The very next morning, every member of the stations crew crammed into the main briefing room. The 77th Swords and the local Vasudan squadron, the 135th Fighter Group, were in the front row. Everyone looked tired and bored. Which was par for the course during the command briefings here.

The Base Commander entered at 0830 hours exactly. He was, as usual the last to enter. He walked through the center of the room, in between the two set of chairs. Once near the projector, he motioned for an officer to turn of the lights, and then turned on the projector. The projector show an image of the symbol of the GTVA.

"As you all know." The Commander began. "I called you here this morning to give you some news about the rash of pirate activity recently. So far, we have had three distinct acts of terrorism in the past two days. The first, was the raid on this yard yesterday. That raid resulted in minor damage to the GTD Inspiration. The second, was the mysterious sabotage and subsequent destruction of the GTC Muridin. The third, was the presence of a slavers cruiser near the sight of the Muridin's destruction. While each of these events were resolved, it has given us reason to strike at some of the more questionable civilian outposts in the system."

The Commander advanced the projector to show a diagram of a Typhon class destroyer. "To facilitate this offensive, we will be taking the mostly repaired GVD Hedette out of dock. Currently two teams are pulling the destroyer out of it's docking ring and working to bring all the systems online." He paused. "Mainly the beam cannons." He paused again to let all the information sink in. "Now, as most of you have probably guessed, this is illegal. So this operation must go flawlessly. As long as the Hedette stays in one piece, we can pull this off without command noticing. I've also asked the commander of the GVCv Sedfa to join the attack groups."

The Commander changed the image again. It now showed an asteroid outpost and an Arcadia installation. "We have determined that the Slavers are based out of this outpost they obviously think is unknown to us. The Sedfa and it's battle group will assault this area. They will be assisted by the 135th. At the exact same time, the Hedette and the Megaurute will hit the known pirate base, the Arcadia. Neither base is expected to be heavily defended."

The Commander turned the projector off and motioned for the lights to be restored. "Now, need I remind you that you are going to be engaging civilian personnel. No matter what their affiliation, you are to avoid needless killing. You can fire if fired upon but give them a chance to surrender. The 135th will deploy immediately to the staging area, where the Sedfa is already waiting to receive them. The 77th will be deployed to protect the Hedette until it launches. Once the Hedette is safely away, the 77th will jump to the staging area and dock with the destroyer. Suit up! Launch immediately."

XXX

Only minutes later, the 77th Swords were in their fighters and patrolling the area around the Hedette. Chris watched his sensors as transport after transport delivered supplies to the massive destroyer.

"Testing, 1, 2, 3." The Commander of the Hedette, Commodore Rex Hinton, stated over the comm.

"We hear you Commodore." Chris replied. "Enjoying your command."

"It's a welcome change Captain. I'm just not used to this damned Vasudan technology. I mean it works great, it's just weird." He paused, noting that he was on an open channel. "Anyway, Hedette out."

"Alpha 1 clear." Chris couldn't help but smirk, Commodore Hinton was an eccentric fellow. He fit in perfectly around here.

"I do not appreciate Vasudan technology being dismissed as 'weird.'" RaNah stated over the comm.

"Let it go RaNah. The Commodore and his crew just aren't used to it. If what you say about Vasudan tech is true... then we're gonna have a really hard time getting them off the ship once they get used to it." Chris hoped the attempt at humor would translate to the Vasudan.

"Vasudan technology is perfect for Vasudans, but you Terrans lack the ability to use most of it, given the widely varying physical characteristics of our two species."

"I'm going to beat you in the ring one of these days RaNah." Louis replied. "One of these days I'm going to get you."

"Come on Louis." Anya laughed. "You always lose."

"I've been training hard, next time I'm gonna get him."

RaNah then stated something that didn't translate over the comm.

"What was that RaNah?"

"I was just stating what a idiot you are." RaNah replied.

"Hey what can I say?" Louis paused for everyone to laugh. "I'm talented."

"Then how come you're always talking big and doing nothing." Nicole's voice was usually silent on the comms.

"Hey, I made lieutenant, shut up ENSIGN." Louis screamed the last word.

"You know she did beat you in that simulation a week ago." Jack added.

"Shut up Jack. I didn't give you permission to talk."

