"Captain," a voice called.

Regina's head snapped up to see Lieutenant Fa standing off to the right. "We'll be at Omptima Glasus in fifteen minutes."

Regina nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You have your orders for what you're to do if this all goes pear shaped, right?"

The woman nodded.

"Good." Regina stood and slipped her datapad back in its holder. "Hopefully such instructions won't be needed and I will see you after this entire debacle, but just in case. You've done well."

"Thank you, Captain."

And with that Regina made her way down to the flight deck once more, Blue trailing behind her. She called Petty Officer Charming on the way down and told him to meet them there. There was just as much activity going on, if not more than the last time she'd been down here only hours ago. Then again with two shifts pulling double duty that was only expected. Regina was glad to see that it looked like there were more fighters in battle ready condition than there had been. They would need those.

She stopped and asked directions to where Swan was and found an immediate answer. Since the woman was chief mechanic that was no surprise, but the informal way that her inferior officers referred to the woman irked her. Of course Swan had no respect for chain of command. Idiotic woman.

Regina found Swan hopping off the wing of the transport ship they would be taking to the talk with AI, covered in grease, with bags under her eyes, but looking satisfied. At least that boded well for this mission.

"Officer Swan, I take it that the requested modifications have been accomplished?" Regina asked.

"Yup, I managed to get two rounds of missiles on there with some finagling. We'll be ready if they try anything funny while we're there."

"We?"

Swan held up a series of wires and switches. "Yeah, I got them on the ship, but I didn't have time to actually put a firing mechanism in. I'm the only one who knows what is where and how to fire everything. You're going to have to take me if you actually want those missiles to be of any use to you."

Anger flared within Regina. "Can't you just teach someone else how to do it?" She gestured back at Blue. "I'm sure a science officer can handle pressing a few buttons."

"Yeah, but can she also aim? Science officers don't usually get that much target practice, do they? Besides we leave in less than ten minutes and just to go over the basics of how to fire the damn things would take most of that. There would be no fancy tricks that you pilots are used to. You asked for a jerry-rigged system, not one that was easy to work."

Regina frowned so hard she figured that the lines would be permanently engraved on her face. "Fine, but one toe out of line on this mission and I'll make sure the AI shoot you my damn self."

Swan rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever, no thank you for working a miracle in the last five hours, arming a ship that wasn't meant to be armed, and for getting over half the fleet back up and running while I was at it. I see how it is."

"Would you like a cookie, officer?" Regina's lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Well it would be a damn sight better than what I'm getting right now."

"You did your job as commanded. There are no cookies for that. You've been in the Directive for how long now? You should know that."

"Uh huh and I'm sure those promotions that got you to Captain were for your shining personality and not an jobs well done or anything." Emma shook her head. "You know while I was at it, I upped the oxygen reserves and added a backup generator for them. Now we won't die if the engines go off. You're welcome."

Swan stalked off and up the ramp into the transport.

"Captain?" Blue asked.

Regina turned to Blue and tried to soften her expression. Blue was not the one she was upset with. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"We aren't going to be flying like the last time are we?" Blue looked at little green just thinking about it.

"Hopefully, no, but I'll fly how I have to get us out."

Blue nodded.

Regina stepped forward and clasped Blue's shoulder. "Might be time to renew that motion training, yes?"

"It's high up on my to do list when this all blows over, Captain."

Regina stepped back again. "Good." She looked up just in time to see Petty Officer Charming turning the corner and heading straight towards them, walking confidently with a rather brainless smile on his face. Lord, she hoped that she hadn't made a mistake not taking Lily.

"Petty Officer," Regina called as soon as he was in hearing range. "I would have thought you would have hurried when receiving a direct order from the Captain, but at least you are here now. Come," She said to both Charming and Blue. Regina turned and walked onto the transport.

She walked directly to the exosuit cabinet and pulled out one, motioning the others to do the same. "Omptima Glasus has an atmosphere that humans can breathe, but I'm not trusting that at face value. We will wear these until I deem it safe and then you will keep your fingers by the reengage button at all times. We will not have them taking us by surprise, do you understand."

There was a chorus of "Yes, Captain."

"Good.

"Petty Officer if you have any weapons on you, you will leave them here. There is a reason why I chose you and it's not your blaster skills. I need your physical combat experience only."

