With their arrival imminent, the crews of the Aurora and General Iroh returned to their combat stations. Both crews knew the stakes and were ready for the risks involved.

On the bridge, Meridina nodded to Jarod, who tapped at the station beside him. "Tac comm established.

"Captain Saizen?" Meridina asked aloud.

"We are receiving you, Captain Meridina," replied the Fire Nation officer. "The tactical communication link is secure."

"Then we are as ready as we can be," she said.

"Our people are ready for your teleport systems to bring them to your ship."

"The transport will commence when we drop from warp."

Lucy and Talara arrived in one of the General Iroh's storage bays for their transport out with the others. Ursa was present with several of what Lucy took to be her ship's Marines, wearing the same combat uniform as they did. The combat uniform was red with gold trim, with a helmet of the same coloring that looked like someone took a samurai helmet and molded it down to work like a motorcycle helmet.

Yeshe was wearing a suit of lighter red with yellow striping, sections of darker red crossing over her chest and ending at the shoulder blades. From what she saw, it looked like they were held in place by velcro strips.

Komin was in a dark green, beige-tinged uniform. The shoulders had what looked like epaulets fashioned from metal plates, similar plates ringing his belt. A disc with metal wire coiled around it hung from the belt at each hip.

"Any luck with calling reinforcements?" Lucy asked.

"I was able to contact Master Gyatsun," Yeshe confirmed. "He assured me that he would call the United Forces immediately and relay the star coordinates your people provided. But he is unaware of where Admiral Hanraq's forces are right now."

"We shall have to hope he is not far." Ursa nodded to Lucy. "We are ready for your 'transport' Lieutenant Lucero."

"It won't be hard at all, I promise," Lucy said. "Think of it as something like a water slide. You're being shot down a slide through subspace."

The look on Ursa's face, and on several of her subordinates, told Lucy that didn't help.

"Dropping out of warp now," Jarod's voice said over the line. "Beaming."

In a group everyone in the bay was pulled away by the Aurora transporters. They arrived in the secondary shuttle bay of the Aurora, built into the stern of Deck 34 to facilitate the Marines on the ship. The insertion runabout Gonzales and Robert's infiltrator, the Jayhawk, were lined up and ready for launch. Komin took the longest to recover his bearings after the transport.

Robert and Gina were waiting at the rear cargo door of the Jayhawk. "Your team should fit in my ship," he said to Ursa. "We should get moving."

It seemed to take him a moment to recognize Lucy was staring at him. When he did, Robert grinned slightly at her and, perhaps for effect, ran a hand over his shaven, hairless chin. His hair was cut back down to what it had been before he left for Umintamil, combed into place.

"So, not the monk look anymore," Lucy said. "Why did… oh. I see."

"It's as good a time as any," he replied. Around him the Fire Nation marines piled into the Jayhawk armory ramp to join the Aurora Marines already aboard.

"And it will make Julia very happy," Lucy observed. "Let's go show her."

They filed onto the ship and went for the cockpit, where Lucy - as usual - took up the helm. With the pre-flight checks already done by Gina, now sitting at Ops, Lucy went right to launching. The Gonzalez left first, wavering out of sight as she did. The Jayhawk's engines fired and she too emerged from the bay, cloaking as she did. Invisible to sensors and the naked eye, the two vessels turned about their mother ship and made a full-impulsor beeline for the enemy-held planet. The Aurora and General Iroh followed, deliberately drawing attention as they moved ahead, as if daring the SS exiles to react.

In the command room at the top of the central tower of the alien structure, Fassbinder stood beside Sturmbannführer Deikmann's station. The advanced sensors of the city displayed the new arrivals to the system on the viewscreen built into the wall. "There are no other vessels on sensors, Brigadeführer," Diekmann said.

"Then it is as I thought. They came alone. All ships remain on standby." Fassbinder grinned widely and glanced toward another of his men. "And have the Alliance prisoner brought to me. I want her to see this."

