Mo was looking through some of the reports from the other destroyers and noticed a shocking trend. Acts of violence between the crew members were trending up after the announcement about the black hole and the unified command with the PRE. She was just starting to think it couldn't happen on Nemo when Treecy leaped to her feet and ran out of the office shouting, "Lieutenant Dedmon we have a fight on board!"

Mo grabbed a stun stick and chased after Treecy who was already at the fight before Mo could even catch up. As soon as the crew saw Treecy they broke up the fight with the responsible parties laying down flat on the ground and the bystanders standing at attention, "Ma'am, we're sorry, it's just that Jefferson was saying that those PRE bastards are trying to set us up for an ambush and Reynolds was saying that you and that Ben guy were PRE plants. Well, then a fight broke out..."

Lieutenant Dedmon finally arrived and said, "Good work, de Santos, who started the fight?"

Treecy gave a quick salute and then said, "From the camera footage I saw that man..." She pointed at PFC Jefferson, "Take a swing at that man..." She pointed at PFC Reynolds, "And then the others created a circle and egged the two of them on."

Lieutenant Dedmon nodded and then looked at the others and asked, "Well then? How should I handle this?"

The men turned red from embarrassment and didn't make eye contact with her. Treecy spoke up, "Lieutenant Dedmon, per the Federation handbook these men who participated by encouraging the fighting should have to spend 48 hours in the brig."

Lieutenant Dedmon nodded and then said, "Well, we can't very well throw 15 men in the brig..." She sighed.

Treecy looked confused and asked, "Do we seek a higher authority then?"

Lieutenant Dedmon chuckled and shook her head, "No, we let them go... This time." She stared at the ring leaders and at the two men who had the fight, "You guys are good, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am." They answered as a group while standing at attention.

Lieutenant Dedmon frowned and looked them over before stating, "We are in a bad spot here in this sector of space. We might not ever make it back home, so we need each and every one of you on your A-game. The PRE and our future friends included." She ran a hand over her face in an exasperated facepalm and then added, "As you were, this time without the ruckus if you please. Acting Ensign de Santos, with me."

As the two of them walked away Lieutenant Dedmon spoke quietly to Treecy, "It's going to get much worse in the coming days, good eye to spot this before it got out of hand."

For the next few days, things were quiet in the squadron as Rescue One and Van Halen joined up with the squadron as it headed for the second planet in ZX-409. Treecy hadn't heard from Ben in a while but that didn't mean he had been quiet. The women of the squadron had been surrounding him the way the men of the squadron surrounded Treecy. Unlike Treecy however, Ben was more than willing to take advantage of the situation. His incredible good looks made him even more of an attraction than even the Colonel.

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Treecy wasn't sure if it was just to satisfy himself or to anger her, but Ben would appear in her line of sight frequently with a group of women hanging on to him attentively. Treecy was getting so upset she finally said something to Mo and Kumiko as they sat together in the officer's mess. Kumiko chuckled, "Treecy, are you done with that guy or not? If you are, then just give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Make out with someone else when he can see?" Treecy looked unsure.

Kumiko nodded, "Sure, in fact, why don't you use Mo? That way you don't..."

Mo elbowed Kumiko hard in the ribs and said, "Treecy, don't listen to this lunatic. Just ignore him and be yourself."

Kumiko rubbed her ribs and made a face at Mo saying, "Bitch, I was trying to help you out too."

"Yeah, please stop helping damn it." They took a few minutes not speaking to each other while staring daggers at each other.

Treecy then asked, "If I try to make him jealous won't that just encourage him anyway? It just annoys me that he is trying to make me jealous when he is just making me annoyed that I have to see him acting like a pompous peacock."

Kumiko shrugged and then said, "I just assumed that since you were annoyed with him that part of you was still interested in him."

Treecy sighed and then said, "I was together with him for six years, a lot of it I suppose is still habit? But sure, I mean, yeah there is a part of me that sees him with other women as a direct attack on me. Like, I don't know... Why wasn't I good enough? And then I remember he's here because he chased after me but like... Why with those other girls if he came all the way out here for me? It's confusing and I don't like it."

"Oh, I get it." Mo said and then she tapped her chin with a finger before saying, "This guy is purposely trying to make you jealous, you know it and he knows you know it."

Treecy smiled at Mo and nodded, "Yeah."

Harv cleared his throat and offered, "If I may add some advice, maybe you should just talk to him, decide if a relationship with him is even possible, and then give him a path to follow should you wish for the relationship to continue. Otherwise, just ignore him entirely."

The three women looked at each other and then Kumiko, "Oh my god, men have the worst ideas."

Mo nodded, "I was thinking the same thing."

Treecy nodded and said, "It's so gross how men always want to fix everything instead of just listening."

Harv looked angry and said, "Oh, fuck you, man!"

Everyone in the officer's mess laughed and then Colonel John spoke up, "Alright, enough. All of you. If you have time to come up with solutions for de Santos's love life how about taking some of that thoughtfulness and applying it to our life and death situation."

Kumiko chuckled and said, "I think we were helping her because the other problem is weighing so heavy on us, Colonel."

He nodded and said, "I understand, Tachibana, but lighting up our pilot isn't the answer, no matter how bad his advice is."

Harv stared at Colonel John with an open mouth, "Fuck. You're fucking part of it!" He pointed at the Colonel with his fork.

Colonel John just smiled. Mo then asked, "What do you think we'll find on the second planet?"

Colonel John shrugged, "The Gah's homeworld? A base? Who knows, I am just hoping that we'll find a way home or at least to Treecy's home." He looked over at Treecy and winked.

Suddenly the red alert klaxon sounded. Everyone sprinted to their battle stations. Everywhere around the destroyer crew members threw on gloves and helmets as people took over their usual posts. Treecy and Mo took up positions in the security office and stood by watching on the monitors.

On the command deck, Harv Colonel John, Hicks, and the rest got a quick briefing as they brought up their displays. Colonel John stared at his screen and watched as two of the squadron's destroyers exploded one after another. Everyone that could see gasped. Even Nemo dropped the tablet in his hologram hand. Colonel John called out, "What happened?"

Harv suddenly called out, "Madarchod!" While violently adjusting the destroyer's course.

Nemo called out, "I'm taking control, we are passing through some kind of dense matter field!"

At that moment another one of the squadron's destroyers snapped in half the secondary explosions going off a few minutes later. Colonel John felt as if he could feel something massive pass by as gravity warped. The metal groaned like it was twisting.

Rescue One dodged through the squadron a moment later. A huge section of its outer hull ripped open like something passed through like a cannon shell.

"Nemo, what kind of damage did it do?" Colonel John looked over his own system seeing a huge list of damages coming in from each destroyer in the squadron.

"My left wing and the number three engine will need repair. No damage to any of the ordinances. Thirteen crew members were injured." Nemo called off while looking distracted.

"Six Seventy-Three, Rescue One, be advised, We have received massive damage to our main propulsion." General Shuang's voice came into Colonel John's ear.

"Rescue One, Six Seventy-Three, copy. We have lost three birds and have reports of many injuries and damages to most of the squadron, over."

"Rescue One copies."