can talk then."

Mattias nodded, reaching out and placing his left hand on Tim's right shoulder. "Thanks. For everything you've done and everything you're going to do. I won't forget this."

"You would do the same for me. Now, go get some sleep, Matt." Tim replied.

Nodded slowly, Mattias suddenly felt beyond fatigued. Making his way into the aft cabin, he barely noticed just how fully set to bear Tim had made them. He found the first bunk and collapsed upon it. Not even remaining concious long enough to take off his boots. Seconds after his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

Tim sat in the cockpit and watched his friend head to the rear of the runabout. Matt had suffered a tremendous loss and he (Tim) would help him exact his revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife and son.

===Two days later===

Mattias finally stirred, having slept for nearly fifty hours straight. It took him a few moments to gather his wits and realize just where he was. His sleepy brain started to wonder where Saundra was...

And then reality slammed the door in his face. His wife, his little boy, were both gone. Murdered as a message to him. He curled up into a ball and wept. For the next two hours, he wept for their loss, his pain, their futures ripped away. He wept for his sweet, little boy. Charlie would never know what it means to fall in love, kiss someone he loves because his heart beats for only them. To grow up, get married, and have his own children. Little Charlie would go to the afterlife, an angel, a pure soul.

Saundra... she was his partner in life. Though they had only known each other a short time, he knew that he did love her. She may not have been his soul mate, however, she had been his mate. He would remember her laugh and her love, for the rest of his life.

Both of his loves, gone, taken from him. They were in a better place now, a place of light and peace.

He would never see them again. For he was a wraith that existed only in the darkness, in war.

And it was time to remind some people of that.

After he cried everything he had out of his system, for now at least, he got up, got undressed and showered, turning the water first as hot as he could stand, then as cold. Afterwards, he shaved and got dressed. He saw by his chronometer that they were still a few days away from their target. He decided to eat something and then start going over the intel that Tim had gathered.

Exiting his cabin for the first time in days, he saw Tim sitting at the table in the galley, drinking coffee. "Hey," he said, his voice a bit rough.

Tim looked at him, "Hey" He replied. "Got a fresh pot of coffee on and there's some fruit and other assorted goodies for you to eat if you're hungry."

Mattias nooded his thanks. He was starving, actually. But, he decided to start slow. He hadn't eaten much the past week and he didnt want to get himself sick. He started with coffee and a breakfast ration bar. Moving over to sit, he said, "Okay, lay it out again for me, my head is still a bit fuzzy. The three of 'em are on that horta moon?"

"Yes, Janus VI. Good place to hide. No one goes there. Since the Fleeters pulled out. It's literally a rock. With, I'm sure, instructions to lay low and out of sight. But they don't know us, no place they could go where we couldn't find them. No defenses to speak of. A standard Federation spacecraft recognition grid. Which even if it works, these bozos won't challenge us and give away the fact they are there. The mining colony had a laser gridwork over all the entrances and we can beam in at only the main entrance, so they think." Tim said cryptically.

"What's our loadout here on the ship? How heavily stocked are we, you know, in case they try to be stupid."
Mattias asked as be slowly drank his coffee and ate the ration bar.

"Full load of micro photon torpedoes but they pack punch. Mark 12 phaser array and......." Tim let the moment hang "and eight quantum torpedoes. Anything they try, we can handle.""

Mattias was impressed, and let it show on his face. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"I made them an offer they couldn't refuse." Tim replied cryptically.

"Meaning, you got the armory officer drunk as a skunk and liberated them." Mattias knew his friend well. "And what do we do when he or she wakes up?"

''Deny everything." Tim replied with a grin. "In addition, when they do wake up, we'll have been long gone and besides I used an alias...." Tim let the statement hang before adding, "I used your name." He said laughing.

Mattias groaned and chuckled. "Oh, that's rich. I sure hope you're joking. Kinda defeats the purpose of my ghosting out, only to have my name pop up on a stolen weapons charge."

"Relax Matt. You're still a ghost." Tim replied with a grin. It was good to see and hear Matt smile and chuckle if only for a brief moment especially considering all he had gone through.

After a few minutes, Mattias finished his coffee and sat back slightly in his seat. "Okay, we've still got a few days till we get there. Let's start planning this out. I want us to be invisible wraiths when we get there. I don't want them to know we are there until it's too late."

Tim nodded in agreement. "They will never know what hit them Matt. Though we do need to keep at least one of them alive long enough to find out who hired them and why."

"Oh, we will. In fact, each one will die very slowly, by my hand, knowing just how much pain a living body can withstand before succumbing to death."

