Silence...
Nothing but the beauty of silence.
The most beautiful, peaceful thing I've heard in quite a while.
I open my eyes and I find myself...floating...
The artificial gravity is offline.
Bodies, floating around.
They seem to be...asleep.
Am I sleeping as well?
My blurred eyes regain their sharp sight.
And the first thing I see; stars, millions of them.
I look around and see the bridge. 
I touch the cold metal of my seat and slowly, I float down and I take my position as the captain, the Senator. 
My first officer, he smiles as he looks outside. The remains of what was one of the fiercest battles in history. He turns his head and is about to say something. He has a nasty cut on his left cheek. Drops of blood are floating through the room. And he starts to speak. But...I can't hear him. There's only this beeping in my ears. But still I know what he's saying: "We did it! We won!" I'm reading his lips. He keeps repeating his words, over and over again. And I'm just sitting there, astonished. Happy, and I don't even care I've lost my hearing. 
I sit back and I think about what has happened in the past few days...

Ion Echo
Battle for the Kalenian Gate

The Pirates were ready to invade the Kalenian Nebula, the final border between them and the Federation. The bulk of their forces had already entered the Nebula, and the forces that had 'retreated' were going to defend the gate. We quickly followed their footsteps, not entirely sure what to expect. Eventually we reached the Galactic Boundry Gate, as the Federation would call it. Our fleet took position just outside the Pirates' sensor-range. 4996 Cruisers. We had them outnumbered by 2497 cruisers, but this wasn't an advantage. Our cruisers were big, fearsome yet slow. Their fleet was built for short, fast but very deadly strikes. One of their cruisers could easily destroy 2 of ours. Lucky for us, we had one very powerful backbone: The TIR Himalaya, just over 800 meters long it was a foce to be reckoned with. But its size wasn't the best asset. 8 Anti-Cruiser-Cannons, 4 on each side. With a diameter of 30 meters each, they were the biggest cannons ever built by the TIR. One of them was capable of ripping through 3 capital ships, if the conditions were ideal. "Start scanning the Nebula."
I said, looking out of the viewports. "We attack tomorrow." I took my seat, in the middle of the bridge and called up my generals. It didn't take long for them to reach me. We thought up a battle plan, just like always, we would send the smaller ships first and cover them with our Himalayas and Scimitars. Scimitars were decomissioned by the Federation, but they were kind enough to give us some. We then had them upgraded to TIR standards. Ironic, we were helping the Federation with the cruisers they had given us, who knew it would come this far.
Our plan was ready, the fleet deployed and our minds filled with thoughts. I gave my first officer the bridge and went to my quarters, trying to get some rest. But somehow I knew I couldn't sleep

And I was right. I didn't sleep... 

The day began early for me, so I got myself a cup of coffee. The strongest we had. 
We were getting the status reports from our fleet. It consisted out of roughly 2350 Scimitars, 2000 Himalayas, 1200 Dreadnaught War Corvettes, 1150 Minnow Corvettes and 800 Patrol Corvettes. From what our scans revealed they're fleet was made of: Cutlasses, Fatstrikes, Harrowers, Lying Bastards and several Sparrowhawks. Several lights on my screen went green. 
Group 1: Ready. Group 2 : Ready. Group 3 : Ready. Group 4 : Ready. Group 5 : Ready.
I took a deep breath and I emptied my mind. "Sir, they are awaiting your orders." My first officer was eager. I didn't answer at first. I was too busy thinking, I regained control over my thoughts. "Alright then..." I sighed. "Group one..." I waited for a second. "...attack." 
I sipped some of my coffee and watched how the group of Patrol Corvettes moved forward.
I opened up the comlink: "Group 3, follow their lead." The Minnow Group began following group 1. "Group 3, cover their left flank." The Dreadnaught group moved into position, doing exactly as they were told. By now, the Pirates had noticed our movements and they too, were preparing themselves, although a little too late. We had the element of surprise, but our cruisers were slower than their ships. "All remaining groups, attack." I noticed that my voice was louder than normal. I could feel a slight tremble going through my chair, almost unnoticeable, as my ship began moving forward. "Group 1 opening fire." A message from the lead ship sounded through the bridge, indicating that the battle had begun. I couldn't...grasp it at first. I've been part of great battles before, but never this close. Several Bloodsuckers screamed by our ship. Looking for a good victim to leech on. Soon, we deployed our own fighters, and I wondered where the heck Robin went, and why so soon. I had heard some unconfirmed reports about him joining the Red Baron, but those were, as said before, unconfirmed. Bright flashes began filling the space around me. It had begun.
I had this urge, I had to get in the fight. I wanted to be there with my soldiers. "O'Neill."
My first officer came to me at once. "Get me my Valkyrie." I said to him. He looked a bit surprised: "But sir you're..." "...54 years old, I know." I finished his sentence. "Just get me my ship." He respected my decision. "Ofcourse sir, at once..." 

