The flight to Meridian had been a long one, great distance crossed by their small ship in route to the planet. Much of the time on board had been spent designing a new ship that would fit a specific role, a ship designed to be a slug thrower. Sure, it might use a bit of an outdated technology, but it fit a specific role and could do a lot of damage to an enemy vessel.

The co-pilot, Silvio, was a very good one as far as that went. Good about letting them know when they were going to drop out of hyperspace, good about making the drop out a gentle one which it was. What he wasn’t good at was something that there was no possible way for him to effect. They dropped out right in the middle of what might as well have been a war zone.

The Gallant Wind rode into the space around Meridian with its sights set upon moving towards the two CTI ships that were in low orbit. However, as they moved, Silvio picked up on the radio frequencies of the Meridian Sector Authority vessels, specifically some nearby ones that were moving to intercept a vessel that was attempting to break quarantine around the planet.

Whoever was in charge on the Jolly Saint obviously did not understand that the only way the people onboard were going to survive was to stand down. But then, that’s how it always was in situations like these. People ran and then someone had the audacity to shoot the ship with lasers instead of ion cannons, killing everyone on board and venting the bodies into space. It would be a messy clean up. The bodies would have to be collected and burned.

“Sweet mercy, Sol. What sadistic bastard uses anything but ion cannons on a fleeing vessel with no shields? I hope the person who gave that order is shot for incompetence. It’s obvious he has no idea how to lead.”

Killian sat looking through the view port in the direction of the now nearly destroyed ship that had been transporting refugees. The floating bodies drifted through space, some still venting from the innards of the ship. For a few moments it even seemed that he might throw up at the sight, but nothing came of it so he sat back into the seat, staring towards where Sol sat.

“We are nearing the Tradesman’s Journey,” came the voice of Silvio over the ships intercom. “She’s hailing us.”

Moments later the voice of the ships captain came over the intercom.

“This is Captain So’lorn of the Tradesman’s Journey hailing the Gallant Wind, please respond.”

“Captain So’lorn, this is Dimitri Tunlen, pilot of the Gallant Wind. Go ahead and speak. Mr. Nyhammer and Mr. Holmes are listening in,” came the voice of the ships pilot. Silvio would remain silent for now. It wasn’t his place to speak in these matters of formality.

“Sirs, respectively, this is some crazy shit. We’ve been here for two hours now and we’ve seen three ships get shot to pieces because they refused to halt their passage away from the planet. They do not use ion cannons, they just destroy them. Many of the ships here are now laden with bodies. We are, however, ready to land on the planets surface when you are. The mobile labs have been gathered and the techs are just waiting for you.”

For a moment, Killian just sat there and didn’t say anything. His eyes stared straight forward at the wall that separated the cabin from the cockpit where the pilots sat. Such news was shocking, even after he had seen such an event only moments before. A gag from him and he lifted a hand to his mouth, slowly regaining his breath before looking over to Sol.

“I think I just threw up in my mouth some.”

Turning eyes away from Sol, Killian rose to his feet and stood still in the middle of the ship for a moment. His eyes turned to rest upon the door which led to the cockpit, watching it without the faintest idea of what he would find on the other side. But he knew he was about to find out and he was forced to step forward, open the door, and move into the cockpit. Into the chaos that would ensue.

The two pilots looked up to him with a nod of his head, one moving to the side so that Killian could move into view of the screen that showed the captain of the Tradesman’s Journey. A nod of his head resulted in a nod in return.

“Captain, I am going to address the planet below. When I am finished, begin moving your ship down to the surface. The Gallant Wind and the Monarch will follow.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that the feed to the other vessel was cut and Silvio went to work on securing a channel with the planet. After a few moments of speaking with the Secretary of Communications, the link to the planets video display systems was established and Killian had the floor.

“Ladies and gentlemen of all races that occupy the planet of Meridian. You have come under the oppression of an agent of unknown origin and unknown weaknesses. This agent is killing people and doing so in a gruesome fashion. Rest assured that this agent, whatever it may be, will be stopped.

“My name is Killian Holmes and I am speaking to you on behalf of Commonwealth Technologies and Industries. In light of your plight, our corporation has decided to come to your aid. We will be deploying mobile laboratories to your planet and will begin work on a cure to this pathogen. All I ask is that you all please remain calm. Do not flee the system. Meridian has been quarantined and I’ve seen first hand what your defenders will do if you try to leave. So please, be patient, be calm, and relax because we will help you. Thank you.”

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. The faster we get down there and get to work the faster we can figure this out.”