The man nodded as he slipped on his exosuit, securing it into place a bit awkwardly, but still adequately.

Swan snorted from the front of the ship. "What good is physical combat experience against a bunch of fucking robots?"

"What would you know about fighting AI, Officer Swan? Tell me if you think you have such a great amount of experience at such things. I eagerly await your input." Regina glared at the woman.

"Oh come on. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that punching metal isn't really going to work."

Regina clenched her fists. "Not that it is any of your business, Swan, to question a Captains prerogative for having who they want accompany them on a mission, but there were signs that the AI have some sort of lifeform on their ship besides them, be they human or otherwise. Now as I recall punching other sentient beings usually does a bang up job of getting people out of tough situations."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Keep digging your grave, Swan. I'm not the one who's going to be working my ass off on whatever punishment I see fit to assign, now am I?"

"Oh no, I'm so scared of toilet duty. What will I ever do?"

Oh that sealed it, she was going to find something very special for Emma Swan to suffer through when this was all over and she was going to enjoy every single minute of it. Maybe she would get Mal to help. Mal was absolutely evil with punishments. Perhaps it was the dragon in her. Regina didn't care as long as it got her results. And for damn sure the woman would get no recommendations for promotion from her. Perhaps she would even recommend to strip her of a rank. She would have to see just how vindictive she was feeling later.

Regina confirmed that everyone was in their exosuits and nodded. "Strap in," she said to Blue and Charming, before going up to the cockpit and slipping into the same seat she'd sat in last time. Emma was already in what was usually the pilot's chair, fiddling around with the controls, setting up the bundle of wires she'd held up to Regina earlier. Regina wasn't even going to question it. They were a minute out from the launch site and it would take at least that long to clear the deck so they could launch.

"Ready for takeoff," Regina said into her comms.

"Roger that, Captain. The deck is clearing and everything is secure. Half a minute or so until you can launch."

"Good, let me know when I'm clear."

"Will do."

Regina looked over at Swan, still fiddling with her wires. "Are you sure those things will actually fire the missiles."

"I'm sure. I've got my job and I'm good at it you've got yours. It may look like a mess, but I'd like to see you try and do what I do."

Regina snorted. "I graduated the academy so I didn't have to."

"You act like I couldn't have gone to the academy is I wanted to." Emma glared up at her for half a second. "I tested high enough I could've, but I didn't want to be a damn fly boy, I wanted to work on engines like Ingrid. Turned out the engines I was best with were fighter engines. Go figure. But don't you dare think that I couldn't be where you are if I wanted to be because I'm not as smart as you."

"If you're done giving me trite speeches I think you should get back to work on that…thing."

Swan muttered under her breath, sounding very much like she was cursing Regina out in all of the official languages of the Directive. Of course she'd pick up just enough of a language to be able to curse in it. Regina rolled her eyes and flipped a few more switches, powering the ship up but leaving the engines down for the moment. She checked her readouts. Everything was running normally, even if the ship was reading heavier than normal. That was to be expected with the extra weapons.

"Captain, you're all ready to go," the flight coordinator said.

"Thank you, lifting off now." Regina felt the first rumblings of the door opening before she powered up the engines and lifted the craft slowly into the air. She fought a bit with the controls, but once she got a feel for how the weight was distributed everything evened out nicely and she directed them towards the door.

They slipped out into space, the planet in front of them taking up most of the veiwscreen in front of them, but off to the side there was also the mother ship of the AI, looming ominously. There were no ships flying out of the larger one. Regina could only guess that meant that the AI had already sent their ship in. That was no comfort to her. That meant they could have gotten the lay of the land and perhaps sent up traps or who knew what else to await them.

She frowned hard. "They were here before us. Be on the highest guard flying in. If there is any sign of anything funny I want to know about it. Do you know how to run scans or do I need to get Blue up here?" She glanced at Swan out of the side of her eyes.

"I know how everything on this thing works. If I didn't I wouldn't be a good mechanic."

"Yes, well, then get to it. And if they aren't thorough it's not only your ass on the line." She turned fully back towards the viewscreen and started the sequence for atmosphere entry.

"Those extras aren't going to interfere with entry, are they?" If so much as a tile flew off they would be in trouble later."

