Chapter II

Undormant

The ship exited hyperdrive with a shudder as the cruiser returned to normal space. To the eyes of an observer the jet black ship unfolded as if it were an origami figure; unfolding once, nine, two hundred times, into its original shape, not a crease out of place.

In stark contrast, the place it had emerged into consisted of more than just creases. Sector four ninety six was the site of the Battle of Merlan, the last turning point of the Alliance War. Littered around them were hulking masses of ex-sentry turrets, launch stations and battlecruisers, Zurg's last bastions of defense before his empire folded to the combined might of Star Command's Mephisto corvettes and the newly formed Tangean warfleet.

Now all that was left of the, and I quote, 'Darned hugeish fleet', unquote, that Commander Nebula had ordered every last ship against was all this rubble and debris. Zurg Hornets lay among broken Star Cruisers, mighty Hades cannons intertwined with unidentifiable wreckage; Ferulian suicide ships. The remnants of the battle, pieces of history, lay strewn in space. They did not drift; motion is a luxury the dead cannot afford.

Inside the cruiser, Buzz and Mira had just stepped in through the door to a waiting bridge. XR turned towards the opening door with an expectant look on his face.

'Orders, mon capitan?' XR said, fingers flexing impatiently as he hovered them over his control panel.

'Scan the sector.' Buzz ordered, placing a hand on the headrest of his chair. 'Search for any signs of Cruisers 58 and 26. We'll want to be long gone by the time they arrive.'

Mira took her station, checking the engine manifolds as was routine after a hyperspace jump. XR pushed his buttons and fiddled at his controls until he found

'Two signals approaching at light speed, Cap,' the robot reported as he ran further scans. 'Signatures confirmed.' he said, turning. 'They're our boys.'

'What's their ETA?' Buzz asked.

'Ninety two, and eighty six minutes respectively.' XR reported, running additional scans.

'Open a comm channel, XR.' Buzz said as the ranger nodded and complied. 'Audio only.'

'Open.' XR said, cueing Buzz with a finger.

'This is Captain Buzz Lightyear calling Captains Lumsar and Quincy. Please respond.'

There were two unanimous responses, followed by a 'Are you at the target coordinates, Lightyear?'

'Affirmative.' Buzz replied. 'It is my understanding that the exercise will begin the moment you enter the field of engagement. Are the both of you ready?'

'As we'll ever be,' replied Quincy this time. His rough voice betrayed a hint of excitement at the prospect of what was to come.

'Good. We'll be in touch.' Buzz said, smiling lightly as he motioned to XR to end the transmission. Turning to Booster, he said 'Shut down the weapons arrays, Booster. Mira,' he turned. 'Turn off all engines except for maneuvering thrusters. I want complete whisper mode, people!' He said, sitting down for the first time since he'd entered the bridge 'Not one engine emission, not one stray power signature. XR,' he swiveled toward the robot. 'Begin activating the refractive shielding.'

'Yes sir.' XR replied as they all set to their allotted tasks, Buzz himself beginning to enter a series of commands into his control panel. Mira finished and turned to Buzz, saying 'I'm ready.'

'Good.' Buzz said, continuing to press buttons. 'Take us to,' he looked up, scanning the area in front of him with his eyes. 'There.' He pointed at a large piece of debris which was laying deathly still a few kilometers away. Mira immediately complied, the touch pads beneath her fingers pushing the ship in a graceful maneuver akin to a seagull's dive. She brought the ship under the oblong hull section, twisting and maneuvering until the cruiser rested parallel to the strip of titanium and burned out reinforcement beams. A far off star cast shadows through the patchwork of laser burns, sending a crisscross of lines over the cruiser's hull.

As soon as Mira was satisfied with their hiding place, she locked the ship's position and began the engine shutdown sequence. The placid humming which constantly enveloped the ship disappeared, leaving a disconcerting quietness as they entered the final stages of whisper mode. Mira was momentarily awestruck by the silence; the only sounds she could hear were her own heart beating in half-conceived fear, and XR's control panel as his fingers worked their magic.

'XR, progress.' Buzz said, turning to the robot.

'It's going to take a lot longer than I thought,' XR reported. 'I have to calibrate with all this space dust that's in here. We're gonna have to leave maneuvering shields on, unless you wanna fracture the hull.'

'Understood.' Buzz said. 'By how much will the maneuvering shields compromise our efficiency?'

'About point nine six percent.' XR said, breaking out a small calculator from within his body and working out the probabilities with the extra limb he had also grown. 'Compared to having our position lit up like a Christmas tree every time a stray electron hits the ship...'