"Jawohl!"

"Standartenführer, the device, is it ready?"

Another of the officers stood at a different control interface. He faced Fassbinder and nodded. "Ready for activation."

"Good. Do so."

The familiar sound of the guards' boots stomping on the ground drew Julia's attention, as it did Miko's. She looked up from where she was sprawled out on the floor of the cell in time to see the two SS men appear in the door. "Come, Alliancer," one of them said. "It's time for you to watch your friends die."

She scowled at him as the forcefield dropped. The speaking guard entered. He reached down and grabbed her arm. "Come!" he repeated, his grip bruising in its strength. He forced her to get up, first on her knees, and then to her feet.

Julia's arm snapped forward without warning, her flat hand slamming into the guard's throat in a chopping motion right at the vulnerable Adam's apple. The SS guard's eyes widened in shock and pain as the breath was caught in his throat by the blow, causing him to falter.

His compatriot took a second for training to overwhelm shock at his captive suddenly lashing out despite her apparent helplessness. That second allowed Julia to pull free the first guard's stun stick. With every ounce of strength and will she had, Julia forced her body to move fast enough to dodge the second guard's strike at her, barely succeeding. Her appropriated weapon came up and struck the guard in his unprotected throat and neck, sending a stun shock into him that brought him down. For good measure Julia used the stick on its former owner as well, rendering the wheezing guard unconscious. She reached down and yanked the object she'd spied earlier, a flat device with a pair of prongs at the end, from his belt.

Miko watched the entire thing in stunned amazement. "How… how can you move?"

Julia shook her head, a signal she couldn't talk. And she couldn't. Just that spurt of activity took almost everything she had. Grabbing the second guard, stun-sticking him again, and pulling him to the door took the last of it. The mere act of moving was bringing forth screaming protest from her abused body, demanding every iota of willpower Julia had in her to not just move, but to pull the dead weight of her guard with her. Once she had the unconscious guard close enough, Julia brought the guard's hand up to the control for Miko's cell, ensuring any biometric security for the controls would be bypassed. The field confining Miko dropped and so did Julia, toppling to her side in Miko's cell, her strength spent. She feebly offered to Miko the device she'd pulled from the guards. "For your collar," she said hoarsely.

Miko nodded and took the device in question. She remembered when it was first attached to her and lined up the prongs to her collar. It took her several moments to line them up right, given the port was on her neck and out of sight, moments in which Julia slowly turned and crawled back to the guard she'd used to open Miko's cell. Julia's hand sought out the guard's belt until she felt the shape of a cylinder there and pulled it loose. But that was all she could do. With all of her suffering, not to mention the bare necessity of nutrients Fassbinder allowed her through injections, Julia's body simply could not go on.

There was a loud beep and a clicking sound. The collar around Miko's throat fell free, baring lightened skin there to show how long it'd been on her. She knelt down beside Julia. "Take it," Julia said, her voice strained and raw. Her eyes glanced toward the syringe in her hand. "One for you, one for me. It'll give you the energy you need to fight."

"And you?"

Had she the strength, Julia would've shaken her head. "It should give me what I need to move. But I won't be much good in a fight."

"I'll do the fighting," Miko promised. "Where do I…?"

With effort Julia forced her hand to move again, this time tapping her wrist and the veins there. Miko pressed the syringe there and triggered the device, sending the combat drug cocktail into Julia's body. She went for the syringe on the other guard and did the same to her own wrist.

It didn't take long for them to feel the effects. Julia felt the weakness in her body fade. It wasn't gone, simply hidden under the chemical effects of the drug. When it faded she'd be even worse off. With it working, she rose to her feet, taking the time to pull away the pistol holster. She considered the rifle before dismissing the idea; in her state it might be a little too much to carry.

Miko felt an euphoria fill her, tinged with a need for aggression. Weeks of frustration and terror fueled a fury she was ready to unleash on her long-time captors. She noticed Julia wobble a little on her feet. "If you need to, go on without me," Julia said.

