"My Lord," came the voice, as it entered the room.

B'arnduug lifted his head and looked in the direction of the interruption. It was one of his intelligence officers. He had given orders that they were to be actively looking for the Sentians. Every few days he would be presented with an update. That was yesterday.

"Speak."

"I believe we have something of interest. Our ships have been running patrols on a regular basis as you are aware."

"Yes, yes."

"Well we have seen more than usual activity in the area of Tela and the surrounding area. A large ship was seen passing through that area."

"Large ships pass through the area all the time," said B'arnduug.

"This ship had a fighter escort and the ship itself looking like a battleship. We believe it was Sentian."

B'arnduug got up from his seat. He was sat at the head of a very large table, which is normally where he conducted his war council.

"Where is it now?"

"Our scouts were heading away when it was seen, but on turning back it had eluded them. They are still searching.

"Bah. I should have someone's head for incompetence."

"My Lord."

B'arnduug looked at him hard. He was not amused.

"Considering that the area it passed through and that the Reeks made a claim of finding the Sentians, that they sold to you, were in that area. I believe it warrants further investigation. I know the planet would be considered uninhabitable for them, but they may have found a way."

"Erm," B'arnduug was still displeased.

The intelligence officer continued further.

"We also know that the second part of the staff was also found in that area. What if the Sentians are in that area because the third is on one of the other moons or even on the surface of the planet itself? Somewhere uninhabitable would be the perfect hiding place."

B'arnduug was now starting to see some sense and logic in what he was saying and considered it for a moment.

"Don't rely on sensor readings have our scouts fly over the surface at a low altitude to establish if the are any structures anywhere. It could be possible that they are underground."

"Understood my Lord."

The officer turned to leave the room.

"One last thing. If any Sentians are found then I want some alive. Not all of them need to live. We do need to leave a message for any others and for their ship. If it truly is Sentian."

The officer nodded his head and left the room.

Major Raynes was back on the Jericho. He had despatched a unit of fighters to scout the space around the moon of Is'nul. They were to stay out of range of the planet itself and try to establish if there were any communication arrays orbiting the planet.

"Colonel Kchetsky," he said as he entered the bridge.

"You have something."

"We believe so."

In the centre of the bridge was a large table. It was apart of Jericho that would display a map of the area you were in or any area that you requested. Major Raynes walked over to it.

"Jericho can you bring up a map of Is'nul."

"Affirmative, Major.

The Major then proceeded to type in the co-ordinates on a keypad on the table surface of where they had spotted what they believe to be the communications array.

"At these co-ordinates is the only thing that they have been able to locate orbiting the planet. It is quite possibly the communications array and maybe more. All we need to do now is find a way to disrupt it with out alerting the Ictarans."

"Find an engineer and see what they can do to help you. It's a shame Kern requested Connors for something. She has been away for some considerable time."

"Understood Sir."

Kern was with Omega and Alpha units even though he was not officially apart of either, but they were his family. He had stayed out of the majority of the briefings, but would be there at the rescue. Considering everything that had happened he was trying to let others lead. He couldn't be everywhere and others had far greater capabilities than he did at the moment. Plus, he was tired of everyone telling him that it would take time to heal. Right now, he was able to spend sometime with his sons. While they waited on the Jericho there was not a lot else, he could do.

Mercy had her own distractions. Whilst Omega had been back on Mars, they had all taken the time to head back to Earth to sort a few things out. The time in the Rellon system had been far longer than expected. Mercy had learned that things with Isabella had not improved and talking to her, even though they had both missed each other, it was obvious that there was a lot of hostility within Isabella. She did try telling her mother many times in the past that she didn't like being left out or even left behind. Hopefully this time she had been heard. Mercy had said that once the rescue had been completed that she would return back to Earth for a while. When at Mars she had spoken with Admiral Gray regarding the concerns she had regarding Isabella. Even he had agreed with Mercy that perhaps it was time to bring Isabella home to her own people. Then maybe she would feel more apart of it. Also, she was getting older and it would soon be time for her to move forward as she wanted and as Mercy had planned and intended from the onset.

Kern had received a call from Jenny. Every now and then she would report in, but this time she had seemed very excited. He had hoped that she was further along with the plans for a new ship, but alas she not. There had been some progress, but it was still along way off. No, her reason for contacting him was that she had found something that she thought would be of interest to him. Apparently, there was a ship with its cargo still intact and they could probably use what she had found, but that wasn't the reason why he needed to visit. She asked that he get to her as soon as he could. It was easier for him to see.

