Robotech: The Ashes of Empire

by GVincent

The Robotech Masters have abandoned their control of empire, their war with The Invid, and the slave Zentraedi forces still fighting it in an attempt to capture Zor's Battle Fortress directly. In this sudden power vacuum, a rogue leader from a caste of Zentraedi whose function is to enforce the will of The Masters on the warrior caste will attempt to seize power and rule herself.

12. Chapter 12: Principles versus Pragmatism

Chapter Twelve

Principles versus Pragmatism

"One of the benefits of scientific training and education is the rigorous discipline of objective observation.- What is something in and of itself?

When I apply that discipline to what I have seen in this event, I see a moment normally reserved for gods. I have seen the day- no, the moment, in which the brutes whom the Masters attempted with every device to deprive of this very ability, began to think for themselves.

A great beast has awoken. It has awoken and opened tis eyes on the universe.

Volumes of history are to follow, penned in blood, and scribed by a novice hand."

Darius

Destroyer 741

Standing at the concave acrylic anterior of the command bubble, Commander Pach watched on the main viewscreen with somber resignation as Murhan-Thade 4 fell slowly astern. Sylas's vessel, Destroyer 818, was visible in the lower left portion of the viewscreen, keeping station at the rear of the departing formation of destroyers. Unseen to Pach because of the viewscreen's aspect was Gymalt's commandeered Te'Dak Tohl vessel- leading the surviving ships of the 4234th Destroyer Squadron and of the 604th Grand Army.

A boastful and creative warrior could have told the recent histories of the three vessels and their crews as an epic tale of victory through cunning and bravery. From the commanding officer of each ship down to the most recently Awakened warrior aboard, their achievements had in all recent actions been remarkable. Still, despite the escape from the Te'Dak Tohl snare at the Trendok 145 Factory and a victory over the enforcers' guard detachment at Murhan-Thade 4- the warships still slinked away from orbit much as would be expected in a shameful defeat.

Like Destroyer 741, Sylas's and Gymalt's vessels were glutted beyond any reasonable capacity with the warriors who had been discarded by the Te'Dak Tohl on the inhospitable alien planet now falling behind. In spite of this, Pach could not dismiss or diminish the thoughts of the countless others they had been forced to leave behind.

Guilt and remorse were futile drains of both emotion and energy at this point Pach well knew as all the warriors that the surviving commands of the 4234th had not been able to take aboard were by now dead and had been for some time. Action Commander Gymalt soon after the last of the Te'Dak Tohl had been put down onto the alien world had ordered that all communication traffic between the ships be set to receive only signals sent with an established electronic prefix for reasons of "signals security".

What this translated to, Pach knew, was that by way of a legitimate order Gymalt was sparing his subordinates of the agony of having to monitor the desperate and dwindling pleas for rescue of the forsaken. Gymalt had sensed correctly that morale would not have withstood so heavy a blow after all his reduced squadron had already endured, and Pach was forced to agree if only to himself.

For his part Pach knew that he would not have been able to bear hearing the calls that he would have been unable to answer.

Death was an unrelenting force in the Zentraedi existence- The Warrior's Code said as much.

Inevitably Fate released all warriors to Death's custody despite personal bravery or valor, or the governance of leadership. Commander Pach was aware of these certainties as he had lived them, waded in them, and had issued what seemed more than his fair share of orders that had sent warriors, officers, and even friends to their inescapable disposition.

But never without cause, and never indifferently.

The bitter injustice of the situation was that the Te'Dak Tohl had done both.

The Warrior's Code warned that one's rage was valued and reliable weapon only to one's enemies, and Pach feared he was arming his enemies well. Every thought of the Te'Dak Tohl set a finer edge to that blade.

Commander Pach was distantly aware that Sub-Commander Dychi had entered the command bubble and had been studying him quietly for several moments, probably trying to decide whether or not his superior should be disturbed. Pach welcomed any distraction though.

"Yes, Dychi?"

"Lord", Dychi said with a start. He had misread Pach's level of immersion in thought. "Status update-. All systems show nominal function and we are awaiting Action Commander Gymalt's signal to initiate countdown to hyperspace fold operations. All provisions, equipment, and munitions transferred from the Te'Dak Tohl vessels have been stowed as well as possible- given space considerations. The detail assigned to personnel accommodation is still at work however. Some movement of warriors between decks has been required, and we have segregated the female warriors from our males-. For purposes of maintaining order."

Without looking away from the viewscreen, Pach asked with some concern, "Were there problems with order?"

Dychi replied with some hesitance, "No, Lord- not yet. I took it upon myself to give that particular order. Though the rotational schedule through the crew's nutrient dispensaries and lavatories was working- there were signs of friction where the genders meet. Building just a little buffering space seems to have eased those tensions."

Pach nodded his approval, "That was good thinking, Dychi. I suspect that the presence of the females is not the sole cause of the tension- but I don't want it to become a focal point either. The females are likely to be with us for some time, so we are going to have to come to accept one another's company. See that there is an appropriate level of separation, but not absolute segregation. Brief interactions between our warriors and theirs will hopefully foster a common understanding. -And make it clear that as the rationing and facility details are arranged that the females are not to be overlooked or excluded. The decision will not be popular with some warriors, but these are my orders. The females are to share the burden, they will also share what little we have to offer."

"I will see to it, Lord.", Dychi complied.

"Very good. You may carry on with your duties."

Dychi lingered with that heavy silence that only came with the serious contemplation of whether or not to speak.

"Was there something else, Dychi?", Pach asked after a moment hoping that the distraction from his earlier thoughts might continue.

"Nothing to do with ship's operations, Lord- but-."

"Not everything of importance does revolve around ship's operations, Dychi. –Well, unless you're Gerrok, perhaps. What was on your mind?"

Dychi was cautious, almost guarded, but asked, "Do you think, had Fate allowed that course- that I would have made a good commanding officer?"

Despite the dark mood that had gripped Pach prior to Dychi's interruption, he responded, "You still may. Fate has not passed its final decision on us yet. It's important to be able to recognize that."

Dychi shifted uncomfortably and said, "While in transit from The Factory to Murhan-Thade 4 you said that sometimes the responsibility of the commander is to preserve the appearance that all is well for the crew's benefit, Lord. Are you doing that now?"

Pach could not help but allow a controlled smile that still genuinely conveyed pride, "Now why would you say that?"

"Please, Lord- I'm not that oblivious."

Pach gave a weak laugh, "No, of course you're not. My apologies."

"No apologies needed, Lord.", Dychi said honestly, "But I would appreciate your opinion on our prospects for survival?"

Pach's reply was unpolished and unsanitized, "Not good. Improbable even-. That being said though, even a small chance is a chance. Duty demands our dedication first to the mission, but after that-. After that, I have no reservations about dedicating our full efforts to survival. That's my honest assessment."

Dychi nodded, "Thank you, Lord. It seems wasteful, doesn't it?"

"So many things seem wasteful these days.", Pach mused, "What in particular did you mean?"

"Everything.", Dychi clarified, "Our warriors, you, me- this ship even. So much effort went into the creating of it all for it to be so carelessly squandered."

Pach nodded, "Therein lies the flaw of The Masters, I believe. Perhaps that is why they require so large an empire- their consumption is unsustainable except for by continuous expansion. It's nothing more than ambition unchecked by honor really. They build us like machines, as tools- so they have no reason to give us any more consideration than machines. We can hold ourselves more valuable though, Dychi. I've seen Zentraedi do enough to feel no shame in recognizing our value."

"I'm thankful that Fate has allowed me enough life to see it too.", Dychi agreed, "And I feel no shame to say that I want more."

"Then you're ready."

"Ready for-?"

"Ready to defend your life and the crew's- tenaciously."

Dychi said confidently, "I believe I am."

"So then, what do you think now?"

"About what, Lord?"

"Your question.", Pach replied, "How do you believe you will do as a commander?"

Dychi yielded to his self-abasing nature and observed, "Sub-Commander Gerrok might disagree with you, Lord."

"Sub-Commander Gerrok is-", Pach said, searching for fitting articulation, "-Sub-Commander Gerrok. His ways and his strengths lend themselves to what he is and what he does. He is well suited for his duties. Gerrok lacks the kind of vision required to lead though. He has no use for that vision, those skills- so he fails to appreciate those skills in others. We need the Gerroks though, stubborn and inflexible as they may be. They need us too, though they won't admit it."

"Gerrok leads.", Dychi countered, "Differently from you, Lord, but he leads too. I've seen him passing his knowledge on to his subordinates. There is method there. I admire his certainty about things."

"Yes, I suppose he does lead.", Pach allowed, "It would be an injustice to oversimplify him as I have."

"Regarding Sub-Commander Gerrok", Dychi said, "As best as I could surmise from what he would divulge to me, the ship's life support systems are holding, but under abnormally high stress."

"Serious?"

"Not critical- yet.", Dychi said, "I believe that the sub-commander was simply implying that they were taking on a workload that they were not designed for."

"That's an apt definition for our world in general these days.", Pach said, resolving that Gerrok's indirect warning was more of the engineer's high-strung nature and less a forecast of immediate danger.

The door to the command bubble slid open without warning and Gerrok stepped into the chamber uninvited and unceremoniously. Per usual, Gerrok's expression showed him to be deep in thoughts that themselves went in several different directions.

"Pach, I-."

The engineer halted at the presence of the executive officer, and then sensing that his intrusion was more inappropriate than normal, asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No", said Dychi, passing the engineer with as much space between them as he could manage, "I was leaving to see to some duties."

"Don't let me stop you.", Gerrok said after him as Dychi departed.

When the door had slid closed, Pach rested a hand on the back of his command chair and studied the engineer with mild annoyance.

"Just once in the near future, Gerrok, it would be gratifying to see you treat Dychi as the executive officer of this command."

Gerrok shrugged off the comment, "Too late to break old habits and not enough time to let new ones set. In any case, once we've initiated fold, I want to take the main communications console down for a while. We'll be out of communications with Gymalt and Sylas for an hour or two."

"For what reason?", Pach asked.

"Switching out the primary encryption components with the ones I took from the Te'Dak Tohl vessel we scavenged for parts. They seem to be interchangeable with our systems-. And with the operating files we downloaded from the Te'Dak Tohl, I think we'll be able to monitor their communications."

"That could be of some value.", Pach admitted, "Normally I'd be hesitant to meddle with the communications systems just before an operation, but the possibility of listening in on the Te'Dak Tohl instead of the reverse is too tempting to ignore. I'll inform Gymalt and Sylas that we'll be out of communication. I'll let you know when you can proceed."

"Fine.", Gerrok agreed and turned to leave.

"Gerrok-."

The engineer stopped, "Yes?"

"I meant what I said."

"About what?"

"Gerrok-."

"Alright, alright-.", Gerrok groaned, "I'll be more- respectful."

"Good."

"But I'm not calling him, lord."

"The shock of you doing so would kill me."

Gerrok ground his heel into the deck as though looking for sound footing on which to support an argument, "It's just that he's so- him."

"He speaks highly of you.", Pach countered.

Genuine surprise flashed over Gerrok's face.

"Dychi said that he believes you to be a good leader to your staff", Pach said, then qualified, "-In your own way, of course."

Disarmed, Gerrok stammered, "Well- he's not unintelligent at least-."

The reduced hulk of a Regult Combat Pod that was only a Regult in general appearance now with all of its vital parts long since reallocated, had been set up in one of the hangar deck's multiple airlocks. The emptied shell squatted on bent, hollowed legs and stared back into the massive compartment with an empty socket where the sensor eye should have been.

As with every other compartment, passage, and usable space aboard Destroyer 741 this particular hangar had become an improvised barracks to far more warriors than it could have hoped to comfortably host. Despite the overcrowding of the compartment, warriors had managed to find enough unoccupied space to compress themselves into two distinct masses with a broad swath running between. This temporary discomfort was needed but not resented as it came with a trade-off.

At the one end of the cleared path the Regult shell squatted between the opened inner and outer doors of the hangar's airlock with only the cold-plasma atmosphere retention field providing a barrier between the life-sustaining atmosphere within the ship and the limitless, swirling blue limbo of hyperspace beyond. At the other end stood the brutish and menacing form of a Te'Dak Tohl Nacht-Rau combat suit. Transferred aboard per the orders of the destroyer squadron commander himself, the imposing machines were a measurable portion of the ship's mecha now- the rest having been either left on Murhan-Thade 4 or cast overboard to make room for warriors.

The "trade-off" being enjoyed by the warriors for their discomfort was not the presence of the Nacht-Rau so much as the watching of their use under Quadrano experimentation. Under the circumstances, any way to pass the time was a good one.

Lieutenant Marosa's turn in the combat suit had come fairly late in the order that had been determined by a drawing of lots. Far from feeling slighted at having to wait in line behind Quadranos of the very squadron that she commanded, the lieutenant took the opportunity to listen intently over radio headset to the comments and observations of each Quadrano before her. As there had been eight, including both Vala and two warriors from her command- Marosa had a well-developed idea of what to expect from the Nacht-Rau by the time she had "strapped it on" from the comments of her comrades and based on her familiarity with the suit's relative, the Queadlunn-Rau.

Not surprisingly due to the Queadlunn-Rau's logical design, there were only minor changes to the layout and displays within the confines of the Nacht-Rau. There were additional controls that Marosa could feel at her fingertips, but not so many as to be cumbersome. The greatest difference between the suit of power armor that Marosa was in from the one she was used to was the deeper hum of the compact protoculture reactor that provided the machine its power, and the general feeling of being part of a heavier, more massive combat platform.

Still, once Marosa's flight suit had been connected to the power armor and the neural interface between pilot and machine established, the bridges of familiarity were more numerous than the gaps. Having attempted and successfully performed a range of movements taught to all Quadranos to verify proper calibration of the neural piloting system, Marosa found herself ready for the event that the crowd of barracked warriors lingered to see and one that had already claimed several emptied storage crates and another scavenger-picked Regult: a test-firing of the weapons.

"Clear downrange!", Marosa ordered over the Nacht-Rau's external speaker system.

Though the insulating effects of the Nacht-Rau prevented Marosa from hearing her own projected words, it was clear that the divided group of warrior observers had heard her clearly as they managed to open the path between the Nacht-Rau and the open airlock even wider.

"You're clear to fire, Marosa.", Vala said over the radio- acting for safety reasons as the director of the improvised firing range.

Marosa placed the aiming cue centrally on the Regult target, and squeezed off a short blast with the Nador rifle.

A vivid stream of orange plasma bolts ripped the air, causing a thunderous report and echo off the hangar bulkheads with the heating of the atmoshpere's gas molecules. The Regult's smooth, lightly armored hull was not simply pierced but shredded with the clean penetration and detonations of the volley of energy rounds.

The warriors nearest to the inner airlock doors threw their arms up before themselves instinctively for protection as they felt the force of the Nador rifle's effects on the Regult. A collective groaning cheer rose from the warriors who observed the destruction- a sound both impressed and foreboding.

"It's something else, isn't it?", Vala asked over her radio headset.

"That is impressive.", Marosa admitted, "So long as you're not on the receiving end of it. A little more punch than the standard particle beam rifle.."

"I think that's the point.", Vala suggested, "I'll be honest with you Marosa-. When I figured out on the planet what the Te'Dak Tohl had done to us, I wanted nothing more than to have at them. Now I'm not so sure that our combat suits would have stood up to the fight. –Their combat suits might not even stand up to that fight. Sort of one of those ways that Fate saves you from yourself by not always giving you what you want, eh?"

"We'll find out, won't we?", Marosa replied rhetorically before continuing, "The Masters put a lot of thought into making the Te'Dak Tohl as efficient at their task as they could make them. Vala, I'm really starting to hate The Masters."

Vala sounded amused at Marosa's serious statement, "Well then, my friend- you are really behind the curve."

Marosa raised the suit's left arm, bringing to bear the massive energy weapon mounted on the forearm.

"Makes you wonder about this, doesn't it?"

Vala's voice was cautionary, "I'd be careful about that-. Seeing what the rifle does, I don't think it would be a good idea to test fire it in a confined and occupied space. Let's just assume it will knock something down if you shoot at it."

Vala had been present hours earlier at a quick, informal briefing that Point Lieutenant Tuissant had given to her Quadranos indicating that some kind of counterattack on the Te'Dak Tohl was in the planning and that they would play a critical role. This being the case, Marosa could not immediately understand how Vala could not want to experiment with every function of the combat suits that they would be taking into battle as she did. Vala's hesitance came into focus for Marosa and was justified as the two masses of warriors that had parted and compressed to form the path to her target returned noticeably toward one another.

The hangar was too crowded to risk a high-velocity spray of shrapnel, regardless of Marosa's penchant for preparedness.

"Try the drone.", Vala suggested, "I know that's going to be useful."

"Okay.", agreed Marosa, "How do I launch it?"

"It's the icon in the lower left of your sensor functions screen- just cue it."

Marosa glanced at the screen display Vala spoke of, and in spotting the icon flicked the cuing switch at her right thumb. Sensors within her helmet that watched the direction of her eyes judged the function to which the pilot was glancing and activated it.

From an enclosed mount in the rear of the Nacht-Rau, a small, cylindrical drone emerged and hovered at the ready. Its only remarkable feature, the small sensor eye that scanned the deck with the same video and sensor features as those enjoyed by its mothercraft, though with less power and range.

Within the suit, Marosa was presented with the appearance of another viewing screen that had a cuing reticule at the center along with simple navigational and position information on the drone.

Etmal had been the first to explore the functionality of the drone, and with her intuitive ability to understand combat systems, had made quick work of the drone's basic operation. She had passed on what she had learned in the best way she could, and now Marosa tried equally hard to apply Etmal's descriptions and instructions to the operation of the device.

Glancing down to the tactical screen, Marosa placed the cue randomly at a location within the space of the hangar around her and toggled the thumb switch. The drone complied by traveling to the location before holding in anticipation of further direction.

"Did you do that through the tactical?", Vala asked, having experimented earlier.

"Yes.", Marosa said, "Just like Etmal said. How do you go manual?"

"Left hand.", Vala instructed, "It's really simple-. Roll your wrist left and right to control yaw, up and down is altitude, and-."

"I was listening to Etmal too.", Marosa said, cutting Vala short as she monitored the drone's reaction to her hand movements, "Let me learn-."

"So testy-.", Vala replied with false scorn, "Someone is ramping up for a fight."

"You have no idea, Vala."

After Marosa was confident that she understood the navigational functions of the drone, she turned her attention to the subsystems' operation.

"The weapons functions look about the same as the master controls.", Marosa noted, "Same with the sensor options."

"It looks like you can use the drone to acquire targets for the missiles outside of your line of sight.", Vala said, "You can shoot around corners and objects with the drone. That will definitely be useful."

"I can think of a dozen times we would have wanted to have some of these suits.", Marosa said heavily.

"I can think of a hundred.", Vala countered.

Marosa moved the aiming cue of the probe over various objects, imagining each to be Te'Dak Tohl, "Only one feature missing, I'd say."

"That is?"

"The one to let us see the look of surprise on their faces when we use their own mecha against them."

"Keep looking", Vala said, almost laughing, "It may be there."

The gathering in Destroyer 741's senior officers' briefing room was reduced and appeared almost apathetic to the operation being planned when compared to its magnitude of importance. The level of attendance was a decision made entirely by Commander Pach for his ship and reflected in his mind the appropriate representation for what the briefing was- a high-level discussion meant to refine a concept. The presence of the Quadrano unit commander, Point Lieutenant Tuissant, was the strongest indication that the assembly of officers was the result of carefully considered inclusion on Commander Pach's part and not of exclusion.

The concept, in spite of the real significance attached to its success or failure was a simple one and would not require great effort by the combined staffs of the three commands to refine. All at Pach's table seemed to be willing to silently accept this. The greater the brevity of the meeting, the less time allowed to recognize its gravity or the unpleasantries of its likely outcome for those participating in it.

Action Commander Gymalt's executive officer had been tasked with the presentation of the briefing and had progressed quickly through the minimal objectives and overarching assumptions to enter into the equally finite areas of available details on which the planned action could be based.

"This is the final dockyard configuration to be found aboard the Trendok 145 Robotech Factory.", said Gymalt's lieutenant as the last schematic was replaced on the viewscreen by a new one for the study of all. While Robotech Automated Factories were unlike the Zentraedi warships they mass-produced in that they did not share a "common" deck layout, they were similar in that they shared specific types of facilities, and within a particular Factory tended toward a set pattern and arrangement of those facilities. As such, the Trendok 145 showed itself to have four common dockyard footprints that at least allowed Gymalt and his officers foresight into the areas from which any assault on the Factory's center would have to originate.

"As with the other dockyard arrangements, this configuration provides immediate access to armories, ready-use munitions stores, and mecha storage. Broad avenues connect the dockyard itself to these storage areas and will allow our warriors to move quickly to them. Like all of the dockyard configurations, the intent in the design was to allow for quick movement of supplies out to warships moored there. Ironically, the flow of our warriors to those supplies should move as easily in the other direction. I doubt that The Masters intended this as they engineered the dockyard spaces, but as with all systems the greatest flaw is sometimes inseparable from the strongest attribute-."

Action Commander Gymalt inserted himself into the briefing as his executive officer began to display his occasional tendency toward wandering off topic, "The point being is that our warriors will have more than adequate armament to execute the battle plan. We are of course dependant on our Quadrano shock troops to quickly secure the dockyard and to drive far enough into The Factory to provide sufficient buffering for the follow-on forces to be able to take advantage of these stores- but that being achieved, we will not have to be concerned with our warriors being ill-equipped. We must only be mindful that we press our attack aggressively and expediently. To consider this plan a complete success we must be able to access The Network as well disable The Factory's production capabilities."

Sub-Commander Dychi attempted to be inconspicuous as he tried to read the faces of Commander Pach and Sub-Commanders Ritzal and Kranna for reaction. The three officers senior to him in experience were devoid of expression- deliberately so. In their forced null reaction, Dychi sensed grave concern that was inappropriate to voice without their superior's solicitation. Only Point Lieutenant Tuissant eluded Dychi's sounding by virtue of his lack of familiarity with her.

If the senior command officers of Destroyer 741 displayed restraint in speaking their minds in following Commander Pach's example, Commander Sylas from the briefing room of his own destroyer did not.

"Lord", Sylas said clearly and confidently, "While I agree that given the element of surprise and a Quadrano spearhead, we should have no difficulty securing the dockyard, we have to face the fact that there will be Te'Dak Tohl throughout The Factory. Te'Dak Tohl by the thousands to be precise. Granted, it will take them some time to come to grips with what is happening and to mount a response- however-."

"So long as the element of surprise is ours, we will hold the initiative for a short while.", Gymalt assured him, "And don't forget- our warriors will be fully and heavily armed as they penetrate into the Factory-. The Te'Dak Tohl that they will make contact with will likely be mostly of the non-combat disciplines and will be largely unarmed. Admittedly, there will be combatants in the mix, but these will be away from access to their mecha and anything more than the contents of small arms lockers. It will take some time for them to mount an effective defense within The Factory itself. I am more concerned about attack from the rear- from without the dockyards, from the Te'Dak Tohl vessels in the spacedock itself. With the bulk of our warriors committed to the assault, our vessels will be vulnerable to attack and be at risk of being overrun."

Pach looked to Kranna, whose command of Fighter Pods had returned in bulk and remained aboard Destroyer 741 following the exodus from Murhan-Thade 4. Even when faced with the need to clear as much deck space as could be made available for the rescued masses of warriors, Pach had been reluctant to have his ship's fighter element simply pushed out the closest hangar airlock. Perhaps it was prejudice Pach showed as a former Gnerl pilot in sparing the fighters from abandonment in space, but he preferred the rationale of recognizing their utility as being the best platform for mounting a defense of Destroyer 741 should they have to tangle with a Te'Dak Tohl unit of similar strength.

"We can hold a perimeter, even in the spacedock.", Kranna said, a hint of boasting to his voice, "So long as we have fire support from your missile batteries. We can hold them off for a while."

"And we should be able to press the attack quickly.", Ritzal commented, referring to his infantry and mecha units, "If the Quadranos can strike deep into The Factory, the Regults we have aboard can hold the critical corridor junctions in their rear until our warriors are mounted and armed appropriately."

Tuissant was confident, almost boastful in saying, "The question, Sub-Commander, is- can your forces keep up with my Quadranos? You'll have the bridgehead that you need, you can rely on it. At the risk of repeating what I have heard said several times already, the key to our success is being able to maintain the momentum of our attack- exploiting the surprise we achieve."

"Oh we'll keep up.", Ritzal said, a slight edge to his voice at the implication that his warriors would in some way burden the advance.

Tuissant, recognizing that her casual comment had been taken with some affront attempted to mend the damage, "I meant only that our rapid advance is pointless without the force density that your warriors provide, Sub-Commander."

"I'm sure.", Ritzal said flatly, "We'll be there every step of the way. Just be sure that your Quadranos don't get between my warriors and the Te'Dak Tohl. Our caste has already spilled too much of its own blood recently."

Action Commander Gymalt reasserted control of the briefing, bringing all back into focus with the simple comment, "I pity the Te'Dak Tohl- the warrior's spirit is strong here."

"Point Lieutenant Tuissant has brought us back to the point we have all touched upon and that I find crucial to stress-. Our assault must not be halted- it cannot be allowed to bog down for any reason. With this understanding, I have chosen to pursue a plan of attack that does not involve diversionary attacks into other areas of The Factory. These might generate some confusion in the Te'Dak Tohl command, but any gain would be offset by the drain on our forces it would create. We are already compelled to sap our own strength by detaching units as we penetrate The Factory to hold the corridors on the flanks and to the rear of our advance. That much is unavoidable, but our remaining forces must be dedicated to the push. Reaching the command center and destroyeing the Hypercomp is our sole priority."

Sub-Commander Kranna rejoined the conversation, asking cautiously, "Can our infantry hold all of those corridor junctions? Or, as we have no actual idea of the exact number of junctions we're talking about- perhaps the better question is, how many corridors can we reasonably expect to hold? The Te'Dak Tohl will not have many at first, but we have to expect that they will bring mecha to bear- including those beasts that the Quadranos are training up on at this very moment. Can a detachment of infantry be expected to protect your flank against a platoon of those armor suits, Ritzal?"

Ritzal accepted the valid question with a nod, "That would depend on the particulars of the situation, I'd say. Out in the open, as on a battlefield- no, of course not. Defending a confined space is somewhat different though. Given the right position, weapons, and determination infantry could hold a corridor against even the Te'Dak Tohl power armor- for a while. I've heard that even they were not eager to charge into plasma-napalm. I won't say that infantry will hold them forever, but they could fend off several spirited assaults at the least."

"Good enough for me.", Kranna said, clearly wishing to drop the conversation and the underlying concern, "I'll be too busy to worry about it while it's happening anyway."

"We will all be thoroughly occupied.", Action Commander Gymalt pointed out, "It is only a question of degree. I regret to have to admit that we will not know the degree to which we will be thoroughly occupied until we put in to spacedock. Many variables in this plan depend on how far removed our warriors are from The Factory's command center when we initiate our attack, how many and what kind of Te'Dak Tohl units occupy the same docking area and the spaces between-. I don't believe that I need elaborate any further."

"If it cannot be resolved or mitigated now, then there is no point in dwelling on it.", Commander Pach said, breaking his long silence with the comment that suggested an eagerness to leave the discussion behind.

"I agree with Pach.", Gymalt said, "When we put in we will know our starting point and furthermore be able to identify the best route to our objective. If the Quadranos can start us in the right direction-."

"We will, Lord.", Tuissant assured her adoptive commander.

"Then we need only adhere to the central concepts of the plan in executing it.", Gymalt resolved, "By the time the first shot is fired, we will have meanwhile uplinked with The Network and begun broadcasting our transmission to Supreme General Breetai. If the Te'Dak Tohl are not completely distracted by our surprise attack and do not overlook the transmissions, they will at most succeed in stopping them after the tenth or twelfth cycle. Everything that we achieve beyond that is a hard-won bonus."

"So much is being invested in and depends on a transmission successfully getting out-.", Dychi said finding himself voicing a thought that was without significant purpose, "If only we had a way to be certain-."

"Certainty is a rare luxury.", Pach commented, "But we will manage."

"We will manage.", Gymalt agreed, "Duty and Honor- and Fate will take care of the rest."

There was the murmur of obligatory agreement for the commanding officer's statement among the officers on the com-link. The blunted response was not so much indicative of low morale as of minds spinning with thoughts and questions that could not be resolved except for at the moment of action.

"We will make the next and final briefing in eight hours.", Gymalt said, "Fate side with us all."

The screen with the action commander on it darkened and vanished from the air in which it had hung over the conference table.

Pach's posture in his chair relaxed somewhat as he remained silently contemplative for a moment. Then, his thoughts collected, he spoke calmly and without a hint of his own thinking.

"Reactions?"

Ritzal was forthcoming and blunt, "We could just shoot ourselves in the heads now and save the Te'Dak Tohl the trouble."

"Hardly inspiring of confidence.", Pach said flatly.

Ritzal clasped his hands together and thumped the combined fist softly, but emphatically on the table, "Just too many ifs involved."

"You sounded a lot more confident a moment ago.", Kranna observed, recalling the limited three-way conversation between Ritzal, Tuissant, and himself, "And as Action Commander Gymalt pointed out, we hopefully will have broadcast our message to Breetai a dozen times before the first shot is fired or the Te'Dak Tohl even have a hint that something is out of the ordinary."

"I was confident- about that.", Ritzal countered sharply, "Can we take the dockyards initially? Yes. Can we cause a stir that will draw the Te'Dak Tohl's attention away from communications traffic? Sure. Can we push beyond the docks and establish a foothold?- Probably. Can we hope to reach the command center and disable the Hypercomp? Now we start to stray into the grey areas of wild speculation. If the distance is reasonable- then maybe. If we're on the other side of the facility-. Well, then this whole plan just becomes an elaborate and creative way to kill ourselves."

"What of maintaining momentum with the Quadranos as a spearhead?", Sub-Commander Dychi asked of the ship's mechanized infantry commander, "Were you insincere in what you said?"

Ritzal blinked and forced himself to remember that Dychi had at best limited experience with ground combat, and none with this mode of fighting to the best of his knowledge.

"No, I was not insincere- but you can't oversimplify this either. What I said was true. The Quadranos will make an excellent spearhead, especially with limited numbers of our mecha acting to support. Our warriors will be able to hold critical positions for a while against even the best equipped and most seasoned Te'Dak Tohl. But when we start to press into the areas around the command center where the passages do not lend themselves to mecha-. All of those elements I just said would work for us initially will start to work for the Te'Dak Tohl. Imagine moving a Regult through the corridors around the barracks areas on this ship, Dychi. –Now tell me, how many smashed pods would it take to choke those passageways off? How long is it going to take in an area like that to cause our flood of warriors to slow to a trickle?"

Dychi felt realization grip him coldly. The analogy with the ship's barracks area was not exact, but it served its purpose. The Quadranos would be forced to move single-file in their commandeered Te'Dak Tohl combat suits through the narrower halls deep within The Factory, if they were not forced to abandon them altogether. And by that time would the Te'Dak Tohl have not come to realize the objective of the attack and have moved every available warrior and mecha into a defensive position?

Suddenly Ritzal's suggestion of suicide to save the Te'Dak Tohl the trouble made more sense as well.

"Here's another layer of complexity to add, so to speak.", Ritzal continued after a moment, "So far we've been speaking two dimensionally-. What if the dockyard we moor to does not access the command level directly? Throw that third dimension into the equation and all of a sudden we're talking about having to drive deep into The Factory, stabilize and hold our flanks, and then move between levels-? Does anyone else see the possibility of catastrophe without benefit here besides me?"

When Pach had determined that Ritzal had released enough of the tension he had seen building all throughout the briefing and short discussion that had followed, he ended the sub-commander's tirade with a simple motion of his hand.

"We understand you clearly, Ritzal, and we understand that for every way that this plan can go right, there are a thousand ways that it can go wrong. Let's stay focused on the few strengths and advantages that we have and decide on ways that they can best serve us."

Inwardly amused that he must have sounded like the ship's engineer, Sub-Commander Gerrok in one of the rants he was known to go off on, Ritzal quieted his mind and focused on some of the preparations his staff had been able to make for the impending assault.

"We did come up with a way to maintain some semblance of command and control between the ship and the engaged units."

"That would be?", Pach asked, gratified that Ritzal was able to resume constructive thought so quickly. Given his position and responsibilities though, wallowing in self-pity was not a comfort that Ritzal could indulge in regularly. His position had forced him to become a warrior of quick thought and action.

"With Gerrok's assistance we've rigged some communications relay pods- the same we sometimes use in field operations- for encrypted transmissions. We cannot tie into The Factory's internal network- we don't dare run that risk- but with these pods we can stay in contact with you and the ship, Lord. We can send and receive without the Te'Dak Tohl easily listening in."

"That will be useful.", Pach said, "How many units do you have reconfigured in this way?"

Ritzal shrugged, "A dozen and a half or so. By the time we make dock, we should have all thirty-six that were not tossed overboard set up this way. There are a few shortcomings though-."

"Aren't there always?", Kranna asked bitterly.

"What shortcomings are those?", Pach asked as though oblivious to Kranna's remark.

"First", Ritzal said heavily, "the encrypted link is only going to be good between the ship and the mecha that we modify here, aboard Destroyer 741. That means only select officers and sub-officers will be able to act as command and control contact points."

"The warriors' radios cannot be modified?", Dychi asked.

