Hello, readers, welcome back! When we last saw our intrepid hero, Andy, he and his best friends had defeated an alien commander named Purge, who hinted at trouble in the nation of Black Hole...

"This is the place, right?"

Andy asked this as he turned to his good buddy. Max nodded. "Sami says some shaky stuff might be going on in Black Hole. Of course, with their piperunner defenses, I can't get the APC past the border without meeting with someone to shut them off."

"Got it," Andy said. "I'll radio General Hawke, he's way more understanding."

Andy grabbed his comm device. "Hawke. Hawke, are you there?"

Silence, for a moment. Then, a new voice spoke back.

"Hawke can't come to the phone right now, Commander," said a young, feminine voice. It certainly didn't belong to Lash or Kindle, though. "But if you'd like, we can send him a message."

Andy scratched his head. "That's odd," he pondered. "Hawke's never without communications, he always has a backup plan. There's no way he-"

Then, a muffled grunt came from the other side of the speaker. Andy recognized it instantly- "Hawke? Is that you?"

The girl on the other end growled. "I said he can't talk with you right now."

"What have you done to Black Hole's general?" the mechanic asked, glaring daggers at his own comm system, although the person on the other end couldn't see him.

"We have no time for this," said the girl, angrily. "Back down, or we will be forced to destroy you." At this, the piperunners moved closer to the two Orange Star COs, to firing range, and a Neotank rolled in front of the gate.

"That's no leader of Black Hole," Max said aloud. "She's dead serious."

Andy adjusted the radio frequency. "Bad news, guys, Black Hole's been toppled, we need reinforcements."

Meanwhile, however, the enemy CO had adjusted her own radio. "So it's war, then..."

"Yeah, war," Max said. "But not on Black Hole. On you."

"Ahaha," the girl laughed. "We'll see about that."

"One question," Andy asked. "You wouldn't work with that alien commander who attacked us before, would you? Does the name 'Purge' ring a bell?"

"Far too many," the young girl said. "But don't worry, we of Red Nova wish nothing more than to destroy our transgressors. It's simple vengeance, Andrew."

Andy's jaw dropped. "How- How do you know my name?"

"My father knew it, and he passed down his knowledge of you to me," said the voice. "You were a thorn in his side from the beginning. You and your 'allied nations,' as you call them."

"Your father?"

"I think we're getting off-topic," the young girl said. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to blast you and your big-armed friend to bits. So long, Andy."

Both of the piperunners readied their cannons, but suddenly, something demolished them from above. A hail of explosive death annihlated both cannons instantly.

"What the-"

Andy and Max looked up to see a pair of emerald bombers soaring overhead. They were most certainly the weapons of their salvation. And Andy personally figured out the pilot of one in no time flat.

"Hey, Eagle!" called Andy eagerly. "Long time, no see!"

The radio crackled to life, and the voice of the young pilot came over. "You're welcome, Andy," he said a tad ungratefully.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to thank you, my bad-"

"The Neotank!" Max yelled. Sure enough, the black orb of death was rolling towards the duo.

Andy crossed his arms. "They don't give up, do they?"

Eagle's voice came back. "That tank's not goint to worry you much longer!" He turned to his own radio system and called, "Initiate Lightning Strike attack!"

"You got it, sir," the other pilot said. The bombers swooped back around and destroyer the Neotank with their combined firepower.

"Nice one!" Max yelled.

But then, one of the bombers erupted into fiery demise. The three officers were shocked, but it didn't take long for Eagle to see why.

"Crud," he told the other two, "they have missiles."

"Got a parachute up there?" asked Max.

"Yeah..."

"THEN USE IT!" Andy yelled, panicked. It wasn't long before the second bomber blew up, but thankfully, Andy and Max saw a parachute deploy.

"Dang," said their enemy. "Everything's gotta be difficult with you guys, huh?"

"We're coming for you, Red Nova CO!" Andy shouted.

"No, you're not. I'm getting out of here."

Then, a deep, sadistic voice- Adder's- crackled over. "Shall I toy with them for a while, madam?"

Andy balled his fist. "Adder, you snake! You're betraying your own country?"

"I'm only loyal to one side," Adder said calmly. "The winning side. And right now, it seems that Red Nova has the edge."

A beeping sound came over the comm, and then, a white beam of light shot into the sky. "That was our teleporter," Adder said. "It seems you've just missed your chance to capture Commander Deiku and save Hawke. She took him with her, you know."

Andy was about to speak, but then, as if on cue, his reinforcements showed up.

"Max," he said, "find this 'Deiku' character. She has Hawke, and I'll bet she leads Red Nova."

"On it," Max said, before climbing in an APC and riding off.

"Eagle," Andy began, but the pilot finished his sentence.

"I'm with you, I know," he said. "Oh, and by the way, you owe me one."

"For what, you saving my life at the last minute?"

"Big time," Eagle said. "If I wasn't honing my bombing tactics, you'd be roasted by now."

Andy laughed. "I still can't believe you pulled a Lightning Strike when all you'd been doing was training."

"Oh, really?" asked Eagle. "I'd have thought you were ready to tune up your army by this point."

The younger CO turned towards the Black Hole fortress. "Less talking, more fighting, okay?"

"You started it, not me."

"Shut up."

What will become of Eagle and Andy? Why is Adder such a jerk? And when will Lash arrive to give them the crucial info the pair needs to understand why Red Nova is attacking? Find out soon, on Heir of the Cosmos.