'Leave them on,' Buzz said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. He constantly marveled at how luxury always managed to worm its way into Star Command furniture design. The Ferulians wouldn't know the meaning of comfort if it came up and bit them in the lumbar. Spending a whole five months in a Ferulian research lab, sitting in Ferulian chairs and using Ferulian equipment was as close to ergonomic hell as any human could ever come to.

'Buzz?' Booster said suddenly. 'Why did we have to come here?'

'Star Command thinks it's a good spot for the exercise.' Buzz said, turning to face his crewmember. God, these swivel chairs... 'Plenty of hiding spots, dark byways... just the perfect place to test out the Alliance's new stealth technology.'

'Sounds like Trade World, if you ask me.' Mira jibed, smiling.

'Yeah, but-' Booster continued. 'I mean... why Merlan?'

Buzz opened his mouth to speak, but came up empty. Slowly he swiveled back to the viewpanel, his vision changed now. Before the debris field before him had just been like any other; just another testing bed for the refractive shielding; like the hundreds of asteroid clusters near the Ferulian labs. It wasn't any different.

But now it seemed changed. The long shadows cast deadly gloom over the stellar horizon; ghosts jumping out from every space and hollow. Burnt out engines became loaded guns in the darkness of the old battlefield, lifeless hulls reincarnated, as a flak turret perhaps, bursting its blazes of yellow death, detonating silently in the cold of space.

In the stillness he could hear the voices of friends long dead, the last cries of doomed starships as the squeal of Hornet guns ravaged their failing shields. The war chants of the Ferulian kamikazes, broadcasting resonantly on every channel, rang distinctly in his mind as one by one the chorus of voices died into static, pilots hurtling themselves and their volatile ships into scores of Zurg's metallic warriors.

Desperation. Desperation and fear had driven the Alliance to risk everything on one last gambit: Merlan. The last battle of the Alliance War. After losing Earth, after losing Tangea, Merlan was the only place left to go, the last corridor of opportunity before Zurg's forces closed in around a dying Alliance. Trapped, frightened, they'd decided the best way out was through, and Merlan was the chosen route.

The suicide was not just the Ferulian's. The orders were to destroy. No specifics on what to target, when to target it and how. Like a swarm of bees, infuriated by the violation of their home, the Alliance fought back, stung whatever open skin they could on the Zurg Empire's massive body. A thousand bees, stingers primed, brains set only to attack and then, when the attack was done, die.

Buzz's eyes lingered upon a Star Cruiser floating forlornly in the distance. The number had been charred off, in fact, half the ship was missing, black laser burns detailing where the hull had buckled. If he looked hard enough he could probably stare into the command deck, see the bodies clad in uniforms still as crisp as the day they'd been put on, faces still contorted in eternal surprise. Death was well preserved here.

A graveyard. That was what it was. The asteroids at Ferulia were nothing compared to this; a graveyard of the free people of the Alliance worlds, thousands of bodies, clusters of ships and pieces of souls.

He looked away, closing his eyes. This place... It was more than an arena. Merlan was the embodiment of mortality. It seemed strange that time could lock away so many things, yet be brought back with one thought. One word.

Booster's ears twitched as he waited for Buzz to respond. Mira was silent as well, thinking over what happened that fateful day so many years ago. It had been so long, but in many ways it was a recent memory. Buzz couldn't think with his eyes closed; the visions that unfolded themselves in his mind's eye were equally dismal.

'XR.' He called out for help. 'XR, how're the shields coming?'

'Time, Buzz..' XR said, the previous exchange between his crewmates having sailed past his aural circuitry. 'I need time.'

Mira was silent as she hugged her arms. It was so cold suddenly.

'How much longer?' Buzz asked.

'Give me ten minutes.' He said. 'The computer can do the rest of the calculations, and we'll have shields in fifteen, tops.' He gave a thumbs up, a promise. Buzz's heart tugged as he remembered the thumbs up of other Cruiser captains, so long ago...

He managed the pretense of a nod. 'I'll be in my quarters until then. Might as well catch up on the paperwork.' He said, getting up and walking towards the door.

The hiss of the door brought little comfort to Mira as she continued to stare out at the necropolis surrounding them. The chill was stronger now, as she clenched her shoulders, trying to garner any last solace she could from within her. A shivering hand went to her pocket, retrieving the necklace. Its sparkling surface brought a small buoy of comfort as she thought of Pierce, his eyes shining almost as brightly as the gem in her hand.

She'd wear it. Forget the ridicule.

Putting it on, she pulled her hair out, letting the gold sit against her pale blue skin. She brought the diamondine to her lips, kissing it softly as she sought comfort from the piece of soul she'd been given. Her hands wrapped tightly around the gem.

'Booster?' She said softly, without turning around.

'Yes, Mira?' He responded.

'Could you-' She trailed off a moment. 'Could you turn off the viewpanel, please?'

