The space over Tira lit up with energy weapon fire. Powerful bolts of sapphire energy erupted from the banks of the vessel Avenger and slammed into the unshielded hull of the Aurora.

Julia and Meridina materialized on the bridge and nearly hit the floor from the violent shaking. "Raise shields!" Julia shouted while stumbling to her command chair. She buckled the safety harness immediately. "Damage report!"

"They knew where they were aiming," Jarod answered. "Primary 1 shield generator is completely offline. They severed the power lines. Hull damage in Decks 7 and 8, section B."

"Switching to backups," Tom Barnes said from Engineering.

"Returning fire!" Angel added.

The Aurora's own plasma weapons retorted. The Avenger's shields snapped back into place a moment before they struck. Blue light fizzled around the bolts and beams of the same color. "Their shields are still holding," Angel reported. "The other ships are moving to engage as well. Shenzhou is opening fire."

More fire struck the Aurora's overtaxed shields. "Shields down to eighty percent," Jarod said. "The secondaries are up, but I'm not sure how long they'll last against the Avenger's guns." The ship shuddered once more as he finished speaking. "The Drazi are moving into combat formation."

"I've got activity at the system's jump gate," Lieutenant al-Rashad said from the science station. "It looks like someone's coming through…" She turned briefly. "Drazi, sir."

"How many?"

"Fifty… no, sixty… I have seventy individual signatures now through the gate." Al-Rashad blinked. "And even more now. Not Drazi this time… recognition profiles show them as Cascor vessels. A carrier group."

Julia swallowed. "Damn," she muttered.

But there was no time to dwell on that, not with the Avenger's fire again rocking their shields. "Evasive maneuvers. I want all fighters in vacuum, now. Open tac comm links!"

As she spoke the Drazi came in, weapons firing. The remaining Drazi of the first wave were focusing their firepower on the Aurora as well, although ten broke off to engage the Shenzhou and three more were maneuvering to try and contain the Koenig. Julia watched on the tactical map, hoping that the Brakiri and Hyach would remain out of it while focusing on the immediate problem.

Locarno was pushing the Aurora into the quickest maneuvers the kilometer-long starship could manage. The Darglan drives and systems running her made her agile for her size. But the Avenger enjoyed a similar profile, if not quite as nimble, and Hawk's people had clearly honed their tactical skills since the battle at Earth C1P2. Whomever was at the helm was keeping the Avenger on the Aurora sufficiently to allow its more numerous weapons to batter the Alliance vessel. Ruby energy fire from the Drazi Sunhawks joined them, pounding away at the Aurora's deflectors on the weak side and keeping Jarod from shunting power to face the onslaught of the larger vessel.

"They're throwing everything they have at us," Jarod said. "Shields are down to fifty percent."

"Get the squadron on those Sunhawks!" ordered Julia.

"Transmitting orders now," Meridina confirmed.

"What's our tactical picture?" Shai'jhur asked as she settled into the bridge, glancing to Kaveri. She had arrived from the transporter room only a minute ago after returning from the Minbari cruiser, and had heard about the Drazi attack as she returned to the bridge on the Magaratha, or rather the attack of the Drazi and the Avenger. "Are the other League races also moving into position? If so we should hit them now."

"Yes, Warmaster. They are moving into attack formations very similar to that used by the late-war Liberation Navy, aimed at Tira and ourselves. It is beginning."

"All right, I want the Rohric Group to go in and pin the Brakiri head on. The Cascor ships arriving are trailing the Drazi and aren't a concern yet, assuming they actually even engage as opposed to just hanging back and defending their carrier. Then the Tira group sweeps around - see - rakes the Hurr and Hyach from above and then turns into the rear of the Brakiri. Their ships will be caught between two fires and unable to answer and the Hurr and Hyach can only pursue by opening the planetary surface to us, so they might well not."

"If they destroy the fleet, the planet is helpless, Warmaster. That lesson they should have well learned from the war. They will pursue. If they destroy the fleet, they are free to act."

Shai'jhur grimaced. "Then we'll pass through the Brakiri at point-blank range and detach our fighter groups to attack them as we do. That will allow us to support the Tira Group when the rest of the League squadrons pursue them, and if we carry through a very intense initial attack from catching them between two fires we can leave the fighters to finish the Brakiri."

"And we can cover them, with their weak interceptors and lack of shields. It has tactical sense to it. Huáscar has not yet launched her own fighters, we may yet have a chance, but I expect… the Avenger will likely seek to repeat the turning point of Third Balos."

"You're right, they'll concentrate on Andreys' ship, if they remove the Aurora, we can't stand against them. Well, forward the fleet! The sooner we hit the Brakiri the sooner we'll have freedom of action."

"Agreed, Warmaster." Kaveri gave her a thin flicker of a smile. To fight alongside Shai'jhur after this long is a strange feeling, if not unwelcome.

The two Dilgar forces began to accelerate and split, the unshielded Tira force moving in to attack the Hyach and Hur as they prepped and launched starfighters. The fast Centauri models they had quietly purchased, embezzled from government stocks during the low points of the Republic, outperformed everything there except for the Alliance fighters.

The Rohric force swung into range of the Brakiri, and the Brakiri opened up with their massed energy beams. But with the lead 'heavy' Pentacon of Magaratha, two Sekhmets and two Tikrits, the mixture of deflector and grav shields and interceptor grids turned the opening fire. The reply was tremendously accurate even at range, the sensors on the three lead ships were better than those of the Centauri and so were their targeting mechanisms.

Magaratha's main battery commenced fire, a blinding concentration of three Hyach spinal lasers replacing the infamous double-barreled mass driver of her half-sister Deathwalker. They tracked with their target, tearing through the armour of the lead Avioki as space blazed around them. The two battlecruisers on her flanks met her movements perfectly, engaging two more Brakiri ships with tremendous effect.

The first Brakiri ship collapsed into two pieces, drifting apart in a cloud of debris. "Shift fire!" Kaveri snapped.

Rushing in closer, their next target again was subject to that devastating power, the Brakiri ships indisposed to easily maneouvre while maintaining their own bearing on the enemy. Behind them, as Kaveri expected, the Hurrr and Hyach were breaking formation over the planet after the initial attacks by the Tira group, now maneouvring also into range with the Brakiri. But thrusting up from zero-zero relative the planet, they had a disadvantage, deep in the 'hole' of the grav well, and for a few brief minutes, Shai'jhur's sweeping envelopment came together, Brakiri ships disintegrating under the fire, hacked in two by the beams or spinning slowly off crippled.

"As we pass between them, cut thrust and rotate Y-positive to fire into their starboard flanks. We'll take their right flank and leave our guns open against the Hyach, they're the biggest threat. Full thrust until the signal is given! To Death we dedicate this day! Rohricans, choose your routes and cut the Brakiri formation!"