I entered the ship's Hangar. Cravens, Cerberus' and even a few Triplions. Never though I would see that old ship again. One pilot came to me, the second I set foot in the Hangar. "Sir, what are you doing here?" I was wearing a space-suit and I was holding a helmet in my right hand. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I smiled. "I've always wanted to experience one more battle up close." The pilot smiled back. "Third ship on your right."
The battle outside was heating up. I could see that through the force field between us and the cold space. Cruisers, both, TIR and Pirate were pumping eachother full with lasers, plasma and freem. One of the Pirate cruisers blew up in the brightest white flash. Illuminating the Hangar for a few seconds. A formation of Bloodsuckers flew by. One of them was shot down by a barrage of lasers released by a Valkyrie, one of few. Only 200 of those ships existed in the universe. I was lucky to have one. I only had it as a pleasure craft. I never knew I would use it in battle. I looked at my ship. It was waiting there. I walked over to it. Touched its wing      
and I climbed up the ladder leading to the cockpit. The pilots that also took a seat in their ships looked...honoured. But so was I, honoured I could fly along with them. I started up the ship. A low engine-rumble turned into a battlecry as I opened up the particel-vents. I closed the cockpit, made sure it was airtight and opened up a comlink to Hangar-control: "This is Marcus Imir. Requesting permission to launch." It was silent for a few seconds at the other end. "Thi...This is Hangar-control, go ahead Sir, have a safe flight." I chuckled and closed the link. My ship lifted off and I was ready to engage the enemy. I engaged main thrusters and the ship speeded out of the Hangar. I waited for the other fighters to catch up. "Group 52, on my six, let's get them." And soon the 4 Cerberus fighters filled their positions. We entered battle. 

