Imagine a picture of Marco turning into a Kelbrid.

67: The Loss

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey kids! The...um...you know... is officially hitting the fan in this one. And now I'll reveal if your guesses about stuff were correct or not.

Enjoy or go to hell.

If I owned Animorphs, you wouldn't be reading this for free.

And if I owned Streetlight Manifesto, I'd have better things to do than write fanfiction.

Chapter 1

My name is Marco. But I really don't have time for introductions right now. I'm a busy man, you know? I'm a guy with a lot of problems. Right now, I had some serious problems. Let me remind you of what I've been dealing with lately.

Okay, I'm sure you know all about the Yeerk war; that's nothing new. What is somewhat new is that our recent ally, Mersa 528, has suddenly decided he doesn't need us anymore. He wants us dead. The problem? We can't let him die because the rebellion will fall apart without his leadership and ambition. And then the Visser will crush it and bring an end to it and us.

The most difficult part about keeping Mersa alive is that a pair of Howlers is hunting him. I'm sure you know enough about Howlers to know that they're basically impossible to stop. The only way to really hurt them is to use Kelbrid poison. Luckily, I have a Kelbrid morph, but it's not too useful against two Howlers at once.

Right then, we were on Mersa's Blade ship, which we had recently stolen from the Visser. The assassins were there, too, looking to kill Mersa. Tobias gave us the order to hustle Mersa off to the Reliquary and to get him to a safe place while he, Ax, and David held off the Howlers. But there was a slight complication: the Visser.

It must have been his entire fleet waiting outside of the Blade ship for us. Every Bug fighter he still had, along with three transport cruisers and some stuff that looked experimental. Any moment now, they would dock and Guraff would lead packs of Kelbrid into the Blade ship and take it back by force. Not even three Howlers, Ax, and David can stand against that.

All of that, though, was nothing compared to my current problem. Said problem manifested itself in the form of Rachel: a former Animorph who was now Tobias's angry, pregnant girlfriend who was not at all happy that we were leaving the father of her child to deal with Kelbrid and Howlers.

"You are not launching this ship without him," she told Al. He was standing at the control node, already getting prepared. Tobias had given him the order directly. He couldn't disobey. But, see, we knew Al would disobey his Prince for Tobias's own good. He did it before. Someone had to take charge.

I stepped in between the two of them. ((Look, Rachel, none of us want to leave them behind, but we can't stay.))

"He'll die!"

((No he won't. The Visser can't afford to slaughter everyone. He'll want as many alive as possible. That means Tobias, too. Guraff wouldn't let him get killed. He'll survive; he always does. But we won't if we stay here and neither will Mersa. Al, launch the ship.))

"Wait," Mersa protested. "If we fly out now, do you really think we'll make it through?"

((We don't have much of a choice but to try,)) Cassie muttered.

Mersa shook his head. "There will be a better opportunity in just a few moments. The Bug fighters are mostly to guard the transports; the Visser can't afford to lose more. The transports will dock and the Kelbrid will start to flood in. At that time, the Bugs will relax their guard. That's when we go. We just need to wait for the better opportunity."

We all looked at each other. Well, it wasn't exactly looking in my case, since Kelbrid have no eyes, but it was close enough. It was looking in spirit.

((That makes sense,)) I agreed hesitantly.

Mersa nodded. "Good. Do you mind if I use the ships communications system to make a quick announcement?"

"What announcement?" Rachel demanded.

"I'm going to tell my men to abandon the Blade ship and regroup at the community center. Perhaps the Blade ship will fall, but not the Rebellion. We must regroup and counter attack."

I wasn't sure what to do. If we stopped him, the Rebellion would be destroyed, no question. I never supported Tobias's plan to help them; in fact, I've always been against it. I still was. Especially now that Mersa had tried to kill us. Tobias had ordered us to save Mersa; he hadn't said anything about the Rebellion. But we did need the Rebellion now. And I couldn't sacrifice them out of hand like this.

((Fine,)) I said. ((Make it fast.))

Mersa nodded and spoke into the microphone on the control panel. Al would have cut off his hands if he so much as touched a thing, so I wasn't worried about him doing something untoward.

"Attention all Yeerks," Mersa called. "We are abandoning the ship. Evacuate as fast as possible, as many as possible. Regroup at the pool. We have lost this battle, but we will not finish the war quite yet."

