Grim read over the notification a third time. The FRF had established a beacon, and it wasn’t even to claim a world as their own. Crush’s actions confused him now. At first, the mutiny had seemed like a standard power grab, but she was acting more and more like a member of the IGC. Regardless, he now knew exactly where to find Crush, and in time he would. For now he would have to settle himself with taking his vengeance on the Griffon Republic.

He walked out of his fortified cabin and made his way to Jylik’s mother tree. The so-called Emperor had summoned him to Gateway, promising to finalize their plans there. When he entered the command room, he gave a perfunctory bow to Jylik and the female he assumed was the Empress, and then looked sidelong at the rotund Krauqian who stood beside her.

“Admiral Grim,” said Jylik. “Welcome.”

“Emperor,” said Grim in saccharine tones. “Thank you for your gracious invitation.”

“Right,” said Jylik dismissively. “To the matter at hand. We anticipate that the Griffon Republic is gathering to make a strike on our positions in the Glasaxian system. They will then likely try to reclaim Avonia before making their way here. When they reach Gateway, I expect them to be a smoldering shadow of their former power. At that point your pirate fleet, along with my star trees and the Koomite’s fleet and army will be ready to finish the work of destroying them.”

Grim noted that Jylik gestured to the Krauqian when he said the word ‘Koomite.’

“So all you're asking is for my fleet to orbit Gateway and wait in ambush?” asked Grim.

“That about sums it up,” said Jylik.

“Easy enough,” snorted Grim. “The Astralbian Kingd–I mean Empire–I know about. Now explain to me who the Koomites are.”

“A cult that worships the aether beasts,” said Jylik. “They have a meager fleet, but many powerful psychics. We anticipate the bulk of their work being done as ground troops.”

The Krauqian winced at the word “cult.” Grim nodded his understanding.

“Then I won’t sully your command room with my presence any further, Emperor,” said Grim with an exaggerated bow. “My fleet will be in orbit if we are needed.”

***

The Pick was too badly damaged to be fixed in the field, and the majority of the crew was dispersed to other ships. A skeleton crew was left aboard to fly the ship back to Kirakna for complete repairs.

The remaining ships landed on Platnon, where they found a few hastily abandoned bases, but no sign of Astralbian resistance.

"I should have listened to you sooner," said Drai.

Jasken over at him. The pair were on the bridge of the Pinion, looking over the latest intel concerning the Astralbian's positions in the Glasaxian system.

"What do you mean?" asked Jasken.

Drai shook his head. "You told me I ought to back down, and I didn’t. We came within a hair's breadth of losing the Pick."

"We didn't, though, that's what counts," said Jasken.

Drai laughed. "You have the reputation of being a hard man, but you don't do much to maintain it."

Jasken shrugged. "Getting soft in my old age, I suspect."

Drai, not a youth himself, nodded soberly. "But you couldn't live without all this, could you?"

"I'm not sure," said Jasken, thinking back on Kesht's final words. "I'm really not sure."

***

Vanbrook once more filled a cup with rakka and sat down at an awkwardly quiet table. Trebor had insisted on joining Talon Squad for meals, and it had proven impossible to avoid it without resorting to efforts that would have gotten Vanbrook court-martialed.

As much as he enjoyed his daydreams of beating Trebor and his goons senseless, he didn’t want to bring that kind of headache down on Raivyn or Jasken.

“Tell me, Yellup,” said D’Jarric, who had kept his good-natured air through the less-than-ideal circumstances. “How did you come to work with the RTS?”

The young Wabuluban looked up from his food, surprised by the question. He looked uncomfortable for a moment before he spoke, stealing a glance at Raivyn.

“I was one of the most powerful psychics in my graduating class at the Academy for Telemilitary Studies,” he said at length. “Trebor was looking to have a psychic on his squad and selected me.”

“He was, in fact, the second most powerful psychic in his class,” said Winnow, staring directly at Raivyn.

“That’s a hard thing to measure,” said Raivyn coolly.

“We’re all on the same team,” said Trebor. “Let’s not squabble now.”