"No, they're fine. Everything checked out up to spec with them, I double checked." Swan was busy pressing buttons, trying to initiate the scans already. Regina thought she looked like she was bumbling around, but she wasn't going to say that just yet. She would give the woman another minute to truly dig her own grave. They wouldn't really need the scans until they cleared atmo anyway.

"You have better." She turned to look back at her two other passengers. "Hold on, entry can be a bit rough."

Blue paled a little but Charming just shrugged and tightened the straps around his shoulders a little tighter. Well that hadn't been her expected response from him, but it was a welcome one considering she didn't have time to babysit anyone.

She pushed forward, feeling the first bit of resistance starting to bite at the wings of the transport. Omptima Glasus's atmosphere was thicker than most, the extra weight of its core allowing it to hold onto more layers. Moving around down there would be possible, but it was going to be a bitch, and Regina knew it. The atmosphere was one humans could breathe, but gravity was almost two times greater.

"Here we go," Regina said as the ship started to shake more noticeably. "Swan have you got those scanners up and running."

"Give me one sec—there they go."

"Are you sure?" Regina couldn't spare a glare right now, eyes focused on the outside temperature and structural integrity of the ship.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just pilot the ship, I've got everything else."

Regina snorted but said nothing more. The readings were holding steady and they were dropping at a good pace. Another two minutes and they would be clear. The cloud cover of the planet passed them by in oddly shaped layers. Gravity here did something to the shapes. They didn't look like those on her home planet. They almost looked…disturbing.

But there was no time for thoughts like that now.

"Anything showing up on the scans?" Regina asked, teeth clenched together, hands tight on the controls, fighting to keep the transport steady. Entries were always the worst. On her flight tests back at the academy the only place she ever got points off was on her fucking entries. She'd always been bitter about that.

"No, your highness, I'll tell you when there is. No need to ask every six seconds. You haven't even cleared most of atmo yet. The scanners on this thing aren't that good," Emma bit out.

Regina growled but decided not to expend anymore energy on it. Ninety seconds until they were clear. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. No matter how many times she did this, it never got any better.

Sixty seconds. The readings were still consistent with what they should be during this point in the entry. The hull was holding together. Whatever patch job Swan had done on the ship after she'd installed the missiles, she'd done well, Regina had to grudgingly admit that, especially for something done in such a short amount of time.

"The scans have picked out where they've set up. There's one ship there, looks like a modified version of a transport, but I think it's another AI too, just with cargo room. It has the same odd design quirks."

Regina cursed under her breath. Of course it was.

"I'm not picking up any weapons signatures, but I call a whole lot of bullshit on that. That things big enough to pack at least three launches worth. Gimme a second and I'll expand the scans out further."

Thirty seconds until they were clear. The shaking was worse now. She hoped Blue was holding it together. It wasn't as bad as the fight had been, by any means, but they didn't need to walk into this meeting looking weak in any way, shape, or form, even if it was only looking a little bit motion sick.

"We're clear up to five clicks, but then there's something. I can't pick up a full signature, it's been scrambled, but I'd say it's their contingency plan. I can get residual weapons signatures off of it, but they're mixed up in everything else and I can't pull out what they've got."

"Tell our fighters to move in to within the first layer of atmo. Tell them to stay far enough out that their scanners shouldn't be able to pick them up, but they're only two minutes out when we need them."

"Why don't you tell them yourself?" Emma looked over at her.

"I'm a little busy right now, Swan!" Ten seconds until they were clear.

Emma huffed but clicked into the comms system and passed along her orders without another word.

Regina breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her ship up and started to fly towards the meeting site that the AI had set up. The shaking died down and the outside of the ship started to cool once more. She'd done it, another entry under her belt without a single problem.

"Get ready," Regina said, steering the ship downward once more, hoping that agreeing to this meeting wasn't one of the worst decisions she'd ever made in her career.

"The rest of the scans came back clear. Whatever is out there they think it's enough to keep us occupied," Swan said.

Regina frowned. "That doesn't make me feel very confident."

Swan snorted. "No, no it does not."

Regina clicked in to the comms system. "Be advised, there is a ship five clicks out from the meeting point. The scans aren't clear, but it is weaponized. Whatever it is, I think it should take priority. It is their big gun in this fight."

"Yes, Captain," chorused back at her.