The atmosphere on the bridge of the Huáscar was as tense as hell as they watched the fleets begin to engage. This was one of the largest fleet battles since the Civil War to happen anywhere, hells, larger than most of those. Major Foster was sitting in his command chair, the ship still at Condition Two. He hadn't yet called stations, but now it was just a matter of time, and going from modified ZEBRA to full ZEBRA would hinder movement through the ship.

Lieutenant Reichert knew that much, and he knew how much of a problem that would be. More to the point, if they were serious about making their stand, they had simply run out of time. He wasn't going to give Sharon a choice. Choices were for situations where there were multiple equally morally valid solutions. Here, there was just one morally valid solution, and it was going to go down. Even it cost him his life.

"Reading one hundred and ten Drazi ships, Sir," the long-range sensor operator reported to Major Foster as the attack force swept in. "The Cascor and Brakiri are also moving in. Six Cascor, twenty Brakiri ships. Hyach and Hurr forces are positioning themselves to cover the surface of the planet."

"Thank you, Jimmy," Major Foster glanced around the bridge. "It's clear that our allies are facing direct hostilities from the Dilgar and the Allied Systems. We're going to act accordingly. Lieutenant Reichert?"

"Sir!" James Reichert stepped forward, his body tensed. He knew what he had to do. He knew the only way that would force them all to act.

"You are the Officer of the Watch. Sound General Quarters."

"Sound General Quarters Aye Sir," he answered, and began to turn toward the Bosun's Mate. But as he turned, he flipped up the cover on the holster of his PPG instead.

Major Foster saw it and lunged to his feet to escape the command chair. As he did, still half-crouched over in front of, it, James finished spinning toward him and drawing his gun. The PPG spat fire, and Foster's face twisted into a rictus of agony as the rounds blasted at power through his uniform and into his torso.

"All hands! All hands!" At the back of the bridge one of the former Nightwatch men was on the internal comms. "Lieutenant Reichert has just shot the commander! There is an insurrection against lawful order on the ship! Take immediate measures to secure seditionists and traitors! I repeat, our lawful comma-"

His message cut out as Reichert opened fire again, the man toppling away from his station in a burst of fire which left his head burning, blatantly dead, as a few missed pulses set consoles for the intercoms burning.

James looked up, expecting death. But when the Bosun's Mate's gun spoke, he was firing on the GROPOS at the back of the bridge. He took the unanticipated survival, at least for a moments longer, for what it was worth, and lunged to the deck. The fight was on.

Down in engineering, the declaration that Major Foster had been shot on the bridge had brought an instant halt to all effort. People stared at each other, and at the intercoms as continued communications suddenly were punctured by the sound of PPGs firing.

Sharon Farallon knew that the situation came down to her. She could either act or not act, and the thoughts of her friends, family, home, all came together. Chilè, beautiful Chiloe island, her parents were still alive…

She heard boots in the corridor outside of main engineering control. They know my politics. They won't give me a choice. She snapped into action. "All right, break open the arms locker! Move! Move! Secure the blast doors on the double!"

They slammed down just in time as she jogged over, remembering she was the one with the access, entering the combination that opened the site-locker for arms on engineering. Passing them out to her crew, there were shouts beyond the blast doors, but nothing on the ship would get through those, not short of setting off a nuke. And there were plenty of access points through the reactor.

"We're fighting for the Captain!" She announced as her people began to form in order, unaware of whose side they'd be fighting on. "We're fighting for the Captain and for Right. We're all going to stick together no matter who's side we were on last time, we're all comrades, we're all going to do this right. We're going to get up there and put Captain Varma back in command and we're going to stop Major Foster's mutiny cold, we're going to stop this genocide cold. Are you WITH ME, Huáscarenos!?"

The space around the Aurora was lit up with weapons fire from multiple sources. The great Alliance starship was being hounded on all sides by her counterpart and their Drazi allies. On the Eagle Yonatan Shaham watched this occurring on his tactical map while, on the screen, a Drazi Sunhawk was belching fire and atmosphere from the impacts of the Eagle's pulse phaser cannons. A solar torpedo from the launchers slammed into the red bulb at the rear of the Sunhawk and shattered it. The Drazi ship was out of action. "Direct hit," Rebekah reported from tactical.

The vessel shuddered under them. "Another Drazi ship on our stern, above," Othello said from Ops.

"Evasive maneuvers," Yonatan ordered.

The Eagle pulled into a tight, corkscrewing turn to throw off the Drazi ship. Ruby fire filled the space in front of them; another Drazi was engaging. "Shields holding at eighty-five percent," Othello said.

"They're cutting us off," warned Benyamin. "I'm trying to get us clear, but there are so many…"

There was one less a moment later. One of the Alakin warbirds opened up on a trailing Drazi Sunhawk. The hits damaged the unshielded Drazi ship, forcing the Sunhawk to break off its pursuit of the Eagle. Benyamin used the opening to maneuver the attack ship around one of the attacking Sunhawks, getting them out of the immediate fire zone.

"Good job, Beni," said Yonatan. "Resume attack pattern. We must keep the enemy off of the Aurora!"

The Aurora bridge was shuddering yet again as the fury of the Avenger raked their failing shields. The two ships now "above" and "below" each other, with the weapons on the ventral hull of the Avenger raking across the same arc of the Aurora. Locarno was busy twisting the ship to present their port side while return fire struck back. From "above" and to port, Drazi Sunhawks continued to fire on the Aurora as well, keeping Julia's ship pinned in and unable to shift the shield arcs to deal with the heavy fire of the Avenger.

Nearby the Dorei starbird Keyan was firing. Purple-hued plasma energies also slammed against the Avenger's shields. Drazi Sunhawks peppered the bird-like Dorei ship with energy fire that met her shields in turn. The Alakin warbird Yreep exchanged fire with another Sunhawk; the other warbird, Greepk, was taking fire from two more. The Koenig moved in and blew one apart while being pursued by three. The Gl'mulli orb ship Tu'pam zipped "upward" and poured plasma fire into a group of Sunhawks moving in an attack vector against the Aurora. One burst apart and its compatriots broke away, simply to fly into the guns of the Eagle as they opened up. It lost a wing to the fire of the attack ship.

"The Dilgar are fully engaged with the Brakiri and Hyach," Meridina noted.

"Then I hope they take them out in time." Julia winced as the ship rocked again, throwing her against her harness. "How bad?"

"Shields are dropping below thirty percent," Jarod warned.

"All tertiaries are online now," Barnes added. "We can't reinforce the shields any more."

"If you can get me clear of the Drazi, I can try to direct shields against the Avenger," Jarod said.

"That's what I'm trying," Locarno said. "But there's too many."

