The armored yellow shuttle touched down uncomfortably close to Talon Squad's camp. Vanbrook looked on in disgust as the side door flew open and four Xanathous Brotherhood troopers stormed out, one slamming a beacon into the earth as he went.

"The People's Interstellar Cooperative claim this planet as their own," announced one of the hulking troopers in a voice that was modulated by his full-face helmet. "You are trespassing on the People's property!"

"You big yellow boogers can crawl back into your shuttle and fly back to your Daddy," said Vanbrook, resting his hand on his revolver.

"Watch your mouth, trespasser," said the trooper, taking a menacing step forward.

"I'm not trespassing. Actually, I'm on good terms with the locals," said Vanbrook, jerking his thumb towards the insectoids who were standing warily behind Hrake. The Hrudukite had exchanged the harp for his hammer.

"That'll be for the IGC to look into," responded the trooper dryly.

Vanbrook rolled his eyes. "I'd call you out for playing dumb, only I don't think you're playing."

The rest of Talon Squad was gathering behind Vanbrook now, readying themselves for a fight. The two insectoid archers stood with them.

***

Darvik's hands were shaking as he looked through the scope at Vanbrook. The PIC troopers didn't really complicate matters for him; he wasn't coming back from this one, anyway. It did mean he was on a time table, though. If he didn't kill Vanbrook soon, they probably would.

He let out a breath and steadied himself. One of the yellow troopers moved, and Darvik snapped off a shot, scared he'd miss his opportunity.

***

Having heard enough out of Vanbrook, the lead trooper stepped forward. The moment he had, a shot rang out, and the troopers leveled their rifles at Vanbrook, who was pulling his sword and revolver.

A sudden blast kicked up a billow of sand and Vanbrook was yanked backwards. The Xanathous troopers fired blindly into the sand and air. Hrake fired his hammer rifle at the enemy, but the beam dissipated over their EM-shielded armor. Reclan’s drones created an EM shield-wall to keep the troopers from slaughtering them where they stood.

“Talon Squad, hold your fire!” shouted D’Jarric. “Someone was trying to kill Vanbrook.”

Vanbrook blinked furiously against the sand. “I think they’re all trying to kill me!”

“No, the first shot, it wasn’t the PIC,” D’Jarric insisted. “It came from the tree line.”

The sand cleared and the troopers realized they were shooting into a shield.

“What is this?” demanded the lead trooper.

Another shot came from the treeline, but Relcan had angled the shield to protect Vanbrook from the tree line. The shot bounced off the wall harmlessly.

The PIC troopers stormed into and around the shield wall and the fight began in earnest. Raivyn shot a T-bolt right into the lead trooper’s helmet, causing him to shout out and double over in pain. Though the helmet was T-shielded, it wasn’t T-proof, at least not to a psychic of Raivyn’s skill.

Vanbrook dashed forward and stabbed his energized saber into the gap between a trooper’s chestplate and pauldron. The trooper dropped his rifle but swung his good hand at Vanbrook’s head in a deadly, powerful haymaker. Vanbrook dodged the swing easily, his light armor making him far more maneuverable than his foe.

Along with Raivyn and Vanbrook, Hrake’s swinging hammer, D’Jarric’s powered fists and repeated shots from Doc’s rifle kept the troopers occupied while Reclan focused on defending the team from the shooter in the forest, keeping her shield wall up but sending a lone drone towards the gunshot. While her drones did their work she called Jasken.

“Wingspan, this is Talon Squad! We are under attack by a squad of PIC Brotherhood troopers and under fire by another unknown assailant.”

“Understood, Talon Squad,” replied Jasken. “The odds are about to turn in your favor, hang in there!”

***

As Jasken ended his call with Talon Squad, an alarm flashed on Mairen’s screen.

“Admiral, we’ve got incoming!” shouted the Comms Officer. "Ramshackle Collective from the look of things. Brace for possible stealth rockets."