Regina nodded and flipped the switch for the landing gear, lowering the ship to the ground slowly and setting down with a small thump. Regina took a deep breath and unhooked her seat belt.

"Is there any way you had time to quiet the idle function on this ship? I don't want them to know we can be gone at the drop of a hat."

Swan shook her head. "Nope, didn't have time for that. Besides, even if I suppressed the noise, one look with anything that can sense thermal and that would be blown anyway."

Regina nodded reluctantly. Swan did have a point there. "Ok then." She hit the power switch and the ship quieted. She took another breath and stood. "Let's go."

She walked to the door and hit the button. It opened slowly, unfolding to the ground. Regina walked down the ramp, three other sets of footsteps following her closely. She took in the scene around her quickly. On the other side of the clearing there was the AI's ship. In the middle of their two ships stood a tent. It wasn't extremely large, perhaps the size of a normal conference room. Regina didn't like the thought of having to enter that tent blind, but couldn't see a way around it. That was clearly where they were supposed to be meeting.

"Swan did you get any scans inside that tent?" Regina said in a low voice.

"Yeah, it didn't throw up any flags, just some humanoid signatures, and what had to be AI."

Well, that didn't mean they didn't have smaller fire arms like blasters hidden away. They just weren't about to bomb them into oblivion. It was something, but not enough.

"Be on your guard then." Regina started forward once again.

Swan snorted behind her but didn't say anything. Regina was infinitely glad that her other soldiers were much better trained than Swan was. She was going to have to see who in the world declared her fit for duty, because obviously they had no idea what that truly meant and should be taken off the training roster immediately.

The ground underneath their feet crunched slightly. Already Regina was starting to feel the strain in her limbs from the increased gravity. She could feel that her breathing was a bit labored too. She was beginning to regret choosing this planet. The AI had an advantage here, not really being affected by gravity and that was most assuredly a bad thing.

Regina paused outside the entrance of the tent for just a second before taking a breath and opening the flaps. Inside was a table line with chairs, but other than that, there was nothing else, at least that she could see. Instantly alarms started going off inside her head. This wasn't right.

"Ah, so you finally decided to show. Late as always Gina, dear."

Regina's blood ran cold. She knew that voice. She'd never forget it. She had to keep herself from taking a step back. She would not show weakness, not here, not in front of her, though Regina wasn't actually sure where she was. Her eyes darted around, looking for a flash of red hair, but finding none.

"Oh don't be shy now. After all, we are here to talk, aren't we?"

Regina's fist clenched by her sides. She took a step forward into the tent, her entourage following after a long second. Another step. And another, but still no size of her.

A woman with flaming red hair and a smirk to kill stepped out from the side of the tent. In the blazing whiteness of the space Regina had missed the opening there. There must be another compartment that she hadn't accounted for.

"Zelena," Regina growled.

"Now, now, is that any way to greet your sister?" Two rather large AI walked out and flanked Zelena.

Regina heard the three people behind her all take in sharp breaths. "You aren't my sister."

"Oh, but our DNA would say differently." Zelena walked towards the table and took the seat at the head of it. "Sit, sit, we do have much to talk about after all. That is why you're here."

"Our DNA also says we only share a mother." Regina didn't move.

"Half-sisters are still sisters. Didn't Mommy teach you that?"

Regina had to reign in the urge to fly across the room and punch the living daylights out of the woman. "Yes, but she didn't teach you anything at all, now did she? And you can't see that you were damn lucky she sent you off to wherever it was you ended up instead."

Zelena snorted. "Oh, still on that shtick are we? Regina, Regina, you always were unable to see what you had. Perhaps that's just the spoiled attitude of everyone who was raised on one of the inner planets."

Regina stalked forward and took a seat at the other end of the table. "Are we going to have this argument again? Are you going to try to tell me again that if I go with you we can make everyone sorry that they ever existed? Are you going to tell me that the Directive is all a big hoax and no one should trust them? All because you got rejected and your plan to impress Mother was foiled and you wanted to drag me down with you. So Mother could see that you were the better daughter. Don't think I didn't see through that the first time years ago, don't think I don't see through it now."

Zelena laughed and it sent chills down Regina's spine. "Oh no, I've grown past all of that now. I'm not out to make everyone sorry that they existed, only the Directive itself." She looked up at the AI. "Funny how they so conveniently provided me with the weapon that will bring about their own demise. They always were self-destructive like that."