Despite their own worsening situation, Julia's thoughts went in another direction. "What about our Marines?" she asked. "What's their situation?"

Meridina was quick to connect to them. A moment later Anders' voice came over the comms. "Anders here."

"What's your status, Major?"

The answer was clear when she heard the burst of pulse fire in the background. "We're holding," was all he said.

Cat looked up from the assembly of the material scanner she and Tra'dur had nearly finished. Below, at the ground level, she could hear the sounds of gunfire. She glanced about on the roof to see the reactions of the others. Lieutenant Pete Lindstrom was already looking her way with a grim expression. "You're hearing it right," he said. "Mass effect firearms and pulse fire. They're attacking us."

"I do not think they would attack us if their fleet was not also attacking," Tra'dur mordantly observed.

"Oh, they have," Lindstrom said. "Already got the confirmation. Hold tight, ladies, and finish your work quickly. Out here we're exposed."

"We're pretty much done," said Cat. She turned to the assembly and activated it. With her omnitool she was able to direct the delicate sensor. The quiet whirring of a motor within sounded. The tip, blinking green, turned until it faced toward the barrage gates in the distance. Cat brought up a screen showing the direct target of the sensor and shifted it toward the intakes on the filtration systems. "Have anything?"

"I am picking up traces," Tra'dur confirmed, looking on a results screen beside the device. "But the sensor must get a stronger signal to accurately resolve it."

"Continuing to shift…"

Their work might have continued in silence if not for the other development. Ensign Reubens called out to Lindstrom, "Sir, from the northeast!"

Lindstrom, not a small man himself, turned in the direction that his broad-shouldered engineering-rate officer called out. He could make out the form of the attack craft as it drew closer. "Take cover!" he shouted to the others. He found a spot behind one of the climate control units for the building and knelt there.

The crimson-tinted craft drew close enough that they could make it out as a Brakiri-built troop craft. A side-mounted particle weapon was its main armament. It's role was to deploy troops from the air, which in this case meant dropping them right on the roof with the security team. Lindstrom and his people opened up with their pulse rifles as the vehicle swooped in. Its hardened armor skin absorbed the shots from their weapons. The powerful pulse cannon of the side mount returned fire, spraying the rooftop with orange bolts that kept everyone in cover. Cat and Tra'dur had to abandon their place by the sensor assembly they'd built to avoid the incoming fire. Cat immediately transferred the sensor output to her omnitool and kept working. "I'm getting data," she said. "There's a chemical trace that doesn't fit our data on the planet or the gates."

"Let me see."

"Whatever you do, stay down!" Lindstrom shouted. He rose just enough to look over the climate unit. The assault craft was stopping just inside the edge of the roof. Armed Brakiri mercenaries started to jump off. Lindstrom raised his rifle and sprayed fire in that direction. He had to stop and go prone when the heavy gun turned his way. More fire from the rest of his team converged on the Brakiri troops. One lucky shot caught a Brakiri in the chest and dropped her. But no one could get anything but snapshots off with the speed in which the side gunner brought his weapon to bear. Thanks to his cover fire the Brakiri soon held a portion of the roof.

"Lindstrom to Anders. We need heavy support on the roof," said Lindstrom.

"We're a little occupied down here, Lieutenant," was the reply. "I can't get anyone up to you yet."

"Get someone soon if you don't want to give the Brakiri control of the roof," Lindstrom replied, frowning. What was going on down there?

The Dilgar of Tira built their cloning centers as semi-public places, where the colonists would come and interact with the personnel responsible for growing the new infants from the provided genetic stock of the colony. The front door led to an open foyer of two storey height where the colonists, pleased or not, would be directed to the doctors and other personnel that would match them to the children that their government mandated them to raise, and to seek medical assistance with the same. Of course, the building followed Dilgar standard public architect styles which made it essentially a heavily reinforced blockhouse within the limits of the materials from which it had been constructed.

Anders, now wearing a standard field power armor suit, was on the second floor of the foyer, watching his Marines pour their fire into the crimson-clad Krogan and Vorcha streaming through the front entrance. These weren't normal foes either; both species were incredibly resilient physiologically, with biological redundancies and healing that approached active regeneration. A number had already made it to the first area of extensive cover, a set of brass models depicting an ideal Dilgar family of two adults and numerous children playing around them.

Anders smiled thinly at that. He'd been hoping attackers would try that. "Everyone ready," he said into his command line. "Standby…"

He waited until the number of enemy troops using the stand and sculpture as cover was plentiful. Any moment they would attempt a charge toward the corridors and entrances that would carry them deep into the structure. It was only as they began to move that Anders spoke again into his comms. "Blow it."

The explosives that his Marines had hidden, at his direction, started to go off. They utterly destroyed the Dilgar sculptures - no loss there, as far as Anders was concerned, ugly things that they were - and the stand that they'd been built upon. In the process they turned the same into shards of metal and debris that further wounded the attacking mercenaries caught in the repeated blasts. By the time the last explosion cleared, they had killed at least a dozen enemy combatants and wounded more.

Furthermore, they had - as planned - removed that big piece of cover. The frontal assault of the mercs would now have to go through the killing zone of his Marines. Anders fully expected them to try, if only to keep him from diverting troops to the other entrances or the roof.

The roof was worrying him. He would have to get troops up there, and soon. But right now, he needed his fire teams here and at the other entrances. Lindstrom and his security team would just have to hold down a bit longer.

Anders took the time to contact the other buildings, starting with Lieutenant Sanger over in the clone warehouse where they'd started this whole thing. While he was physically here, his responsibility included every Alliance shooter in the colony, Marine and security, and he had to make sure they were all holding.

Meanwhile, confirmation came. The mercs were hitting the rear entrance too.

The rear entrance was more of a dock than anything, a place for the Dilgar to deliver heavy equipment to support their repopulation efforts. Now it was being assaulted by the native E5B1 mercs, primarily Human and more Brakiri. They came through the wall by blasting charge and were met by fire from armored Marines.

That alone was bad enough, but at least it was something they were used to.

Lucy Lucero? She was something they weren't used to.

They'd made it just past the bays when Lucy dropped down from the framework above. Her lightsaber flashed to life with a snap-hiss, buzzing loudly in the air as she brought it down on the PPG rifle of a Human merc.. The merc, another woman with the same light brown complexion as Lucy, gave out a cry of surprise at the blade that cleanly removed her hand and half of her arm while slicing her weapon in two. Lucy twirled and nailed her with a kick that sent her flying.

In her blue robes over purple body armor, Lucy was very distinct from the conventional dark color of the Marines supporting her. That brought attention. And weapons fire. Lucy's weapon became a blur, a solid line of blue tracing through the air and reflecting PPG bursts and other fire back into her foes. They fell, wounded and surprised, still firing as trained and only adding to their troubles by doing so. A Brakiri man tried to catch her from behind with a bayonet. She deftly avoided the blade and retaliated with an upward cut that removed his left arm.