The pilot, Dimitri, nodded his head and set about going back to the controls with Silvio doing the same, both pilots prepping for atmospheric entry. Killian turned himself about and left the cockpit of the Gallant Wind, walking back into the lounge area where Sol was seated. A nod of his head was the only thing that Sol got out of him as he headed for the seat that he had occupied on the flight to the planet. Sitting in it once more, he buckled himself in and nestled back into the chair.

A shudder passed through the ship as the sublight engines kicked in once more, propelling them towards the planets atmosphere. The drink he’d had before bounced around on the tray and he reached out a hand to grab a hold of it, keeping it from spilling its contents all over the flooring of his ship. Eyes turned away after grabbing the glass, looking out the view port to see the Tradesman’s Journey turn to move into the atmosphere.

As the Gallant Wind moved into the atmosphere, the ship shuddered violently, something that wasn’t normal, and this caused Killian to frown. He’d have to get the ship looked at once this whole mess on Meridian was over. Regardless, they made it through atmospheric breach in one piece and that’s all that really mattered to him. He just didn’t want to be made into stir fry before they could even do anything. It wouldn’t exactly help the people of Meridian much if he was.

Upon reaching the proper height, the sublight engines kicked off to be replaced by repulsorlifts as the ship drifted down towards the hangar below. Landing gear extended and the ship settled down lightly with only the slightest of bumps. Killian simply sat there and stared out the window, looking at the completely deserted hangar bay that they had settled into. Boxes were overturned and it was a complete mess, but it would serve its purpose.

“Well, Sol… we’re here and it’s time to get to work. First thing, though, we have to wait for the people from the Tradesman’s Journey to get here and set up a decontamination unit around the entrance. Don’t want to catch the disease before we even get out there, right?”

Standing from his seat after undoing his harness, he walked towards the back of the ship and popped open a storage hatch. Inside were a number of bio suits of the newest and most comfortable variety. However, no matter how much work was done on them there would always be the fact that they got hot when worn. That was just how it was going to be. Grabbing two of the suits, he walked back towards where Sol was and tossed him one of the suits before moving into the cockpit.

“Was the Tradesman’s Journey able to land easily enough?”

“Yes, sir. They already had their decontamination unit set up so they have their crew on the way over here to set ours up. Our other ship is still in holding for the moment as they had a problem with one of their reactors that they wanted to clear up before they landed,” Silvio responded, not looking up from the console he was working at.

“Did they say how long it would be before they got here?”

“A few minutes was their estimate. Since the hangars here at the port aren’t that far from the edge of the city they were able to land nearby.”

“Excellent,” Killian said as he glanced out the main viewport in time to see a large group of people in bio suits walking into the hangar bay with a bunch of gear. “Seems they’re here now.”

The group of workers moved towards the ships hatch and set down their boxes of equipment and other such things. Moments later they were going about the process of setting up the decontamination chamber. Killian, meanwhile, exited the cockpit and moved back into the lounge.

“Put your suit on, Sol. They’re setting up the decon unit right now.”

He undid his jacket and tossed it onto one of the nearby couches, not wanting the extra baggage while he was inside of his bio suit. Stepping into the suit, he pulled it up around him before sliding his arms into the arms of the suit. Pulling the helmet over his head, he closed the suit up and lifted a hand to tap at the glass that covered his face.

“All good it seems.”

Almost as soon as he finished there was a tap at the hatch of the ship and he walked towards it, opening it up slowly and looking outside. The decon unit was set up and there was a single worker standing at the end of the exit ramp.

“Decon unit is set and ready, sir.”

“Excellent. Let’s get moving then,” Killian said before taking his first step out of the ship, and stepping onto the ground for the first time of the planet Meridian.

Meridian Archives


Vedick Grissmath picked himself up despite the falling metal framework and stared at a monitor unseen by the camera's point of view. He was bleeding from his mouth but his eyes radiated a rage clearly distinguishable. Even in perfect weakness, his fist shook savagely at his unknown assailant. Even though his government was crumbling around him, his armies being driven from their interstellar posts back to Meridian for the final confrontation he was not a defeated man.

"You should have died on Nam Chorios.." he spit out bitterly.

Then, with utter conviction, "You've not heard the last of us.."

A voice crackled over the static of his nemesis. It is difficult to ascertain whether the crackling was due to a faulty transmission or due to laughter. "From a sea of a radioactive wasteland? I think not, Vedick. The galaxy shall be mine and I have you to thank for that."

The transmission abruptly ended and before the camera transmission went white as the orbital bombardment enveloped the last of the Grissmath Dynasty, Vedick Grissmath whispered something soft. Something faint.


Something that historians of the Greater Resettlement Council of Meridian would debate for a long time.


"Thank God for Ra."






