Thanks!
The next chap is halfway done, but I have finals this week, and I'm gonna be really busy. Hopefully, I can get it out next weekend.

oooo make it extra jolly for the christmas spirit!

Well, a Merry Christmas to all, and as an early present, may I present Chapter 8!


Chapter Eight – Guts and Glory

Crewmen raced to the crash site with water hoses. The ship’s engines were on fire, and they needed to put out the fire before it spread to the cockpit and rear bay. They managed to get the fire under control, even as men ran into the ship to try and find survivors. One by one, the men came back out, carrying bodies. They loaded them onto repulsion stretchers, and took them down to the medical bay. The bow of the ship had broken through the wall and was partly sticking into the ready room. Fortunately, there had been no one in the room at the time.

One of the last to come out of the ship was Admiral Black. He was rushed to the medical bay. Doctors got to work on healing his grievous wounds.

On the bridge, Captain Fox had gotten word of Admiral Black’s condition, and had assumed command of the task force. Following Black’s last orders, he retreated back to the trade lane. He recalled all the surviving fighters, which were few in number, and took the trade lane back to Freeport 4. He hurriedly took the next lane back towards the California Jump Gate. The Bretonian fleet pursued him. When he reached the gate, he sent his fleet through one by one.

As he was about to go through, the Bretonian fleet came out of the tradelane. They opened fire, and the Jefferson’s already weak shield collapsed. Finally, the ship got through the gate, and Fox took the fleet towards Planet Los Angeles.
They arrived, and Fox gave a quick report to the captain of the Battleship Yukon. Then, Fox was able to take an inventory of the task force. The Cruisers Glory and Providence were lost. The Intrepid was heavily damaged, but had survived due to Captain Morrison’s excellent skill. The Reconciliation was also damaged, but Admiral Black’s former ship had survived as well. As for fighters, there were few survivors. The cruisers’ escort fighters had been decimated, with only one survivor. The Jefferson’s fighters had had slightly better luck, with two survivors from Alpha wing, one from Beta wing, and one from Gamma wing. Delta wing, Black’s chosen escort, had been completely decimated. Five fighters, two cruisers, and one battleship were what remained.

Fox called down to the medical bay. He wanted to check up on the condition of the crash survivors, especially Black. The chief doctor told him that Black was in critical condition, but was alive. There were three marines that were still alive, and one of the pilots had survived. It was good news.

Moments later, Fox was given orders from the captain of the Yukon. He was to report to Naval Headquarters on Manhattan and give his report. Then, he was to go to Norfolk and have his ships repaired.

Fox gave the needed orders, and the task force departed.


Two weeks later, Rear Admiral William Black awoke from his coma in a medical ward on Planet Manhattan. He had no idea what had happened. He was confused, since his memory was temporarily gone. After a few hours, it all started coming back. The ship, the dying admiral, the battle, the crash, the horrible things re-entered his mind. How long had he been out? What had happened after? Had Fox been able to save the rest of the task force?

As he was contemplating these things, Captain Fox walked in. Fox told him about everything that had happened since the crash, and Black approved of Fox's actions. They were on Manhattan, Fox told him, and the ships were at Norfolk receiving repairs. They had been granted three weeks of R+R, and then they would receive a new set of deployment orders, as well as new ships to fill out the fleet. Black had plenty of time to recover from his wounds.

After Fox left, Black switched on the tele-screen. It was on the Colony News Station, so Black decided to keep it there so he could find out what he had missed.

“In urgent news, Bretonia has moved into Omega-3, as well as Magellan and Cortez. They have officially declared war on Liberty and Rheinland after Liberty declared war on them because two of their fleets were reportedly attacked in Magellan two weeks ago by Bretonian forces."

"In response to the Bretonian movements, Rheinland has moved into Omega-7. This is likely to become a long stand-off, because both houses have large fleets. Wait… We have breaking news! Bretonia has moved into Omega-7, and is attacking the Rheinland fleet there! We have cameras on-station.”

The view switched over to a camera feed from Omega-7. It was of the Omega-3 Jumpgate area. Five Rheinland battleships and dozens of smaller ships massed around the jumpgate. Then, one Bretonian battleship came out of the gate. Then another, and another. Soon, there were dozens of Bretonian battleships and a huge battle took place. Black watched in horror as the Bretonian ships overwhelmed the Rheinland ships and destroyed them quickly. Then, the Bretonian ships moved on. The feed cut, and it went back to the Colony News newsroom, where the anchors looked very distressed. Black switched off the screen, not wanting to see any more.