With the weight of numbers showing, Lucy gathered her will in. When she let it out, it was in a wave of force emanating in all directions from her. Merc after merc was thrown back, smashing into the walls or the remaining bay doors with a loud clatter and loud groans. Lucy drew in the power and lashed out with it again. Mercs coming up to the bay doors went flying back out of them. Those who didn't were gunned down by the Marines in prepared defensive positions behind her.

Despite their clear advantage here, Lucy didn't feel any triumph. She already sensed the danger. Above her, and elsewhere in the building.

"They're getting inside," she said into the tactical channel, her lightsaber buzzing while intercepting more fire.

"Hold as best as you can. I've got people watching the structural points. We'll hit any team hard if they manage to get there."

"Right." I should be on the roof, protecting Cat, was Lucy's mental response. But she was needed here for the moment. She had to hope that Lindstrom was keeping Cat safe.

The order to attack found Wrex and Drack while they were sitting in the barracks area several buildings down from the cloning facility that was their target. Tral assigned them to a group heading through a side entrance to the structure while the other entrances were hit with full frontal attacks. With a platoon of Krogan and some of the Brakiri and Human mercs as support, they approached the door. Wrex held up a hand and motioned with it. A Human with a speciality omnitool stepped up to the door. "No need for a breaching charge," he said. "I can override."

"Hrm." Wrex didn't like the sound of that, but he did nothing to keep the merc from continuing to work. He wasn't about to let this apparent gift go unquestioned. He'd heard too many good things about the Alliance Marines.

"There, see? Easy-peasy," said the tan-complexioned Human. He hefted a PPG rifle. And went into the door. Others moved to follow. "Stupid Systemers think they're so much smarter than us, I'm going to enjoy shoving my…"

A pulse blast from the far side of the entrance struck the hacker in the head. With his brain flash-fried he died instantly. Wrex called out, "Take cover!" and did the same. He reached for his Claymore shotgun while Drack, moving up to the door, sprayed fire toward the Alliance troops with his M8 Avenger.

Wrex shifted, looking to take a shot toward their assailant, but the angle was no good. He had to wait until he had a better opening to make his move.

Drack took cover beside the interior door as well, barely avoiding the responding pulse fire. He glanced to the mercs remaining outside and frowned. "Get your asses in here," he demanded. "You know the plan. We keep going."

For a moment it wasn't clear if they would respond to Drack's order. Then the Krogan moved, coming through the door while Drack laid covering fire. Wrex helped where he could, getting a shot off that took down one of the Alliance troops firing at them.

"Screw this." Wrex turned away from the door and to the wall. "Stand clear!" As soon as he was sure the others had done so, Wrex focused until dark matter surged around him With the assistance of his biotic power, Wrex rushed forward and slammed into the wall. The material gave way before the power of a Krogan Battlemaster. Wrex stomped into the next room over, a supply room of technical gear, and hit the opposing wall with enough force to go through it as well. He stopped in the middle of a corridor of brown coloring with white floors. "This way," he said to the others.

In orbit over Tira the desperate fight continued. The Aurora twisted and turned, her failing shields enduring the wrath of her counterpart. The Avenger's pulse plasma cannons raked across the Aurora's port side as she maneuvered. From the starboard, several Drazi ships commenced another attack run. Multiple beams of sapphire energy from the Aurora lashed out at them. One faltered, trailing flame and debris from its wounds, leaving the others to pepper the Aurora with ruby light.

On the bridge Julia was watching the tactical display with frustration. The Dilgar were still fully engaged with the Brakiri and the other ISA races in the battle. Rather than go after them, the Drazi were focused on the Aurora. Even with over twenty of their number destroyed or crippled, they kept coming. With their numbers, they were overwhelming the other Alliance ships trying to help.

"Shields are below ten percent, cohesion is failing," Jarod warned. "We're taking significant bleedthrough damage to the hull armor. Major hull breaches have formed on Decks 6, 8, 12, 18, and 25."

"Armor self-repair systems are operating at full capacity," Barnes added.

"You can't get us any more shield power?"

"There's nothing left, dammit," Barnes protested.

"Avenger shields down to thirty percent," Angel said. "Maybe we should take a page from their playbook. Get the other ships to focus entirely on them!"

"Then the Drazi get to pick us off one by one," Julia replied. Looking at the map gave her an idea. "Locarno, full impulse, break away from orbit."

"Aye ma'am."

"The Drazi may turn their attention to the planet," Meridina warned her.

"They want us gone first," Julia said. "But don't worry, I'm not leaving just yet."

The Aurora broke away while red and blue energy played over her azure hull. The Avenger turned to give chase with a number of Drazi ships trailing. As Julia had anticipated (and hoped) the Drazi were more interested in defeating the Aurora than they were in performing their bombardment now.

On the tactical display Julia watched the growing distance with the Avenger. They were still taking fire - the Drazi were numerous enough that they were moving through another section off their force - but were at least taking less of a pounding on most of their arcs. "Get ready to put shields forward," Julia warned. "Mister Locarno, at my mark, a one hundred eighty degree turn, as quickly as you can."

"It won't be on the dime, but I might manage a nickel," Locarno replied confidently.

"Anything less than a penny and I'll have to be disappointed," Julia replied.

"A penny then…"

"Ready… ready…" The ship shuddered again. Their shields were virtually gone. "Mark."

Locarno used every trick in the book. He fired thrusters, he shifted engine priority on the fly. And with his expert hand, the Starship Aurora made a snap turn in space with surprising speed. Suddenly they were facing their attackers head on.

"Full impulse," Julia ordered. "Right at them. All shields forward!"

"Chicken?" Locarno asked, already enacting the order.

"Close," Julia confirmed with a nod. "Break topwise on my order. Tactical, everything you've got, on the Avenger, same mark. Mister Jarod, set the tractor beam to repulsion and hit that Drazi in the middle with it."

"Right."

At the distance and speed, there were only ten seconds to go. The Avenger's crew apparently saw this as a challenge. Their weapons continued to blaze at the Aurora, battering her forward shields.

At the appointed moment, Julia gave the word. "Mark."

The Aurora's bow weapons and torpedo launchers erupted in fury at the Avenger even as Locarno maneuvered the ship "upward" to avoid a collision. The Avenger's shields held against the barrage with effort.

Then the tractor beam lashed out and struck the Drazi ship. Because of the angles it drove the Drazi "down" into the Avenger. Neither of their foes could react in time to prevent the resulting collision. Due to the energy of the Drazi ship in motion the Avenger's shields failed to hold it back. The Drazi ship went to pieces from the strength of the impact. The same impact ripped a hole in the larger ship's hull. Systems damage knocked out power in the entire area.