He nodded, pressing some buttons. The screen in front of them went dark.

'Captain Lightyear to the bridge.' XR said. 'We've got a problem.'

There was no response.

'Buzz?' XR tried again.

'Yeah!' Buzz said, grabbing his commlink and pressing the reply button, keeping his finger down as he nodded. 'Yeah, give me a minute. I'm on my way.'

'Sure thing.' XR beeped out.

Breathing out hard, Buzz groaned and sank down into the chair, running his hands through his still damp hair. He sighed deeply as he dropped his hands, his commlink falling into his toweled lap.

With a 'Here we go,' he reached for his uniform and began to dress.

It was only a few moments before he was walking through the bridge door, with his usual tone of voice.

'Status.'

'There's an ion storm off our starboard bow.' XR reported, running his scans. 'About a thousand kilometers away. It's spewing huge amounts of ion waves.'

'Waves.' Buzz repeated, sitting down. 'How bad are the shields going to be affected?'

'A lot.' XR said, swinging to face the leftmost of his three terminals. 'About seven percent.'

'God damn it.' Buzz said just as he heard the number get past XR's vocal circuits.

'I can compensate, but I'm going to have to drain some energy from the weapons arrays.'

'We're not using them anyway.' Buzz said. 'Take what you need.'

'That's not all.' Mira said, still perturbed by the earlier scamper down memory lane. 'The storm is interfering with our maneuvering thrusters. Our ion emitters are being thrown out of alignment.'

'Compensate.' Buzz said. 'We can't afford to use engines.'

Mira's fingers danced over the panel. 'I need more power.'

'How much more?'

Mira did a count. 'A lot more than we've got right now. With the engines offline we're running on reactor power only.'

'Take what you can from the other systems. Booster,' he said. 'Run all the power you can to the maneuvering thrusters. Concentrate on the primary and vertical arrays.'

'Aye, sir.' Booster complied. 'Mira, I'm giving you tractors, launch tubes...' He looked at his panel intently as he saw what he could reroute. 'Communications, and...' Beep beep beep. 'That's it. That's all our non essential systems.'

There was a beep from Mira's station. 'Not enough, Buzz.' She turned. 'I need more.'

Buzz set his jaw in thought. 'Booster, power down everything, and I do mean everything.' He said, raising a finger to emphasize his point. 'Environmental control, life support, lights. Cut everything but the bridge.' He ordered. 'Give Mira her power.'

'Yes, sir.' Booster said.

'And why is the viewpanel offline?' Buzz said. That had been bothering him since he'd stepped in. 'Booster, turn it on. XR, status.'

'I'm doing the best I can, Buzz.' XR said, going from console to console as he grew three more hands from within his chest panel. 'I'm busting my circuitry trying to find the polarity of these,' he pounded the screen a few times before going back to work, his frustration evident. 'Goddamn ions. If I can find it, I can-' A loud beep went off at his station. 'There! I got it!' He said, punching in numbers with all twenty fingers at once. 'We're in business!'

Another beep, this time from Mira's computer. 'Cruiser 26 just entered the area of engagement.' She looked up at Buzz. 'It's slowing to cruise speed.'

'Not a moment too soon.' Buzz said in obvious relief. 'Get a view on it, would you Booster?' Buzz said as the viewpanel changed to show a gleaming white Star Cruiser decelerating in the midst of the debris field.

'He's about two hundred kilometers away from us.' Mira said. 'Heading away on a bearing of two nine one by zero four.' She reported.

The ship flew further away from them as the viewscreen panned to follow it, its engines burning brightly in the dark of the graveyard.

Buzz's voice was quiet now. The exercise had begun. 'Mira.' He said. 'How are the thrusters?'

She caught his tone, lowering her voice as well. 'Just fine,' she reported. 'I'm draining a bit from the emergency reserves, but the exercise will be over by the time it even reaches half power.'

Buzz nodded, entering a command code into the armrest of his chair. 'Get me a heading and course overlay, Mira.'

'Yes, sir.' She said, entering the relevant commands. Two circles enveloped the cruiser, one encircling it from the sides and another encompassing the ship vertically, running from the nose to the engines. Both circles intersected at the front and rear of the ship, forming the heading overlay. A small yellow line ran from the bow of the cruiser, outlining its current trajectory.

'Booster,' Buzz said suddenly. 'Can you bring the comm system online?'

'Buzz?' Mira furrowed her eyebrows. 'I need that power for-'

'This is important.' Buzz assured. 'Drain the reactor reserves if you need them.'

'Yes sir.' Mira returned to work as Booster carried out Buzz's order.

'-n storm over there's throwing off our readings.' A voice came over the speakers. The whole crew save Buzz turned in surprise.

