Hello again to The Will of Revenge. Last time we returned to Milky Way to check out on Ester and the rest, as they continue resisting the criminal undertaking partaken by Galactic Concordance against the rest of the free galaxy. But as it turns out, Laconians, or rather Lioni, also have plans in response to the successful counteroffensive in Chakdrik space. What will happen because of that? Read and find out.

But before that, reviews.

To Guest: Everything in it's time, don't worry.

To Supreme Supra: Earth stands!

Let us begin now.

Chapter 6

July 4, 2166

11:43

UNSA San Antonio, Chakdrik space

Due to the lack of missions for them, SOF was still based in Chakdrik space. As the war continued around the galaxy and frontlines shifted, they continued to train and prepare for the upcoming missions. Ester, Delilah and Norrine were making sure that all soldiers were in the best shape for the fights ahead.

As of now, they were standing in front of a console that controlled the VR training facility they had aboard. On the screen, they could see numerous blue dots, which marked the position of their troops. This current scenario was an assault on enemy fuel base on a remote planet. As of now, everything was going without problem, the squad made it's way through the flat terrain from the LZ and eliminated enemy's forward guard posts. As of now, they were slowly approaching the wall of the base.
"They're doing surprisingly well."Norrine stated.

"What are you surprised about?"Delilah asked."They're training for so long, that it shouldn't be surprising."
"True."Ester agreed.

They watched as blue dots moved through the screen, taking down red dots representing the enemy soldiers on the walls. They approached the walls and started climbing up, covering each others' backs. Soon, all of them were already over the wall, securing the beachhead and moving deeper into the base. They soon entered the main building and started moving through the corridors. At this point, an alarm was already blaring in the base and the security was running to take care of the attackers.

"Situation gets hairy."Delilah said.
"Well, they also have to know how to take care of situations like these."Ester stated.

"Let's just hope that they all won't get killed."Norrine said.

SOF troops moved through the main building, covering all sides and clearing all the rooms on the way. Their rear guard was, of course, turned back, what was marked by cones of vision looking back. They fired at every unsuspecting enemy soldier, which dared to round the corner and moved on and on, until they reached the command room. After blasting the door open with a high-grade explosives, they quickly subdued the crew inside and made them sabotage the base by opening the fuel tanks. In an instant, the entire base was filled with a liquid fuel. After that, the assault group started making their way out of the building, while everyone tried to stop the leak of the fuel.

"What are they gonna do?"Ester wondered.

"Emmy is in charge, remember?"Delilah said.
"Yeah, right."Ester nodded.
"Boom."Norrine simply said.

Assault team was already leaving the building and making their way towards the same direction they came in from. As of now, fuel pouring out of the tanks covered the entirety of the base's ground. Two dots stopped on top of the wall. One of them clearly threw something and together with the second dot, they started leaving the area, following the other dots.

Few seconds later, the entire screen was filled with blinding white light, when grenade exploded, igniting the fuel that covered the base's ground and caused the tanks to explode, what literally annihilated the base.
"Now that was epic."Norrine smiled.
"I know, you like big booms."Ester waved it off."But still, they didn't suffer any losses. So I see this as a win."
"True."Delilah added.

The soldiers started taking off the VR headsets and standing up from the chairs in which they were sitting. When they did that, Ester said through the PA:
"Good job, everyone! You did the mission perfectly. You are allowed to take a break and drink and eat something. You deserve it."
SOF operatives quickly left the VR room and went to the mess hall.

The three left after them and looked at them go.

"I think we're getting the hang of it."Norrine stated.
"You're the one to say it."Delilah said.
"And I am right. Always."

"Yeah, right."Ester said."Like back then, on Rota III?"
Immediately, Norrine's face changed expressions.
"How long are you gonna remind me of that?"
"Yes."the two simply replied.
"It wasn't my fault! That stupid bug was the size of my head! Even I had the right to be scared!"
"And you almost got us killed because they found us. You still have to repay us for that."

"One day."

Delilah and Ester laughed and followed the operatives. Norrine went after them.

They entered the mess hall and took something to drink. After that, they sat with Elsa and the rest of Warrior Bunnies from Delilah's team.

"How did you like the simulation?"Ester asked.
"It was pretty tough."Elsa admitted."But we made it. Somehow."
"Although we had to sometimes restrain our hothead."Heley said.

The three looked Emmy, who just threw up her arms as if it was nothing. She continued to casually sip her coffee.
"You have to restrain yourself sometimes."Delilah stated.
"What can I say? This is how nature created me."Emmy simply replied.

"Then tell this nature to install a kill switch in you."Ester stated.

"Oh, she already has one."Delilah smirked.

Before Emmy could protest, she reached over the table and grabbed Emmy's arm. Warrior Bunny squeezed her fellow's arm and she became limp. Next, she simply fell face first on the table, not moving. Only indicator that she was still alive was her breathing.

Others looked at Delilah.
"What was that?"Ester asked.
"We discovered, that when you squeeze just the right spot on her arm, she simply shuts down."Macy replied."Weird, but it works."
"Unfortunately, it doesn't work in virtual world."Ves said.

"Shame."Heley added."And it only lasts few seconds, so you know."
"We only use it to screw with her."Kenya said.

Ester just couldn't hold herself back from laughing. Others, of course, had to join her. Soon, Emmy woke up and looked at them laughing.
"Very funny, you know?"she asked.

Everyone just threw up their arms.

"By the way, anyone knows how is the situation in Hadadrian space?"Elsa asked.

Everyone nodded. The news about the sudden invasion on Hadadrian Commonwealth from Unknown Regions was a shocking development for everyone. When news started coming, it was hard for everyone to believe. Knowing their majorly isolationist approach the Unknown Regions races took, that move seemed so out of character for them. Theories already appeared, that maybe they made some deal with the Concordance. As of now, these were just theories, but nobody said they couldn't be true.

But this pondering moment didn't last long, though. Not long after, captain said through the PA system:
"Commanders of the SOF are to come to the briefing room immediately. I repeat: Commanders…"

"That was quick."Norrine stated.
"Don't get grumpy."Delilah said."Let's better go and see what it's all about."

"Yes, let's."Ester said, standing up.

The two followed her out of the room and towards the briefing room. Wondering, what the mission might be about. And soon, they were going to learn.

An hour later…

Orbit of Chakdria

Chakdrik homeworld was always one of the best protected in the galaxy. It's low and high orbit was littered with numerous space stations and anchorages, which were tasked with protecting the planet from invasion. Especially in times of war, the protective mechanisms were in full motion, as ships constantly patrolled the orbit and eliminated or simply investigated any possible danger.

Due to all this, Matriarch of the Chakdrik Collective specifically designated the Commander of Planetary Defense. It was a position active only during an armed conflict that can actually endanger both Chakdria and the Matriarch and the officer holding it had the full authority of all forces both in the orbit and on the surface o the planet. When the war was over, the position was suspended.

Currently, the position was occupied by admiral Terix Martyall. He saw this as the greatest honor any Chakdrik could ever receive and was very careful about his choices and what the planetary defense was doing. He was currently sitting on the bridge of his ship, Pride's Wings, a Teriusa-class Escort Carrier, a newly designed type of ships for the Chakdrik Navy, and drinking some tyr juice, a popular Chakdrik drink made of a worm-like animal living on the planet.