Major Raynes had some luck with the chief engineer on the Jericho. It seems that they could fashion a device that could be attached to the array, which would allow them to monitor communications and even intercept them if necessary. So, if there were any outbound communications, they could pretend to be the Ictarans. Thus, giving the impression that help was on the way.

"Colonel," he said, returning to the bridge. "The engineers will need a couple of hours to construct the device then I will have a ship fly out."

"How will they attach it?" he asked.

"I'm told that it can be made so that the ship can fire it at the target. So, we do not have to get close to the device and it will be small enough that if the array is more than just communications it won't detect anything that small."

"Let me know when it's done."

"Sir."

Two hours later the Colonel contacted Eliza. No communication was sent just a signal to her AI that made her hand pulse once. She nearly missed it, as it was only a single pulse. She let the others know that they were ready and everyone on the surface should be in position.

They still had Blaznor's ship and used it as if returning back to Is'nul with more slaves, as had been suggested by Eliza. A rough layout had been relayed to them, as they would not have much time. The intention was to take out the turrets and then the communications. A it touched down in the centre of the compound the Ictarans approached as before, but this time as the cargo doors were lowered, they were met with weapons fire. As soon as the Elites were able to see the tops of their heads, they opened fire. More remained crouched in front of them. Even before the ramp had touched the ground the troops were out of the ship and targeting the turrets. The Ictarans were in total disarray. They had not expected this or the numbers that came from the cargo hold. Meanwhile in their main facility the Ictarans were quickly relaying an outgoing message to the Ictarans on Psion Four informing them that they were under attack. The operator on the other end informed them that they were despatching troops immediately.

Eliza, Shepa'lai and the others were waiting. They could not move whilst the turrets were active. Even if the turrets could be moved to target the interior of the compound the other slaves in the pits had seen what was happening and had immediately reacted. It seemed that they didn't need to rally support from the others it was seen automatically as a jailbreak. The hounds had been released into the pits and were immediately tearing into the slaves. They didn't care what they attacked. The slaves only had the tools that they mined with. They were being used as blunt weapons and started to club the beasts. The Ictarans were well armed and were able to stay near the perimeter of the compound and shoot any that were approaching. The only problem would be when the elites had dealt with the turrets and they had stopped fighting. For now, though they had their hands full. What they hadn't realised was that there were two barracks full of Ictarans in the compound. The Ictarans rotated the guards in shifts. It was something that no one had calculated for in the attack. The Elites were outnumbered and it was a tough fight. Blaznor's ship was taking a lot of damage and would probably not survive the encounter.

"Jericho, this is the advance wave. We are taking heavy fire, request for the second wave. We still haven't taken out the turrets. There is way more Ictarans than expected."

"Affirmative," replied Jericho.

Two troop carriers were despatched. They would not all be sent at once. Fighters were now given instructions too. Now that the Ictarans were fighting ground troops and the slaves, perhaps an aerial assault could take out the turret towers. The carriers had no choice, but to drop troops around the top of the pits. This meant that they would subject to the turret fire too. It was too risky to attempt to drop them in the compound. The troop carriers hovered as the elites dropped to the surface. As soon as they were low enough, they immediately came under fire from the turrets. The first carrier to drop its troops had no chance of being able to pull up. It came under too much fire and was badly damaged. It never got back to the atmosphere as it plummeted downwards into the pit next to where it dropped its troops. There was a horrific explosion. Taking out a considerable amount of Ictarans and slaves in the process.

Now they were in open combat with the Ictarans. Mercy opened up communications with Eliza. Omega was on the third carrier.

"Eliza, this is Mercy."

"I hear you," she said.

"What's your location, which pit?"

"Gate side. Opposite the barracks."

"Understood?"

Mercy ended communications and turned to the pilot. She pointed downwards.

"Hover over that pit. We will jump."

"Understood Major."

"You guys okay to jump," she said turning to Alpha, who was in the same carrier.

"We understand the principle, first time though."

"Follow us down. Don't forget to engage shields before impact," she said.

"And don't land on our heads," said Hammer, smiling.

Karl and the others nodded. As soon as they had nodded Omega jumped. Ten seconds after Karl stepped off too.

