-G.A.C. Durgon, 15:00 Turo Standard Time-

It was the largest gathering of forces assembled by the Galactic Armada in twenty years. Even though the units assigned to the Saiccano campaign were only a fraction of the Federation's entire military, there were still something like one million soldiers from the multiple branches in orbit over the volcanic planet. It had taken them a good two months to get everybody in place, a period that 626 had expected would be spent getting acquainted with the responsibilities given to a Senior Airman.

Had expected.

The two months that he had intended to use cultivating leadership skills and the like had been completely derailed the very first day in, when two hours into the hyperspace jump the experiment had detected a repeated and very loud banging noise from the air ducts. He'd investigated, plasma cannons drawn, and had managed to locate the vent form which the bangs were emanating just in time for a foot to kick the grate out of place and onto the floor.

A foot that had become a bit familiar over the past day or so.

Her age, and the fact that the Grand Councilwoman was still in earshot, had been the only thing that had kept Lilo Pelekai's sudden appearance from warranting a reaction stronger than "what in space are you doing here?" From experiment 626.

Lilo's only response, the only justification she had given for sneaking aboard a spaceship intending to head towards an active war zone, was to sheepishly say "I wanted to help!"

"How…"

"The other you! Leroy!" Lilo's hands had gone directly to their hips. "From what you said it kinda seemed like he was being forced to be bad by someone evil. I'm gonna save him!"

There had been no talking her out of it, not from 626, not from Obrea, not even from the Grand Councilwoman. So the only recourse had been to take her along for the ride, at least until 626 and the rest of the soldiers disembarked, and she could be brought back home. An hour after that, he found her in another vent aboard the Durgon, still determined to sneak along.

"Lilo," he'd explained as patiently as he could, "You do know we're headed into a war zone, right? It's dangerous, just as much as when you were kidnapped, if not more so."

Lilo had just smiled, shook her head, and said "it's alright. Nani's shown me enough Star Wars that I know what alien battles are like, and I promise I'll stay out of trouble until I see the other you."

He had just sighed, made her pinky-swear promise on that front, and begun the process of introducing her to his comrades and apologizing profusely for the little stowaway. Adon and Captain Gantu had been livid and would have probably chucked her out in an escape pod had they not been in hyperspace, Obrea had been horrified but reluctantly agreed to watch out for her, practically everyone else had begun shooting 626 constant death glares, and Spon had (naturally, now that 626 thought about it) managed to swallow his initial shock well enough to almost immediately hit it off with Lilo. That had been the start of two months spent babysitting someone who was technically about double his age while simultaneously preparing for the bloodshed that was about to ensue.

Thankfully, two days ago the last stragglers had arrived, and so it was time for the briefing. All those aboard the Durgon crowded into the ship's massive audience chamber while those who had come in with other ships huddled around their screens as Gantu projected a map of the planet on the room's immense screen.

"Our goal is to stamp out these criminals root and stem. Once this day is done, all those on that planet who threaten the peace and stability we fight for will have been brought to justice." He dropped his voice to a low growl. "One way or another." A click on the remote brought up a series of mugshots. "These are our targets. Memorize their names and faces, for they will be our highest priority. They are Alci Spec, Director of the Jitos criminal syndicate; Prohon Ernst, leader of the Tercan group; and, finally, Jumba Jookiba, escaped bioterrorist and criminal. Our orders are to bring them alive, if possible."

Their mugshots went away, replaced with real-time footage of Saiccano's Thermosphere, in which all gathered could see the fleet of their enemy slowly maneuvering into position above the planetary shield. "Our first order of business is to break through their defenses and get to the planet below. It will be a tall order – the shield cannot be penetrated by any firepower we possess, at least not without running the risk of causing significant damage to the planet below and all the civilian inhabitants. The shield is powered by a number of generators situated at key points all around the longitude and latitude of the planet and reinforced by a number of shieldships stationed below it. It is an impregnable defense.

"Almost. The shield still allows for radio waves to penetrate through planetside, a fact that we thought odd until one of the soldiers under Staff Sergeant Adon pointed out the fact that damaged ships need to be able to retreat behind the safety of the shield. And therein lies our strategy: whenever a ship attempts to retreat below the defenses, the shieldships open up a brief window of time during which it can pass through. During that time, we need to slip enough small crafts through to destroy them and weaken the shield enough for us to punch through with conventional weaponry. It will be risky, but our pilots have the skill, they have the tenacity, and they have the bravery to pull it off. And once the shield is down, we can land on the surface.

"From there, our next object is to clear the way for the landing parties. This will require small teams to eliminate the cannons." Gantu smiled. "Just think of it as a more dramatic training sim. It's similar enough to those.

"Finally, once the landing parties are down, we can take the castle. The battle will be hard, it will be long, and it will be brutal. But we will win. We have the numbers. We have the training. We have justice. We will take the castle from the bottom upwards and will not stop until every one of these terrorists is defeated." He saluted them all. "For the Federation!"

"For the Federation!" One million voices shouted in response.

It was time for dinner, but no-one felt like eating, even if there was the significant possibility that this dinner would be their last dinner; they were all too nervous. Instead, in countless languages and in countless styles, each member of the Armada tried to make peace with the coming battle in their own way. For 626, that took the form of tracking down Spon and Lilo.

Spon was absentmindedly poking some meat when he noticed 626. The Amuan smiled and scooted over to make room between him and Lilo, and 626 happily took him up on the offer.

"Your friend here has just been telling me the story about how you met. I never would have imagined you to be the type to flash small children."

626 gagged on what little food he was trying to force down and immediately blushed. "It's not like I wanted to run around a planet naked!"

"Still, just think of how scandalized everyone must have been." He turned to Lilo. "Seeing him naked must have been horrible."

Lilo nodded, gravely. "I will never be able to unsee it, that's for sure."

"This from the girl who covers her wall with photos of fat tourists." 626 grumbled.

Spon snickered. "Well, man, I'm glad you're somehow safe after blowing yourself out of a volcano in your birthday suit. I'd've hated to lose you."

"You still might, tomorrow."

"I think it's safe to say that I'm in more danger than you are."

"Not if things go south with the other me."

"So you are going after him, then?" Spon looked him straight in the face. "All by yourself? Is that really a good idea?"

626 nodded. "I need to. I'm the only one strong enough to match it if they've gotten him all pumped up and bloodthirsty

"I mean, yeah, if you go at it in a one-to-one fight, but –"

"Spon." He held up his paw. "It has to be me. One genetic abomination has to beat the other. Otherwise all the politicians back on Turo that still think I'm a monster won't be satisfied. They'll still whisper that I avoided Leory, or went easy on it, or that we might have been working together."

"So that's it?" Spon's voice hardened in anger. "You're going to go off and be a one-man-show because of some bigoted idiots?"

"Spon, if I'm not the one to take Leroy down and prove that yes, a life-form like me can be a good person, then both me and any potential creations after me will always have the same uphill battle in their eyes. But if I can take it down, they'll know that –"

Spon slammed all four arms down on the table, instantly silencing both 626 and everyone around them and causing Lilo to yelp and scooch herself a little farther over. "Damn it!" He yelled. "Why do you insist on trying to throw your life away? It won't matter what you do – none of them will ever care! You can't make assholes like them care!"

"I have to try."

"No. You don't. You kriffing don't." Eyes wet, Spon stood up and turned away. "Instead of doing things for the people who don't care and never will, try thinking about the people that actually do." Without waiting for a response, he stalked off.