Ritzal shook his head, "No, they can make use of a broad spectrum of frequencies but have no encryption capabilities to speak of. It's just never been an issue when fighting Invid."

"I see.", Dychi said with a nod.

"We also will have no tactical link.", Ritzal continued, "That function would be too difficult to encrypt, and it would rely heavily on The Factory's internal network which again- we dare not interface with."

"Anything else?", Pach asked.

"Oh, and one more thing.", Ritzal added sounding relieved to be on his final point, "Inside of a structure like The Factory- we have no idea what the range is on the communications pods. We could have to drop one at intervals of twelve corridor junctions or twelve paces. We have tested the units some in the corridors of the ship- but it's hardly an accurate recreation of the conditions we'll be using them in."

"Then we'll rely on your best guess and Gerrok's skill at improvising.", Pach said, "That's worth something."

"We shouldn't miss the full range of functions from the tactical link either.", speculated Dychi, "Not for the purposes of this operation anyway. As soon as we uplink with The Factory, we can download the facility schematics and work from a saved file. We will have a map of sorts that the Te'Dak Tohl will not be able to corrupt or distort. As long as the units relay their position information, we should be able to monitor your progress and assist you in navigating the facility. It will be crude, but it will work."

"If it is all that we have, we will make it work.", Pach resolved.

"We will make it work.", Ritzal assured his commander.

"Good.", Pach said simply, "You all heard Action Commander Gymalt say that we have a final briefing in eight hours. In the meantime- Ritzal, I would like you and Point Lieutenant Tuissant to assess unit readiness and draft an order of battle deployment that will best support the Quadrano spearhead. I realize that the majority of warriors aboard are not from this command and may not even have unit affiliation on Destroyer 741- we will have to construct units as quickly as we can."

"That's a lot of sorting and organizing.", Ritzal warned, "I may need some help."

"Dychi and Kranna will support you in that.", Pach said, issuing instructions to his executive officer in the process, "Dychi, pull staff from wherever you can and take direction from Ritzal on the skill sets or unit types he may require. We can achieve brute force by throwing units together indiscriminately, but let's see if there is experience in these warriors we can apply to our advantage."

"It will be done, Lord.", Dychi replied.

"Then we will assemble in seven hours for a status review and to prepare for Gymalt's briefing in eight.", Pach said ending the session unceremoniously, "To your duties. Dismissed."

The officers rose and departed from the chamber with their tasks preoccupying their thoughts and with Dychi taking up the rear. The executive officer paused as he came to the briefing room door, allowing it to shut before him.

"Now you are having doubts, Lord.", Dychi observed.

Pach's hand returned to his brow to soothe the throbbing he felt forming there.

"I have no doubts of the necessity of what must be done- but I have serious questions now about the feasibility of the thing. I had doubts before as to whether or not it could be done. In all I've heard, my misgivings have only deepened. Too much depends on Fate's favor and on the disorganization of the Te'Dak Tohl. Well, the Te'Dak Tohl are not disorganized, nor will they be thrown that far onto their heels and for long. Fate does note favor anyone that much. We're forming columns of our warriors to walk them into a massacre."

"You see no chance of success?", Dychi asked darkly- his mood grown sullen from his commander's own doubts.

"Success may be achieving the transmission of the message to Supreme General Breetai-. Disabling the Robotech Factory in any significant way?- No. We can at best demonstrate a memorable act of defiance to the Te'Dak Tohl."

"And our prospects of survival?"

Pach recalled the last discussion that he and the executive officer had had on the subject and found that presently he could not bring himself to offer as optimistic response.

"I need a short time to gather my thoughts Dychi.", Pach said, "We'll speak again soon."

Hedra passed one by one the line of warriors who had been assigned to his platoon less than an hour before. If there had been thought behind the assigning process, it had been minimal in Hedra's estimation despite an unsolicited assurance from one of Sub-Commander Ritzal's point lieutenants that warriors were to be "matched to units by skill and experience criteria". If this was the case, Hedra questioned his superiors' opinion of his unit as at a glance the new additions ranged the entire spectrum of experience.

They stood shoulder to shoulder along a row of bunks in the company barracks for inspection by their new unit commander as other warriors slept two to a berth. The normal tidiness of the line and the ease of inspecting it was also hindered by the warriors who slept or merely sat in small groups in the aisles. Hedra made a conscious effort to ignore this as the warriors occupying deck space were there for lack of anywhere else to go on the uniformly overcrowded ship. The order had been to rescue as many warriors from Murhan-Thade 4 as possible. This was the windfall of that order and not the fault of the rescued. Hedra only could do his best to step over or around the sleeping as he made his inspection of the platoon.

"Inspection" as it described the activity in which Hedra was engaged was something of an exaggeration as none of the warriors standing in line before him would have passed a true readiness inspection. Weapons and equipment where the warriors were still in possession of them were still dirtied by deep rust-colored earth of Murhan-Thade 4. Body armor, still worn by almost every warrior in the barracks compartment for lack of a place to stow it if removed, was similarly unfit to pass real review.

Instead, Hedra took account of aspects of his new acquisitions that mattered- those only that truly mattered for what lay ahead. Hedra studied faces and eyes as he passed along the line, looking for the steadiness that spoke to nerves tempered by combat, and also for hints of the twitchiness that was indicative of the opposite.

In his progress, Hedra came upon a warrior in the line who was nearly as massive in frame as he. The Warrior 2nd Grade was distinguished by the extensive scarring all around his face that spoke of not a single injury, but of a succession of many through a series of campaigns and battles.

"Your name, Warrior?", Hedra asked, examining without apology the old, crudely healed burns to the warrior's face that gave it an asymmetrical appearance of melting. The warrior's eyes were steady, though the right one was clouded slightly- a result of the same injury as his scarring, Hedra suspected.

"Oltum, Lieutenant."

"Where did you receive your wounds?"

"Many places, Lieutenant- but you look at ones from Pynea.", the warrior said unflinchingly, even with a hint of pride, "The assault on the north ridge to secure the Hive."

Hedra nodded, "I remember that battle well. Many a brave warrior was lost to secure that ridge and destroy that Hive."

"The ridge was needed for the assault to be successful.", Oltum said plainly, "More warriors would have died had we not taken it."

"True.", Hedra agreed, "And the Invid that did this to you?"

Scar tissue as well as simply life-worn skin twitched in the slightest hint of a smile on the rugged warrior's face, "It did this to me before I managed to do worse to it."

"Grievously wounded, and you still held your weapon?", Hedra asked, making no effort to mask how the feat impressed him.

"With my bare hands, Lieutenant.", the warrior boasted, offering his palms up to show the uneven ridges of scars that easily could have been caused by the manual disassembly of an Invid mecha.

Hedra examined the warrior's hands like things to be revered, "Could you do the same to Te'Dak Tohl? Are you eager to?"

"To as many as I can, Lieutenant.", Oltum said without hesitation.

Hedra put his hand on the warrior's shoulder, "Good, we will need that bravery."

The platoon commander stepped along to the next warrior who was as much a polar opposite in appearance to Oltum as he could be, and in his eyes the lieutenant saw that he realized his own inadequacies by comparison. The warrior's gaze remained fixed on an invisible point in space even as Hedra studied him up and down with the same spot-check appraisal he might normally give to a Regult presented for inspection.

"There's a puddle on the deck. I trust it's stasis fluid and not an accident?"

"No accident, Lieutenant.", the warrior replied.

Hedra examined the warrior's flawless face and then took his hands into his own for a similar study to find them unmarred and soft, "How many battles have you fought, Warrior?"

"Four, Lieutenant."

"Including the battle on Murhan-Thade 4, Warrior?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"Well, at least you have some experience killing Zentraedi then-.", Hedra grunted, unimpressed, "Can you do it again?- Kill Zentraedi? Or, Te'Dak Tohl at least-."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"You don't sound eager.", Hedra observed, nodding toward Oltum, "This warrior has fought scores of battles between the one where he received his wounds and the time of your Awakening. We need warriors of his kind. What makes you believe you can measure up?"

There was a pause as the warrior struggled with the question, but at the end of the pause he replied steadily, "I do not believe, Lieutenant, I will."

Hedra approvingly shook the warrior by the shoulder, "That is the attitude that makes warriors. You will stay with Oltum, and follow his example. I do not wish to know your name until we are finished with the Te'Dak Tohl. Then you may show me your scars, tell me of your deeds in battle, and I will be honored to know your name."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

Hedra passed the rest of the platoon making quicker inspections of each warrior, finding most in his estimation to be of average experience and seasoning. He reasoned that there was no such thing as an ideal warrior for a distasteful duty- but these were at least adequate.

"That goes for you all.", Hedra said from the head of the inspection line, "We are strangers to one another now, but we share a goal. When we return we will be comrades in blood. Follow me, do your duty, and I will be honored to know all your names. - Sub-Lieutenant Koso-."

Koso stepped dutifully forward, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Our turn at the nutrient dispensary is coming up. Have the platoon fall out for rations."

"Yes, Lieutenant.", Koso replied, "Platoon, fall out and reassemble at the dispensary!"

With a singular motion, the platoon turned on heels and filed with as much order as the crowded deck space would allow toward the barracks door.

As Koso followed behind, Hedra called after him.

"A moment of your time, Sub-Lieutenant."

Koso allowed the platoon to slip away through the barracks door and out into the corridor, remaining instead with Hedra.

"Well", Hedra said grimly in a quiet voice, "What do you think?"

Koso ran his hands over his face and through his hair, wearily gathering a summation of his thoughts on the matter, "They do stand at attention well for inspection."

"So do Regults without pilots.", Hedra said.

Koso shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily as he chose the phrasing of his response, "You know the old faces from our unit as well as I do, so you know what we can expect from them. Of the others- four are clearly up to this. Of the remaining, perhaps half will likely bear up. -What's left- I just hope they don't shoot their own feet off, or shoot us."

"We're going to be in one of the first assault waves", Hedra warned, "You know that, right? Maybe not first after the Quadranos, but they won't be out of sight. Ritzal always leads with his strongest units forward- and as we're original issue to his command, that means we're somewhere up front."

Koso nodded, "I know. What we need to do is to take those hardened warriors and put them in lead positions over the mediocre and the clueless. If nothing else, their example may be enough to carry the rest."

"Good, see to it.", Hedra instructed, "The choice warriors originally from this unit- put them into your squad and mine. Build the remaining squads with what's left, as you suggested."

Koso said showing hesitation, "I was hoping to spread the old faces around a bit, Hedra. I stand by my impression of the new bodies, but I could be wrong. If I'm wrong about how they'll manage, we could get them slaughtered- and quickly."

"Maybe", Hedra conceded, "But they may be slaughtered anyway. I want my core killers pooled. Our squads will lead, theirs will follow. If we can retain cohesion, then they will be sufficient to support our actions."

Koso nodded, "As good a plan as any. How many names do you think you'll have to learn when we get back?"

Hedra said bleakly, "You know how bad I am with names, Koso. Just make sure that you're back here to change the dressings on my wounds, and I'll do the same for you."

Koso gave an affirming nod, "Agreed- but I think I'll be doing more work in that area than you."

"Give it up, Koso- you won't keep that handsome face forever."

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

Sub-General Caldettas arrived at the small briefing room from The Factory's command center only a short distance away with little clear idea of what purpose was to be served by the meeting he was to attend.

Since the purging of the norghil from the Trendok 145, Caldettas had been engaged in many tasks to include the transfer of Supreme General Krymina's flag, and subsequently her entire staff to The Factory from Artoc. This movement of personnel to The Factory and its more information resource proximal and functionally capable facilities had been no small undertaking as every face that appeared regularly at one of Krymina's high-level staff meetings had a supporting cadre of scores before peripheral support interfaces were counted. Standing up the command center even with its abundant multi-functional workstations in a logical and efficient configuration had been a greater challenge than Caldettas had anticipated and was only now gelling in a way that would support cohesive efforts of the staff.

All of these things; the movement of staff, the allocation of the appropriate types and amount of equipment in the command center, and finally the initiation of the first, basic functions of command center operations had needed to be completed to support the greater purpose for which the staff had been relocated to The Factory- operational planning and staging. The monumental task of taking Supreme General Krymina's vision of assaulting an alien world, defeating a capable adversary, and securing with minimal damage Zor's Battle Fortress for the Te'Dak Tohl was only beginning to be broken down into its gross elements that in turn would require the identification and refinement of a seemingly infinite number of underlying details. The systemic machine, Krymina's staff, had just begun to grind away at its task when the call had come for Caldettas. With a virtual mountain work ahead before the operational plan was even finalized, Caldettas had torn himself away as the summons had come from Supreme General Krymina herself.

Caldettas had little clear idea for why he was being summoned, but in Krymina's call for his presence she had made a point of saying that the meeting had been at Sub-General Jekketh's request and urging. Caldettas's idea for the meeting was not clear, but considering Jekketh's involvement he did at least have an idea.

Jekketh wanted something.

More to the point, as Jekketh had approached the supreme general herself and had not gone through channels- through Caldettas- as would have been appropriate, Caldettas could only assume that Jekketh wanted something significant and had not been willing to risk the interference of Krymina's first lieutenant.

When the door to the briefing room slid open, Caldettas found what he had expected to see and what his sudden shift from administrative and command mode had not allowed him to fully prepare for. Sub-General Jekketh sat at Caldettas's normal place at Krymina's right hand from her seat at the head of the small table. From the look that Jekketh gave the grand army's executive officer as he entered, it only took Caldettas a fraction of a second to understand that Jekketh's placement of himself in this seat was in no way accidental. Between he and Caldettas, Jekketh was making it abundantly if not overtly clear that he considered the executive officer's presence and input to be completely inconsequential.

What Caldettas could not understand was why Krymina was tolerating Jekketh at this moment in his clear overstepping of his boundaries. The executive officer did not feel threatened as he with oversight of the operational planning process had practical influence over the entire range of the 7th Grand Army's function- even more in a real sense than Supreme General Krymina who commanded and directed through him. Caldettas did wonder briefly as he took his seat opposite Jekketh why Krymina was allowing such a borderline insubordinate display.

Knowing Krymina as he did, Caldettas suspected it had more to do with expediency than favoritism. Better to allow Jekketh his symbolic victory, give him his chance to speak his mind quickly, and return to the critical business at hand. Recognizing this, Caldettas silently accepted it as his duty to follow suit and to endure Jekketh's bristling in triumph.

Small, symbolic sacrifices of this kind, Caldettas found, allowed meetings with Jekketh to proceed more smoothly.

"I apologize if I've caused a delay, Supreme General.", Caldettas said clearly to Krymina, "The execution of transferring your flag has been somewhat more complex than the planning."

Krymina looked mildly concerned, but only for a moment as she asked, "We are capable of conducting command functions from The Factory though, I trust?"

"All required areas are in the process of standing up now.", Caldettas assured his superior, never even glancing at Jekketh, "Within two hours, we will be fully functional and able to resume dedicated operational planning."

Krymina gave a simple nod of approval, "Very good."

The supreme general allowed a moment of silence to pass in which both Caldettas and Jekketh had no option but exchange a quick, tense glance. This having achieved the purpose of putting her in full control of the moment, Krymina continued-.

"Sub-General Jekketh, you have requested this reduced meeting with Caldettas and I to make a proposal for an additional activity in our preparation efforts. You have our attention now- please elaborate."

Jekketh spoke bluntly as was his habit without polish to his words that would have indicated rehearsal of what he was saying.

"I have reviewed the preliminary timetable for preparations in the operation against Breetai and the alien world and have seen that there is ample time available to make the reasonable request to conduct combat exercises with our ground forces."

Caldettas labored to suppress visible signs of disapproval for the dual purposes of not possibly usurping Krymina in her response, and to not provide Jekketh with additional fuel for wanting what he requested. There was also the element that a "combat exercise" as requested by Jekketh would entail all of the planning and support of a real operation, and would double the work of the staff under Caldettas's direction. No less apparent to the executive officer that as much as an attempt to glean a positive, practical outcome- this was as likely an ego-driven grab at praise being made by Jekketh.

Perhaps sensing that Caldettas was preparing argument angst his request, Jekketh wasted no time in following it with rationalization.

"Supreme General, we have not even initiated the forward-deployed reconnaissance mission you have assigned to Action Commander Kevtok yet. By the time that he and his team are just entering the alien star system, we will have nearly tripled the size of our ground forces. By the prescribed insertion method, it will be another two seasons before Kevtok's team will even reach the alien world and be able to start relaying intelligence back to your command. How can we not make use of this time to ensure the combat effectiveness of our new warriors and to forge cohesive units?"

A glance from Krymina granted Caldettas the permission he needed to challenge if not refuse Jekketh.

"Darius has assured us that our new warriors will be every bit as effective in action as any we have ever received, Jekketh. You have never doubted unit cohesion or combat effectiveness before-."

Jekketh replied, speaking directly to Krymina, "Supreme General, this is the most important operation ever undertaken by the Te'Dak Tohl- perhaps by the Zentraedi-. You must excuse me if I do not wish to wager its success on the word of a fat, seditious, Tirolian sociopath. Additionally, even the best warriors produced by a Factory are improved by experience- even if only in exercise. If nothing else, a full-scale exercise will separate the capable from the incompetent and allow our officers more confidence in the forces we are providing to them."

"We are already planning exercises, Jekketh-.", Caldettas pointed out.

"Fleet exercises and maneuvers, Caldettas- which while are necessary do not address the needs of the ground forces.", Jekketh countered, "Given the possible scenarios we could encounter- possibilities that you yourself briefed, Caldettas- do you feel that fleet exercises are enough? Will you have confidence in an untested army if we should find the Invid have beaten us to this world?"

Sub-General Caldettas found himself uncomfortable and increasingly so as inwardly he had to grant grudging agreement with the logic and reason of Jekketh's arguments. The truth was that there was time to conduct even a full-scale war exercise, and that the 7th Grand Army would benefit overall.

Caldettas just did not want to have to concede these things to Jekketh. It was perhaps the stresses he was already under that were putting a finer edge on his existing rivalry with Jekketh, Caldettas reasoned.

The executive officer was not forced to admit to anything as Supreme General Krymina said without showing bias to either subordinate, "Send me your exercise concept through channels Jekketh, and it will be reviewed. At this moment, I will not obligate myself to its approval- but it will be reviewed objectively."

Jekketh dipped his head gratefully, "Thank you, Liege- that's all I ask for."

Krymina motioned to the briefing room door, "Then if our business is concluded, you may go, Jekketh. Thank you."

Jekketh rose from his seat, started for the door, then hesitated and added, "Supreme General, I will require a select few from my planning staff to assist me in preparing the exercise concept for your review-."

Caldettas's stomach knotted and he hoped that it did not show on his face. A "select few", he knew, meant that Jekketh would likely be taking at least half of his staff back to his command ship- drawing resources from Caldettas's activities.

"Take what you need.", Krymina allowed, and then warned, "-But know that Caldettas will require their efforts again- and soon."

"Understood, Liege.", Jekketh said with a final half-bow and a salute before stepping out the door.

The commanding and executive officers of the grand army had been alone in the briefing room for several moments before Krymina spoke-.

"There is no need to thank me, Caldettas."

Still stinging by the first signs of a probable loss to Jekketh, Caldettas replied, "Thank you for not having to voice agreement with Jekketh? I suppose you did spare me that indignity."

Krymina gave a small sound of amusement, "No, Caldettas- I was thinking that you might thank me for removing Jekketh from your path in carrying out your duties- he and his meddling, that is."

Caldettas recognized after a moment's thought that if elsewhere conducting his "exercise", Jekketh would not be constantly inserting himself into every planning activity on The Factory's command deck, and likely finding an objection with Caldettas's work in each.

"I hadn't considered that, Liege.", Caldettas admitted, "Thank you."

"You should get more rest, Caldettas.", Krymina advised, "You tend to lose your perceptiveness and flexibility of thought when you allow yourself to grow exhausted. You're no good to anyone in that state."

Caldettas nodded, not wanting to point out that his fatigue was a result of all the tasks Krymina had assigned him personally.

"A point well taken, Supreme General."

Krymina rocked back and forth in her chair slightly, allowing herself to think out loud, "My intention is to smash Breetai with a fleet action. If he is sincere about protecting this alien world he has allied himself with, it is a challenge that he cannot back away from-."

"-Of course, we must also take into consideration that smug as he may be, Jekketh is also correct in his assertion. We must prepare for all of the possibilities we identified, and we will have time to prepare. I think, Caldettas, we should wait on Jekketh's exercise concept, review it, and then after careful consideration grant his request."

Caldettas grunted obliged agreement, but not full acceptance.

Krymina's amusement grew as she asked, "You're that intent on grappling with Jekketh over this?"

Caldettas shook his head, "No, Supreme General. I simply do not-."

"-Enjoy seeing Jekketh win an argument?", Krymina suggested- correctly.

Caldettas nodded reluctantly, "Yes, Liege- there is an element of that. I also see clearly that Jekketh would enjoy my seat at your table."

Krymina dismissed the thought outright, "And you know well enough why that would never happen, Caldettas. Don't waste another moment's thought on such a thing."

"I realize that, Supreme General.", Caldettas said, a hint of shame in his voice, "My apologies."

Krymina's thoughts had already moved beyond Caldettas's insignificant insecurities, "-Jekketh was correct about one thing at least, Caldettas. We will not have actionable intelligence until Kevtok and his team can begin relaying it to us. Any detailed planning involving Jekketh's forces will be pointless before that happens. Let Jekketh have his exercise. His strength as it serves us has always been his ability to improvise in the field. Let him find out what tools he has to improvise with."

Caldettas felt the discomfort of only a few minutes before easing enough to say, "Yes, Liege- a wise choice, no doubt."

The executive officer rose from his seat and was departing when the intercom in the small briefing room buzzed, giving him a moment's pause. Normally, it would have been a matter of little interest or concern, except for Supreme General Krymina's standard instructions to her staff for no disturbances prior to the meeting with Jekketh. While a minor infraction, even harmless violations of the supreme general's orders normally carried with them a memorable reprimand to the offender and were therefore infrequent and even less often deliberate acts repeated by the same individual.

Krymina touched the intercom controls and said with clear displeasure, "I ordered no interruptions."

A subordinate's voice, with just a hint of dread replied, "My deepest apologies, Supreme General- you did issue those instructions-. A situation has arisen that requires your immediate attention though."

Krymina's expression changed to one that Caldettas recognized as genuine interest. The Sub-General knew his superior to take her orders to subordinates very seriously, but not to the extent that she could not recognize their abilities to weigh prudence against them. Given the severity of her rebukes, the weighing was always done carefully and the decision to breach an order had never been unjustified to Caldettas's memory.

"Continue.", Krymina said, the sternness to her voice easing off slightly.

The subordinate's voice sounded less nervous as he continued, "Supreme General, seven minutes ago Central Communications received a message for Traffic Control from Action Commander Lanon's Destroyer 525, giving preliminary arrival notice and requesting docking priority for his and two subordinate vessels."

Krymina's face showed further interest as she turned to ask of Caldettas, "Lanon was in command of the rear guard detachment in the Murhan-Thade system, correct?"

"Yes, Liege.", Caldettas replied showing puzzlement, "As you were briefed, the detachment was attacked by unidentified norghil elements and overwhelmed. The report was made by the unit commander who withdrew from the engagement to assure our notification of the event. The identity of the attacking norghil had not been established at the time of his withdrawal from the Murhan-Thade system, but he reported at least three norghil destroyers. As you know, Supreme General, it was three norghil destroyers that escaped the purge of the Trendok 145-."

Krymina raised her hand slightly, halting Caldettas's summation, "Yes, yes- I recall. I thought that our escaping commander reported the main body of our detachment had been rendered combat ineffective at the time of his withdrawal?"

"That was his assessment of the situation, Supreme General.", Caldettas responded, "However, he did make it quite clear that from his ship's position at the onset of the action, he was unable to establish a clear picture of the battle. He could only confirm three norghil destroyers, but suspected that there may have been more by the quick order of their success against our units. His choice to withdraw before establishing a clear tactical understanding of the situation was made so that he might slip the range of the norghil hyperspace communications jamming and warn us of-."

"Yes, Caldettas-.", Krymina said bluntly, "-I received the same report. It would seem that Action Commander Lanon was able to turn the direction of the fight after his subordinate fled- or that is what we are expected to believe."

Caldettas addressed the junior officer on the other end of the intercom, asking, "Did the communications from Lanon's ship match records of his identification transponder, and was authentication challenge made?"

There was a pause from the other end of the closed circuit channel on which both senior officers hung. Then, the reporting junior officer said, "Lieges, the communication did carry with it the correct transponder prefix, however the ship's communications officer reported extensive battle damage to all three ships resulting in malfunction of the communications systems aboard the other two returning destroyers and only intermittent and reduced function of Lanon's. The com-link failed before authentication challenge could be made."

"Interesting-.", Krymina said distantly before adding with approval, "You were correct to bring this to my attention. I should suspect another communication from this vessel. When they contact Traffic Control for approach instructions and docking permission, it is to be granted. Sub-General Caldettas will instruct you shortly on the details."

Krymina tapped the control on the intercom pad closing the channel without ceremony or allowing her subordinate's departing salutation.

"Curious-.", Krymina said to Caldettas as her mind clearly sifted through the information she had just been presented, "Three norghil escape The Factory, our rear guard of the world where we disposed of the norghil warriors is attacked, and miraculously Fate sees fit to return three of that detachment to us-."

Caldettas knew that he and Krymina were of the same skeptical opinion and said, "The coincidences are too improbable to be coincidental, Liege. You suspect these returning units to be norghil?"

Krymina nodded, "I am all but certain. What I cannot understand is why?"

Caldettas pondered the question for a moment, but having no more information than Krymina could only speculate in the broadest sense, "The norghil units that escaped the purge would have arrived at Murhan-Thade 4 at the very end of their warrior's endurance under the best circumstances- even at maximum fold-warp. It is possible that they found their warriors dead and are returning for a reason as base as simple revenge. Perhaps they mean to dock and then use their vessels as weapons- overload their Protoculture reactors, for instance, and turn themselves into bombs-."

"Perhaps.", Krymina allowed, acknowledging the possibility, "But consider that these norghil- assuming that they are the same as the ones who escaped the purge- found a way to negate the effects our failure mode device on their ships and mecha. They then had the audacity to approach a world that they must have strongly suspected to be guarded by a superior force in order to rescue at least some of the norghil deposited there. They would have had to engage and defeat a numerically superior force in our detachment, and then conceive of the idea of attempting to assume their identities to return to The Factory-."

"That to me, Caldettas, seems a very elaborate method of suicide. Furthermore, I would be willing to wager that officers with the will to meet and overcome so many obstacles would recognize the futility of such an act and opt for another course of action- even if only to flee in hopes of rejoining another norghil force."

Caldettas's expression darkened, "The thought of another norghil force now concerns me, Supreme General. We assume that the entire fleets of the two norghil armies were present when we arrived at this Factory- in our rush to capture them no great effort was made to establish their true numbers and account for all of the vessels. If the norghil had detached units to act as guards and did not inform us, they could still be operating nearby- perhaps now in coordination with the norghil who escaped us. Our commander who escaped the battle at Murhan-Thade 4 was never able to confirm the exact number of vessels who attacked our detachment-."

Krymina nodded, "It is possible that the norghil may have joined with another force that we were unaware of, and that now all have the knowledge to offset our failure mode device. That is disturbing, but it still does not explain why they would want to return here. Even if the norghil army commanders had detached entire battle groups prior to our meeting and not informed us, we have three nearly intact fleets. On equal terms, they would not stand a chance of victory- even with the advantage of a surprise attack."

"If they do not plan to attack, what do they hope to achieve?", Caldettas asked having no answers himself.

"I don't have the slightest idea.", Krymina replied, "Tell me though, Caldettas- what knowledge did Action Commander Lanon have of our operational plans against Breetai?"

Caldettas was silent for a moment, the gravity of the potential situation striking hard and deep in him. After careful though, he replied, "Minimal, Liege. At the time he and his force were dispatched to oversee the disposal of the norghil warriors at Murhan-Thade 4, the operation was only a developing concept. He would have had no exact details to betray."

"-But he did have knowledge of the operational concept.", Krymina said heavily.

"Yes, Liege- I am forced to concede that much.", Caldettas admitted.

Krymina rocked with thought in her chair, "So, your assessment of the situation is that we are possibly dealing with a force of norghil whose exact numbers we do not know, who have the knowledge to render our most effective weapon useless, and who possibly know in general our larger plans for the future-. Would you agree to that much?"

"I must, Supreme General.", Caldettas said, feeling Krymina switch into defensive mode- a rare occurrence to his experience.

"Then we need answers- not speculation. This has the potential of jeopardizing our campaign before it even begins, and I will not allow that."

"Your orders, Supreme General?"

Krymina thought quickly and then said, "Dispatch two battle groups immediately to the Murhan-Thade system to search for norghil units that may still be in the area. Any norghil found are to be eliminated. Second, make preparations to receive and isolate the ships impersonating Lanon's units. Select a docking area that is removed from our staging operations. Should anything go wrong, I want impact on our preparations to be minimal. We will bring them in and then take their ships by force. Begin assembling the assault teams yourself, Caldettas. The norghil crews are expendable- but I want the officers alive for interrogation. Is that understood?"

"Clearly, Liege."

"Carry on then and report to me at regular intervals."

"Yes, Liege."

Two concentric circles of Serhot-Ran guards stood sentry in fully armed Nacht-Rau combat suits around the customized Re-Entry Transport that stood alone at the center of an otherwise empty hangar space intended to house hundreds of Gnerls.

The air of secrecy in which the hangar had been cleared of its normal contents and in which the transport had been transferred was to Lieutenant Moyrt, absurd. Ridiculous also to his way of thinking was the multiple identity and security checks through which he had been forced to pass in order to even enter the hangar housing the craft.

The Factory was secure and had been secure for some time now. There were no traitors within the Te'Dak Tohl as the survival of all was linked to the success of Krymina's master strategy, in which this ship was integral. Under these circumstances the posting of such a heavy guard seemed almost an act of paranoia.

Or perhaps not almost.

Still, this was the posture that had been dictated from the highest levels of command. The tone of all things involved in the operation had not been so explicitly expressed, but it had been implied and was being communicated clearly regardless. Moyrt's tried and faithful practice of negating some of the pressures of an upcoming operation by inwardly deeming it, just another mission, was even failing him now.

This was not just another mission, Moyrt knew- and he needed no one to tell him that its failure would mean more than the death of a handful of Serhot-Ran.

Moyrt tried to shake the weight of the undertaking off and was able to shed some of it.

A door joining the hangar to the interior spaces of The Factory opened to allow an additional squad of Nacht-Rau armor with Serhot-Ran markings to enter. Farcical as it was in appearance, the squad was perceivably earnest in its task as it parted to act as a defensive screen for the party of Te'Dak Tohl that entered after them- the humor coming from the fact that the guarded were a tenth the size of their escorts.

Micronization had done to the full survey team assigned to Action Commander Kevtok what Moyrt dreaded it doing to him soon. Te'Dak Tohl, the majority of the party male with almost as many females, had been reduced to frail and delicate things scarcely larger than the Tirolians whose presence Moyrt was still growing accustomed to. In addition to their reduction in physical size, the team was subjected to the additional humiliation of making their march to the transport completely unclothed.

This discomfort would not be long-lived as the distance from the closest of The Factory's molecular scaling facilities to the hangar was not far- even for a micronized warrior. What made the transit less unpleasant in and of itself, Moyrt suspected, was that the final indignity was at the end of the walk. The survey team would board the transport and re-enter stasis in the specially constructed chambers provided for them. They would soon feel consciousness slip away into grey and then darkness, and when they awoke- choking with the drowning sensation of lungs filled with stasis fluid- they would be approaching the alien world.

Then the critical work would begin.

"You are eager, aren't you?"

Moyrt had not heard Hyra's approach but instantly recognized her voice. Under the circumstances and lost in thought as he had been, Moyrt suspected that Hyra could have as easily crept up on him with a full company in tow as she had by herself.

"Eager isn't the word I would have chosen.", Moyrt said, "Not eager for that anyway."

"A burden of duty.", Hyra sighed, moving up to stand to one side of her comrade and friend, "Though I can't blame you for being nervous."

"Who's nervous?"

Hyra ignored Moyrt's dismissal of her observation, "If you look half that ridiculous without uniform- plus being micronized-. I'd be nervous too."

Moyrt scowled at the other shock trooper, "At least I'm not- missing parts."

Hyra scoffed, noting the anatomical differences between the males and females of the survey team- attributes not so readily visible under normal conditions.

"Extraneous pieces. So like males- to carry more and still not function as efficiently-. A pervasive flaw of the gender I think."

Moyrt decided to not get entangled in this oldest of rivalries, saying only, "I can't believe I'm stuck with you for the duration of this."

Hyra shrugged, "Someone needs to keep this operation on track."

Destroyer 741

"Navigation, Command. De-fold in ten minutes. Profile execution nominal."

Sub-Commander Dychi sat rigidly in the command chair, not quite comfortable with the feel of it given the weight of the decisions that would have to be made and the orders given from it shortly. Similarly, his presence in Commander Pach's place above the command center had not been lost on the bridge staff and crew. All worked intently at their tasks, but as the chronometer counted down the time until the ship's emergence from hyperspace their nervous glances up at the command bubble became more frequent.

"Sound fold stations throughout the ship.", Dychi ordered, adhering to arrival and departure procedures.