“When shall we squabble, then?” asked Vanbrook.

Trebor looked up at him in disgust. “Some of us take our jobs seriously, Vanbrook.”

“That’s ‘Specialist’ Vanbrook,” replied the swashbuckler with mock indignation.

Reclan snorted, nearly spitting out her drink. Trebor’s permanent scowl deepened.

“Van does take his job seriously,” offered D’Jarric. “But he does not take himself seriously. I find it to be an admirable quality.”

“Then perhaps I misjudged the wisdom of the lofted Solarans,” said Trebor as he got up to clear his plate.

D’Jarric continued to smile serenely, clearly unbothered by the remark.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“How can you stand to work with that guy?” asked Reclan as she shoved another sizable chunk of steak into her mouth.

“He’s not as bad as he seems,” offered Yellup weakly.

“He’s a great man,” snapped Winnow.

Yellup waved her off. “I know you have your concerns, Raivyn, and I understand them. But when you’re stuck in the trenches, Trebor’s a good friend to have with you. He’s saved my life more times than I can count.”

“That doesn’t make up for his excesses,” said Raivyn. “He’s made a career of antagonizing psychics.”

“He excels at tricking bad actors into showing their hand,” said Winnow.

“Just understand that, this time around, I’ve got as close an eye on the three of you as you have on me,” said Raivyn. “Understood?”

The question went unanswered, and the rest of the meal was eaten in silence.

***

The fleet split into three groups, with the Silver Star Fleet going to Quarry, the Blue Griffon fleet and the Apex going to Glasaxia, and the Gladius going to monitor T’Lakia. The Astralbians were ready for them both on their own world and on Glasaxia, appearing soon after the fleets arrived at their destinations.

Over Glasaxia, Jasken oversaw the battle from the bridge of the Wingspan. The Apex was mainly a transport, but it sported heavy cannons and more than pulled its weight under the leadership of Captain Tank. The Robot hadn’t struck Jasken as a particularly sharp individual, but he was clearly a talented tactician, choosing targets with intention and keeping the enemy guessing.

Great eyes were fired sparingly, the Astralbians rightly fearing that the Republic’s bombers would take advantage of them if possible. Jasken smiled as he saw the ripple effects of Aethercrate’s serendipitous discovery.

The fighters hugged the star trees, defending against any potential payload of hugger mines. When a tree opened to release a wave of mines, the fighters peeled off and Cowgirl fired a missile into the hanger, detonating the first mine and causing a chain reaction that destroyed that tree.

The forces on Glasaxia were soon scattered or destroyed, and Jasken watched a few small star trees jump towards Quarry.

“Admiral Drai, this is Jasken,” said the Admiral over ripmed comms. “I have Captian Tank of the Apex on the line as well. His shields are still in fighting shape and he can jump to your locations in under half an hour, including prep time. Shall he join you?”

“Captain Tank,” answered Drai. “Your help would be more than welcome! The forces are fairly dug in here. We could use the additional ground troops.”

“We’ll begin preparations immediately, Admiral,” said Tank.

“I’ll send Talon Squad over to the Apex via shuttle,” said Jasken. “Their talents are wasted here. Meanwhile the Wingspan will sweep the surface of Glasaxia one more time to make sure the Gladius didn’t miss anything.”

“Excellent,” said Drai, “I’ll speak to you shortly.”

A short time later, Talon Squad and the RTS agents were loaded into the shuttle and latched onto the Apex for the jump to Quarry. The atmosphere between the two groups remained icy. Yellup took some interest in Reclan’s tinkering, but the Dromean snubbed him and he dropped the matter.

Being in the same star system, ripmed jumps allowed for near-instantaneous travel even with lower energy input. The Apex appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, just a few short miles outside the battle that raged over Quarry. Before engaging in the battle, Tank had all the Hrudukite warriors take their seats in the personnel compartment. Like a massive shuttle, the compartment could break off of the rest of the ship and serve as a transport vehicle. While it had no ripmed drive and a limited amount of firepower, it was heavily shielded and surprisingly fast for its bulk, able to land quickly under hostile conditions. Talon Squad’s shuttle detached from the Apex as well, and the two ships darted for their designated landing zone as Tank opened fire on the enemy.