"Enjoying the drink, sir?"his deputy asked.
"As always, Pirx."admiral replied, putting the mug down."Anything new?"

"Nothing to report as of now."Pirx replied.

"Good."
It was either lucky or unlucky that none of Concordance's ships managed to sneak into the system. It depended on how you looked at it. For Terix, it was lucky. It meant, that enemy was not brave enough to actually try and repeat what they tried to do with Shakaya. And with the counteroffensive in full effect, pushing them out of the Chakdrik space. So the only thing they would be able to do, is some terrorist attacks. But admiral was not going to allow even that. Under his watch, no one will hurt the birthplace of the Chakdrik race.

Or so he thought.
"Admiral, we've got hyperspace signals!"radar officer exclaimed.

Admiral was so surprised, that he almost chocked on the juice he was drinking again. He put the mug down and ran up to the radar officer.

"Ours?"he asked, with hope in voice.
"Negative."radar officer replied."Some are certainly belonging to the Concordance. But one…is unknown."
"Unknown?"Terix looked at his deputy, but Pirx just threw up his arms."Can you try and identify it?"
"Well…we're about to find out…"radar officer stated.

Soon, numerous space distortions appeared. Some were rationally sized, but one was much bigger than the others. Not long after, one by one, they started changing into enemy ships. Terix recognized some Laconian ships, and even Nakatan and Varian vessels mixed in. But they all paled in comparison with that led them.

"By the Gods…"Pirx said, terrified to his very core.

It was an enormous ship, bigger than anything they had ever saw. It was long and had a geometrical shape of octagon. It's front was flat and had some kind of dent in it. Numerous blue lights dotted it's white armor.

Although that, admiral immediately recognized the style of the ship, used by only one race of mechanical beings.

"We've got a Viricon ship here!"Terix exclaimed."Man the battle stations! Communications, transmit the order to arm and get ready for battle! We can't them do anything!"

"Understood, sir!"comms officer replied and got to work.
"How did they get here?"Pirx asked.
"We're gonna worry about it later!"admiral said, sitting back in his chair.
"Order give, sir!"comms officer reported.

"Enemy is deploying fighters and bombers, sir!"radar officer reported."And…Oh no…"

"Speak, for Gods' sake!"
"SWARM! ENEMY IS DEPLOYING SWARM!"

Numerous hatches opened on the surface of the giant vessel and soon, thousands, millions, billions and finally trillions of microbots left the insides of the ship and turned towards the defending Chakdrik forces. Swarm, legendary weapon of the Viricons, was even too effective. Within just twenty minutes, microbots caused indescribable damage, as little machines devoured everything organic and non-organic.

Chakdrik troops tried to defend themselves, but it was no use. When Swarm managed to get inside the ships and space stations, they fired their weapons at them, but soon joined the rest of their fallen comrades. Ships fired missiles and lasers in all directions, as Swarm surrounded them and started destroying them bit by bit, part by part, devouring everything in their path. Even admiral Terix, who died while still sitting in his chair when Swam devoured his ship, could not find any solution on the weapon of mass destruction mastered by the Viricon race.

All that, while Concordance forces sat back and watched.

Admiral Shigir stood in front of some screens in her Battle Information Center hidden deep inside the giant block of the ship.
"Enemy forces eliminated in sixty percent."Morning Star reported.

"Good, continue."Shigir ordered.
"Understood, admiral."

Ship's AI then returned to destroying Chakdrik forces.

Right then, admiral got information about incoming call. She accepted it and soon, a hologram of Laconian admiral appeared before her.

"Admiral Vagner."she said.
"Admiral Shigir."Vagenr replied."I see you're doing great."

"The Swarm is still effective against everything made by you, fleshlings."she stated with smug in her voice."Thought you'd finally create something to combat it?"

"Well, after the GGW, Viricon government promised to eliminate all Swarm in their arsenal and never use it again. So the rest of the galaxy thought countermeasures will not be needed."Laconian explained.
"Government may have said that. But I'm not serving the Viricon Republic."

Smirk appeared on Vagner's face.

"Heh, though so. Continue then."

"Of course."

Hologram vanished and Shigir returned to her job.

"Morning Star?"she asked.
"Yes, captain?"ship asked back.

"How is the status of the Core Destroyer?"

"Ready to fire at any moment."

"Fire immediately."
"Acknowledged."

Ship's system immediately started working. Even deeper inside, generators went into overdrive as they started pumping power into the main weapon of the vessel, the one it was built around. Energy was flowing through the connections and soon, it reached it's goal. Weapon started powering up slowly but surely aiming towards Xindim, the capital city of Chakdrik Collective and the seat of the Matriarch.

Six beams shot from the edge of the dent in front of the ship and connected in the middle. The enormous beam soon made it's way towards the planet.

On the surface of the planet, millions of Chakdrik were taking care of their everyday businesses, unaware of what was happening high above. Cars were driving through the streets, passenger ships were leaving the city's spaceport and the city simply bustled with activity. A school trip was making it's way through the city, admiring the historical buildings and monuments built in memory of heroes and events past.

And it all ended, when enormous laser slammed into the ground, immediately evaporating hundreds of Chakdrik people, destroying buildings and slowly digging through the crust of the planet. An eerie, red glow now fell over the city, as panicked crowds started quickly running away from the beam.

In her palace, Matriarch Sidaria Novit, hearing the sound of the beam and terrified screams of the people quickly ran towards the door leading to her balcony. When she opened it, she was terrified to see what was happening. The gusts of wind started by the beam reached even to the palace and she had to grip the railing hard so she wouldn't be pushed back into the room.

After few minutes, the door to her room opened and a pair of guards ran in.

"Your Excellency!"their leader exclaimed.
"What's going on, captain?"Sidaria asked.

"Enemy fleet is in the orbit! They have a ship with themselves, definitely of Viricon design!"captain replied.
"Viricons? Why are they helping the Concordance?"

"We're gonna worry about it later! For now, we have to get you to safety! Dropship is already waiting!"
"No."

For a second, the only sound they could hear was the sound of the beam.
"What?"captain finally asked.
"I said 'no'."Sidaria repeated."I'm a Matriarch of our people. What example would I give if I left them in this situation?"
"But the danger…"
"Screw the danger! We're not leaving!"

Captain was about to say something really bad, but he gave up. He looked at the other guards.
"You heard the Matriarch."he said."We're taking her to the underground situation center. Get a move on!"

"Yes, sir!"guards replied.

"Good."Sidaria said."And contact our allies. They need to send help."

"Already on it."captain simply said.

With that, they left the room and went to the safe underground situation center under the palace. Not long after, call for help was sent.

July 4

13:25

UNSA San Antonio, en route to Chakdria

"Get a move on people!"Norrine exclaimed.

She was standing on top of an ammo crate, watching over the soldiers running around, preparing their weapons, refueling and rearming the vehicles. It's been almost two hours since the briefing they received about the attack on Chakdria. It was a shocking news to them all, although they were ready for all eventualities. Especially shocking was the footage they were shown.

