The moment Reclan landed the shuttle, Vanbrook, Raivyn, D’Jarric, and Hrake bolted out of the ramp, each carrying a long, heavy pole. They ran to the four corners of the ruined fence and slammed their burdens into the ground. Immediately a transparent force field activated from pole to pole, reestablishing the camp’s defensive perimeter.

“It’s safe now, Doc,” said Vanbrook.

“If you say so,” replied the Robot. “Guess we’ll know for sure if one of those cloud beasts comes and tries to take down the fence.”

Vanbrook looked around at the ruined equipment and bodies strewn around the destroyed base. It was hard to say what damage had been done by the Astralbian attack and what had been done by the territorial, electromagnetic cloud beasts that stalked the forest of Avonia, targeting any electromagnetic signatures it deemed strong enough to be a threat.

Reclan came down the ramp along with the three RTS agents and Kwa-Kwa and her Scouts.

“I got some weird readings,” said Reclan. “Signs of active tech. I doubt there are any survivors, but we’ll definitely want to check.”

“You guys check out the base,” said Kwa-Kwa. “I’m going to take the scouts and check the perimeter outside the fence.”

“Just make sure you leave any tech behind,” warned Doc.

“No worries,” said Kwa-Kwa. “We’re not planning on being patients today.”

Talon Squad made their way to the control building to search for survivors and any salvageable equipment, Trebor and his agents in tow.

The explosion was so sudden and unexpected that it took Vanbrook a moment to understand what had happened. One moment it was silent, the next the world was all flashing lights and noise. He realized that he was on his back, and he looked up to see the shuttle was a burning wreck.

Something burst out of the ground a few feet away. A rusted robot in a crimson overcoat rose from the ground and came towards him. He pulled his pistol and fired, but in his disoriented state the shot went wide. He pulled his saber next, energizing the blade and hacking an arm off the attacking robot, but another one came up from behind and grabbed Vanbrook’s sword arm.

He looked around wildly, only to see the others all in a similar state. Five robots were wrestling Hrake to the ground, one punching him repeatedly in the head until he went limp. Unfortunately, D’Jarric had been closest to the blast, and his avatar wavered unsteadily from the shock, blurring occasionally as the pirates fitted him with EM dampening handcuffs designed with Astralbians in mind. Everyone else was either unconscious or worse.

The Scouts appeared back in the camp and leveled their weapons, afraid to fire and hit one of their own. The Ramshackle Collective pirates laughed cruelly and fired at the Scouts, who had to run for cover while the pirates carried off their prey.

Vanbrook struggled, refusing to be pulled away. Something blunt and heavy crashed into the back of his skull and his world went black.

“Wingspan, this is Kwa-Kwa, come in!” said a voice over Jasken’s comm.

“This is Jasken, Kwa-Kwa, what’s going on?” he replied.

“The Ramshackle Collective, Sir! They just took Talon Squad!”

“Excuse me!? What do you mean?” Jasken demanded.

“They blew up the shuttle,” she answered. “Next thing you know, a bunch of pirates leapt up out of the rubble, grabbed Talon Squad and those RTS guys while they were disoriented and ran off with them.”

Jasken smoothed his mustache. “Where are they now?”

“The Collective dragged them off into the forest,” answered Kwa-Kwa. “We’re in pursuit- oh, no. They’re boarding a vessel, Admiral, there’s no way we’re going to catch up to them in time.”

“Don’t get yourselves shot,” said Jasken. “We’ll watch the surface and try to intercept.”

“Yes, sir,” said Kwa-Kwa.

“Admiral, we’ve got incoming stealth missiles,” said Mairen.

“This is Admiral Drai, brace for impact!” said a voice over the public comms, confirming Mairen’s report. A series of explosions played out across the fleet. Most of the missiles erupted harmlessly over shields, but one PIC support vessel was obliterated immediately.

“Where are they?” demanded Jasken.

“Headed straight for us and launching another volley,” answered Mairen.

“Return fire as soon as you have a target!” said Jasken.