Nevertheless the Avenger refused to quit. Wounded and angry, she came about with the remaining Drazi and resumed her attack on the Aurora. "Torpedoes!" Angel cried in warning, noticing the other ship firing a full spread.

"Evade!"

"Trying!"

Locarno did try. The Aurora maneuvered to evade the incoming weapons fire. Her interceptors fired at the trailing sparks of blue-white light.

But it wasn't enough. The ship shuddered violently, badly enough that Julia felt like her harness might break.

Even before Jarod reported the result, she could already guess it. "We just lost a secondary shield generator and one of the tertiary ones." He looked back at her with a grimace. "Our shields are gone."

In the rear docks of the Dilgar cloning facility, Lucy's lightsaber continued to move in a sapphire blur. Plasma and particle blasts from the mercenaries were tapering off. The mercs were learning that volume of fire was just increasing the amount of fire Lucy deflected back at them. Their tactics now seemed to be firing from cover, as if to wear her down.

More than wear her down. Buy time.

And then Lucy sensed it. She felt the twistiness in space that always came when a biotic field was being generated nearby. It had a feel like nothing a life force wielder ever had. She fell back toward the other Marines. "Anders, they're in the building!"

"Yeah. Turns out they've got a Krogan Battlemaster. He brought a unit in the side door and knocked down a pair of walls to get around Charlie Squad's defensive position." Major Anders' reply was firm and to the point. "They're slacking up here, but not enough that I can detach everyone. And Lindstrom needs help on the roof."

"They're doing the same back here. Just enough to make sure we can't leave." Lucy fell back into cover and dropped to a knee. Her lightsaber disengaged with another snap-hiss of electronic noise. From her position she was able to make eye contact with Sergeant Coleman, the senior Marine at the spot. "Coleman, can you hold?"

"I think so!" he shouted back. He checked the charge clip on his pulse rifle. "We've got a heavy armor team if it gets hairy! You should go help Charlie Team stop that third group!"

Lucy almost agreed. But she took the moment to focus. She let the energy within her guide her thoughts. What was the best way to do this?

Immediately she knew where she needed to be. "I'll get to them when I can, but we've got another problem. Hold here while I handle it!"

Coleman didn't question her, even if he didn't particularly like the feeling that she was overriding his judgement. He'd heard enough to trust Lucy's instincts. "Good luck!" was all he said.

Lucy nodded in reply and fell back from the dock area.

Wrex's group managed to get halfway through the building before the Alliance troops finally caught up with them. A firing team of armored Alliance Marines met them at a waiting area filled with seating for civilians and a desk. A Marine popped up from the latter and fired off a quick shot. Wrex's biotic field took the hit without failing, buying him time to duck back into a corridor. More pulse fire came. "Looks like they've got something here to defend."

"One of the structural points. And the cloning tank rooms," said one of the Human mercs behind them.

"Right." Wrex looked toward Drack. "Cover me."

The older Krogan nodded and hefted his assault rifle into a firing ready position.

Wrex went out first, biotic field raised and shotgun at the ready. The moment the Alliance Marine popped into view his Claymore roared. The most powerful shotgun in the Multiverse proved its worth yet again. Armor yielded to its power and blood shot from the resulting holes. The Marine toppled back behind the desk.

Others rose to open fire on him and were met by a hail of fire from Drack. Drack moved into the room as well, his assault rifle blazing. The suppressive fire sent the Marines down for a few critical seconds, long enough for Wrex to close the distance on the desk. With a loud roar and a burst of both muscle and biotic power, Wrex knocked the desk clean off of its foundation and threw it backward. The soldiers behind the desk were already scrambling backward. "Fall back!" one shouted, guiding the other toward a nearby door. Fire from behind Wrex converged on them. One of the Marines went down to a leg wound. His buddy squeezed a shot off in the direction of the mercs shooting at him. He glanced toward Wrex, who remained with his biotic field up, doing nothing. The Marines got their wounded man out before more fire converged.

"So, we're here," Wrex said. "This is one of the points for the explosives, right?"

"Main support pillar, near the clone tanks," Drack confirmed.

"Then you know what to do," Wrex said, looking toward a Brakiri. "Get the charges set. We hold here."

The dreadful silence of isolation in Zhengli's cell was abruptly broken by the sound of a PPG rifle cycling outside and shouting, some of it confused and incoherent. There was another period of silence, and then sobbing and a shuffle of a body. Footfalls reached the door, and a moment later the cell opened.

Standing in front of Zhengli was Elia Saumarez, a trace of blood dripping from her nose and a sheet-white expression on her face. She had one PPG rifle in her hands and one slung over her shoulder, and without even speaking she thrust the one in her hands to Zhengli.

"Thank you, Miss Saumarez. Link?" She needed information, trying to retake control of her ship, as she checked the rifle and held it at a low ready, adrenaline surging. "Let us get our destroyer back."

"Of course, Captain," she added a commlink a moment later, trembling a bit, but locking and checking her second PPG. On the ground in front of them one of the security personnel was shaking in place like he was having a seizure, crying and staring at the wall. Elia stiffly avoided looking at him.

"Come on." She tapped the link; "All hands, this is Captain Varma! I am retaking command of this ship! This mutiny must end! Lay down your arms and I shall call for clemency!" She glanced to the telepath. "Let us be going, they may trace that transmission. We need to take the bridge, and quickly."

"Captain, I'm not sure what's going on there, but this started," she stuttered and then spoke clearly, following at her side past the other dead bodies, "when Lieutenant Reichert shot Major Foster on the bridge. I'm not sure anyone is actually in charge there. Afterwards, Commander Farallon had her engineering crew start shooting at some of Foster's people who came to arrest her, and that's when she told me I was the only one in place to break you out. Foster sent Lieutenant Goodman to the Minbari cruiser and he's still trapped over there."

"Then we need the bridge or the main computer core, Foster should not have been able to lock me out of the systems yet. Most of the crew will be uncertain, and momentum in this sort of morale environment counts for a great deal." Zhengli had exploded into motion, and showed not a hint of hesitation as she moved forward. Saumarez could feel the swirl of emotion within her, but not a hint showed in her posture.

"Right, Captain! Main computer core is closer. If we're lucky we'll…." She brought her gun up. "Someone coming," she hissed softly.

Zhengli gave a single sharp nod, and slipped into cover. This is reminding me far too much of a Brown Sector sweep. Saumarez, nod if they have hostile intent.

Mercifully, she didn't nod. A woman rounded the corner-it was the security guard from two days before. Corporal Watters. She jerked up to a halt, four other guards at her back. "Captain, ma'am! We're for you!"

"To Computer Central then, and quickly! Let us take our ship back, Huáscarenos!"