"Captain Hunt, scramble fighters," commanded Jasken. "There's a good chance they're working with the Astralbians, so keep your eyes peeled."

"We have a call coming in, Admiral," said Mairen.

"The Collective?" he asked.

"No, sir, it's the PIC," she answered.

Jasken gritted his teeth. "Answer the call."

A corpulent Talpidarian in a stretched yellow jumpsuit appeared on Jasken's screen.

"Your men have attacked mine, Admiral," said the indignant Grand Brother.

"That's not how they've described the situation, but as I am under attack by pirates I'm afraid I cannot discuss the nuances right now," said Jasken.

The Talpidarian's eyebrows went up. "Say no more, Admiral. The PIC does not allow pirates to even orbit the People's property."

***

Darvik took a swig from his canteen to steady his nerves as he tried to reposition and get a shot on Vanbrook. Talon Squad was going toe-to-toe with four heavy troopers and holding their own, but as long as they were distracted Darvik had a chance.

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A small, black orb rose in front of his face.

"Gotcha," said a voice through the drone's speaker.

Darvik's limbs shook and his body was racked with pain as the drone fired off an electrical shock. Then the world went black.

***

Vanbrook dodged another deadly swing from the Xanathous trooper, sidestepping a brutal uppercut. He saw all too late that the trooper had adjusted mid-swing and planned to bring a heavy fist down on his head. Something shot over Vanbrook's shoulder and the trooper cried out, crumpling to the ground with a bolt sticking out of his armpit. Vanbrook turned to see one of the insectoids holding a discharged crossbow with impressive accuracy.

"Thanks," he said with a wry smile.

The Xanathous troopers all lay either groaning or unconscious on the ground. Talon Squad worked together to strip them of their weapons, though they couldn't unseal their armor without the proper codes and tools.

Reclan dragged something from the tree line. Vanbrook's smile faded as he saw what it was. He stormed over and tore the burden from Reclan's arms, throwing Darvik to the ground, where he lay face up.

Vanbrook's hands trembled as he pulled his revolver and took aim at the unconscious man's forehead. All of Talon Squad paused and stared at him in horror and anticipation.

No.

The voice was firm and angry. Vanbrook tried to squeeze the trigger but found he couldn't.

Get out of my head, Raivyn, he demanded. I thought you kept to some kind of code.

I do, she replied. Currently I am stopping a murder, which is fully in keeping with all the legal, ethical, and personal standards I hold to.

Vanbrook struggled, his gun hand shaking violently.

Right now it looks like you're wrestling with your thoughts. Just walk away, I won't stop you.

Vanbrook turned his head, staring over his shoulder at Raivyn. She was the picture of calm, staring back at him, looking cold and indifferent.

I'm not letting you throw your life away over this poor fool who's thrown his away already. Please.

Vanbrook lowered his arm, turning from Darvik. Raivyn's presence left his mind. He reversed suddenly, wheeling and bringing up his gun again. Before he could pull the trigger a sub-lethal bolt of T-waves struck his head and he crumpled to the sand.

Raivyn looked up into the sky and sighed. The silhouette of the Gladius appeared above her and she could hear the roar of the ship's thrusters.

One of the Xanathous Brothers stirred, grabbing her by the ankle. She cried out and kicked his helmet out of instinct, but he was undeterred. The rest of Talon Squad came to her aid as another trooper, badly wounded and disoriented, joined the scrum.

"Xanathous Brothers, stand down!" came a heavy voice over the trooper's comms. "Pirates are attacking our rightful claim to the planet and we will be fighting alongside the Griffon Republic to defend it. Return to the fleet immediately and prepare for boarding action."

The two groups of warriors stepped back from one another. The air was thick with animosity, but no one dared be the first to strike.

"Are you in any condition to fly?" asked Raivyn, her head cocked to one side.

"Ha," snorted the lead trooper. "We won't even break a sweat fighting through the little bruises you managed to land."