"No, never," Miko replied, her voice fierce. "I'm not abandoning you to what they're doing to you, will do to you. We both get out." She put an arm under Julia's right shoulder to help stabilize her. "Can you fly us out if we find one of their ships?"

"I don't think we'll need that," Julia replied, her voice no less hoarse than before. "My friends, my ship, are here. They'll send a rescue team for us. But we have to stop whatever trap Fassbinder's laying for them."

"How?"

"Let's see if we can find the power plant."

"Right," Miko agreed, bringing Jula alone. With grim determination on their faces, the two continued their escape.

The final approach to the planet was done in tense quiet. The Aurora and General Iroh approached openly, their sublight drives at standard acceleration, while the Koenig moved in under cloak ahead of the two smaller insertion ships. Tight-beam communications allowed the cloaked vessels to remain in contact with each other on their approach.

The enemy ships in orbit, being lighter vessels, withdrew to the other side of the planet as the big ships entered weapons range. On the bridge of the Aurora Meridina and Jarod exchanged skeptical looks. Their gifts, different as they were, led both to the same easy conclusion: a trap was laid for them. A trap they had to spring to cover the rescue party. "Maintain standby on jump drives," Meridina ordered in a quiet voice.

"Aye Captain," Tra'dur responded.

Ahead of them, the rescue ships made atmospheric entry. While Lucy flew the Jayhawk, Gina observed the sensor returns and displayed them for Robert and the others. The one artificial structure on the planet, the obvious location of the enemy base, was a great tower surrounded by five groups of buildings. "They have a theater shield raised. I'm looking for weak points… wait." Gina checked another screen. "Ships dropping out of warp."

"How many?" asked Robert.

"Nearly two dozen," Gina answered.

The same was noted on the Aurora bridge. With the ship already at battlestations no further order needed to be given to prepare for what looked a hopeless fight. The two dozen enemy ships was weighted toward lighter vessels, but with a large Lutzow-class battlecruiser and several heavy cruisers of the Sedan and Tannenburg-classes present, the Aurora and General Iroh were plainly outnumbered.

"Incoming hail from the planet," Tra'dur informed them.

Since every moment bought gave the rescue team more time, Meridina nodded. "On screen."

A chill went through Meridina at the sight of Erik Fassbinder. He and those with him were of a kind - all blond-haired blue-eyed men, all of refined physique brought about by centuries of genetic engineering - with the exception that Fassbinder's blue eyes were now the golden yellow color of a sensitive given over to darkness. His malevolent eyes glinted with satisfaction. "Ah, the untermensch Knight," he said. "I invite you to surrender, Gersallian. You and your vessel are outmatched."

"We will not," she replied simply. "We know too well the fate of those in your mercies, swevyra'kse."

"Good. I was hoping you would resist. I look forward to showing Captain Andreys your final moments. It should break her spirit quite thoroughly. All vessels engage!"

The moment he disappeared, Jarod grinned slightly. "He fell for it. I knew he'd tip his hand."

"Signal Command," Meridina instructed. "Inform them we have found a major SS concentration and request immediate reinforcement."

"Transmitting… Captain, IU comms are not responding."

Cat was quick to explain. "There's some kind of interference pattern coming from the planet. I've… I've never seen anything like it."

"Is it why our comms aren't working?" Jarod asked.

"Likely. The signature acts like a dimensional stabilizer, given the strength of it, it will prevent interuniversal communications or jump drives from functioning in its area of effect."

"And the size of that area?" asked Jarod.

"Most of the solar system, at least," replied Cat.

At that point the ship shook as the enemy's first shots struck them. "Evasive maneuvers," Meridina ordered. "Prepare for warp on my mark."

"I wouldn't recommend that," Locarno said. "They've got us boxed in. A warp-speed collision is likely."

"Then we fight," Meridina said. "Engage at will. Call Commander Carrey into the battle as well."