'Continue scanning.' The unmistakable voice of Captain Jones Quincy said. 'Lightyear will be on complete whisper mode. Except for those new shields the only thing he'll have powered are the maneuvering thrusters. Find those ions, and you find Lightyear.'

'Yes sir.' The unnamed science officer said.

Booster looked at Buzz with an accusing glare. 'You tapped into their comm system!'

'And I'll do the same to Lumsar's ship when it comes in.' Buzz said.

'But that's cheating!' Booster protested. 'You can't spy on them!'

'It's only an exercise, Booster.' Buzz said. 'Whatever it takes to win, remember?'

'Just as long as you don't break any regs I'm with you.' XR said, tapping his thumbs together as he clasped his hands. 'The objective is to stay hidden.'

'And according to them, that ion storm is giving us more of an advantage than we thought it would.' Buzz said.

'Cruiser 58 will be in system momentarily.' Another person said, presumably one of Quincy's officers. 'Should I initiate the comm link?'

'Oh, this will save me a lot of trouble.' Buzz said, rubbing his chin.

'Do that.' Quincy said. 'Captain Lumsar, this is Cruiser 26. We haven't found anything yet, but there's a loose ionic storm that's mucking up our sensors. We'll need your help the moment you come in here.'

'Acknowledged, Captain.' The formal tone of Captain Lumsar beating over the speakers. 'We'll move to intercept your current position. ETA four minutes. Lumsar out.'

'Okay, you heard the man. Continue our search pattern and keep scanning. Follow the plan, people! Let's find Lightyear.'

'Good luck.' Buzz said, to Mira's amusement.

'Sir,' the science officer said suddenly. 'I've got an idea on how we can find 98.'

'Alright, listen up.' Buzz leaned forward expectantly. 'Maybe we can thwart them on this one.'

'I'm listening, son.'

'If we narrow our sensor beam to a cone pointing directly ahead of us, and then focus all our power to the main array, we should be able to pick up any abnormalities in the ion field. We could find the ship that way.'

'Uh oh...' XR said.

'We'd have to cover a lot of ground, Telet.'

'It's our best shot, sir. At our current scanning resolution Lightyear could be right behind us and we wouldn't see a thing.'

'Well, I haven't heard any better ideas. Janet, begin with this debris field here. It's as good a place as any to start.' Pause. 'Inform Captain Lumsar of our plan. Tell him to begin on-'

Lowering the volume, Buzz turned toward XR. 'Will it work?'

The robot had already been running calculations since he'd heard of the plan. 'You want it long or short, Buzz?'

'Short.'

'Wellll...' XR tapped his fingers. 'We'd be about as visible as a polar bear on Sanduras V.'

'Damn it.' Buzz said, turning his attention to the course layout of the ship. 'Mira, prepare to move us out if necessary. He doesn't seem to be coming this way but I want to make sure.'

'Aye, sir.' Mira said. 'Got a hiding place in mind?'

'Normal viewscreen please.' Buzz said. There was a pause as he thought. 'There.' He pointed to an old space station. 'We'll move there if they come too close.'

'Just to let you know Buzz, about ten kilometers qualifies as "too close."' XR said.

'The human eye can see farther than that.' Buzz pointed out. 'If either of those ships get within seventy kilometers of us we haul ass, understood?'

'Yes, Buzz.' Mira said, hands hovering nervously over her flight controls. She watched the diminishing Cruiser on her screen, her heart beating into her throat.

'Captain Quincy, this is Krell Lumsar, now entering the field of engagement. What's your status?'

Mira immediately called up a course and heading overlay on Lumsar's ship, which was still decelerating from light speed. The viewscreen split into three; a view of both ships and a map of the area below, with the ships' courses overlayed onto the latter. Buzz leaned forward, watching the screen intently.

'No progress on our end, Captain.' Quincy replied. 'Wherever Lightyear is, he's picked a damn good hiding spot. Sensors are picking up zilch, save all this space dust and stray ions.'

'Understood. We'll begin a scanning course of our own. Lumsar out.'

'Alright, you heard him. Let's tighten our search pattern.' Quincy ordered. 'Bring us about, bearing one two five by minus seven.'

'Aye sir.'

'Bearing one two five by minus seven...' XR repeated, entering the coordinates. There was a beep, and XR's voice took on a tone of alarm. 'Oh boy.'

'They're headed right for us, I know.' Buzz said. 'Mira, prepare to move the ship on my mark.'

'Ooh, this is so scary!' Booster said, biting his nails.

'Hold it in, Booster,' Buzz raised a hand. 'Just another few moments and we'll be out of immediate danger.'

Mira went to manual piloting, her fingers on the pads. 'Ready, Buzz.'