Three days later, Black was released from the hospital, and he felt great. He had an award ceremony to attend before he could return to his task force at Norfolk.

At the ceremony, Black, the marines, and the pilot got Purple Hearts. Black also got another Liberty Cross, for the valuable information he had provided to the Navy, and Fox got a Navy Star of Honor for his part in the battle. The three marines advanced to the rank of Sergeant.


A week later, the new set of deployment orders came in. When Black opened them, sitting in an office on Manhattan, he nearly dropped them from the surprise. Dresden! They were going to Rheinland space!

As Black read through the report, he grew more and more afraid. Things were far worse then he had previously thought. Black’s task force was getting deployed abroad to Dresden, while Task Force 5, under Admiral Stafford, was going to Stuttgart. Things had really degraded in Rheinland. Piracy had run rampant, and the Rheinland Navy had to fight pirates while guarding their home against an impeding Bretonian attack from Omega-7. They had asked for help from Liberty, which had to protect two borders already. Liberty had sent the two fleets to try to help their allies.

Intel had reported that Dresden was a system plagued by piracy. The infamous Red Hessian pirates were believed to have a base there, and they were constantly attacking bases of both Daumann and Kruger in that system. Recently the attacks had stepped up, and Rheinland had considered abandoning the system.

His mission was to meet up with the Rheinland battleship Barbarossa, and it’s fleet, and protect the Dresden system at all costs, from Bretonia, or from the Hessians. Black’s lost fighter wings were getting replaced, and one cruiser, the Gettysburg, was going to join their task force. Also, since they were going abroad on an important mission, they were going to get one of the new Liberty destroyers to replace the other lost cruiser. The destroyers were similar in shape to the battleships, but were smaller, and had weaker armor. In addition, they could not carry fighters, but they had very powerful weapons, and a powerful engine. It would be a good addition to Black’s task force.


The next day, Black gathered his force and headed to Dresden. Whatever waited for him there, he was ready. He wanted another crack at Bretonia, and he knew that this mission could very well be his best chance at that. If he failed, then Rheinland would fall, and then Liberty, his home, would fall to his enemy as well. It was victory at all costs.

Wow, jacob this is a great addition! good job!

Thank you Wilde. Glad you liked it!

nice.

DAMN this is great. Keep it up

wow, im liking it too, doesnt sound like theres going to be much left after this one...

This sounds awesome! I really hope Kusari and Bretonia win, though I doubt they will because the main character is in Liberty.

Thank you to all of my readers!
Next chap is coming soon, so be sure not to miss out!

Whoa that was great keep up the good work!

I have seen the end of times, a future in which all our kind our torn from this world.

Chapter Nine is up, a bit ahead of schedule, but that is good, right?
Enjoy.

Chapter Nine – The Last March

Black loved watching the kaleidoscope of light as his ship passed through the jumpgate. He sat in his command chair and just stared at it for a while. The journey was a brief one, and soon the ship popped out of the other end of the gate, in the Dresden system.

The system looked wild and untamed, and was surrounded by brownish clouds where Daumann Heavy Industries and Kruger Minerals supposedly harvested valuable commodities.

He called up his sensor system on one of the arms of his chair, and found that all of his ships were accounted for. He ordered the ships to take the trade lane to Pirna Border Station, where they were supposed to meet up with the Rheinland 5th Fleet.

The Liberty Task Force met up with the Rheinland Fleet moments later. Admiral Black stood up in the command desk of the Jefferson, waiting to receive a message from the Rheinland ships. There were many of them, two of the giant Rheinland battleships, three of their heavy cruisers, five gunboats, and about six squadrons of the mighty Rheinland Valkyere heavy fighters.

His communications officer called out, “An incoming hail from the Rheinland ships!”

“Patch it up to the main screen, Lieutenant.”

The large screen in front of Black burst to life, revealing an impeccably groomed Rheinland Admiral, in a dark green dress uniform. He spoke in a think Rheinlander accent.

“Welcome to Dresden, Admiral. We are pleased to see that our comrades from Liberty have arrived safely. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Vice Admiral Hans Schwarkzkof.”

“Thank you, Admiral, I am Rear Admiral William Black, commander of this Task Force. It is a pleasure being here.”