Note on Meridian:

At an unknown date sometime after 24,250 ORE (Old Republic Era), Meridias's surface was reduced to a charred radioactive wasteland.

Between 36-39 IE (Imperial Era), reclamation efforts from the New Republic succeed in transporting radioactive topsoil from Meridian reducing levels for colonization. The effort was part of a long-term strategy supported by Gash Jiren who's efforts to rebuild Csilla, the Chiss homeworld, had met with resounding triumph.

The fall of the New Republic, sixteen and a half years after its victory at Endor, left the Meridian Colony cut off from any central government. Soon the New Republic project leaders were replaced by the colonist in favor of a more long term view of self-sufficiency.

The fledgling colonial government had been doing remarkably well despite continued dependence on outside worlds for manufactured goods before the "Outbreak".




*


The Commonwealth Medical Cruiser Apollion split the inky blackess of vacuum as it reverted into realspace punching a hole through the mass shadow that was Meridian.

The antigravitic field that protected the vessel from the awesome crushing forces of the mass shadow during reversion pushed aside debris and wreckage that floated in the cruiser's orbital path clearing a clean field for the transition.

Tyscio Korban, a representative of the Caprician World Council and padawan to Leia Organa, his wife, stood with the Captain on the bridge of the medical ship staring appalled at the destruction surrounding them.

"Sweet Clannus Prime!" Tyscio uttered in shock. He hadn't seen destruction like this since the war with the Domain, or the "Bug War" as most called it nowadays and always held out hope that he wouldn't.

He wondered if the hope was a vanity he indulged in to keep from going mad at times.

"We're here to support CTI's endeavors but their reports said nothing of anything like this."


"They probably didn't know themselves," the Captain answered. "They haven't been on-planet for very long." She frowned at the sensor readings that were coming in.

"We'd better begin laying gravitic traps to keep the vessels grounded in the system. A loss of quarantine before we know what's going on would be extremely bad."

The woman, middle-aged with gray slightly showing, smiled disarmingly. "Glad you came Master Jedi? Or do you prefer Councilman?"

Tyscio scowled at her in mock annoyance. "Just let me know what I can do to help."

"A politician worth his weight in gold credits. A rarity indeed." the Captain mused. "Let's see if there is anyone we can help nearby, first."

The Cruiser began to launch Medical Corps craft from the hanger of the Apollion. While sleek and quick, they were essentially unarmed. They were the Medical Corp's quick Search and Rescue craft designed for high level blanket of mass biological scanning for life signs and group recovery missions. The craft always operated in threes making the search of nearby wreckage by the three squadrons show up on the bridge monitors as twelve overlapping grids, each moving outward in a revolving pattern that was both efficient and timesaving which translated into: Lifesaving.

Sol Nyhammer took a first step off platform onto Meridian. The ground made a crunching noise as his armored boot broke through the charred sand into a layer of soil that could be considered less than well done. He shifted the weight of the backpack containing the numerous scanners and medical devices (very few of which the corporate executive could be considered proficient in operation) that CTI’s mercy mission required.

Sol idly brushed his hand against a device he was proficient in, quite proficient: his side arm. The corporate expedition presented quite a target to the increasingly more desperate population of Meridian. Fresh water, medical supplies, uncontaminated food and water, and most importantly a ship: quite enticing.

Thusly, every member of the relief force that could pull a trigger carried a weapon.

His gloved fingers brushed against the pistol again. The executive sighed. When the time came could he do murder? If some plague crazed Meridian was five seconds away from ripping one of his coworker’s throat out, would that pistol slide out of its holster without any hesitation and send the poor son of a bitch to his maker?

Sol did not have a clue. Though if the situation presented itself, he hoped he would do the right thing.

“Mr. Nyhammer?” the suit microphone distorted his assistant’s voice.

“Yes Tinsan, go ahead.”

“We have just received word that the Commonwealth Medical Cruiser Apollion has arrived and is in orbit.”

“That’s just astral Tinsan. Relay them our coordinates.”

Sol let out a sigh of relief as some of the burden seemed to lift off of his shoulders. An entire corps of crack Commonwealth physicians and medics would more than quadruple the productivity of the expedition. Also, there is the piece of mind that comes from having a cruiser in orbit that is watching your already burdened back.

Sol began to make his way towards Meridia Prime.

“Wait Mr. Nyhammer! There’s more! They have Tyscio Korban with them.”

“The Jedi?”

“Yes sir, he’s a councilman now too.”

Even better.

“Tinsan, I’m putting you in charge of operations here. Get on the lab set up and get all of our supplies secured. I also want a perimeter set up. No one gets in. We have no way of knowing if they are infected yet. Why not you organize a patrol schedule too?”