"Matt, I'm your best friend. You aren't in this alone. Don't put this all on yourself." Tim replied firmly.

"I know you're here, Tim," Mattias replied. "And I appreciate everything that you've done and will do for and with me. However, the final kill strike of these pieces of shit belongs to me and me alone. This is not negotiable. Understand?"

"I understand but not for one damn minute do I agree. You aren't the only one hurting, Matt. You don't have a monopoly on pain and suffering." Tim replied.

Mattias became very quiet snd gave his oldest friend a dangerous look. "Tim, I don't deny that you are in pain. You were there at my side for much of the time I had a family. However, at the end of the day, Saundra was my wife and Charlie was mychild. I will not be denied my vengence for them being ripped away from me!"

Tim was unfazed by Matt's look. They had served together for a long time and been friends even longer. He was quiet for several seconds before he spoke. "I see. Very well Matt, have it your way. What do YOU propose we do?"

Sensing the hurt in his friend, Mattias paused to breath deeply. "I'm sorry, Tim. You're right. Together, we shall hunt these fuckers down and make them fear for their lives, before we cut their fucking heads off." He sat forward, extending his right hand in friendship and forgiveness.

Tim didn't hesitate, he gripped Matt's hand firmly in return. Signifying their friendship was as solid and strong as ever. "Damn right we will, Matt. They will know the true meaning of pain and suffering by the time we're done with them." He promised.

Nodding his thanks, Matt replied. "Let's get to work."

===Several Days Later===

Days on Janis VI were the same as the nights. Cold and dark. As the surface of the moon was uninhabitable, the only place one could survive was underground, in the massive mine complex that once was occupied by Humans and Horta alike. But that was decades ago, before the mineral deposits that were once sought after had no longer been needed as badly. There had been the discussion of simply leaving the moon to the Horta to live alone, but, at their request, a Federation presence had stayed on, albiet a very small one. Now, instead of miners, a small research team of ten scientists would rotate in every six months to study and learn from the Horta and investigate the deeper, vastly older caverns of the moon.

However, at the moment, there was no such team present, as it was the Horta's mating season. Now, there were but five humanoid lifeforms in the mines, though three, had no idea the other two were there. No idea they were being hunted.

Moving a quietly as Death itself, the two Marines slowly circled their unsuspecting prey in ever-tightening orbits. Soon, they reached the barracks that housed their targets, Mattias at one end, hiding, Tim at the other.

Suddenly, one of the men, a Klingon, decided to go for a walk, as he was starting to get cabin fever. Their employer had given them strict instructions to stay out of sight for the next several weeks, following the successful completion of their mission on Earth.

Mattias managed to get into a better hiding place before the Klingon reached his original position. He quietly signalled Tim to stay put and keep an eye on the other two. He then set out after his target.

Tim acknowledged Mett's signal. "Don't worry Matt, you will have all the time you need." He then went to work on the other two a Human and Cardassian. He injected both with the same tranquillizer Matt would use on the Klingon. He then tied both securely to their cots before adding the final piece of his masterpiece. From a shoulder poach he brought forth a hypo and injected first one then the other in the neck. That done he pulled up a chair and sat down to wait for them to wake up.

He didn't have long to wait as the men woke up screaming at him to untie them. "Inside voices buttercups. Here's the deal, you are both going to die. You see, I injected an explosive into your carotid arteries. No bigger than the head of a needle. They're dissolving now, by the way, and when they fully dissolve...Poof!, blow your arteries wide open. You'll bleed right out. I'm telling you this because I want to see how killers of a woman and a child face their own deaths."

For nearly an hour, Mattias followed his target as silently as the other man's shadow. Finally, the Klingon stopped and sat down on a small ledge in the middle of a small cavern.

Mattias slowly got in range of his target, raised his weapon, and fired.

The Klingon reacted instantly, though too late, as the tranquilizer dart had already buried its injector barb in the man's neck, delivering the cocktail of drugs into his system instantly.

He tried to shout a warning to his fellow warriors, but his voice wasn't working. He managed to pull his disruptor form its holster, but then it fell from his grip as his muscles started to lose all control and go limp. He finally crumpled to the ground, face first, a prisoner in his useless body.

Moving over to his subdued prey, Mattias reached down and rolled the man over onto his back and saw, from the family crest on the Klingons bandolier, that this was the owner of the knife left in Bora Bora. A rage suddenly exploded inside of him, but, he kept it inside as he reached up and activated his throat comm unit. "Have fun with those two, Tim. I've got the one I was looking for here. When you're done, please ensure we are not disturbed." His voice was dangerously calm and quiet.

