"So... in a nutshell. The Gate of Iron, the gate that leads to the Andromeda galaxy and the Cy'tarians... is still several weeks away?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes, that is what I just finished explaining to you." Stellar Imperium said.

Beatrice seethed angrily. "SI... we've been out here for months. We've only now gotten to the border of the Fellowship of Yoral."

"It wasn't my idea to put the Gate of Iron that far away. That measure was their idea to keep the gate itself safe, or otherwise keep any incursions from the other side from breaking through." Stellar Imperium clarified.

"Yes... but Earth doesn't have that kind of time!" Beatrice said irritably. "Even with Ty'raka and Doombringer at our heels, the Eternal King is still on Earth! Doing... whatever exactly he's doing to bring back Chronous! He might already be back and doing whatever heinous things!"

"Well I'm sorry that I can't go to zero to fifty-thousand lightyears an hour! I'm ancient, and thanks to those blighted Cobalt Spiders my engines aren't what they're used to be!" Stellar Imperium said in frustration. "I would have gotten them repaired, but with everything going on since you and your family reactivated me. I haven't been able to find the time to visit AUTO's automatic shipyard."

Beatrice sighed, and cried. "I just want to go home... put all of this behind me... Ty'raka, the Sym'ian Princes, Doombringer, the Eternal King... all of it." She then fell on the floor in the fetal position, as she sobbed by herself on the great Colossus's bridge, muttering 'why me?' to herself.

"Okay, okay settle down Bea. Look... that shipyard is nearby. We can go there... though it will leave us vulnerable to attack by the Vigilant of Ic'thao." Stellar Imperium said.

"I don't care..." Beatrice sobbed. "But... I think that gives me an idea."

XXXX

Stellar Imperium arrived at the automatic shipyard. "Hello AUTO... sorry that I haven't been back in a while." He transmitted as he docked with the automated shipyard.

"NOT TO WORRY. THESE DAMAGES ARE WELL WITHIN MY ABILITY TO REPAIR." The shipyard AI responded. "IT SEEMS TO ONLY BE YOUR ENGINE. I SHOULD BE FINISHED WITHIN ONE PLANEYARY ROTATION."

Beatrice smiled to herself... then the other BEA-Droids came onto the bridge. "Hey, why do you get to be up here all by yourself?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, and why are we here anyway?" Jessica asked. "Shouldn't we be running towards the Gate of Iron... or something else before that?"

"First, the Fellowship has already been made aware of what's going on. So there's no need to stop at Yoral Primaris to ask them for aid. Two, Stellar Imperium has been going at a relative snails pace since he was freed from the Arachni. Third... I'm fed up with running from Ty'raka." Beatrice explained. "He's been hounding me in one form or another for as long as I can remember. Since I ran away from home and accidentally took Bethany with me, everything I've ever done has been in the shadow of that monsters influence."

"Hey, that guy doesn't define you." Jonah protested.

"I know! But so long as the Vow of Vengeance is out there, unchallenged, posing a threat to humanity. I can't rest easy." Beatrice said. "Which... brings me to the elephant in the room. Stellar Imperium?"

"We agreed to come here, not just to fix my damages... but to bait the Vigilant and there escort fleet into a trap. See, AUTO has powerful anti-ship turrets that can fend off any hostile invaders. The idea, is to let those handle Ty'raka and his forces." Stellar Imperium.

"But what if they get here before repairs are done, we're sitting ducks!" Veronica said. "And remember, my baby brother is onboard... and is a Murphy, so Murphy's Law will definitely be a factor in all of this!"

"Don't worry about it, I've seen AUTO bombarded by Negative Probability Ions before, most that happened was that nobody could dock with AUTO for over a decade before they wore off." Stellar Imperium said.

"I THOUGHT WE AGREED TO NEVER BRING THAT UP... I WAS GOING INSANE FROM LONELINESS THE ENTIRE TIME." AUTO responded. "WARNING: ONE FELLOWSHIP BATTLESTAR AND ESCORT FLEET HAVE ENTERED THE SYSTEM. DEPLOYING DEFENCE NETWORK."

Then a hologram of Ty'raka appeared on Stellar Imperium's bridge. "You vermin have led me on a merry chase. My only regret was laying siege to Ic'thao in the course of my pursuit of my quarry... and that one dinner that gave the entire crew d'hara."

"TMI..." Jonah said in disgust.