"Yes, Lord- sounding fold stations.", replied the systems officer from below followed by the automated warning and message.

Dychi considered initiating the de-fold checklist early. Going through the steps of preparing all aspects of the ship for entering realspace would focus the minds of the bridge crew on their work and draw it away from who was overseeing it. At the same time though, Dychi realized that per standard practice it was too soon to start the checklist without fostering an aura of anxiety that his subordinates would undoubtedly sense as well.

Dychi decided to wait on the checklist and hoped for Commander Pach's return to his post in the same jumbled thought.

The door to the command bubble slid open without warning. Dychi turned in the command chair expecting to relinquish it to Commander Pach.

His surprise at finding Sub-Commander Gerrok at the rear of the small chamber was matched only by Gerrok's at seeing him- which quickly took on a shade of contempt as well. Gerrok's face twisted into the expression Dychi had grown familiar with seeing just before the engineer stormed off, brooding in disgust- but this time Gerrok relented. Looking no less repulsed at having to interact with the executive officer, the engineer stayed nonetheless.

"Where's Pach?", Gerrok asked in a manner that was equal parts question and accusation.

Dychi had no notion of what it might take to get Gerrok to speak to him in other than an insubordinate tone and had no time to try. He opted instead to answer plainly, "He left some time ago and did not say where he was going, exactly- but only that he would return before we began docking maneuvers. He has still not returned."

"Really?", Gerrok replied, "I'm glad you were here to put that together for me."

Dychi found himself again indulging in picturing the act of striking Gerrok soundly over the head with a blunt object. Understanding that even a verbal confrontation would have been wholly counterproductive at the moment, Dychi hardened himself in his responsibilities, "You have something to report, Sub-Commander?"

Gerrok scowled, but adhered to the duty that had brought him to the command bubble, "The charges are set. I had my best subordinates set them in the mooring interlocks, and I double-checked the work myself."

"Then we won't have a repeat of our last escape?", Dychi asked.

Visibly perturbed by having to explain what he saw as perfectly clear, Gerrok responded, "No. The charges are sufficient to sever the external moorings at the interlocks. We'll be able to slip away at will."

"Very well.", Dychi said approvingly.

"-That's assuming we last long enough to consider escaping.", Gerrok added, "Whether or not we can separate from The Factory's moorings may be a moot point."

"Commander Pach has considered all of this, I'm sure.", Dychi assured the engineer- and himself.

"Well, your confidence brings me confidence."

Koso took a quick but careful survey to make sure that his squad was still with him. Warriors pressed one into the other across the breadth of the corridor and as far as could be seen in either direction as they stood assembled in line near to one of the amidships airlocks.

Koso's hurried headcount revealed the correct number of warriors, though he only recognized most of the warriors vaguely by face- names having not stuck with the sub-lieutenant. They were unfamiliar, having been pressed into Hedra's platoon and collectively their most important attributes were that all had retained their body armor and were capable of taking up and using a weapon when they accessed one of The Factory's armories.

Koso worked hard to convince himself that the learning of names was a task that could be taken up later.

Hedra had been uncharacteristically quiet since the platoon had fallen out from the barracks to assemble in their ready position and Koso considered briefly whether he should make the attempt to say something inspiring or at least bracing to the warriors under him. In looking from face to face, Koso suddenly realized that though these warriors were under the charge of Hedra and he- they were not their warriors. They would adhere to The Warrior's Code and submit to command, but there was something about them that made them different from any other unit with which Koso had served.

There was a sense of cohesion as strong as to be found with any unit so hastily thrown together, but not the normal breed of cohesion found between warriors depending on one another for mutual protection and survival. A common experience of betrayal and a common hunger for revenge bound this group.

In sensing this, Koso immediately recognized how laughable anything he might have normally said to warriors at a moment like this would have come across. In some ways he was relieved that he would not have to try. Vengeance was the purpose that would hold them together and compel them to follow Hedra and Koso's lead.

That was good enough for Koso.

The sub-lieutenant turned his attention a final time to himself in checking his own readiness to go into action. Carrying an assault rifle loaded with the fully charged but sole energy clip he had been issued from the ship's armory which had been stripped bare in order to provide the officers and sub-officers of the assault force to be similarly equipped- Koso's self-check was very quick.

He reminded himself that in his meager issuance he had still fared better than the vast majority- the bulk of the warriors who comprised the assault force. While nearly all were still in possession of their armor, their offensive capabilities were limited initially to their skill with their hands.

The plan of attack had spoken to this known shortcoming though. The officers who had provided the final and unrefined briefing had told all that once the ship had put in and the gangway ports opened- all the arms the assault force could possibly need would be only a short dash away. Just off the dockyards resided ready-use armories and mecha hangars- unguarded and waiting to be emptied. The only critical factor was surprise- to achieve it and exploit it. All else would fall into place.

So said the plan.

Koso had known too many plans though to believe things would be so simple.

Still, at moments like these the sub-lieutenant understood the benefit of briefing optimism even if it strained realism. There was simply no other way forward.

And there was the skill and audacity of the Quadranos that could be counted on.

While the machines of the mechanized infantry had been either left on Murhan-Thade 4 or dumped overboard during the rescue to open space for warriors aboard, a point had been made to take aboard Te'Dak Tohl combat suits for use by the elite female shock troops. The plan of attack briefed to assault force had referred to the Quadranos as the "spearhead" for the incursion into The Factory, but in what Koso had seen himself and what had been said around the ship's nutrient dispensaries made it clear that the Quadranos were preparing for and were expected to be far more.

The title had not been officially hung about their necks, but they were understood to be the equalizing force against the unexpected. Koso had seen their skills and had faith that so long as they had adequately armed and equipped infantry to support them and exploit their gains, the Quadranos would be just that.

So said the plan- even if it was not said openly.

Sub-Lieutenant Koso was dependant on faith in the Quadranos and in the plan overall as all around him in the packed corridor there was nothing but the minimally armed brave. The airlock to which the corridor led was not one intended for the passage of a machine as bulky as one of the Quadrano's confiscated Nacht-Rau combat suits, so the elite shock troops would not be leading the charge from that port. Courage-driven flesh would have to carry the advance, and Koso had seen many times what became of flesh when things deviated from the plan.

Ahead in the mass of warriors, Koso caught a glimpse of Hedra glancing quickly back at him. The lieutenant's face was a mask of forced calm and confidence worn for the platoon that may or may not have even been paying their leader notice. Koso saw it though and recognized in his eyes that Hedra had likely been milling over some of the same concerns that had been tormenting him.

There was one additional aspect to the silent exchange that Koso understood clearly. Without words, Koso understood Hedra to implore him- to mandate him- to make it as far as to rally with his friend once the battle was joined. They would lead the platoon, certainly- but if the worst came to be, both warriors knew that they preferred to be in each other's company. Together they had survived many dire situations and together there was a chance that they would make it through this.

Duty and honor.

Koso found three words echoing inside his skull and could not understand at first why they would have manifested themselves at that particular moment.

Duty and honor.

Like some contrived rallying cry barked out to faltering warriors on the battlefield, Koso heard the words over and over. The words melted into one another, overlapped, coincided and clashed syllable to syllable.

Then it became clear to Koso that the words were not in his head as the voice was actually voices, never the same twice- and not in his own voice as words said in one's head always were. The words carried like an electric charge through the company of warriors, arcing from contact to contract like audible sparks gaining power and conviction as they leapt..

"Duty and honor."

The words whirled like an energy vortex through the crowd of warriors, unseen in itself but clear in the path it had taken through the faces of those it had touched. Koso was aware of the vortex moving toward him, a building energy before it, and as he felt the energy's effect he understood instantly.

An imposing officer, whom Koso had never seen but instantly identified as the ship's commanding officer, Pach, passed through the mass of warriors. Imposing, as had been Koso's first impression, quickly gave way to commanding. It was not the officer's sheer physical size, but rather his calm, steady, solemnly confident gaze that passed from warrior to warrior that commanded a certain respect and gave him the individuality that made a leader identifiable at a glance.

The commander approached and was passing as Koso heard the words pass his own lips.

"Duty and honor, Lord."

The officer paused, and with a half turn placed his hand on the sub-lieutenant's shoulder firmly.

"Duty and honor, Sub-Lieutenant. Fate be with you."

An attention tone sounded over the ship's speakers followed by the duty officer's voice, "All hands to de-fold stations. De-fold in ten minutes."

The commander's hand slipped off Koso's shoulder without another word exchanged and the officer passed into the obscurity of the masses.

"Stand ready!", Koso barked at his squad, "Our time of action is soon!"

The words seemed relevant again, and the warriors receptive.

"Report.", Pach said, passing through the door to the command bubble as it slid open.

Dychi rose immediately from the command chair, surrendering it willingly to Pach as Gerrok continued to look on from the side of the chamber.

"We are secure from fold.", Dychi said as Pach settled into his seat, "We are on station in formation with Destroyer 525 and Destroyer 818 on approach. We have just passed the outer approach marker, Lord."

Pach took in what was to be seen from the viewscreen. The Trendok 145 Factory, the very facility that Pach had been so grateful to leave behind only days before, stood ahead again. The commander could not recall the sensation of relief he had felt the last time he and his ship had made the approach to dock- too much had transpired. The Factory now, unchanged as it was in physical appearance, had all the aura of a malicious and menacing titan intent on devouring those who dared to draw too near.

Commander Pach steeled himself as he feigned ease in his chair as he intended fully to get much closer.

The twinges of doubt and naked fear twisted and grabbed at Pach's insides as Gymalt's "simple" plan for attack took on a feeling better described as frail. Countless warships, thousands easily at a glance were dwarfed as they stood off in formation before the immensity of The Factory.

Pach attempted to remind himself of the reasoning that only a short time ago had made Gymalt's plan at least plausible for success. It was the facility's sheer size and diffuse occupancy by a force of unarmed or minimally armed Te'Dak Tohl that would give the assault force an initial advantage. As Gymalt had predicted, the overwhelming show of Te'Dak Tohl strength was outside of the shell of the manufacturing fortress.

If they could get inside- they had a chance.

"They're forming up battle groups.", Dychi observed, noting the organization and disbursal of vessels, "It's impossible to distinguish between the fleets though."

"No it's not.", Gerrok countered, "They're all Te'Dak Tohl now."

Pach cocked an eye at the engineer, taking notice of him for the first time now, "Engineering not stimulating enough for you?"

"Thought I'd trade off for something with less pressure.", Gerrok replied.

"No such luck, old friend.", Pach apologized, "I need you aft. Keep the power strong and the engines ready. Be ready- in case."

Gerrok's parting comment gave visible signs of optimism- in The Chief's own way, "-That's the first intelligent utterance I've heard in days."

"Aft, Chief.", Pach repeated and as quickly, Gerrok vanished.

As the command bubble door slid shut, Dychi felt able to speak more freely.

"So far, our communications with The Factory have been minimal, but routine and protocol. We have been instructed to put in and to moor in a secondary spacedock, but the supplies our warriors will need should still be found in abundance."

"A secondary spacedock?", Pach repeated.

"Yes, Lord.", Dychi replied having already made a quick study of their destination from the schematics available to him in the ship's memory, "Smaller than the primary docking facilities and regrettably not as proximal to our objectives- but still adequate for our purposes."

Perhaps correctly sensing rising concern in Commander Pach, Dychi was quick to add, "We're monitoring the communications traffic between their approach control and Action Commander Gymalt. They seem to accept him as the Te'Dak Tohl commander, and subsequently us as part of his unit."

Pach nodded as though grasping a truth that was only now becoming clear. Looking out over the numerous formations of space cruisers standing idle near the island in space that was The Factory, Pach's posture in his chair stiffened as though bracing in anticipation of a blow soon to fall. He remained seated in this way for only a moment longer before rising to his feet and moving to the forward curve of the command bubble.

"What do you suspect they're doing, Dychi?"

Caught off guard by the question, Dychi took a moment to reply with the only sensible answer he could conjure, "I suppose they're awaiting their turns to refit and replenish, Lord."

Pach nodded again as though Dychi's words confirmed a suspicion.

"I believe so, Dychi. I believe so too. So tell me-. Thousands of vessels in need of refit, repair, and replenishment, and three destroyers are shuttled to the front of the line? Something is out of sorts here."

"You suspect they are onto us then?"

"I suspect. I don't know. Perhaps it's the moment speaking-.", Pach confessed, "And we're being monitored, no doubt- so we can't say a whisper to Sylas or Gymalt- nor can we abort at this point."

"What then, Lord?", Dychi asked, clearly disturbed by his superior's revelation.
Pach felt the familiar building tension of battle anticipated, but was calm in his voice as he said, "Prepare to fight. Pass the word to expect immediate resistance. I'd rather be proven wrong than caught unprepared."

"Yes, Lord."

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

Supreme General Krymina's presence in the command center was not unheard of, but was uncommon unless there was activity that interested her in progress. The fact that she had gone directly to the traffic control area of the operations center to monitor the approach of three destroyers that were almost certainly norghil attempting to disguise themselves as Te'Dak Tohl told Krymina's staff precisely where her attention was focused. Even those junior officers and specialists who had not been privileged to the exchanges between Krymina and relevant functionaries were quick to deduce that whatever was to happen to the approaching norghil held a greater significance to their leader than the mere completion of the purge that had been mostly accomplished days earlier.

And as it held greater significance for Krymina, it held greater significance for her subordinates as well- even if they were unaware of what that significance may have been.

"My Liege-.", respectfully said The Factory's appointed operations director to whom the staff in the command center were reporting and through whom all information and orders regarding the Trendok 145 passed, "-The rogue vessels are on final approach to The Factory under automated docking control and have just passed the inner marker. They will be moored in just under twelve minutes. Shock troops are in place and standing by. Depending on levels of resistance, I am assured that we will have control of their vessels inside of the hour."

Krymina nodded her approval but did not take her eyes from the holographic display.

"Keep me informed. –The norghil officers- make it clear to the assault force that I want them taken alive if at all possible."

"Your instructions are very clear, Supreme General.", replied the action commander, "The norghil officers will be taken."

"Very good.", Krymina replied with little more concern than that over administrative orders. The supreme general paused though, and added, "Move a battle group into position outside of the spacedock channel threshold. Should the norghil try another escape- I want them intercepted."

"It will be done, Supreme General."

"Notify me when we have control of their vessels and their senior officers in our custody for interrogation.", Krymina instructed finally before abruptly removing herself in favor of tasks she would pursue elsewhere independently.

"Yes, Liege."

Wharf 11 of Spacedock 92 held no particular offensive advantage over any other dockyard that serviced cruisers within the Trendok 145 Factory as far as Action Commander Hatsur could tell. The Serhot-Ran officer reminded himself however that dockyards were not designed with tactical action in mind, unless one could somehow translate the movement of personnel and provisions into tactical terms.

Defensively speaking, Spacedock 92 did have the distinction of being the farthest removed from the core of this particular Robotech Automated Factory and made it the clear choice to isolate and contain a potential threat- even if it was one as marginal as three rogue norghil destroyers.

Action Commander Hatsur, as he watched two companies of Te'Dak Tohl infantry complete preparation of covered firing positions constructed mostly of heavy storage and transport containers, felt mild shame in interpreting the choice of locations into which the norghil would be brought as defensive. Defense had implications that had all but been discredited by the purge of two entire norghil grand armies- a purge in which Hatsur's Serhot-Ran unit had participated extensively. That action had been long and exhausting but overwhelmingly successful and without any casualties to Hatsur's regiment.

It was perhaps for this reason that he and his unit had been selected for the final action in completing the purge and why Hatsur felt confident that a single company of Serhot-Ran with a supporting company of infantry per norghil ship could accomplish the assignment.

Upon receiving the mission from his superior, Hatsur had initially recommended and requested the commitment of his full regiment to the action in order to assure a crushing victory with the greatest of speed. Due to the great vacuum created by the purge in the enlarged fleet however, Hatsur's request had been denied for reasons of "personnel resource allocation". Warriors, regardless of their skill sets were being pulled to attend to the crewing needs of thousands of vessels which initially translated into the collection and disposal of norghil bodies- a task requiring great haste.

Hatsur would have his regiment back, certainly- but for now and for this duty, he had all the warriors he was going to receive.

"Lord, Spacedock Control has just given the five minute warning. The assault teams are formed and standing by in the support area corridors."

Hatsur half-turned from his survey of the final preparatory work being conducted by his warriors at the sound of his executive officer's voice. Point Lieutenant Bahlil, a female of pale green complexion with only slightly darker hair and of remarkably delicate frame for a Serhot-Ran warrior was as fine a lieutenant as Hatsur could hope to have as an immediate subordinate. Now as ever, she was meticulously mindful of the minute details in operating a Serhot-Ran unit that allowed Hatsur's higher-level thinking and planning to materialize.

"Very good, Bahlil.", Hatsur acknowledged, "Remind all that the norghil senior officers are to be taken alive. These are Supreme General Krymina's direct orders. All other norghil are to be disposed of on sight."

"Yes, Lord.", Bahlil replied in the way she did that told Hatsur that his reiteration of Krymina's orders would not only be passed on, but passed on to the word.

Hatsur was about to order Bahlil to pass the time warning on to the warriors on the dockyard deck, but found that the officers and sub-officers commanding them had already begun seeing that all were in position. Looking over the deck the action commander realized that he was the only warrior who was not fully battle-ready. He would migrate shortly back to the corridor where his Nacht-Rau combat suit stood waiting for him and close up for action.

He glanced again over the dockyard and its tidy, almost sterile appearance. It would not have that look for much longer he suspected, and many more hours of work would be required of he and his warriors to return it to even near this appearance. Significantly more hours at least than what it would take to litter it.

Destroyer 741

"Automated port tugs have moved into pilot positions and are requesting permission to attach.", announced the systems officer from the bridge below the command bubble.

The openness of space and the refuge of the ever-expansive star field had contracted on the viewscreen before Pach into the confines of one of The Factory's spacedock channels. Dull grey and featureless with the exception of strobe markers, the channel seemed to envelope, to swallow Destroyer 741. Only Gymalt's captured Destroyer 525, preceding in a standard docking approach much as Pach's command was about to, provided the commander with any sense of depth and motion.

"Grant permission to attach.", Pach ordered, following standard docking procedure, "Helm, relinquish control to the pilot tugs."

"Yes, Lord."

Dychi stood at his post behind the commander's chair and to the right- stationary, but with a tension that was transmitted through his grasp on the high seat back.

"Sub-Commander", Pach said, "Please pass the word to the assault forces and fighter units that we are in automated docking mode. Download the relevant facility schematics of the disembarkation area to all units from the ship's memory and verify that all posts are in a state of full readiness."

"Yes, Lord.", Dychi replied- a hint of gratitude to his voice. He now had something to do besides wait.

"-And Dychi-.", Pach added, "Have Systems Control disable all interfaces with The Factory network. We have no use for it and nothing good can come of the exchange."

"Yes, Lord."

Pach knew well that all was in the highest state of preparedness that could be achieved- no warrior aboard had had a more pressing thought for days. The decision to disable the computer interfaces with The Factory had been a recent one that provided a small comfort to Pach in the face of his suspicions that continued to rise for reasons that could not be easily identified. If there was no other justification, Pach was satisfied that he was just closing off another possible avenue of attack upon his vessel to the Te'Dak Tohl.

To some extent, he simply needed something to do also.

Destroyer 525 had cleared the channel and entered the spacedock itself, opening the view ahead for those on the bridge of Destroyer 741. Slips that should have been bustling with cruisers seeking repair and replenishment stood empty

A scowl crept across Pach's face at the ominous sight- an expression he quickly hid as Dychi returned to his side.

"All units stand ready, Lord."

"Excllent.", Pach replied, "Now I want you to take personal control of the command deck as we begin our operations-. It's vital that our units link up with those from Gymalt and Sylas's commands. I will monitor the overall tactical situation from here."

Dychi nodded, understanding in full and accepting the responsibility he was being given, "Yes, Lord."

The executive officer's eyes shifted away from the commander for a moment to something that drew his attention on the ship's main viewscreen.

"Action Commander Gymalt's vessel is veering away, Lord.", Dychi said as the commander's gaze joined his on the viewscreen.

As the executive officer had said, Destroyer 525 was banking to the left under the guidance and control of The Factory's automated tugs. It became clear that there was to be a parting of ways with Gymalt as Destroyer 741 stayed on a true course as it cleared the channel. The troubling question was whether the division of the inbound vessels was an intentional act by the Te'Dak Tohl, or the coincidental whim of the automated facility. Given the general vacancy of the spacedock though, Pach was of a strong opinion.

"Should we try to contact them by laser lamp, Lord?", Dychi suggested as Gymalt's vessel was passed in its turn abeam by Destroyer 741.

"No.", Pach replied. Though the narrow-beam, short range signaling device was more difficult to monitor than standard radio communications, Pach was now firmly convinced that every action taken was under close scrutiny, "The plan has not changed. Monitor where Gymalt's vessel berths, and be sure to pass that on to Ritzal so he can adjust his efforts to link up with Gymalt's units inside of The Factory. What is Sylas's position?"

"Destroyer 818 is still directly astern and clearing the port channel now."

Pach nodded, "Good. To the command deck with you now, Dychi. We should be receiving berthing notification in a few minutes."

"Yes, Lord.", Dychi said withdrawing to the command bubble door.

"Duty and honor, Dychi.", Pach said, not looking away from the viewscreen.

"Duty and honor, Lord."

"All units, stand by. This is your one minute warning.", Sub-Commander Ritzal's voice announced on the command channel that unit leaders were privileged to, 'Designate new rallying point with other assault elements as corridor junction seven-zero-one. Scout and shock units are to move quickly on that position and secure."

Lieutenant Hedra quickly scrolled through the schematics of The Factory that had just completed their download into his personal tactical computer. Locating the junction in question and the predetermined path to it, the platoon commander quickly realized the importance of the position tactically. The junction was the meeting point of six main corridors that appeared to travel into every vital area of the Trendok 145.

The force controlling Junction 701 had control of movement in this wing of the Factory.

Hedra withdrew from his thoughts of the distant goal of Junction 701 to the more immediate goal of getting his warriors onto and out of the dockyard area. Being armed better than most in his platoon in carrying a standard assault rifle Hedra felt nearly naked if he thought for too long of the monumental feat that the assault force was about to undertake. He did not even attempt to deceive himself into thinking that he could imagine what the unarmed warriors around him were feeling.

The Factory's schematics showed that arsenals lay just beyond the wharf, along with hangars brimming with mecha at the ready. They only had to get that far to achieve a real fighting chance. Even if the quietly passed rumor that surprise was no longer a certainty was true, they only had to get that far.

"Move quickly.", Hedra ordered on his unit's assigned frequency, "Move quickly and don't bunch up. A cluster is an inviting target, and moving targets are harder to hit."

There were no responses from the platoons and it was unclear to Hedra if they had even comprehended what he had said to them. The matter was irrelevant now- the time to condition and prepare was over.

Action was at hand.

There was a start through the assault force assembled in the corridor as the Factory's gangway made contact with the ship's outer hull and the hard seal interlocks snapped audibly into place.

The minute recoil of the warriors reversed itself into an eager surge forward as bodies pressed into the confined space of the corridor further compressed into one another in a charge as the inner airlock doors slid open. The compressed mass flowed swiftly and fluidly, as though carried by an invisible force.

Hedra found himself moving toward the corridor junction with the inner airlock as well, only partially aware that he was doing so.

A single energy bolt zipped through the air, crossing from the airlock and burning a mark into the bulkhead to the other side of the corridor.. The first was followed by a second- and with it the first rising sounds of screams from around the corner and beyond the airlock. A snapping and popping floated over the heavy footfalls of the accelerating mass of warriors as well- the sound of energy bolts heating the air and striking targets.

Hedra heard the unmistakable sounds of battle now, muffled by the right-angle bend of the corridor junction but the din of battle nonetheless. Hedra found his heart was pounding not for the reason that he was on the cusp of joining the fight, but rather because the fight was not a minute old and was already showing every sign of a battle to which both sides were fully committed. It should not have been that way, the platoon leader knew.

Surprise was to have been on their side.

The steady if not concentrated ingress of energy bolts through the ship's airlock that pitted the corridor bulkhead with hissing reports was joined and dwarfed by a spray of crudely hewn body parts and shrapnel shards riding a thunderous explosion that shocked the eardrums of the living and shook the deck plates beneath their feet. The detonation of what had clearly been a fragmentation missile fired into the enclosed space of the gangway tube was followed quickly by second having similar effect.

As splinters rattled about the interior surfaces of the corridor the zing! of metal on metal was joined by the thicker, heavier crunch of shrapnel finding the mark of penetrable flesh. Three warriors ahead of Hedra, a helmet with the head still inside rolled free of the shoulders it had been joined to in a fine spray of green-blue. The warrior's headless body vanished under the advancing mass of his comrades in a fluid, almost graceful collapsing motion but Hedra only saw this out of the corner of his eye as for some reason he had fixated on the disembodied head.

He had lost the occupied helmet in its journey almost as soon as it had cleared the shoulders it had formerly sat atop of, but Hedra's gaze continued to follow where he knew it should be. With so many legs in motion the lieutenant suspected that the helmet containing the head would as likely find its way off the ship, kicked inadvertently or indifferently by advancing warriors until it found its way out onto the dockyard. Quite to the contrary though and as Hedra was recognizing the folly in his search for it, the head reappeared for a moment to the far left of the corridor, rolling back and forth in a semi-circle as dictated by the contours of the helmet's rim.

From nearly the same level, around knee-height to the disembarking warriors still fit for combat, a pair of hands grasped at the helmet desperately- almost possessively- and Hedra's mind conjured for a moment the grotesque image of the decapitated body of the warrior crawling about underfoot in search of what it had lost. Instead, as Hedra passed he found the hands that succeeded in capturing the wandering head to be attached to another warrior who sat propped on the deck against the bulkhead wall. A spreading pool of blood grew from the stump of one leg severed cleanly just above the knee and the tattered remains of the other that stretched off like a chain of fleshy links at a right angle to the warrior's body.

Shock must have had him, Hedra found himself thinking immediately as there was a strange calm on the warrior's face and no indication of pain as he rescued the helmeted head from the trudge of innumerable feet. The lieutenant's last glimpse of the scene was of the warrior carefully setting the head beside him on the deck as though he had given space to a friend to rest- or at least to welcome company to share the wait to the end.

Four quick strides stood between Hedra and the airlock junction with the corridor. If he had even seen the face of the legless warrior on the deck or the face inside of the free-roaming helmet, he had forgotten them both.

Three.

Two.

One.

Left turn.

The personnel gangway connecting the ship to The Factory had taken on a horrific organic quality with the thick coating of gore applied to all of the surfaces by exploding fragmentation missiles. Damaged light fixtures flickered through an uneven splattering of blood to show in strobe the twitching and writhing of severed limbs and the dying who thoroughly carpeted the deck.

Hedra did not notice that his feet no longer came into direct contact with deck plate but rather found an uneven, marshy purchase as he pressed forward with the crowd toward the growing roar of battle on the expansive dockyard that opened just beyond the gangway. The lieutenant's mind was clear but a familiar physical numbness had settled on him. As a steady enfilade of particle beam bolts ripped the air and the ranks around him, sending several who had marched within arm's length down underfoot, Hedra tried to physically draw into himself to provide the smallest target possible.

At moments like this a warrior was certain that Fate was in command, but offering one's assistance never hurt one's chances.

Sub-Lieutenant Koso burst into the glaring light of the dockyard in a stooped run, half under his own power and half carried by the movement of the warriors around him. There was no question anymore as to whether the "surprise element" of the battle plan laid out to them in the briefing was to be a determining factor. Koso dreaded that it might be, and dreaded it because the only "surprise" he was aware of was his own at the immediate level of resistance shown by the Te'Dak Tohl to the assault.

Per lore and their name meaning vengeful omnipotence they seemed to have known. Known, or suspected strongly enough to have not been taken off guard the way the plan had assured all that they would be.

So much for "the plan".

As energy fire raked the warriors emerging from the gangway from three directions Koso found himself aware of and focused on a finger of white smoke- a missile exhaust trail- that seemed to point accusingly directly at him as it extended. -It could have been, but the weapon hissed by overhead above Koso at a level that might have been personally dangerous to the sub-lieutenant had he not been advancing over the dead and wounded in a crouch. The missile passed over though and like several before entered the gangway tube before detonating.

Koso found himself flat on the deck throbbing all over from the force of the concussion and surrounded by other warriors who seemed to be divided equally into the three categories of dead, wounded, or dazed. The dazed and minimally wounded gathered themselves quickly and picked themselves up to press forward again.

Seeing a warrior unknown to him remove an assault rifle from the grasp of another who had been cut down without the opportunity to fire it, Koso was grateful to find that he was still in possession of his own weapon.

A strong hand gave Koso a nudge at the shoulder as he rose from his belly to his knees and the sub-lieutenant was further gratified to find Hedra at the other end of the shove.

"Hey-.", the lieutenant said motioning casually with his head in the direction from which the Te'Dak Tohl defensive fire was coming, "-I think we found the fight!"

Koso shook his head wanting to say something sharp in reply, but Hedra had already gotten to his feet and begun plowing through and over other warriors toward an area of the dockyard that was no less open but appeared to be in a less concentrated field of fire. Either by his example or by direct tugs as he passed them, Hedra acquired a following of at least a dozen warriors in his short movement form one place on the open deck to the other.

Koso followed also, forcing his way through the warriors Hedra had in tow to join his platoon leader again. In moving, the sub-lieutenant was able to roughly get his bearings and survey the massive, enclosed battle space. Even with the litter of dead and dying, the distraction of weapons fire and the shrieks of the wounded- Koso was able to associate the areas of and passages leading away from the dockyard that he had committed to memory from schematics provided to the assault force aboard the ship.

The Te'Dak Tohl had apparently studied the same schematics as well as they had improvised defensive positions constructed of heavy storage containers to defend the points of access back into The Factory's interior and had posted them heavily with more than adequately armed warriors. Unflinchingly and at measured intervals pairs of heads and shoulders would appear above the upper row of crates stacked three deep to fire the rifles they carried dry in short bursts. They would then vanish and be replaced by the next pair who would then fire into the abundance of targets that the building assault force provided.

The response from the disembarking assault force was spirited but mostly ineffective. With only one warrior in five at best having a weapon other than their kruvok in their possession and with energy clips for the rifles that had been distributed being in equally limited supply- the assault force was showing itself incapable of massing a volume of fire to cover any kind of significant move on the Te'Dak Tohl positions.

Even with the assault force in the open all around the gangway ports and spreading over that portion of the dockyard, Koso recognized that the forward-posted Te'Dak Tohl defenders had to have understood how heavily the division of numbers was stacked against them and the nerve it required for them to hold their ground and to maintain disciplined fire. They were at best a buffering force either by design or by circumstance and almost certain to be overrun. It took a particular kind of courage for these warriors to stand and fight, even if well armed, on ground that one knew would not be held.

Koso almost considered it unfortunate that he had every intention of slaughtering them to the warrior if Fate gave him that length of life and the opportunity.

Still- to this point the assault force was taking the greater share of slaughtering. The immediate and organized resistance from the Te'Dak Tohl had thrown everything into disorder and the confusion mounted with every additional warrior who found his way out onto and stalled on the dockyard.

"-We can't stay here-.", Hedra announced as though putting to words a discussion that had been going on inside of his head.

Koso, who had come running in a stoop up to join the lieutenant, had hardly skidded to a stop on one knee beside his friend when the proclamation had come. Hedra had not even turned to see who had joined him but had seemed to know.

"They're concentrating on the gangways-.", Koso noted as the majority of the fire that he was witnessing from the two Te'Dak Tohl defensive positions remained focused on the Factory airlocks that connected the dockyard to Destroyer 741. While many warriors were able to slip the lethal bottlenecks created by the gangways, the dead were more numerous and were quickly forming heaps that further slowed the advance of the assault force as an obstacle to be negotiated.

In surveying his surroundings more carefully Koso grew uneasy as he could find no legitimate reason why he and every warrior that had followed Hedra and he should not already be dead. Of the two defensive positions they were facing, they were squarely between them and well within the fields of fire of both. Warriors in a squad's numbers had been cut down and lay on the deck before where he and Hedra knelt, but provided real cover for neither unless they flattened themselves on their bellies.

Only the fact that the Te'Dak Tohl seemed intent on staunching the flow of warriors onto the dockyard before any other consideration seemed to explain why the concerted efforts of a few defenders had not ended the lives of the warriors Koso found around him.

Far to his right, Koso for no particular reason happened to take notice of a small cluster of three warriors of the assault force positioned as far forward on the dock as the warriors following Hedra. They were on the extreme left of the field of fire from the position that was ahead and right to Koso. As the Te'Dak Tohl position continued to pour fire into the gangway from which Koso and Hedra's platoon had emerged they were also providing enough suppressing fire to keep the warriors who had cleared the connective passage pinned to the deck. In the midst of this, the cluster Koso had noticed to his right sensed a moment to move.

As Koso watched, their senses proved to be faulty as the Te'Dak Tohl warriors firing on the gangway were joined by another pair who shot the advancing three down before they had moved four steps.

Signs that the limited number of mecha that the assault force had brought to the fight had attempted a similar advance and failed could be seen in two burning Regults whose wreckage spoke of engagement with and loss to more capable opponents.