'Engage.' He ordered. Mira moved her fingers over the controls, the jet black cruiser pushing forward at a meager speed. The ship propelled itself furtively toward the space station, Mira making slight course corrections along the way.

Turning his gaze to the viewpanel, Buzz could see the cruiser heading toward their position. It was being left behind, but still coming closer.

'Almost there...' Mira said, the tension in her voice apparent. Even XR had stopped his work and was staring at the cruiser, which was getting closer toward their old hiding spot.

'He's almost a hundred kilometers away from us!' Booster exclaimed.

'Almost there...' Mira's voice strained as she got up from her chair, leaning on the controls as if it would make the ship go faster. The space station loomed in the viewpanel, the huge structure dominating the view.

One of the landing pads on the station had broken off, forming a sort of barrier between the roving cruiser and the space station. Mira arced the ship underneath a structural reinforcement beam, missing it by meters as she pulled the ship to a stop, decelerating slowly as she sat down again, sighing with visible relief.

'Sir?' The navigations officer said suddenly.

'What is it?'

'I thought I saw something over there.'

Buzz sat up.

'Where?'

'That installation over there. I saw something move.'

'Shit.' Buzz exclaimed under his breath.

'You'd better be sure, Janet. I don't want to be going around chasing your daydreams.'

'Sir, I saw something. I'm sure of it.'

'Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no...' Booster began to bite his nails.

'Alright, check it out.' A pause. 'Quincy to Lumsar. I think we may have a fix on Lightyear's position. Nothing concrete, but we're investigating now.'

'Understood. Lumsar out.'

'He's coming right for us!' Booster said, waving his hands.

'Calm down, Booster.' Buzz said, looking at the huge improptu shield that protected them. 'Zurg built his launch stations from Terranite to prevent our scanners from penetrating the hulls. We'll be safe for the moment.'

'That moment, Buzz, is almost up.' XR said, calling up a course overlay on his on console and running the calculations. 'They'll be right on top of us in two minutes, tops.'

'Buzz, look.' Mira said, pointing at the viewpanel. 'He's altered course!'

True to her words, the yellow line of the overlay shifted slightly, almost imperceptibly at first; but moving gradually until the line showed that they would not only pass their ship, they'd be going under them at the same time.

Buzz found himself breathing a sigh of relief. 'Let's just sit tight for a while,' he said. 'And listen to what Quincy has to say.'

Quincy's cruiser drew ever closer towards their position. The scanning beam passed over the Terranite barrier and the ship began its descent underneath the platform.

'Come on.' Mira found herself saying. 'Come on.'

'They're almost away.' XR said, looking at the ship in the viewpanel.

'There's nothing here.' Quincy said. 'You sure you weren't seeing things?'

Janet's voice was less certain now. 'I definitely saw something.'

'Well, maybe it was just some space dust.' Quincy said. 'Don't worry about it, kid. This old place'd give anybody nightmares.'

'Except Lightyear.' One of Quincy's officers joked and his crew laughed along with him. Buzz's jaw set as he thought of how much he wished that were true.

'Just to be on the safe side, let's bring the viewpanel online and see if we can't find that ghost ship of yours.'

Buzz's spine forced itself into a straight line as he tried to process what he had just heard. Beneath them, Quincy's ship rolled to a stop, the unseen eyes of the crew within it wandering over the space around them.

Before a word could be said on board 98, Quincy's voice once more came over the speakers. 'What the- Is that Lightyear's ship?'

'Go!' Buzz shouted. Mira jammed the controls down with all her might, mustering every last thruster to work.

'She's moving!'

'Quincy to Lumsar, we have a fix on Lightyear, coordinates six seven four by three one two! Moving to intercept.'

'We're on the way, Quincy. Don't lose him!'

Mira pulled the ship over the broken platform, arcing sharply as she called more power reserves to the maneuvering arrays. Their speed steadily increased as she banked to the right, pulling them back around the same platform in an attempt to confuse Quincy's ship.

'Where'd he go?' Quincy demanded. 'Where'd he go?'

'He's headed towards the space station.' Lumsar reported as Buzz watched the second cruiser move at high speed toward their position. 'Altering course to intercept.'

'Redirect the sensor field.' Quincy ordered. 'All we need is one blip on our radar and this is over.'

'Where to, Buzz?' Mira said urgently as she rolled the ship, trying to avoid the two pursuers already behind them. 'I said, where t-'

'I'm thinking.' Buzz said with more force then he meant to. Suddenly it occurred to him. 'The station.' He looked at Mira. 'Get inside the station!'