"Aye Captain," Tra'dur responded, keeping any nervousness about their dangerous situation to herself.

Moments later the Koenig made its entry into the battle, its pulse phasers blazing and wrecking the lead destroyer of a formation approaching the Aurora on a torpedo run. The rest of the destroyers broke away, firing their torpedoes early, and the Koenig immediately came under fire from a nearby Dresden-class cruiser.

And so the battle began.

While the battle above raged, the cloaked ships approached the SS-held facility, or rather the deflector dome protecting it. Gina and the others looked over the area carefully. "The dome is solid," she noted. "And I haven't found an approach that we can fit through. The river is too shallow and narrow."

"What if we vaporized a tunnel through the north ridgeline?" Robert suggested.

"I doubt our weapons are precise enough to make a working tunnel there," Lucy said. "It'll collapse, and the deflector dome will expand to cover the space."

"I can make you a tunnel," said Komin.

The others turned to face him. Even his cousin and Ursa. "Komin, have you ever moved that much earth?" Yeshe asked, a hint of concern in her otherwise calm voice.

"No. But I know I can do it."

Robert and the others sensed Komin's resolve. A tiny sliver of doubt was inside of it, but he kept that doubt suppressed with the weight of his determination to rescue his future student. "Bring us over," Robert said to Lucy. "Present the rear of the ship toward the ridge." He nodded at Komin next. "Come with me."

Komin followed Robert back down the corridor to the armory, where the squads of Ursa's hand-picked troops were waiting. Robert grabbed a cable from one part of the armory and latched it on to a ring beside the cargo bay door. His hand reached up and smacked the controls, causing the ramp to swing down, revealing the beige-tinted wall of rock ahead of them. He wrapped the cable around Komin's waist to secure him before nodding. "Alright. Do what you can."

Komin nodded and took in a breath before turning his attention to the ridge. He shifted his legs, assuming a solid stance, and raised his arms up. He made a spreading motion with both arms.

The rocky surface of the ridge shifted outward, as if it were a portal opening, and the rock beneath did the same. Each second more and more of the raw earth separated. Sweat dripped down Komin's brow as he continued exerting his will on the stone, prompting Robert to put a hand on his shoulder and reach through the Flow of Life into him. Komin was setting a personal record with this, and it took everything he had. Robert tried to help by applying his own life energy to reinforce Komin's.

Beyond light and air started to show through the opened hole through the ridgeline, with a tunnel at least fifty meters in diameter now present.

Komin went down to a knee, sweat coating his face and caking his dark hair. Robert helped him back in, closing the cargo door as he did, and pulled an energy drink from a container of the same. He offered it to Komin, who started drinking from it. He made a disgusted face. "Ugh, what is this stuff?"

"Energy drink with… hell if I know the flavor."

He took another swig and shook his head, the expression on his face intensifying. "I think it's helping but whoever made it has no sense of taste."

Robert chuckled despite the situation. "Tell me about it."

Lucy's voice broke into the conversation. "Alright everyone, we're through the tunnel and inside the deflector shield. But it looks like they know we're coming. This is going to be a hot landing."

Robert responded by activating his omnitool. "Land the ship and join us, Lucy. We're all going in." A determined look crossed his face. "Let's go get our loved ones back."

Julia and Miko didn't make it far before running into a patrol of SS troops. She brought her stolen pistol up to open fire on them.

She never got a chance to pull the trigger.

Miko exploded forward with the kind of eager aggressiveness Julia usually saw in Angel when she was spoiling for a fight. She jumped up to the wall and kicked off of it, bringing her leg up to make a sweeping kick in the air. Her foot hit nothing, but the wave of flame she generated with the move slammed into the four guards, throwing them all back before they could raise weapons. Two recovered by rolling with the hit. As their weapons came up Miko spiraled on one foot before thrusting her fist forward. A gust of tornado-strength wind slammed into the guards and sent them flying into the wall with enough force to take the fight out of them.