"You're working with them." Regina looked at the AI, lead settling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, more like they are working for me."

Regina shook her head. "Surely you aren't stupid enough to believe that. They'll take you out as soon as they have what they want from you. They're AI, they have no morality."

Zelena waved that off. "Oh, I am well aware. I don't go into a plan all willy-nilly, dear sister, unlike you. But I have a great many things that they need to build themselves up and complete their mission and we share the same end goal. It's more like a business deal than anything. And when it is over we will go our separate ways no harm done."

"You say I'm impulsive, but have you ever looked into a mirror?" Regina's lips pulled up into a snarl. The rest of her crew inched closer to her, not sitting down. She could feel the tense air wafting off of them like wind.

"I have. I look fabulous. But let us not tarry and get to the point." Zelena sat forward with a razor sharp smile. "It's so very fortuitous that you were the one sent out on border patrol this cycle. I'm so glad it was you who found our little trap. I did want to talk to you before the worst was upon us."

"I thought you were getting to the point."

Zelena huffed. "Fine, fine, you know our plan. Either you can join us or you are against us. And make no mistake that if you are against us, Regina, we will destroy everything and everyone you hold dear."

Regina's mind immediately went to Henry. Zelena didn't know about him, or at least she shouldn't. The last time they had seen each other Henry had been years off. But it wouldn't matter even if Zelena did know about Henry. He was on her ship, he was part of the Directive. She would destroy him no matter what if she had her way.

The only way to protect him was to join Zelena. But she didn't believe that would work for an instant. Zelena hated her and everything she stood for. She would play along with Regina for a time, but then she would stab her in the back sometime down the road and everything she had promised would turn to dust.

"No," Regina said calmly, tasting hot metal and ash in her mouth, the taste of war.

"No?" Zelena smiled again, mad as a hatter. "Are you very sure about that?"

"The Directive doesn't deal with terrorists. As a Captain in their ranks, neither do I. Come now, Zelena, did you really think I'd fall for that line? Work with us or you'll destroy us. More like work with us and we'll destroy you. I know you."

Zelena stood quickly, slamming her hands down on the table. "You only think you know me! You know nothing," she hissed.

Regina crossed her arms in front of her and cocked an eyebrow. "I know enough. You think the world should bow to you because you have mommy issues and you get angry when it doesn't. This is just another manifestation of that."

Zelena stood straight again, calm masking slipping back onto her face. "You don't know what you're talking about. This isn't a child's plan, Regina. We've both grown up and learned a great deal about how the world works. I have resources on my side, troops, there's no more halfcocked plans. You walk away from this and you will die before you ever get time to warn the Directive of what's coming for them."

Slowly, Regina got up from her seat. "You see, Zelena, I just don't believe you, about anything. I'm not deal with you, I'm not working with you, I'm not doing anything at all with you. Why would I want to work with a sister that Mother didn't want?" She smiled cruelly.

Zelena's eye twitched just slightly for half a second. "So that's how it's going to be again, is it?"

"Of course. You didn't think I would leave my very comfortable post for the likes of you, did you?" Regina scoffed.

"Oh, I hoped you'd learned, become smarter, but unfortunately…" she trailed off.

"Well, if that was all you really wanted to talk about, then we will be going." Regina turned towards the tent entrance and started to walk.

"One step out of that tent Regina, and you will regret it."

Regina turned back to look at Zelena for a long, long moment, before turning back again and walking from the tent with her head held high.

And of course, just as Zelena promised, she did regret it an instant later when the world around her was rent by blaster fire. Son of a bitch. She broke out into a sprint, running like hell towards the entrance of their transport. If one of those idiots hit it, they were gone.

Regina clicked on her comms and screamed. "Get in here! They're attacking!"

The chorus of "Yes, Captain" didn't calm her like normal. They would be two minutes out. And she needed help now. Damn it, she knew she should have just packed a blaster. But no she had to be honorable. Damn Directive rules.

And suddenly she was on the ground and a blaster shot was going right through where she'd been a second ago. Regina turned to see golden hair. Swan had tackled her to ground. Regina wasn't sure what to feel in that instant. But then another shot landed a few inches from her head and there was no time for thinking. She yanked them both to their feet and started for the transport again.