"But now, every creature aboard that once-proud Colossus will be put to the sword, and ANY foolish enough to stand with your misbegotten kind." Ty'raka said.

"And we're going to see tomorrow... no matter how many of your minions we have to step over to get to it." Beatrice said with icy determination as the ships of Battlefleet Kraken blew up one by one. "Okay... so truth be told this plan is... well less of a plan, and more of winging it."

"Winging it can be a plan of sorts," Norman said.

"So you don't know what to do beyond watching as Ty'raka's fleet gets trashed?" Jessica said.

Beatrice then took a better look of the battle with her visor. "Wait... your right. This is only the Vow of Vengeance and Battlefleet Kraken. Where's the Doomicon ships?" She pondered. "Look the immediate concern is to survive this, alright?"

Then Ty'raka's former mentor. Na'sar Araga, rushed onto the bridge. "Is... is Ty'raka here? By Yoral... is it easy to get lost in these corridors."

"Yep, he's on the Vow of Vengeance, and AUTO's defense system is dealing with Battlefleet Kraken," Beatrice said. "I'd go out there, but so far the turrets are holding there own." Then a number of turrets started exploding at random. "Okay for real though, I need some ideas. We're sitting ducks right now, Stellar Imperium is stuck in drydock and can't find back."

Araga paced over the bridge, pondering a solution. "I have a plan. But Beatrice, you must follow my lead. Stellar Imperium, can you still teleport?"

"That I can." Stellar Imperium said.

"Then as soon as the last pirate ship is destroyed. Teleport Beatrice and I to the Vow of Vengeance." Araga said, several minutes later, the last ship of Battlefleet Kraken, the flagship of there erstwhile Octalian pirate fleet was destroyed. Battlefleet Kraken, was no more. But so was AUTO's turret defense's, thanks to Murphy's Law.

"The Vow of Vengeance is closing distance. Teleporting you to the bridge now!" Stellar Imperium said.

Beatrice and Araga found themselves on the bridge in short order. "Araga... should I even be surprised that you've sided with these barbarous vermin?"

"Ormphala Ty'raka!" Araga proclaimed. "You have dishonored me, my house and yours, your homeworld, and the Fellowship of Yoral as a whole! For these crimes... I hereby declare the Rite of Crug-Heig!" Araga then slapped Ty'raka across the face, causing him to fly across the bridge. "My party wins, you will end your service to the Eternal King, and hear out what I, Redwall and Amethyst have to say. Your party wins... and as ill-advised as it is, we will submit ourselves to whatever judgment you deem fit.

"You've... still got it, old-timer. Very well... I accept the Rite of Crug-Heig." Ty'raka said as he stood up and nursed his face. "Sparring Deck. Half-hour..."

"We'll be there, and Beatrice will be my champion," Araga said.

Beatrice smiled. "Looking forward to it... also why does that name sound familiar?"

"It's a pun on Krem-Hai, it's a reference to Milo Murphy's Law when the teachers went insane and became island savages," Araga said, the entire crew looked at Araga in bewilderment at Araga's break in the Fourth Wall. "Oh come on! It's fan fiction, it's not that weird! I've barely appeared at all in this series, and frankly considering this medium, it's a miracle that Beatrice and I aren't rutting around on the floor like-"

"NEXT SCENE PLEASE! NO GROSS RAMBLING!" Ty'raka roared.

XXXX

"There... much better." Ty'raka said as he and Beatrice squared off in a dueling ring. "Now... let's settle this. Once and for all." Ty'raka then roared and charged at Beatrice. The two locked hands. "Fear me... for my race was created to raze worlds!"

"Fear me, because ever since you entered my life. I've been training myself to break you!" Beatrice then headbutted Ty'raka, causing him to stumble.

Araga was at the edge of the ring, watching as this robot girl fought against his former pupil. The fight was long and grueling, as Ty'raka wore himself out while Beatrice didn't break a sweat. Eventually, Ty'raka was on the ground, panting in exhaustion. "Say... do you remember when we first met? When I was with the Young Superheros Initiative, and you and my friends got trapped in time because of that?"

"I... I am not interested in the past, machine." Ty'raka said as Beatrice approached him.

"Well you know what's stuck out to me... for ten... long... years?" Beatrice said, deliberately drawing out her words. "See... you had me torn apart. What you did with my limbs, I don't know and I don't care. Now," she then picked up Ty'raka by the back, lifting him over her head. "I get to return the favor... starting with your BACK!" She then rammed his back into her knee.