A giant, block-like ship that hovered over the planet, pointing down with it's forward part. A beam was firing from the ship, aiming towards the planet. And when there was a giant ship firing a beam towards the surface of the planet, you know situation was really bad.

And it was no surprise, that SOF was tasked with getting aboard and destroying it. And for this mission, all thousand of operatives were needed due to the scale of the vessel.
"De'Tal, Shagah, watch out with those missiles!"she screamed at the two commandos carrying a missile towards a fighter.

"Sir, yes, sir!"Nashini and Shakayan replied.

"This is gonna be a tough nut to crack."Elsa said, loading her magazines with ammo.

"True that."Heley agreed, cleaning her scope.

"And considering the size of that thing?"Ves added."We will have a lot to do."
"I'm more worried that it's a Viricon ship."Ester said.

Everyone nodded. At the beginning of the war, Viricon Republic declared neutrality and closed it's borders for the foreign troops and transport. And yet, there was a Viricon-made ship trying to destroy the planet. Viricons would have a lot to explain about that one.

"Who knew that robots would try something like that?"Norrine asked, joining them."Never trust a machine."
"Or maybe this ship is not with the Viricon government?"Macy guessed.
"Who knows?"Emmy shrugged."We're gonna worry about it later."

"And what about the Swarm?"Kenya asked.
"We're gonna come up with something."Delilah said, loading her rifle."Although yes. It might be a problem."
"We're gonna see."Ester said.

Right then, the voice of captain Phil came through the PA:

"All men to battlestations! We're exiting the hyperspace in five minutes! I repeat: All men…!"

"Here we fucking go."Norrine sighed.
"Are you worried?"Elsa asked, rising an eyebrow.
"No. I just want them to finally give up and let us take care of everything."

"So do we."Ester said."Okay, let's do a briefing."
"On it."

Ester, Norrine and Delilah then climbed on top of the nearest crate. They looked at the soldiers who already noticed them and started gathering in front of them in rows. Commanders waited until everyone was in place and started talking.
"Alright, soldiers."Ester said."As you know, Concordance decided to visit Chakdria. So that's not good."
She couldn't help but notice Chakdrik members of the SOF tightening the grip on their weapons. It was about their home, the birthplace of their people after all. She knew how did they feel.
"I'll be back for you girls. Promise."she thought and continued:"Not to mention, that the enemy got some unexpected help."

Right then, Ves pressed something on her hand terminal and a holographic window appeared in the air. On it, everyone could see an enormous ship firing a beam into the planet. Soldiers started murmuring with each other.

"What you see here"Delilah continued"is a Viricon ship. We don't know what type exactly it is, but it is nothing good."
"Why are Viricons helping the Concordance?"someone asked.
"We don't know."Norrine admitted."But we're gonna find that out later. As of now, we have a task to do. And you probably already can guess, what it's gonna be."

In response, SOF operatives nodded their heads. They knew what their unit was about. If something important needed destroying, they were always sent to do it.

"Good. Allow us to explain the plan now."Norrine said.
"It is pretty simple and straightforward."Ester started."We are to infiltrate the ship and destroy it from the inside. And for this job, all of us are needed."
"Some for securing and holding the LZ, while the rest makes their way to the machine room of this behemoth."Delilah said.
"We have to cooperate and coordinate everything perfectly if we actually want to deal with something of this scale."Norrine said.

Right then, one of the operatives lifted up his hand.

"What is it?"Ester asked.
"Sirs, you don't have to worry, we will do the mission one way or another."Nashini commando said.

"We don't doubt that."Ester said.
"But what do we do once we're inside? Do we have any blueprints or maps of this thing?"

Commanders looked at each other.

"Ves?"Delilah asked.

"You don't have to worry about it."Warrior Bunny hacker said."Once we're aboard, me and other hackers will do their best to get any data we can from the ship's systems."

"Good."Ester nodded. Next, she again looked at the operatives gathered in front of them."Get ready everyone. We're about to exit the hyperspace."

"Sir, yes, sir!"soldiers replied, saluting.

With that, everyone went to their vehicles.

At the same time…

Morning Star BIC

Admiral Shigir stood in the middle of the Battle Information Center and looked at the screen in front of her. On it, she could see the progress in operations the ship was performing. And she was pretty satisfied with the results.

"Report."she ordered.
"Operation finished in 60%."Morning Star reported."Expected time until completion: one hour. If nothing interrupts the…"

Sudden silence made Shigir worry.

"Morning Star, what is it?"
"Detecting hyperspace fluctuations. Enemy fleet approaching."

"Finally."admiral thought."Give me the sensor screen."

Another screen appeared in front of the admiral, this time showing everything detected by ship's sensors. And sure enough, she saw several beeping points, which soon changed into red dots. Around sixty. Not much, but still, they managed to gather this force surprisingly quickly. But it didn't matter.

"The makeup of enemy fleet?"Shigir demanded.

"Mostly Chakdrik, but we also detected some Human ships. There is also one Tertan-made Battlecruiser. Should we deploy the Swarm?"

Shigir rubbed her metallic chin.

"No. If it's not something that actually endangers us, we're gonna let the Laconians and Varians take care of that. Inform Vagner that he has to stop them."she replied.

"Understood."

Ship's AI then sent a message to the Laconian admiral. Immediately upon receiving it, Vagner gave an order and his vessels quickly turned to face the newly arrived enemy forces. Laconian ships, together with some support from Varian fleet, numbered over fifty ships, so both forces were actually evenly matched.

Chakdrik commander in charge of the allied forces gave order to attack. Ships started opening their hangars and soon, fighters and bombers were flying through space towards the approaching Concordance fleet.

San Antonio also opened it's hangars and soon, fighters and dropships of SOF flew out and joined the fray. Their goal was simple: get aboard the enemy super ship.

"Wow."Elsa said.

"What?"Ester asked.
"Seeing this thing in real life is something else."

Ester looked towards the enormous Viricon vessel that was still a good distance away. Although that, she could easily say that it was massive. Not to mention, that the rippling, red beam firing towards the planet was an eerie sight. She didn't even want to know, how did it look from the surface.

"True."colonel said."It's terrifying."
"To all allied forces."Some voice spoke through the radio."This is general Uitiox of Chakdria Planetary Defense. Do you hear me?"
"We do, general."Chakdrik admiral in charge of their fleet said."What's the situation on the ground?"
"Relatively calm, if you exclude the giant fucking beam that's burning through the crust."

"Any enemy landing force?"

"No, they didn't land troops yet."
"Why?"
"Who am I to know? Ask the Concordance."
"Alright, sorry. What's the damage on the surface?"

"Beam hit straight into Xindim's East District, destroying it. After that, it started literally digging through the ground."
"For what reason?"
"Again?"

"Sorry. Alright, try finding the reason why are they doing this and monitor the situation. We will try and destroy that thing."
"Will you manage?"

"Of course. We also have more ships incoming soon. And a special team with try getting onto the enemy ship and destroy it."
"Understood. We count on you down here."
"Don't worry. We'll save our home."