More then 200 thousand fighters were battling between the hulls of more than 10000 cruisers. 
The battle was immense. My group dodged several barrages of cannonfire. I pulled hard to right and saw how a Scimitar blasted through a Lying Bastard. Several targets were popping up on my HUD. I picked a Sparrowhawk and relayed the target to my group. "Go for its engines!" I prepared my missiles. The gap between us and the Sparrowhawk was closing. Lucky for us, it hadn't noticed us yet. It was too busy fighting two Dreadnaught cruisers.
"Fire at will." And I pushed the red, round button on my stick. 10 missiles streaked out of my fighter group. It didn't take long for them to reach their target. Blowing several holes in the engines, the projectiles crippled the Sparrowhawk. It was now defenceless against the two Dreadnaughts. And it didn't take long for them to take care of the Sparrowhawk. Lasers battered the Sparrowhawk until it broke in two and exploded in a bright white sphere. The blinding light was blocked by a Lying Bastard that came out of nothing. "Oh crap! Pull up!"
I pulled my control down and the Valkyrie climbed up at an immense rate. My Cerberus group followed my every move. I cleared the hull, nearly crashing into a cannon that turned from one target to another. "Everyone still with me?" I asked. A voice cracked back: "We sure are, not bad for an old geezer." "Experience comes with time." I said. The voice on the other side chuckled. "Sir, Thunderheads on our 3." I looked at my right and saw 6 Thunderheads closing in. They released their deadly rain of lasers. "Break formation! Lure them into a dogfight!" I climbed up, spinning and dodging fire from every direction. I came behind a Thunderhead. I squeezed my trigger and send a trail of plasma on his back. It pounded the ship's aft shields and disabled them. It didn't take long for the plasma to reach the reactor. The ship exploded in a blue cloud of light. I began searching for my group. "Sir, I can't shake him!" A Cerberus was in trouble and I began pursuiting the Thunderhead. I caught up with him. He was beating the crap out of the Cerberus. I released my stream of lasers. Suddenly another rain of plasma also painted the Thunderhead's hull. A Triplion, one of the last, was giving all he had. Caught in the crossfire, the poor Pirate had nowhere to go. It's back exploded first, sending the cockpit spinning until it crashed into the hull of a Scimitar. 
I smiled at the Triplion, knowing that its pilot smiled back. Suddenly it was pierced by cannonfire. I looked up and saw a Harrower taking aim. I dodged its fire, looking for my comrades. They were nowhere to be found. I sighed. "Damn..." I steered my ship around a cluster of maybe 15 ships battling it out. In the background I could see several blinding explosions. Lighting the black space up. Millions of lasers were shared between sides.
I flew between enormous ships. I saw them everyday, but flying next to them...It was an other world. I was pulled from my thoughts when my computer started beeping. 3 Cutlass fighters had spotted me. They started firing their deadly weapons. Lasers screamed past my cockpit. 
I was having a hard time shaking them off. I flew my ship in between two large cruisers exchanging cannonfire. A Lying Bastard and a much larger Himalaya. There were only a few dozen meters between both hulls. The Himalaya started to break through the Lying Bastards shields with its massive cannons. The Bastard couldn't take this constant rain of fire. The middle section exploded in the brightest light. I was blinded for some time. I closed my eyes, the white flash faded away and I opened them again. And I kept them open. The whole front section of the Pirate ship drifted towards the Himalaya, I was in between...
I pushed the red button that was on top of my stick. I watched the gauges go to red. The plasma vents opened, and the very flammable fuel was injected directly into my engine. 
Everything around my cockpit blurred. I was slammed back into my seat as my Valkyrie blasted forward. I looked at my left and I could see the hull of the Lying Bastard coming in. It was dozens...no...hundreds of meters tall. "Go...go....go..." I yelled. 
The hull crashed into the Himalaya. It exploded further. My ship was engulfed in flames, I was still pumping the throttle to full. For a while...it was quiet, there was nothing around me, nothing but orange...and red. I cleared the sea of flames and my ship dove back into battle. 

"Man that was some flying!" A familiar voice spoke through my com. I sighed deeply, sweat was dripping from my face. "Hehe thanks, where were you?" It was the Cerberus pilot that I had lost. "Busy sir, very busy." 
"Hehe, no problem, let's get back to what we came for."
I could see the pilot smile in his cockpit.
"What's our status?" I asked.
"Pirates have lost 1000 ships, 2500 at our side."
I looked at the nebula, strange. 
"They're defending that right?" The Cerberus pilot asked.
"They have some kind of Ion-based defence that keeps us from entering." I was talking more to myself than to him,
"Sir...?"
"I have an idea, regroup and head back to the command ship." I turned my ship around and made my way to the Crimson Echo, the command ship. Heh, funny, I didn't name it before.

"W...w..wait, you want to do what??" The Cerberus pilot, Jamie Hilton, was not so sure about my plan. 
"Well, it's simple, we board their command ship, take control of it, and attack them in the back. Plus we'll be able to open the Gate." I clarified myself.
"How do you know this?" Another pilot asked.
"We picked up one of their messages to the station at the other end of the Nebula."
"So we fly safely through the constant streams of lasers, board their flagship after dodging their defences, kill everyone that stands between us and the bridge and take control of the ship?"
I was silent for a few seconds...
"Yes."
He shared my silence and nodded
"Okay then, let's do this."
I looked at everyone's faces in the conference room. They were all confident, just like me.
"Good...good, let's move out."