"Come on, Huáscarenos! We'll do it together!" It was a stunning sentiment to hear from the lips of a Psi Corps officer, and she jogged out to take the lead, screening the others with all of her senses, as no military telepath was supposed to do. But for all of them, there was no turning back.

"You heard the woman, let's get moving!" Zhengli accepted it, as her mind calmed and focused. Victory or death, now, and I have to see all of mine through it.

On the roof Cat and Tra'dur were busy examining the sensor's data while Lindstrom and his security team fought the Brakiri mercs. Every few moments the big gun on the troop gunship would rake across the roof, forcing them to duck even further as bits and pieces of metal were shaved away by near hits. "Can't we do something about that?" Cat shouted.

"We don't have the hardware," Lindstrom replied. "We need the Marines up here, and they can't come right now!"

"Then what we are supposed to do?" asked Cat. "They're not stopping."

Lindstrom almost barked that he didn't need to hear that, but he didn't. He spotted one of the Brakiri mercs about to overrun Reubens' position and opened fire on the merc. The Brakiri ducked back into cover. Lindstrom nearly lost his head when the mercs' transport gunship raked its anti-infantry support weapon right over his cover. "Major Anders, we're not going to hold out much longer," he warned.

"You don't have a choice, Lieutenant. I've already got an enemy team inside our defense perimeter and the other sides pressed. I don't have reinforcements for you. If you have to, retreat from the roof."

Lindstrom looked to the roof entrance door. It was in the open, at an angle where the Brakiri ship could easily mow them down. "I don't think that's an option…"

The door flew open. Lindstrom watched Lucy Lucero storm through it, blue robe trailing, her weapon shining in the air. "Get down!" he shouted. "You're…"

It was too late. The dropship gunner was opening fire.

Lucy seemed to see it coming. Her weapon was a blur. The energy fire that could have killed Lindstrom or any of his people was knocked away upon impact with the blue blade. The other Brakiri mercs went for cover as their own ship's weapon fire was now threatening them.

Lucy's hand came up in a motion. There was a distant thump, a cry of surprise, and the fire suddenly stopped. Lindstrom glanced around the corner just long enough to see the gun was unmanned. "We're clear!" he shouted. "Secure the roof!"

The security team left cover only under the protection of each other. The mercs, deprived of their fire support, cut off from their transport a moment later when Lucy rushed into it, could only fire shots where possible at foes who were quickly flanking them. One by one they went down to stun blasts. Lindstrom finished off the last and immediately turned to his charges. "Are you okay?" he asked the geeks.

"We're okay," Caterina confirmed. Tra'dur had simply continued to work with a kind of single-minded sangfroid.

On the gunship, Lucy was standing behind the pilot, lightsaber up. "You're flying for us now, got it?" she asked. "And this way, you may actually avoid charges for abetting a genocide. That sounds good, doesn't it?"

The pilot dared do nothing but nod.

"I thought so." Lucy smiled sweetly at him before glancing back to Lindstrom and the others. "We have a ride, if you have a plan."

Cat and Tra'dur exchanged glances before getting right back to work.

In his post at the front entrance, Anders listened to Sergeant Coleman and sighed. He'd fully intended for Lucero to go after the Krogan Battlemaster and the group that got inside his building. But she was on the roof instead, and he was short of options.

"Perez, Janyam, Patel, you're with me," he said. "We've got to stop that team that got inside."

His choices all looked his way. Like Anders, Sergeant Janyam was in normal Marine infantry armor. The Gersallian man had a tanned complexion with dark eyes and hair. A family emblem of sorts was on the necklace with his physical dogtags. Corporals Perez and Patel, however, were in heavy infantry armor. Taking them from the front was a gamble, but with a Krogan Battlemaster in the building, Anders needed the firepower. There were plenty of reports in the Corps about the Krogan Battlemasters. Biotic powerhouses that were some of the most dangerous individuals of the M4P2 universe.

"We're with you, Major," Sergeant Janyam said.

Wrex supervised the charge being set with an increasing feeling that things were going bad. It wasn't just the flow of the fighting. The attacks at the front and rear were completely stopped. The force hitting the roof screamed something about a Human woman with an energy blade and stopped transmitting - presumably the same woman that the rear attack group had claimed was knocking them around earlier. The odds were good that the other guys were on the way.

No. It was something more than that. This job was about to go sour.

Then he heard the shattering of glass.

Wrex scowled. "Mind staying with him?" he asked Drack.

Drack nodded and hefted his rifle. Wrex returned his Vindicator to the mounting port on the back of his armor and stomped toward the sound. It was coming again, and again, followed by wet, meaty thumps.

He turned the corner of the gray halls into a room filled with monitors. Some were now going blank. But Wrex wasn't looking at the monitors.

He was looking at the little bodies now littering the floor. The smashed ruins of a generation being grown in this building. Even now a pair of Brakiri were stomping on the dying little Dilgar. At another tank a Krogan in Blood Pack armor was laughing in the moment before he smashed his armored head into another tank. Fluid drained out through the crack, pulling the little form inside with it. He immediately smashed the infant with his boot.

Something in his expression gained the attention of the Brakiri merc officer who followed his unit in. The dark-eyed Brakiri smiled at him. "Don't mind us," he said. "We're just doing a little follow-up work. The last team to hold the building only got around to removing half of the Dilgar clones. We're taking care of the rest."

"Then what's the point of the bomb?" Wrex asked.

"Oh, the bomb will finish them off." A savage gleam appeared in the Brakiri's eye. "But just in case it doesn't go off, removing a few more Dilgar from existence will make this worth something."

Wrex growled at that. "You're enjoying this," he accused the man.

At that the Brakiri laughed. "Of course I am. The Dilgar are animals. The entire species is a cosmic mistake, a nightmare that we're putting an end to. Did you know they did the same thing to our children. They did worse. Because that's what the Dilgar are. Vicious, bloodthirsty killers, every one of them." Hearing the growl in Wrex's throat, the Brakiri rolled his eyes. "Oh please, don't give me a moral lecture. You knew it was coming to this, mercenary. Did you think that bomb wouldn't blow these tanks apart? You're just as responsible for this as we are. That's what we're paying you for, after all. To help us rid the galaxy of the Dilgar once and for all. Just stick it out like a good mercenary and you'll get your money, then you can go back to that ruin of a planet you Krogan come from and continue to die out."

The words struck home. Wrex had, indeed, been ignoring what this mission meant. He'd done what he always did, focusing on the mission at hand. What the client did with his work was the client's business, so long as he got paid. That's what it took to survive now. Nothing changed that. It was galling to think that, for all of the reservations he'd stated to Drack, he'd still ultimately fallen in line like a good little merc. He'd become just another Krogan mercenary fighting for a chance to fight.

