Ladies and gents,

The communicator onboard of the ANS Europa was making its monotonous static hiss of a no-comm state, the communications officer was fast asleep at his station, and most of the command deck was empty. It was quite and cold. As cold as only space could be. The fighter squadrons were in their respective hangers, the marines asleep in the barracks and only people awake were the Europa's night-time skeleton crew. It was a silent night, a night of dreams and prophecies, a night of change.

A muffled beep escaped the comm speaker, a beep so quite that none aside from a well trained and expert night time communications officer could have even heard, yet the officer was up and a wake in a split second. Grabbing the headphones and eyeing the radar screens he looked and waited. nothing happened. The young LT started relaxing and thought to him self "must have been a system bug" he started putting the headphones back down, but then he heard it again, louder this time. "....eeep.....beeep....beeep" the comm gear came alive as the radar screens detected an incoming fighter. A lone fighter, of a very old configuration. The LT hit a couple buttons and the sophisticated FoF system analyzed the small ship. The computer counsel came alive with an error message - "FoF scan sequence completed, ship recognized as KIA" With up most surprise the comm officer checked the records, this sip did indeed belong to the Wolf Pack a long time ago. Over 3 years ago in fact. It was an old Class I Phoenix from the SLE wars and its code name was "War Bird" code number SL1x990T. "accessing War Bird pilot records...please stand by..." faster, you damn piece of crap muttered the officer. A lone fighter could do no damage to the ANS Europa but no one has seen a Class one fighter in years. The LT was getting worried. At its current speed the fighter would reach the Europa in about 20 minutes. "... Phoenix, class I, identification plate number SL1x990T, one pilot recorded, killed in action 3 years ago, Major Talorin Xarr of Netherhold. Commander of Omega squadron, decorated officer. Announced dead after final engagement with Coalition remnant on 03.09.2637..."
"scan ship for life forms!" .... "processing...life form detected, 1, human, male".

Grabbing the in-ship comm controls the LT hailed Crying Devil, after a few seconds a sleepy voice came through "...what in hell do you want? do you have any idea what time it is?!" "apologies sir, but I think you should see this... we have a guest".

5 minutes later Devil was standing next to the Comm Officer staring at the multiple screens showing ship identification records, pilot records, and a very large flashing message "KIA". "This makes no sense" said the Commander of Wolf Pack, the most honored Admiral Crying Devil, successor of Captain America. "I saw his ship disappear in the grav' anomaly that finished the Endour battle 3 years ago. He is supposed to be dead." the comm officer merely shrugged and said "appears that he is not Sir. what do we do now?" "Hail him".

"...the ANS Europa hailing War Bird, War Bird please respond.... nothing Sir, no answer". Devil started pacing around, the Wolf Pack has encountered returning pilots from similar although smaller scale grav' anomalies before, they were all mad, and came back with guns blazing. To the tactical officer - "Son, what are the status of our shields?" ... "Sir, they are still down for maintenance, we cannot bring them back up for another hour and a half, Sir." Devil was pacing. "Sir, will he not be able to significantly damage the hull if our shields are down?" asked the comm officer. "Yes, Lieutenant, yes he will be able to do just that." "Target him with 4 of the rear defense turret, do not open fire until I say so."

100 clicks...83...70...40...20...10....3... The Phoenix stopped. It was just sitting next to the Europa, without moving or hailing.

"Send a platoon of marines to landing dock 4. tell them to be ready for any thing, open dock 4 doors."

The huge blast doors slid open and the fighter went in. The doors closed behind it.

Devil was running down the corridors leading to dock #4 at full speed, he was hoping for, and fearing the same thing. A squad of marines waited at the dock doors when the Admiral arrived. Their commander saluted, and asked "Admiral, Sir, what are we doing here?" Devil returned the salute and said "greeting a ghost..." with that he reached for the control panel and opened the doors.

... the hanger was almost empty, it was mostly used as a cargo hanger now days, but back when it was the home of Omega Space Superiority squadron. Talorin's Squadron.... The marines entered in a defensive formation around the Admiral, and proceeded towards the fighter... when they got close enough they could see multiple laser and plasma burns, a destroyed comm antenna and numerous cracks in the hull. This phoenix will never fly again. The cockpit was still sealed. Devil ordered the marines to stay on guard and approached the fighter cautiously.... the cockpit opened.

Outside stumbled some one that Devil has not seen in years, looked at the Admiral, smiled and collapsed.

"Get him to sickbay, quick!" shouted the Admiral as the marines grabbed the pilot.

"He has multiple plasma burns on his body, a concoction and a few broken ribs. It also seems that he has suffered significant neurological damage and his shoulder is broken in 3 places. it appears...it appears that he saw hell and came back to tell the tale Sir." said the ship doctor after inspecting the pilot. "Will he live?" "It is difficult to say, it does not seem probable".

Devil leaned over the broken body and said "I know you, you son of a bitch. You will live." and quieter still "welcome back my friend"
<center><img src="http://www.lancersreactor.com/images/news/WIP2.jpg" border="0"> </center>
by WP Talorin