While the Klingon could not move or speak, his eyes stayed locked on Mattias, rage filling stares jabbing out at the human.

Slowly, Mattias moved to sit on the ledge that the Klingon had been occupying, not moments before, and stared down into those rage filled eyes. Calmly, he began to speak. "So, you must have enjoyed your time on Earth. Enjoyed it so much, you left something behind." He reached down to his right boot and drew the knife that was sheathed there. Holding it up, he revealed that it was the d'tang that had been stuck in the table on the dock.

"See? As you had been in my home, I would be a horrible host if I did not return your property to you." In one sudden move, he knelt down beside the Klingon, moved his limp hand out to his side, palm up, and slammed the blade down through it with enough force, that he drove the first two inches of the heavy blade into the stone the Klingon was laying on.

The only indication that the Klingon had felt any pain, was that his rate of breathing increased rapidly.

Moving back to the ledge, Mattias looked down at the Klingon. "Oh, yes, you did feel that didn't you? I should have told you, I hit you with a special tranquilizer that paralyzes most of your muscles and vocal cords, while still allowing you to feel everything in exquisite detail. Also, you should know that the effects are permanent, in case you thought that you might have any escape. Today, you will die, and Grethor will be feasting on your soul after I'm done with you." He pulled out a small laser scalpel and spent the next twenty minutes carefully cutting away the Klingon's clothing

Finally, he sat back on the ledge and pulled the ruck off of his back and set it down. Then, after opening the ruck, he pulled out a olive drab case. After placing the case on the ledge next to him, he unzipped it, opening it like a book. He then reached in and pulled out a hypo with a dark purple fluid in the attached cartridge. As he leaned back to the supine Klingon, he paused and acted as if he had been asked a question. "Oh, this? This is just a little concoction that'll make sure your heart will not stop beating, well, until I stop it, that is." He injected the serum and put the hypo away. He then sat back a little and looked at his prey.

"So, I might've asked you where the honor in brutally murdering an unarmed woman and a young child was, but, as you did perform said murders, you clearly have no honor. Thus, I'm just going to have to take you apart, piece by piece. I am curious though, if your employer warned you of just who your targets were, or if they just said, kill the woman and child, leave the man alive. Well, of it's the latter, you should know, not only did you kill the wife and son of a Starfleet Marine, but a Special Ops Sniper."

"But enough about me, let's begin the game shall we? What's that? What game are we playing? Why, how many pieces can I cut off the Klingon before he dies like the cowardly piece of shit he really is." He picked up the laser scapel again and began with both feet.

The Klingon's rate of breathing increased again.

===Back in the Barracks===

The men struggled , screamed and cursed Tim to untie them. Requests he pointedly ignored. He simply watched them as they struggled. "How does it feel, heroes, to be helpless? You know, like the woman and child you killed. Did you feel all big and bad? How do you feel now? Knowing in minutes your heads are going to explode like ripe melons. Why don't you beg for forgiveness. Perhaps your plea will be heard."

The Cardassian spat at him but the Human began to cry and blubber, claiming her didn't know a woman and child were the targets. He was just there to be a lookout.

"You poor thing. And look at you now. Tied up, head getting to go poof. You should have chosen better friends. Chalk this up as a bad career move." Tim replied without emotion.

"Pl..please. I'm sorry!" The man shrieked.

"Your sorry now." Tim corrected, But you weren't when you could have made a difference." He looked at the two men. "Say, are you starting to feel warm? You look flush and that's a sure sign the end is near."

"PLEASE forgive me!" The human cried out again.

Tim looked down at the man. "You want religion? Join a church and I'm not a priest you son of a bitch!"

The Cardassian screamed and pulled against his bounds but it was all for naught as a second later his head exploded spraying blood and brain matter all over his compatriot.

"You're next buttercup. I hope you rot in hell!"

===Out in the tunnels===

By this time, Mattias had reached the Klingon's groin area, his legs seared slices of meat and bone cut in half inch thick sections. The Klingon, himself, was sweating profusely and taking in deep, rapid breaths. His mind was wracked with waves of pain as each cut was made. Under normal circumstances, his body would have shut down in shock by now. However, the drug cocktail that Mattias had injected him with was keeping his heart pumping at a normal rhythm, which kept blood running normally to his brain, keeping it alive and conscious.

"Now," Mattias put the scalpel down and addressed his target. "I imagine there are many thing that you'd love to say to me. But, as you no longer possess the ability to speak, we will need to do this the long way. With your eyes. So, if you would like me to simply finish you quickly and put you out of your misery, you had better cooperate. I am going to ask you a series of questions. Look to your right for yes, your left, for no. Do you understand me?"