“What are you going to do sir?”

“I’m going to get a team together to go to Meridia Prime, so that we can retrieve some…” Sol gulped as he struggled to choose his words. “Samples.”

Meridian
"And by samples he means corpses."

It wasn't exactly spying, but Killian had heard every word that was said by his friend, Sol, among other things. The news of the arrival of one of the Commonwealth medical vessels was a welcome addition to the group. It was always good to have a medical ship around when there was a major crisis going on. Not that a medical ship was really much help when they didn't even know what they were up against.

The news the councilman, and Jedi, Tyscio Korban was with them made things even better. At least they knew that someone with a level head was always going to be around. Having a Jedi to keep things calm was beneficial, but it had its downsides as well. Killian was going to take extra special care to keep the thoughts in his head private.

"Sol, if you're heading with us to the city then will you get over here and get on the speeder? I'd rather not leave you to walk."

Like Sol and the rest of those that were there on behalf of Commonwealth Technologies and Industries, Killian was wearing a holstered sidearm at his waist. He really didn't want to have the opportunity to use it, but if that event were to come into being then he would. Nina, who sat beside him, was also carrying a sidearm but he was pretty sure that she wouldn't use it. It wasn't like her to do so.

Once Sol had finally decided to take a seat in the speeder, the vessel shot off towards the city with a handful of other similar vessels moving along with it. Many of the scientists were heading to the city to collect samples, retrieve data, try various differing solutions for cures. Most of them would be heading for hospitals and the like.

Killian had other aspirations for their small group before then. He wanted to see what it was like in the city. More or less he wanted to see how the disease was affecting the people that couldn't get into the hospital for treatment. The people that were sitting on the sides of roads or laying in gutters.

"I have a feeling we're not going to be here long..."

In Route to Meridian
The Nominal-class Merchant Vessel Glory Daze was the prototype for CTI's newest design. Newest being a vessel other than the Lance which he and Sol had worked on while flying to Meridian. Having been only recently completed, it hadn't been loaded in time to come to Meridian initially.

In fact, it left Brosi a full day and a half behind the main group. The flight was going smoothly and the ships captain, Dison Cordova, was rather pleased with the vessel. It was smooth running, comfortable, and it could carry a large payload of materials or whatever it was supposed to be carrying. He wished he had one for himself and wasn't just captaining her.

But of course one could never count out the unexpected as about half-way through the trip to Meridian the ship was suddenly jerked out of hyperspace. There in front of them was a stripped down Interdictor and three dozen ugglies to go along with.

"Pirates..."

One of the bridge crew lept to his feet and ran up to Dison.

"Sir! We've got..."

"Pirates, I know. Roll us about and bring as many of the guns to bear on those fighters. We'll show them what happens when they come after a Nominal."

The ship began a slow roll, bringing the majority of its weapons around to bear on the enemy formation. The ugglies, aptly named for their ugly appearance of mismatched fighter parts, swooped in towards the Glory Daze only to be met with heavy fire from the point defense batteries which nearly swallowed up all of the fighters in the first pass.

Apparantly these pirates weren't used to a merchant vessel carrying such fine technology and excellent gunners. The few ugglies that were left came around to try again and though they scored hits on the ships shields, they all ended up as space debris floating on the field of battle. That only left the Interdictor which was starting to move their direction.

"Wait for it. I don't think they know we have weapons of that ships calibre."

"How long do we wait to fire?"

"Not until she fires her first shots and then her second shots. Then give her a full dose of her own medicine."

The pirates that owned this particular ship must not have been very good because they hadn't fit anymore weapons onto her. The few that were there were good ones, but they weren't at full capacity. When the first round came, most missed and what didn't merely impacted on the shields after having lost its full potency. When the second round came it hit stronger, but still didn't do much damage.

"Open fire. Show them the potency of our newer guns."

The ship rocked slightly as the turbolaser batteries went into full force, opening up on the enemy Interdictor. The impacts on the enemy vessels shields were substantial and the enemy vessel seemed to waver a bit. Soon enough, as more and more blasts from the Nominal's guns impacted its shields, the enemy vessel came to a slow halt and started to turn away.

"The enemy has lowered their gravity well. Shall we continue firing?"

"Continue firing on it until it has jumped to hyperspace. I want them to keep running and not think that we're going to slack off and let her go."

The Glory Daze continued to fire at the enemy vessel until it completed it's turn and until it had jumped to hyperspace. A small cheer erupted on the bridge, but it was short lived as the preparations for the jump were completed. Soon enough, the Nominal was back in hyperspace and back on course for making it to Meridian.