His red eyes wandered over to another shattered tank. A little Dilgar baby, this one fully grown and ready to be decanted, was ripped from the tank by an over-eager merc. For a brief moment, just a brief one, Wrex thought he could hear a cry come from the infant. If there was one, it was drowned out when another merc buried a fireax into the infant's head. A spray of dark blood came out through the thin baby fur.

Wrex closed his eyes to escape the image. But the image didn't go away. Instead his mind betrayed him. It twisted the image lingering there. The slaughter remained the same. The baby let out a cry before the ax came down and silenced the little life forever.

But now the baby wasn't a Dilgar. It was a Krogan infant that the mercs were slaughtering. All around him were the broken, ruined bodies of little Krogan babies, to join a thousand years worth of Krogan infants that the genophage had slaughtered in their mothers' eggs.

That forced Wrex to open his eyes. He looked over the room again.

"Now return to your post, Urdnot," the Brakiri officer demanded. "Leave us to our work, since you clearly have no stomach for it."

For a single, dangerous moment, Wrex simply looked at the Brakiri while thoughts filled his head.

"I gave you an order, Krogan." Now the Brakiri was frowning. And the other mercs were starting to notice. "What are you still doing here? Have you suddenly gone mute?"

The scowl disappeared from Wrex's face. "Ah, what the hell," he muttered, sounding defeated.

The Brakiri smiled.

The smile was still on his face when Wrex pulled his shotgun out from the small of his back. Indeed, it was only beginning to fade from confusion in the moment before Wrex's finger found the trigger.

The Brakiri's head exploded.

For a single stunned moment the other mercs didn't know what to do. Wrex used that moment to bring the Claymore over and fire it at the nearest merc. The torso of the Brakiri merc was nearly blown completely out by the blast. He fired again, killing the merc's buddy as he started to move, before he took cover behind a shattered tank. A moment later particle weapon fire from the various mercs converted on his location.

More than that, a loud roar filled the room. The Blood Pack Krogan didn't know what was going on, but had apparently decided Wrex was his enemy anyway. He charged toward Wrex's cover. Wrex figured what was about to happen. He'd already swapped to his Vindicator rifle and rolled back out of cover. A biotic field absorbed the incoming fire in the critical moment he needed to squeeze the trigger. With a loud series of shots Wrex hit one merc in the head and another in the gut. With only two mercs left in the tank chamber besides the Blood Pack Krogan, the odds had improved. They were still bad, but they'd improved.

Wrex had only one option to avoid incoming fire. He turned to the raging Blood Pack Krogan and charged him. The Krogan met his charge and the two went flying into the wall with enough force to smash an indention into it. Releasing his Vindicator rifle and letting it hit the ground, Wrex grabbed the Krogan and turned him toward his allies. This left him open to a vicious punch from his opponent. It was a good punch, too, but Wrex knew how to take them. He let go of the Krogan and threw his own. But his punch was backed by a burst of biotic power. The Blood Pack Krogan went flying back into another of the shattered tanks. He might not have fallen if not for losing his footing in the blood of the same Dilgar infants he had helped to slaughter. The Blood Pack Krogan did finally fall backward into the clone tank. Without time to pick up his rifle, Wrex brought his shotgun back out and shot the Krogan in the face.

Or rather, tried to. His shot did manage to rip chunks of flesh from the Blood Pack Krogan's head, but it was off given the particle blast that hit his arm and threw his aim. Wrex grunted and pulled back toward the wall, trying to get a measure of cover. It took a lot of effort to force his biotic field back to strength. By the time he finished and got the shotgun up to face the approaching mercs, they were already shooting at him. Orange energy pulses battered his biotic field back down.

The Claymore in his hands roared. The shot blew the guts out of one of the two mercs. Wrex swung the Claymore over slightly to shoot the other one.

But nothing happened.

Steam rose from the Claymore. It was overheated at the moment. It wouldn't fire again until the internal systems marked that it was safe to do so. That was likely seconds away.

More than enough time for the merc's next shot to get through the biotic field, and likely find Wrex's head.

Gunfire rang out. Another shotgun. The merc's arm was nearly stripped to the bone by the blast. His weapon dropped to the ground and he did a moment later.

Wrex looked over to the door. Drack stepped in with his shotgun raised. He swept the room once before lowering the weapon and walking over to Wrex. "Nice job, whelp," he said while Wrex stood up. "I was wondering when you'd make a move."

Wrex barked a laugh at the older Krogan. "So you're okay with this? I just wrecked our contract, and both sides will be after us now."

"Been there. Done that."

"Heh. Yeah." Wrex looked to the door. "We'd better stop the bomb."

"Already did," Drack answered. "The moment I heard the first shot, I put the bomb tech down."

"Dead?"

"Probably wishes he was."

Wrex nodded in approval. His eyes went over to the clone tanks. The broken ones, and the intact ones. "This could be us," he said. "Can't you see it? We could use something like this to get around the genophage. And you know the damned Turians and Salarians would try something like this if we did."

"The Salarians would just bomb it from orbit and claim it was a rogue asteroid," Drack said.

"Yeah." Wrex stepped toward the door. "So, let's think…"

A loud roar filled the air. Both turned in time to get bowled over by the Blood Pack Krogan Wrex had shot. Even with half of his face a bloody mess, the Krogan was alive. Alive… and in the grips of a blood rage. Drack brought his shotgun back over and took a shot that blew chunks of flesh from the Krogan's arm. Heedless to the damage, the Krogan punched the old veteran hard enough to stagger him, then used his good arm to pull the shotgun away.

Wrex slammed into the Krogan from behind. The Krogan roared and spun. It wasn't thinking tactically, but its move nevertheless worked to send Wrex on and into another broken clone tank. The Krogan's eyes darted between them, as if deciding on who to kill first.

A massive blue pulse slammed into the chest of the Blood Pack Krogan. Even with his mass, the Krogan went flying and hit the blood-slicked ground. He roared and tried to get up again, but took another shot, and another, until the blue pulses left him a steaming pile of cooked flesh on the floor.

The two Krogan mercs looked toward their rescuer. They both recognized the Alliance Marine armor for what what it was.

Major Anders looked around the room. It wasn't the dead Dilgar children that got his attention - that was a sight he'd already endured - but the dead mercs? That was interesting. "So..." He stepped in further, allowing two Marines in heavy armor to squeeze through the door. They raised their arms to point their weapons at Wrex and Drack.

The two Krogan looked at each other. Both knew that the Alliance troops had them dead to rights.

"So," Anders continued. "Just what the hell happened here?"

In orbit the Drazi Sunhawks continued to go after the Aurora. Its sapphire beams sliced into them. One blew apart. The others peppered the unshielded armor hull of the Aurora with ruby energy, leaving scorch marks and debris.