Raivyn rolled her eyes and turned away.

Looking around, Reclan's heart fell into her stomach. Vanbrook still laid crumpled where he landed, and Darvik was crouching over him, knife raised over his head. She pulled her pistol and fired, the bullet clipping Darvik's arm. He cried out and dove into the tree line, fleeing into the woods. Reclan jumped up to run after him, but he had a good lead and by the time she made it to the trees she couldn't see him.

"Rec," said Raivyn. "We have to get on the Gladius, the fleet is waiting for backup."

She turned around reluctantly to see Vanbrook stirring in the sand.

"Wha- where is he?" demanded Vanbrook, going from groggy to furious as he spoke.

"Get to the Gladius, Vanbrook," demanded Raivyn.

"You let him go!?" shouted Vanbrook.

"Later, Vanbrook!” she retorted, fury in her voice. "You are in enough trouble as it is!"

Grepk appeared in the door of the Gladius. "Come on, Talon Squad! We ain't got all day!"

Everyone hustled to the Gladius, Vanbrook wearing a sour, sullen look on his face. With a bow, Hrake took the shell harp from a satchel on his belt and returned it to one of the insectoids. Antennae waved fiercely in a friendly goodbye as the ship took off.

***

"More ships just came out of jump near our position, Admiral," said Mairen.

"The Astralbians?" asked Jasken.

She shook her head. "Signatures are all wrong. It's a hodgepodge of all different ships, though- oh, they're calling."

Jasken answered and was shocked to see Admiral Crush on the screen. "Admiral, could you use a hand?"

"Admiral Crush," said Jasken coolly. "I have some questions as to how you came to join us here, but I will defer them until after we've defeated this Ramshackle fleet."

An explosion rocked the ship.

"Who have apparently started firing on us," said Jasken, turning to his officers. "Captain Hunt, scramble fighters! I want those pirates hurting, now!"

Admiral Gnash's ships were surprisingly well-shielded for Ramshackle ships, and the combined fire of the PIC, the FRF and the already-battered Blue Griffon Fleet was not enough to destroy them outright. Jasken nervously watched Dekken's shield readouts.

"We need a new tactic," said Jasken over a channel that included Crush and Grand Brother Treskt.

"Agreed," said Treskt. "My Xanathous troopers were injured by your troop's treachery but they claim they have received enough first aid to shake off the attack."

Jasken shook his head, not caring that Treskt could see the expression on his screen.

"You're suggesting a boarding action?" asked Jasken, smoothing his mustache.

Treskt nodded.

"Admiral," warned Mairen, "the Astralbians have shown up behind the Collective."

Her point was underlined by the impact of several great eye beams against the Wingspan's shields.

"Admiral Jasken," said Crush. "Let us rotate our fleets. We'll get out in front of you to take a turn absorbing great eye fire. In addition, I have my star tree and a number of skiffs. We will join your fighters."

"Let's do it," said Jasken with a nod. "Coordinate with Captain Hunt."

"Admiral," said another voice, "this is Marine Captain Grepk, we're ready for orders."

"Treskt, is it?" Jasken asked the Talpidarian on his screen.

"Grand Brother Treskt, yes," he answered.

"Grand Brother Treskt, then," said Jasken. "There's three major gunships in the first line of the Ramshackle fleet. Can your troopers handle the one closest to your position?"

"All three, given time," answered Treskt condescendingly.

"Just worry about the one," answered Jasken flatly.

"Agreed," said Treskt.

Jasken turned to Grepk. "I want the Marines on the second ship and Talon Squad on the third. I need the shields taken down on all three ships."

“Yes, sir," answered Grepk and Raivyn simultaneously.

"Crush," said the Admiral, "I need you to focus on defense. Fire your guns when possible and scramble any fighters you have to keep pressure off the fleets."

"Understood, Admiral," she answered. "We'll do what we can."

"Excellent. Show these princes and pirates what true heroism looks like."