"So, since when could you tell me to talk and when not to?"

"Mutiny, it's all mutiny!" Louis laughed. "Chris... the squadron is mutinying against me! You can have them back now!"

A chorus of laughter echoed over the comm from the entire squadron.

"Chris," Amy stated, her voice shaking, "look at your sensor board."

Chris looked down and his eyes went wide. Over twenty subspace portals were opening up all around the Hedette. There were two wings of seven Boanerges bombers and a wing of Ares fighters. There were also two Aeolus cruiser dropping out of subspace. Chris turned his fighter toward the cruiser just in time to see them open fire on the Hedette.

"Swords!" The Commander of the base was screaming. "Defend the Hedette at all costs. Those bombers have more than enough firepower to cripple that destroyer."

"Beta, Gamma." Chris yelled. "Take on the group of bombers. Alpha, let's hit those Ares fighters. Don't be afraid to use your missiles. These are some of the toughest craft in the GTVA arsenal."

"Swords, we can handle the cruisers in two minutes." Commodore Rex Hinton stated. "We're powering up the beam cannons. We can get both of them in one burst. Buy us the time pilots."

Chris led his wing toward the Ares fighters. Unlike the bombers, the Ares fighters were going to mix it up with Chris and his wing. They were headed directly for each other. "Break, we can't take them head to head!" Chris yelled. He slammed his afterburners and moved up and away, just as many, many missile lock warning started blaring in his cockpit. He immediately threw his craft into a wild spin, dropping countermeasures.

"Good god!" Anya shrieked. It was obvious the Ares fighters had locked their missiles on her too.

Luckily for Chris, the missiles weren't the new Tornado missiles, but only the old Hornet swarm missiles. He was able to shake them all easily. He then dived back at the Ares fighters, spraying tempest dumbfires and Subach laser burst at the lead fighter. The lead fighter's shields held. Then the Ares fighters broke formation.

"He's all over me!" Anya shrieked as two Ares fighters got behind her. Her fighter jinked and rolled to avoid the near constant flow of missiles and the constant fire from 6 guns all linked together.

"Hang on." Chris replied and dived at the two fighters. He planted himself behind the two Ares fighters and opened fire with all of his weapons. The Ares' shields held for only seconds before collapsing. He then repeated the tactic on the other fighter.

"You're almost a man!" Came Louis's cry over the comm coupled with another Ares winking out of existence.

"This is 4, I need help!" Jack screamed.

"Already coming for you little guy. I'll make the bastard pay for getting on the tail of my buddy." There was a loud boom over the comm. "What an asshat! He had his rear shields down."

"Let's regroup and go..." Chris started to say...

It was then that the Hedette opened fire with it's heavy beam cannons. Each beam cannon hit dead center on each Aeolus cruiser. Both cruisers were vaporized as their hull plating disintegrated under the shear firepower. There wasn't even any bodies or debris. The remaining bombers quickly fled into subspace.

"Status?" Chris asked of his squadron.

"Beta flight is still good, nothing major. 5 kills to report." Amy replied.

"Gamma is damaged but still functional. 6 kills to report." Nick replied.

"Good, Hedette, everything all right down there?" Chris examined the Hedette's hull as he asked this.

"Nothing that can't be fixed," Commodore Hinton replied, "thanks to some outstanding shooting by Beta and Gamma squadrons. I'll buy all of you a round of beer when this is all over. We're going to enter subspace soon. Dock up, then we'll depart."

"I'd be glad to Hedette. Swords, docking in the Hedette's starboard docking bay."

XXX

Minutes later, the Swords were assembled on the command deck of the Hedette for a debriefing. Commodore Rex Hinton spun around in his command chair, which was much to big for him. "Captain, your squadron did an excellent job today."

"Thank you sir." Chris replied.

The Commodore waved his hand around in the air several times, then hit himself in the side. "Don't call me sir. I really hate that. Call me... Rex. Some even call me T Rex." He paused to wait their incredulous looks. "This is all just a formality. Nice job... blah, blah. Whatever. All of you are dismissed. Your quarters are on," he spun around and checked a console, "O Deck, just above the docking bay. Feel free to take whatever you wish from wherever, just make a list, so we know what we have to put back when we're done."