The pirate vessels appeared as pinpricks of light over the horizon, slowly growing in size and resolving into a fleet of solar-sailed galleons, which began to disappear as quickly as they had appeared.

“They’re jumping away!” said Mairen.

Jasken gritted his teeth. “They’re just a distraction, the Collective has what it came for!”

***

When Vanbrook woke up, he was in the brig of a Ramshackle ship. The cells were eight foot square cages made of iron bars, one row against either wall and a walkway in the middle for guards. Hrake was in the corner of the same cell, singing in Hrudukite in a soft, low voice.

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"Look who decided to wake up," said Reclan.

Vanbrook turned his head to look across the way to her cell, and his head pounded with a massive headache. He groaned.

"Bottom line is, we're pretty much stuck," Reclan continued. "They've got all our gear and these cells are the only part of the ship with atmo, so taking over the ship isn't going to work too well."

“What about Doc and D'Jarric?" asked Vanbrook.

"I believe the pirates thought of that," said D'Jarric.

Vanbrook followed the sound of his voice and found the cell that he shared with Doc. D'Jarric still wavered a bit, not fully recovered from the blast and Doc stood quietly a few feet from the back wall of his cell, about as far away as his chains would let him. They were both bound hand and foot with shackles, and D'Jarric's were designed to suppress his energy projection abilities.

"How about the illustrious RTS?" asked Vanbrook, looking down towards the cells they were in. Winnow was chained up the same way Doc was, and Yellup and Trebor sat quietly contemplating the situation.

"The cells are all T-blocked," said Raivyn, leaning against the bars in the same cell as Reclan. "And I don't believe it's Ramshackle technology. It feels alive. Between that and the tactics used to take us, I suspect this is all being bankrolled by Jylik."

"So we wait," said Trebor, not even bothering to look up as he spoke. "I imagine we're only being kept alive so we can be killed in a more spectacular manner, but we may find we have more opportunities when we get where we're going."

No one spoke, but there was a kind of blanket agreement in the silence.

***

The comms were bursting with angry voices until Admiral Drai hit the override button and addressed the full fleet.

"It appears the Ramshackle Collective's objective was to take part of the ground crew hostage and do as much damage to our fleet as possible before fleeing," he said. "We must assume that they are in the pay of the Astralbians. I offer sincere condolences to the PIC, who lost a vessel in the attack. Please let us know how you plan to proceed when you are able. If anything, these events must move the Griffon Republic's timeline forward, not back."

"The High Father has already been informed and has declared war on the Astralbians,” said High Brother Treskt. "The PIC has taken enough abuse from the Astralbians and will join the Republic's war effort, only give us time to send more ships and troops."

"We'll see what we can do," answered Drai.

"I will speak to my King and Queen," said Baron Flubbyn. "I guarantee nothing, but will advocate for further action on the Kingdom's part."

"Thank you," said Drai. "Thank you both."

***

Kwa-Kwa petted Freckles' head as she sat in the rubble of the camp. The blast had compromised the EM fencing and one of the clouds had come. The scouts had tossed all their electronics in a sacrificial heap, which lay smoldering in one corner of the camp.

Unable to communicate with the fleet, they had gathered the long-dead bodies of the soldiers who had fallen when the Astralbians had attacked. The bodies, mostly just skeletons now, were laid out as orderly and respectfully as possible in the corner opposite the electronics.

There was a rumbling overhead, and the welcome and familiar silhouette of the Wingspan appeared overhead. The ship attracted the cloud beast's attention, but was also able to scare it off with a volley of laser cannon fire.

When the Wingspan landed, the scouts boarded and headed for the showers. A group of sailors immediately began to load up the remains and bring them aboard while a group of technicians went to work repairing the fence. Once it was up and running, the technicians started sorting what was salvageable, what could be taken for scrap, and what was complete garbage.

Over the next few days, the existing buildings were leveled and new temporary, modular buildings were unloaded and put up.

***

"Shields should be totally recharged within a couple days," said Drai. Jasken stood by him as they looked at Prime Minister Skritka and Executor Grak-Yurp on Drai's display screen.