'You got it!' Mira said, pushing the rapidly accelerating ship in an orbit of the station, trying to find an access point. 'There!' She said as she found one; a gaping hole in the side of the spherical installation. Banking hard, she pushed the ship in through the makeshift entrance, regretting her decision immediately as tons of floating debris and rubble dominated the viewpanel. Uttering a word that made Buzz raise his eyebrows in surprise, Mira pushed both hands forward on the controls, sending the ship almost vertically downwards in the space of a second.

A dead Hornet smashed on the side of the ship with a resounding crash. Mira continued to dive, dodging as best she could as more flotsam came rushing at the viewpanel, crashing loudly as the debris noisily bounced off the hull.

XR's console beeped, and he pressed a button. 'We've got a hull fracture in cargo bay two.' XR reported. 'Mira, take it easy!'

'We're all gonna die!' Booster screamed as a reinforcement beam careened off their hull, missing the bridge by mere meters.

'Not if I can help it.' Mira proclaimed as she ran the ship parallel to the inside of the sphere, worming her way through the network of the station's interior. They passed large hallways, open launch bays, and finally came to a dead end.

Mira swore again as she pulled her hands down over the panel, trying to stop the ship before they rammed straight into the Terranite wall. The ship strained to respond to her command, and the ion engines pushed as hard as they could in full reverse. The wall loomed closer, and Buzz felt his fingers grip his handrests as Mira did her best to stop them from becoming debris themselves.

Booster screamed, covering his eyes with his hands as the ship, moving at a modest speed, crashed into the wall, sending the crew forward in their seats.

'Everyone okay?' Buzz asked just as the comm system sounded.

'This is Lumsar. I've lost visual contact. What's your status?'

'Couldn't see a damn thing either. We'll investigate the surrounding area; he can't have gone far.'

'Understood. We'll monitor you from our current position. Lumsar out.'

'We're fine, Buzz,' XR said, screwing his arm back on. 'Nice flying, Mira.' He said, not a trace of sarcasm apparent in his voice.

'Thanks.' She said, running a diagnostic. 'I think.'

'What's wrong?' Buzz asked, as Booster answered.

'Emergency power reserves down to thirty two percent!'

'And draining.' Mira said. 'We're going to be dead in the water unless we let the reserves charge.'

Buzz sighed, weighing the options. 'All right,' he decided. 'Mira, get us into a concealed position and power down maneuvering thrusters.'

'Yes sir.' Mira began to tilt the ship vertically, looking all the while for a place to hide. She saw a small crevice; actually a collapsed part of the station intersecting with some intact reinforcement beams. Pushing the ship sideways, she began the slow process of aligning the ship properly before angling it in, her fingers tracing slowly across her controls.

'That's it.' She said, beginning to power down. 'Maneuvering thrusters off line.'

'Reserves are charging.' XR reported.

'Sir, I'm picking up a stray ion trail. It's leading right into the station.'

'Lightyear's thrusters.' Buzz could hear the smile in Quincy's voice. 'Get in there, Janet. Let's get this over with.'

'They're coming in!' Booster said in dismay. 'They're coming in!'

'They'll have one hell of a time finding us.' Buzz said confidently. 'This is a nice spot, Mira. We'll just sit tight, let our fuel cells charge, and everything will be fine.'

'Let's just hope we stay hidden,' XR said, running some calculations. 'According to this, our ion trail is pretty darn noticeable.'

'Prepare to move us out if they come too close.' Buzz said. 'We can't risk leaving this station yet.'

'There,' said Quincy. 'That must be the entrance.'

'Whoa.' Janet said in amazement. 'That's a lot of debris, sir.'

'Look at all this damage.' Telet, the science officer said, with wonder in his voice. 'The station must've been hit by a Ferulian kamikaze.'

'Can you take us in?' Quincy asked.

'Into that? No way.' Janet said. 'I can't maneuver in those conditions, even with our shields up.'

'That Nova must be one hell of a pilot. I'm not picking up any stray debris from the cruiser, at all. Not one chip of paint.' Telet reported.

'Lightyear flies with the best.' Quincy said absently. 'Lumsar, this is Quincy. Lightyear's somewhere inside the station, but we can't pursue. Any suggestions?'

'Have you got a fix on his location?'

'No, but the ion trail leads right in.'

'The Terranite will impair our scans.' Lumsar said. 'Any suggestions?'

'Yeah.' Quincy said. 'Old-fashioned firepower. We smoke them out; cut the station apart from the outside in.'

'Understood. We're on our way to assist you. Lumsar out.'

'Uh oh.' XR said.

'Don't worry.' Buzz said, cracking his knuckles. 'Mira, as soon as our power reserves reach seventy I want you to start searching for an alternate route out of here. Booster,' he turned to his weapons officer. 'When that's done, I want you to bring one of the laser arrays online and cut us an exit. Understood?'