Further back on the dockyard deck midway between the rough line formed by the Te'Dak Tohl defensive positions and the corridors that Koso recognized as the ones they would need to reach in order to move further into The Factory, the sub-lieutenant saw the smoking remains of two Te'Dak Tohl combat suits that had been destroyed before they could reach cover. The report of heavy energy weapons from other combat suits of the same design within the massing assault force marked the location of the Quadranos as they maintained a steady fusillade on the same corridor openings. Their interest told Koso that their worthy opponents and the best application of their efforts lay beyond. It also told him that the elite female shock troops would be reluctant to break from the fight they were in to assist the infantry.

What was happening and why the Te'Dak Tohl in their combat suits would not come into the open to engage the Quadranos suddenly became clear to Koso.

Tactically, they did not have to. Strategically, it was irresponsible to.

As the Te'Dak Tohl defensive positions were slowing the disembarkation and arresting the advance of the assault force, their warriors in the powerful combat suits were creating a plug that would stop any warrior who might make it beyond the dockyard.

All of this was being done for the sole purpose of providing the time required to mass forces for a counterattack- and the Te'Dak Tohl undoubtedly possessed the numbers for that.

"We can't stay here-.", Koso said echoing Hedra's intial statement to him as a Quadrano Nacht-Rau's Nador rifle ripped the air with a stream of plasma bolts that disintegrated a probe drone that had emerged from a back corridor, presumably under the control of a Te'Dak Tohl Nacht-Rau pilot.

At least three other drones lay smashed on the same area of the deck showing that the attempt of the Te'Dak Tohl to see outside of their hole had not been the first, and also that those within were no less than four in number. Despite Koso's agreement with Hedra that their position was not one where he wanted to remain long, the thought of driving on a corridor held by four or more of the Te'Dak Tohl combat suits was even less appealing.

"I know we can't stay here!", Hedra snapped, "We can't really move either though, can we? The Quadranos are going to have to punch through before we can break out-!"

Sub-Commander Kranna watched with a conservative allowance of relief as the last of his Gnerl squadrons cleared the flight decks of Destroyer 741's upper hangar bays for the more expansive spacedock interior. Moments of transition were the most perilous, but with that moment now passed Kranna could focus on the real peril facing his pilots. A pilot by the very fact that he was operating a fighter within an enclosed space could always put himself into a life-threatening predicament if he was careless and misjudged the spatial dimensions of his surroundings- but in a spacedock devoid of traffic or obstacles beside what had put in under Action Commander Gymalt's command that was less likely.

It was actually the lack of a presence of anything not under Action Commander Gymalt's command that caused the greatest concern in Kranna- that, and of course the communications jamming.

The moment the ship's inner hangar doors had opened to Kranna to allow him to launch, a curtain of electromagnetic interference had swamped his communications systems from the very low end of the band to the ultra-high. Whether the emissions had been a preplanned countermeasure by the Te'Dak Tohl, or had been a simple but effective response to the surprise of being attacked- the result was the same. The result was that while Kranna commanded the better part of a full fighter wing still, coordinating their efforts or even issuing simple commands was to be impossible.

So dire had been the potential situation that at the appointed launch time Kranna had been offered the option to abort the combat air patrol portion of the overall plan unless it was called for by a direct and visible threat to the three moored destroyers. The offer had come through Fighter Control of course, but having come through that channel Kranna understood that it had to have been made by Commander Pach who understood the criticality of communications in coordinating flight operations.

The offer having been made, Kranna was as quick to decline. When and not if the Te'Dak Tohl attempted a counterattack against the meager remains of the 4234th Destroyer Squadron from the limited airspace of the spacedock- Kranna wanted to have his pilots airborne already to meet the threat and not beginning from a scramble-launch.

Holding the dock would be easier if he already controlled it.

What Kranna had not considered in his hasty decision to launch his group- a decision he knew to be correct- was that the group leaders from Gymalt and Sylas's ships would be called upon to make the same decision. Not surprisingly, they had made the "correct" decision as well, putting three fighter groups into the air of the spacedock simultaneously and without communications beside the limited hand gestures that could be seen between pilots.

This was another layer of complexity to be overcome on the fly, and to some degree it had been. Either by common knowledge and experience or by a single squadron setting an example that others had readily followed, two broad rings of fighters had formed within the spacedock. Counter-rotating, the ring in which Kranna had formed up with his squadron made a wide, continuous circle above the aperture of the spacedock channel while the second ring moved in the opposite direction below. Any Te'Dak Tohl pilot brave or foolish enough to attempt to ender the dock from the channel and space beyond would find themselves vulnerable to attack by a steady stream of Gnerls from above and below upon first entering the dock.

This deterrent would have been reassuring to Kranna in his position had it not been for the fact that in his numerous passes of the channel's open inner doors he had witnessed the evidence that the Te'Dak Tohl had many pilots who apparently fell into either the "brave" or "foolish" categories.

As the channel came up again below the level of his right wing, Kranna nosed his fighter down just enough to allow him a view up the length of the passage and out into space. In the few moments Kranna had to see out beyond the outer channel doors, he discovered that the number of Te'Dak Tohl Gnerls and of greater concern to him for their maneuverability in enclosed spaces- Te'Dak Tohl combat suits- had easily doubled since his last pass.

The channel fell behind and Kranna eased back into position within the wheeling ring with a gradual climb. He reasoned quietly to himself that the defense of the counter-rotating rings was still a sound one. If the Te'Dak Tohl were to come, no experienced pilot would allow himself to be boxed tight into the channel with other fighters or combat suits and without the ability to maneuver defensively. That would keep the volume attempting to enter the spacedock manageable for at least a while.

Kranna had no illusions though- not he and his group nor the combined groups of three destroyers could hope to fend off a force as large the one he saw building indefinitely. If they were willing to take the casualties to breech the dock with a significant number- the wheeling defense would break down.

What concerned Sub-Commander Kranna the most was that as clear as this was to him, it was unlikely to think that Commander Pach was even aware of the material threat. Destroyer 741 appeared at rest, moored to the jetty slip as it was, but Kranna knew all too well the ferocity of battle that had to be taking place just beyond within The Factory. It was his responsibility to now inform his lord of the comparable danger looming just beyond the spacedock channel.

As the two senior officers of the 7th Grand Army of the Te'Dak Tohl it was perfectly common for both Supreme General Krymina and Sub-General Caldettas to actively monitor the progress of battle in which their forces were engaged. What differed in this case from the normal was the scale of the battle that they were monitoring.

They did not watch the relatively slow and sweeping progress of action armies or of divisions even over the landscapes of continents, but rather the actions of mere thousands confined to the area of a single spacedock and two mooring jetty dockyards.

Activity in The Factory's command center had shifted to focus on the prosecution and winning of the fight brought on courageously but foolishly by the intruding norghil as the resources of an entire grand army awoke and were being selectively brought to bear. As such, Supreme General Krymina had elected without warning to take personal command leaving Action Commander Ehrot- the officer appointed as director of operations aboard The Factory- as action officer and filter for information rising to and descending from her command.

Ehrot received a brief update on the execution of an earlier order from a subordinate before returning to the command center's central holographic display table to rejoin his superiors. A detailed footprint of The Factory on the affected level stood in three-dimensional hologram over the table's surface to include the moored norghil destroyers and the spacedock beyond. Representative iconography within the hologram gave a strictly factual reporting of both norghil and Te'Dak Tohl positions and movements, while open viewscreens hanging in the air above the table provided real-time video feeds from the embattled areas of The Factory for those who preferred the unrefined influx of images.

However the officers and staff in the command center chose to monitor the developing situation, the indications of the fight's disposition were coming up the same.

"Supreme General-.", Ehrot reported as he motioned to both dockyards where the battle was taking place, "Our defensive positions on Wharf 92-11 and Wharf 92-6 are holding and the available reinforcements from within The Factory are being moved up as quickly as possible. Combat units are unfortunately in short supply. I would recommend and request your permission to move the bulk of our internal reinforcements to Wharf 92-11 as our defenses there are spread out to cover more points of access back into The Factory and in addition are facing the warrior complement of two norghil warships-."

Krymina's gaze passed over the mostly static representation of Wharf 92-11 where earlier study had revealed to her a disquieting sight. Early in the battle- initiating it even from one of the norghil destroyers- a small number, a company in strength, of Nacht-Rau combat suits had led the charge on the dockyard. A comparable number of Serhot-Ran who had remained on the dockyard deck at the onset of battle and who had been equipped also with the powerful combat suits had met the charge and had succeeded in stalling it- inflicting as many losses as they had incurred before falling back into the access corridors in the interest of holding them.

What had disturbed Krymina initially and had for a fleeting moment caused her to suspect betrayal from within her own ranks had been the skill and aggressiveness that the norghil had displayed in using the Nacht-Rau combat suits. Krymina's suspicion of treasonous Te'Dak Tohl subsided quickly though as glimpses of the invading norghil on the video monitors revealed the highly unusual mingling of male and female warriors in the assault. This being the case, there was a more plausible and less distasteful explanation for the use of Te'Dak Tohl technology against Te'Dak Tohl-.

Quadranos.

These norghil had shown considerable intelligence and resourcefulness already in defeating the function of the failure mode device on their vessels and mecha, had shown remarkable initiative in reclaiming their warriors from Murhan-Thade 4, and had displayed even greater audacity in conceiving of and executing the attack that they were now engaged in. These facts not withstanding, only Quadranos had the skill base on which the quick and effective learning of the Nacht-Rau's operation could be built.

As norghil, even the legendary Quadranos were part of an inferior sub-species- but Krymina recognized even the inferior given the proper advantages and circumstances had the potential to surprise the unwary.

Fortunately, the Quadranos by the distribution of the Nacht-Rau combat suits within the norghil ranks were limited to a presence on Wharf 92-11.

"Do it.", Krymina said, agreeing to Ehrot's request, "-And order the Gnerl and Nacht-Rau units massing outside of Spacedock 92 to enter and secure the dock. As the dock is being secured, Nacht-Rau units can begin the boarding of the three vessels capturing their senior officers before using the norghil's own ships as a point of access to strike at the rear of their assault forces on the dockyards."

"Yes, Liege-.", Ehrot complied, adding hesitantly, "-However with so many norghil Gnerls already airborne in the spacedock, we are likely to suffer significant casualties in the effort."

"Then apply overwhelming force and make the engagement brief.", Krymina instructed without taking her eyes from the display table, "That will reduce casualties."

"Yes, Liege.", Ehrot complied knowing well that Krymina had decided the course of action and that to try to argue the point further was pointless at the least.

As the action commander moved to withdraw from the central display to issue orders, Supreme General Krymina called after him, adding, "Ehrot, mobilize additional combat forces to be brought in through The Factory from fleet units. I see no reason to trust The Factory's safety to armed logisticians and specialists when we have ample warriors to move into position. Should the norghil free themselves of the dockyards, I want their incursion to be a short-ranged one."

"Yes, Liege."

When Ehrot had gone, Krymina took a step back from the display table as though drawing back to get a broader perspective.

"Caldettas, your thoughts?"

Caldettas considered his response and replied, "I must admit that at some level, I am impressed by these norghil. They show a great deal of ambition. –Little realism, but ambition nonetheless. I would assume their goal in pressing an attack in the manner that they have chosen is to attempt to inflict some degree of damage on The Factory itself-. To somehow hinder our operational readiness-."

"To stall our move against Breetai?"

"Assuming that they were able to extract what knowledge our guarding force at Murhan-Thade 4 had of our overall plans-? Yes, I would say that is probable."

Krymina nodded her agreement, "And the transmission?"

The transmission in question had been a repeating, burst signal that the sole norghil destroyer isolated at Wharf 92-6 had attempted to broadcast the moment it had moored and interfaced with The Factory's internal network. Normally a ship in dock would have used the interface to maintain communications outside of The Factory, tapping directly even into the broader Network formed by The Robotech Automated Factories that roamed space.

Precaution in this case had warranted establishing a firewall between the norghil vessels and all outbound communications and information processing traffic. Nothing that had flowed from any of the three intruding warships had gone any further than the first line of The Factory's internal router switches.

"That we will know for certain, and soon.", Caldettas assured his superior, "Cryptography is working on decoding the signal now. The encryption is a variant of a standard norghil, high priority code- likely developed within Breetai's command of which the 604th Grand Army was a unit. While we cannot be certain yet, there is every indication that it is the same message looped continuously. Of course, it's going nowhere."

A very slight, cold smile crept onto Krymina's face, "A fact that I will allow you to share with the norghil commanders once they are captured. –A gratuity for your hard work, Caldettas."

Amusing as Caldettas knew he would find disproving to their faces the cleverness that the norghil commanders thought they possessed; the sub-general was compelled to stay on the side of prudence.

"You still intend to capture them alive?"

Krymina showed her moderate interest in the accomplishment of that portion of her orders in her response to Caldettas, "The transmission when we've decoded it will likely tell us all we need to know about the motives of the norghil- so the capture of the officers is not essential. It could be- interesting- though. My orders stand. Alive, if possible."

"Yes, Supreme General."

There had been a shift in the tactics of the Te'Dak Tohl defenders that had come with the emergence of the last of the assault force onto the dockyard. It was not a subtle change that was subject to interpretation by the individual but an overt transition from one clear purpose to another.

The defenders had at first been satisfied with stemming the flow of warriors off of Destroyer 741 and Destroyer 818 from their prepared firing positions- a task for which they had been adequately armed and situated. Fire on those wh had made it to the open deck had been limited to maintaining the gap between the lines and holding the assault force in place in clear anticipation of reinforcements who would shoulder the burden of counterattack.

As the assault force emptied completely from the two warships however, and without any signs of Te'Dak Tohl reinforcements arriving in mass- the mood of the defenders changed. Full recognition that they were grossly outnumbered set in as did the understanding that the assault force recognized this fact as well.

The object of the defenders then became the killing or disabling of every warrior caste Zentraedi before them- moderated only by control in their expenditure of energy clips for their weapons. It seemed that they intended to hold their positions as long as possible, but knew full well what reciprocity awaited when their enemy sensed that those positions were no longer tenable.

Trapped in the overlapping fields of fire with a following of warriors that had now grown far beyond their own platoon, Lieutenant Hedra and Sub-Lieutenant Koso had made the best of the time when the object of the Te'Dak Tohl was their containment to provide for their own defense as best as they could. On an open deck and subject to fire should attention be drawn to them, the two senior warriors in th cluster that had formed had been given few options but to hastily pile the dead around them into organic defilade.

Creating the barrier had presented them at least with something to do to distract them from the fact that there was no movement forward. Having finished though and laying on the deck with an almost constant pop and sizzle of particle beam bolts piercing body armor and dead flesh- the reality was on them again

Looking back toward the rear, Koso saw deceased warriors piled and arranged by the living who had latched onto Hedra and he. A helmeted head would rise long enough to steal a glance forward but then would duck quickly and often just before a burst of energy weapons fire would stitch the cover provided by the dead.

Koso gripped his rifle tight and considered using it once again. Having half-depleted a forty-shot energy clip, Koso had scored nine hits on Te'Dak Tohl in their firing position ahead and to his right. Six he could not be sure of, but three Koso had known to be fatal as they had been head shots through the face.

Each time, especially following the head shots, Koso had drawn vengeful fire upon himself and his platoon's position in general to which two warriors had lost their lives. More for the reason that Koso knew he had to conserve his weapon's energy for the push that had to be coming than for sparing himself and the pinned warriors around him the wrath of the Te'Dak Tohl defenders, he had since held his fire.

Now, without direction and with clear Te'Dak Tohl intent to kill anything that moved it seemed to Koso better to fire his weapon empty than run the risk of dying without adding his full measure to the enemy's losses.

"Did I doze off during the briefing of this part of the plan?", Hedra asked with a laugh of desperation.

Koso paused in building his nerve to rise and fire again to say, "You're a clod, Hedra- I want you to know that."

Both warriors flinched as a third Zentraedi appeared in a low scamper from nowhere and launched himself into the small place between them. Two more warriors, also scrambling low and fast, passed through Hedra's group drawing fire as they went. When the shooting had stopped and Koso and Hedra had released their grip on the deck, the two warriors passing through had gone but the warrior who had wedged himself between them remained and traded glances alternately with them both.

A sub-lieutenant of the same grade as Koso, the newcomer recognized Hedra as his superior and explained himself directly to him.

"My apologies, Lieutenant! We're message runners from Sub-Commander Ritzal sent because of the radio situation-."

Koso shook his head at the creative phrasing of "the radio situation"- as there was no radio to speak of. Every warrior carried one built into his or her standard-issue helmet, true- but the Te'Dak Tohl had identified the frequencies that they had been using within a minute of the assault's initiation and had flooded them with noise rendering them useless. What was left was word of mouth, hence the appearance of the runners.

It was something at least.

"-The Sub-Commander is planning to-."

The deck plates beneath all three warriors rattled violently in their fittings as a powerful destabilized plasma energy bolt struck center on the Te'Dak Tohl defensive position ahead and to their left- obliterating it and most of the enforcers manning it with the single shot. Heavy storage crates that had been positioned to provide cover tumbled like puffs of smoke in the wind under the force of the blast that showered the area in general with bits of the defenders.

The Quadranos were clearing the path for the infantry to move up.

"-To advance?", Hedra asked the runner, completing his statement.

"Something like that, Lieutenant, but-.", the runner replied, looking about frantically and at seeing something blurted out, "No! Wait-!"

With all that was going on about him, Koso had not noticed three warriors who had joined up with Hedra's platoon getting to their feet to move. Far to the left of where the sub-lieutenant lay with his platoon leader and the runner, warriors who a moment before had been pressed to the deck under steady Te'Dak Tohl fire had risen and begun to surge forward toward the rear of the dockyard. Caught in the moment apparently the three from Koso's group ill-advisedly did the same, anxious for anything but cowering, but forgetting that they were still in the field of fire of the defensive position to the right.

A frenzied spray of fire from the Te'Dak Tohl who were now clearly panicking and beginning to withdraw to the rear as Quadrano Nacht-Rau combat suits could be seen advancing from the left on their flank cut Koso's three warriors down.

As the closest of the three went heavily to the deck an arm's length from the sub-lieutenant, his pass-through wounds smoking with the foul odor of burning flesh, Koso frantically motioned to Hedra's platoon and any other warrior who would take direction to stay down. Of the faces staring back at him, he recognized only Ulstik whose eyes told him that he would await the sub-lieutenant's lead. Ulstik still had much to learn, but Koso recognized that he had shed the skin of a new warrior.

The last of the Te'Dak Tohl were pulling back from the defensive position to Koso's right when another heavy plasma bolt struck it with the same end result as the impact on the first. The warriors who had been brave enough to linger the longest at the post were gone in the flash of the detonating plasma round while their comrades who had paused to cover their final withdrawal were laid to the deck with the force of the same blast.

Before the debris had finished settling, the runner was to his feet and in a dash down the line to spread the word further.

He shouted back over his shoulder as he went, "Let the Quadranos clear the way!"

Hedra was on his feet now as well, and from his example others had risen and already had begun to rush the ground surrendered by the Te'Dak Tohl. How many had heard the runner's parting instructions from Sub-Commander Ritzal was unclear, but Koso was certain that no warrior who was not still wet from the stasis tube would act with a measure of caution given the reception that had greeted all from the Te'Dak Tohl. Koso also recognized that as far as command of the assault force went, the state of things teetered on the fine line between disorganization and chaos.

The best he could do was to see to his own warriors.

"Move up!", Hedra bellowed, beckoning those from the rear forward with a sweeping wave of his arm.

The fit and the minimally wounded washed forward like a great flood leaving the dead and maimed in their wake. Koso found himself more carried by the torrent of unfamiliar warriors rather than guiding it in pursuit of Hedra who had almost vanished into a second group of warriors who had rallied randomly around him in the charge.

Momentum was building again and there was at least the chance of success.

Sub-Commander Ritzal felt both relief and exhilaration as the warriors of the assault force broke their static positions and rolled forward across the dockyard that was now theirs. Of the six broad avenues leading back into the interior areas of The Factory, the sub-commander only had a good vantage point on two.

Two was all that he needed however to clearly understand that the benefit of the movement his warriors had just made was as long-lived as the elation it had brought him.

From within the cockpit of his Glaug Officer's Pod and without any of the advanced sensors or optical systems available to him, Ritzal saw clearly the emergence of a tight cluster of missiles from the interior corridors of the two avenues into which he could peer. The weapons fanned out as the gateway broadened onto the dockyard, meeting and mingling from the other direction with the first elements of the assault force that were reaching that portion of the deck. In quick succession each missile detonated with a small flash and puff of smoke, indicative of an explosive charge just powerful enough to violently shatter the warhead's fragmentation casing. Pockets opened in the forward lines of the advancing warriors as shrapnel did its sinister and indiscriminating work. Those not cut down by the spray of metal shards flung themselves to the deck and quickly moved to the few features of the deck that seemed to promise cover- and as quickly as movement had begun, it again began to slow and back up.

Panic fire.

Sub-Commander Ritzal recognized the first salvos of anti-personnel fragmentation missiles as what they were- panic fire by the Te'Dak Tohl. As the first salvo was followed on irregularly by seconds and thirds from the avenues into The Factory all along the dockyard, Sub-Commander Ritzal was sure of it. The missiles had no particular target and were likely programmed to detonate after a short run indicating that whoever was doing the firing was unwilling to poke their head out of whatever hole they were covering in to be more precise in their aim.

Of course this also indicated to Ritzal that there were still Te'Dak Tohl concealed somewhere ahead who were capable of and committed to defending the secondary positions that they still held, and that they were savvy enough to know that they did not have to meet their counterparts of the warrior caste face to face in order to defend those positions effectively. They could use the confines of the avenues and the enhanced lethality of fragmentation missiles within them to stem any advance trying to move through those points.

The Quadranos, perfectly safe from shrapnel in their captured Nacht-Rau combat suits, were as far forward on the dockyard as any of the bravest warriors around them- but they too were at a hold and Ritzal understood why. The explanation was in the smashed wreckage of much of the little mecha that both Destroyer 741 and Destroyer 818 had brought to the fight. A handful of Regults had disembarked from either ship with the first infantry assault units with the intent of providing heavier fire support if needed for the advance.

The staggering discovery that the Te'Dak Tohl had apparently expected the assault, and had thought similarly of providing heavier fire support to their defenders in the form of Nacht-Rau power armor units had reduced the effectiveness of that small number of mecha and had changed the situation on the dockyard both instantly and dramatically. The spirited fight by the skilled Regult pilots had been a valiant one, but equally brief. Most had survived only their first exchange of fire with the far more robust Nacht-Rau suits, and those who had fared better had only outlived the less fortunate by seconds.

Wrecked Glaugs- five that Ritzal could see at a quick sweep of the dockyard- had joined the fight but had not done significantly better against the same Serhot-Ran adversaries. Possibly capable of holding its own against a Nacht-Rau one-on-one, Ritzal's subordinates had emerged into a fight where they had found themselves immediately outnumbered.

It had taken the appearance of the Quadranos and the surprise to the Te'Dak Tohl that came with them of seeing their own Nacht-Rau suits used against them to incur casualties on the defenders' side and to cause those who had not been killed in the fierce exchange between elite shock troopers to withdraw for the cover of the rear.

Ritzal had found some gratification in the collapse and retreat of the Te'Dak Tohl Nacht-Rau units as he did in seeing the burning wreckage of their fallen that they had left behind- but gratification did not change the certainty that the same displaced Serhot-Ran had reconstituted just beyond sight and were laying in wait. They were the obstacle that had to be overcome to begin forward movement again, and it was an obstacle that the Quadranos would have to neutralize. Ritzal still had just over a dozen officers in battle-ready Glaugs, but to risk them even in a supporting role to the Quadranos was to risk the loss of what little forward command and control he would have of the assault force. The officers and their Glaugs had to be spared to perform that function when the assault force could break free of the dockyard.

If the assault force could break free of the dockyard.

"Tuissant, we need to punch through those positions-.", Ritzal said via command frequency to Point Lieutenant Tuissant of the Quadranos whom he'd ordered to linger initially in the rear despite the female officer's standard practice of leading from amongst her Quadranos. To Ritzal, the importance of maintaining the strained lines of communication between his officers outweighed whatever benefit there was to be had by Tuissant's presence at the very front of the battle.

"We're working the problem-.", Tuissant replied through the minor pops and squeals that still afflicted the communications between officers' mecha despite the filtering components of the radio systems.

The effects of the communications jamming even with the Nacht-Rau and the Glaug standing virtually beside one another was validation to Ritzal that holding his officers and their Glaugs in reserve for the push into The Factory was the correct decision despite the pressure it was placing solely on the Quadranos. The electronic noise that had limited the effectiveness of communications between mecha had thwarted it between warriors who were equipped with only basic radio headsets. The officers would be needed to maintain whatever cohesion of effort remained once they were free of the dockyard.

If they got free of the dockyard.

"Work it faster."

Marosa found herself fixated on the ruined mass that had been a Nacht-Rau that still smoked from the chest cavity that a pilot had once occupied and that had been torn open by multiple armor piercing missiles.

The combat suit and pilot had both been of Te'Dak Tohl affiliation- the Quadranos having affected the shock implied in shock trooper superbly and subsequently having lost comparatively few warriors on the dockyard.

Fate was likely to see this change soon as the Te'Dak Tohl had been given time to come to grips with shock, and more importantly to regroup in defensive positions.

"So, let's get on with it-!", Vala blurted with a shortness that told Marosa that she was feeling the same tightness in the chest that added to the fear that caused it a false sense of smothering.

"We use our drones to probe the way as we move in sprints on each position under as many missiles as we can throw downrange-."

"Do we know how many we're talking about?", Khura asked as she stood in the small cluster of Quadranos outside of any possible field of fire from within the accessway to The Factory held by the Te'Dak Tohl.

Almost as though to reinforce the knowledge that the broad corridor was being defended from unseen points, a pair of fragmentation missiles snaked out from deep within and exploded at seemingly random positions over the dockyard. Shrapnel did its work to those warriors unfortunate enough to have halted at these places under an incorrect assumption of safety from the defenders' fire.

"Fewer then there will be if we put it off.", Vala said bleakly but correctly.

All knew that the only danger greater than a defensive position with limited approaches held expertly was one that was held expertly with the support of reinforcements. Vala was correct- the longer the Quadranos waited, the more the situation favored the Te'Dak Tohl.

Etmal did not fail in what the other Quadranos expected of her, pointing out, "-Even if we manage an equal one for one swap in casualties-."

"We know, Etmal!", Marosa snapped knowing the trade in losses would likely not be that good, "But if you've got another suggestion-."

"I do.", Etmal replied quickly, "Let's not go in the way they've left open for us."

"And the other way in is?", Vala asked, aware that the warriors who had so quickly taken the opportunity given to them only minutes earlier were again crowding the decks around them and around the accessways.

Etmal raised the left forearm of her combat suit, showing the massive destabilized plasma cannon demonstratively to the others.

"The way we make for ourselves. –But first, we need to make sure that no one is watching to spoil the surprise."

Darius and Philisto had arrived in The Factory's control center almost unnoticed or at least without significant initial response. Concerned and disapproving glances had followed on from members of Supreme General Krymina's staff as they became aware of the unsolicited presence of the Tirolian scientists, but no protest was voiced in the absence of reaction from Krymina herself.

There was also the focus of the moment that allowed the Tirolians to go largely unhindered in their observations in the command center. Te'Dak Tohl officers, specialists, and staff were either all actively engaged at their duty stations or fixated on the activity that had drawn the Tirolians into their midst.

Supreme General Krymina stood at the center console of The Factory's nerve center, surrounded by her tactical staff and advisors, and in calm study of the holographic display which gave a three dimensional view of the evolving battle in a distant wing of the facility.

Darius watched the intricate dance of activities choreographed by Krymina that moved fluidly about her. Information arrived and was delivered in a paced and prioritized manner and orders were taken away for execution the same. For a moment and for reasons that he could only explain as being his mind's attempt to relate what he saw to a familiar knowledge set, Darius realized that what he was witnessing was nothing less than a simplified, functional model of the mind and voluntary nervous system. Like the brain of the organism, Krymina was receiving inputs from the senses, processing, and sending out the appropriate commands to act to the muscles and limbs.

The thought was fleeting, mostly because Darius became aware that even though she had not so much as glanced in their direction, Krymina was aware of Philisto and he, and that she was observing them in their study of her. So keen was the sensation for a brief moment that Darius actually found himself intentionally focusing on something else like a voyeur attempting to cover his misdeeds after being caught in the act.

Darius recognized this as preposterous and with the sting of humiliation and shame, perceivable if only to himself, resumed his observation.

Action Commander Ehrot shifted his weight uncomfortably as the internal video monitors from the embattled wharves of Spacedock 92 and the holographic tactical display mutually confirmed the story each was telling- the norghil had control of the dockyards.

Ehrot accepted quietly the distasteful fact that an element of his command responsibilities had been forced to retreat before a force of norghil- there was no disputing it. The norghil gains had been small for their losses incurred though, and the Te'Dak Tohl's losses had been light given the numbers they had been forced to defend against. More importantly, their "retreat" had been more of a "tactical withdrawal" to more defensible positions which were holding just off the dockyards of both Wharf 92-6 and Wharf 92-11.

Surprising to the action commander was Supreme General Krymina's reaction to all that had occurred thus far. There was only a hint of wounded pride at not having her forces stop the norghil onslaught decisively. Strangely, what Action Commander Ehrot saw more prominently through Krymina's focused expression was genuine curiosity.

This seemed unusual to Ehrot as he had been in Krymina's service long enough to see scores of actions against the norghil, so there was nothing new to be seen in their tactical approach to the battle now unfolding. Still, there was something that Krymina found intriguing that held her interest. Perhaps it was the ferocity and vigor in which the norghil continued their assault despite the surprise of the prepared Te'Dak Tohl defense and their heavy initial losses. Ehrot could not recall himself ever seeing such fire from the warrior caste.

They meant to fight, and despite their clear disadvantages they were fighting with the determination to win.

These peculiarities of norghil behavior against Te'Dak Tohl opposition were Krymina's to ponder and assess- not his, Ehrot knew. The action commander's duty was to repel and crush the norghil assault, and while Krymina's interest would be held by the norghil's irregular behavior for a short while- the expectation that they would be put down stood regardless.

Moves to that end were in progress already.

"The line has stabilized on both dockyards, Supreme General, and our defensive positions are holding.", Ehrot said plainly as he motioned to corridor intersections beyond the dockyards of both wharves held by Serhot-Ran. The defensive positions were not layered deep into the rear areas off the dockyards, the forces in place did not have the numbers yet as the first reinforcements had not arrived- but they were showing themselves to be a viable deterrent to norghil forward movement.

"My eyes serve me very well, Action Commander.", Krymina said with a complete absence of emotion, "Stable is not the outcome I seek though. When are you planning to initiate the assault from outside of the spacedock as you were instructed?"

The dry chill of panic seized Ehrot as he sensed mild irritation in the supreme general. Mild irritation, he had seen, had a way of evolving aggressively into unrepentant anger to which none of Krymina's subordinates sought to be an object.

"Momentarily, Liege-.", Ehrot assured her, "The Gnerl squadrons and Serhot-Ran platoons are forming up as we speak for a rapid ingress. We will have troops on the decks of their warships in a matter of minutes."

Krymina said nothing, but her glance told Ehrot that his words had committed him to deliver what he had promised.

"Rather remarkable creatures, aren't they?"

With a flash of annoyance Krymina's attention- and as a result, the attention of the other officers around the central display- was drawn to the speaker, Darius, who stood with a silent and paled Philisto atop a workstation not much more than an arm's length away.

"-The norghil, I mean.", Darius clarified, "Simple as they are, they still do have the ability to amaze sometimes."

"I'll grant that they have moments of inspiration.", Krymina said flatly, "But in this case, I think they are going to find that their reach has exceeded their grasp."

Above the central tactical display table, one of the multiple viewscreens that was displaying imagery from the video monitors located throughout Wharf 92-11 suddenly flashed and then showed only electronic hash and snow. A second viewscreen repeated the feed loss of the first, followed simultaneously by a third and a fourth. The termination of live video cascaded until all of the viewscreens that had shown the interior of Wharf 92-11 showed the same field of static.

By the time that the feed to the tactical display went dead, it was clear to all present that the video and sensor nodes within the dockyard were being intentionally shot away.

Ehrot motioned to his subordinate who had been acting as his communications liaison with the engaged Serhot-Ran forces and directed, "Alert Action Commander Hatsur that we've lost our monitoring capabilities and to be prepared for a norghil advance!"

"Yes, Lord!"

Ehrot turned then to the officer coordinating with the activities of the Fleet and ordered, "Send in the Gnerls and Serhot-Ran now! Move aggressively on the norghil vessels and secure them."

"Yes, Lord!"

The actions he was capable of taking having been taken, Action Commander Ehrot faced Supreme General Krymina with only the ability to await the first results of his orders. The torturous wait was precluded though as a warning alert buzzed and a portion of the hologram hovering over the tactical display table representing a bulkhead internal to Wharf 92-11 began to blink.

"Action Commander Ehrot, we have a compartment breech and fire warning in storage compartment-.", a staff specialist began to report before he was cut short by three more additional warnings from the tactical display.

"Correction, we now have four compartment breeches-."

All attention was on the tactical display with its three dimensional schematic of the dockyards. The four breeches that The Factory's sensors had detected were adjacent to corridors held by Te'Dak Tohl defenders. When the first breeched compartment showed a second breech indication, this one in the bulkhead separating it from the next storage area back from the dockyard- the norghil's intentions became clear.

"They're flanking our defensive positions through the storage spaces-.", Ehrot said in amazement.