Miko turned to check on Julia, who watched with approval at her partner's swift takedown of their opponents. "And I thought I was used to seeing impossible things," Julia said.

That brought a smile to the younger woman. "Let's keep going!" Miko urged. After her time in captivity, the chance to strike at her captors was invigorating, cathartic.

Julia nodded in reply and glanced around. There was still no immediate signs of where anything was in the complex. She doubted the guards' data devices would provide much help on that score either, given the ease of biometric-based security, so she sought out her memories of being taken through the complex. "This way," she said, eyeing one of the paths available.

As the two infiltration craft approached the SS base, it was clear that the enemy had some idea that they were coming, with their troops active at all levels. On the Jayhawk Robert spoke into his omnitool. "Major, you start at the top of the tower. See if you can find and take whatever they're using for a central command center. We'll land at ground level and look for the prisoners."

"Confirmed, Captain. Bring our people home."

"Happy hunting. Dale out."

"Bringing us in low," Lucy said. "They still haven't detected us, but the closer we get… woh!" The ship shifted under their feet. "Never mind, they have an idea where we are. Decloaking and opening fire!"

The Jayhawk rippled into view just as a ground-based disruptor cannon sent an emerald disruptor beam sizzling through the air again, barely missing the infiltrator. At weapons Talara retaliated with the Jayhawk's forward-facing pulse plasma cannons. Bolts of sapphire light slammed into the ground-based cannon and wrecked it.

Others came online and came under fire from the craft's pulse guns, while above the Gonzales rippled into view and started disgorging Marines onto a balcony of the structure.

Under Lucy's control, with Talara's firing, the Jayhawk circled the structure, its main cannons and ventral-mounted pulse gun turrets wreaking havoc on the enemy's weapon emplacements. The return fire the Jayhawk took did not lack for trying. Against another pilot, the infiltrator's deflectors would not have been enough against the volume and resulting successful strikes. But Lucy's skills gave her the means to evade the vast majority of the fire while Talara eliminated the guns.

Once they finished clearing any weapon that could fire on the Jayhawk or Gonzales, Lucy brought the infiltrator in for a landing. The moment the ship hit the ground Robert turned to two of Anders' Marines, an Alakin male and sniper named Sergeant Ijala and a Dorei Marine of lower rank. "Sergeant Ijala, Private Heytam, stay with the ship, you'll be our cover fire for the extraction."

"Lee, Ranjan, you will aid them," Ursa said to two of hers.

Both sets of Marines affirmed their orders. Behind them, Lucy, Talara, and Gina arrived from the cockpit. Komin finished the last gulp of the energy drink provided him with a wince. Lucy noticed it and grinned. "Horrible stuff," she said. "I told him to get the fruit punch-flavored, not the generic."

There was no time for Robert to reply to that before the bay door opened. Outside the Jayhawk's pulse guns were already firing away, suppressing some of the SS defenders behind cover. Robert, Lucy, and Gina went first, their lightsabers flashing to life and catching incoming enemy fire. Behind them Talara personally protected Ursa while she issued orders to her people. The Beifong cousins went to work disrupting enemy cover, Komin ripping the enemy's protective positions out from under their feet while Yeshe sent blasts of wind into, around, and through them. The Marines opened fire with their weapons, blue-white pulses and purple light striking down enemies deprived of their vital cover.

Robert joined the efforts of the Beifongs while deflecting incoming fire. His will lashed out at the enemy, creating waves of invisible force that smashed their defensive positions.

It was while they were working on this that he got the call from orbit. "Aurora to landing party, we have a situation," said Jarod.

"Go ahead."

"We sprang their trap. But they have some kind of IU jammer up, it's keeping us from contacting the Alliance or jumping out. If we're going to get through this, we need that jammer down, now."

Robert clenched his jaw at that. He wanted nothing more than to go to Julia immediately. To get her out of this nightmare. But he couldn't lose their home, her ship, in the process. And everything inside him told him he needed to see to that first. "Roger," he replied to Jarod. "Alright everyone, let's get this done."