As the conversation between the admiral and general took place, first losses already appeared on both sides. Varian Heavy Frigate, which tried to sneak onto the Human Frigate, was spotted almost immediately and before it could do anything, two Chakdrik Destroyers turned their attention towards it. Two salvos of missiles were enough to destroy the Heavy Frigate, which also destroyed several fighters and bombers flying around it when it exploded. This ship was soon followed by two Laconian Guided Missile Destroyers, which instead of hanging out in the back line, as the space warfare doctrine instructed them to, decided to charge two UNSA Heavy Cruisers. Although Laconian ships scored some hits, they were no match for the two vessels created for close quarters fire exchange. Their guns made a short work of the two Guided Missile Destroyers.

Tertan Battlecruiser found itself between two Varian Heavy Cruisers and like the two GMDs before, these two had no chance with the firepower of the Tertan vessel, which shredded them with his plasma guns. Soon, two enemy ships joined the already destroyed ones.

At the same time, fighters and bombers were also doing their assigned tasks. Although Laconian machines and Varians tried their best to stop them, allied forces were taking down more and more of them. Bombers dropped their bombs and fired their torpedoes, further inflict damage on enemy ships and although some allied craft were shot down, this didn't stop them.

Meanwhile, SOF still flew through the battlefield, coming closer and closer to their main target. While the rest of the fleet occupied the bigger and smaller ships, it was relatively easy to sneak by.

"How far?"Delilah asked in radio.

"We still have two thousand kilometers."Ester replied.
"Let's just hope nothing will interrupt this."Norrine added.
"Can't argue with that."Elsa sighed.

"Uh oh."Macy said.
"What is it?"Emmy asked.
"There are ten enemy signals approaching."Warrior Bunny said.
"Norrine…"Delilah said.
"Not my fault."major stated.

Ester sighed.
"Alright everyone. Let's protect the dropships."she said.
"Understood."Warrior Bunnies and other Fighter Infantry soldiers said.

Fighters slowed down, allowing the heavy dropships carrying the troops to surpass them, while pilots turned towards the newly approaching enemies. Against them, they had five Laconian Y-22 space superiority fighters and five Varian Man-Trey interceptors.

"They really think they can do anything to us with that?"Emmy asked."Pathetic."
"Maybe they wanted to sneak on us?"Ves guessed."And destroy the dropships?"
"There is a possibility."Ester said."But we won't contemplate that. Let's take care of them quickly and return to Norrine and the others."
"On it."everyone replied.

Pilots quickly got to work and started locking their missiles onto the targets. Soon, they fell from under their wings and made their way towards the approaching enemy machines. Seeing the enemy missiles, Laconian and Varian pilots quickly dropped flares and broke formation, although not all of them were fast enough. Soon, half of the enemy fighters were destroyed.

"That was easy."Emmy said.
"Indeed."Ester agreed."Now, let's take care of the stragglers."

With that, they hit the afterburners and started fighting the remaining five fighters. Due to the numerical advantage they had, enemy pilots had no real chances of winning. Before long, all of their fighters were disposed off and this allowed the SOF pilots to quickly return and rejoin the dropships.

"How was it?"Norrine asked.
"Pretty easy."Ester admitted.
"That's what I like to hear. But now, how do we get aboard that ship?"

Ester looked forward and on her radar. They were soon to reach their destination, so they had to find somewhere they could use to get aboard.

Finally, Ester saw a familiar sight. It was a hangar, like the one used on Human and other species ships. Which was weird, considering that Viricon fighters were usually hidden in special sections in the armor, as a part of the ship. But well, they could complain.

"I see some kind of a hangar."Ester reported."We're gonna try entering through there. Follow me."
"I love when life helps us in everything."Emmy said.
"We call it 'plot convenience'."Heley said.
"Bookworm."Emmy murmured.
"I heard that. And I'm not ashamed of reading."
"Okay, we're gonna argue later. Let's do our mission first."Delilah said.

"On it."

With thatt, all machines, including heavy dropships, hit the afterburners and turned towards the hangar.

"Incoming enemy units."Morning Star reported.

"What?"Shigir asked, genuinely surprised.

In response, the ship changed the vie on the screen. It showed the close proximity of the ship and right now, there were several enemy signals approaching it.

"How many?"admiral asked.
"A few dozen fighters and several heavy dropships. Their trajectory indicates that they are approaching hangar 1."

Shigir's eye turned from blue to red, what showed her anger. Due tot he fact that the Morning Star-class ships were supposed to be used not only by Viricons by also other races of the Holy Order. This called for need for actual hangars aboard the ships, something Viricons didn't need, as their fighters, dropsips and bombers were simple attached to the outside armor. But species such as Humans, Fez'Kilig and others needed something like that.

"Curse everyone that thought this was a good idea."she murmured.
"What was that, sir?"Morning Star asked.
"Nothing. You are to prevent their landing."

"Understood."
SOF was already close to the vessel, when suddenly, they were unpleasantly surprised. Numerous hatches opened on the surface of the Viricon ship and it wasn't hard to guess what they were.
"I think they noticed us."Kenya said.
"No. Shit."Emmy said.

Soon, missiles were fired from the launchers that just opened.
"Evasive maneuvers!"Ester ordered."Try getting to that hangar!"
"We'll do what we can."one of dropship pilots replied.

And so, the festival of evasions and dodging started, as missiles started reaching the position they were at. Heavy ropship pilots were doing true miracles, as they evaded the missiles that aimed at them. Fighters were more nimble so they had easier job. But the sheer number of the Viricon missiles was almost enough to block their way.

"How many do they have?!"an FI pilot exclaimed.

"Viricon ships have manufacturing facilities aboard."Ester replied."They will have as much of them as they have materials."

"And how much these materials do they have?"another FI pilot asked.
"On a sip this size? Who knows."
"Great."another summed.

"Alright, let's not worry about those. Let's just make it to the hangar and we'll be safe."Delilah stated.

"Easy to say, hard to do."Emmy stated.

"We have to try!"Ves exclaimed.

"Alright, let's go!"Macy said.

Machines quickly turned towards the hangar, coming closer and closer. Fighters were dropping flares to fool the missiles, occasionally protecting dropships that needed protecting. Missiles were still coming, but that wasn't gonna stop them. Not, when they were already so close to the target.

"I see the hangar entrance!"Elsa exclaimed.
"Alright everyone!"Ester exclaimed."Hard left!"

Pilots turned hard left, as they were flying perpendicular to the ship, and soon, they managed to quickly fly into the hangar protected by the force field, while missiles detonated outside to not destroy the inside of the ship.

"Enemy boarded."Morning Star reported.
"Damn it!"Shigir exclaimed."Security measures!"

"Understood."

In the hangar, dropships were slowly coming to landing, while fighters activated VTOL modes and were hovering over them as a security measure in case enemy troops suddenly entered the hangar and started attacking the disembarking SOF operatives.

But instead of soldiers, they saw five turrets lower themselves from the ceiling and aiming at the operatives.
"Shit!"Ester exclaimed."Destroy them, fast!"
"On it!"pilots replied.

They immediately turned their machines in the directions of the turrets and right before the turrets were ready to fire, fighters opened fire with their guns and after a short while, all five turrets fell on the ground as a burning pile of scrap metal. After that, when they made sure that nothing else will happen, fighters touched down too and Fighter Infantry left their cockpits to join the other operatives.