"Well I would suggest that you warn them then, Action Commander.", Krymina said coldly as the other three breeched compartments showed similar evidence of norghil forces moving through them toward the interior of The Factory.

"Action Commander Ehrot-.", said nervously the liaison with The Factory's internal defenders, "We are having difficulty contacting Action Commander Hatsur's units. The norghil are employing some kind of jamming across our command frequencies."

"Boost the signal then.", Ehrot instructed.

"Transmission strength is to maximum along the internal relay nodes, Lord. The local interference is just too strong.", the liaison explained apologetically, "I've dispatched improvised message runners from nearby areas that we still have hard line communications with-."

"They'll never reach those positions in time.", Ehrot said bleakly. Moving to the display table and indicating areas within the schematics to his staff by hand he directed, "Have our reinforcements set up secondary defensive positions here along and behind the line of this blast bulkhead. If Hatsur can contain them from his position, fine- if not, they will not be able to shoot their way from compartment to compartment beyond this point. We can either push them back or hold them from this line as the Serhot-Ran forces from inside the spacedock attack from the norghil's rear."

"Yes, Lord."

Darius watched the exchange with great interest and found himself surprisingly saddened that the norghil's successful efforts to screen their movements and activities would prevent him from observing what would follow.

Darius could also not help but notice that Supreme General Krymina's glare that now showed her passing mere annoyance was directed at him from time to time as though his earlier acknowledgment of the norghil's fortitude had somehow brought about this turn of events.

Krymina read something in Darius's expression as she felt compelled to say to him, "Fortunes of war, Darius-. At the end of the day this will mean little."

Darius nodded his agreement, but in sensing a raw nerve could not help himself but prod at it, "At the end of the day, no. Before then though, I'm curious to see if their reach will exceed your grasp."

Through the thick bulkhead wall and mecha-sized set of pressure doors, it was still possible for Lieutenant Moyrt and Lieutenant Hyra to hear the rapid movement of booted and mechanized feet along the corridor in the direction of battle.

In truth, it was nearly impossible to ignore.

Moyrt and Hyra had chosen to take the meager ration of free time they had been allowed amidst the briefings, the additional training, and the preparations being made for their mission to the alien world and dedicate it too to the performance of their duty in the best Serhot-Ran tradition. In this instance, it had meant coming to this storage compartment that stood just off the hangar where their modified Re-Entry Transport Pod stood idle but waiting alone on the deck to make a final detailed inspection of their Nacht-Rau combat suits before they were stowed for the long journey into alien territory.

The list of remaining tasks was short and growing shorter. Their would be several final intelligence briefings, a last medical exam, and then like the survey team already slumbering in stasis aboard the transport the Serhot-Ran under Action Commander Kevtok would undergo "micronization" and go to sleep for the voyage.

The norghil had changed things though- at least potentially.

Word had spread quickly around the Trendok 145 that a small norghil force, probably even the one that had slipped the purging of the two armies, was returning to The Factory for reasons unknown. Preparations had been hastily made to stage a second mini-purge and to complete the work that the first purge had failed to achieve.

Moyrt and Hyra had heard of this at the same time as the other Serhot-Ran volunteers that had transferred to Action Commander Kevtok's direct command and who were no longer subject to the duties of mainstream combatants. Moyrt had quietly questioned what gain Supreme General Krymina expected in the trap being set for the norghil versus the risk it posed to The Factory- but he had kept the thoughts to himself and preparations had left him little time to think on it more.

Until now.

"So how long are we going to pretend?", Hyra asked, closing the electronics access panel inside of her Nacht-Rau having completed her check of the components with a circuit tester.

Moyrt knew exactly what she was driving at but hoped dimly that playing dumb might dissuade her from suggesting what he knew equally well she was going to suggest.

"What are we pretending?"

Hyra held the circuit tester probe at an arm's length like a weapon and tracked the movement of an unknown number of mecha along the outside corridor with its movement.

"That."

Moyrt was trapped with the single word and allowed himself to admit to himself that trapped, as it applied here, was exactly where he wanted to be. True, even with the bulk of Krymina's army spread out across the ships of two additional fleets performing the menial tasks of claiming them for Te'Dak Tohl service- there were likely thousands aboard The Factory. Any who were qualified to pick up a weapon and use it half-effectively was by now answering the call to reinforce the effort in a distant wing of the facility.

Few, if any of them though were likely Serhot-Ran.

"Our orders are to dedicate ourselves to preparing for this mission, Hyra.", Moyrt warned. It was not an argument against doing what Hyra would be suggesting in a moment, but only a warning that it stood in minor conflict with their understood duties.

"-And we won't even miss a briefing-.", Hyra replied, "Unless you intend to be killed by a norghil-."

Moyrt looked his own Nacht-Rau up and down. It had taken some time to perform the thorough checks involved in assuring its perfect function and it had been done in anticipation of its next use being on an alien planet no less than a half a year from now.

He could find time for one more inspection though, Moyrt was certain.

"We'll need to arm up first.", Moyrt reminded Hyra as he reached for the helmet to his flight suit that sat on a chest of tools an arm's length away.

"There are armories along the way.", Hyra pointed out as she put her own helmet on.

Technically speaking, both officers knew that they had not been ordered not to engage in combat prior to deployment on their mission. Arguing this to Action Commander Kevtok was going to be a matter of greater complexity of course.

In the meantime and beside the legitimate rationale of assisting in throwing back a norghil incursion, this was going to be fun.

Sub-Commander Ritzal in the company of Point Lieutenant Tuissant had moved his Glaug and his command up on the deck to the point where the Quadranos had blasted through the dockyard bulkhead into the compartment that shared that structural wall. What might have taken a dozen or more armor-piercing and high explosive missiles to accomplish had been done with two blasts from the heavy plasma cannons carried by the Quadrano's captured combat suits.

A broad if not tidy portal had been torn into the bulkhead and the storage compartment beyond, a portal that had allowed a constant stream of warriors to follow on the Quadranos vanguard action to move by unconventional means on the Te'Dak Tohl flank. The contents of the first compartment penetrated had been of little use to the force that now streamed through it- mostly electronic and mechanical components common to all Zentraedi warships.

The second however had revealed itself to be a ready-use mecha hangar connected by internal access to a garrison arsenal. Having fired their heavy energy weapons into a hangar packed with armed and ready mecha, the Quadranos had ordered a general hold to the movement of warriors to their rear until there was certainty that Regults battered and destroyed in the breech of the hangar wall were not going to unexpectedly explode. When that danger had not been realized, the rush of warriors had followed on and now a mechanized force stood ready within the hangar awaiting the word of the Quadranos to advance while the balance of the assault force made directly for the arsenal. Warriors who had disembarked onto the dockyard under fire unarmed were determined not to press the attack into The Factory in the same condition.

"I'm not certain that this is even having the effect we're looking for, Lord.", said the sub-lieutenant at the limited controls of the communications relay unit to which three other identical devices had been hard-wire connected.

It had been this sub-officer who had boldly approached Ritzal directly with the idea of using the relay devices to crudely jam the Te'Dak Tohl's communications. In effect, the enforcers had paved the way for use of the communications devices in this way when they had initiated their own jamming efforts on the assault force. The devices had been intended to be left at intervals in the rear of the assault force's advance to maintain a link with Destroyer 741- but the Te'Dak Tohl jamming was too powerful to overcome.

This sub-lieutenant had in the midst of the initial slaughter on the dockyard conceived of the idea he was now implementing and had taken the first step in that direction by using the frequency scanner built into the communication device to identify the bands being used by the Te'Dak Tohl.

Once this had been done, it had simply been a matter of generating electronic gibberish to flood the channels. Even if it had only a limited range as the sub-lieutenant had suggested it would to Ritzal, any possible advantage was a welcome one.

And if it worked- and assuming they survived- Ritzal vowed quietly to himself that this sub-lieutenant would be promoted to an officer.

"Keep it going, Sub-Lieutenant.", Ritzal urged as the dockyard continued to empty through breeches opened at many points by the Quadrano spearhead, "Even if this is only a minor distraction- it is something."

"Yes, Lord-."

Ritzal monitored in brief glances as his quickly issued orders were carried out around him. Warriors who were already armed were massing around the accessways held by the Te'Dak Tohl. The Quadranos would trigger the action and signal the attack at which point the element of the original plan of "flooding" the enemy's defenses would resume. The dash for The Factory's interior would truly begin then and would have to be sustained. Ritzal was aware that too much time had been spent on the dockyard and that time was now allowing the Te'Dak Tohl to prepare- time was actively working against he and his warriors.

The sub-commander motioned to a lieutenant whose intact platoon Ritzal had selected to use as his message runners. As the lieutenant moved in close to Ritzal's open Glaug cockpit, the commanding officer said-.

"Dispatch a warrior to Commander Pach and tell him that we are breaking free of the dock. We will send word of our progress as regularly as possible, but I doubt our ability to provide a broad tactical picture. We're going to have to assess with every step."

"Yes, Lord-!", replied the lieutenant before dashing back to relay the message to a runner who would carry it.

Through the first breech opened by the Quadranos and from several compartments in, another deep boom rolled forth as progress continued.

For Action Commander Hatsur, the world had shrunken suddenly.

Normally during standard operations he could depend on multiple sources through the tactical data network to provide him with the information he required as a unit commander to issue orders to his warriors to act against the enemy- even if that enemy was out of sight. The tactical network had allowed Hatsur to verify personally that his units were in place to strike as the norghil vessels were mooring. And in the first moments of their attack when Nacht-Rau combat suits had appeared suddenly on the side of the norghil, the network had allowed Hatsur to pass the order to his own power armor to hold in the rear areas of the dockyard until he could reassess the enemy's strength.

Through the network Hatsur had watched the building and the movement of the norghil on the dockyard and had allowed him to call for the reinforcements he was certain he would need as his forward defensive positions were overrun.

Then, the tactical data network had gone away.

At the moment when the norghil were reaching the accessways that Hatsur had ordered barricaded and defended from interior corridors; at the moment when he needed the perspective of multiple eyes the most- the network had gone away. Hatsur realized that the network actually was still there, still operational, but he had been cut off from it. The means were unclear, but the method was apparent as communications had become ineffective at the same time.

The norghil were engaged in retaliatory jamming, and they were proving to have developed some skill at it.

Reduced to the unsophisticated but reliable communications methods of primitives, Hatsur had unapologetically dispatched runners to the rear with orders to move as far into The Factory as necessary to re-establish contact with the command center and to relay what information they could provide back to him.

Action Commander Hatsur could have as easily withdrawn himself to the rear for that purpose without fear of criticism- but the enemy was still before him and Hatsur had not risen yet to see the day when he was not with his warriors to meet norghil head-to-head.

His runners had not been gone long enough to accomplish the task he had sent them on, but Hatsur found himself desperately wanting their return and report. His warriors in their Nacht-Rau had rotated through their new forward defensive positions- the hastily erected barricades within the dockyard access corridors. With each rotation the combat suits had fired anti-personnel missiles blindly down and around the bend of the corridor out onto the dockyard with the hopes of keeping the norghil at bay until reinforcements could arrive in sufficient mass as to make a counterattack viable. So far, the tactic had shown itself to be effective.

Since an initial squad of norghil had foolishly tried to probe the corridor and had been cut to pieces by fragmentation missiles- no attempt had been made by the norghil to penetrate the accessway.

Something in the norghil's lack of attempts touched a nerve of concern in Hatsur though. On the dockyard the warrior caste had all but thrown themselves into defensive fire, and now with control of the passages back to the interior of The Factory only one or two bloody pushes from being theirs, they elected to stop?

Hatsur did not trust it that the norghil would simply choose to stop.

Nor did he trust that they were standing idle, especially with the distant, muffled sound of explosions that told of some unknown norghil activity that Hatsur was not privileged to with the loss of the tactical data network.

Disquieting as it was, Hatsur knew he was likely going to have to wait to see what the norghil chose to show him and would have to command his warriors based on that alone.

Still, he would make one more attempt to re-establish communications with the tactical network.

"Point Lieutenant-.", Hatsur said to his executive Bahlil over the static of the radio. At very close ranges, line of sight essentially, the Nacht-Raus' radios were still minimally effective, "Detach a squad and move to the rear until you connect with either our runners or the command center. Tell them I intend to hold here as long as I can against the norghil."

"Yes, Lord-.", Bahlil complied, "We will return with reinforcements if we can link up with them."

"Go!", Hatsur urged. He had always held the belief that his warrior's senses had remained keen over his years of life, and that they told him accurately of critical moments in action. Like this moment, he did not always know the nature of the critical moment- but he felt it upon him.

Bahlil turned to oversee the withdrawal of her squad when the corridor seemed to implode from all directions.

The billowing orange inferno of multiple heavy destabilized plasma rounds exploded through the corridor bulkhead before expanding to fill the breadth of the passage. Stunning as the effect of the penetrating plasma rounds were on warriors suited in Nacht-Rau, the effect on Te'Dak Tohl warriors suited in only standard body armor was lethal. Heads and limbs burned away in the churning plasma storm of the detonating destabilized rounds, seeming to take much longer than the time elapsed in the actual event.

The shock of the attack was great, but even in its grip at its tightest- Hatsur recognized what had happened and the reason for the muffled explosions he and his unit had been hearing.

The norghil had moved through the compartments to flank the Te'Dak Tohl position, and now had them snared in a three-way crossfire.

The shrieks of the wounded mingled with the sharp, metallic clatter of shrapnel ricocheting about the interior of the passage and the distinct hiss of missile rocket motors as the weapons filled the air and passed from every direction.

Before a missile struck Hatsur in the back and sent his Nacht-Rau to the deck, he saw the emergence of Regult silhouettes into the corridor downrange through the thickening smoke. The two warriors from his company who had rotated forward to the barricade to fire out into the dockyard now traded fire with at first a pair, and then a corridor full of norghil mecha. At least one of the attacking Regults was equipped with missile pods as Hatsur's last view before going to the deck was of a swarm of weapons enveloping the barricade position.

On the deck though, Hatsur knew he had been hit from the rear.

His Nacht-Rau had absorbed the blow from the missile as designed without loss of any functionality, and it was only a matter of getting to his feet again that separated Hatsur from the fight. In the time it had taken to do that though, Hatsur's Serhot-Ran had engaged norghil in both directions of the corridor- toward what had been formerly well-defined as the "front" and the "rear".

No longer.

Quadranos.

Only the Quadranos who Hatsur had witnessed lead the charge onto the dockyard with their captured Nacht-Rau combat suits could have so quickly punched through the number of compartments through which they would have had to pass in order to encircle Hatsur's position the way it clearly was.

Only the Quadranos would have been so innovative and bold.

The roar of a Nacht-Rau's boosters shook the chamber violently as the power armor smashed through the remains of the corridor bulkhead crudely. Point Lieutenant Bahlil was closest to meet the threat and brought her suit's powerful energy rifle to bear with the familiarity of a seasoned veteran.

Bahlil's Nador rifle came up instinctively as the intruder came to a skidding halt at the center of the passage, the panels of the suit's missile pods opened and ready. The form of the combat suit was obscured with the flash of launching missiles and their trails of smoke. Bahlil was barely able to pull the trigger on her weapon before the volley hit center and sent her tumbling.

Marosa's ears were shocked even within the protection of her Nacht-Rau by the force of the numerous missile detonations within the confined space. The corridor's few remaining light fixtures disintegrated with the same concussion and the enclosed space lost all illumination save the strobe effect of discharging energy weapons.

Serhot-Ran infantry were either torn apart by the destabilized energy rounds or crushed as their Nacht-Rau suited comrades met in a savage brawl with similarly equipped Quadranos. In an instant the fight lost any characteristic it might have possessed of lines or boundaries as warriors and their machines met in a space never intended to host battle.

The Nacht-Rau combat suit that Marosa had put down with her tightly grouped missile salvo was getting to its feet once again incredibly. Admirable as her opponent's resilience was, the fight allowed for no quarter nor did Marosa feel obligated to give any following the loss of so many warriors on Murhan-Thade 4, and most recently on the dockyard.

The Quadrano pounced on her Te'Dak Tohl adversary and snap-kicked the Nador rifle from the rising warrior's hand before spinning through with a back-legged kick from the other foot that lay the Serhot-Ran warrior out flat again. Marosa stitched the length of the suit's torso at point-blank range with her Nador, penetrating what remained of the damaged ceramic armor that had provided protection to the pilot within.

A twin missile blast to her center body mass threw Marosa violently to the deck and knocked the wind from her lungs. A second Serhot-Ran Nacht-Rau was charging from the chaos of the melee where it had been concealed in the boil of combat.

Vala's attention was drawn as Marosa's attacker raised its left arm and the massive energy cannon mounted on it in Marosa's direction.

"Marosa!", Vala warned as she surprised her friend's opponent with a tightly grouped burst of Nador plasma rounds to the chest, apparently stunning the pilot enough to allow Marosa to scramble into a crouch and fire the engines of her combat suit.

Action Commander Hatsur saw the blast from the Nacht-Rau's boosters but was unable to react before the audacious Quadrano caught him in a flying tackle that sent both warriors tumbling in a grapple through a corridor and compartment wall weakened by weapons fire and into a storage space.

Still operative and charged with the fight, Hatsur brought the right leg of his combat suit up and with what grip he could find on his enemy, flipped the aggressor off him and onto its back. The officer struggled to his feet, scattering storage crates with his wild movements. His adversary had found her feet again as well and with a measure of unsteadiness was squaring off to charge again.

"Norghil-.", was the only word that Hatsur could find and mutter.

"Quadrano.", Marosa corrected as though the word itself was a weapon.

Destroyer 741

Commander Pach grappled with a condition of effective blindness.

His physical sense of sight had not been taken from him, but in a very real sense he found himself unable to see.

Coinciding with the initiation of the assault on the Trendok 145 Robotech Factory, a nearly impenetrable fog of communications jamming had descended on the three vessels of Action Commander Gymalt's charge. Ship-to-ship communication had been nulled across the entire spectrum of radio and subspace bands, rendering the ships' primary communications systems useless. Only communication by laser lamp had remained viable- and that was only with Destroyer 818 which was still within line of sight.

No word had been received from Action Commander Gymalt, nor was there reason to expect the squadron commander had received any of the transmissions sent from Sylas or Pach despite repeated efforts.

Similarly, the deployment of Gnerl squadrons to maintain control of the spacedock had suffered a loss of communication. Te'Dak Tohl jamming simply overwhelmed the limited abilities of the fighters to communicate with their base ships. On the command deck's main viewscreen, Pach could see the disciplined pattern of his fighters' patrol- but there was no sending or receiving messages to them.

Pach's gravest concern however was the inconsistant contact with the assault force, now deployed for nearly a half an hour. Provisions had been made to set up a communication relay system for affecting command of the force and monitoring its progress, but the gear brought by the warriors of the assault force was proving insufficient to overcome the Te'Dak Tohl countermeasures. Runners had arrived at regular intervals to report of the progress Ritzal was making in his move toward the ultimate objective- the Factory command center and the Hypercomp computer that oversaw all functions of the Trendok 145 from there- but the reports were fragmented at best and gave no indication of what success or resistance the assault forces under Sylas or Gymalt might be experiencing.

Effectively, Pach was finding himself blind, deaf, and mute in a hastily conceived operation that had hung its hopes of success on speed, improvised coordination of the assault forces, and exploiting the surprise sprung on the Te'Dak Tohl. Speed had been lost in the initial, bloody brawl on the dockyards- which had also blunted the edge of surprise. With communications severely hindered, improvisation was something that would have to be achieved at the small unit level- and coordination in any meaningful sense was now more of a wish than a reasonable expectation.

What was the worst for Pach was the feeling.

Pach, even from his time as a Gnerl pilot, had found that he had a sense of the battles he was in and the direction they were taking. While he had never put exclusive faith in this sense having seen battles he had felt going one way make a turn in the other direction, Pach had always found his instinct to be a valued consult to at least be heard out.

What Pach's sense told him now was not promising.

"Command, Fighter Control.", came a report to the command bubble from the command center below, "Sub-Commander Kranna has returned aboard ship and is requesting to report."

Pach's insides went from tight with the abnormally high tensions of command in combat to knots at true signs of warning. Kranna was a forward-command leader in his approach. To have him leave the air while his pilots were still aloft signified something of critical importance and seemed to bolster what Pach's instincts were telling him with increasing urgency.

"Patch him through.", Pach ordered.

The speakers within the command center crackled as the channel opened. Even within Destroyer 741's own hull, the effects of the jamming effort were hindering communications between the landed Gnerl and the base ship.

"Lord, are you receiving?", came Kranna's voice, recognizable but distorted by static.

"Yes, Kranna.", Pach replied, "Report."

"We have no communications out there.", Kranna explained, "I had to return to the ship to report. There's a massive Te'Dak Tohl force building outside of the spacedock channel. We can see them forming up. I can't give you a certain number, but at a glance I can tell you that there have to be thousands of them assembling. If they decide to engage, we're going to be quickly overrun. I can't fend off a force that large, even if I do maintain control of the channel as a choke point."

"Acknowledged.", Pach said.

Kranna, being a well disciplined officer and observed the protocols of the chain of command, but Pach could sense the sub-commander's need to hear a decision on what was to happen next. For that reason, Pach left the channel with his fighter group commander open as he redirected his attention to the command deck below.

"Dychi", Pach said evenly from his post, "Report."

"Information from the assault force is fragmented at best, Lord.", Dychi replied, "Last reports from Sub-Commander Ritzal had the leading elements of our assault force better than half way to the strategic point of Junction 701. That was seven minutes ago, Lord."

"Situation reports from Sylas?", Pach inquired.

"Minimal ones, Lord.", Dychi said, "They appear to be making progress, but slowly. I doubt that they will reach Junction 701 concurrently."

Pach glanced again at the ship's chronometer. Thirty-six minutes had now passed since the beginning of the assault. Thirty-six minutes in which experienced Te'Dak Tohl officers had the opportunity to study the thrust of the assault and speculate at its objective.

Thirty-six minutes in which to stand up defenses around the likely possibilities at least.

The pieces of Action Commander Gymalt's plan were not coming together.

It could be argued that the assault forces might rally at Junction 701 and press on to the Factory command center, but reasonable argument was stronger against it. Recognition of these facts and the realization of the situation climbed Pach's spine coldly and branched out through his body like needle-tipped fingers of ice.

His sense and the information available to him were in complete agreement with one another.

The correct decision, unpalatable as it was, was clear.

"Kranna", Pach instructed, "Return to the air and pass the word by hand signal- prepare to return to ship. We will recover our assault force and withdraw. As soon as we are clear of the slip, you will collapse your air patrol perimeter under cover of our guns and missile batteries and affect an emergency landing of your pilots. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord.", Kranna replied- his voice a mixture of equal parts shame and relief. The thought of retreat was apparently appealing to no one.

Glancing down onto the command deck, Pach found that Dychi was nowhere to be seen. His absence without having been properly relieved was unexpected, but Pach suspected he knew where the executive officer was headed..

"Communications, send by laser lamp to Commander Sylas the following: Withdraw your assault teams and prepare to receive fighters on an emergency landing basis. Withdrawal will commence with my next signal."

"Message transmitting, Lord."

The door to the command bubble slid open and Dychi entered with an air of energy Pach had not seen in the executive officer before. It was the radiant charge so often found in a warrior engrossed in the fight. Such moments got the better of every warrior and his judgment from time to time, but Pach had no time to argue his first officer out of his union with the moment.

"I have no time to explain my decision, Dychi-.", Pach said firmly and preemptively.

"I was not seeking one, Lord.", Dychi said, "I fear that Sub-Commander Ritzal will contest the order, given that he is not in possession of all of the facts and that he has finally developed sustained progress. The best and most effective way to achieve quick compliance is to deliver the order to him personally. I would like to request that task." Pach shook his head, "No. Ritzal's message runners can deliver the order."

"A single one of his runners is still aboard, Lord.", Dychi protested, "He can deliver the order, but to carry it out quickly will require the cooperation and direction of officers. For that reason, I should go."

Commander Pach's inclination was to agree with Dychi's reasoning and his first impulse was to undertake the task himself. Without question though, beyond argument, and in direct opposition to his first impulse- Pach knew that his place was on the bridge of Destroyer 741. Dychi's assertions were correct, although the commanding officer was certain that the executive had no way of knowing exactly what it was that he was asking for.

Dychi's time to discover the unbuffered realities of the warrior's existence had arrived.

Pach nodded reluctantly, "Take what mecha we have left and what you can attch along the way- you may have to fight your way out once the withdrawal begins. Make the collapse back to the ship as rapid as possible. I fear that once the Te'Dak Tohl sense that we are trying to withdraw, they will be compelled to act swiftly. We won't have much time for an escape- if one is possible."

"I understand, Lord.", Dychi complied stoically. His manner was still charged with determination, but now that his request had been granted and the realization that he would actually be undertaking it- a hint of fear had surfaced.

"And Dychi-.", Pach said to the sub-commander as he turned to leave.

"Lord?", Dychi said, pausing at the door to the chamber.

"Good luck, and Fate be with you."

"Thank you, Lord.", Dychi said simply. Without another word the executive officer departed.

"Kranna-.", Pach said into the communications channel that had remained open, "Back into the air with you. Your skills are likely to be needed there."

"Yes, Lord. We will provide cover as long as we can for you."

The channel gave a pop, a hiss, and then a squeal of static as Kranna's Gnerl fighter left the deck to rejoin his group again.

Pach was left alone in the command bubble with his orders issued. Now came the most nerve-fraying and difficult part in command- .

Waiting.

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

"Supreme General", Action Commander Ehrot said in a tone that reported the first indications of impending victory, "Incursion from Wharf 92-6 has been halted. The combined forces from the destroyers on Wharf 92-11 are continuing to advance into The Factory, though our warriors are preparing positions to hold them. Unfortunately, the norghil have seized two armories and a mecha storage bay. Our commanders are requesting additional support to counter their strength-."

Krymina looked darkly on the hologram schematic of The Factory and what it was showing her before she turned her gaze on Ehrot. As her cold stare fixed on him, Ehrot lost any comfort in the notion of impending victory that allowed him to put a bright hue to his words of a moment earlier.

"Action Commander Ehrot, did I order a halt to the norghil movement into this facility?"

Sensing correctly how Krymina hung on a particular word, Ehrot replied devoid of emotion, "No, Supreme General, you did not."

"Did I order our units to perform a holding action?"

"No, Liege.", Ehrot said.

"Do you recall my specific orders, Action Commander?", Krymina asked with the casual lethality of a predator toying with its pinned and dying prey.

"Your specific orders were to eliminate the norghil warriors and crews, secure the renegade destroyers, and to capture the senior officers of each if at all possible, my Liege."

Krymina stepped back from the central holographic display table to have a clear line of sight on the junior officer who stood dutifully at attention as she carefully prepared him to be an example to all the officers present in the command center.

"Then tell me, Action Commander-. Why are we still talking about norghil incursions?"

"Supreme General, our shock force has finished massing outside of Spacedock 92 and will begin their assault momentarily-.", Ehrot said, attempting to offset some of Krymina's clear displeasure with a demonstration of action.

"I ordered that assault almost ten minutes ago.", Krymina countered, "Was my direction unclear?"

"No, Supreme General."

"Then you intend to carry out my orders?"

"Yes, Supreme General."

"Now or sometime in the near future?"

"Immediately, Liege.", Ehrot replied feeling the tingle of a cold sweat take hold of him, "The norghil will not gain another step into The Factory."

Supreme General Krymina's response was not what Ehrot expected on many levels as her icy demeanor broke with a vicious snarl, "The ground they gain is not my concern, Action Commander!"

Knowing well that she had the attention of all present, Krymina swept the compartment with her gaze and her voice, saying, "The gains that they are making that concern me are confidence and morale-. Every step the norghil take demonstrates to them that we are not as strong as they were led to believe while our warriors see how strong they are capable of becoming. These norghil will not live to take that lesson to others, but this cannot occur in our operation against Breetai. The dangers are too great."

As quickly as Krymina's temper had flared she regained composure and returned to the display table.

"Are the norghil still confined to Level Ten?", Krymina asked Ehrot as though the exchange of the last minute had not taken place.

"Yes, Supreme General.", replied the operations officer even though the holographic deck plan that was before Krymina answered the question clearly.

"Show a construction overlay of that wing of the facility.", Krymina ordered.

The representation of The Factory's spaces became more detailed to include the layout of infrastructure as well as the functional nature of the features that defined the interior spaces.

Krymina quickly found what she was looking for.

"The fighting is approaching Structural Frame Twelve.", Krymina noted, "Am I reading this correctly that the frame extends the entire height of the spacedock jetty?"

"Yes, Supreme General.", confirmed Ehrot after receiving an affirming nod from the staff below him.

"Assemble as many warriors as you can inboard of Frame Twelve- on Levels Nine, Ten, and Eleven. Set the Level Ten units back far enough to allow for a kill zone that the norghil can penetrate to some depth. Our forces currently engaged will collapse back into these reinforcements. We will then seal the blast doors, bisecting the norghil force. Any norghil caught inboard of Frame Twelve will be attacked from all directions and dealt with by our internal forces. By that time I expect our own assault force to have entered the spacedock and divided their efforts between sweeping the norghil destroyers and crushing their warriors from the rear. Is that clear, Ehrot?"

"Perfectly, Supreme General."

"Then carry out my orders.", Krymina said, and then almost as an afterthought added, "And retract my orders concerning the senior officers. Eliminate them all."

"Yes, Supreme General."

The interior wall of the storage compartment ruptured, the metal panels tearing at the seams away from their frame attachments, as the substantial weight of Marosa's Nacht-Rau was hurled through it. Crates that had stood undisturbed in neat stacks tumbled and flew from the combat suit's path as it slid across the deck.

Marosa righted herself to see the Te'Dak Tohl officer's Nacht-Rau squeezing through the opening they had made cooperatively into the compartment. The blaze of weapons fire two compartments back silhouetted her enemy as he entered the room. He paused only to wrench a metal frame beam from the demolished wall before advancing on Marosa again.

Marosa raised the right arm of her combat suit, leveling the tri-laser gun cluster at her opponent. The targeting computer in her suit had ceased to function sometime before during the last intense exchange of weapons fire between her adversary and she, but at such close range it was hardly needed.

As she triggered the weapon though, there was no response.

The suit's internal displays flickered with numerous warning indicators for all of the systems that had been damaged or lost in the melee. Among them, Marosa was certain, was the one telling her why the forearm cluster would not fire. The cause was hardly important to her as the structural beam struck Marosa's combat suit with enough force for her to feel it within the Nacht-Rau's armored shell.

Marosa found herself on her back again, aware now that her enemy was standing over her with his improvised weapon held like a spear in both hands, poised to strike. Marosa caught the shaft of the beam with both hands of her power armor as it came down with all of the force that her opponent could put behind it. She redirected the force of the attack above her and with her right leg carried the other Nacht-Rau into a flip that sent it crashing onto some of the same crates her entry into the compartment had scattered.

Both warriors rolled to their feet in their machines, squaring off with little more than an arm's length between them.

Hatsur swung the beam he carried in a vicious clubbing motion that Marosa ducked beneath, catching the Te'Dak Tohl officer by holding points she found in battle damage done to his suit's armor. Pivoting at her hips and stepping through with her own suit's artificial strength, Marosa hurled the officer at the intact compartment wall opposite the one she herself had come through.

Hatsur slammed into the wall heavily , buckling the metal plating but came back at Marosa immediately, thrusting with the beam like a spear again. Again, Marosa caught the weapon by the shaft and added to Hatsur's force by pulling with her own weight. The spear gave too easily, and it was only as Marosa went off balance that she realized she had done exactly what her opponent had hoped she would.

Marosa staggered to overcome her own momentum and get her combat suit's feet back under her, but her adversary was comparable in speed to her and more familiar with the performance of his machine. Hatsur sent Marosa sprawling with a flying kick to her suit's central mass and was on top of her again almost as soon as her suit landed and crushed more storage containers into the deck.

"Give up and die!", Hatsur bellowed as his fingers found purchase on Marosa's armor to bring her suit up over his head and slam it into the deck. His voice was fatigue, rage, and adrenaline- but also frustration.

Norghil were not supposed to have so much fight in them.

Marosa felt the air leave her lungs with the violence of the contact with the deck that bent into a depression beneath her suit's weight. The Te'Dak Tohl had a grip on her again and flung her into the compartment wall with such force that Marosa was certain her Nacht-Rau would come apart at the joints.

"I'm Serho- Ran, Quadrano!", Hatsur boasted as he hoisted and hurled Marosa to the deck again, causing the deck plates in the compartment and the strewn debris of hand-to-hand combat to jump with the weight of the impact.

"I'm stronger!"

Marosa found herself raised again and flung at the rear wall of the compartment where Hatsur had left a deep indentation. In her dazed state, she barely felt the impact with the wall.

"I'm faster!"

Hatsur flipped Marosa again onto the deck. He could feel her weakening with each successive attack, her defense becoming less pronounced. Had he the time, Hatsur would have preferred to take his time with her demise, but those were not the conditions presenting themselves.

Hatsur took hold of the Quadrano's semi-limp combat suit, lifting it from the deck again and launching it at the degraded rear compartment wall. This time, the wall did not stand up to the abuse, but gave way under the weight and force of the Nacht-Rau.

"I'm superior.", Hatsur called after the Quadrano as he looked for a tool with which to finish the task of killing the resilient norghil.

Marosa searched wide and deep in her body, trying to pull the strength she had left from her core to her leaden extremities. The Te'Dak Tohl would have to come through the breech in the wall to attack her again. She would strike then. Marosa made a quick survey of her surroundings to find a weapon.

There was nothing that immediately struck her as a candidate. The compartment, she found, towered above her, occupied centrally by an enormous mechanical structure that she took to be a power transformer of some kind. Thick conduits and pipes protruded from the surfaces of the apparatus merging into the bulkheads to continue to points unknown. If there was to be a weapon found in the contents of this mechanical space it would not be one of these components. The transformer itself stood on a broad-stanced tripod of leg struts which offered some potential as something that might be fashioned into a weapon– but those the device would not surrender easily or without loss of stability.

Marosa could hear Hatsur working a wall frame loose as he had before, preparing to rejoin the fight. She also became aware that the temperature gauge for her suit's tri-laser forearm cluster had dipped into the operable range. The weapon had been damaged and overheated before, she now realized, the suit's automatic safeties had prevented her from firing.

Now though, Marosa suspected she could count on at least a few blasts before the weapon overheated again and while the Te'Dak Tohl's Nacht-Rau was still sound enough to stand up to such a burst- she thought of a target that migh not.

Be enough-.

Marosa managed to right herself and sought a firing position at the compartment's side. The Te'Dak Tohl would have to come through the breech in the wall, and that's when he would be the most vulnerable

Bulkhead plates, bent in and dangling from their frames groaned as the bulk of the Te'Dak Tohl's combat suit pressed through the jagged hole opened by Marosa. The Quadrano's enemy moved casually, almost leisurely as though moving in to finish her too quickly with the metal beam he carried would prevent him from savoring the moment.

Marosa's tri-laser fired a concentrated burst before overheating again and shutting down automatically. The tight pattern of laser bolts sliced easily through the power transformer's forward leg strut that had been designed and constructed to bear weight and not absorb deliberate attack.

"Aiming increases your chances of hitting me dramatically, norghil! You've wasted your only advantage.", Hatsur taunted as he paused in a drifting cloud of vaporized metal, "You've proven me more disciplined as well-."

The two undamaged support legs groaned loudly, and with a sharp, metallic snap, gave under the transformer's enormous weight as it teetered in the direction of the leg that Marosa had shot away.

The entire assembly lurched- rolling in a clumsy tumble onto the Nacht-Rau directly in the path of its fall and through the compartment bulkhead through which the Te'Dak Tohl had passed. Superconductor power conduits snapped and illuminated the compartment at the moment of its demolition with arcs of vivid blue energy before subsiding to leave only the dim glow of emergency lamps.

"More disciplined- and thinner.", Marosa said, feeling the energy return to her body as her combat suit obeyed her and rose to its feet again.. The ttransformer had settled completely and with the gap between its face on which it lay and the deck left little room for the bulk of an intact Nacht-Rau combat suit.

"What?-."

Marosa started at the sound of the voice before recognizing it as female.

A single Nacht-Rau appeared, lumbering over the accumulation of wreckage, and was followed close behind by a second. The voice had since registered with Marosa as Vala's. The Quadranos' combat suits showed some signs of damage as several came into Marosa's limited view, but were not the testimony to desperate combat that Marosa was certain that hers appeared to be..

"Do you need any help?", asked Etmal in the second Nacht-Rau- her voice confirming what Marosa had supposed.

"No", Marosa replied, "I needed help a minute ago- thanks for asking-. Now I'm fine."

"No need to be snippy.", Etmal replied defensively, "We followed up as soon as we could."

"We got jumped by Te'Dak Tohl reinforcements.", Vala explained, "You and your friend were gone before we could stabilize the situation."

"What is the situation?", Marosa asked.

"Who knows?", Vala answered, "This operation is turning into chaos at best. We're advancing though- that's about all I can say."

"Then we'd better get back to it.", Marosa suggested.

"We'd better get you a new suit first.", Vala countered, "We still have control of a mecha hangar. We should take advantage of that."

"I'm following you then.", Marosa agreed. If the fight was spinning out of control as Vala had asserted, then it would be waiting for her when she was again prepared to meet it Marosa knew. She felt no need to rush to it in the condition she was in.

Destroyer 741

Sub-Commander Dychi quickly checked his armor for a second time to ensure that all of the segments were properly joined and the clasps securely fastened. Something curious had started to go wrong with his brain that had coincided with the peculiar loss of his ability to breathe in anything but shallow gasps and with his inability to slow his racing heart. Dychi, by the time he had completed the systematic task of fastening his body armor, found that he could not remember having completed the first steps in the process. He was aware that to go back and check all of the steps he could not remember completing would take time that he did not have to waste- and that this would mark the third time he had gone through a procedure that any warrior fresh from the stasis tube could do in the dark.

Warriors were accustomed to suiting up quickly and without mistake in their body armor though- their lives depended greatly upon it in many occasions. The last occasion on which Dychi had actually donned battle armor temporarily eluded him.

Then he realized that he never had- at least not for the reason of actually joining in combat.

His place and his experience of battle had always been on the bridge of a ship. The promise that this was about to change did not bring the rush of enthusiasm that he imagined it would. The prospect of death was very real in a more immediate way than he had ever faced from the command center- the stream of salvageable wounded being retrieved from just outside the ship's gangways made that evident.

Dychi prepared himself for more of the same and worse as he spread the word to withdraw. The pain of it all was that there would be no time to evacuate the wounded he would pass or even offer them the charity of Release from Duty.. The original plan had not considered the possibility of survival- not in any realistic way, so no provisions had been made in the least for those wounded who under other circumstances might have been saved.

Focus. Focus on your assignment and save those who can be saved.

Fate's decision would prevail for all this day, Dychi trusted. He only hoped that he would be able to sway that decision favorably for as many warriors he could reach- and for himself.

"We must be desperate if we're sending you out to fight."

Dychi did not have to look but could feel Sub-Commander Gerrok standing in the doorway to the small arsenal Dychi had gone to in order to prepare for battle. As biting as Gerrok's words had been, there was something comforting in them to the executive officer. Perhaps it was the comfort of the familiar.

"I'm sure that you're devastated that I have this assignment and not you.", Dychi replied, matching Gerrok's tone in hopes of coaxing just a little more of the same comfort.

"Of course not.", Gerrok said, "I'm not stupid- bad things can happen to you out there."

"I take it you're not volunteering then.", Dychi surmised, picking up the helmet that completed his suit.

"No.", Gerrok said, watching with interest as Dychi fumbled with energy clips for his rifle, slipping them with some nervous difficulty into the belt pouches about his waist, "I have to be around to get the ship out of here."

Dychi's patience finally snapped, "Then what are you here for?! Go ahead and do it- do it-!"

The executive officer all but sprung with adrenaline-fired muscles from the bench on which he had been sitting and spun on the engineer half-expecting and half wanting to have to come to blows with the other officer.

"-Just do it! Get in your snide, cheap little shot so you have something to laugh about while you're warming up to beat on the next executive officer that the Commander appoints-!"

Gerrok showed mild surprise at the sudden show of emotion from the constantly neutral Dychi. The engineer went so far even as to back down- slightly.

"The Glaug on the bay deck out there-. Yours?"

"Yes.", Dychi said, completing his preparations and picking up the rifle he had selected for himself. Nausea swept over him in small waves and he hoped to spare himself the indignity of Gerrok's last memory of him being one of him vomiting from nerves. Or, Dychi resolved in a spiteful fantasy, perhaps vomiting on the engineer would be a fitting parting shot in their brief relationship.

"You're going to have to abandon it before you get too far.", Gerrok warned.

Dychi waited for the advice to be followed on by the usual, under-the-belt punch- but it did not come.

Instead, Gerrok continued with as much concern as Dychi had ever seen him express over anything- in the engineer's own stand-offish way, "With all of the fighting, the corridors are sure to be choked. You'll move faster on foot."

"Is that your expert opinion?", Dychi grumbled.

Gerrok shook his head, "Fine- that's my advice, take it or leave it. In any event, when you do get to moving by foot- which you will- you still may need some heavy firepower. Take this-."

Gerrok offered a heavy assault rifle to the executive officer. Dychi realized how narrow his focus had become in his excitement as it had not even registered with him that the engineer had been holding the weapon by its carrying grip throughout their whole exchange.

"-I made some- modifications.", Gerrok explained, the emphasis on the one particular word telling Dychi that the weapon had received Gerrok's full efforts the way that only Destroyer 741 regularly enjoyed, "It will only shoot two, maybe three times before the generator components burn out- but whoever's on the receiving end will know they've been hit."

Dychi hesitated, then accepted the weapon from the engineer's outstretched arm, trying not to show the difficulty he had with its weight.

"Thank you, Chief. That will be useful."

Gerrok nodded, "Of course it will be- that's why I did it. -Or it may just explode. Let me know how that turned out, will you?"

Dychi noticed that the detail he had assembled was in a state of full readiness on the deck beyond the doorway in which Gerrok stood, and was waiting on him to move out.

"I have to go.", Dychi said, his voice sounding grave and severe in his own ears.

"Dychi.-.", Gerrok said as the executive officer passed, "You know how I always said that I liked our last executive officer better than you?"

Dychi paused, and lying, said, "Yes?"

"Well I did.", Gerrok affirmed, "-But that doesn't mean that I would want to not see you come back. Zor only knows who Pach would find to replace you. Fate be with you."

Realizing that this was as close as he would likely ever get to a supportive word from the engineer, Dychi accepted it and with a nod of gratitude, departed.

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

"Kevtok will boot us off the mission for this, you know.", Lt. Hyra warned Moyrt as they waded through the sub-officers and warriors assembling in Nacht-Rau combat suits.

Moyrt's tone was unconcerned, "For answering a general call to action? I doubt it. He might have us shot- but he won't boot us off the mission. Just don't get killed- I'd hate to be shot alone."

"I wasn't worried about me getting killed.", Hyra assured him.

Moyrt's combat suit relayed to him the muffled sounds of battle through its external audio pick-ups. The fight was within a stone's throw in distance, but it was raging on the deck below.

Moyrt had wondered what was planned as he and Hyra had attached to a Serhot-Ran company at the mecha hangar where they had acquired weapons loads for their combat suits. The company commander had offered no insight as he had directed the reinforced unit to the next deck above, a move made swiftly by the shock troops. Now, as Moyrt saw specialists planting charges along a section of deck whose plates had been removed to expose the support and partitioning structures beneath, he began to realize what was coming.

Finding a sub-lieutenant who was in the process of dividing his subordinates into small assault squads, Moyrt asserted himself to confirm.

"We're attacking from above?"

The sub-lieutenant paused in his duty long enough to recognize a ranking officer and replied, "Yes, Lord. The order comes from Supreme General Krymina herself. We're to hold here on this side of that structural frame until full envelopment is achieved and the signal is given."

"Given by whom?", Hyra asked.

"Sub-Commander Doka would know better, Lieutenant- but I've heard that Supreme General Krymina is directing this action herself. Word of mouth has it that she has assumed command of our operations personally."

"Thank you, Sub-Lieutenant.", Moyrt said, "We're separated from our unit. We're going to ride your hip to keep from getting under foot."

"I'll do what I can for you, Lieutenant- but this is so hastily pulled together that riding my hip might not make a bit of difference one way or the other. Just make sure to check your targets and-."

"We'll keep that in mind, Sub-Lieutenant.", Hyra said as additional platoons arrived to the rear and joined the assembly.

A missile streaked up the corridor from the junction into which Hedra had watched the Te'Dak Tohl rear guard retreat. The weapon struck the lead Regult in the advancing force squarely in the frontal armor of the mecha's bulbous main body, piercing it easily and splitting it at the seams. A spray of metal shards cut down warriors who had been advancing under the heavier gunfire of the Regult while the pressure wave of the explosion knocked many more to the decks in the confined space of the corridor.

The pilot killed and the control systems wrecked, the mecha teetered on convulsively twitching legs before toppling over into the center of the corridor.

And Hedra saw the pattern beginning again.

The same pattern, the basic blueprint for the fight of this corridor that had played out in every corridor leading to this one since the initial melee for the wharf began anew. The Te'Dak Tohl would establish a position and hold it against the assault force that would hurl wave after wave against them until the Te'Dak Tohl could no longer hold. The defenders would then collapse into their next position- giving up ground but constantly bleeding away the strength of the attackers. Hedra knew the point would come where the assault would falter for lack of strength- but the question remained of whether they could penetrate far enough to do real damage before that point of exsanguination came.

Every seasoned warrior who had heard the operation briefing had entered the fight knowing how it would end in all likelihood- but their sacrifice at least came with the potential of serving some good. With that potential in jeopardy warriors were beginning to show hesitation, and each casualty carried with it only the sting of loss.

"Who keeps pushing all of this mecha forward?!", Ulstik demanded in disgust as a second Regult was felled just paces beyond the first., "Who's in command here?!"

"No one.", Koso informed him, "So you'd better think for yourself."

A swell of warriors, their confidence boosted momentarily by the armor and weapons they had seized from armories along the way surged forward in the wake of the remaining two Regults that were still on the advance down the corridor- a singular roar of battle cries escaping the mass.

Ulstik rose from his squatting position against the corridor wall to join them, but was jerked back down by Koso and Hedra.

"Wait.", Hedra instructed as he wiped a trickle of blood from his nose away from his upper lip. There was scarcely a warrior near the front of the fight who was not bleeding from the nose or ears. Missile detonations in enclosed spaces had a way of bursting fragile blood vessels, even if the warrior was not in the immediate proximity of the blast. Those who were closer could be exposed to much worse as was evident by the sight that had become common in this fight of dead who had been killed without a visible wound.

As had happened before, a dense barrage of assault rifle fire and a fragmentation missile met the rush of warriors through gaps in the cover provided by the Regults both fallen and advancing. The blast of the missiles and the shrill rattle of ricocheting shrapnel drowned out the initial screams of those warriors who were struck down wounded, but they were there and waiting as the dulled hearing of the living returned with the explosions' subsidence.

"They're our stepping stones.", Hedra pointed out to the junior warrior as he motioned to the closest burning Regult hulk. With the bleeding edge of the assault well ahead, the intensity of fire on the fallen mecha was of a coincidental magnitude at best and the lee provided broad and inviting.

"Move up to the first-. Go!"

Ulstik darted in a low crouch toward the first smoldering Regult heap, the smoke from which had now choked out what dim light was coming from the emergency lighting system in the corridor. He felt and saw warriors join and pass him on either side. Some fired as they advanced. Others were knocked down by random bursts of fire that ripped through the increasingly dense smoke without warning. Some simply vanished ahead into the murk and were gone. When he reached the Regult though, Ulstik found that both Koso and Hedra were still there with him.

The three warriors crowded in behind the remains of the Regult that still provided for adequate shelter from the intermittent waves of Te'Dak Tohl small arms fire that pulsed up the corridor to meet the forward rush of the invading warriors. Ulstik saw them move forward to his left- vague, anonymous forms that were only darker shapes in the hazy, dim light. They moved in small groups or alone- weapons raised and trading blasts with the invisible nemesis beyond the murk.

A spraying burst of particle beam bolts sizzled through the air near enough to Ulstik's head for him to feel their heat and lose his night vision temporarily to their blue brilliance. A heavy grunt distinguished itself from the cracking report of weapons fire and the disembodied screams in the darkness that all swirled in a muffled din in Ulstik's shocked ears. The sound seemed to transcend form into the physical as a great weight collapsed onto the warrior, causing him to jerk instinctively against the perceived attack. The heaviness of a body slid off Ulstik's shoulders and back and became one of the many on the deck near and around his feet.

"Get ready to move again!", Koso barked, oblivious or at least unfazed by the fall of another warrior at half an arm's length from where he crouched.

Ulstik raised his weapon to his chest and gathered his strength to make the dash for the next Regult hulk he knew to be out in the darkness. Suddenly the acrimony he had felt a minute earlier for the warrior who had been sending mecha to the front vanished. At an admitted cost the Regults were providing cover after their destruction where the assault force would have otherwise found none.

The weapon felt slick in Ulstik's hands and in looking down, the warrior realized he had been smeared with the blood of the fallen warrior at his feet. For reasons he couldn't explain, Ulstik found himself amused by the dark thought that in some way he was literally carrying part of a slain comrade forward to continue in the fight.

"Wait!", Koso yelled over the rising sound of many boots on the deck, moving up from behind, "Wait!"

Ulstik felt the swell of warriors surge up from behind and witnessed their passing again to his left. In the predictable pattern, fire from the Te'Dak Tohl ripped the air meeting the advance. The heavy thud and hiss of particle beams striking and piercing body armor and bodies mixed with the sharp cries of the stricken as the illumination of fire cast shadows in strobe of what seemed a massive beast of a thousand limbs.

As the forward rush began to thin and the enemy fire subside, Ulstik felt the firm shove of Koso's hand on his shoulder.

"Go!"

Ulstik threw himself into motion, making the sprint to the next element of cover that he had been priming himself for mentally. Only the sensation of the "sprint" startled the warrior in that if felt from the first step like anything but the dash from cover to cover that he needed to make.

Ulstik's legs felt solid beneath him, but unresponsive to move at more than a creep. It was as though he was pressing forward through waist-deep sludge, or though some powerful attraction had formed between his boot soles and the deck over which he moved. Thick heaviness seemed to penetrate him and spread, seizing up muscles that had been limber only moments before.

The world was disjointed to Ulstik as he saw himself overtaking other warriors who were running to the same fallen Regult up the corridor with the sensation of moving on legs that were not his and would not answer his commands. His footfalls were punctuated by eternities in which the warrior could feel an unseen enemy's rifle sights settling in on the center of his chest for a shot whose difficulty would be that of pulling the trigger.

And then the other sound.

Strangely familiar. Rough and unpolished. The raspy rush of air moving. Breathing- in great heaving gulps. But that was not it entirely-.

There was another sound.

Ominous in that Ulstik knew it meant something was happening that was to be guarded against-. A sharp, grating hiss that meant-.

A strong hand found hold on Ulstik's body armor and dragged him violently off balance and threw him to the deck as a missile crossed just over the remains of the Regult all had been running for. By a fusillade of energy bolts Ulstik saw that the hand that had likely pulled him out of the direct path of the weapon was attached to Hedra who released him only to press himself to the deck.

Ulstik felt the powerful concussion of the weapon more than hearing its detonation- but it returned all of his senses to sync and full function again. The dimly lit corridor was illuminated brilliantly in the flash of an exploding fragmentation warhead and Ulstik saw a warrior who could not have been trailing him by more than five paces and a second's time torn into unrecognizable pieces by the flying metal splinters.

The grotesque sight was brief and lost almost immediately to the darkness that reclaimed the wreckage and gore-strewn corridor leaving Ulstik in a heightened state of self-awareness. Particularly he became instantly aware that he was no longer in possession of the rifle he had been carrying only moments before. Staying low to the deck he groped about in near blindness until he felt the familiar shape of a rifle's barrel jacket and snatched the weapon up by it.

"Ulstik!", came Hedra's voice sharply from the darkness to Ulstik's rear, "Help me with him!-."

In the strobe flash of passing weapons fire, Ulstik looked back to see the lieutenant approaching him in a stoop with a staggering Koso- the sub-lieutenant's arm draped over his shoulder for support as one leg dragged semi-responsively with each step.

Hedra nearly hurled Koso at Ulstik as the rising hiss marked the approach of another missile. Ulstik, still clutching his rifle by the barrel caught the sub-lieutenant about the waist, covering Koso's body with his own as he dove to the deck.

The missile detonated sending shrapnel rattling around the corridor, but both the explosion and the subsequent screams of the wounded were at the back of Ulstik's mind as he helped Hedra prop Koso up against the downed Regult that now served as temporary cover for warriors who were pressing forward in almost a constant stream.

"Check his right leg.", Hedra instructed as he worked at the junction of Koso's helmet and neck guard.

A deep dent had been bludgeoned into the metal just off to the right of the helmet's crown Ulstik noticed. Whatever had caused the dent had not penetrated though and the warrior quickly complied with his lieutenant's orders to make an examination of the sub-lieutenant's leg by the dim light and by touch. From the ankle to the knee, the armor was intact- though as his hand traveled up the outside of Koso's right thigh, he found a gash in the armor segment not quite as broad as his finger. In the dim light, with the added flash of exchanged energy weapons fire, Ulstik could see the wound bleeding out, but not at a rate that caused him great concern.

"The armor is pierced, but I don't think the wound is severe.", Ulstik reported to Hedra who was turning the damaged helmet over in his hands.

"Sorry, Koso-.", Hedra said, trading light forehand and backhand slaps across the sub-lieutenant's face, "I think you're going to live."

Koso's eyes were open and sharp, but Ulstik had the sense that he wasn't completely there.

"Where are we?"

The question had a vague quality about it as though it was a reflexive action- the poser of it not sounding capable of understanding what he was asking or of comprehending any answer he might receive.

"Here.", Hedra replied answering for himself as much as for his second-in-command, "I'm not quite sure where here is, but the Te'Dak Tohl seem determined to defend it so that tells me that we're at least headed in the right direction."

Koso moved to get up, but Hedra forced him down again, "Stay here for a moment. The next run is going to be a long one. You'll need your strength- and a weapon. You seemed to have lost yours."

A strange expression came over Koso's face as his eyes drifted over Ulstik.

"Do you think someone is missing that?"

"What?", Ulstik asked, following Koso's glance down to the rifle he'd found in the darkness and carried forward to the Regult.

From the handle grip, a gloved and armored forearm, severed just above the elbow, still clutched the weapon in its grasp. Ulstik gave a deep grunt of revulsion and spastically swatted the severed limb away into the darkness.

Sub-Commander Ritzal fought back the urge to harshly intercede on the part of the litter detail he had ordered to clear the corridor junction that had become his temporary command post as a surge of warriors under his charge flowed through it and impeded their work. The squad of warriors in the detail had been tasked to open a path for those coming up from the rear through the butchery that had accumulated here at the joining of three corridors.

The fierce contest for the junction had lasted scarcely two minutes but had left enough dead, both warrior caste and Te'Dak Tohl, that there were few places where the decks could be seen through the carnage. Like many locations in battle, this particular one was only given character by the violence done before the nexus of action had moved on.

Something had struck a raw nerve in Ritzal as he had arrived at this place that under any other condition would have been totally unremarkable. The drive forward that he had ordered necessitated the trampling of the dead by warriors who could find no path through or around them. The sight of extreme casualties was not new to Ritzal, nor was this the worst he had ever seen- but something in the convergence of circumstances made the sickly crunch of booted infantry feet and the heavier step of mecha on bodies unbearable to the sub-commander.

So the order had been given to clear the path- if only to be rid of that sound- and the dead had quickly piled high with too much work left to be done by the litter detail to make a significant difference.

Sub-Commander Ritzal caught his mind fixating on the grotesque consequences of action that he could not allow to have bearing on carrying out his duty. With difficulty, he blocked out the work of the litter detail and managed to concentrate on his own.

Ritzal's Glaug squatted in the shelter of one of the junction's corners, its armored canopy open. Far enough back from the leading edge of the advance to risk exposure, Point Lieutenant Tuissant had abandoned her Nacht-Rau combat suit and had joined the latest three runners to return with information for their commander from the forward areas of the battle.

"If we keep the pressure on, we may just make it to the command center.", Tuissant pointed out to Ritzal as she studied the deck plans displayed on the Glaug's main display screen. By report of the runners, the advanced units in the attack were still well short of the half-way point to the plan's ultimate objective, and the Te'Dak Tohl were mounting spirited resistance every step along the way- but forward momentum continued.

If the Te'Dak Tohl could be kept off balance, the assault force had the potential to keep sweeping the enemy before them.

"What about attacks on our flanks as we move?", Ritzal asked one of the runners who had not been sent to the very front of the advance but had been tasked with assessing conditions in the overrun compartments and passages.

"What Te'Dak Tohl presence are we seeing to the rear of our advance?"

"Minimal, Lord.", the runner replied, "We do have sporadic attacks in the rear of the advance, but they are of little effect except their shock value. Our sweep of the compartments and passages flanking our line of advance has not been complete- but there is every indication that the Te'Dak Tohl are collapsing with every warrior that is still mobile."

Ritzal zoomed out on the schematics all were studying and considered the runner's report. Given that his plan of attack relied on speed and the rapid movement through The Factory- it had been concentrated and channeled through two, and in places one, high-capacity corridors that led into the depths of the facility. Small units had broken off the main advance to join in skirmishes where the Te'Dak Tohl had elected to try to hold ground- but these instances had been few.

Still, with the narrow focus of the forward drive Ritzal could see on the schematics at a glance the many places where a sizable Te'Dak Tohl force could be sheltering and waiting for a moment to spring a surprise attack on the assault force's flank or rear.

Ritzal was also aware that to the left of his force's advance were the warriors from Destroyer 818 whose progress he was completely uncertain of. The plan had quickly been modified in the dockyard for a tentative rally of the two ships' forces at the hastily chosen Junction 701- but as sure as Ritzal was that his warriors would reach that point in minutes, he was unsure of whether Sylas's warriors would be joining up.

More disturbing was the possibility that the Te'Dak Tohl phantom force Ritzal feared lingered in the unexplored areas to the rear of his advance might use those same passages intended for Sylas's warriors to move in strength on his own. The only way to know for certain was to probe the area in depth which would bleed energy from the advance- and as the advance's speed was his only advantage, this was an unthinkable option to Ritzal.

Fate would have to be trusted.

"Warrior, move left off our advance and establish contact with the units of Commander Sylas's ship.", Ritzal instructed, "Open and maintain that line of communication and determine whether we can expect their support as we press forward. Also report any signs of Te'Dak Tohl presence in the areas to our left flank, but do not actively seek to engage. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord.", the runner said before motioning to his subordinates and quickly departing on their new assignment.

"Tuissant- what's the condition of your Quadranos?", Ritzal asked as he scrolled through the deck schematics and found no less than a half dozen choke points ideal for defense in the path of his advance.

"Re-arming, but combat effective, Sub-Commander.", Tuissant said with a deserved air of pride. The Quadranos had by no means carried the battle in the favor of the assault, but true to the role that Ritzal had envisioned for them- they had provided the combination of punch and guidance that was the function of a spearhead.

"We will need them at the front again quickly. I fear we can only take partial credit for the level of Te'Dak Tohl resistance we are experiencing-."

"Sub-Commander Ritzal-!"

Ritzal paused in his exchange with Point Lieutenant Tuissant at the sound of a voice he had not expected to hear in the proximity of combat.

From the direction of the dockyard and a path that had cost the lives of countless warriors, Ritzal saw the approach of a Glaug Officer's Pod like his own with a detachment of half a dozen Regults accompanying. Before the canopy had even opened, Ritzal felt his first impression of the pilot's identity to be correct.

"Dychi, what are you doing off the ship?", asked the commander of Destroyer 741's ground units, "Have my runners been reaching the Commander?"

"Yes.", Dychi replied, then said bluntly, "I'm here to pull you out. We're leaving."

"Leaving?", Ritzal repeated in disbelief, "We're finally building some momentum-."

Dychi, within the cockpit of his Glaug Officer's Pod felt any patience he might have had with discussing the matter dessert him completely. There had not been a step the executive officer had taken on the path to meet Ritzal that had not been wetted with the blood of warriors or littered with their sometimes intact bodies.

His fears aside, Dychi had determined along the way that no more would meet this end if he had the ability to prevent it- including himself.

"We're leaving! It's a trap! Kranna reports that the Te'Dak Tohl are massing by the thousands outside the spacedock and Zor knows what they're waiting for.", Dychi revealed. The executive officer was gratified by the immediate change in Ritzal's expression that spoke of a deep-seated suspicion being confirmed. There would be no argument from him on Commander Pach's orders.

"How many warriors do you have forward of this position?"

Ritzal, in his own Glaug closed the canopy switched to the command frequency to converse privately with the executive officer. The channel popped and hissed, functioning – but barely. Even at this range, the Te'Dak Tohl jamming wasthick enough to interfere.

"I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?"

"We've been making progress, but anything resembling orderly command and control collapsed on the dockyard. It's only by Fate's favor that we've pressed this far."

"No-.", Dychi said with the dark understanding that for once he had a better grasp on the situation than the veteran officers around him, "-You're just being drawn away from the ship. You have to send your runners out right now and order an immediate withdrawal back to Destroyer 741."

"That may take some time.", Ritzal warned taking into consideration the time that elapsed between when he sent runners forward and when they returned.

"We have little!", snapped Dychi, "Save who you can."

As Dychi spoke a movement off the corridor from which he had just come caught his eye. A jolt of electric terror surged through him as he recognized the form of Nacht-Rau combat suits in at least a squad's strength.

"Te'Dak Tohl-!", warned the executive officer, attempting to sidestep his mecha around Ritzal's and leveling the weapons arms.

"No!", Ritzal blurted out, putting his mecha between Dychi and the Nacht-Raus, "They're Quadranos! They're ours!"

When the warriors halted in their combat suits without attempting to fire a shot, Dychi lowered his weapon arms into a non-threatening position and tried to forget that he had been half a trigger's squeeze from committing panicked fratricide.

"Who's commanding there?", Dychi asked over the open frequency, hoping his signal would cross the short distance through the jamming interference.

"Lieutenant Marosa, Quadrano, Lord."

Dychi said to Ritzal, "Organize your withdrawal from here. I'll take these warriors forward and send back the warriors we come across. If we haven't returned in ten minutes, you're to fall back to the ship."

"Yes, Lord.", Ritzal complied, "- I should go forward though."

"You should follow orders, Sub-Commander-!", Dychi barked, not recognizing his own voice for its sternness and severity, "Just make sure we have a clear path back. We're probably going to be traveling in a hurry."

Dychi turned his Glaug toward a corridor marked by heavy battle damage and strewn with the dead and began to advance at a brisk pace with the Quadranos at combat intervals behind.

Sub-Commander Kranna's stay on the hangar deck of Destroyer 741 had been brief- barely long enough to have the skeletal deck crew turn his craft about for return to the air. Kranna had accomplished what he had intended though in his unexpected return to his base ship. He had warned Commander Pach of the Te'Dak Tohl shock force outside of the spacedock whose massing was not visible to the senior officer from his vessel's vantage point.

His message and warning delivered, Kranna had hastily left the deck again with a take-off that would have been kindly described as "unimpressive". Despite his experience whose core imperative was to maintain calm in all situations, Kranna had taken to the air with his heart threatening to shatter his ribs from within- driven to this state by the very real fear that the Te'Dak Tohl might come pouring into the capacious spacedock before he could rejoin his pilots in their defensive wheel about its interior.

The Te'Dak Tohl had not come though- not yet.

Kranna had at random joined up with the wheel flying the circuit above the spacedock channel's inner doors and had begun to spread the simple orders given by Commander Pach to prepare to withdraw. These were simple orders made complex by the crude form of communication left to the Gnerl Group Commander to convey them. The Te'Dak Tohl radio jamming had not waned in the least, and Kranna was left with a series of hand gestures developed and understood to one degree or another by all Gnerl pilots.

At close range, nearly wingtip to wingtip, where Kranna could easily see through the canopy of the Gnerl he was pacing he was able to estimate the experience of the pilots he passed the message on to and gauge their understanding by their reactions. Broken into three simple mandates that could not be easily mistaken for another meaning, Kranna had signaled:

Prepare to fight.

Prepare to withdraw.

Pass message.

Kranna had personally communicated his orders to a dozen or more pilots before there was no need for him to continue the effort alone. Gnerls shifted in the upper wheel to allow their pilots to pass the word within units and from one squadron to the next. Bolder pilots broke from the upper wheel to join the lower as it flew its retrograde circuit to begin spreading the new orders in that formation.

And then Sub-Commander Kranna had done all he could do except wait, like every other Gnerl pilot aloft, for the fight to come to him.

By Fate's favor and against all probability, Kranna in his advancing hops through the looped formation of the upper wheel had managed to come across and rejoin his own squadron who by the expressions on the faces of the pilots he slowly passed to take the lead were as happy to see him as he was to form up in their company again.

Returning to the sense of comfort and security afforded by flying with pilots he had come to know well allowed Kranna's attention to stray well outside of the sphere of space surrounding his Gnerl. In particular, as the nose of his fighter swept the general direction- he was able to see and consider the condition of Action Commander Gymalt's newly acquired command.

Destroyer 525 which had been ushered by automated tugs to a mooring far removed from any hope of immediate support from either Destroyer 741 or Destroyer 818 was showing clear signs of the plight of its isolation now. Like the two destroyers that shared each other's company in slips on Wharf 92-11, Gymalt's vessel had launched its Gnerls at the onset of battle.

While Kranna had followed the dictate of the plan and joined up with the Gnerls from Destroyer 818 to secure and hold the airspace within the spacedock, Gymalt's fighters had not. Instead they had lingered about their base ship like an angry swarm around its nest looking for an opportunity to sting- and there had been opportunities. Whereas the minimal signs of battle visible to Kranna on Wharf 92-11 had subsided quickly, even from a distance the evidence of some brutal contest on Wharf 92-6 occupied solely by Gymalt's ship had only increased.

The flicker of energy weapons fire could be seen through breeches in the jetty bulkheads, and from time to time Gnerls could even be seen to be making seemingly impossible attack runs on unseen foes. Ominously, Destroyer 525 had begun to develop and vanish into an amorphous mist of smoke and vented gases that were of its own creation.

What cut deepest into Kranna in this all was that while he could see the Gnerls of the other ship with whom he should have been fighting and they could see him, the Te'Dak Tohl radio jamming prevented them from making the call for help that they so clearly needed and kept Kranna from his minimal obligation of explaining why he could not assist.

Kranna often was amused by Fate's response to a warrior's simplest request.

The sub-commander had wished for the ability to use his radio- if only to communicate a few simple commands. He had not expected and was caught completely off-guard by the sudden subsidence of the static squeal and hiss, and the sound of voices in his headphones as his wish was granted.

Kranna's amusement in this case was of the darker kind as his elation at having radio communications back was short-lived as he realized the reason for the end to the active jamming.

Te'Dak Tohl pilots would need their communications to fight effectively as well.

"Eyes sharp!", Kranna warned, "Prepare to-!"

Sub-Commander Kranna's warning was both too late and unneeded as a torrent of Te'Dak Tohl Gnerls and Nacht-Rau power armor exploded through the channel's inner space doors and into the spacedock itself. So dense was the concentration of the enemy that Kranna lost sight of the lower defensive wheel as the Te'Dak Tohl swarm passed between.

A blaze of particle beam gunfire swept the level at which the Te'Dak Tohl were making their entry as the batteries of Destroyer 741 and Destroyer 818 able to enter the fight joined the action.

Familiar with the sight of particle energy bolts from the ship's guns, Kranna recognized immediately that beams washing through the Te'Dak Tohl onslaught were diffuse and malformed- lacking the beam density the sub-commander was accustomed to seeing. Rather than distress at the possible indications of problems aboard his base ship, Kranna was gratified as he recognized the material result of the warning he had delivered to Commander Pach.

The Commander had prepared for the Te'Dak Tohl intrusion and had ordered the gun safeties to be overridden so that they could be fired in an "undercharged" mode. Fired in this state, the ship's primary batteries discharged without achieving sufficient particle mass to make the cyclic and linear accelerators of the guns effective. The resulting salvos quickly "bloomed" into a broader, less concentrated beam.

Against the armored hull of a warship, salvos fired from an undercharged mode would likely not penetrate and would therefore cause little damage.

Against fighters and power armor however-.

Disintegrating particle beam bolts cut broad swaths deep into the advancing front of the Te'Dak Tohl shock force and deep into the throat of the channel. By chance more than by skill pilots and warriors navigated their machines safely through the heavy barrage and broke from the path of fire as soon as they cleared the inner channel doors.

There was no need to issue an order to attack from Kranna's side- the pilots of both defensive wheels knew their responsibilities well and turned savagely on the enforcers who escaped the heavy gunfire.

"All squadrons, all squadrons- Fighter Control-.", came the familiar voice of Destroyer 741's control officer, "Avoid our firing pattern! Isolate and engage enemy stragglers-. Let us stem the flow!"

"All fighters, break by squadron and attack!", Kranna ascended, "They'll be going for our destroyers, so keep them off if you want a place to land later!"

Kranna opened the throttle on his Fighter Pod and felt the powerful kick of the pulse-jet engines propel him into a banking dive at a disorganized gaggle of Nacht-Rau combat suits that had escaped the dense fusilade of particle beam fire to rise and meet the descending squadrons.

Kranna's targeting system identified and locked on to a loose cluster of four Te'Dak Tohl, on which he released a single missile each. The weapons streaked out closing the distance in seconds and scoring four hits. The exploding missiles sent all four combat suits tumbling in the zero-gravity of the spacedock, but of the four three regained control almost instantly despite the direct weapons hits- their pilots having been saved by the suits' robust armor system.

Kranna had a split second to marvel at their resilience before the leading Nacht-Rau brought its Nador Rifle to bear on his fighter and replied in kind. Kranna jerked the control handles of his fighter, rolling it out of the path of the energy bolts that filled his cockpit with orange light as they passed.

Gnerls and Nacht-Raus rocketed past one another, firing wildly with the confusion of a sudden, first merge. Sub-Commander Kranna felt the temptation to yield to his aggressive Gnerl pilot's nature and double back on the Te'Dak Tohl combat suits as quickly as possible with a sharp reversing turn. Better judgment prevailed though as he knew his advantage lay in making a fast, slashing attack that allowed him to build speed from outside of the reach of a combat suit's weapons. Inside of that sphere, as he would be if he tried to turn immediately on them, he was woefully outgunned.

It was better to use his superior speed to put distance between them and then come back. Plus, the airspace now falling behind was dangerously thick with friend and foe alike. He would gain distance and speed and come back.

The area was sufficiently target rich to promise Kranna that he would find no shortage of action.

Destroyer 741

"Lord, ship-to-ship communications channels are clear.", announced the communications supervisor from the command deck, "Commander Sylas is hailing."

"Any signal from Gymalt?", Pach asked.

"None, Lord."

"On screen.", Pach ordered.

The main viewscreen, showing the evolving aerial battle off the ship's flank divided in two and in the new window showed a Sylas whose expression while calm hinted at his underlying tension.

"We're taking on returning warriors, Pach-. How long do we linger here?"

"Until we have recovered as many warriors as we can and can't hold off the Te'Dak Tohl anymore.", Pach replied firmly, "Can you raise Gymalt?"

"We're trying.", Sylas replied grimly, "We've had no response on any frequency, coded or in the clear. I think they were overrun. At the least there is no indication that Gymalt's assault force made it off the dockyard- my runners have told me of no contact with warriors from Destroyer 818."

"Keep trying and I will do the same.", Pach instructed, "If you can raise him, inform him that I've ordered the withdrawal."

"Just where are we withdrawing to?", Sylas asked.

"I'll transmit fold coordinates on a scrambled key as we break away."

"Which key?", Sylas asked in response to Pach's implication that the transmission would not use the encryption sequence that had been agreed upon by the three ships' commanders prior to the operation and the one that now allowed Pach and Sylas to converse.

"On the squadron key used during the initial phase of operations on Tammus 7.", Pach decided at random, giving Sylas a reference that would allow him to retrieve the correct encryption key while meaning nothing to Te'Dak Tohl ears that might be listening in.

"If we change keys", Sylas warned, "Gymalt won't know where to fold to rally with us."

"If we haven't raised Gymalt by the time we're forced to depart, I will make the final call on attempting to pass the fold coordinates.", Pach said in a tone of cold, removed reason, "If there's a chance that the Te'Dak Tohl have control of his ship, we can't risk letting them know our destination. They would simply fold out to engage and finish us off there."

"I agree.", Sylas said solemnly, "Though we have to survive long enough to fold ourselves. Every ship in their fleet has likely got their guns trained on that channel waiting for us to come out- and there's no friend outside standing by to cause a distraction this time."

"Then we'll fold from within.", Pach said without hesitation.

"From inside a spacedock? Without a stellar position fix? Are you mad? We could end up inside of a star, or inside one another for that matter."

"Would you prefer to take your chances with their fleet?"

"Point taken. We will wait for your signal."

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

The opiate of shock had worn off of Koso and the detached awareness of pain had become a very personal experience that radiated in ripples from the gash on his thigh through his leg and into the lower part of his body.

The pain was good though, he tried to remind himself- useful. It kept him sharp and keenly aware of the fight around him.

He could feel the favor of Fate shifting in their direction. The Te'Dak Tohl continued to give ground grudgingly, resentfully even- but they were unable to keep a firm foothold against the equally uncompromising pressure brought to bear by the assault force.

Successive wave assaults mounted by warriors had displaced the Te'Dak Tohl from the corridor junction they had held so tenaciously. The effort had been costly though, and the payment lay in over a hundred lifeless or dying forms that littered the deck in the short space between the last smashed Regult that had provided cover for the invading warriors, and the forward position held just outside of the corridor junction. There warriors had improvised cover, piling crudely the bodies of the fallen to absorb Te'Dak Tohl fusillades from the corridor beyond the junction in which they had rallied defense.

The dead had already sacrificed everything of meaning- this one additional measure could do them no further harm.

Pressed to the wall and squatting behind a pile of dead warriors, Hedra, Koso, and Ulstik shared a space barely adequate for one. The Te'Dak Tohl fire had dwindled somewhat, inviting another charge from the invaders. A hap-hazard assault would require hundreds though- and the assaulting warriors available forward could now be counted in scores, perhaps dozens. The drain of battle was manifesting itself- and maddeningly so- the assault having come so far against the odds and now to stall with the first signs of real, possible victory-.

Numbers did not lie though, and particularly not to veteran warriors.

"I'm down to two power clips.", Koso announced with no prompting from his comrades. He searched the bodies of the dead before him where he could reach their belt cargo pouches or where a rifle lay within reach- but the fallen had been in a similar circumstance just before Fate had deserted them completely.

"The same.", Hedra said as a single, well aimed shot from an unseen Te'Dak Tohl warrior pierced the helmet of a warrior along the right corridor wall as he raised his head to survey the situation. The body rolled onto a pile that the warrior himself had been building in lulls of the firefight. Hedra had lost interest and looked away before the body had even come to full rest.

"I'm on my last.", Ulstik added, completing the circle of deprivation.

"We can't move forward like this.", Koso said, "And I wouldn't stick anything out there that I wasn't willing to lose."

Hedra glanced at Ulstik and nodded back toward the direction from which they had come, "Fall back far enough to be out of the field of fire and strip the dead of rifle clips- bring back as many as you can carry. Hurry though- the way we've been beating at the Te'Dak Tohl, you can be sure they're screaming for reinforcements."

Ulstik nodded as he drew back from the other warriors staying in a low crouch. He considered pulling the clip from his rifle to leave with his lieutenant and sub-lieutenant- just in case- but thought better of it. There was the off-chance he might need his weapon- even in the rear of the advance's front- and he would return quickly as he could with all of the energy clips that he could find.

Koso glanced back briefly as Ulstik negotiated the obstacles of the dead and dying intent on the task he had been given by his lieutenant.

"Sad that he won't live long enough to understand the futility of this- or fortunate maybe.", Koso muttered in equal parts envy for the young warrior and disdain for the makers whose actions both gross and fine had brought all to this point.

"You've grown bitter and cynical in your old age, Koso.", Hedra noted, forcing a chuckle and a smirk, "You can fall back if you want-. I won't think less of you for not wanting a part of this insanity."

"And you?", Koso asked, "We'll never reach anything vital you know- definitely not the command center. Do we die for the sake of trying?"

Hedra shrugged as casually as if he'd been asked the time, "I have no intention of being shot in the back retreating, Koso. Let Fate handle all of the other details."

Koso tapped the stock of his rifle on the deck in thought as outgoing and incoming particle beam bolts hissed and cracked through the air.

"You're still there, Koso.", Hedra said approvingly when it was clear that the sub-lieutenant had no intention of retreating a step.

Koso spat as though it would cleanse his mouth of the vile taste of it all, "I think we'll do better together."

Ulstik hazarded straightening up his posture some from the stoop he had been moving in for what seemed hours and even the slight adjustment was a relief to the muscles in his back that had begun to ache and throb. The warrior was not as concerned with being shot as he passed the last of the Regults that he, Hedra, and Koso had used as shelter during their perilous move up the corridor- the attention of the Te'Dak Tohl was on the leading edge of the assault. Warriors moving quickly but cautiously forward gave the younger warrior looks that varied between questioning and contemptuous as he began to search through the carrying rigs of the dead looking for rifle energy cells.

"Bring ammunition with you-.", Ulstik said with each pair of eyes that studied him in passing, "Bring all that you can carry forward-."

Ulstik tucked clip after clip into his own harness pouches until they would take no more. He then thought himself dense for not thinking of it before and removed the cargo belt from a dead warrior to double what he could carry.

All the time, he repeated his advice to each warrior that passed, alone or in groups. As he turned over bodies and patted them down- working with hands that he was vaguely aware had become tacky with the blood of the dead- he realized that he was not being heeded in his advice. Oblivious to Ulstik's words and their meaning, the warriors continued to rush forward on all sides of him as though compelled to an action without the choice of deviation.

Programmed.

The word struck Ulstik heavily and with a nauseating sensation as he realized that these same warriors would likely absorb the punishment dealt out by the Te'Dak Tohl so those who had gained savvy could effectively press forward. This would simply be their fulfillment of a role given to them by The Masters- though not in the cause that had been intended.

Ulstik continued to gather what he could find- rapidly filling the second cargo belt while looking for a third.

Somewhere in the process he decided his role would be with those who pressed forward.

Sensing that there was a delicate balance between the need for ammunition forward and the need to have it to his lieutenant and sub-lieutenant quickly, Ulstik rolled one last warrior onto his back to search him thoroughly for energy clips. What he found combined with what he already carried, Ulstik resolved, would be what he returned to the front with. Warriors had passed him in that direction in sufficient numbers to reason that another push would begin momentarily- a push Ulstik wanted very much to be a part of.

If he and his two senior warriors were in need of more ammunition thereafter, there would likely be an ample supply lying about with the casualties that the push would create.

As Ulstik opened the cover flap on the last of the dead warrior's cargo pouches and found it to be empty, a great weight struck him squarely across the back and flattened him to the deck.

Finding himself face-down beside the warrior whose ammunition supply he had been planning to secure for his own, Ulstik's first thought had been that a random energy bolt had found him in the act of scavenging. The sensation was not localized to his back nor searing though- the way he imagined a penetrating particle beam would have felt. There was a uniform weight on him that even spread so far as to press into his ears like the points of knives.

Ulstik had no concept that the force that had thrown him to the deck and the sensations that had gone with it had spanned only a fraction of a second, but at the moment when the warrior was certain he would scream beneath the crushing pain- it subsided.

All limbs tingled, but responded to his commands, and Ulstik commanded them to raise him into a kneeling position on all fours. The world around him was dark, but not from loss of vision as Ulstik could make out shapes in motion and still had some sense of depth. Sounds were muffled and had to fight to be heard over an unwavering, shrill ringing that the warrior was sure spilled out from within his head rather than entering it.

The emergency lights that had lit the corridor dimly after the progressive battle had shattered the corridor's main light fixtures were out now as well, but by the first shots and a rising exchange of energy weapons fire Ulstik could see that most of the corridor they had illuminated was gone as well.

Not thirty paces from where Ulstik now held himself up on all fours, the ceiling of the corridor had been blown inward with enough force that the corridor walls were buckled and bowed outward. Wiring, conduit, piping, and sections of the deck from the level above swung suspended by torn metal framing giving the corridor itself a fitting, gutted appearance.

Amongst the debris on the deck, Ulstik could make out the writhing forms of warriors who had passed him only moments before. The ringing in his ears muted the screams he knew to be coming from mouths that were open wide and quivering with the force of their cries as the pain from limbs crushed or severed in the explosion seized upon the wounded.

Ulstik tried to rise to his feet but fell flat to his belly again. For a moment he panicked thinking his back had been broken, but his legs answered enough to bring him to his knees again. Through his knees and palms, he felt great shudders in the deck.

Not explosions, but the distributed shock of great weight in motion.

Looking beyond the most immediate sights of carnage Ulstik was able to distinguish forms in the smoke and darkness. Not warriors. These were roughly the correct shape, but far too large.

Combat suits.

Te'Dak Tohl combat suits.

The darkness was torn by the flash of energy weapon muzzles and the orange streams of plasma bolts they fired.

The tide of warriors who had passed Ulstik moving forward, those who could still move and had the coherence of mind to do so, now began to roll back in a panic. Ulstik flung himself flush with the corridor wall as a mass of the retreating rushed over the spot where he had been knocked down- indifferent to the dead and wounded whom they trampled.

As they passed parallel to Ulstik, a succession of the orange plasma bolts ripped through the center of the group. Bodies disintegrated in a flaming spray of tissue that coated those who had not been struck down and pelted the corridor bulkhead with the same sizzling splatter.

Ulstik found himself crawling as quickly as his reawakening limbs would carry him in the general direction of the retreat. A missile detonated somewhere near and behind, close enough for Ulstik to feel the heat of its blast as it laid him flat a third time.

Getting to all fours again, Ulstik resumed his crawl barely noticing the twitching of a warrior the blast had thrown down in his path. There was something urgent that the instinctive portion of Ulstik's mind had grasped that had not quite connected to the cognitive yet. Plasma bolts cut two more retreating warriors in half- removing all between their hips and shoulders and raining their gore onto Ulstik.

And it struck him clearly at that moment when he was oblivious to the horrific, what his eyes saw but his brain had not yet registered-.

A heavy blast door ahead was closing slowly, sliding laterally along its track in the deck.

As the closing door formed the beginnings of a bottleneck for the retreating warriors, the fire from the Nacht-Rau combat suits intensified and concentrated on the narrower target area. Warriors were shredded in groups as the panic and their narrowing avenue of escape caused them to bunch up.

As the opening between the blast door and the frame shrank and the process of shooting retreating warriors became less and less a matter of marksmanship for the Te'Dak Tohl, a shape advanced from the darkness of the corridor beyond the choke point.

Through the veil of rising smoke from the heaps of dead shot down by the Nacht-Rau combat suits Ulstik could make out the form of a Glaug Officer's Pod.

The Te'Dak Tohl in their combat suits who had been content a moment earlier to fire into the backs of the retreating recognized and immediately changed targets to the real threat. Warriors who would have been shot from the rear as they fled began to escape through the closing blast door as the Nacht-Raus focused their fire on the Glaug.

The corridor was instantly ablaze as the powerful energy rounds met and detonated on the surface of the mecha's protective shield that had gone up under the cloak of smoke and darkness.

The light cast from the shield's absorption of energy showed not only the increasing retreat of warriors around it, but the presence of half a dozen uniformly sized, cylindrical shapes hanging in the air in the lee of fire the Glaug's energy blister provided.

Ulstik had barely recognized the floating cylinders as the sensor probes of unseen Nacht-Rau combat suits somewhere to the rear of the Glaug when a swarm of scores of missiles rushed up the corridor. They roared over Ulstik and continued up the corridor to where the Te'Dak Tohl had advanced.

Ulstik was prepared for what was coming this time and beat the ripple of powerful explosions to hurling himself to the deck. A pause followed, and in the lull the warrior found himself capable of fully moving again. The blast doors were still in the process of sealing and Ulstik found an application for his regained physical ability.

"Fall back!", ordered Dychi over his Glaug's loudspeaker to the warriors who might not have already been in retreat. Dropping his pod's shields, he joined the second wave of the Quadrano missile attack with a steady stream of fire from his mecha's heavy impact cannons and with the contents of his own missile launchers.

Per his orders, the Quadranos themselves remained farther back in the corridor, aiming and guiding their missiles with their Nacht-Raus' sensor drones. They were too in danger of being outnumbered to stand toe-to-toe with the Masters' enforcers, tempting as it was- though Dychi realized he was doing exactly that as he stood his ground and poured fire indiscriminately on the stunned Serhot-Ran warriors.

The armor piercing missiles from the Quadranos found their marks in clusters, decimating the Te'Dak Tohl Nacht-Raus with the repeated strike of heavy warheads. The corridor's confines held the enforcers as easy targets, but for every one that fell, another combat suit quickly took its place.

Dychi was able to see the enemy moving in and firing from a great, gaping hole that had been blown savagely through the corridor ceiling from the level above. The executive officer could feel the shock of being confronted by mecha quickly evaporating from the Te'Dak Tohl ranks as their fire became more disciplined and accurate. Meanwhile, as was inevitable, the ferocity of the Quadranos' fire was already beginning to dwindle as their provision of missiles was expended rapidly. When it was gone, the Te'Dak Tohl would have the advantage completely and would likely make the best use of it.

There was the blast door though.

Half-closed as it was in its laborious movement along its track, the executive officer recognized that the Te'Dak Tohl had to be held at bay until it sealed and provided solid cover for the assault force's retreat.

It was only a matter of maintaining a stand for that long.

It took Koso several breaths to realize that the gurgling wheeze was not from his own respiration.

He was in a daze- he was aware of that much.

He had not known what had caused it, but the world had seemed to fly apart around him and the sharpness of his senses had since gone fuzzy.

Koso was aware of movement and fighting around him and was even able to distinguish sides to the renewed battle for the Factory corridor- but it all seemed so far removed as though watching the melee on a video monitor. Koso was not even completely sure which limbs in the jumble in which he was intertwined were his and which belonged to others.

He would have to figure that out at some point, because distant as the fight was to him- he was sure he could not stay.

He would figure it out, but his energy had deserted him without warning and he was forced to rest his head on a chest that gurgled and wheezed with each rise and fall.

A series of explosions somewhere behind him jostled Koso again into a state nearer to lucidity. The Nacht-Rau combat suits of the Te'Dak Tohl were under heavy fire, but still advancing audaciously. Of more immediate concern to Koso, they were getting closer to where he lay on the deck.

Where he lay on the deck with-.

"Hedra-?", Koso said, the name of his friend coming thickly off his lips. A second utterance was clearer, "Hedra?"

Hedra coughed mightily beneath Koso, adding more blood to the profusion flowing from his nose and mouth. Koso drew back, connecting for the first time the horrid wheeze he had been hearing with his friend. Metal splinters had pierced the lieutenant's armor where it had not been sheered away completely. One of Hedra's eyes was closed-. No, not closed Koso realized, but lost in a mangled mass of flesh, protruding bone, and oozing blood. The other eye was fixed on him- conscious and alert, but starting to glaze in shock.

"Some plan, eh-?", Hedra gurgled, "Go now, Koso-. If you can, go before it's too late."

Koso tossed his rifle aside after using it as a crutch to get to his feet. He gritted his teeth at the sudden rush of pain from small wounds in his back that he had not known he had and took Hedra by his arm, pulling him over his shoulder. Agonizing flames surged up Koso's injured leg and through his lower back as he took the larger warrior's weight across his shoulders.

As he turned, Koso saw two Nacht-Raus fall to missiles that came from somewhere down the corridor and from the direction that the retreat was now moving. A Glaug stood defiantly just beyond the shrinking opening of a closing blast door, the impact cannons in its weapon arms blazing in the darkness against the oncoming Te'Dak Tohl combat suits.

Under the exchange of fire between war machines, warriors trickled by the distracted Te'Dak Tohl in unhindered retreat. It was along that path that Koso now began to move. Hedra's weight seemed less now, as did the pain from his leg. There was only the single goal of reaching the door- and with his focus on that goal nothing else disturbed him.

"You've always been a fool, Koso- you should leave me.", Hedra sputtered.

"-Not the way I planned on making lieutenant, Hedra.", Koso replied, nearly stumbling as he overextended on his wounded leg, "Shut up for once, will you?"

"Moyrt, get down you idiot!", Hyra exclaimed as her Nacht-Rau staggered from the blast of an impact cannon salvo that struck her at the left hip.

The corridor afforded no room to evade the persistent attack of the norghil officer or the unknown number of combat suits that supported him from the rear. The passage's confines also offset any numerical advantage the Serhot-Ran brought to the fight as it allowed them to move against the norghil Glaug only two abreast at a time- and none brave enough to have attempted it had remained in a fighting condition long enough to affect the direction of battle.

Disgracefully, the Serhot-Ran were forced to cover and await the break to the norghil's withering fire that had to come eventually- and the only cover afforded to the living was behind the combat suits of the fallen.

"Don't hide! Fight!", snapped Moyrt at sheltering warriors around him who shared the title Serhot-Ran. The tone of his voice was one that Hyra had heard in battle before-. Frustrated with a battle that he knew he should have been winning, Hyra felt Moyrt on the verge of recklessness. He had become absorbed in the moment and Hyra knew only one way to protect him from himself.

Moyrt sensed Hyra taking up a supporting position to his left and just slightly behind in the way that warriors in combat sensed one another. By himself, what he had been considering doing had been tantamount to suicide by enemy fire. With Hyra backing him though, Moyrt knew that success was at least possible.

"What now, Moyrt?!", Hyra demanded from behind the cover of the same burning Nacht-Rau that Moyrt had positioned himself behind.

A constant pulse of energy bolts from the single, norghil Glaug continued to sweep the corridor. What resulted, Hyra knew, was what the norghil officer intended in his suppressing spray of fire. He had no particular target, but only wanted to keep the Serhot-Ran from moving- and in this he was successful.

Norghil warriors were fleeing under the level of the Glaug's fire through the blast door that would allow their escape for only seconds longer before sealing completely. Then pursuit would be a near impossibility, and while Hyra was confident that none of the norghil who slipped this immediate snare would survive the day- allowing this skirmish to end in a norghil victory was unthinkable.

"His attention is all over the place, so we catch him off guard!", Moyrt replied, planning as he spoke, "Put missiles downrange for me to distract him, and I'll put him down-! Ready?"

Hyra prepped her Nacht-Rau's missile launchers for a swarm attack. From her position close behind Moyrt, and with sensor-reflective litter of battle all about, establishing a target lock in the confined space would cost a second's time of critical initiative for no real advantage over simply saturating the enemy with weapons. She would take Moyrt at his word that he would make the kill and took his plan on faith.

"Ready!"

"Now!", Moyrt barked.

Hyra rose, firing an excessive salvo of missiles from her suit's launchers that filled the corridor with burn vapor in their flight. Smoke obscured a clear view as did Moyrt who had stood with the passing of the weapons, but Hyra sensed a number of the missiles she had fired striking the closing blast door while others traveled and detonated beyond.

Moyrt was on the advance, firing his Nador rifle as he charged and Hyra found herself compelled to do the same.

Dychi released the harness straps from his seat and fell out of it as the canopy of his dying and burning Glaug raised from the cockpit frame. Moments before he had been shooting and seeming to hold the Te'Dak Tohl at bay. Then a wall of missiles had appeared from nowhere and swept over him. The armored body of his Glaug had absorbed the brunt of the attack, preventing anything more than a few jets of flame, smoke, and minor bits of spall from penetrating the pilot's compartment. The attack had at the same time wrecked most of the pod's systems and had taken off the right leg, marking the end of its utility.

Stunned as the violence of the event had left him, Sub-Commander Dychi as he freed himself of his restraints also was aware that his Glaug's loss would be of little consequence. The blast door would be closed in seconds and cover the withdrawal of the assault force.

The sub-commander was bathed in light and heat under the exchange of Nador rifle fire going on around him. The Te'Dak Tohl had put him out of the immediate fight with a surprise rush, but the Quadranos had moved up quickly to counter their advance. It was a vicious slugging match that had developed in seconds with neither side willing to back down.

Warriors from the forward elements of the assault force continued to fall back under and through the exchange of fire, passing through the ever-narrowing opening left by the blast door's closure. Fire was no longer directed upon them, but in the tight quarters and with the unrelenting fight between Serhot-Ran and Quadrano, one warrior was shot apart in flight for every one that escaped.

The rifle that Chief Gerrok had given him clattered free of its storage mount and landed at Dychi's feet, reminding him of its presence in the curt and blunt way Gerrok would likely have approved of. Dychi snatched the weapon up from the deck, releasing the firing safety as he brought it up to his shoulder. He had brought it this far, so the executive officer decided it would be a waste not to use it. And also, he wanted at least one last shot at a Te'Dak Tohl.

The opening afforded by the blast door was now barely the width of three warriors shoulder-to-shoulder, though many more than that tried to pass through the gap at the urging of their comrades from safety's side. Serhot-Ran Nacht-Rau combat suits loomed over them, pressing through and often over those trying to escape as they moved with the intent to fire until the last moment through the aperture.

Dychi aimed carefully at the first Nacht-Rau he could draw a line on. Three rapid bolts burst from the muzzle with no kick, but great perceivable power as the sub-commander pulled the trigger and hit true on and about the combat suit's sensor eye.

The glowing red eye shattered in a spray of sparks and smashed components, but the executive officer was unable to enjoy the sight fully as the rifle's accelerator chamber overloaded as Gerrok had warned and burned out in a white flash of its own. Dychi dropped the rifle reflexively as the Nacht-Rau he had damaged toppled over backwards from the surprise of its sustained damage.

"One at a time and quickly!", Ulstik barked reaching through the narrowing gap left by the blast door to pull warriors who had become bunched into an impasse through. Other warriors joined him in hauling their comrades through the closing avenue of escape. There were just too many though, and it was clear to the warriors on both sides.

A triple-shot burst fired from a rifle held by the officer who had piloted the Glaug that had covered the escape of so many felled a Nacht-Rau at the head of the Te'Dak Tohl counterattack, and effectively marked its end. Ulstik barely noticed though as he backed away from the door, now too narrow in the opening to allow warriors to pass even one at a time.

Eyes desperate for escape burned into him from the other side, but they were beyond helping. Ulstik's rage swelled from deep in his gut and he was about to turn away when he caught sight of a familiar face in the mass of the doomed. He had just a moment's glimpse- barely enough for recognition, and then Koso was lost from sight.

The blast door settled into its closed position and the sounds from beyond were replaced by the heavy thud of the locking mechanism.

Ulstik lingered a moment- staring at the seam where the door joined its frame. He was sure that he had been mistaken. Chaos and the tricks that light and dark played on the eyes had fooled him into thinking he had seen what he knew he could not have. Scores, maybe hundreds of warriors had managed to slip away under the cover of the battle between the Te'Dak Tohl and the force led by the Glaug Officer's Pod. Ulstik knew he was mistaken as another warrior shook him by the shoulder and urged him to join the running retreat.

Lieutenant Hedra and Sub-Lieutenant Koso would not have been caught so easily.

"Back to the ship!", ordered Dychi to the warriors who had not yet begun to withdraw, "We are leaving!.."

Supreme General Krymina watched the savage aerial battle within Spacedock 92 from the half-dozen vantage points afforded by multiple viewscreens open over the command center's central display console. Gnerl fighters from both sides, along with Nacht-Rau combat suits of the Serhot-Ran swarmed one another in churning clouds that flickered with explosions and spat weapons fire like lightning from thunderheads.

Losses had been significantly heavier on the Te'Dak Tohl side. Though outnumbered, the norghil had been able to put up and maintain a withering fire on the spacedock channel through which the Te'Dak Tohl were forced to pass. Casualties among Krymina's squadrons and platoons had been on an average of fifty percent before they had even met the norghil fighters.

Though the losses were soaring, Krymina appeared unconcerned to Action Commander Ehrot- she had the numbers to apply. The norghil could hold out for a while, but in the end they would fold under the weight of superior forces.

"Supreme General", Ehrot said, "-The norghil are in retreat to their ships. Our commanders are requesting permission to take up the pursuit."

"The trap was sprung prematurely.", Sub-General Caldettas noted bluntly, "We were supposed to catch more of them in our snare, were we not Action Commander?"

"Yes, Lord, though-.", Ehrot began to explain before an aide rushed to his side and began to whisper in his ear.

Krymina said to the junior officer reporting, "-To us, Lieutenant."

Without hesitation but nervously the lieutenant stated, "Internal sensors show two of the norghil vessels are powering up their propulsion systems. It appears that they mean to leave."

"And the third?", Krymina asked

"Not as of yet.", the lieutenant replied, "Last reports show the conditions aboard to still be fluid-. We still do not have full control, but they may not have sufficient control to leave."

"The fight for that ship is going deck to deck, compartment to compartment, Supreme General.", Action Commander Ehrot elaborated "If we apply more forces-."

Krymina shook her head, dismissing the idea outright, "We have committed and have in place all the forces already that we need to end this. Regroup the forces internal to The Factory, Action Commander, and re-deploy them against the norghil destroyer on Wharf 92-6. We will allow the two destroyers powering up to attempt to slip the spacedock. Have the fleet ready to obliterate them the moment they clear the channel."

"As you order, Liege-.", Ehrot complied

"That will be a refreshing change from your performance so far today, Action Commander."

The smell of burning circuitry was choking- nearly smothering- in Moyrt's nostrils as he opened the breastplate hatch of his Nacht-Rau combat suit. Beams of light, not from weapons fire, but from hand lamps and the flood lamps of mecha shone through the thick smoke of battle that The Factory's air circulation system was struggling to overcome.

Moyrt released the clasps on his safety harnesses and pulled himself free of his wrecked combat suit. It had been a lucky shot by an anonymous norghil that had blinded his suit and overloaded some of the internal systems in a single strike, making the lieutenant's fall that much more undignified- but he was surrounded by both norghil and an alarming number of Serhot-Ran who had fared considerably worse.

"I was wondering if you were still alive in there."

Hyra stood outside of her own combat suit, a half dozen paces away as Te'Dak Tohl warriors rushed by in the effort of final disposition of the norghil. Rifle muzzles and boot toes were used to check for the living, and when found, a single shot's echo marked their end.

"I figured I'd let you do some of the work for once.", Moyrt replied as the remaining Serhot-Ran in their Nacht-Rau suits began to withdraw under a summons to regroup and rejoin the action elsewhere. Moyrt felt the urge to answer the summons, but the charge of battle was wearing off and the realization was setting in that Action Commander Kevtok would learn of he and Hyra's participation in the fight and of his scrape with serious injury on the eve of departure for the mission he had been selected for.

No doubt he was going to have to answer for that, and tempting Fate's disfavor twice would not improve Kevtok's opinion of the events that had transpired.

"That last shot must have caused brain damage.", Hyra said, "Not that there was a lot to damage."

Moyrt studied the blast door as beams of light shifted over it and the deck at its base. The blast doors in The Factory were controlled at central command stations and could not be opened locally. Even if he had elected to join the pursuit of the norghil back to their base ships it was beyond his ability to do so.

"We should be gone before Kevtok finds out that we were involved in this.", Hyra suggested showing that she too was grappling with the potential consequences of what had seemed such a good idea not fifteen minutes before.

Moyrt shook his head at the deck, "You can go, but I'm stuck with this. Explaining how my Nacht-Rau found its way here would be difficult for a master liar-."

Hyra snorted, "-And you're nowhere near that smart or gifted. I guess we're stuck, aren't we?"

"I guess we are.", Moyrt agreed, implying in his tone his gratitude to Hyra that he would not be standing before judgment alone in this.

Serhot-Ran did not abandon their own.

Moyrt was about to return to his combat suit to collect what stowed gear could be salvaged when he paused at the sight of what remained of two norghil bodies, entangled with one another at his feet.

The face of one was mutilated and was not recognized to Moyrt by what remained. The half-faced norghil hadn't been the one who had caught his attention though.

The face of the other seemed familiar, although at first Moyrt wasn't sure from where.

Moyrt could usually make the connection from the eyes, but there was no life there now for recognition. Only the distant, faintest hint of a smug, defiant look remained. It was the same look Moyrt had seen some days before, having lost in a match of mock combat to a strutting, insolent norghil.

This norghil.

"Someone you know?", Hyra asked, noticing how Moyrt's expression had changed darkly in his brief study of the bodies at his feet.

Moyrt drew back his foot and kicked the lifeless head with all the strength he could muster- snapping it to the opposite side. Whether it was muscular tension, or some grotesque, post-mortem form of defiance, the head returned slowly to center, the smug expression not having diminished.

The warrior was as free from retribution for his insolence as the expression that marked it was permanent.

"Who can tell?", Moyrt said, wanting to kick the body again, but mindful that Hyra's curiosity was aroused, "They're all norghil. Let a detail put this trash out an airlock-."

Destroyer 741

"Lord, we are losing control of this engagement.", Sub-Commander Kranna stated with an urgency that precluded argument.

"The Te'Dak Tohl have stopped reinforcing.", Pach replied, "How long do you think you can hold against the forces at hand?"

Pach realized he was being watched from the command deck by the crew and staff between executions of orders and duties. They had borne uncommon and unusual stresses well, but they were starting to get anxious. All knew Sub-Commander Kranna to one degree or another, but all well enough to know that his sometimes high-strung nature did not taint his honesty in reporting to his superior.

If Kranna was saying that the situation was slipping his control, it was not exaggeration.

"Not long, Lord.", Kranna replied, "Our fighters are out of missiles, and those combat suits are too tough for our guns to easily penetrate. How long until you can depart?"

"Warriors are still returning, and the executive officer is not yet aboard.", Pach answered. The silence from Kranna forced him to realize that he was beginning to gamble with the lives of many for the sake of a few. The cold and somber rigor of Duty and command began to take hold as Pach saw what was going to be necessary.

"Can you hold for five more minutes?"

"Possibly.", came Kranna's reply, then a moment later, "We will give you five minutes- more if we can- but I can't promise much."

"Promise me five minutes.", Pach said.

"Five minutes, Lord."

The channel with the fighter commander closed.

"Systems Control", Pach said, issuing orders out onto the command deck, "stand by to detonate the demolition charges and break moorings."

"Yes, Lord."

"Navigation. Compute fold calculations for the ordered coordinates using our last stellar fix as point of origin. Then confirm with Sylas's command."

"Yes, Lord."

"Communications-.", Pach said with diminished hope, "Any success in raising Action Commander Gymalt on clear or coded chanel?"

"Negative, Lord- but we are still trying."

"Continue.", Pach said heavily.

A measure of focus returned to the command deck as an objective became clear again. Escape was possible and was a possibility with a timeframe attached to it now. Pach knew, as did they all, that much could still happen either for their benefit or their detriment.

Five minutes would tell the outcome.

The Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory

Dychi's lungs burned as his heart thundered in his ribcage with the effort of keeping up the running pace set by the warriors around him. Though he had never been in danger of failing his physical review, Dychi was understanding in a tangible way the differences between the demands of duties on the command deck of a ship, and those of field operations.

The warriors to either side of the executive officer appeared at a sideways glance to be capable of maintaining this pace all day.

Dychi worked at maintaining it to the end of each corridor.

The difference was not all physical though. The warriors seemed to barely notice as their strides carried them over their own dead comrades who showed the clear path that led back to the ship. Now with all considerations but escape gone, Dychi began to recognize the scale of the carnage that had taken place whereas the warriors surrounding him gave little visible concern save the effort to not stumble on the bodies.

Dychi was running far too fast, and there were far too many to count- though by Zentraedi standards, this battle had been relatively bloodless.

Dychi rounded a corner, following the squad of warriors he had held pace with for some time. He realized that he was not even aware of where exactly in the labyrinth of The Factory he was- only that the signs of battle were around him and that the warriors in the lead seemed certain in the course they were running.

The moment's doubt was replaced by elation as the turn onto yet another corridor opened into the recognizable storage areas just off the wharf to which Destroyer 741was moored..

The executive officer dropped out of the run as he laid eyes on the peculiar sight of lines of warriors extending from the hatchways of four storage compartments to where the staging area joined the wharf. Crates were being passed by hand from one warrior to the next in a progression that Dychi assumed led back to the ship. Supervising the organized looting was a Glaug Officer's Pod that Dychi recognized as Ritzal's.

"Sub-Commander Ritzal!", Dychi called, hoarse and panting, "What's this?"

"Improvised re-provisioning, Lord.", Ritzal answered, recognizing the executive officer, "My runners have reported no pursuit from the Te'Dak Tohl, is that correct?"

Dychi shook his head, "Can't be sure. What are you taking aboard?"

"Anything we can lay our hands on.", Ritzal stated, "We may not have an opportunity again for a long time."

Dychi understood the well-founded logic that was the same as that behind "salvaging parties", but he was feeling the constraints of time strongly. The executive officer motioned to the lines of warriors, "We're done here. Get your warriors aboard."

"We can get more aboard if-.", Ritzal began to protest.

Dychi cut him short, "The Te'Dak Tohl may change their minds! Now carry out my orders!"

"Yes, Lord!"

Dychi followed the lines out from the storage area onto the wharf and was greeted with the welcome sight of the gangway ports that led back to the ship. The Quadranos who had accompanied him forward were standing sentry over the loading of storage crates onto the ship.

"Lieutenant Marosa.", Dychi said, unable to distinguish one of the female officers from the other in their Nacht-Rau suits.

One combat suit stepped forward, "Lord?"

"Ritzal is breaking down this detail. As soon as the last crate is loaded, the warriors will board with your Quadranos acting as the rear guard. No one is to be allowed to leave the wharf area for The Factory for any reason. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord.", Marosa complied, "Clearly."

Dychi continued on toward the ship, removing the helmet he realized he was still wearing, "We've already lost too many today."

Sub-Commander Kranna was finding the five minutes of effective air cover that he had promised Commander Pach to be more difficult to deliver than he had anticipated.

Where the Te'Dak Tohl had been interested before only in engaging the fighters from the invading destroyers, they now were becoming bolder and assaulting the ships themselves. Increasingly, Nacht-Rau units were engaging Kranna's fighters only long enough to open passage for others to Destroyer 741.

They would open a breech and swarm in like Invid- too close aboard to be successfully engaged by the ship's guns or missile batteries, and concentrating their attacks on the ship's engine nacelles. While powerful for mecha, Kranna knew that the weapons carried by the Nacht-Rau combat suits would do little against the ship's armor. Concentrated in numbers against some of the engines' exposed intercoolers or other vulnerable sub-system though- they could conceivably cause serious damage.

It was for this reason that Kranna's pilots had tightened their patrol perimeter, even going so far as to brave the firing path of the ship's gun batteries to drive off the relentless Te'Dak Tohl.

"Lord, the situation is now critical.", Kranna informed Pach as he banked his Gnerl into a turn to set up a run from the rear of the ship's long axis, "I've had to collapse my perimeter to compensate for my losses, and they're still getting through. Are you able to depart?"

"Nearly.", came the reply, "Stand by to have your fighters break off attack for emergency landing operations. Landings will take place on all hangar decks. Get aboard quickly."

"We will, Lord."

Kranna leveled his turn out and came up quickly on the protrusion of the ship's left engine as combat suits in a squad's strength dove at it from above. Their heavy plasma cannons fired as they dove, pelting the engine nacelle without more than the most insignificant effect. The pilot found something infuriating in the attack regardless.

They were attacking Kranna's whole world.

Approaching from their right flank, Kranna centered his gun reticule in quick succession on the leading three Nacht-Rau suits, firing a quick burst from his high-intensity laser cluster at each. Laser fire clearly stitched all three targets, but with little damage incurred. It took a second fighter, diving in from high and behind and striking at the last of Kranna's three targets to score a kill. As Kranna pulled into a climb to evade retaliation, he saw briefly the strickenNacht-Rau spew a trail of flame and smoke from its booster pack before exploding and spinning bits of itself into the others in its squad.

Destroyer 741

"Lord, the executive officer reports warrior embarkation complete.", announced an officer from the command deck.

"Secure all external hatches.", Pach ordered, "Detonate demolition charges sequentially fore to aft."

"Yes, Lord. Demolition sequence initiated."

There was little perceivable vibration as the charges that had been set in the ship's internal mooring interlocks by Chief Gerrok and his subordinate shipwrights were exploded at the four points that joined Destroyer 741 physically to The Factory. The ship's size was too great and the command station too deep within it for the shock of the charges to be felt there.. Pach relied on a report to mark execution.

"Moorings severed, Lord."

"Let's see if that freed us.", Pach said hopefully, "Helm, lateral maneuvering thrusters left- full power."

"Full power left, Lord.", replied the helm officer.

The air on the bridge grew still as not a set of lungs drew from or expelled to it. All eyes were on the main viewscreen, suspended in hologram above the deck. As the image began to drift left with the motion of the ship a roar of exalted relief erupted from every gaping mouth.

"Silence, and to you posts!", Pach snapped, not feeling his command free of the Te'Dak Tohl trap yet.

As the ship continued to propel itself away from the jetty, Pach could clearly see Destroyer 818 breaking free as well. Its guns and missile batteries, directed until now only at the channel lock doors, now began to fire in all directions in order to clear a path for Sylas's returning fighters.

Pach took steps along the same line, "Weapons Control. Execute a general suppressive barrage- all batteries. Fighter Control, order Kranna's fighters aboard ship. All hangars are to receive landings on request."

"Yes, Lord."

The door to the command bubble opened and Dychi entered unceremoniously. His uniform tunic had been donned hastily as the buttons were unaligned with the correct eyelets, Pach noticed, and Dychi's hair was matted into thick strings with sweat.

"Lord, reporting for duty.", the executive officer said, apparently oblivious to his appearance.

"I'm pleased to see you aboard again, Dychi."

"Not as pleased as I am to be aboard."

Pach looked out over the command deck at the viewscreen where the explosions of Te'Dak Tohl mecha and fighters haloed Destroyer 818, mirroring- Pach was sure- what Sylas was seeing around Destroyer 741. Through the destruction though, the commander was able to make out specks approaching and merging with Sylas's ship. His fighters were finding their way back aboard.

"We'll know shortly whether that pleasure is warranted, Dychi. We're going to attempt to fold from within the spacedock."

Dychi's eyes widened momentarily before he considered the situation.

"It can't be more hazardous than remaining here, Lord."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Command, Communications. Commander Sylas is hailing, Lord."

"On screen."

Sylas's face appeared in a subdivision of the viewscreen.

"Pach- Gymalt's ship is free of the dock."

"What?"

"From your position, you can't see it yet- but he's free. He's got more than his share of Te'Dak Tohl on him- but he's clearly still in the fight.", Sylas reported, "And there's more-."

"What's that?", Pach asked, feeling a tempered elation at the possibility that Gymalt had not been lost.

"He's signaling by laser lamp to know our intentions. The signal was broken and he had to retransmit a few times, but that's what we made of it. Should I transmit the fold coordinates and bring him into the countdown?"

Pach caught his instinctive response before it became voiced.

Instead, he asked, "Has he offered any authentication of identity?"

"What?", Sylas asked, his face showing clear confusion.

"Did he authenticate?"

Sylas became visibly irate, "He's barely transmitting-! How do you expect him to authenticate?"

"Then we have no idea who's commanding that ship.", Pach said firmly, "We don't dare risk allowing the Te'Dak Tohl to know our destination coordinates. Send to Gymalt a request for authentication. Unless you receive it, give that ship nothing. I'm showing sixty percent recovery of my fighters. What's your status?"

"Roughly the same here.", Sylas replied.

"Commence the two minute countdown to fold on my mark. Mark."

"Clock running.", Sylas confirmed, "Two minutes to fold. Pach, if we're wrong about Gymalt-."

Pach replied sternly, "-And consider if we give them the co-ordinates and then find out we're wrong. You can argue with me, or you can try to get authentication."

"Begin fold preparations!", Dychi ordered to the command deck below, "Secure main propulsion and transfer power to the fold generators- and load design profile into the computer."

"Main engines secured to stand-by. Transferring power to the fold system."

"Computations loading, fold system is standing by."

Pach settled into his command chair and watched the viewscreen.

"Give me the numbers, Dychi."

"Ninety seconds to fold. Thirty percent of our fighters are aloft. Hyperspace fold system is standing by."

"Our defense perimeter?"

"Perimeter sphere at five artohls, and collapsing to four. The Te'Dak Tohl don't want to give us up."

"They have a rude surprise coming.", Pach said flatly.

"Sixty seconds. Fifteen percent aloft. Defense perimeter faltering to three point five artohls- approaching minimum range for our defenses. They're going to breech."

Pach directed his attention to Sylas who was still on an open channel, "Any response from Gymalt?"

"Negative."

"Keep trying. I show forty-five seconds."

"Forty-five seconds.", affirmed Sylas, "I have ten percent of my fighters to recover."

"Forty seconds.", Dychi counted off, "Ten percent aloft. The Te'Dak Tohl have breeched three artohls."

Kranna had abandoned hope of an orderly landing sometime before.

He had abandoned hope of a sane one and opted for living to see the next day roughly the same time that he had flown through an outgoing barrage of gunfire from Destroyer 741's left flank batteries.

Now he was hopeful to Fate to reach the deck before the ship folded away- physical condition was a negotiable point.

Kranna didn't bother to check his tail as one of the ship's many hangar airlocks gaped wide before him. Sporadic streams of plasma energy bolts passing his canopy on all sides told him that the Te'Dak Tohl were not far behind. His only real defense now was to land before their aim improved and under the defense of the ship's missile turrets which he could see still pumping out weapons at their maximum rate of fire.

The hangar deck was clearly in sight now- just beyond the invisible membrane of the atmosphere retention field. Gnerl Fighter Pods were scattered across the deck in no particular order, simply having been moved from the path of other incoming fighters. Kranna aimed his nose directly at the largest gap of open deck space he could see and dropped his landing skids.

The hangar airlock swallowed his fighter whole as he felt a violent jar from high on his tail. Kranna caught a glimpse of a spray of debris from his own craft sail by the canopy as the fighter rolled and yawed to the left beyond his ability to control.

The deck met the sub-commander hard with a blow that Kranna was sure had broken his spine- but the shriek of metal on metal as the fighter spun across the deck cleared his mind of thought and replaced it with sheer terror.

The deck crew and pilots who had secured their fighters watched Kranna's plane tumble onto its side and then smash belly-first through two other Gnerls before coming to a rest flush with a hangar bulkhead.

Dazed but very much alive in his cockpit, Kranna was grateful to Fate for delivering him aboard- ungraceful as his landing had been.

"Five seconds.", Dychi announced, "All fighters are aboard. Initiate final fold sequence!"

"Sequence initiated. Fold in five, four, three-."

Pach alternated his gaze between the ship's chronometer and the battle-shrouded Destroyer 525 as the last few seconds slipped away on the count. Unable to look as the time expired; Pach turned his back to the viewscreen.

"-Two."

"One."

Forgive me, Lord-.

"Execute fold."

Destroyer 741's guns and missile batteries fell silent as the remaining Te'Dak Tohl- more than two hundred in all- were scarcely beyond their muzzles. The attacking craft were swept in a blue flash and scattered like dust in a high wind with the ripple of subspace displacement as the warship entered hyperspace.

Lieutenant Moyrt and Lieutenant Hyra stood rigidly at attention in the briefing room as Action Commander Kevtok paced before them. His agitation radiated off of him like heat, but his stare and demeanor were icy to the point where the two junior Serhot-Ran officers could have convinced themselves that his anger was not with them but someone else.

Of course both knew this not to be the case and were wise enough to show fear in the face of judgment, even to the point of mild exaggeration. Forced sweat stood on brows as muscles were kept visibly taut in the hopes of evading dire consequences by showing apprehension at the expectation of dire consequences.

"Moyrt, I would expect this from.", Kevtok muttered quietly, making it unclear whether he actually intended his words for his subordinates' ears, "He's willful, impulsive, and lacks the common sense of an Invid worker drone-. But not you, Hyra-."

Moyrt had been disciplined by Kevtok before, and too recently even for there to be any chance that he might have forgotten the last occurrence. What genuinely concerned Moyrt as he stood before his superior was the different tone in which he was approaching this episode. Kevtok spoke with resignation as though having been forced to a difficult decision. Moyrt in that moment suspected the worst: being removed from the mission, perhaps even from the ranks of the Serhot-Ran.

Hyra had offered in not so many words to share in the culpability for their actions, but Moyrt accepted the greatest share as being his own.

"Lord-."

Kevtok turned on the lieutenant sharply as though the single word had been the trigger he had been waiting for and with his nose to Moyrt's, bellowed down on him, "I did not grant you permission to speak, Lieutenant!"

Moyrt became stoically silent immediately. The action commander needed to bleed off some of his energy, which likely meant enduring several bouts of verbal abuse- but when these had passed, Moyrt knew he would have a chance to plead Hyra's case.

"You were going to say that it was your idea to have a little adventure when you were less than eighteen hours from departing on a mission given TOP priority by the Supreme General herself-. Furthermore, you were going to point out that in the absence of orders to the contrary, you were just taking the initiative-."

"-Something to that effect, Lieutenant Moyrt?", Kevtok asked pausing briefly, "Don't answer. It's the smartest thing you will have done all day. -Hyra? Is this what he was going to say after I've already had a conversation with him on a similar topic?"

"Is this what I'm to expect from you? You're both up for review for the grade of point lieutenant soon. Moyrt's in debt to Fate that he's not taking orders from a sub-lieutenant at this point, but you might have had a chance if it were not for this. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Hyra managed in a calm tone, "There is no suitable explanation, Action Commander. It won't happen again, Lord."

"It won't happen again, Lord-.", repeated Kevtok handling the words the way he might handle a blunt object while deciding whether or not to use it to strike them, "It won't happen again. It had better not happen again- from either of you. I am relying on every member of the team to perform flawlessly. We will have no margin for error in our mission."

"-Yes, you are still on the mission-. But let me make this clear- the only reason you are is because we are too near to departure to make replacements. I will be watching you both closely. Now get yourselves to the bio-med lab for micronization and stasis prep. Dismissed."

With that, Kevtok turned sharply on his heel and swiftly exited the briefing room leaving both junior officers standing at attention as they would remain for several seconds after his departure- in case, on the off-chance he might decide to return.

Moyrt's posture eased first, and he was the one who first felt the need to end the awkward silence that had followed the action commander's leaving.

"How did he know what I was going to say?"

"Either he can read minds, or you're not smart enough to be very creative.", Hyra suggested, "And I don't think he can read minds. I want to thank you for that, by the way. –Now, how can I make my day complete-? -Oh, I know-. I'll go get micronized and then put into cold storage!"

"You're still on the mission, aren't you?", Moyrt pointed out.

"Stop talking to me, Moyrt.", Hyra said as she turned for the door through which Kevtok had just departed, "You've lost talking privileges."

"-And I'll be right there with you-."

"Really, mo more talking now-."

General Krymina sat at the head of the briefing table scrolling through the after action report generated quickly by her staff for her review. She paused briefly and with only mild interest to read the summations of each section as Caldettas, the only other occupant of the room sat to her right at his normal position and awaited her response. There would be little to discuss though, Krymina having been present in the command center for all of the major events of the short-lived incursion.

There would be a few follow-on orders and some notations that the supreme general would want to add to the record, but then the books would close on this event and preparations to face Breetai would continue.

"Damage to The Factory is negligible then?", Krymina asked not looking up from the screen on which report after report scrolled in a seemingly endless stream of words that all essentially said the same thing.

"The damage in the affected module is extensive in some areas- but the overall, cumulative effect on Factory operations is negligible. The norghil did not even penetrate so far as crew or berthing spaces. Our ability to refit the captured norghil fleet and crew it with fresh clones should not be impacted in the least. We may continue with our timetable as it was laid out.", Caldettas reported with an air of removed and sterile assessment.

"And their transmission?", Krymina asked knowing that the summary of its contents was included in the after action report, but preferring the digested version she could receive in a minute's time from her executive officer.

"Decoded in full, Liege- and no surprises to speak of.", Caldettas said, "A warning to Breetai about us. Our Intelligence staff has reviewed the message and have been unable by its contents to determine whether the norghil were actually in possession of some of our operational planning materials, or if they just had a moment of accurate perception. The fact that they elected to attempt to interface with The Network for a broad transmission of the message seems to indicate that they were not aware of Breetai's present location- otherwise they would have likely tried to contact him directly."

Krymina looked up from the screen, "You're suggesting then that essentially the attack on The Factory was a suicide pact built around the purpose of sending a single transmission?"

"Irrational as it sounds, there are no other explanations that make sense.", Caldettas said with consideration, "The norghil warriors who were interrogated before they were terminated alluded to the sending of the message, but spoke of the incursion's goal being the disabling or destruction of The Factory's manufacturing capabilities. A daring purpose that norghil officers might use to inspire warriors to battle- but hardly realistic. Launching an attack to serve as a diversion while the true objective of sending a transmission is pursued- that is more feasible. –Of course, we are speaking of norghil. Who can say for certain what their underlying thinking was?"

"And our intelligence staff's explanation of the staggered escape sorties of the three norghil destroyers?"

"That is difficult to determine. There was no clear tactical advantage at having the third vessel to fold twenty-seven seconds after the first two. Significant laser lamp traffic was detected between one of the two destroyers departing from Wharf 92-11 and the solitary vessel, but we were able only to capture message fragments and nothing of significance. Intelligence interprets the escape of the three vessels as an uncoordinated action. The staggering of their sortie is likely just a result of that."

"I see-.", Krymina said, closing the viewscreen window that had shown her the filed after action report.

Supreme General Krymina folded her hands in her lap and allowed silence to stand for a long while as she thought.

"And what do you think, Caldettas? What now?"

Caldettas was aware that Krymina already had an answer in her head. What was to happen next had never really been in question or under the shadow of doubt.

This was simply one of those instances where Krymina was comparing her own thinking to his opinion- so Caldettas considered his response carefully.

"We continue with operational planning, staging, and we commit to all critical events according to the timetable we have established, Liege. We know that the norghil signal did not reach Breetai through The Network, and from this facility we can monitor and control future traffic from any Factory. We have no reason to believe that the norghil who escaped know Breetai's exact location, so they cannot fold into proximity of his location to contact him directly, nor can they contact him through The Network without our knowledge."

"In short, Supreme General, their actions and even their survival and escape are a null value in the overall equation. We should simply proceed."

Krymina nodded, "I tend to agree- though-."

"Though-?", Caldettas asked, genuinely interested at hearing a hint of hesitation to Krymina's voice and in her decision.

Krymina shook her head, "It's nothing of substance, Caldettas-. Nothing that we were in a position to even achieve I can say now that the norghil attack has been repelled. –But even though I had my order concerning the norghil officers retracted, I think now that it would have been interesting to have examined them through interrogation. -If for no other reason than to be certain on questions we've speculated on here. But also because their kind and their way of thinking may have been interesting."

"Perhaps.", Caldettas conceded, "Though as they were just norghil, chances are that we will come upon their kind again."

Krymina showed every indication that the whimsical moment was over, saying simply, "Perhaps."

Destroyer 741

The officer's briefing room hosted a session with reduced staff. Dychi, Gerrok, Ritzal, and a noticeably bruised Kranna represented Pach's interests aboard his own command while Sylas represented Destroyer 818 via communications link.

The frenzy of activity had not slacked much since the escape from The Factory, and every weary face showed it. Of the sub-commanders at the table, Dychi seemed most interested in the report that he himself was giving.

"The head count of crew and warriors aboard stands at four thousand, five hundred and four- with four hundred and twelve of those being female. We have not had a chance to assess the occupation specialties and skill sets represented, but we should have a better grasp on that by final briefing tomorrow, Lord."

"Four thousand.", Pach repeated distantly.

"-Five hundred and four.", added Dychi.

The other three sub-commanders caught the executive officer in a crossfire of scornful looks before the executive officer recognized his multi-layered mistake in speaking.

"We're carrying about the same.", Sylas said through the communications link, "Plus or minus-. I'll have an exact number within the hour, but that's a good rough estimate."

Pach massaged his temples with thumb and forefinger, fatigued to the point that he was unaware that he was showing his fatigue.

"How many did we dock with?"

There was a pause as no one was able to answer the question with any certainty. Oddly, the counting of forces had not been a priority in the planning of the operation. Perhaps it had been a matter of none of the commanders wanting to know exactly how many they were to march into a hopeless fight.

Finally, Gerrok said, "More. A lot more-."

From a briefing room identical to Destroyer 741's, Sylas said, "Also, figure on losing another ten to fifteen percent to wounds. My infirmary is overwhelmed and is likely to be for the near future."

"We're in no better condition here.", Pach replied still managing to sound sympathetic, "We need to dress our wounds before we seriously consider our next step-."

"I agree.", Sylas concurred, "And I'm reluctant to broach this subject, but we must. What do you think the chances are that Gymalt was able to slip the Te'Dak Tohl?"

Pach's expression darkened and the act of trying to massage his headache away that he had just quit began again.

"I want to say-.", Pach began hopefully, but then answered with blunt realism, "Not good."

"Should we attempt to verify that speculation?"

Pach shook his head, "By hyperspace communication? No. The Network would pick up our transmission and the Te'Dak Tohl could learn our position. Actively seeking Gymalt is pointless also-. If he was able to fold away, we have no idea where he would have folded to."

"No, I'm afraid that unless Fate strongly wills it otherwise, our paths have been parted."

Sylas gave a reluctant nod, knowing that the decision for Pach was considerably more difficult than he was allowing those around him to see.

"Consider the subject broached and decided. But at some point, we must think about what we are to do next."

"Fighting would be gratifying", Ritzal said, "But unrealistic. We have warriors, but very few mecha or fighters."

Dychi added cautiously, "And the ship's magazines are at just under sixty percent capacity. The defense of the ship was a drain on our munitions stores."

"And on the subject of the ship-.", Gerrok interjected at the first moment where he had something of relevance to say, "Number One engine sustained moderate damage to the intercoolers. We can patch it up, pull parts from Number Two, and improvise from other systems on the ship- but accelerated wear and tear will cascade from the inefficient cooling units- there's no way around it. Then figure in repairs to general battle damage-. If we go out looking for a fight-."

Pach nodded, "I understand, Gerrok. Sylas?"

"The same. We're still assessing the extent of our damage."

Pach folded his hands together on the table and said, "We've reached the end of what we can accomplish here now. We will reconvene at the standard time for first briefing. I want accurate assessments on all damage, including time to repair. From air and ground force commanders, I want the net number of usable mecha and fighters. Dychi, for Destroyer 741 you will have an inventory of our provisions, as well as the represented skill sets of the warriors aboard. Sylas, I'll expect the same from you. We can compare and see where we can help each other fill in the gaps. Dismissed."

With that, the com-link screen with Sylas closed as the officers in the briefing room rose to depart.

Pach put his hand on Dychi's elbow as he passed, "Not you, Dychi. Not yet."

Dychi returned to his seat as Gerrok finished the procession leaving the room. The door slid shut and Pach allowed a moment of silence to pass.

"Your thoughts, Dychi?"

Dychi responded dutifully "We are not in great condition, Lord, but good condition- considering all. All systems are acceptably functional, and the ship can still be fought. The overcrowding situation with the warriors and crew will require-."

Pach interrupted his executive officer, "Not your analysis, Dychi, your thoughts."

Dychi's expression relaxed and changed from controlled to concerned. He was hesitant, but answered honestly, "They're finished, Lord, for now- the warriors and the crew. They aren't afraid to fight, but they have nothing left in themselves to fight with. They can't fight something as formidable as the Te'Dak Tohl- but they don't want to flee. They will follow whatever course of action you decide on- but they need to regroup first."

"Our assault on the Factory was correct in principle.", Pach resolved.

"Lord, I did not mean to imply-."

"I know you didn't, Dychi.", Pach replied, uoffended, "I knew before we committed to the operation that there was little hope of coming away from it. The best we could hope for was to transmit our message to Breetai and cause whatever damage we could to The Factory. –And perhaps make some kind of statement to the Te'Dak Tohl-. But coming away from it is another experience-. I'm having some difficulty with this, Dychi."

Dychi nodded supportively, "Action Commander Gymalt?"

Pach said without hesitation, "Partially-. Mostly. But also I am tiring of sending warriors to die for little or no benefit. I'm tiring of that greatly, and it grows more acute when I think that all that remains of two Zentraedi armies is packed bulkhead to bulkhead aboard two destroyers. –This will not end this way."

Pach opened the breast flap of his uniform tunic and reached in to the interior cargo pocket. He retrieved a simple computer memory slate and set it down on the briefing table.

"Gerrok's?", Dychi asked, recognizing the storage medium that in many ways had been the catalyst for events that had brought them to this moment.

"Yes.", Pach said, "Anything that troublesome would come from Gerrok, wouldn't it?"

Dychi stifled a small laugh before it completely escaped, "I'm certain Gerrok would enjoy thinking so, but that's not the kind of troublesome you're speaking of, is it, Lord?"

Pach shook his head, "No."

"You don't believe the transmission reached Breetai, do you, Lord?", Dychi ventured.

Pach shook his head again, "I can't be certain, Dychi- and too many have died for uncertainty to be an acceptable answer. Too many may still die if Breetai did not receive our warning."

Dychi was silent for a moment before asking, "Then what are we to do, Lord? How are we to proceed?"

"I'm uncertain of that too, Dychi- for now.", Pach replied, the weariness in his voice breaking through, "But I know this, Dychi-."

"Lord?"

"This ship will never run from a fight again."

Dychi nodded his understanding and without dismissal rose to leave. Perhaps in doing so Pach would see and seize the opportunity to retire to his quarters for the rest he clearly needed.

"I have duties to attend to, Lord."

"As do we all.", Pach noted as the executive officer left him in solitude.

Pach turned the memory slate over in his hand several times before slipping it again into his tunic pocket. His involvement in what he had stumbled into was not at an end, but Pach knew there were matters that required his more immediate attention.

He had duties to attend to.

A single yellow star burned dimly at such range that it barely stood out from the star field that immersed it.

Little else gave this unremarkable area of space any immediately noticeable significance. There was a planet though that hid behind the great mass of the sun in its orbit much in the same way that the star would conceal a ripple in subspace from the planet's inhabitants as a Te'Dak Tohl destroyer breeched hyperspace in de-fold.

The destroyer gained its bearings quickly- identifying its location as correct and verifying that there were no proximal vessels that had detected its arrival.

Its position established, it applied its drive systems to assume a carefully calculated course and velocity.

"On ordered course and speed for planetary intercept and orbital injection, Lord."

The Te'Dak Tohl commander acknowledged his executive officer's report with an approving nod as he verified the flight profile information on the main viewscreen himself.

"Verify onboard function of all systems in the Transport Pod.", ordered the commander.

"Power generation systems nominal and at minimal output.", the executive officer reported, taking his information from another display, "Propulsion systems on stand-by. Automated navigation is operating. Life support shows all personnel in perfect stasis. The Transport Pod is ready for separation."

"Execute separation.", the commander ordered.

"Transport Pod separating, Lord."

"Plus five degrees of pitch, left five degrees of rudder. Ease us away."

"Plus five on pitch. Left five rudder.", complied the helm.

"Range opening on the Transport Pod, Lord.", announced the executive officer as the smaller vessel continued away from the destroyer on its original course, "Course projection shows the transport in free trajectory for planetary orbital injection."

"Navigation, design fold for return to Factory coordinates.", the commander instructed, "Communications. Encrypt a message to Supreme General Krymina that the Transport Pod has been deployed. The reconnaissance team is on its way."

"Yes, Lord."

The command deck of the Re-Entry Transport Pod was illuminated briefly in pale blue as the destroyer that had carried it to the deployment point and had acted as its mother ship hastily re-entered hyperspace.

Workstations and controls modified to allow for use by micronized personnel stood empty in the darkened control room. The transport's computers worked at a minimal level, only employing the ship's sensors and applying enough processing power at intervals to assure that the craft was on its correct course.

Deeper, within the ship's modified core, other computers independent of the flight control and navigational systems monitored the reduced biological functions of the thirty-six micronized Zentraedi in stasis.

Hibernation as it was being applied was a dreamless sleep.

Unlike the time in stasis prior to their original Awakening, the Te'Dak Tohl of Action Commander Kevtok's reconnaissance team would not receive conditioning or knowledge implants during their slumber for reasons of the possible dangers that went with attempting to apply neural augmentation to Zentraedi whose minds had been given time to form and grow by natural means.

As hibernation was also sleep devoid of a sense of time, they would simply wake up not having felt the passage of nearly two seasons that they would pass in stasis.

They would awake with their last memories being of the Trendok 145 Robotech Automated Factory to lay the first Te'Dak Tohl eyes, with malevolent purpose, on a world known to its inhabitants as Earth.

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