'Yes, Buzz.' Booster said.

'Good.' Buzz said just as Quincy's voice sounded on the comm system.

'Nubar, arm a dozen Hammers and target the structural grid on the side of the station.'

'Yes sir.' The grating voice of the Gorian rumbled over the speakers as he performed his orders. 'Ready, sir.'

'Fire.'

XR's console beeped. 'I'm reading massive structural collapse on the left side of the station.'

'How far away?' Buzz asked.

'Too close, if ya ask me.' XR stated.

'Reserves?'

XR called up a display. 'Forty percent.'

'Too slow.' Buzz said, thinking.

'What's the plan?' XR asked.

'I'm thinking.' Buzz replied.

'Well think fast.' Mira said as Quincy's voice ordered another missile barrage. 'We're not going to stay hidden for much longer.'

One of XR's console's beeped urgently, demanding his attention. He pushed a button, furrowing his metallic eyes at the reading. 'Uh, Buzz?'

'What is it, XR?' Buzz said, annoyed at being interrupted.

'I'm picking up something.' He began to narrow down the source. 'An energy signature. It's coming from inside the station.'

'Lumsar?' Buzz asked.

'No.' XR said as he began to press buttons with his usual methodic. 'I recognize the signature though. I haven't seen one of these things for-' He stopped as his jaw collapsed.

'What is-' Buzz began, but was interrupted by the robot's scream.

'Hornet!' He shouted frantically as he waved his arms.

'Where?' Buzz asked.

'Right behind us!' XR flapped.

Buzz called up the viewpanel, coming face to face with a Hornet Mk IV. The monstrosity was staring uncertainly at their ship, gun arms raised.

'Oh my God!' Mira said. 'It's active!'

'Weapons!' Buzz snapped. 'XR, bring all systems online, we're aborting the exercise now!' He hit his comm button. 'Lightyear to Quincy, come in!'

'Ah, Lightyear. Giving up, are-'

'There's an active Hornet inside the station!' He shouted. 'Abort the exercise!'

'Did you say Hornet?' Quincy said. 'Hang on, we're on our way!'

Booster meanwhile had charged the lateral laser array and had taken the liberty of firing at the twenty-foot robot. It exploded in a shower of metal, peppering their ship with fragments.

'Oh my God.' Mira said as the exterior lights turned on, giving them their first good look at their surroundings. What they assumed was the wall had actually been the floor, and the crevice in which they were hiding was a partially collapsed reactor.

The only thing they hadn't been mistaken about was the large expanse which they had emerged into. It was a large expanse.

Filled with Hornets.

Live Hornets.

'Our weapons must have triggered their activation mechanisms.' XR said as the army of robots came to life. If he could go pale he would have long ago.

'Mira, get us out of here!' Buzz shouted as the engines burst to life, Mira trying to get them out of the crevice they had stuck themselves into. Booster meanwhile was busy revving the gatling cannons.

'Eat this!' He shouted, opening fire. The energy pulses ripped through the robot ranks, scything down wave after wave of Hornets. He began to swivel the guns as Mira flew the ship, trying to take down as many of them as he could while they were in organized rows.

The larger Mk IIs and IIIs had moved to the front of the lines, absorbing the fire for their smaller cousins. Their hulls crackled with energy as Booster's gunning decimated their numbers.

It wasn't enough. The small yellow robots had engaged their flight systems and were swarming toward them, laser cannons pouring green death into the trapped cruiser.

'Mira!' Buzz shouted.

'I'm working on it!' She responded as she frantically searched for a way out.

'Hull breach!' XR reported as more firepower continued to slam into their ship. 'Hull breach in cargo bay two!'

'There's too many of them!' Booster said as he tried to hold back the advancing legion of Hornets. A few massive Mk IVs began to fire missiles at the cruiser, striking with deadly precision as their hull began to buckle.

'XR, shields!'

'We've got our emitters slaved into the refractive shielding.' He reported. 'I can't bring them online without some serious modifications to the systems.'

'I've lost gatling one!' Booster reported as the Hornets drew closer. 'Take this!' He fired an energy charge, obliterating fifty of them in one shot.

Buzz whipped around. 'Booster, fire a charge at that wall over there.' He pointed.

Booster, seeing the logic, retargeted. 'Yes sir!'

He fired, sending a section of the station's wall hurtling out into space. It wasn't quite big enough to fit their ship, but Mira wasn't complaining.

'Hang on.' She said with a serious tone in her voice as she turned the ship, firing all engines as she sent the cruiser smashing through the remnants of the wall section. Free at last, the ship began to bank away as the multitudes of Hornets that hadn't been melted by their engine wash began to stream out into space, firing after them.