At the same time, Shigir still couldn't believe in what she had witnessed.

"How did they do that?"she asked, frustrated.

"Still collecting data."ship replied.
"Than do it faster! And inform the crew!"

"Understood."

Ester and Delilah came up to Norrine.

"That was crazy."Norrine stated.
"Can't argue with that."Delilah replied.
"Losses?"Ester asked.
"Surprisingly, nothing. Flares did their job well."major replied."And you?"

"Also none"colonel said.
"Call that lucky."Delilah stated.
"True. Now what?"

Ester took a quick glance around the hangar. It was a really spacious place. If she was correct, it could easily accommodate fifty fighters and another fifty dropships. And all that at the same time. But these numbers were not important. They had to act fast if they wanted to stop Viricons from doing anything they were trying to do. There were also SOF operatives already setting up machine guns and steel, movable covers they brought with themselves. Some even had riot shields, although she still didn't know why they insisted on bringing them.

"Alright, Norrine, Delilah."Ester said."We will split into two groups. Norrine, you and the first group will secure the hangar and protect our transports from enemy troops. Me and Delilah will lead another group towards the reactor of the ship, which we will blow up."

Right then, Ves, which was ordered by Delilah to find a place to get into the systems and together with other hackers quickly get into the Vricon systems, came up to them and showed them her hand terminal.

"We broke into their network."she said."We can now listen to their communications and we have the schematics of the ship."

"Good job, as always."Delilah said.
"Thanks."Saying that, Ves returned to the rest of the team.

Three commanders of Special Operations Force looked at each other again.
"Alright then."Norrine said."Wish you luck."
"Same to you."Ester said.
"Kick their asses."Delilah added.

Norrine laughed in response.
"That's what I do best!"

The other two shook their heads and turned to the rest of the SOF.
"Alright, people!"Ester exclaimed."Five companies on me and Delilah! The rest stays here and protects our ride!"
"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Companies and 1st Warrior Bunnies with us!"Delilah said."Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota and Lambda Companies, you have to send as many Viricons tot he scrapyard as possible!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"came the response from a thousand throats.
"Let's go!"

And with that, five hundred, half of all SOF operatives, followed Ester and Delilah, while the rest, commanded by Norrine, stayed and prepared to repel the surely incoming Viricon troops.

July 4

14:29

Corridors of Morning Star

After some time of running, SOF operatives had to slow down to a march. As it turned out, the ship was much bigger that it looked from the outside. And although Ves had the map, with which she instructed Ester and Delilah where to lead the five companies of SOF, it still seemed like they were not getting closer to their target.

"How far did we go from the hangar?"Ester asked.
"Let me check…"Ves said."Around one and a half kilometer."

"Holy shit, this thing is a beast."Nashini soldier said.
"Can't argue with that, comrade."Shakayan soldier said.
"Don't worry, we'll get to the reactor sooner or later."Ester said.
"I hope so."Chakdrik soldier said."I don't even want to think what's happening on Chakdria."

All Chakdrik operatives in the group agreed with him.
"We'll save your homeworld, you can be sure about that."Ester said."Laconians will pay for their crimes."
"Exactly."Delilah said.

"There is another corner in front of us."Ves said.

After she said that, the minimap on everyone's HUDs updated. Delilah looked at it and then gestured to Emmy with her riffle.
"Go check it."she said.
"On it."Emmy replied.

"Rear guard, cover our backs."Ester said in the radio.

"Understood."came the reply.

Emmy forced herself in front of the whole group and ran up to the corner they were seeing on the map, while on the very end of the column, several dozen operatives turned around and aimed their weapons down the corridor. This was the tactic they were using every time they came across a corner or a turn. This way, there was a low risk of a large group walking straight into a trap and they could watch what was happening behind them.

1st Warrior Bunnies second-in-command ran up to the corner and knelt just before it. She pressed side of her helmet to her RPD-6 light machine gun, and slowly, she looked around the corner, at the same aiming her weapon and waiting for her HUD to mark possible enmies.

But the computer didn't have to do it, as enemies marked their presence themselves by firing a condensed plasma at her. She quickly recoiled back, right as plasma flew past her, hitting the wall.

"Contact!"she exclaimed.

All operatives quickly got into battle readiness.
"How many did you see?"Delilah asked.
"Sorry that I couldn't look longer, but they clearly showed my head was not welcome there."Emmy grumbled.

"I got it."Ves said.

She threw something and when it landed on the ground, it turned out to be a mini drone. I turned into the corridor and Ves looked at her terminal.
"We got a straight up barricade here."Ves said."Completed with two machine guns."

"So, how do we deal with this?"someone asked.
"I have an RC mine drone."Macy said.

"What would we do without you?"Emmy said, shaking her head.
"Throw some smokes in there."

Some operatives took out their grenades and came up to the front. They threw them into the corridor and waited until they exploded, releasing the smoke they held in. Then, Macy put her RC mine drone down and drove it into the corridor. Even Viricon troops were unable to see anything through smoke, so they didn't notice the machine driving through the corridor, stopping in front of the barricade and attaching the mine to it with a pair of mechanical arms.

"Got it."Macy reported.
"Press it."

Warrior Bunny demolition expert pressed the detonation button and what they heard, was the sound of high powered explosion. When it disappeared, Ester came up to the turn, looked around the corner and activated a special filter in her helmet's visor, which allowed her to look through the smoke. She looked towards the barricade and much to her relief, she could see a large hole in the barricade.

"That did the trick."she said."Let's go."

All operatives quickly gathered themselves and started making their way through the corridor. As they made their way through the smoke, which due to the lack of air circulation, was still there, Ester turned off the filter. When she left the smoke screen, she signaled to the others to slow down and approached the barricade to check if it was safe. Nothing exploded as she came near, so it was a good sign. However, what she saw, was a couple of Viricon bodies missing large parts of them. She looked behind and pointed forward with her head.

"Do a body check."colonel ordered.
"Sir, yes, sir."some operatives behind her said.

She went through the hole and operatives quickly jumped behind her, loading several bullets into Viricon bodies. Sparks flew in all directions, but at least they made sure that none of this bodies will suddenly come to life and attack them from behind.

"Okay Ves. Continue."Ester said.
"Already ahead of you."Ves replied, already checking the plans of the ship.

SOF operatives continued their way towards the machine room.

July 4

14:38

Morning Star BIC

"What is taking so long?"Shigir asked.
"I'm trying to look through every database we have access to."the ship replied.
"Then do it faster!"admiral exclaimed."I want to know, who is in charge of these thousand fleshlings ravaging your insides!"

"This sentence could be understood in two ways by fleshlings."Morning Star noticed.

"I don't give a shit! I want to know, who is responsible for all this!"

"Underst…I found something."

Admiral made a sound similar to a sigh.

"Finally."