"And the PIC destroyer and two gunships should be there shortly," said Skritka. "They were clearly waiting somewhere nearby. The High Father was prepared to go to war, I take it."

"The Wabulubans seem less willing," noted Jasken.

"Yes, though I would love to have their Navy backing us up," bemoaned Stritka. "Hopefully they'll change their minds."

"That leaves the FRF," said Jasken. "The rulers of Hruduk are unwilling to spend more on mercenary forces at the moment. I suspect there’s a certain amount of infighting occurring in that discussion, though I understand why Hrynkak wouldn’t volunteer that information. I suggested to High Brother Treskt that he might consider hiring them, but he wasn't very receptive to the idea."

"We don't hire mercenaries," said Grak-Yurp. His brow furrowed for a moment. "But maybe the Wubulaban Kingdom would. Talk to Baron Flubbyn about it, Admiral Drai."

Drai nodded. "Yes, sir."

Jasken smoothed his mustache. They had been hoping to arrive at Gateway refreshed and ready to fight. It seemed they were already burning out.

***

Vanbrook was sleeping when the rough, noisy process of entering atmo began. He was tossed from the bare metal shelf that had served as a bunk and bounced off the floor before he managed to grab onto the bars of his cell and steady himself. The next few moments were jarring for all the prisoners, though D’Jarric and the Robots had the worst of it, given that their chains kept them from being able to reach the bars for support. Doc’s legs gave out and he spent a few minutes bouncing around like a rag doll before finally managing to support himself. Raivyn looked at Vanbrook with grim eyes.

When the ship had come to a full stop, a force of no less than two dozen pirates, led by Grim himself, stomped down into the brig. Stale bread and water had been dropped through hatches in the ceiling when the guards remembered to do so, but this was the first time they’d seen their captors since leaving Avonia.

“Ah, my old friends, the Talon Squad,” said Grim. “It’s been too long. And three RTS agents just for a little extra fun.”

His mockery was met with silence.

“Really?” he continued. “None of that famous Talon Squad banter? Tsk tsk.”

“Give me my saber and I’ll show you some of our equally famous combat prowess,” said Vanbrook, not even bothering to look up. “I’d love to make an example of you for your crew.”

“Tempting! Tempting!” exclaimed Grim, rusty voice sparkling with excitement. “But I’m afraid my clients wouldn’t find that agreeable. I’m to deliver you alive and unharmed.”

“Well, you managed half of that,” said Vanbrook.

“What? Was the landing a little rough?” asked Grim with false concern. He laughed heartily, the goons standing behind him joining in.

The nine prisoners were shuffled out of the brig and up onto the deck. As Vanbrook’s eyes adjusted to the light, the lake and airfield he’d come to know on Gateway came into focus, but it was all wrong now. The tower that had been constructed on the lake was destroyed, and the airfield was populated by a veritable city of star trees. He spat on the deck, which earned him a metal left hook to the jaw. He spat again. This time the saliva was mixed with blood. He looked the offending pirate in the eye as he pulled back his fist to strike again.

“Unharmed, you moron!” shouted Grim. “Hit him again and it’ll be your oil on the deck.”

The pirate shrugged and turned from Vanbrook.

“There’s still a T-blocker at play,” said Raivyn quietly to Vanbrook. “I don’t know where we’re heading but we don’t have much choice but to go there.”

Vanbrook nodded. “We’ll find an opening.”

They were marched down a gangplank and into a building that looked like a short, squat star tree with roots permanently dug into the ground. Vanbrook caught a glimpse of what looked like an arena on the other side. He shook his head. What had they gotten into this time?

***

Darvik had been going for a walk around the lake when he saw the pirate ship land by the arena. The rumors were true, then. The Astralbians had brought in the Ramshackle Collective as well as the Koomites.

After a while, he saw a group of prisoners being led down the gangplank. Republic soldiers, by the look of the uniform. There was something familiar about them.

Impossible.

He crept closer, trying to let himself get spotted by the prisoners. And there he was. Plain as day, if looking a little worse for wear.

Vanbrook.