In the command center of the base, Fassbinder observed the developing combat in orbit with approval. His ships were arrayed in excellent formation to thwart any attempt at a warp-speed escape, and with the alien jamming device activated, he had the Aurora precisely where he wanted it.

"The second wave of ships is still en route," Diekmann informed him.

"Tell them to come," Fassbinder said. The screens showed that the Aurora's shields, while holding, were already faltering from the sheer volume of fire she was taking. The ship's evasive maneuvers were excellent for a ship of its size and mass, more nimble than any Reich vessel of equivalent size ever managed. The Darglan technology of the Aurora represented the edge that gave the Alliance its victory in the war. Fassbinder felt lingering irritation at the thought of how, if only that fool Lamper had been more Aryan, they might have taken this ship at the first contact, and its technological secrets put to the use of the Reich. Then they would have won the war, would have had a Multiverse to conquer…

"They do not try to flee," he observed aloud. "They must believe their attack forces will remove the jammers." He turned his head and barked at another officer, "Status of our defenses!"

"We have reinforcements moving to pin down the enemy that landed in the tower," replied the junior officer. "And others are in position to slow those who landed on the ground."

Fassbinder nodded. He sensed the others even now, moving to intercept those attackers. His Cylon allies would have a chance to blood the other students against them. Now all he had to do was wait for the arrival of Julia Andreys and…

"Brigadeführer, we have a radiation spike," declared Diekmann. "More vessels are arriving."

Cat noticed the new power signatures coming in later than she might have managed otherwise, given the active jamming of the battle. "Incoming contacts," she said while the Aurora shook under them.

"More SS ships?" asked Jarod.

"No. The power signature isn't right. The signature's similar to the General Iroh… they're dropping out of warp now."

The vessels that appeared all bore some similarity to the Iroh, with some differences of layout and coloration visible. Some were just a little larger than the Koenig, others the size of the Iroh, and one was a little larger than the Aurora herself.

In one great barrage the arriving ships opened fire on the nearest vessels of the SS formation. With their weapons fire concentrated on individual targets, the new arrivals quickly cut up one of the lighter cruisers and a destroyer of the SS fleet. The biggest ship was especially capable with the batteries of guns firing thick purple energy beams that were wearing down the shields of one of the newer Tannenburg-class enemy cruisers.

"General hail from the main ship," said Tra'dur.

"Put them on," replied Meridina.

While the holotank viewer beside Meridina and Jarod kept a tactical display up, the main holo-viewer screen shifted to form the image of a man with a dark bronze coloration. His uniform was red, with service ribbons visible on one breast of the jacket. His long brown hair, whitening at the temples and ends, was braided into a tail at the back of his head. "This is General Hanraq of the United Forces, commanding from the Avatar Kiyoshi, to vessels Aurora and General Iroh. Please respond."

"Captain Saizen here, General. Commanding on behalf of Captain Ursa. She is with the strike team to extract the prisoners."

"General, this is Captain Meridina, acting commander of Aurora," said Meridina. "We are tying your ships into our tac comm channel. We will conform to your maneuvers and provide our knowledge of the enemy's capabilities."

The man on the screen nodded. "Thank you, Captain. Transmitting formation coordinates now."

"Conform to them, Mister Locarno," said Meridina.

"Aye ma'am," Locarno replied, while under his control the Aurora shifted her position to join her new allies, her faltering shields relieved of some of the fire she was under.

In the command center Fassbinder did not let the unexpected reinforcements cause any doubt. From experience the SS knew the locals to have somewhat inferior technology, with weaker weapons and deflectors. With equal numbers, they were not as great a threat. At least, without the Aurora they weren't, but the Alliance vessel would tilt the balance if allowed.

"Call in the second wave," he ordered. As he spoke, he felt a sense of developments that made him frown. "What do we have on the prisoners? Andreys should have been brought here by now."