The Avenger, however, was not joining them. Its weapons fire seemed to slack off here, with only secondary weapons firing in the vicinity of the Aurora's weapons mounts.

Given all the damage, the Aurora crew was working hard to keep their ship in the fight. One such damage control team was scrambling toward a patch of unrepaired damage on Deck 20 when they saw the lights. All four turned and spotted the six dark-clad humanoid figures that appeared from a Darglan transporter effect. The six figures raised pulse rifles. The lead on the team, Petty Officer Samaro Tenga, managed to get to her omnitool. "Boarders!" she shouted into the ship comm system, seconds before a pulse blast struck her in the chest.

The ship shook again below Julia. Not as severely as she imagined would happen, however. The Avenger seemed to be holding back now, using lighter weapons and going after the Aurora's weapons in turn. "We just lost one of the plasma emitters," Angel said.

Beside her Meridina relayed the information. "Boarding party spotted on Deck 20… another on Deck 10…. two more on Deck 20."

"They're after Hawk and his girlfriend," Julia answered. She tapped the comm button on her chair arm. "Bridge to Richmond."

"I already have teams en route, Captain," answered Richmond. "We'll stop them."

"I hope so." Julia returned her attention to the fight. The ship took another hit, this time from the Drazi. They smelled blood, and unlike the Avenger, they were willing to make the kill. "I know shields are out, but do whatever you can to keep the Drazi from hitting us somewhere critical."

"Doing what I can," Jarod answered.

"Same here."

"Still returning fire," noted Angel. "I got a few hits on them with their shields down, and it looks like their shields are already dropping below fifteen percent."

"That's better than zero, though. Do what you can to even the odds."

"Perhaps we should try the same?" Meridina suggested.

"Right." Julia activated the tactical comm. "Attention all ships. We're being boarded. I say again, the Aurora is being boarded. We have lost shields and the Avenger and Drazi have us pinned in. Whatever you can do to help, it'd be appreciated."

"Warmaster!" The Combat Captain at the sensor post turned toward the centre of the bridge, eyes sharp. "The pirate warship has knocked out the Aurora's shields. We're detecting multiple beam-in signatures, and they are requesting assistance."

Shai'jhur looked at the floating wreckage of Brakiri ships to her sides, the smashed Hyach vessel they had out-shot ahead. It was like old times, but what came next wouldn't be. "We can afford the heavy Pentacon. Form three-dimensional pentacon! Stand by for precision warp."

Only the Dilgar, so new to the technology, would calmly think of demanding precision tactical use from warp drives they had purchased from Ferengi scrap dealers, that had been built by the Klingons seventy years before.

Kaveri was working at her console, trying to think ahead. Daring, yes, but Avenger will be badly distracted, and… they never used a three-dee pentacon before.

Shai'jhur glanced to her with a wry smile of two long-connected souls that sometimes had a virtually psychic intuition. "It was an old tactical plan of Warmaster Jha'dur's. We implemented it. Stand by warp drive!"

"Warp drive synchronized throughout the pentacon, Warmaster! Route is clear of enemy shipping!"

"Engage!"

The five ships went to warp for just a fraction of a second, lancing across the battlefield and reemerging before the Avenger as she stood off, transferring boarding parties to the Aurora. That meant the pirate's crew was distracted, and that was just the moment that Shai'jhur could have hoped for.

"All ships, fire forward batteries!" The massed concentration of seven Hyach spinal lasers combined with the standard pulsars and bolters of the five ships as their three-dimensional pentacon covered the Avenger from all directions. Her shields flared briefly, withstanding the enormous power directed against them. But the Hyach spinal lasers on the three core ships cycled quickly, and the Avenger had no such luck with the next salvo. Supported by a flurry of ion bursts, bolters and pulsars from the five Dilgar ships, the Darglan shield bubble, one of the most advanced technology protective systems in the galaxy, failed. The Dilgar fire was unerring, they had the same X-RAY SPECIAL targeting sensors as the Huáscar on the three big ships, and not a single shot missed. Fire was ripping across the regenerative armour of the Avenger now, with the spinal lasers in particular carrying sufficient power to really make themselves felt, gouging deep through plate.

Explosions rippled across the hull as the Avenger, not a regular military ship and with her senior officers captive aboard the Aurora, thrashed like a confused tiger caught in a trap as the flash of vapor indicated Shai'jhur's ships had vented air to space. Instead of raising shields immediately the crew finished their beam-ins of boarding parties rather than risk the death of their comrades, and in the meantime, Shai'jhur's pentacon continued to hammer them. Finally they brought their shields up, the hull wreathed with plasma and huge gouges and lines raked across her armour. Coming about to evade the fire, the formation caught her in every direction, and for a moment, drove the merciless battlecruiser back.

It was only a moment, but Shai'jhur took it for all it was worth, and pressed home her attack. She had to keep them off the Aurora long enough for her crew to get a handle on the boarding parties, or else it would be all for naught.

"They will break out of the pentacon fire-cone momentarially, Warmaster. We are about to be very hard pressed indeed." Kaveri warned, watching the power curves of the enemy ship shift.

"Stand by to reverse formation by pivoting about current heading. We'll snap around and return them to it at least the first time. Implement the orders, Battlemaster." Shai'jhur leaned forward into her straps, and for a moment, the ghosts of ten thousand ships surrounded her pentacon. She would not fail them.

"Understood, Warmaster." The human woman's voice started to roll out in accented Dilgar, preparing the squadron to execute the elaborate manouvre. "Ready."

She watched the Avenger snap violently to starboard and accelerate. "Execute!"

Kaveri's orders snapped out, and the complex three-dimensional formation turned about inside itself, a complex ballet as left became right and thrusters burned, hard, to kill their velocity and get them moving on the opposite vector. This sort of formation could have given the Nova squadrons a difficult time. It seems perfect to focus fire on a foe. Sometimes, she couldn't help thinking of the past, of what had led them this far - and the mirror of humanity the Dilgar seemed to be, more often than not.

The commanders needed no further information. These were Rohricans, survivors of 30 years of waiting and Shai'jhur's desperate secret operations. They had initiative that would have gotten them shot in the old Dilgar Navy, and it showed. As the evolution of the formation was completed, they immediately resumed firing upon the Avenger, once again catching her into the kill-box of the three-dimensional pentacon. Shai'jhur leaned forward, chin against her gloved hands, as the maximal concentration of fire from five ships again splashed over the great Darglan battlecruiser. "Kaveri?"

"Warmaster?" Kaveri glanced over to Shai'jhur, incongruous in her uniform to the other Dilgar, but now being respected-proved in battle.

"They wouldn't be fighting, these others, if the Avenger wasn't here. Third Balos works in both ways for this battle. Keep us on the Avenger!" Just a little bit more time...