She looked at the screen, on which the freeze-frame from the camera in hangar appeared. It presented all the enemy assets currently in the hangar and enemy soldiers running around, setting up their defenses. But this was not the thing admiral Shigir was interested in the most. The picture zoomed to the three soldiers talking in the middle of the whole commotion. They were clearly the commanders, talking the plan. They were soon marked with white outlines and next to them, their information appeared, alongside photos.
"There are three commanders."the vessel started."First we have captain Delilah, a Falien, officer in Falmartian Armed Forces. She commands their Fighter Infantry battalion, or rather, as of now, their recruits she came here with for training on Earth. She is also accompanied by her personal squad known as 1st Warrior Bunnies."

"Interesting."admiral simply said.

"Second, we have major Norrine Bauer. There is surprisingly little information about her."
"Why?"
"There is no birthplace, not birthday and no information about her family. Only thing we know for sure is her age, her allocation to European Union Joint Military Marine Corp. She seems to have just appeared out of nowhere."

This was actually interesting. It was rare to find someone with so much blank spaces in their bio. For some reason, admiral felt, that this Human woman held some kind of secret. What secret it was, she could not know. And looking at the fierce look on her face, she could guess she was dangerous.

"She was also confirmed to posses a magical ability. She can call upon the power of fire and make it appear out of thin air."
"I heard many fleshlings got some kind of 'magical ability' after the War of Flare Prime."admiral Shigir said."So nothing special, in fact. Moving on."

"And finally, we have colonel Ester Barkhorn of EUJM."

Shigir perked up.

"She was retired from combat, but once the war with Galactic Concordance started, she came back to service and now, she serves ICTA, the UNSA intelligence service. Her battle record is actually interesting, both in Milky Way as well as in Andromeda. Even I am impressed."

"I bet you are."admiral stated.

She looked at Ester's photo.

"How about we bring our colonel for questioning, eh?"

July 4

15:06

Corridors of Morning Star

After a few more run ins with the Viricon crew of the ship, SOF operatives again picked up the pace. They were running down the corridors, breaking through to the machine room, hoping to not be too late.
"Ves, how far are we from the target?"he asked.
"Just several hundred more meters."Warrior Bunny replied.
"I hope our allies are doing well."Elsa said.
"So do I."Delilah said."But we can't be completely sure."
"From what I know, there were supposed to be allied reinforcements still on their way to the system."
"So let's hope they made it."Emmy said.
"Yeah."Kenya said.

Ester quickly looked around, making sure there was no mistake waiting for them. Fortunately, her HUD didn't show anything and she hoped, that it will stay like that for the rest of the way. This was already taking too long, so they really had to hurry if they wanted to finish their mission.

"I'm gonna scout a bit forward."Ester said.
"Just be careful."Delilah said.

Colonel picked up the pace and forced her way in front of the group. There was another corner to round and…

The force field appeared literally out of nowhere. Ester stopped right in time, otherwise, she would slam into it.

"Alright, this is a…"she said, turning around.

And when she did, she noticed another force field, right behind her. She was cut off from both ways.

"Ester, can you hear us?"Delilah asked.

"Yeah."Ester replied.

"We're gonna try getting you out of there."

"No, there is no time."Ester stated."Find some other way to get to the machine room. In the meantime, I…"
Before she could end her sentence, something unexpected happened. A large hatch slid open in the wall right next to Ester. She quickly turned in that direction and aimed her weapon. Colonel then saw a flash and her riffle was cut in half. After the first shock passed, Viricon Aer-Type Assassin Platform came into view. It was accompanied by Pol-Type Combat Platform, which quickly came up to Ester and punched her in the head with it's metal fist. Aer-Type maneuvered behind her and caught her before she fell. Then, Pol-Type grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They entered the hole in the wall, which then closed. The force field vanished soon after.

All this, while Delilah, Elsa and the others just watched, shocked.
"What the fuck was that supposed to be?!"Emmy exclaimed.
"Wish I knew."Elsa replied.

"Macy!"Delilah said."Can you blow this wall up?"

"I can try."Macy replied.

She quickly grabbed a charge from her backpack and came up to the place, where the hatch appeared and placed it.

"Everyone, stay back."she said."This is the strongest one I have."
"You heard her, back off!"Emmy ordered.

Operatives quickly backed off as far as Macy told them to. After that, she grabbed the detonator and pressed the button. Explosion covered the corridor in fire, which soon disappeared, leaving only smoke. Delilah quickly ran up to the hatch, but much to her shock, she only saw scorch marks, not even a little dent in the metal.
"Isn't that durable."Kenya noticed.

Delilah quickly turned on her radio.
"San Antonio, this is Delilah."she said.
"Hear you loud and clear, Delilah."comms officer replied."What is it?"

"Enemy has taken colonel Barkhorn into custody. We can't get to her."

There was a moment of silence, but Delilah did hear some muffled voices. Probably comms officer reporting everything to the captain and their handler. It came back few seconds later.
"Delilah, this is San Antonio, you are to continue the mission."comms officer answered.
Delilah stopped herself from screaming profanities towards the officer, although she knew, that he was just the messenger.
"Understood."she said."Delilah out."

She ended the call and looked at the others.
"We are to continue the mission."she said.
"What?"Emmy exclaimed."What about Ester? We…"
"We don't leave no one behind, I know."her commander replied."But as of now, there is nothing else that can be done."

Elsa looked at the scorched marks on the wall.
"Don't worry."Delilah said to her, noticing her worry."We will get her back. Now let's go."

With that, the whole group quickly made their way towards the machine room.

July 4

15:34

BIC

Shaking was getting really tiring. For some reason, the earthquake seemed to last forever, as much as she was aware. She just wanted to sleep soundly, when it all started and didn't want to stop. Something was really off here.

And then she remembered, that she was not on Earth, but over Chakdria.

She quickly opened her eyes and dream changed into reality. Ester looked around and saw her assailants, the two Viricon platforms. She tried to get out of the Pol-Type, but she noticed, that her hands were help together by some kind of handcuffs. And the grip of the Combat Platform was too strong.

"Let me go, you glorified toaster!"Ester exclaimed.
"No."Pol-Type simply replied.
"We don't decide what happens to you."Aer-Type said."Your fate will be decided by our commander."

"When I meet him, I will personally rip his head off!"

"It's 'her', for your information, fleshling."Pol-Type pointed out.

"See if I care!"

Right then, she felt Pol-Type's hand lifting her up. She actually got scared, that he may try and break her spine just to stop her from running. But if he wanted to do that, he would already do it. Instead, the machine gently put her on the ground. She was now laying in an uncomfortable position on her side, but still, she could see what was in front of her. She could see many screens mounted on the wall and hanging from the ceiling. Except of that, the room was pretty empty, with not much furniture in it.
"Like Viricons would care for furniture."she told herself.

"Colonel Ester Barkhorn."

Hearing this feminine sounding voice, Ester turned her eyes a bit to the right. There, she saw another type of Viricon, an Uio-Type Leader Platform. The machine turned around and looked at her with a blue, friendly eye.

"Jix, Ruden, you can go."she told the two others.

Viricons nodded their heads, turned back and walked away. When the sound of the door closing was heard, Ester was left alone with the Viricon female.

There was a period of silence between them. Finally, the Vricion broke it:
"So nice to meet you."
"Piss off."Ester growled.

Viricon gave out a sound eerily similar to a laugh.

"Fiery temper, but not as fiery as your wife."

"What did you just say?"