"Base Command to Rottenführer Dietrich. Report status."

At that moment Fassbinder felt a surge of vicious anger. He didn't need to wait for the lack of reply, he could already feel the truth, that his captives were on the loose. That he hadn't before he blamed for his focus on the arriving Aurora.

"The second wave is coming in," Diekmann said. "Their arrival is soon…"

"Keep me informed!" Fassbinder barked as he headed for the door.

The space around the marginal garden planet was now the site of a furious combat between starships. Fassbinder's ships, by arraying themselves in a formation to encapsulate the Aurora, made themselves vulnerable to a concentrated attack from another vector. General Hanraq's vessels exploited this to the fullest, concentrating their firepower on a handful of enemy vessels.

In his command center Hanraq stood beside a plotting table. A bulky holo-projector system built into it provided a three-dimensional view of the battlespace. This was already shaping up to be one of the largest voidship battles of his career.

The Kiyoshi shook under his feet. "The largest of the enemy void cruisers is directing its firepower against us," one of the other officers reported.

"Maintain formation," answered Captain Mushi, the ship's commander. "Direct all cannons on target."

While the Kiyoshi's impressive array of energy cannons returned fire on the vessel, Hanraq noted the maneuvers of the newly-encountered friendly vessel Aurora. Although the ship was nearly the size of his own, it moved like a void cruiser half its size. Its own energy cannons blazed with pulses of sapphire light that pounded away at the enemy vessel's shields, disturbing their coherence. Projectiles of white-blue light slammed into the ruby field around the enemy ship next, making a partial breakthrough of the enemy deflectors.

"General." Beside him, Engineering Captain Sen Yang observed the ship closely with her green eyes. "This unknown vessel's performance characteristics is superior to anything the raiders have shown before."

"Yes," he agreed. "Which is to our advantage. If anything, the analysts who predicted the raiders were exiles of some sort may have been closer to the truth than previously imagined." His eyes narrowed. "Jagala, Senjo, maneuver to your down angle, give firing clearance to the Zhu Li." Satisfied that the two lighter ships were following his order, giving an easier firing field to the void cruiser Zhu Li against one of their foes' ships, Hanraq glanced toward a readout of the planet. There was indeed an enemy facility there. Good luck finding your daughter, Princess Ursa, he thought. Things have been difficult enough for the Five Nations with these raids. I shudder to think of how things would go should we lose an Avatar so young…

He pushed that worry away, returning his focus to the battle at hand.

The SS defensive forces were on the retreat from Robert and the others, allowing the group to access the structure itself. They entered the central tower along a path coming from one of the five groups of outlying buildings. One squad of troopers tried to hold the hall ahead of them. Lucy and Robert deflected their fire, giving Yeshe an opening to knock them off their feet with a strong gust of air. Her cousin's arms shot forward. Bands of metal left his belt and raced through the air until they reached the fallen soldiers, at which they wrapped around wrists and ankles, binding the SS troopers in place.

Ursa and Robert took the lead in rushing further ahead. They led the others through a large sliding door that proved to lead to a barracks area. Metal-framed bunks in perfect lines filled the room, save a central area where tables were laid out. Opposite their side of the chamber was another large door leading deeper into the tower.

The group barely had time to enter before that door opened. Through it stepped two figures in dark robes. Lucy, Gina, and Talara recognized their headbands as the same worn by the Cylon Inner Circle, and both female figures quickly reached for their lightsabers. Behind them men in dark suits with SS rank insignia and markings filed in. Some went for rifles or pistols, others for their own lightsaber weapons, which flashed to life with the same red color as the two Cylons' blades.

Only as they approached was it clear which models of Cylon were present. Ursa and the others glanced toward Lucy and Gina.

"They copied my DNA to use as a model," Lucy said, her voice brimming with anger at that fact. "And Gina was once one of their puppets before she turned against them."

Her counterpart grinned in anticipation. "The traitor and two of the Dawn-Bearers. We look forward to striking you down."