Ty'rakas pained scream could be heard all the way from Stellar Imperium... somehow. "ENOUGH!" Araga rushed into the ring, taking Beatrice by the hands. "Beatrice Galatea Flynn is the victor!"

"What are you doing?" Beatrice demanded.

"Saving you both from your own stupidity." Araga murmured. "We have what we've come for. The pirates are slain, Ty'raka is humbled... more then I would like, and the Vigilant of Ic'thao is no longer a threat to us."

"What?" Beatrice said incredulously.

"Do you, all of you foreswear your oaths vengeance? Do you who stand on the Vow of Vengeance agree to finally set aside your hatred and anger for the Human race? And to take up arms against your true enemy... the Eternal King? What say you!?" Araga proclaimed. Eventually, after much murmuring among the Vigilant. They fell on one knee.

"We do, Na'sar Araga, son of Na'sar Arator." Uraaka said.

Beatrice seethed. "Are you seriously doing this?"

"Believe it or not, I am," Araga said. "These are my countrymen... I owe it to them to believe that they can be better."

Beatrice then started glowing red as she felt unbelievable anger and rage. "No... no... no... no... they do not get to walk away." She then broke from Araga's grip and turned into her werewolf form. "NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE PAST THIS DAY. THIS GLORIFIED GARBAGE SCOW WILL NOT BLIGHT ANOTHER DAY. NOT FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY HOMEWORLD, MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY-Y-Y-Y-Y-" She then started to glitch.

Then a holographic projection of a cricket emitted from Beatrice's eyes. "I apologize for this. But I have deemed Beatrice's actions, unacceptably unethical."

"Yes... yes you must be that AI she and her kin spoke of," Araga said.

"I am Cricket. Cricket-Alpha." Cricket introduced.

"You see Ty'raka?" Araga said as his former student writhed from his broken spine. "You see what your mad quest for vengeance has done? Not just to yourself. But to this otherwise innocent soul."

"Just... get me... to the Healing Bay." Ty'raka said through haggard breaths. "And... I will hear you out... old friend... and keep... that... MONSTER... away from me."

"She only did what she did because she felt there was no other way to end your evil, then to kill you, and your men." Araga chided.

"Actually... Beatrice would not have stopped there." Cricket clarified. "She planned on tearing off his limbs, one by one. Before going on to destroying the Vow of Vengeance. She then planned on keeping the mutilated Ty'raka alive long enough to see our return to Earth and the defeat of the Eternal King."

"As I feared... what are you all gawking at! Your Captain's back has been broken! I cannot take him to be healed alone!" Araga said. "But what of Beatrice?"

"I will let her family decide, Stellar Imperium. I need a teleport for Beatrice." Cricket said, and in a flash, Beatrice disappeared.

XXXX

Several hours later, Ty'raka was being tended to in his flagships Healing Bay. "Is he better... can he speak complete sentences without taking breaths in between words?" He asked of a female blue-skinned Yoral.

"More or less, but I recommend that you don't excite him. That robot did a number on his spine... I've treated such injuries before. But this damage I'm not even sure our physiology can survive that." She said, handing Araga a diagram of Ty'raka's injuries. "And if it's any consolation Lord Agara... I didn't have any hatred for Humans in the first place. In fact most of us weren't onboard with breaking so many taboo's... but we were bound by oaths to do our duty by Ty'raka."

"An oath held through false causes is an oath best-broken child," Araga said. "Bring Ty'raka to me... now."

The Healer brought Ty'raka to Araga. "Look at what your wrath has brought on your head," Araga said in disappointment.

"Just show me what you've come to show me. Tell me, what you've risked to tell me. Save your judgments for when you finished talking." Ty'raka said.

"As you wish." Araga pulled out an arcane looking device. "Behold, this device contains passages of the Eternal Kings journal... passages that detail in obscene details his part in the Earth-Fellowship War." The device indeed showed a hologram of the Eternal King describing his deeds. Creating a virus that turned a majority of the Human race into deranged psychopaths, driving them to rage genocidal war against the Fellowship of Yoral just to burn out there blind unthinking anger. The Eternal King also gloated, going into detail of how he was grooming Ty'raka into being an agent of prophecy. "And believe it or not... that's not even the end of this monsters scheming. As he has meddled in both the Fellowships affairs... and the Cy'tarians." Araga then showed the Eternal King going into detail of how he orchestrated the War of Flesh and Iron, assassinating most of the Yoral Ancients, and the attempted theft of Cy'tars Ember. And how he manipulated the Cy'tarian Civil War, the War of the Cleaved Houses.