"Hm, I think we didn't start well."Viricon said."Let's start over. Names first. I am admiral Shigir, captain of the Morning Star. I'm honored to meet you in person, colonel."

Ester narrowed her eyes. Something was clearly off here and she didn't like it one bit. She had to get out of here.
"What do you want?"colonel asked.

Shigir didn't answer. Instead, she slowly came up to Ester and stood over her. Next, she leaned down and, much to Ester's surprise, she helped her to sit up in a straight position. She also dusted her off.

"Forgive for such a treatment, I told them to be gentle."admiral explained.
"As gentle as a machine can be?"Ester snarled."Why the fuck did you bring me here?"

"Oh, simple. I'm…kind of a fan of yours."

There was a moment of silence, as Ester tried to process this statement.

"What?"she finally asked.
"You're quite famous, you know?"Shigir replied.

"You're fucking with me."

"I lack reproductive capabilities of a fleshling, so no, I don't."
"You sure have a sense of humor."
"Thank you."
"So, care to elaborate?"

"Of course. Since I gained consciousness after the defeat of the First Unit, I was a bit…lost. Well, just like all Viricons. I tried to find someone or something, what would show me a way in this new reality. And then, one day while searching through the intergalactic net, I found an article about a particular Human. Well, more of an interview, but still."

Admiral then leaned over, looking right into Ester's eyes.

"This Human, was you."

Another moment of silence befell the BIC as Ester was thinking about what she just heard from the Viricon admiral. Yes, it was true, that once the War of Flare Prime was over, she was asked to give an interview for a local TV on what were her experiences both during the Great Galactic War, and WFP, but mostly the latter. She didn't see it as something big, just a small interview for local news service.

And now, years later, she learned, that it was read by some Viricon admiral thousands of light years away from Earth.

"And what about it?"colonel asked.

"While I was reading it, I could feel your passion about what you were talking about."Shigir explained."A passion of a soldier, who found himself in his calling. Someone, who loved what he was doing."
"How did you get that from it?"

But admiral ignored this question.

"When I read it, I finally knew what to do. I decided to continue my career. But not as a soldier of the fallen empire, though. As of now, I serve those who pay me the most."

This rung a bell.
"Wait are you a…?"

"Mercenary? Yes."

This was actually a relieving news. This meant, that the Viricon Republic did not ally itself with the Galactic Concordance. Still, the fact that a mercenary Viricon crew was in possession of such a vessel was not something to be happy about.

Ester had to come up with something, quick.
"So, now what?"she asked."You gonna just keep me as a pet?"
"Oh, of course not."admiral waved it off."There is something else I want to do."

After she said that, she reached towards her back. Ester held her breath, waiting for what was about to happen.

And then, admiral pulled a hilt from her back. She threw it to Ester. Colonel looked at it with curiosity.

"The fuck?"she asked.
"Energy blade."Shigir explained."A pretty rare weapon in Viricon space, given only to the highest ranking officials in former vassal states of the empire."

"What am I supposed to do with it?"

Right then, she felt the handcuffs locking her down unlocking. She quickly rubbed her wrists to relax them. Meanwhile, Shigir got another hilt from her back and activated a curved, hardened holographic blade.

It was at this moment that colonel understood what was going to happen soon.

"You want me to fight you with it?"Ester asked.
"Yes. I want my idol to show me her worth."admiral replied with voice that simply screamed 'wicked smile'.

Ester glanced at the hilt in front of her. It wouldn't be a surprise if she told that she knows shit about sword fighting, let alone with swords made of pure energy. When it came to her interests in military stuff as a child, she was only interested in modern, pre- and 1st Tertan War era warfare. Medieval war was far from her favorite types.

Gulping, she slowly stood up and grabbed the hilt. Finding the right button, she turned the blade on and took a stance.

"Maybe take off that helmet first?"

Ester right then noticed, that there was a substantial crack in her helmet's visor. It probably appeared there after she was punched in the face by the Pol-Type. She probably didn't notice it because she was too focused on first her attackers and then a single, swift move, she grabbed it and took it off, throwing it to the side. She had to get a new one once they're back on San Antonio.

Seeing this, Shigir's eye turned from blue to yellow and finally, to a bloody red shade. Her mechanical fingers tightened around the hilt.

"Now, let us begin."admiral Shigir said.

With that, she charged at Ester.

Colonel was surprised by just how fast was machine of this size moving. Within just a second, admiral stood before Ester, swinging down her blade. Ester quickly put her blade in up, blocking the upward strike, which made her knees bend. She barely stopped herself from falling to the ground, but she held her ground against the strike.

"This is gonna be so exciting."Shigir stated, still pushing down.
"Fuck…you…"Ester said through her teeth, pushing up.

Finding some strength, Ester forced her leg to move to the side. It meant that she had to let Shigir gain an upper hand, but this had to work. Taking a deep breath, colonel threw herself to the side, escaping from under admiral's blade. This made Shigir stagger forward, but she quickly regained her balance and turned back towards Ester.

"Clever, I have to admit."admiral said.
"See? Even a Human can outsmart a machine."Ester teased,

"But it won't help you for long."

Saying that, admiral once more charged at Ester. She made a series of quick attacks which Ester, fortunately, blocked. However, with each blow, she could feel the raw strength of her opponent. She had to do something, or soon she'll get sliced into pieces. And that wasn't a very good outcome.

"I honestly expected more of you."Shigir stated between strikes.
"Sorry to let down your expectations."Ester replied.
"Either way, before I kill you, you will be the first to witness the power of our weapon."
"What do you mean?"
Shigir laughed.
"Morning Stars' main beam is incredibly powerful. And loaded with energy. What do you think will happen when it reaches the core of Chakdria?"

And it was then, when Ester understood what was the Galactic Concordance's plan.

"You want to…!"she exclaimed.

However, she didn't finish as another blow collided with her blade.
"Soon, we will witness some great fireworks."admiral stated with venomous voice.
Hearing this, Ester could not believe in what she just heard. Immediately, images of the destruction of Terta Prime appeared in her head. She remembered the chaos it caused. The infighting between Tertans and all the atrocities committed. Not to mention the fact, that with Chakdria destroyed, Concordance forces would roll over Chakdrik space with no problem, unmaking all the effort made to push them back.

Knowing that someone was going to do exact same thing as Holy Order did to Terta Prime made her angry. VERY angry. So angry, that she didn't even feel the sudden surge of energy going through her and the fact that the pressure Shigir was putting on her was suddenly gone. She let out a scream and kicked the admiral in the middle of her metallic torso, pushing her back.

Viricon staggered backwards, clearly surprised by the strength of the kick.

"How did you…?"admiral wanted to ask, but was not given a chance to.

Ester then rushed at Shigir and started swinging her energy blade from top, left, right and bottom, with admiral doing everything she could to parry. But the sheer strength Ester was attacking with was something she did not expect. It was like suddenly she got some kind of power up or upgrade.

"How are you doing this?!"Shigir exclaimed.

Instead of answering, Ester made a series of attacks, which finally broke through Shigir's defense. Then, before admiral could react, colonel swung the blade once more and admiral could clearly feel the hardened hologram cutting through her arm. Soon, said arm, with blade it was holding, fell on the ground and Ester put her blade to Shigir's neck, ending the surprisingly short duel.