More lights started to flash inside the Blade ship. Now, we could hear the sirens even through the great soundproofing of the Reliquary. The Yeerks were docking. Now was our best chance to get out.

I turned to Al. ((You sure you can handle this, Al? I mean, even with Tobias flying, I'd be nervous.))

Al nodded. ((I am certain, Marco.))

I took a "look" around me for what could be the last time. Al, standing at the ready, prepared to fly when I gave him the order. Rachel, angry and, for maybe the only time in her life, nervous. She was wringing her hands and fiddling with her hair; definitely odd. Cassie and Ronnie, holding hands now that she was demorphed. James, leaning against the wall, wondering if he'd live or die. Jeanne, looking at me, wondering. Mersa, looking determined and prepared.

Up until now, I had passed him off as just another overly ambitious Yeerk. But now, I saw. He really was a leader. Cunning, ruthless, cautious when it was needed and bold when it was necessary. If we lived through this, he would be a danger. Huh…maybe the Rebellion didn't need our help at all.

Chapter 2

I demorphed; no use being in a Kelbrid body now. We were all back in our human forms (except for Al, of course). Someone had to give Al the order, we all knew that. Every intelligent bone in my body railed against it, though. Fight our way through that blockade? Suicidal. Insane. Completely, totally, one hundred percent nuts.

A chunk of the Blade ship's wall stretched open enough for the Reliquary to fit out. I could see Bug fighters dotting the sky. I didn't bother to count, but just by looking there had to be more than four squadrons. And that's just from my view. The Visser probably had the ship surrounded.

I turned to Rachel. "There have to be at least two squadrons of Bug fighters out there," I said to her. "No matter how good Al is, we can't drive them off. Do you realize how insane this is?"

She nodded. "Of course. Are you going to give the order or am I?"

"What if we say it at the same time?" I suggested. Somehow, I felt that if anyone was going to pass this death sentence, it should be her. Or Tobias, since they were turning into the same person. Seriously. It's starting to worry me, but that's a problem for a different time.

At the same time, Rachel and I said that little thing she's famous for. "Let's do it." Al muttered something about humans and then launched the ship. The thrust knocked me on my back.

"What gives, Al?" I demanded. "The ship's always been smoother than that."

((I am sorry, Marco. I am using full thrust in the hopes that we may get beyond them before they realize it is us.))

That, apparently, wasn't in the cards. Two Bug fighters broke off from the mass surrounding the Blade ship. So did another ship. It looked very familiar. It was the same model ship as the Rachel, the craft we had used when searching for Ax at the beginning of this mess. There wasn't the sense of evil emanating from that ship that told me the Visser was present. But it still had an aura of…steel, I'd say. There was only one person it could be.

Cassie looked at the ship on the view screens. "Whose ship is that?" she asked. I guess she could feel his power, too. Not many people have that kind of aura. Elfangor had it, I think. The Visser had a different one. There were some people who just radiated a feeling.

Rachel gazed on, her eyes cold. "Guraff," she whispered. She looked at Al and then shook her head. "You can't take him, Al. You have to run."

"Maybe you should show a little faith in the kid," Ronnie dared to suggest.

Rachel rounded on him. "Do you know who's following us? That's Guraff Four-Two-Seven, one of the greatest warriors this or any galaxy has ever known. He has been fighting since the beginning of this war. Al has been fighting for what, a few months? Not a chance of us taking him."

Al nodded and angled towards Earth. The Bug fighters were still behind us, but Guraff's ship was rushing forward to cut us off. It was fast; even faster than the Reliquary. I didn't know that was possible.

He stopped in front of us, his bridge facing ours. Then we heard his voice over the communication system. "Hello, Devil Prince. We met again so soon. Perhaps we are indeed fated to destroy each other this day."

It was Rachel who answered him. That was fine with the rest of us; Guraff made us uncomfortable. He was a Yeerk, the enemy, but he and Tobias seemed to have some sort of weird friendship. Rachel, too, apparently.

"Tobias isn't here, Guraff," she told him. "He's waiting for you on the Blade ship."

"Then it seems he will meet the Visser instead. Esplin is leading that attack personally. You stole his Blade ship from him while he had no host. His pride means that he must take it back with his own hands. Or tail, as the case may be."

"There are three Howlers on that ship, one of whom is Tobias," Rachel told him. "Even if they're killed, they'll get the Visser before it's all over."