The Swords filed out of the command deck and began walking down to O Deck.

"You know, that Commodore is a loony!" Louis spun his finger around his ear.

"You do realize that he's really nothing more than a hastily promoted cruiser captain?" Franz asked.

"So, does that mean anything. We've got the run of the ship. He just told us that." Louis jumped up and tried to touch the ceiling, which was too tall for him to actually touch it. "Damn it, RaNah, why do Vasudans make their ships so big."

"The answer is simple. We are taller than you are." RaNah's voice betrayed no emotion. The translator wasn't really good at transmitting inflection. But if Chris were to guess, RaNah was having fun mocking Louis.

"Louis, do you ever shut up?" Amy asked.

"Nope, what's it to you?" Louis's reply was quick and immediate, and without thought. "I just try and make the best of a tough situation."

"You don't even have a clue what tough is." Amy shook her head. "I watched the Shivans destroy a civilian convoy. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it." A tear came to Amy's eyes. She blinked it away easily.

"Yeah we know, all of the innocents died. Give it a rest, we stopped the Shivans."

More tears came to Amy's eyes. "No, personally I hate you Alba. If you were not a member of this squadron I would've killed you myself a while ago." She paused to collect herself. "And don't think that's an idle threat."

"Lay off Louis." Amy's brother Alex moved over to embrace his sister. Alex took only seconds before walking over to Louis. When Alex was only centimeters from Louis he said. "If you ever do that to my sister again, I'LL kill you." With that, Alex, Amy, Gordon, and Franz went ahead of the group.

Once they were gone, Nick turned around and punched Louis in the stomach. "Okay wise ass. What the hell was that for?"

"Hey, I was only joking Nick." Louis replied, clutching his stomach.

"Sure you were." He grabbed the younger man by his jumpsuit collar. "You listen to me fly boy. You ever pull that stunt again and you'll find yourself in a world of hurt."

"And if you ever even think about that again Louis." Chris added. "You'll be out of this squadron before you can be hurt. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Louis replied, the smile gone. "I guess I owe Amy an apology."

"The hell you do!" Chris sighed. "And I want you to think real good and hard about that apology. You're confined to your quarters till 0600 tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Louis took off down the hall, leaving the remaining Swords standing there.

"What the hell is his problem?" David asked.

"Louis is a wildcard David." Chris replied. "That's the reason he's in my flight. He's been kicked out of seven other squadrons." Chris paused and shrugged. "This is his last chance."

"Do you think he'll change?"

"What we need is a war for survival. He was in the brig during the whole Capella crisis. If he had fought through that fight, he might have became a better person. Or at least one less naïve."

"Uhh, Captain?" Jack asked.

"Call me Chris, Jack."

"Should I really be a friend to Louis?"

Chris put his hands on Jack's shoulders. "Jack, Louis needs a friend like you. Just as long as you use your head, you won't become anything harmful by offering something like friendship."

"Thank you sir... er... I mean Chris."

"Good, now head down to your quarters and get some rest."

"I will." Jack headed down the corridor, followed by Nick, RaNah, Nicole, and David.

"Well, what are you waiting for Anya?" Chris raised his eyebrow.

"I knew when I first met you that you were a commander who could do more than fly a ship." Anya replied.

"To get my job, one has to manage the affairs of those under his command. You know, stop fights, referee them. Luckily, I've only got one trouble maker."

"Louis is a good pilot." Anya frowned. "He's just not a very good person."

"That's what I'm trying to develop in him."

Without warning Anya threw her arms around Chris and kissed him.

"What was that for?" Chris asked.

"A thank you." She smiled. "You did save my life."

"Anything else?"

"Well, let's just say that I'm not sure about the rest."

"You started it!"

"Don't even start with the you started it deal. You know you wanted it." Anya glanced around to make sure there were no observers, then kissed him again.

"Well, I'll admit I do find you attractive but... Anya, we are risking life and death every day. Can we really afford this?"

"It would give me something to live for. And if it came to it, something to die for." Anya's smile vanished at the last thought.

"One step at a time." He wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a few seconds before releasing. "We'd better get down to our quarters."

"Yes sir." Anya replied with a wink.

Chris laughed and was soon joined by Anya as they headed down the hallway.