"Clear the way." A Dreadnaught cruiser was going to give the squadron cover. We hid under the ship. It began firing, clearing the path before us. The endless stream of lasers seemed to come right out of hell. It was mayhem. If you would turn your head from right to left you would've witnessed dozens explosions. "Sir, we're closing in on their flagship." Between the battling cruisers, you could see a glimpse of their ship. A Lying Bastard. Pounding all the ships around it. "This is it, this is our moment in this war." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Give them hell..." I pushed the red button that has saved my life before, but now, it could be my death. We screamed forward from under the the Dreadnaught. Another Dreadnaught exploded right in front of us. We flew through the skeleton of the ship, not exactly knowing we would hit something or not. Some of us crashed into a pillar, but most of  our fighters made it out okay. "All fighters reduce speed. Echo 1 to 8, on my six. The rest take out any Pirate." My order was answered with a "Yes Sir." from all the pilots. I steered my ship right to the hangar of the Bastard. Laserfire screamed by my cockpit, destroying several Cerberus fighters. I dodged every shot. "Watch that crossfire." Then I saw something I would've hoped not to see. They were closing the hangar. I looked at the red button on my control stick. Not here, I would crash. Thoughts flew through my head. I made my decision, and pressed the red button. My wingmen did the same. The gap was closing. I held on tight.
My ship just made it through. Three of us didn't make it and crashed into the door. I hit the emergency-brake and my ship crash-landed on the floor. It grinded a few meters forward. I opened the cockpit, and pulled my blaster. Pirates came from every direction. We were completely surrounded. But I looked at my left and saw that my first officer was still in his Cerberus. It hovered a few meters over the hangar-floor. He squeezed the trigger and the laser cannons made sure there was no Pirate left. He powered down his ship and landed. He opened up his cockpit, casually, and jumped on the floor. "Nice one, Forth." I yelled. "Thank you sir!" He laughed. So here we were, 5 men on an enemy ship loaded with Pirate forces, minus 20-25. "Get your weapons." I ordered. I noticed that everyone had a more powerful weapon than mine. I had a blaster while my men had Plasma-rifles and Fusion-guns. "Could I borrow...?"
"No problem." My first officer reached in the bagage-compartment of his ship and threw a Fusion Rifle. I caught it, made sure it was fully loaded and walked to one of the the hangar-exits. My men followed me. 

My first officer peeked around a corner. "5 guards." He whispered. "Flash..." I spoke softly.
He removed the safety from the flashbang and tossed it in the Pirates' direction. The corridor was filled with a blinding flash of white light and before the Pirates could close their eyes they fell to the floor. Taken down by our silenced weapons. "Move..." 
We were swift and silent. We made our way quickly from the Hangar to the upper deck where the bridge was located. 

"What is it?" I asked. Forth sighed. "20..." He said. It was silent for a few moments. "Fusion Rifles?" He suddenly asked. "Fusion Rifles..." I said. "Ready?" All my five men whispered "yes". Forth armed a smoke grenade and threw it into the corridor. A second passed before a thick, dark grey smoke began spreading through the hall. "Go!" We ran through the smoke, weapons raised. I pulled the trigger, cold fusion energy erupted. I blasted through 3 Pirates. Blood splattered over the floor. I rammed one down and finished him off with one clean shot in the head. Forth litterally mowed down his enemies. Lasers everywhere, yelling, screaming, chaos. The last Pirate fell to the floor. A hole in his chest. You could see in his eyes, that life passed away. I though I could hear his heartbeat slowing down as he hit the ground. The smoke faded away. And it was quiet, almost...gentle. It was disturbed by a beep, indicating that the door to the bridge was opening. "Get back." I said. We retreated to the corner. The door opened and a young man slowly walked through the opening. A man was holding a gun against his head. Was it the captain? "Stand down, or this boy dies." The captain spoke, a tremble in his voice. He knew it was over. The boy was maybe 15. He had brown hair and dark green eyes that feared for their lives. I calmed him down with a confident look. I lowered my weapon. "Sir?" Forth didn't agree. I looked at him, my confidence became his. All my men threw their weapons on the ground. "Go-...Good...now, kick them over to me..." I slowly guided my foot under my Fusion Rifle. "Ki-...Kick..." "Okay, I'll kick it." In the blink of an eye, I kicked up my foot. My weapon flew through the air, rotating. I grabbed it by the handle, jumped to the floor, rolled and pulled the trigger three times. The Pirate and the boy both fell to the floor. A bleeding wound on first, a terrified look on the second. My men ran forward, onto the bridge, I followed them. They fired their weapons, so did I. The remaining pirates were all killed. But one...He had a thermal detonator in his hand. He got hit two times, but he was still able to throw it. It flew through the air and I could hear the beeps counting down...

Silence...

Written by : Isaak Kraft van Ermel
                    aka IXI
Thanks to :  Kopaka Metru
                    Creator of the Kanohi
                    Scorpio Paradox