'We're not out of the woods yet.' Buzz said as Booster continued to throw fire into the midst of the charging Hornets with the remaining gatling cannon. 'Quincy, Lumsar, where the hell are you?'

'We see you, Lightyear.' Lumsar said, as both ships began to fire at the Hornets chasing Cruiser 98. 'Bringing all weapons to bear.'

XR's console beeped yet again, Buzz turning to see what the matter was. 'I didn't like the sound of that beep, XR.'

'Good news or bad news?' XR responded.

'Bad.' Buzz said as Mira barrel rolled the ship, trying as best as she could to evade the sheer amount of fire the Hornets were laying down.

'Armor integrity is at critical levels, and we've got multiple hull breaches in cargo bay two and the engine room.' The robot said, reciting from the screen in front of him. 'They've destroyed the lateral laser array, the power couplings for the weapons systems is damaged, and I haven't even gotten to the 'beep' yet.'

'So what was the beep?' Buzz asked.

XR didn't need to answer. A space mine, long inactive, slammed straight into the forward section of their ship, causing another breach.

'Where did that come from?' Mira asked incredulously as she looked at her sensors. About a dozen more mines were heading straight for them.

'When the Hornets reactivated, they sent out a carrier wave to the entire sector.' XR answered her question as he sealed off the breaches. 'Every last Zurg weapon with an active power cell just came online.' Another mine struck the ship, causing them to shake in their seats.

'Buzz, I'm reading a whole lot of Hornets from another launch station fifteen kilometers away.' Booster reported. 'What are we gonna do?'

Buzz gripped his chair, setting his jaw as he began to think. 'Ion.' He said, the revelation suddenly hitting him.

'Buzz?' Mira asked.

'The ion storm!' He exclaimed. 'We'll hide in the ion storm!'

XR caught on. 'I'm polarizing the hull to match the ionic frequency of the storm. The trick is going to be getting all those Hornets to follow us.'

'I'm on it.' Buzz said. 'Lightyear to all Star Cruisers. Leave the field of engagement immediately. This is a direct order.' He said, sensing Quincy's reluctance even before he could voice it. 'Now!'

'Yes sir,' was the response as both cruisers went to light speed. Alone with almost a thousand Hornets, the cruiser set its course for the ion storm, Mira pushing all three engines past maximum power. Booster continued to fire as best as he could, taking out two mines with a well-placed energy charge. For every Hornet he destroyed, it seemed that ten filled its place as yet another launch station began to empty its payload.

'We're almost there.' XR said, the ship beginning to vibrate as the fury of the storm washed over their vessel. 'Hull polarized.'

'Take us in, Mira.' Buzz said as the ship entered the storm, the ionic wrath of the tempest passing harmlessly over their ship. Behind them, the mines which had followed them in blindly were ripped apart in seconds as the storm claimed them. The Hornets were also destroyed in a matter of moments, everything from the small humanoids to the hulking Mk IVs.

Looking behind them, Team Lightyear gave a whoop of triumph as Zurg's army was wiped out by the elemental fury of the ion storm.

'Now,' Buzz said, leaning back. 'We are out of the woods.' He turned to XR. 'Give me a damage report.'

'Nothing fatal.' XR reported. 'We've lost most of our armor plating in section-' Another beep, which he was quick to investigate. 'Uh oh.'

'Uh oh?' Booster said. 'Uh oh's not good!'

'Definitely not good!' XR said, panicking. 'Mira, turn around. Get us out of here!'

'XR, what's wrong?' Buzz asked.

'The hull! It's depolarizing! We've got to get of here!' He wailed as he struggled to compensate.

'What's causing it!' Buzz asked.

'I don't know, I don't know!' XR shouted. 'Mira!' He cried as the ship shook.

'Buzz....' Mira watched in horror as her console went dead.

'We're losing power!' Booster said as his console died as well.

'XR!' Buzz shouted, desperate to find out what was going on.

'The shield!' XR managed as he frenetically worked his console. 'All our power is being routed to the shield!'

'Get engines!' Buzz ordered as the ship shook, more violently this time. He was struggling to stay in his chair. 'We need to get out of here!

'Too late!' XR went into hysterics as the hull began to buckle, the sound of a hundred tons of breaking metal shrieking into everyone's ears. 'Too late!'

The ship began to break apart as the full anger of the storm, furious for being violated, sent wave after wave of ions crashing into their hull, taking the cruiser apart at the subatomic level.

'Life support's dead!' Booster shouted over the din as the lights went out, plunging the ship into darkness. As the noise around them grew into a cacophony of destruction, there was only one thought flowing through Mira's mind. Her hands tightened on her console as her eyes squeezed shut their tears.

'Pierce...' She whispered just as everything fell silent.