"How long will it take you to get the damn thing firing?" Regina yelled, sprinting.

"As soon as it's on and up in the air I can shoot."

"God damn it, does it have to be in the air?"

"Yeah, a lot of the openings are on the bottom of the ship. Only real place with room."

Regina started cursing, switching over to just thinking a long string of explicatives instead to save on air. She didn't think she'd parked far from the tent, but damn it felt like a marathon now with blaster fire all around them.

And then she was finally on the ramp up. The metal vibrated under her feet, clanging under her boot falls. She was inside the cockpit, throwing the switches on before she heard the next person enter. Swan was by her in another second, helping get the ship into gear. Another pair of footsteps, heavier, came up into the ship. Charming. One more and they could close up the door and be at least a bit safer.

"Charming," Regina barked out. "Blue?" she asked shortly. If the man was too slow to get that she would throw him off the damn ship herself.

"Right behind," he panted out.

Then Blue was by his side, grasping at her arm, blood oozing around her fingers, looking pale.

"Close the door, strap in, we're going for a ride." Regina turned around again, switching the engines from warm up mode. The engine roared its protests, but started up easily enough. She heard the door woosh shut and she pulled the controls up. "God damn it, when you can fire, annihilate them."

"Way ahead of you!" Swan yelled.

The ship rose fast, but now the blaster fire was turning into heavier arms and Regina held her breath, hoping that none hit them while they were rising. She needed a little more altitude before she could safely fly wherever she needed. And then they were two hundred feet up and she was gone, pushing the throttle as far as it would go, the ship shaking around them with the speed. She heard something rocket off and the ship felt lighter in the controls.

A second later Swan whooped. "Hit their ship."

And yet the heavy fire didn't cease from around them. "Where the hell are they shooting from then?" Regina yelled, gaining altitude steadily. They needed out of here right that damn second. Two more rounds of missiles wasn't enough.

"Looks like they've got planet bound drones after us, small fuckers, I can't hit them easily. It would waste a shot."

Regina cursed again.

"Captain, thirty seconds out," someone said over comms.

Regina could barely believe that it had only been a minute and a half.

"Son of a bitch!" Emma shouted. "We've got an incoming!"

"That ship five clicks off?" Regina asked. They were heading in the opposite direction, but that didn't mean much.

"Yeah, except in ten seconds it's going to be in firing range."

Regina grabbed the controls and twisted sharply. "I hope you're all strapped in!" she yelled behind them. Blue was going to get another ride of her life within a day of the first. Regina hoped she had the nerves for it.

"Have they got a lock on us?"

"Not yet, but probably soon."

"Can you fired back at them if they do?" Regina twisted the wheel again, shooting off in a different direction.

"Yeah, but I don't know what they have on that thing. It could get here before I have a chance to fire. Not exactly just pushing a button, you know?"

Out of the corner of her eye Regina saw Swan gesture to the mess of wires and buttons she'd installed.

"Well you're the only one who has a fucking chance, so get on it if they do."

"No I was just going to let them shoot us out of the fucking sky, your majesty," Swan shouted back.

"Damn it, I don't have time to deal with you being a smart ass, Swan."

"Yeah, when do you ever?"

"You might want to ask yourself that more often."

Regina turned sharply again and then pulled up. She felt gravity pulling at her hard, but she didn't stop for a few seconds. Evasive maneuvers weren't comfortable.

"Shit, fuck, they've got a lock."

Regina heard Blue gasp from the back. "Fire then!"

"I am fucking trying."

Regina let the ship drop suddenly, hoping to shake the lock.

"Damn it, if you want me to fire at them you're going to have to hold steady."

"I don't want them to have a fucking lock on us!"

"They still do, so if you want any sort of defense, let me do my damn job woman! I don't exactly have those new fancy missiles to work with that auto-target, now do I?"

"You don't have those because they would be shot right back at us!"

"I fucking know that, ok. I was there in the last firefight or did you forget about yelling at me for the better part of an hour so quickly? I would think that being a Captain would require a longer memory than that, but you know I wouldn't fucking be surprised."

If Regina could have taken her hands off the controls and punched the woman nicely in the jaw, she totally would have. But as the situation was, that would send them all to their demise, and she couldn't have that. If Swan was going to die by her hands, it would be very, very voluntary and by choice on her part.

