The Beginnings of Zenith Part One: Nexus Central Command?

By: W. Bob Yankovic

I would like to give you a brief overview of this series. As you know from reading DGF Part 3, I, Shane, was left in the bowels of the Empire for ten years. In this series I hope to explain how and why I got where I was.

"This place is huge," I exclaimed the first time I saw the NCC Training Facility. "Hey you," a man said, "give me your rank and current physical stats." "Ok, I am a Trainee, and here is my data card," I answered. "Ahh, so you are young McInnis, I have been looking forward to breaking your brash attitude. I am Supreme Deputy Raven, do not ask for my first name for you will never be in a high enough rank to know it." "I intend to be the one who replaces you Deputy Raven, I have been looking at your job and it looks pretty fun. Would you like to tell me where my bunk is, or do you want me to search for it?" I replied curtly. "I already see that you will be a large problem. I will be giving you double assignments for the duration of your stay at this training camp," he told me. "Thank you sir," I replied. "Dissmissed trainee," he barked at me. As I was walking off I said just a little too loudly, "Jackass." "WHAT DID YOU SAY ROOKIE!?" "Oh I just said that you were so nice," I said. "You better keep on top or I will have you licking the walls of a Kesslian spice mine then puking it up when you get through!" he screamed at me as I continued to walk off.

The first few months were the worst. I ended up passing all of my flight simulator tests with high honors. But then when it got to the part where you have to learn "what a Gaurdian is", and "What a Gaurdian's Responcibilities are," things got hard. Of course SD Raven was breathing down my neck the whole time. I managed to pass all of the classes required to go to the next level of training. This was the actual field work. Raven had me go through the blaster training class twice so that he made sure that I could use one. I did tick him off when I made a perfect score my last time on the "Safe Or Hostile" course (I had ran through it a million times so I knew which ones to shoot).

I think that it was about the third month of my training that I met Ray Doss. He was a really big suck up. He was the most incredible pilot I had ever seen. He caught up to me in a day, doing what it took me several months to do. I did a little espionage and switched the barrick assignments so that he would be in my dorm room. We quickly became best of friends. He helped me out alot with DS Raven. He had some kind of "special power" that the trainers gagaed over. He told me that it was because he had a 99.9% resistance to the Vortex. This was incredible because that was higher than every one of the trainers. I told hiom that I had a 85% resistance which is well above average. He and I completed the field session and got promoted to the Deputy Training school. He passed me up again so I was by myself again. He said that whem he was a Gaurdian he would remember me. I hoped that he would.

When I got up to the middle ranking I finally got rid of DA Raven. He was glad to see me go. I had a little chip on my shoulder for the hard time he gave me though. I found my chance to get back at him. I learned that he loved to collect vehicles from all dimentions. So me, being the nice person I was, decided to get him a rare prototype speeder from Star Wars Alpha. Unfortunatly I was forbidden to use the Vortex by myself. So I did a little hacking, and a little slicing and got into NCC's central computer. I made myself a small portal and returned within minutes to NCC. The speeder I had "bought" found its way to the garage of DS Raven. Now here is where the fun began. it turns out that the guy I "bought" the speeder from was a Supreme Gaurdian. Luckly I had covered my footsteps with Raven's passwords. All that happened to him was that he got bumped down to Galaxy Crossing Gaurd. He knew that it was me that did it, but I was to slick for him to catch. When I finally completed Deputy's School I graduated second in my class. I do not have to say who was first. If you do not know you are scimming the fic (READ THE WHOLE THING MAC!). I got directly promoted to Second Class Deputy. Ray was directly promoted to Gaurdian (who did not see that coming?).

Several months later after being put on patrol in the Bakura system in Star Wars Alpha, I recieved a transmittion from Ray. He told me that I was to report to NCC immediatly, and that they had a job for me. When I returned to NCC Ray was waiting for me. "Hi," he said as I walked up. "We have decided to use you in a highly secretive mission. You will be sent to the Imperial Maw Instillation as a spy. There you will keep us informed of their progress. Your code name will be Zenith." "Hold up a minute," I said, "what qualifies me for this job?" "We know of your little prank, and we know that you are an experianced pilot, and hacker. Both of these skills will be needed to preform what we ask you to do." "How long will I be there?" I asked. "We do not know, could be a month, could be 20 years. It all depends on what happens outside." "I guess I have no choice but to go huh?" "This is correct, you will be notified when we are coming to get you. Untill then you must become an Imperial in every way." With that he walked out of the room. Later that day I was informed that I was to attend a one month training course to learn the Imperial ways.

After I blew through that course I had one weeks vacation. At the end of the week I was sumoned to the Supreme Gaurdian's chamber. There I was debriefed (do not even think what I think you are thinking, perverts) and notified that I was to leave the following day. That day came all to quickly. I was given a dimentional blaster, saber, and fighter. Everyone came to see me off. Ray was the last to wish me luck. "I hate to think of what I would be doing if you had not remembered me," I told him. "Just take care of yourself, and remember, I won't let you be forgotten by the Council," he replied. Little did I know that he was just bluffing that last part. As I blasted off through a portal I saw the last glimpse of my friend. I would not see him for ten long years.

Will Shane be succsessful in his mission? Will he ever see NCC again? Find out in the next installment of Beginnings of Zenith.