***

Krum-Bahk watched the readouts from the pilot’s seat aboard the Gladius. The Koomite waystation on T’Lakia was impossible to spot with the naked eye from where the ship sat, half a million miles away from the small, rocky planet. The distance ensured that they wouldn’t be spotted, unless they were being very carefully looked for. If they were, they would have plenty of time to retreat before anyone could reach them. However, light and radio waves originating on T’Lakia’s surface would reach them in less than three seconds, giving them information practically in real time.

“Oh, hey!” said Krum-Bahk suddenly. “We’ve got movement!”

Sure enough, the Gladius’ powerful telescopes caught an image of a small shuttle taking off from the waystation. Grepk ran up the steps to check out the data as it came in.

“Yeah, looks like a small troop transport, but it could be heading for Quarry based on the trajectory,” said Grepk. “Let me know if they jump or if other ships join in. I’m going to let the Admirals know.”

***

Shots pinged off the hull and windshield of Talon Squad’s shuttle as Reclan brought it down for a rough landing. The Apex’s trooper shuttle landed broadside to the enemy, and wave after wave of shouting Hrudukite warriors poured out as the entire side of the shuttle folded down into a massive exit ramp. They wore armored suits painted to match the colors of their respective city-states, but all of the breast plates bore an embossed depiction of Hruduk, the major continent that the city-states shared in the center.

Reclan and the other pilot utilized their shuttles’ guns to lay down a suppressive fire as their passengers disembarked. Shoulder-mounted eye cannons fired at the infantry forces, but were quickly targeted by Reclan’s deadly guns. The burst of thorn guns were largely ineffectual at long distances, and the Griffonian and Hrudukite forces were still largely intact when they reached the mountain.

The Astralbians had built a fortified position inside a series of natural caves, and the orbital barrages Drai had ordered weren't enough to destroy it. The Silver Star Fleet had managed to do some damage to the star tree orchards being grown around the mountain, but an infantry assault was the most straight-forward way to cripple the enemy position while the fleet was engaged above.

Charging into the mountain complex alongside his squadmates, the RTS agents, and the Hrudukites, Vanbrook saw a small detachment of star trees, likely loaded with hugger mines, fly out of the cave in the side of the mountain, highlighting the need to shut down the facility.

The line of Astralbians stationed at the massive cave mouth broke immediately as the hammer rifles, heads crackling with energy, smashed into it. Close combat followed. The RTS agents stood side-by-side with Talon Squad and pressed into the cave. Vanbrook was honestly impressed by Trebor’s skill with a saber and pistol. Yellup stood back, holding one of his tentacles to his temple, sending waves of apprehension into the enemy’s minds. The effect was minimal on an individual Astralbian, but it seemed to build on itself as one soldier’s hesitation fed anothers. Winnow took the more direct approach of firing her wrist-mounted laser cannon into any groups of Astralbians that showed signs of rallying.

“Raivyn,” called out Yellup. “Help me out here.”

Grudgingly, Raivyn saw the wisdom of the strategy and fell back from the frontline, letting D’Jarric step in to hold back the forces she’d been contending with. The two psychics worked together to spread a feeling of dread among the enemy, draining the last dregs of their resolve. The confused mass of Astralbians fell to Hrudukite hammers and the troops found themselves in an all-but undefended hangar. D’Jarric worked with the Hrudukites to blast the star trees still in the hangar, though a few managed to limp away from the formidable volume of energy blasts.

Raivyn reached out to the Pinion on her comm. “Admiral Drai, this is Specialist Raivyn. We’ve infiltrated the base, looks like we’ll have it secured shortly.”

“Excellent!” answered Drai. “We’re still seeing a few smaller trees joining the fight from the surface, though.”

“What you’re seeing now should be about the last of them,” answered Raivyn.

“Keep me up to date,” said Drai. “We’ve still got our hands full up here.”