The Klingon looked to his right.

"Good," Mattias said. "Now, when you were given this assignment, did your employer inform you who the target should be?"

Yes

"And was the target me?"

No

"So the target was my wife and infant son?"

Yes

"Did your employer tell you why it was to be my wife and child and not me?"

Yes

"Did I wrong your employer at some point in the past?"

Yes

Mattias thought for a few beats. "Did I kill someone your employer cared for?"

Yes

"Parent?"

No

"Sibling?"

No

"Spouse?"

No

"Child?"

Yes

Mattias knew that it could be any number of combatants he had fought over the years. He needed to figure out how to narrow it down. "Are you familiar with the Human alphabet?"

No

"Very well, we'll use the Klingon instead. I am going to go through the alphabet, and we will spell your employer's name. If you lie to me, I will know it and I with make your death as slow and excruciating as I can make it. Do you believe me?"

Yes

"Will you lie to me?"

No

"Very good, let's begin."

===Back in the Barracks===

Tim looked at the one remaining prisoner. His fellow prisoner's head exploding like a ripe cantaloupe. "The waiting is hell, I know but it will be all over soon and then you can rot in whatever hell there is for bastards like you and your friend." Tim gestured to the headless corpse in the next cot.

Tim bent over and looked at the man. "Know this, you slimly piece of shit. "This isn't justice it's retribution and it's only the beginning of what's waiting for you for all eternity." The man started to speak, convulsed and arched as his head exploded, spraying the room in blood and gore. Thankfully Tim was spared most of it.

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste, fuckers. Guess you both found that out too late." He then began to search for clues as to who had hired them. He opened up their foot lockers, rifled through their clothes, looking for anything that would cast a light on who their contact/employer was. He looking around the room, what was he missing? His eyes centered on a small desk and he began pulling the drawers out with reckless abandon. When after pulling out a drawer a scrap of paper floated out. Grabbing it he saw a name scrawled on it read "Wait for General M's call." Tim searched his brain for a reference. Then he had it. General Victor Maximov!

"Matt. think I have something. How are you coming along with your interrogation?"

===In the tunnels===

"Maximov?" Mattias asked incredulously.

Yes

Mattias now knew why his family had been killed. Back during his last mission to ***LOCATION CLASSIFIED***, the target had been the General himself. However, Maximov wasn't in the car. His husband and child were!

Suddenly, the call from Tim came in. "Yeah, it's Maximov!"

"Apparently, he found me and decided to take his revenge on my family."

Tim was silent before replying, "Bastard, No good scum sucking bastard."

"Finish up what needs to be done back there, make sure you don't leave any traces as to who did this. I'll meet you back at the beam-in point in twenty minutes."

"Roger Matt." Tim replied as he looked at the two headless corpses. "Never looked better guys," He commented without humor as he looked about the room making sure there was nothing to connect him or Matt to these executions. They were ghosts, they lived and thrived in the shadows and moved on the wind. He took out some diamonds and spread them over the corpses. The Horta would do the rest.

After Tim acknowledged and closed the channel, Mattias looked back down at the paralyzed Klingon, or, what was left of one. "And you. I did say that I would end you quickly if you cooperated, didn't I?"

Yes

Mattias sighed, looking at the laser scalpel in his hand. "Well, as a man of honor, my word is my bond." He knelt down and locked eyes with the Klingon. "But you have no honor, so you don't deserve any mercy." He activated the laser and started cutting into the Klingon's entrails, avoiding critical organs as much as possible.

The Klingon's eyes grew wide with what could be fear and anger, possibly realizing that he was dying an honorless death, so his soul would be damned for all eternity.

"I'm sure my wife and son begged for mercy too, as you slaughtered them." Mattias spoke in a detached coolness that was terrifying all on its own. He began slicing off the arms, the rest of the legs, the groin, both livers all four lungs and the decentralized heart, finally severing the head. He removed the d'tang and impaled the lifeless skull.

Slowly, Mattias stood. As he did so, his emotions started to bubble up from deep inside. Anger was at the forefront. As his rate of breathing increased, he finally reached the point of explosion and let out a howl of complete anger and loss that echoed throughout the tunnels for a few kilometers in all directions.

Finally, he started to calm down. He could then hear the telltale sound of Horta moving around. Taking out a pouch, he sprinkled several ounces of diamonds over the remains. The Horta seemed drawn to the precious stone, and, after one moved over the remains, there would be nothing left but ash.

Moving out, Mattias never looked back. One threat dealt with, more to go after.

"Inbound, Tim. Mission accomplished here.""

"Same here Matt. I'll see you shortly." Tim replied crisply as he closed the channel.