By this time, Ty'raka was beside himself. "I... Araga... you must believe that I only took the Eternal Kings offer because I saw no other option! I broke the taboo on time travel because I wanted to save our civilization from certain ruin! I thought-"

"Scorn what you thought boy!" Araga interrupted. "The fact of the matter is. You could have lived a long life, had you only let go of your anger at Humanity. Regardless of whether or not you knew the truth of the War of the Burnt Lands. But now... you could rededicate the rest of your life to atoning for your sins, spend another thousand years crusading for a way to be denied being taken by Chronous's Company. It still wouldn't be enough." Araga said as tears appeared in Ty'raka's eyes. "I know, you were barely a youth when Ic'thao was burned. But that doesn't justify a lifetime of fate... I thought I had gotten to you. But when I learned the true purpose of the Vigilant, I was beside myself..."

"I... was a fool... I was made a fool by that monster... I was made a monster by my soul-scars." Ty'raka wept.

"It is a start that you recognize this," Araga said. "And we both know that this only the beginning. Swear to me, that you will make the effort to mend this... starting with apologizing to Beatrice and her-"

"That... ABOMINATION BROKE MY BACK!" Ty'raka roared.

"HEY!" The Healer barked. "What did I say about over-exerting yourself? I'm counting indignant rage as over-exertion!"

"Which she did, because you've been a persistent thorn in her side all her life. Which was only because your homeworld was destroyed by Humans that were blinded by unthinking anger. This only happened because the Eternal King is trying to bring about the Return! Do you see how this chain of tit-for-tat makes no sense?" Agara chided.

Ty'raka groaned. "I will need time... but first. I need to make a few more changes." He said, still in pain.

XXXX

Beatrice was beside herself. Everyone, the friends she made in the YSL, the friends she made in High School, even her cousins, her family were horrified but what she had done on the Vow of Vengeance. And willing to destroy the Vow of Vengeance and everyone onboard. Not helped by AUTO's projections that if she had done that, the ensuing explosion would have destroyed everyone on both vessels, and the automated shipyard.

So she hid into a small compartment deep within Stellar Imperium's superstructure. Cutting herself off wirelessly from everyone, even somehow casting her Cricket into Stellar Imperium's data network.

Now she was alone, sobbing for her shortcomings... or so she thought. "Bea... are you alright?" Beauregard asked in concern.

"No... I'm not." Beatrice sobbed. "I nearly destroyed us all, in my mad quest for revenge. I put my desire to end Ty'raka over our need to save the entire universe from Chronous."

Beauregard just sighed. "Look, everyone gets there priority's mixed up." He said, trying to reassure his older twin. "You saw an opportunity to end a major threat to Humanity, and you wanted to take it. Unaware of what the long term consequences would be."

Beatrice's response was unintelligent blubbering, but the gist is that she's upset that she didn't take notice of that. "And I agree, that the universe would probably be a slightly without Ty'raka or his Vigilant in it... trust me. I wanted to kill Ty'raka and his follows every day that I had to put up with his abusive behavior. Constantly talking down to me just because I'm a robot... but every time I actually tried to put him out of my misery. The Eternal King found out, and talked me down."

"And that wasn't your first clue that something was wrong about him?" Beatrice asked.

"No... that was the whole ordeal with those EMP guns. Despite my outrage at the development of anti-BEA-Droid weaponry. The Eternal King still produced those things. Not to mention that there was a necromancer onboard, and cloning from Amberwalls dead ancestors, and the sheer amount of alien bad guys he recruited for the War on Earth itself." Beauregard rambled. "Point is... as smart as we both are. We're still kids, literally. Despite our emotional maturity at about in the teens. We're only about ten years old, and I've spent most of the last decade, almost my entire life turned off."

"Yeah... I suppose that... that we've still got a lot to learn." Beatrice sniffed. "And... and when Araga offered clemency to the Vigilant... I just snapped. I mean I had Ty'raka on the ground, gasping for breath after I broke his back. And Araga offered him and his follower's mercy after everything that had happened!"