"Perhaps; but somehow, I doubt the Devil Prince will be overcome even if all the Kelbrid who live stand against him. It is not yet his time."

"Who is this guy?" Ronnie whispered to me.

I whispered back, "The guy who can go toe-to-toe with a Howler and come out on top. And just to put that in perspective: all of us in this room, even if we worked together, probably couldn't last more than three minutes against a Howler."

"Maybe we can reason with him."

I gaped at him. But then shrugged. "Anything's possible, I suppose. I think he really wants to fight Tobias anyhow. Go for it."

Ronnie stepped up to the mic. Everyone looked at him. "Hi, Mr. Guraff. I'm Ronnie Chambers."

"Should I know you?"

"Um…no, not really."

"You are another Animorph?"

"No. I'm Cassie's fiancé. Look, I'm sure we can work something out. We don't want to fight you and I'm pretty sure you don't really want to fight us. So why not just let us go?"

"I am a warrior and you are on the battlefield. Why should I not slay you?"

"Because…just look at us! Alloran is just a kid. Cassie was done with this war. I'm a civilian. Marco's just an actor who got caught up in this. And Rachel's pregnant!"

"Although I would regret to kill Rachel and her child, I walk the path of the warrior. All who stand on that path must be swept aside. Such is our way. Rachel understands."

"Okay," I said, "how about this. We have Mersa Five-Two-Eight here. You let us go and in return, we'll give you him."

Chapter 3

"Marco, we can't do that!" Rachel insisted.

((I agree,)) Al added. ((Prince Tobias ordered us to protect him. We cannot now sacrifice him.))

Jeanne shook her head. "He's a Yeerk. His life is not worth ours. Let him burn."

I nodded. "Of course, you all know how I feel. It was my plan, after all."

James nodded. "As much as I hate to give him up like this, we can't take Guraff. We have to do something."

"We can't trade his life for ours," Cassie insisted. "His life has as much value as ours do. Right Ronnie?"

Ronnie looked cornered. Almost as a distraction, he looked out of the rear view screen. "Look at that…" he trailed off. I did as he suggested and looked. A serious battle was taking place. Or, rather, a slaughter.

Mersa's people were flying around frantically, without direction. They were desperately trying to break through the blockade, but were failing miserably. They had no organization; just a desperate smattering of aimless pilots. "Looks like all your people are going to get wiped out," I said to Mersa. "Game over."

"No, look," Rachel said. At first, I didn't see it. But slowly, I saw them. Three Bug fighters who seemed to have a direction; a plan. They were rounding up others. Slowly, a formation grew. They were being shot at all the while, and one of them suffered some minor wounds, but they didn't stop.

Mersa's people started to form up around those three. With those at their lead, the Rebels punched a hole through the blockade and began to stream out. I'd guess that three full squadrons escaped. Not a total loss to Mersa's side, though losing the Blade ship was a heavy blow.

But it wasn't over yet. The three squadrons turned back around and headed once more for the Blade ship. I guess a full battle was getting ready to happen. Mersa's people weren't giving up without a fight.

Rachel turned to Mersa. "You've been holding back on us. Who could be flying those Bugs?"

Mersa shrugged. "I have no idea. I didn't think there was one useful man in my army."

Guraff's voice was the next thing we heard. "It's him. I can feel him. He is the one leading this attack."

There was something in his voice…I knew who he meant by "him." Tobias.

Guraff was hesitating, uncertain of what to do. If it was Tobias, and it had to have been, he was still outnumbered two to one. And in space battles, numbers are very important; almost as important as formation.

Now me, I'm no general. I can make a plan just fine, but when it comes to an actual battle, with formations and stuff, I've got no ideas at all. But it seemed to me that Tobias was in better shape. The three squadrons were arranged well, with two holding back and above, providing support for the third, which was leading a charge for the Blade ship.

"What are you going to do, Guraff?" Cassie asked. "You could probably get us; almost certainly. But in the time it takes you to do that, how much damage could Tobias do? He might even destroy the Blade ship. He'll definitely decimate your fleet. How many more losses can your men take? Is it worth it to destroy us? Killing us will bring you a lot of glory, but what honor is there in your own glory when all your comrades die?"

Without any more words, Guraff flew over us, back towards the battle. His two Bug fighters went with him. I looked at Cassie. "I forgot how manipulative you could be. Poor, poor Ronnie. Oh well; he's still better off than Tobias."