“Good, Good. Pirna has surrendered its services to us, so I am making this our headquarters.”

“Fine by me, bit allow me to ask, are you the overall commander of this operation, or is this a collaborative effort?”

“I was hoping to work together, if that was not a problem.”

“No problem at all, I was just checking. If we plan to stay here, then let us go aboard the station with our captains to make plans on how we wish to deal with our situation.”

“A fine idea, I can already tell that I will enjoy working with you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Admiral Schwarzkof.”

“Then let us meet again on the station.”

The screen clicked off. Black put calls in to each of his ships, and then called newly promoted Commodore Fox to go to a transport to take to the station. Fox had gotten promoted after the last ceremony simply because the Navy had been forced to make some quick promotions to recoup for the loss of many of its men in recent battles. With West Point turning out students at the usual slow pace, the Navy needed to replace many deceased high brass officers, like Richardson, to keep the military running smoothly.

Black got on the transport with Fox, and they made the quick transit to the station. In the docking bay, they met up with the rest of the captains, Morrison and the other two from the cruisers, and a newer face, Captain Serena Fox, Commodore James Fox’s sister. She was in command of the new destroyer, the Vengeance. She was merely eighteen, a fresh graduate of West Point. She had graduated at the top of her class, and was considered by man in Liberty to be a child prodigy when it came to commanding ships. She had been given command of the Vengeance, a brand-new destroyer, and had requested a place in the famous task force of Admiral Black, with her brother, and she was accepted to fill the gap. The Navy wanted James to watch over their most promising new captain, and that was part of the reason they promoted him.

Serena Fox was of the quiet type, and she rarely talked to the other captains, except her brother. That was broken when she was at the helm of her ship. When she led the ship into battle, her fellow classmates had reported, “Her eyes had turned to a fire hot enough to burn through a battleship’s armor.” Black had never seen her perform in a combat scenario, but if half the things he had heard about her were true, then she would make a fine addition to his task force.
The younger Fox was very beautiful. She had a thin, tall frame, long blond hair, which she hid behind a cap whenever in the presence of a superior officer, because it was longer than regulation length, and a beautiful face. Many of the younger men in the task force had already fallen for her, but she seemed to want nothing to do with them. The only person she ever talked to privately was her brother, who was an obvious mentor for her. The elder Fox was similar to her, with blond hair of the same color, and had the same tall, thin frame. James was in his late twenties, though, so he appeared older than his young sister.

As a group, the six officers walked to the briefing room where Schwarzkof had told them to gather. As they entered, Black saw that there was a long table in the dark room. Over a dozen Rheinland officers were seated around it, with Schwarzkof at the head of the table. He smiled as the Liberty officers came in.

“Sit, sit. Enjoy our fine refreshments, provided by the station. We will begin our meeting shortly.”

Black looked at the table. Only now, at a close range, could he see all the food on it. Fresh fruit, meats, and appetizers sat before him. His stomach growled, since he had not yet eaten today. He knew that many of his officers were in similar situations, so he encouraged them to enjoy the Rheinlanders’ hospitality.

The officers ate for ten minutes, and Schwarzkof opened the meeting.

“How do we propose protecting this system?” Black asked.

“Our scouts have found a jumphole to Omega-11 here. We are considering the fact that Bretonia might launch a simultaneous attack on both Dresden and Stuttgart. In that case, we would be lucky, since the Bretonians surely value Stuttgart more than Dresden. That would mean that their smaller force would be launched here.”

“Not likely,” said Serena Fox, “the Bretonians are no fools. While Stuttgart may have more bases, and have a valuable planet, Dresden is truly the economic backbone of Rheinland. There are vast amounts of metals and other minerals mined here, and those goods are what you use to make your battleships, and to power your factories. The Daumann and Kruger facilities here are very important to Rheinland, more than any government official knows or cares to admit. I think that they will send the bulk of their forces here.”

Black was very surprised, obviously Serena knew her stuff.

“That is very logical,” said Schwarzkof, “but it is obvious that you do not know Rheinland, which is my house, the one I was born in, and the one I still live in and protect. Dresden is a backwater system for Rheinland, and one that they do not care about. The metals here are not very important, since we rely on the Omegas for those. We considered abandoning this system because it was so worthless!”