A few momentes later, Mattias turned a corner and saw Tim. "Let's get outta here, before someone comes looking for these shitstains."

"A capital idea." Tim agreed as he activated the transport that would beam them back aboard their ship. "A nice place to visit and better place to die for these assholes."

"Too bad they couldn't have been alive when the Horta consumed them," Mattias replied as the rematerialized on the runabout. "Let's get out of the system. Then we can plan the next step."

"Can't have everything Matt." Tim replied sagely. "Big thing is we set out to accomplish what we came here for and no one is any wiser."

"Mostly," Mattias conceded. "The hired muscle may be dead, but the person responsible isn't. Time to begin the hunt again." He moved into the aft section of the runabout to get cleaned up.

"Matt, we got the mice, now we'll get the rat that is responsible for all this. He'll face our vengeance soon enough and he'll pay in blood." Tim promised.

===Three Months Later===

Unfortunately, Tim's promise proved to be less than accurate. General Victor Maximov proved to be an illusion, absolutely zero trace of him could be found now, or even ever having existed. As the weeks went on, Mattias grew more and more angry, as it started to look more and more that his family had been murdered simply to cover up a mission that should have ended with his and Tim's death instead.

One day, as they were sitting at the briefing table, hitting yet another dead end, Mattias stood and hurled his coffee mug against the bulkhead. "What the fuck!!!"

Tim raised an eyebrow at both the thrown mug and Matt's explosive exclamation. "Feel better now, Matt?" He asked in a normal tone of voice.

Mattias turned his gaze on his best friend and almost told him to fuck off. However, he didn't. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I....I'm finding it hard to believe that my family was killed for nothing!"

"What makes you think they were Matt? Obviously they were killed as a message to you." Tim said pointedly as he looked at his best friend. "Just because we can't see it doesn't mean there isn't another, deeper reason." Tim continued on. "Matt, you are driving yourself too hard. You can't see the forest for the trees right now. We'll find the reason. However for now you need to take a step back and rejoin the human race and live." Tim paused and plunged on. "Find Penelope or Phoenix as she calls herself now. You need someone other than me to talk to. Someone who makes you smile and laugh. Someone you trust and confide in. You need to do this Matt. Saundra wouldn't want to see you like this. She would want you to be happy, living, not dwelling on the past. There's no future in it for you, Matt."

Mattias was about to argue, when Tim mentioned both Phoenix and Saundra, the two women he has loved, and it felt like he lost all energy. Dropping down into his seat, he sagged down, feeling very old suddenly.
"You're...you're right, Tim. I have to live, to keep the memory of Saundra and my...my little Charlie alive!" He he crossed his arms on the table and laid his head upon them. He then started to sob softly.

"Matt." Tim said softly. "Saundra and Charlie are alive. They live within your heart and always will. Always remember that." With that Tim got up and gave his friend some much needed privacy.

Mattias stayed where he was for about the next hour. Then, he entered the cockpit. "Tim," he said softly. "Thank you. For everything. You're right, I need to return to the living. But, I don't know who I am right now. I need to go walkabout. I need to find myself again. Drop me off at the next base or planet, and I'll head out. You have my word, as a Marine and your brother, I won't go searching for them by myself. I will return, when I know myself again."

"Alright Matt, I think that is a good idea and I'm going to hold you to it." Tim answered. "As luck would have it. we're headed toward Wrigley's Pleasure Planet. I can drop you off there if you like." He said with a smile.

Mattias gave Tim a weak grin. "Sure. It's as good a place to start as any other. I'm gonna pack a bag and take a few handfuls of credit chips to live on. Write 'em up as operational necessity fundage."

"Take as many of the credit chips as you want, Matt. You may need them." Tim replied and then in a quieter tone. "Matt, take care of yourself. I'll be waiting for your call but, until then, get back to living."

Mattias nodded slowly. "I will try, my friend. I will certainly try." He then turned and headed to his cabin and started to pack. As he did so, he took about 400,000 worth in Federation Credit Chips, and dumped them into a small sack and put the sack in his bag. He took a few hundred more chips and slid them into his pants pocket.

A few moments later, he reentered the cockpit, ruck on his back. Moving over to the transporter, he said, "Don't let anyone come after me. I'll make arangements to notify if I don't make it back." He paused. "I'll see you on the flip side, brother. Energize."

"The only one coming after you will be me when you send word." Tim assured Matt. "And I'll see you on the flip side my brother. You can count on it." He finished as he activated the transporter and Matt disappeared in a sparkle of rainbow colors. "Stay safe, Matt, and I'll be waiting."

-OFF-