Rachel kicked me in the shin, but I had a lot more important things to worry about. Like whether we should help Tobias or keep going. I had no idea what to do.

I looked around and spread my arms. I meant it as a gesture of helplessness, asking for advice. I didn't have the time to think of any sort of plan. Rachel interpreted it differently. "I am not giving you a hug. Ever."

"Then how about some advice? Do we help Tobias or do we continue on to Earth?"

"Help him," Rachel said instantly. Not that I had expected any less of her. I looked around for someone with a rational thought process.

Al's stalk eyes drooped. ((Our orders were to get Mersa to safety. We have bought some time, but they will not be distracted for long. We should go now while we have the chance.))

Cassie shook her head. "We can't just leave Tobias and the others to fight alone.

James nodded. "I'm with the girls. I left a lot of people to die a few years ago. I can't do that again. Not if I have any choice."

I was still unsure what to do. What was the rational choice? Maybe, just maybe, we could turn this battle. With the Reliquary's firepower… If we could destroy the Visser's fleet… But could we do it?

Mersa laughed. "Don't you see what's going on? That attack he's leading is just a massive feint. The real prize is us. We weren't the ones who bought time, he was. He's trying to distract them so we can escape. I, for one, suggest that we make use of the diversion he has provided."

I nodded. "Once we're gone, he'll make his own escape," I agreed.

"Start a full scale battle as a distraction? It is something he would do," Rachel agreed. "Fine. Let's go. The sooner we leave, the sooner he does, too."

I took one last look out of the rear view screen as Al hurtled us towards Earth. Mersa was next to me, watching. The two support wings had broken formation and were scattering in the direction of the moon. Tobias's squadron was going to be in a real mess soon, and Guraff was already shooting at him. We may have already delayed too long. It may have been too late. But thankfully, no one else saw. Just me and Mersa.

"Today has been a day of incredible loss for everyone involved," he said quietly.

I nodded. "Yeah. And it ain't over yet. There's one more trial to come; something far worse than this."

"What could that be?"

I smirked as I so often did. "Rachel will want to make us a snack when we get home."

Chapter 4

Jacques and Sara, Rachel's step-father and youngest sister, were waiting up for us. I guess that was nice of them; especially considering that the rest of the family was apparently sleeping comfortably. That did strike me as a little odd, though; they had to have known we were rushing off into danger.

Rachel seemed to notice it, too. "Where are Mom and Jordan?"

"Locked in the linen closet, unconscious," Jacques said casually. We all gaped at him. Maybe he was Rachel's real father. "What?" he said, defending himself. "They wanted to run off to the police or Tri-I or somesuch foolishness. We couldn't let that happen. Sara and I remembered what you said about keeping this war a secret. But the only way we could stop them was to hit them with a Shredder on a low setting and lock them in the closet. We knew you would be fine."

"Where are David, Ax, and Tobias?" Sara demanded. "Why aren't they with you? And what's Mr. Chapman doing here?"

Before I even realized what happened, Jacques whipped out a Shredder and leveled it at Chapman. "Yeerk," he hissed.

Mersa seemed unperturbed. "Yes, but not the one you think I am. You were surprisingly easy to coerce, Jacques. I used to wonder what it was like to betray your own nation. Of course, now I know. It's…empowering, don't you think?"

"Not a word out of you," Rachel snapped. "In fact, you know what? I'll be right back." She disappeared up the stairs.

"So," Jacques continued, "where are David and Princes Tobias and Aximili?" Wow…weird to hear a human refer to 'Prince Tobias.'

"They stayed behind to hold off the Visser. We…they probably made it. Near the end, they were rallying Mersa's forces for a counterattack. Who knows what happened?" I decided it was best not to mention that the Rebels were scattering at the end.

I think he sensed that I was holding back, but he didn't bring it up. Instead, he said, "Rachel will want to cook something. We need to put a stop to that."

Ronnie turned to Cassie. "Couldn't you talk her out of it? I mean, you were able to talk down that Guraff guy."

"Guraff?" Jacques snapped. "Guraff Four-Two-Seven?"

I nodded. "You've heard of him?"

"You don't spend any amount of time as a Controller without hearing about Guraff. He's come to Earth, then?"

"He's been here," Jeanne told him.

"Then how haven't we lost?"

((Prince Tobias can more than handle him,)) Al assured Jacques. I didn't miss the pride in his voice.

"Then he must be more than I suspected."