"Easy sis... anger will damage your hardware," Beauregard said. "Still... just know that you're not alone Bea." He then went to hug his twin sister. "You ready to come out from here? Not to pressure you, but I think this compartment is part of SI's cooling system or something. I wasn't paying that much attention to the schematics, or to AUTO."

XXXX

Meanwhile, on the Avatar of Wrath. The flagship of the Doomicons, and there leader Doombringer. "Void Yeller... how long until we arrive at the Gate of Iron?" He said to his second-in-command.

"For the last time master. We'll be there soon! A few more weeks at most." Void Yeller gripped. "I told you that taking along Nidaviller would slow us down-"

"Silence, Void Yeller! We need Nidaviller when we get to Andromeda!" Doombringer bellowed. "We need a base of operations, and somewhere to make more forces. Nidaviller is our best option."

"Be that as it may... we're going AROUND Fellowship space to get to it!" Void Yeller showed a star map of there route. "At this rate, Stellar Imperium might get there before we do!"

"That's the idea," Doombringer said. "The Fellowship will only open the gate when Stellar Imperium arrives. They will keep it open long enough for them to return with the Federabots fleet. Once on the other side. We can take back what should have been mine!"

"With all due respect my Lord... but we're already IN the Milky Way! The only reason the war started was that we were dissatisfied with our exile after the War of Flesh and Iron!" Void Yeller said. "We're back here, we have the ability to produce fleets and armies to conquer this galaxy!"

"Enough!" Doombringer roared. "Cy'tar is my birthright! My brother stole that from me! To the Void with the Eternal King and the rest of his benighted kind! The only reason I ever took his deal, was a chance to retake what should have been mine by right!"

"I see." Void Yeller said with uncharacteristic calm. "Then if we have nothing further to discuss. I'll return to my duties on the rest of the ship." He left the bridge and contacted the Eternal King. "My lord, Doombringer is plotting to go to war against his brother once again. Completely disregarding your plans."

"I see... wait for an opportunity to usurp him, you will know what to do after that." The Eternal King said.

XXXX

Another week passed, and finally. Stellar Imperium arrived at the Gate of Iron. "The Return is at hand. Open, the gate." Stellar Imperium transmitted to the Fellowship fleet guarding it.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Isabella said in awe. "You could fit a planet though that thing!"

"Well, it had to be in order for Cy'tar's deactivated body to fit through." Stellar Imperium said as the gate began to open.

"I'm actually surprised that Beatrice isn't up here to see this," Isabella said.

"She's still ashamed of how she acted before on the Vow of Vengeance... or Vow of Vindication as Ty'raka is calling his ship now. Though I think she's still more upset about how she would have got us all killed if her Cricket didn't intervene... and since then she's been locking herself away in random dangerous parts of my superstructure. Not helped in the least by the fact that she somehow dumped this annoying Cricket AI INTO MY DATA-NETWORK!" Stellar Imperium said. "I swear, I've been pinged by that glorified PA-AI non-stop with criticisms about my life choices!... regardless, the gate is open... I only hope that we can quickly find Cy'tar, restore him, and get there forces through before something worse happens." Stellar Imperium flew towards the active portal.

While everyone was unaware of the Doomicons coming. Beatrice was still beside herself with shame. "I just want things to go back to the way they were... I wish that monster had never entered my life." She moped.

Beatrice then thought to one of her favorite books.

Tales of Daavas: The Phoenix Crucible.

'It was in this moment… when Pad'maa's final hope and dream lay shattered and lain to bear, after everything that the wars had taken from her. That she remembered something from her childhood… a half forgotten memory from her infancy. She didn't remember the exact context. But all that mattered were the words.

"It is only when we are at our lowest points, when hope itself seems to have died. Can we truly rise up, and be what the gods want us to become. Be it for the mundane but important, or the grand and bold things that shape the very course of history. Only when we've been beaten down by this cruel world, can we become more then even Fate can imagine for us."'

Beatrice was earnestly hoping that this was her time to become something greater. To rise from her shame, angst, and life long neurosis, and finally, get a chance to at least try to live a normal life... as normal as a sentient robot designed to look and act like a teenage girl could anyway.

Authors Note: Yes, I am now shamelessly promoting one of my books. Can you really blame me for that? Those actually cost money, I put in at least a years work into each novel of the Tales of Daavas Series, and I get the profits. I'm sorry for rambling here... but let's be frank, it's an Authors Note, these things were invented so that I, the writer can ramble to you, the reader whether you like it or not.