"Dylan, we have a problem," A hologram stated as it appeared next to the captain, "I need you in command."

"I'm on my way," Dylan responded.

"What is it, Rommie?" Trance asked.

***

"Who are you?" Rev looked at the creature responsible for killing Tyr.

"It should be painfully obvious by now," It responded, "Look at the rest of my handiwork."

Rev turned, and he was even more horrified than he had been a moment ago, "What have you done to them!?"

"You knew this would happen eventually."

"Rev, help us," Beka called out as she lay on the floor near the others, her voice barely audible.

"How could you let this happen?" Dylan looked as though he were hurt as much emotionally as physically.

"I trusted you," Harper raised his head slightly, then let it drop.

Trance only wept, the mixture of pain and grief overwhelming her.

Rev fell to his knees, "Trance, Dylan, Harper, Beka… I don't know what I could have done. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" The vile creature came up behind Rev, "You think that will help them?"

"I don't know who you are, but I won't let you shed any more innocent blood."

"You know exactly who I am. My name," The Magog stepped into the light, "Is Red Plague."

Rev immediately sat up in bed. That had been the most realistic and terrifying nightmare he had ever experienced. He decided to head for the mess hall to find something soothing to drink.

***

"We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die," Harper was sitting behind the slipstream chair with his back propped up against it.

"Harper, please calm down," The hologram kneeled down next to him.

"Rommie, what happened?" Dylan asked as he walked onto the bridge.

"I don't know," The ship responded, "I had a problem with the slipstream drive, so I had Harper come up to repair it. He asked me what had happened, then he suddenly began to panick."

At that moment, Trance walked in and noticed Harper sitting on the deck. She immediately ran over to him, "Harper, what is it?"

"Trance!" Harper grabbed his purple friend and hugged her, "How'd you get past them?"

"Get past who?"

"Who!?" Harper was shocked, "Can't you hear them?"

"Hear what?" Trance asked, confused.

"Oh man, you don't even hear 'em," Harper rested his head in his hands, "We're gonna die and you don't even know."

"Harper," Dylan lifted the engineer to his feet, "Look at me."

As the engineer looked up, Dylan realised that Harper's eyes were bloodshot, "What do you hear?"

"Dylan, we've gotta get out of here. Maybe we can find somebody who can beat them," Harper looked pleadingly at his captain.

"Beat who? Harper, you have to tell me what you hear."

"Magog!"

"Harper, there are no Magog here," Andromeda told him.

"That's what you think," Harper responded, "But I can smell them. There must be a thousand of 'em."

"Dylan," The ship's holographic image took the captain aside, "We have another problem: Tyr won't wake up."

"What?" Dylan asked.

"He went to sleep after finishing his extra watch eleven hours ago."

"Neitzchians don't oversleep," Dylan observed, "It would make them look inferior."

"I've been trying to wake him for nearly an hour, but nothing seems to be working."

"I'll go down there and see if there's anything I can do," Dylan answered, "Get Beka up here and see if she can get Harper to calm down. Try to get him to med deck."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine," The hologram spoke reassuringly.

"I hope so."

***

Rommie stormed down the hallway. She was still upset about what she had seen earlier that day. Even she wasn't entirely certain why she was so upset about it, only that she cared deeply for Dylan, and it just seemed wrong for him to have a relationship with Beka.

"Wait," A hologram appeared in front of her.

"Leave me alone," The android responded.

An image of her face appeared on a nearby console, "You're my avatar, and we have work to do. Dylan needs help with Tyr."

"Why doesn't he get Beka to do it?" A glint of anger flashing in her almost human eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you see something wrong with the captain having a relationship with his first officer?"

"I haven't seen anything that would indicate Beka and Dylan being anything more than friends," The hologram responded.

"What about this morning in the mess hall? Don't think they were being a little too friendly?"

"Calm down," The screen image ordered, "You aren't making an sense. Dylan hasn't been in the mess hall since yesterday."

The andoid paused, "What do you mean? I saw them."

The hologram looked at the screen, "It must be affecting this avatar as well."

"We should get it to med deck immediately."

"Harper is in no condition to repair it."

"Wait," The android broke in, "What's affecting me?"

"Check on Harper in medical," The screen responded.

The humanoid body looked up for a moment, then gasped, "Harper!"

"It gets worse. Look in on Tyr's quarters."

The avatar saw Tyr lying face up on his bed, totally unresponsive to Dylan and the maintanance drone in the room with him, "I'll get down there immediately."

"No," The screen image stated, "I've told Dylan about your situation, and he wants you to report to med deck. He'll handle the situation with Tyr."

"I can't…"

"That's an order from your commanding officer. Report to medical immediately."

"Alright," The avatar felt a lump in her throat, "I'm on my way."

***

"Fire!" Thor ordered.

"We're taking heavy damage," Shiva responded, "We can't hold out against the Dragons much longer."

"While there is life, there is hope!" Thor spun around, "Tyr, open a comm link to Victoria. We need to…"

The ship was rocked by an explosion as a missle managed to strike home near the central computer. Numerous pieces of equipment were vaporized, and several decks were exposed to vacuum.

"Damnit, that took out the last of our comm relays, not to mention the aft thrusters and two of our PDL turrets," Shiva quickly began to organize the internal damage control systems.

"Tyr, I need you to take over fire control while I rig up a courier drone. Shiva, you've got command."

The frigate pitched wildly as another explosion tore through it. Thor moved as quickly as he could to prepare his message, while Tyr took his place as weapons officer.

"We've lost contact with the Reknown and the Warrior," The young sensor officer stated, "We have to retreat and regroup."

"We aren't running away," Shiva responded defiantly, "Barbarossa's ship is still fighting."

"Not for long. A wing of fighters from Titan pride just cut off his support."

"Take us in!" Shiva ordered, "Tyr, lock missles onto those fighters, and ready the AP Cannon. We're going in close."

"They're coming back around!"

"Brace for impact!" Shiva ordered.

Ten fighters exploded, shorn in half by the power of the missles and nearly vaporized by the AP Cannon. Even so, kinetic missles slammed into the hull of the vessel, sending innumerable shockwaves ripping through the walls. Circuits errupted in a blaze of sparks all over the bridge. Parts and equipment flew like shrapnel from a grenade. Shiva was thrown to the deck as a piece of her own console broke free and tore a massive gash in her forehead. Tyr ran to check on her, but he could tell immediately that she was dying.

Shiva looked at him, her eyes still indomitable, "Never surrender, Tyr. Not to the Dragons, not to anyone."

Tyr quickly checked her pulse, and attempted CPR, but to no affect. There was no time to grieve yet. He stood up and took his place in the slipstream chair while the only other officer alive, his younger cousin, took over fire control.

"What do we have left?" Tyr asked urgently.

"Slipstream's up, and our sensors are passable, but a flashback destroyed most of our weapon mounts. Your father's ship was destroyed. We have to get out of here."

"No!" Tyr shouted, "I won't surrender!"

"We can't fight, and the Dragons are closing. They'll storm the ship, make us slaves. Is that what you want?"

Tyr ground his teeth, "Brace for slipstream."