"I win."she said.
"How did you get so much strength?"admiral asked.

Ester risen an eyebrow.

"I did?"she asked.
"Don't play dumb! I was winning and suddenly, you got some…power up and did this!"

Colonel looked at the detached arm on the floor.

"Honestly, I don't know."she said.
"Are you mocking me?"

"How could I?"

Shigir was about to say something else, the door leading into the BIC were opened with an explosion. Looking in that direction, Ester saw numerous SOF operatives running in with Delilah in command. Warrior Bunny ran up to Ester and Shigir, while operatives quickly secured the area.
"Okay, what am I seeing?"Delilah asked, seeing Ester holding the admiral at a sword point.
"Wish I could tell you."Ester replied.
"Same here."Shigir added.

"By the way, good that you showed up."colonel said."Did you finish the mission?"

"Yes, we set up the charges on the main reactor."Warrior Bunny confirmed."After that, Emmy led the others back to the hangar, while I took Ves and some others to come and save you, but…"She again looked at Shigir.
"Yeah, this is weird."

"So, now what?"admiral asked."You just gonna kill me?"

"With pleasure."Ester nodded."But first…"
She pressed the blade closer to the neck.
"Call off your ship."she ordered.

Shigir started weighting her situation. No matter how she tried to look at this, it was clear that she lost. But she had to make sure.
"Morning Star?"she asked.
"Yes, admiral?"
"How is Vagner and his fleet?"

"Admiral Vagner was confirmed KIA when his vessel was destroyed by a reactor explosion, while eighty seven percent of Concordance fleet was destroyed."
"Turn off the beam. There is nothing else we can do."
"Understood."

Admiral looked back at Ester and her eye color changed back to blue.
"Happy?"she asked.
"Very."Ester replied.

And with one, swift move, she cut off admiral's head. Her robotic body then fell backwards with clamor of metal.

Ester threw away the sword and looked at Delilah.

"Don't want to keep it?"Delilah asked.
"Nah."colonel replied."But now, let's get out. I bet we don't have a lot of time?"
"Enough to escape."

"Then let's go!"

Not long after, Ester, Delilah and the operatives left the BIC.

July 4

16:01

Near the hangar

After leaving the BIC, the group met no obstacles along the way so they quickly turned towards the hangar.
"Got any news from Norrine while you set everything up?"Ester asked.
"No."Delilah replied."Let's hope everything…"

Her words were interrupted by the fact they ran into the hangar and simply froze, surprised by what they saw.

"Well, that explains it."Ester summed up.

The whole hangar looked like a battlefield. Numerous smokes rose up and sparks jumped from the destroyed Viricon bodies. Looking around, Ester noticed all kinds of Viricon bodies, from Combat Platforms to Assassin Platforms. She could also see several Viricon Highvers, two legged walkers used by the Viricons as tanks. All of them destroyed.

"At least we now know where most of the enemy forces went."Delilah said.
"Yeah."Ester agreed.

They quickly made their way to the perimeter around the dropships and fighters, from which none were destroyed, surprisingly, and saw Norrine leaning back on the dropship. She noticed them coming and waved.

"Yo."she said.
"What the…How did all this…?"Ester asked, pointing around.

"Oh, they just didn't expect our resistance to be this hard."major replied.
"Any casualties?"Delilah asked.
"Fifty wounded, nothing else."

"Great job."

"Thanks. But I think we should get out of here, shall we?"
"Yes."

Norrine looked towards the soldiers which started gathering everything.
"Okay people, move your asses! We're getting out!"she ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir!"they replied.

"Let's go."Norrine said to Ester and Delilah.

Within just five minutes, everything was taken care of and all operatives were aboard their respective machines. They turned and left the hangar, as well as the whole ship, behind. Immediately they noticed the remains of ships that surrounded the vessel previously, but now, only ships except the Viricon one were allied.

But when they were already far from the ship, on a safe distance, Ves had some bad news for them.

"Guys!"she exclaimed."I'm detecting numerous signals coming from the enemy ship!"
"There can be only one option."Ester said."The Swarm."

"Seems like your friend had one last surprise for us."Norrine said.

"Yeah."
"What do we do?"Elsa asked.
"Don't worry, I got it."Ves said confidently.

Everyone risen an eyebrow art what she said, but didn't go further into that. However, soon after, when they looked at their radars, they saw the signals of the Swarm vanish.

"Done."Ves declared.
"What did you just do?"Delilah asked.
"Oh, plans were not the only thing I stole from the ship's systems."Warrior Bunny hacker replied."I also managed to steal the control signatures of the Swarm. And while we were breaking through the ship, I was trying to work them out."

"What would we do without you?"Emmy asked.
"Exactly!"Ves laughed.

"Okay, we're gonna talk about this aboard San Antonio."Ester said."Let's go."

And with that, all SOF machines flew towards their ship. While in the meantime, the giant shape of Morning Star turned into a small star for a minute, before being completely erased from existence.

July 4

19:34

UNSA San Antonio, common room

The common room was silent, as Warrior Bunnies, Norrine and Elsa listened to what Ester was saying about her meeting with Shigir. Especially Norrine was very interested in this meeting, for some reason. And when she was done, they looked at her.

"Is that all?"Delilah asked.

"Yeah."Ester replied.

"Let me get this straight."Norrine said."She challenged you to a sword duel."
"Yes."
"She was clearly getting the upper hand."

"Yeah…?"
"And when she almost got you, she revealed that her ship's weapon was going to make Chakdria's core explode, you suddenly got all mighty and almost smashed her with your bare hands."

"I wanted to…Wait, why are you asking me…?"
Before Ester could finish, Norrine grabbed her face much to everyone's surprise. She looked her straight in the eyes, dangerously close.

"What are you doing?"Ester asked.
"I knew it."Norrine said and released her.

"Knew what?"

"You have that spark in your eyes. A spark pretty familiar to me."
"What do you mean by that?"Elsa asked.
In response, major lifted her hand and lit up her flames.
"Because I see it every time I look in the mirror."she said.

Everyone frowned, wandering what she meant by that. And then, it hit. Ester looked up at Norrine, wondering if she understood it well.

"You're saying…that I…"she said.
"You have a magic power too."major stated.

Ester looked at her hands.
"But…how? If it's true, then I would know about it. After all, everyone already manifested their powers."she said.
"Not really."Norrine said, rubbing her chin."I gained my power just five years ago, long after it was discovered that magic slipped into the Milky Way. And if you described it well enough, I would take a guess, that your power is super strength."
"This is weird…"Macy said.
"Not as weird as one might think."Heley stated.

"But why now? Why not earlier?"Ester wondered.
"Your power must have manifested due to big emotional arousal. That's how I discovered mine anyway. You got mad, you got powers."Norrine stated.
"Like Hulk."Elsa added.

"So if…if it's true…Norrine."Suddenly, Ester's voice become very firm.
"Yeah?"

"I want you to show me how to control them."

Ester waited for the response from a clearly surprised Norrine. Finally, major put her hand on Ester's arm.

"I will do my best."
"Thank you."

XXX

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