"Damn," said Travis and felt a push.

"Oops," said Gabrielle.

The rest of Alpha followed.

Omega hit the ground and immediately formed up. The hounds nearby sensed them and turned their attention to them. Eliza and the others had stayed put at the tunnel entrance. Hammer turned his attention to the first hound opening fire. The rapid effect of the bullets literally torn the front legs off the beast. It slid towards him as he started to buck forwards as its legs vanished. As it approached, he smashed it in the face with the butt of his weapon. Seconds later Alpha hit the ground.

"Two of you secure the entrance to the tunnel behind us."

Reen and Gabrielle had already been designated to protect them. The other three gave covering fire along side Omega.

"These are for you," said Gabrielle.

Both had an extra assault rifle for Shepa'lai and Eliza. Reen immediately took out his side arm too.

"Perhaps you can make use of this too."

Eliza took it and handed it to Broge.

"You able to handle that," she said, smiling at him.

Reen was picking of the Ictarans as best as he could without hitting his friends who were in front of them. The turrets were still firing. Not all had been taken out. Shepa'lai tapped Reen on the shoulder. He turned his head.

"You able to do anything about that turret," she asked.

"I can hit it easy enough, but aren't they automated."

"The power source is the small box behind it," she explained.

"Swap positions and cover my flank," he asked.

Shepa'lai nodded. The power source was only small and he took a moment to concentrate and get his breathing right. The power source exploded and the gun went dead. That was the last of the turrets. Several of the fighters had taken damage or were destroyed the turrets packed a heavy punch. The Ictaran numbers in the compound were starting to thin, with the turrets being taken down. Slowly the ground troops outside of the compound had been able to target their flanks. Pulling their attention in different directions had taken some of the pressure off the elites in the centre of the compound. Even with their abilities, shields and armour they were not indestructible. There numbers had gone down. If the carriers had not deployed the troops when they had, then all would have been lost very quickly.

Kern had not entered the battle, but had stayed aboard the Jericho with Colonel Kchetsky. They worked together to co-ordinate the attack and deploy the necessary troops when required. They had taken considerable losses. It was unexpected to the extent the amount of damage that could be delivered by the turrets. Once the turrets were taken out and all four troop carriers had deployed its full detachment of elites the Ictarans were slowly being dealt with. It seemed that the hounds were more bloodthirsty than the Ictarans. It was not easy to take them out. They were very fast and agile. Hammer had to help on more than one occasion in dealing with them. One had to be boxed in using a wall of shields projected by the elites. To force it to attack Hammer and Omega. There was no other way. It was impossible to capture or subdue the beast. The only way to stop it and deal with it was to eliminate it.

The slaves were still beating and hitting the guards. Even those dead on the ground. It was like the slaves had so much anger and hatred within them that they just didn't know when to stop. The Ictarans fought to the very end not one was intending to survive. They knew that to fall in battle was better then to be left alive and have to face B'arnduug. The leader of Is'nul was left to the slaves to deal with he kept fighting. He had a large staff with double-headed half moon blades at the top of the staff. Igna'Rahn was slicing at ever slave that came at him. Many were dropping at his feet. Some of the slaves were probably not as strong as they could be from the constant suffering of working the mines. Eventually he was overcome. The mob attacking him was too great.

Once there was no one left to fight the Sentians were now stood facing the hoard of slaves. It was unclear as to their intention considering they had just helped them. How would they react to them now? Eliza and Broge walked through the elites in front of them and stepped out in front of them.

"They came here to rescue us. These are not your enemy," said Eliza, waving her arm around implying the Elites.

"You are all free now," said Broge.

"And how do we leave here?" one of the slaves asked.

"The Ictarans have ships they are yours to take. We won't need them. We just came for our friends," said Mercy. "If you have friends to come and get you then use the communications, they have to get help. I suggest you get off the moon as soon as you can. I suspect once the Ictarans realise they have lost communications to Is'nul that they will send someone to investigate."

Some of the slaves had no clue what to do. Mercy gave orders to collect the dead and make preparations to get back to the Jericho. Eliza insisted that her friends would be joining them on the Jericho she had no intention of leaving them to find their own way off the moon. Mercy agreed. She sent them to the Jericho in the first carrier. It would return to ensure they and all the dead got off Is'nul.