Rachel came down the stairs then, with a gag and handcuffs, presumably for Mersa. I very carefully avoided wondering where she had gotten them from. That was a road I did NOT want to go down.

"Like father, like son?" I suggested to Jacques.

Rachel glared at me. At first, I didn't realize why. Then I remembered that Tobias's father had abandoned his unborn son to go and fight to his death against the Yeerks. I guess that hit a little too close to home for her. But, as always, she buried any pain she was feeling and snapped at me. "Definitely not. Your father has two wives; you're going to die alone."

"I already have two wives," I answered her. "You nag me constantly." Then I turned to Jeanne. "And you clean my house. See? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all."

Rachel also turned to Jeanne. "You clean his house?"

"You know I can't stand a mess!"

"Then don't date Marco!"

During this exchange, Al had morphed to human, and Jeanne and Ronnie cuffed and gagged Mersa, who wisely decided to offer no resistance. Cassie was already at work in the kitchen, beating Rachel to the punch.

Huh…that's kind of an interesting phrase; not to mention a very odd image.

Sara was talking to Rachel now. "David and Tobias and Ax…they're going to be okay, right?"

While Rachel reassured her sister, Jeanne came to me. "We'll handle the rest of the family. You get the men together and prepare a defense. If these Howlers survived, they'll be looking for Mersa and I'm sure they'll find us here eventually. You need to decide what to do."

"Why me?" I asked, spreading my arms and looking up at the ceiling. I wasn't really as reluctant as all that, but I know Jeanne enjoys the act. And hey, as long as I've got at least one fan, right?

Jeanne forced my arms down, spun me towards the back door, and gave me a shove. I was fine with that. "Uh…if all the dudes can meet me out back for a moment? Thanks." I walked out of the back door.

James soon joined me, as did Al, Jacques, and Ronnie. I was surprised that Ronnie came, but whatever. I didn't have the energy to fight him off. If Cassie's tree-hugger boyfriend, sorry, make that tree-hugger fiancé, waned to sit by while we discussed what we would do when the super space monsters came to kill us, that was his affair.

I leaned against the Reliquary. It was parked in the backyard again. Al had taken out the neighbor's fence and notable portion of the ship extended into their yard. Of course, it was cloaked. Still, the demolished fence is a bit hard to miss.

"Okay," I began, "we need to figure out what to do if the Howlers show up. I have a Kelbrid morph, but I don't think that will be able to stop two of them. Let's face it: I'm just not that good. And do we have anything else that can kill Howlers?"

Jacques nodded to the Shredder in his hand. "On full power, this can blow a hole through concrete. It might even be able to puncture the Reliquary. This could stop a Howler. I have yet to meet the being that can survive such abuse."

"How many do we have?" I asked.

"I have this one. I know Jeanne keeps another one hidden in the house. That is all, I think," Jacques told me.

((Tobias and Rachel keep two in the Reliquary,)) Al added. ((I believe we disarmed Mersa, but he had a Dracon beam.))

I nodded. "Four Shredders and a Dracon beam. Who knows how to shoot? I've had some practice, and I know Jeanne's an expert. Al's had some training, too. And we'll have to arm Rachel; you know what would happen if we were passing out guns and didn't include her…"

We started thinking of how to barricade the house. We'd get everyone in the living room and pile furniture around the perimeter. That might slow them enough for us to get them. Maybe.

All of that planning was cut short when I heard a woman scream from inside the house. They were already here.

Chapter 5

We charged into the house. I was armed. So were Jacques, James, and Al. Of course, being an Andalite, Al was always armed. And, somehow, Ronnie had ended up with his hands on the forth Shredder. I really didn't like the thought of an amateur waving around a fully-powered laser beam gun thingy. Hell, I didn't like the thought of some of the trained professionals I knew waving those things around.

It turns out that our rushing in with weapons drawn was completely unnecessary. The source of the screaming was Rachel. The reason for the screaming was Tobias. He had chosen now to show up, along with Ax and David.

"Was the screaming really necessary?" I demanded. "He's not that ugly."

Tobias looked at me over Rachel's shoulder. I briefly wondered how he'd pry her off and when. I knew where a crowbar was… "I suppose that's your way of telling me you're glad I'm not dead," Tobias said to me.

I nodded. "Yep. That's about it."

Tobias looked around the room. His eyes lingered on Mersa, cuffed and gagged. "Seems like you have things well in hand here." Then his eyes fell on Ronnie and his weapon. "That belongs in the hands of someone more responsible. Marco, grab that from him."

