Phil grinned as she saw the massive size of the dreadnought ahead. It was the biggest fight she'd been in since her time in the Alliance proper as a Hellion. It was no Klisk Leviathan, but it would still be a challenge.

At a glance, the ship had twelve Alcine fusion cannons, a pair of Leuthil rail cannons, a Kyorae antimatter gun and several missile banks. Phil was a little worried, for the Cerberus only had four Alcine cannons and laser turret bays. He knew what anti-fighter weapons the dreadnought had.

"Alice, I'm going to need your help for this one." Phil admitted. Alice appeared on the cockpit's holographic projector, her tail wrapped around her waist.

"Yes, Phil? How can I help?"

"You can see things quicker than I can. I need help to navigate their weapons fire. To avoid crashing and dying."

Alice nodded. "I need to test your reflex speed. When I say 'mark', you say 'sync'. Mark."

"Sync."

"Mark."

"Sync."

Alice tabulated the response time Phil demonstrated. "I have calculated that you can navigate weapons fire with my direction with a 6.2% chance of failure."

"Really? That's pretty good."

"Are you aware what happens if we are hit with an antimatter projectile?" Alice said. Phil shook her head, so Alice continued. "In layman's terms, it acts as a superior railgun that fires a projectile of antimatter that has supreme destructive force. The impact alone is devastating and could crush a deck but the warhead is the main concern. Imagine a mixture of a line of fircerackers and acid at the point of impact."

"So... don't get hit?"

Alice smirked at Phil's cavalier attitude. She was incredibly endearing. Phil held on to the controls as Alice plotted courses over the map for Phil to follow.

The dreadnought began to fire at the Cerberus. The Alcine cannons created a fusion reaction and ejected it from the cannon's barrel in the form of a beam, which missed the frigate. The electromagnets activated in the Leuthil rail cannons and blasted kinetic energy towards the Cerberus, but they were too far away to do anything. Finally, Phil's skills were put to the ultimate test as the antimatter gun charged and fired the antimatter warhead. Alice commanded a dead stop, and Phil obliged quickly, allowing the warhead to fly narrowly past the bow.

"Jesus, I am so glad you're here," Phil said, then started typing into a keypad. "Register this order and execute on my mark. We're going to get close enough to give them a shot at the engines."

"You ready, Abigail?" Zeus asked as he fired the laser banks at a fighter. "Phil's only going to be able to get you one shot before Callista knows what we're trying to do."

"I know the drill," Abigail said. "There's a problem, though. That engine is a redirector. I blow a hole in that and I release a micro-singularity. It won't last long, but it'll probably kill everyone on that ship."

"Ideas?" Zeus asked.

"Yeah, one. Dreadnought like that, it's got to be powered by either an anti-matter generator or a dark matter one. Belle, you see a dark matter scoop on that thing?"

"Negative, Miss Sorel."

"That means it's antimatter. It'll probably kill everyone in their engineering deck, but that bitch is likely on the bridge. I hit that, she loses her weapons, her engines, and her life support. She has to surrender."

Zeus was impressed by Abigail's tactical mind. It reminded him of his commanding officer in World War II.

"Do it. Phil, you catch that?"

"I did," Phil said. "But hitting a power core you can't see is going to be hard. Pure luck."

"I don't need luck," Abigail said, her eyes steeling. "I have skill."

The Cerberus danced through the stars with Phil's caress and Alice's watchful eye. A few glancing hits on the hull from the Alcine cannons and one direct hit from the rail cannon rocked the ship. Phil grit her teeth as she switched engines to full power. The engine overcharged it's creation of ions and propelled the frigate along by means of a magnetic impeller. The overcharge to the engine made the Cerberus crash into the dreadnought's communications dish before Phil shut the engine off to flip the ship in a 180 degree spin. Once it faced the dreadnought again, she fully boosted the engine again, passing underneath the dreadnought.

Abigail fired. The four Alcine cannons fired a continual beam of fusion at the point Abigail specified, melting through the hull like a hot knife through butter. Everyone on the Cerberus held their breath as Phil put some distance between them and the dreadnought, just in case.

"It didn't work," Belle reported. "They still have power."

"Zeus?" Junior said from Engineering. "I wouldn't risk the ship again. We already need to repair the hull. It's a miracle we still have a hangar bay."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Zeus was a little crestfallen but they had tried their best. They had actively attempted to capture Callista and failed.

"Retreat, Phil," he ordered. "Jump."

Phil frowned and typed the order for a random jump. The Cerberus lurched forward with the blink engine, across three star systems, before coming to a stop in orbit around a turquoise gas giant.

"Jump successful," Phil said. "Sorry, Zeus."

"The Cerberus has left orbit." came the voice of the Alliance marine Tartarus had been listening to. That meant Zeus's plan had failed. The entire time they had been fighting the dreadnought, Tartarus was lining up his own shot with the rail cannon on the downed ship. Once he heard that Zeus had pulled out, he grinned.

"She's probably reveling right now. Let's gate crash her party."

Tartarus was waiting for Alice to acknowledge his one-liner but heard nothing. He'd gotten used to having her around and it was noticeably more quiet without her warm voice.

Tartarus pulled the trigger. The cannon activated the magnetic reaction and fired a blast of kinetic energy upwards. However, the barrel had been filled with debris from the crash, so when it fired the debris was ignited as it was launched at Mach speeds through the atmosphere, punching into the hull of the dreadnought.

"Who shot that?" the marine said over the comms. "Whoever did that, you've knocked out their antimatter gun. Good job."

It wasn't much but it was a help to the Alliance. At least they could succeed where Zeus had failed.

"Alright," Tartarus said to himself. "Time to check on Kurt."

"You don't have to see him alone."

Enyo was walking with Zeus as he made his way to the briefing room. This was another failure on their part. Zeus was not going to allow Nevada to berate and insult his squad.

"I'm going to though. Enyo, please help Junior and Minnie with the repairs. Just let me do this. Please?"

Enyo scoffed and walked away. Did Zeus just say things that pissed off the women on his team? Something to apologize for later, he told himself. He walked into the briefing room and sat in the chair closest to the holographic projector. He breathed in deeply, holding it for a few moments, then released. He hit the call button.

Nevada answered quickly, his eyes piercing Zeus's soul over the holographic line.

"Agent Zeus, please report."

Zeus was silent for a moment before he began. "Yes, sir. We landed on the planet and attempted to contact Desmond Wilkes but we were told he was killed in action by Selene operatives. I developed a plan to end the war by dividing my team into units."

"I led Agent Epione across No Man's Land to be captured by Selene to attempt a peaceful option. Agent Tartarus provided sniper support from afar. Agent Thanatos led Agents Enyo and Dionysus, Sgt. Traverstine and Ms. Warsaw into the tunnels to remove the gang from them with assistance from Sgt. Marcella Winters."

"We made contact with Serenity Elysium who identified herself as the leader of Selene on the planet. She maintained that she did not attack first, as did Lt. Luke Everett on the Alliance side. This led me to believe that the third faction, the gang in the tunnels, incited violence between the two sides. I made a plan with Serenity to flush the gang out in exchange for a ceasefire."

Zeus paused to gauge Nevada's reaction. The man's stare bored into Zeus so he continued.

"A battle in the tunnels resulted in Agent Thanatos being wounded in action. Agent Tartarus broke off from the battle to get Thanatos to safety. Sgt. Traverstine was wounded in action as well. Agent Enyo broke away from the battle to get him to medical attention. It was at this time we discovered Agent Dionysus and Sgt. