Thresholding by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

This fic is dedicated to Post, for all he has contributed to his existence. (sexaholic!)
Chapter 11

"INCOMING!.!.!"

A trio of hangars opened on each side of the bulbous Gordanian craft, and from the six holes, fighter craft spewed forth, angling straight for the Squir'l, lasers charging with a deep red glow. The fighters looked like miniature versions of the craft launching them: rounded bodies, green globular domes for windows, and short, stubby wings.

"Vann'a threttan'a!" a crewman announced. "Seles Gordanians!"

"Launch fighters, immediately!" Captain Tromand'r ordered in English, but quickly realized his mistake and translated back to his native tongue.

The Titan leader, whom just moments ago Tromand'r was on the brink of combating against, stood forgotten, staring at the displays in frustration at his own inability to understand any of them. God, how he wished he'd tried harder to learn Starfire's native tongue.

"Lysand'r told us that your intelligence believed the Gordanians were two weeks away," Robin asked, drawing Tromand'r's attention back. "How did they get here so quickly?"

"It would seem our intelligence was mistaken," Tromand'r murmured, his face grim. "Our fleet is still en route. If we can hold for just a little while…we might just survive this mess…"

"Robin!"

The Boy Wonder turned toward the voice: Raven. The empath was staring at him, still somewhat white-faced. "Starfire's still in bad shape, and I can't do anything more to heal her. She needs medical attention, now!"

"I'll take her myself," Robin said.

"No. Let me," Terra cut in. "Those Tamaranian fighters are going to need help, and I'd just be dead weight out there. Let me take care of Starfire. You're the best pilot on the team, next to Cyborg. You should take the T-ship with the others and help the Tamaranians."

Robin almost snapped back with a harsh 'no,' but at last, rational thought seemed to pierce his emotions, and he realized that Terra was right. She had zero skill flying. She would be no use in this fight. "Okay. You help Star. Everyone else, let's get to the T-ship and stop those fighters!"

Something small and heavy was suddenly thrust into Robin's hands. Robin looked down and saw that Tromand'r had placed what looked like a com-link of Tamaranian design in his hands.

"Use that to stay in contact with our group," he grunted.

"Umm…How?.! They don't know English!" Beast Boy wailed.

"I can translate, no big, BB," Cyborg cut in.

Robin nodded, tossing the com-link to the titanium teen. "We don't have a moment to lose. Let's get to it! TITANS, GO!"

She'd never had a problem with blood before. Living out in the wilderness for a good portion of her life did that, she supposed. She'd gotten her fair share of scrapes and cuts, and always had to tend to them herself. And never once had the sight of the red liquid disturbed her in any way.

But seeing it now, streaked across Starfire's face, down over her arms and even staining her once-brilliantly white teeth, Terra was nearly sick.

The blonde closed her eyes and turned away. It wasn't fair, she said to herself. Starfire was the kindest, most gentle soul she had ever known. She didn't deserve to be lying here in a medical bed, as if in a coma, suffering from countless wounds across her body, and perhaps even worse internal wounds that Raven couldn't deal with. She could only hope that Tamaranian medical care was up to par.

Terra looked to the other side of the room. Two Tamaranian doctors stood there, chattering back and forth in their own tongue and poring over Starfire's medical charts. Beside them, Terra spotted what appeared to be a sink. A small pile of washrags was stacked next to it as well. Without even thinking about it Terra walked over, took up one of the rags, soaked it with warm water, and retuned to Starfire's beside. Careful not to rub too hard on the bruised areas of her skin, Terra slowly washed away the bloodstains from the alien girl's skin. She rubbed the cloth over Starfire's cheeks and around her nose, then up and down each of Starfire's arms.

"Mmm…"

Terra glanced up at the sound. Starfire still looked asleep, but her lips were moving very slightly, like she was whispering to someone.

"Rob……Robin……mmm……your hands are warm….."

Terra flushed.

"……mmm……feels……nice……"

The blonde couldn't help but smile slightly. If she was dreaming about Robin, she'd be just fine.

But at the mention of the Boy Wonder, Terra's eyes drifted toward the long, narrow window at one end of the medical wing. Outside it was the dark blue of Earth's outer atmosphere, and highlighted against it were bright flashes of green and red from the lasers being exchanged between the Tamaranians and Gordanians. And every now and then, flashes of blue from the divided T-Ship's sonic cannons accompanied the green of the Tamaranian fighters. Terra counted the specks of orange…one…two…three…four. Her friends were all alive…were all fighting…so far. She prayed that they remained that way. And with her stuck caring for Starfire…that was all she could do.

Stay safe…you hear me?

Everyone…

…Beast Boy…

…don't you die on me…

"Cyborg, watch your six!"

"Little tied up here, Rob! BB, get this guy off my tail!"

"I've got my own problems, tin man! I-…gah! I got two of 'em riding my butt!"

"There's so many of them…we can't hold them all off!"

"We have to, Raven!" Robin said. "Tromand'r said the Tamaranian fleet was on the way! If we can just survive this attack until then we'll be fine!"

"Dudes, are you forgetting what Lysand'r said?" Beast Boy cut in. "That's a Gordanian scout vessel! That means THEIR fleet is coming too!"

"Thanks for reminding us, grass stain," Cyborg murmured. "We-…Ngh! That was a close one…"

"Beast Boy has-…AH…a point," Raven said. "Even if the Tamaranian fleet gets here first, there isn't going to be much time before the Gordanians arrive as well."

Robin yanked his joystick to the side, just dodging a smoking laser. "We can't worry about that yet! We deal with this force first! Everything else-"

"-can wait! Cyborg, anything from the Tamaranians?"

"Not a word. They're too busy fending for themselves and defending the Squir'l. I'll keep an eye on it though," Cyborg reported.

Crossing in front of Cyborg's vision just then was a spec of orange, and chasing it was a pair of dark brown and green Gordanian fighters. Beast Boy.

Cyborg glanced back at his own tail, and suddenly grinned. He turned back to the com-link. "BB! Remember the Double Chicken Maneuver I pulled on you in Need For Speed yesterday?.!"

"Uhh…I guess so?"

"You up for a rematch?"

Beast Boy caught on then. "You know it!"

Both Titans veered their crafts sideways until they were facing each other, an in unison they gunned their engines. The Gordanian fighters tailing them followed, oblivious to anything beyond their own marks.

"We gotta do this just right. Hard right on my mark," Cyborg murmured over the com-link.

"Got it," Beast Boy answered, sounding only slightly nervous.

The distance between the two Titans' ships shrunk, faster and faster as Cyborg and Beast Boy pushed their engines toward full speed, their tails speeding up in pursuit…

"Wait for it…"

They were fifty thousand feet apart…forty thousand…

"Ah…Cy, maybe this wasn't such a good idea…"

"Wait for it, BB…"

Twenty-five thousand feet…

"Cy, we're not gonna make it! Turn!"

"Wait for it!"

Ten thousand feet…five thousand…

"NOW!"

Both Titans swerved sharply to their lefts, their ships coming within a few yards of scraping into one another. The two Gordanian fighters on Beast Boy's tail as well as the one on Cyborg's began to turn and follow, but they reacted a fatal half-second too slow. The three fighters careened toward each other at blinding speeds…

B-B-BOOOOOOOOM!.!.!

Three flashes of light and fire later, the Gordanian fighters were scrap metal.

"BOOYAH!" Cyborg exclaimed. "That was perfect, BB!"

"I think I just wet myself…" came the changeling's shaky voice.

"Man, what'd I tell you about having accidents in the T-Ship?"

"Is that really what's important right now?"

"Yes, if you two are done discussing bathroom habits, I would appreciate a bit of help," Raven's voice added.

Cyborg checked his displays, and turned ninety degrees to his right. Raven was flying perpendicular to him, tailed by two more fighters. "Hang in there, girl, we're on our way."

"Oh please, take your time…"

"…I'm quite enjoying being shot at right now," Raven said in her sarcastic drawl.

"Rae, pull up as hard as you can in about five seconds," Beast Boy said.

"Why, what are you…"

Raven trailed off suddenly as she saw Beast Boy's ship angling around so that it was heading straight for her.

"Uh…Beast Boy, you do remember I'm on your side, right?"

"Oh, ye of such little faith!" Beast Boy giggled. "Ready? PULL UP!"

Raven rolled her eyes, but did as Beast Boy asked. She pulled back hard on the joystick in her hands and her fighter arced up and around into a U-turn. And below her, with Raven in the clear, Beast Boy had the perfect shot.

"Yeeeea-hoooo! Eat laser, sucker!"

FLASH!

BOOM!

Raven's tail blew to pieces at the hands of the sonic cannons on the changeling's fighter.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I'm actually impressed."

"Told ya video games would be good for something, someday!"

BOOM!

A flash of red struck a glancing blow to Beast Boy's craft.

"Beast Boy, watch out!" Raven shouted. "You've got another tail!"

"I noticed, thanks!" he snapped back. "Crap! That hit fried one of my engines!"

"Beast Boy," Robin's authoritative voice came in. "Make your way back to the Squir'l, you won't be able to do any good with just one engine…"

"…Don't worry, I'll cover you."

"Dang it, BB, that's two fighters you've been flying that I gotta fix now!" Cyborg complained.

"It's a conspiracy, I tell you! Always go after the funny guy first!"

"Save it!" Robin snapped at the two boys. "Beast Boy, hurry up and get to safety!"

Robin gunned his engine and flew after Beast Boy, lining himself up behind the Gordanian fighter still tailing him. The Gordanian pilot apparently decided Beast Boy wasn't worth it, for as soon as Robin got into position, it pulled away from tailing Beast Boy and swung into a diving barrel roll. Robin expertly followed, weapon systems tracking it the whole way. His focus shifted almost entirely onto that fighter, following its every climb, dive, and swerve.

"Almost got you…"

Beep beep beep BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The sliver of Robin's attention that wasn't focused on his target shifted to the source of the noise on his displays…and suddenly he was fully focused on the new noise: another fighter was cutting across his flight path and charging straight for him.

"Shit!"

Robin veered away in a wild spiral milliseconds before red lasers ripped through the spot he'd just been. The motion sent him out of control for a precious few seconds, and by the time he recovered, the Gordanian fighter he'd been chasing turned the tables and planted itself right on Robin's tail.

Robin smirked. "All right…you wanna play? Let's play!"

He slammed his joystick forward and gunned the engine in one quick motion. His craft dove forward, and the Gordanian fighter shot after him. Robin led the enemy fighter straight toward the Tamaranian ship, the Squir'l, aiming straight for the series of spires rising from the top of the craft.

"Let's see if you can keep up," Robin said.

He charged into the spires, swerving in and out of them like an expert, and his tail followed him just as smoothly, raining lasers down on Robin with little success.

A moment later the two emerged on the other side of the ship. Robin chanced a glance behind him, to check his tail was still on him, then dove again and U-turned, skimming across the hull of the Squir'l. The Gordanian still followed, and now Robin's displays were screaming at him that the enemy craft had nearly locked on to him.

FLASH!

Robin jerked upward slightly just as lasers flashed underneath his fighter and struck the ship's hull.

BOOOOOOM!

The explosion was larger than Robin expected, but it was a welcome surprise, for the Gordanian craft could not pull away in time before the explosion engulfed his craft and blew it up as well.

"That was a close one…" Robin murmured to himself.

"Robin, you still with us, man?"

Robin tapped the receiver. "I hear you, Cyborg. What is it? Are you getting something from the Tamaranians?"

"No. I'm not."

Robin pounded a fist on the side of the cockpit. "Dammit…why are they ignoring us?"

"They're too busy defending the Squir'l. They're holding off the fighters well enough, but they can't break away to do anything about the Gordanians' ship…"

WREE WREE WREE WREE WREE!

"Ah, what now?.!" Robin snapped.

"The Gordanians are launching more fighters!" Cyborg said.

Robin stared at the Gordanian scout ship, and to his horror,Cyborg was right. A second wave of brown and green fighters poured from the scout ship's hangars, nearly two dozen of them.

"The Tamaranians are going to be overwhelmed! They can't stand against a second wave!" Raven realized.

"There has to be something we can-"

Robin stopped suddenly as twin beams of blue tore through the front-most Gordanian fighter. The enemy craft was quickly cleaved in half, and the two pieces fell away from each other and exploded right on top of two other fighters, destroying them as well.

Robin stared. "Did any of you guys…?"

"Wasn't me," Cyborg said.

"Nor me," Raven added.

"And Beast Boy's back at the Squir'l…but then who…?"

The answer swooped in just ahead of them. Short red hair, save for a long braid. Sliver armor. Electric-blue eyes.

"Is that…"

"I think it is…"

"Tromand'r!"

The Tamaranian Captain flew alongside the Titans, unprotected by a fighter craft, instead opting to fight on his own.

"Skknt…Teen Titans…do you read me?"

Robin switched frequencies immediately. "Captain? What are you doing?"

"Exactly what needs to be done. I am fighting," Tromand'r said, speaking into a headset. "Now, let us deal with these invaders."

"We'll take all the help we can get," Robin said. "Everyone, let's shred those fighters!"

The three remaining Titans and Tromand'r met the second wave of fighters head on. Flashes of light lanced back and forth between them in a raging storm of blazing hot energy, but the four heroes stood undamaged, and one by one, the enemy fighters were falling.

But not all targeted the foursome. Half of the second wave broke away and aimed for the rest of the Tamaranian fighters, of which only a scant half-dozen now remained. The Tamaranian crafts fought valiantly, but they could not stand for long against the superior numbers. Just as the Titans felled their targets, the Gordanians felled the last remaining Tamaranian fighters. Now only Tromand'r and the Titans remained, and still eight Gordanian ships were bearing down on them.

"Raven, watch your six!"

"I see it, Cyborg…watch your own."

"What do y-DAH! You sonuva…you fried my sonic blaster!"

"I've got you, Cyborg…"

A flash of obsidian energy appeared against the dark blue of the outer atmosphere around Raven's ship and shot out in front of and behind her. The front wave passed harmlessly through Cyborg's ship, but solidified as it struck his tail, slicing it in two. The rear wave formed into a wall, which her own tail slammed into and exploded.

Two down, six to go, Robin ticked off in his head as he watched. "Cyborg, you okay?"

"The bastard hit my sonic blaster!" Cyborg groaned. "I'm just a sitting duck out here without it!"

"Then get out of here and back to the Squir'l," Robin ordered. "No point in you risking your life unnecessarily."

But as Cyborg turned to flee, two more enemies swooped down on him, blasters primed to fire.

"Cyborg!"

"I see 'em! They're coming in too fast, I can't shake 'em!"

FLASH!

Blue beams of light tore through the cockpit of one of Cyborg's tails from far above it, and it spiraled away and exploded. A moment later the second craft was impaled by two glowing blue star-bolt-charged fists. Tromand'r tore through the fighter's vital circuitry like tissue paper and flung himself away from the craft moments before its sparking reached the fuel tank and blew it to pieces.

"Whew…that's for the save, Cap'n."

"I welcome you."

Cyborg snickered. "Heh…I guess it's not just Starfire that's quirky with English."

"You're clear, Cyborg. Get to safety."

Cyborg sped away, leaving Robin, Raven, and Tromand'r to face off against the last of the Gordanians.

"Four of them…three of us…we can do this, everyone, we just have to-"

"We will not last."

Robin frowned. "What are you talking about, Captain?"

"The Gordanians have yet to launch their final squadron."

The Boy Wonder's eyes bulged. "Their WHAT?.!"

But even as Robin spoke, the Gordanian scout's hangar opened once more, and a third wave of twenty fighters disgorged from within.

"Twenty-four of them to three of us," Raven murmured. "Those are long odds, even for us. I don't think we can beat them all."

"Then we take as many of them as we can to the grave with us," Tromand'r vowed.

"I don't think a suicide mission is the best answer, Tromand'r," Robin said.

"I was not aware we had an alternative."

Robin had no answer to that.

"…For what it's worth, Robin…I apologies for my harshness earlier. You are an admirable leader, one you get your priorities straight. Starfire has chosen a fine suitor. It…saddens me that she will not be able to share her happiness with you."

Robin stiffened. "What do you mean Starfire…chose me?"

"It no longer matters. We face our deaths here today."

"No one's doing any dying," Raven droned suddenly. "At least…no one on our side."

"Explain your meaning, dark one."

"Let's just say you have friends in high places."

Robin could swear Raven was smirking as she spoke; and for good reason, he realized a second later. "They're here, Tromand'r!"

FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH!.!.!

A hailstorm of green, blue, and purple star-bolts rained upon the squadron of Gordanians, shredding the entire group of them to ribbons in mere seconds.

"Thank X'Hal…" Tromand'r murmured.

Robin smiled. Far above him, nearly a hundred Tamaranian warriors hovered in the outer atmosphere, eyes and hands glowing with star-bolt energy. Beyond them were perhaps twenty or thirty ships of a ruby red color, most of which were large enough to make the Squir'l look like a kitten. The Tamaranian war fleet, in all its glory, had at last arrived.

"Skkntt…Hey, Robin, whassap?" the com-link crackled.

"Beast Boy, you seeing this?" Robin asked.

"Sure am. And that's not all the good news I got for ya. Starfire's awake."

Robin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…"

"And one more thing. We've got another government signal coming in. Doesn't sound like that Graham nutcase, either. Whoever he is, he's on hold for you."

"I'm on my way."

Robin steered his craft around and back toward the Squir'l just as, behind him, the war fleet unloaded its main guns, and the Gordanian scout vessel was at last eradicated in a raging green fire.

Author's Notes

Reasons why this chapter took nearly a month to finish:

1. I suck at action scenes, usually.
2. I've been working on another fic at the same time as this one, to be posted at a later date.
3. Finals are currently looming over my shoulder.
4. I'm a lazy bastard.

My sincerest apologies for the long wait.