“Don’t you see? It was all a trick by Rheinland, and they just want the Bretonians to THINK that the systems is unimportant, when really…”

Black was forced to listen to the debate for over thirty minutes. Serena and Schwarzkof were getting very much into the argument, and were both fervently fighting for their opinions. Serena had obviously done a lot of study on the houses and their economies, probably because of the war.

Finally, they finished. They had come to a consensus, without asking anyone else, that they would simply evenly divide up the fleets, and one part would go to the gate, and the other would go to the Omega-11 hole. It was such a simple solution that Black could have told them that before they had even started the long debate.

So, Schwarzkof split up the Rheinland fleet, while Black split up his. Black would lead the force to the jumphole, with the Jefferson, The Vengeance with Serena Fox, the other Rheinland battleship under Captain Marc Schlieden, one of the heavy cruisers, and three of the gunboats, as well as about four sqadrons of fighters. Schwarzkof took the rest of his and Black’s fleets, and the two forces parted ways, each headed for sentry duty at the two known ways into the system.

Black’s group took up a position just outside the cloud that led to the jumphole. They would monitor the entire cloud with sensors and fighter scouts. Once the Bretonian ships came through, they’d be ready. Until then, it promised to be boring sentry duty.

awesome jakob! That was a great chapter. Keep it up !

Here we are.
I suprised myself this time. This one was quick to write, but also the best chapter yet, in my opinion. This is the big battle you have been waiting so patiently for!


Chapter Ten – Duel of Angels

It had been three long, boring days since the force had arrived at their position near the jumphole. Every single officer and crewman was on edge, and most were tired of waiting for the battle that they all knew was coming. Sensors were being carefully monitored for any sign of a Bretonian or Kusari ship. Nothing had been sighted.

Admiral Black was sitting in the officer’s bar of the Jefferson. The room was empty, except for Serena and James Fox sitting across from him. The three officers had had little to do except sit and talk for the three days since they arrived.

Both Serena and James were always eager to here tales of Black’s early days, in Shikoku, and at Buffalo. The two operations had become rather famous in Liberty, especially among the younger Naval officers, like Serena. She told Black that they had spent hours in class at West Point learning about both of the missions. Both of the young officers wanted to hear the story from Black’s point of view, and he was happy to tell them, considering that he had nothing better to do.

“And so as the second Kusari fleet came in, I knew there would be nothing we could do to stop them. I sent our fighters out of there, and then ordered the first cruiser through, just as the Kusaris opened up on us…”

All of a sudden, the voice of one of the bridge officers, who had been assigned to watch, came on the ship’s loudspeaker.

“Attention, attention! Code Orange activated. All men to battle stations! All officers to their ships!”

The three officers leaped up. Black ran to the command post, James to the bridge, and Serena to the docking bay, to take a quick shuttle ride to her ship.

This, the moment they had all waited for, had arrived.

Black stepped out of the lift, and jogged over to his chair.

“Lieutenant, please fill me in,” he said to the young bridge officer who had made the call.

“Admiral, we picked up something on our long range scanners, and the fighter wing that we sent to investigate hasn’t returned. They were due back ten minutes ago. I decided that it was a threat,” she said.

“Good call. Please move the force closer to the field. Keep the scanners fixed on the area where you picked up the first signal. Get me a connection to Captain Schlieden.”

The face of the Rheinland officer popped up on the main screen in front of Black.

“Admiral, please tell me what is going on,” said Schlieden.

“We have picked something up on our scanners. We are tracking it and following it. You might want to follow us if you want some action.”

A smile appeared on the face of the Rheinlander.

“I cannot wait to get my hands on those fools who attacked my beloved house! We will crush them. Schlieden out.”

The screen winked out.

“Now, get me a connection to Admiral Schwarzkof.”

Schwarzkof appeared on the screen next.

“Admiral, we have picked up readings in the cloud. We are going to intercept. You may want to send part of your force to join us, because I think this is it,” Black said.

“Fine, I will divert a few ships to help you. How about…”

Someone yelled at Schwarzkof from off the screen.

“What? Prepare for action!” Schwarzkof said to the person, “Admiral, we are under attack! Bretonian ships are coming out of the jumpgate! There are so many! I will need every ship I have, so you will have to make do with your own fleet.”

Then, with a cry of, “For Rheinland!” the Admiral sent his ship into action. On the Jefferson, the screen winked out.

Black knew that the Bretonians were coming, and when they arrived, they would pull out all the stops.