I don't know if it was just because I was standing next to Ronnie or if it was a subtle jab, indicating that I, Marco, was more responsible than Ronnie. Probably the first; Tobias just isn't that subtle. Especially not lately. Nevertheless, I took the Shredder from Ronnie. He looked glad to be rid of it.

"Uh…where are Naomi and Jordan?" David asked.

Jacques paled. "I suppose I should let them out of the closet now… Rachel, Jeanne, Sara, if you would give me a hand… I think she's less likely to murder me if I'm standing behind you three. Or four, I suppose."

"You know," I mused to no one in particular, "this is a very odd family I mean…Naomi's nuts. We know that. And then there's Rachel, who is even crazier; no offense, Tobias."

He dropped into a large chair by the fireplace. "Offense? I may be crazy, Marco, but I'm not blind. She's nuts. Cary on."

"Well, Jordan seems more or less normal, but I'm sure that's all a clever ruse. Sara seems to have a thing for our local rat-boy; I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed. Factor in Jeanne, the trained assassin, and Jacques, the random French guy who seems unperturbed by all the weirdness that goes on around him. And here's the oddest part: it can only get stranger from here."

"Yeah?" Ronnie asked. "How?"

"Just look around," I told him. "It's pretty much a given that Tobias and Rachel are going to have to get married at some point. That invites all the craziness in his family. Where to begin with that can of worms? I don't even want to start.

"And let's suppose things work out between Jeanne and me. Not that I'm even considering that at this point, but let's say, hypothetically, we got married. Then we bring in not only me, we also are now dealing with my polygamist father and his two wives, one of whom was the host to the former Visser One. Crazy, no?"

"That's not the end of it," David piped in. "Sara was telling me that Jordan seems to have a thing for James. So if we throw him into the mix…"

James turned to David. "I'll date Jordan if you date Sara. Then we're all just one big screwed up family. We could be a TV show of some kind."

I know he meant it as a joke, but I was already thinking of how I'd pitch this to the guys at the network. I'd make billions!

My happy thoughts were cut short when Naomi came storming down the stairs, everyone else following meekly behind her. She stopped in front of Tobias and shoved her finger in his face. "You! I know that was all somehow connected to you!"

He was unphased. I guess that, after living with Rachel, angry blond women don't intimidate him anymore. "Probably. What, exactly, are we talking about?"

"They locked me in the closet!"

Tobias looked over her shoulder at Jacques. "You're officially okay in my book. Al! Fetch me my book. Is it still in the Reliquary? Add Jacques's name."

"Wait, you actually have a book?" I demanded. "that's Just weird. I mean…that's just really odd…" Things like this make me think he's going completely insane...

Naomi wouldn't be distracted, though. So much for that plan. "This has got to stop. You can't come barging in here at all hours, running around in the middle of the night, stealing my dinner guests, kidnapping my daughters, dragging them all off to God knows where! If you think I'm going to-"

"Naomi," Tobias interrupted her, "I have had a very long day. I'm tired. I am going to bed. If you want to rant, do it at Mersa. Al can take notes and fill me in in the morning." He shouldered his way past Naomi and made for the back door, heading for the Reliquary.

"Wait," I said to him. He paused. "How did you get here? What happened in the battle? What about the assassins? Does the Visser have the Blade ship?"

Tobias shook his head. "No, the Blade ship is safely in Rebel hands. The Kelbrid in the hangar were easy enough to handle. One of the assassins sealed off the hangar and depressurized it once it was full of Kelbrid. That handled them; the Visser had the rest remain in the transports.

"As for the fleet, we decimated that. You saw us fighting them?" I nodded. Tobias continued, "Well, I had two thirds of our forces break off. They were supposed to look like they were fleeing wildly. What they were actually doing was getting behind the moon. After a few half-hearted runs on the Blade ship, I turned my squad around and made for the moon. We caught most of the Visser's fleet in the ambush, despite Guraff's warnings. Destroyed most of them. The remainder abandoned the attack on the Blade ship. The transports pulled back and we salvaged the ship. A great victory, if you look at it combined with all the other damage we've done today."

"What about the assassins?"

He paused again. Then, he told me, "That's…overly complicated. It'll have to wait until morning because I cannot, cannot deal with it tonight. I'll see you all in the morning. Now, I deserve some sleep."