The fight only took seconds to break out, at which time the room exploded with the buzzing sound of lightsabers whizzing through the air. Lucy and Gina went after their Cylon counterparts. Robert and Talara eyed the students the moment before they charged, moving ahead through the lines of bunks.

Komin was the first to strike. With a gesture of each arm, the bunks toppled over and fell on the approaching foes. Two got caught before the others caught on, jumping over said bunks, using their own abilities to stop their fall, or simply cleaving through them with lightsabers. Some were thrown back as Ursa and Yeshe joined the fight, sending bolts of flame and powerful air gusts at the attackers, acting as flank guards.

Behind them came the sounds of battle. A Fire Nation Marine called out, "We will hold them, Highness!"

"Very well." Ursa returned her focus to the fight ahead, while in the center of the room Lucy and Gina were already locked in a duel with their doppelgangers.

The third SS patrol the two escapees ran into was the biggest, forcing Julia to open fire for the first time with her appropriated pistol. The shot went wide of the target but still sent him into cover, giving Miko an easier time as she tore through the others. She moved with purpose, every punch or kick generating flame and air that knocked around the SS. One brought up his rifle just to have flame superheat it in the man's hands, causing him to reflexively drop it, at which point Miko spun and kicked, creating a gust that tossed him on his back. She pivoted on her foot, evading an attempt to slam the back of her head with a rifle with the motion. Spinning around put her at the back of that foe. Flame erupted from the open palm she thrust at him, enveloping the SS trooper. A cry of surprise at his immolation was stifled by Miko's second blow, this time air that sent the trooper into the wall. He slumped.

Julia's return fire worked to keep two of the foes in cover. When one popped up to fire on Miko she squeezed off a shot that connected this time, the emerald beam of her acquired weapon striking the soldier in the chest.

The other SS trooper charged her. His gambit paid off; in her state Julia was too slow to bring the weapon over to bear on him. He slapped at her hand and knocked the pistol out of it. Pain filled Julia's hand from the force of the impact. She observed the next blow coming and let her training take over, moving to evade it.

Under normal circumstances, Julia could have faced this foe in hand-to-hand with a better-than-fair chance at prevailing. But even with the combat drugs circulating through her body, she did not have the full range of her physical prowess available to her. She managed to dodge and redirect the first two strikes, but the third caught her squarely on the torso with enough force to take the breath from her and crack a rib. She doubled over in pain, allowing a second blow from the butt of the rifle to smash into her right cheek. Bone and flesh cracked under the force of the blow and Julia toppled.

The SS trooper had no opportunity to take advantage of his victory. Miko caught him in the back with a powerful gust of wind that slammed him into the far wall. She gave him a strong punch, no elements this time, to put him down for the count. Once he was she went over to where Julia was struggling back to her feet. "Are you okay?" asked Miko.

"Broken cheekbone," Julia said, wiping at the blood trickling from her mouth and nose. "I think. And a cracked rib. But other than that, nothing hurt but my pride."

"I'll fight better next time," Miko vowed. "You shouldn't have to."

"It's not like we have a choice." Julia drew in a breath. "Do you hear that?"

There was conversation coming from one of the fallen troopers. They approached and knelt over. "The translator, I'm not sure it's working," said Miko.

"Probably a security feature for their comms. I know a little German myself… they're relaying battle information. This place is under attack, there are Marines present."

"My mother has come for me," Miko said, her voice cracking a little. "We should find them."

"Wait…" Julia furrowed her brow. "I'm not catching everything. They're trying to hold out. To delay. Something about a jammer, and my ship's here…" She shook her head. Nothing else useful. But… "This jammer, it sounds pretty important. That's what we've got to take out."

"How?"

"Like I said, the power station. We cut their power, their jammer goes down. I think." She stood to her height and looked around. Her eyes narrowed at a far wall, just around a corner. She stumbled over to it. "Here. This means power plant." She indicated a German word. "This way!"