“Prepare for immediate action!” Black called to the officers in the area.

“Sir, we have found the contacts! They are 3K from our current position, and closing rapidly!”

Black looked out the bow viewport, and could make out the shape of a group of several Bretonian battleships moving towards the Jefferson at cruise speed.

“Launch fighters!” Black called down to the docking bay, “recall all our scouts!” he cried to an officer.

“Sir, Bretonian ships are in range.”

“Fire, fire, fire!” Black called.

A tremendous volley of fire hit the Bretonian ships. They dropped out of cruise speed.

“Get me connected to the bridge, to Sclieden, and to Serena, now!” Black yelled. He needed to be able to give orders.
The main screen split into three sections, each with the face of one of the officers.

“Sclieden, keep your force here and lay down a sheet of fire on the enemy. Serena, gather our Liberty forces and follow me. James, take us five points starboard.”

All three acknowledged, and got to their assigned tasks.

The Jefferson lurched, and began moving to the starboard. Swarms of Bretonian fighters flew out of the ships, meeting the Liberty and Rheinland ships in battle. The Jefferson and the rest of the Liberty ships moved around the Bretonian ships, which were concentrating their fire on the more powerful Rheinland ships. The Liberty ships moved fast, firing as they went, until they got behind the Bretonians. They launched a tremendous volley at the enemy, and Black saw one of the enemy battleships explode. There were still five more battleships, but they were all weakened.

One of the gunboats exploded, falling to a torpedo launched by one of the Bretonian ships. Another Bretonian battleship succumbed to a Rheinland volley.

“My ship’s hull is failing!” shouted Serena over the comm.

“Hold on!” said James.

The Jefferson moved to block fire from hitting the Vengeance.

“Release your nanobots, Serena,” Black advised.

“I already did, sir. My ship’s hull has been repaired.”

Just then, another Bretonian force came out of the field, and began firing on the rear of the Liberty fleet. Another group of battleships had entered the fray, and the odds appeared to be highly against Black.

“Hull integrity failing! I can’t hold on! Ahhh!”

Another fighter down. Then, another large explosion, Black looked up, and saw that the Rheinland heavy cruiser had also been destroyed.

“Commodore, get this ship turned around and firing on the other enemy fleet!”

The ship turned again. Serena had already engaged the other fleet, moving her fast ship across their line of fire, shooting like crazy. Black looked at her on the screen, and watched her command her ship with finesse and grace. The Bretonians fired, but could not hit the fast moving ship.

The Jefferson opened up on the second fleet. Despite the amount of fire it took, the Jefferson held together. The shields had been severely drained, but they were still online and operable.

Black glanced over at the sensors. The fighter battle had gone very poorly. Dozens of Bretonian Crusaders attacked three Liberty and two Rheinland fighters. Seeing that the fighters couldn’t win, he ordered them to return to the Jefferson, even the Rheinland ones. The fighters retreated, with the Bretonians hot on their tail. Even with covering fire from the Jefferson, one of the Liberty fighters was shot down. The Bretonian fighters, once they realized that their prey had escaped, turned on the Vengeance.

A flurry of torpedoes was launched at the destroyer. They hit all over the hull and engines. One torpedo managed to get up the engine pipe and detonate inside the engine. The engine was utterly destroyed, and the Vengeance floated, dead in space.

Once she realized what had happened, Serena knew that she had no choice. Black watched as she ordered the crew to abandon ship. Before she left the bridge, Black told her to take a transport over to the Jefferson, where he and her brother were. She told him she’d try to make it to a transport. She then switched off her screen, and her section on Black’s screen went blank.

“Admiral, all our gunboats have been destroyed, and our hull is failing. We are being swarmed by fighters and battleships. I am afraid we will not survive. We are abandoning ship. Goodbye.” The words of Sclieden were filled with fear, but a sort of courage and satisfaction in knowing that there was nothing left to do. The man had fulfilled his duty. That portion of the screen went blank as well. Now James was the only one left.

Black watched out the viewports as both ships launched dozens of escape pods. A small transport launched from the tiny docking bay of the Vengeance. The ship made it about halfway to the Jefferson, when a Bretonian fighter moved in on its tail, and shot it down. One tiny escape pod launched from it as well. It was so sad. So many people lost.