She flew and kept the ship steady. "Why haven't they fucking fired yet if they have a lock on us?"

"Don't fucking ask me. Maybe they're waiting for an invitation. But I'm fucking not." She pressed one of the buttons dramatically and another round of missiles was gone. The ship sped up just a bit with the extra weight gone and Regina used it to her advantage. She pushed the throttle harder and let the engines rip.

"Broken atmo, Captain. We're locking onto your position and coming to your aide as we speak."

Regina was never more relieved in her life. "Push it as hard as you can, we're being pursued."

"Roger that."

The sound of explosions came from behind them. Regina waited for all of half a second before asking. "Did any of them hit?"

"Give me a second, switching from one to the other isn't exactly the easiest, you know." Emma was silent for a few seconds and sucked in a breath. "No. Or at least if they did, they didn't do any damage. The ship is gaining."

"Fucking a!" When would they catch a break? "Ok, look for a small canyon, something that they won't be able to fit through and fucking get us there before they catch us."

"A canyon? We're in the middle of flat country!"

"It's a large planet and we're going very, very fast, just fucking do it!"

"God you expect me to perform miracles and then wonder why I can't fucking pull it off."

"If you want to fucking live you will perform any miracles that I ask you to!"

"Just call me the fucking savior then." Emma's fingers were flying over the keys. "Turn right now!"

Regina jerked the wheel to the side and the engines groaned with the strain. "How far away?"

"Twenty clicks."

"We're never going to make that! Find something closer." Regina felt sweat running down her back, felt her muscles twitching. Any second they could be shot out of the sky.

"The next closest thing in fifty clicks in the fucking opposite direction and I think the object here is to not go back towards the ship that's trying to kill us."

Regina clenched her fists hard around the controls. She had a fucking point, but god damn it, they were stuck between a rock and hard place here. And the hard place was sharp and deadly and so was the rock.

"Captain, we've got a lock on the ship following you. Firing now."

"Thank fucking god," Regina said out loud. Still she didn't slow down or change course. They needed safe haven just in case those missiles didn't hit. "How long until we're at the canyon?"

"Two minutes."

God that was going to see like an eternity yet again. "Anything in the way?"

"Just sand and rocks, nothing tall. You should be fine."

Regina waited and waited for the sound of explosions behind her, but they never came. "Swan, what the hell is going on back there?"

"They've got the missiles held in some sort of field. I think they might be rerouting them."

"Towards what?"

Swan went very still. "Us, for the love of God, you're gonna have to pull off that miracle now. They just fired."

The world slowed down around her. People were calling her over the coms, warning her of the incoming fire, saying that they would try to intercept, saying that they would try to fire another round. Regina couldn't process it all, so she tuned it out. Let the fighters deal with themselves. She jerked the wheel hard to the right, until the ship turned in a full circle.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Swan screeched beside her.

"Walking on water," Regina said quietly before she forced the ship forward again, speeding towards the missiles. She held out for a few long seconds, getting closer and closer, all the while Swan was screaming that she was insane, and perhaps Blue was having a breakdown in the back. Then at the last possible second, she dove under the missiles and the soared over the ship, missing by inches.

"For the love of all that's holy tell me that they aren't following us," Regina said yanking the ship in another direction once more.

Swan hesitated for just a second.

"Come on! I need to know!" Regina shouted. To not know something here would kill them.

Swan punched a few buttons and shook her head. "No, we're in the clear for now. But not for long, our ships aren't doing a damn thing to whatever the fuck is following us."

Regina didn't have time to ask another question before everything around them was fire. She felt the ejector seat jamming, the ship fracturing in half. She saw her life flash before her eyes. Her childhood, as miserable as it was, the Academy, having Henry, watching him grow. Henry. She wouldn't get to see him reach his full potential. She felt a great well of sadness at that, but could do nothing about it, flying two hundred feet above the ground and falling fast. There was no way she would survive this.

The fall took a short eternity. She could feel the air rushing around them. Strong gravity pulling them down faster than normal, but still so very slowly.

And then they hit the ground and Regina could hear grinding metal hitting rocks as she was shaken in her harness like a ragdoll. Her head jerked back hard and stars swam before her vision. The world started to go black and she tried to hang on, knew that if she went out now she wouldn't ever wake up again. But she was given no choice and the world went dark a few seconds later.