The Reunion

[Robert Merlow]

"I'll touch upon Sayne in a bit," Merlow said, "but first I think we'll have to debrief you on what's been going on lately."
He cleared his throat, taking a small sip of water before he began, "Well, first off, right after that explosion we were flung into another universe, most of the First Fleet was flung in there with us. Unaware to most of the First Fleet, there is an emergency alert that prompts all high ranking and essential personnel of the FF to converge on Interstate Hole 001 andremodulate it to our Temporal and Spacial coordinates."
Scarman paused Merlow, "Wait, how come I wasn't alerted, nor was Admiral Anderson and the crew of the Avalanche?"
"Well, it was an experimental system which we had never drilled with before, and there were few who knew how to use the Interstate Holeremodulation device. As a result, about one-fourth of the essential personnel who needed to know about the evacuation plan were left behind. In the universe we called 'Evolved,' we left basically a skeleton crew to run the First Fleet, unintentionally of course. This is when it all gets... a little crazy."
Merlow nodded to Serov, who activated the holo-panel in the center of the table. Serov rose and began to speak, "Well, we arrive in this new universe which we call 'Shattered' now. We arrived in New York, to find it overrun. Who ever ran Liberty before we arrived really had it in sorry shape. We had to hunker down in Liberty. The Liberty Rouges were powerful, there was a crime family in California that was attempting to seize control, we had crazies inBretonia yet again, it was a mess.
"First, we had to take a look at who was running the Liberty Navy. It was an alternate version of Steven Kaplan, this time Fleet Admiral of the Liberty Navy. He was talking with Outcasts on Juneau, working out some sort of Card deal. We stopped that one in time, thank the Eternals.

"Our next action was to find the former Liberty Freedom Fighters in this universe. We knew that there were some discrepancies in the timeline, but we had to attempt to find the FF in that universe in order to gain legitimacy. We ran across some very interesting counterparts, among them a polar opposite of myself and AdmiralMerlow. They were members of the Kanzaki Yakuza , another blight on Sirius. When we were looking for the alternate FF, it was because of them and an alternate version of you, AdmiralScarman, that Fleet Admiral Victoria Wade died."
Scarman's eyes widened as he glanced quickly over at Wade. Her face was just a little paler than usual. Serov looked at her, "Yes, Captain. You were Fleet Admiral there. She gave her life so that our Fleet Admiral could live. After all of this, after we established ourselves as the First Fleet we were, Bretonia began to advance into Liberty Space. This is where Sayne Jaydn steps into the picture." The holo-image appeared in the center of the table, a dossier of Jaydn displayed on the holo-emitters at each seat, "At the time, we knew him only as the leader of the Lane Hackers, and a convenient ally in the war against the Bretonians. Well, the war was going well until the Universe went all to hell. Jump Holes began to destabilize, destroying the asteroid fields and nebulae they were contained in; The Badlands began to destroy New York; Nomads began pouring out of the woodwork and destroying entire systems; it was utter chaos. We teamed up with the Order, which had their own Sayne Jaydn. This was an odd fact that we chose to overlook at the time, as the universe was literally crumbling. It was determined by the four Houses and the Council of Elders of both the Corsairs and the Outcasts, that we needed to rebuild a new Sleeper Ship fleet and needed to get a good portion of each house's population to get the hell out of the universe. It was decided that we were to lead the population and the remaining members of the house's navies into a newly created Interstate-class hole. It was our job to lead them to a new home, a place safe from the death and destruction that was wrought in the previous universe."
Captain Tokhia stopped him for a moment, "General, sorry to interrupt, but shouldn't we explain Jaydn's role in all of this?"

Merlow put his hand up, motioning Serov to take a seat, "Well, I found out during our rather rough trip through void space that the Agent Jaydn from the Order was actually the same Sayne that lead the Lane Hackers. He was on board the Dannan and we were under the assumption that he was a member of the Order. During that little journey, I found out that he was a former member of both the Fahrenheit Zero-Alpha Program and the Sadukar Program. The Fahrenheit Zero Program was run by the Liberty Government in my native universe, named TFL. This program produced some of the most unstable individuals I've ever seen, all but one died during their tests by their own devices. Apparently, he came with us to 'Evolved' and blended in as a standard member of the Liberty Marines. He was a member of the first batch of soldiers ever to enter the Sadukar Program. He was one of the soldiers that were the first to land on New London, one of the first to draw blood against Kraizer and his cronies. Apparently, he was under your command Marcus."

---

Commander in Chief of the Migrant Fleet / Former Fleet Admiral of the Liberty First Fleet
Second Survivor of the Mentat Program.
We must give and take with good measure. Give too much, we become complacent. Take too much, we incur the wrath of our own. Tread Lightly.
--Supreme Bashar Robert Merlow--