“Fox, pull in as many of those pods as you possibly can!”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

Black watched as the tiny tractor beams reached out and grabbed several life pods from the Vengeance. The transport’s pod was out of range. So were all the pods from the Rheinland ships.

“Sir, they are moving in for the kill! We don’t have any time left. Our mission is failed, there is no way we can win.”

“Silence, Commodore Fox! No one will tell me when I have lost! We can escape from here, and save many lives too, if you just listen.”

“Do you have a plan, sir?”

“A damn good one. I want you to go to Pirna. If I am not there when you arrive, then go straight to the jumpgate, gather any of Schwarzkof’s survivors, and get the hell out of this system.”

“Meet up with you? You aren’t going out there, are you?”

“Heck yes I am!”

With that, Black switched off the main screen, and ran to the lift. Without a word to the other officers in the command post, he took the lift down to the docking bay level. He ran into the bay, and found what he was looking for. There were only four ships in the bay; the ships he had recalled a few minutes ago. He ran to one of the Rheinland heavy fighters, hopped in, and powered up. He received exit clearance, and lifted off of the deck. The airlock door opened, and Black zoomed out into the battle beyond. Things always looked different from the cockpit of a fighter than from the deck of a battleship. Black locked on to the nearest escape pod, and hit the afterburners. The ship accelerated towards the pod, and once he was in range, Black tractored it in.

One life saved, but it was nowhere near enough. He continued through the area around the abandoned Vengeance, which had been ignored by the Bretonians. He picked up a grand total of seven pods there. Then, he went for the area where he had seen the transport get shot down. Sure enough, a single lifepod floated in space next to the wreckage of the transport. Black tractored it in. He
headed for the Rheinland wreckage.

Before he got there, a Bretonian battleship jumped in on his tail. It shot at him, and soon enough, his computer starting shouting that his shield was down. He ducked and weaved, but he knew that he would be destroyed before he had a chance to get any lifepods. That left him with only one option. He pulled the fighter into a tight loop. Heading back towards the battleship now, he passed right over the top of it. He inverted and flipped back around, and aimed straight at the main gun and opened fire. Powerful lances of green energy erupted from his guns. The energy bolts struck the gun, and blew it apart. The docking bay doors opened and a wing of fighters rushed out. He hit the thrusters, and raced through the outer airlock door just as it closed. The inner door was still open, so he went through it as well.

It looked like the pictures he had seen of Bretonian docking bays. A large circular landing pad was in the middle, and several others were off behind walls. A few mechanics and pilots ran around, obviously afraid of the giant Rheinland fighter hovering in their docking bay. Black opened fire on the men, and made short work of them. Once the motion sensors were clear, Black set the ship down on the pad. Drawing his pistol, Black climbed out of the ship. He walked around to the rear of the ship, and opened the cargo hold door. He carefully removed the one-person lifepods from the hold, eight in all, and set them down on the deck. He shut the door. The fighters that had launched had not returned, so Black figured that they had chosen to go after the Jefferson.

After opening up all the pods, which were roughly the size of a person, Black waited for their occupants to regain consciousness and climb out of the pods. The pods made their occupants unconscious so they could survive long periods of time in vacuum. The occupants would regain their consciousness once they were in an oxygen-rich environment.

One by one, Liberty crewmen began emerging from the pods. The seven from the Vengeance came to, but the one from the transport, the one Black thought was Serena, was still unconscious.

The crewmen were exhausted and scared, but glad to be alive, nonetheless. Black was glad to see that each was carrying a sidearm. Each one was disoriented, and were very shocked when Black informed them that they were on a Bretonian battleship.

So far, Black had been lucky that no one had come into the bay. That luck wouldn’t last long. He considered leaving the pod where it was, and coming back for it later, but he felt an obligation that, if the unconscious person was Serena, to return her to James alive.

Finally, the person in the pod stirred. The person climbed out, and Black was glad to see that it was Serena Fox, alive but shaken. She nodded to him, and then asked where they were, and Black explained the situation to her.
They both agreed that, despite the fact that James would be leaving the system soon, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. They could gather a lot of information on this ship, and perhaps ever commandeer it. The odds were long, very long in fact, but Black and Serena thought that it would be their best chance.

Black sealed and locked the fighter. The group headed out, going for the ship’s bridge, and they were willing to give anything to get there, and get back to Liberty with their prize. Everything hinged on their success.

Edited by - ww2jacob on 1/6/2005 2:26:26 PM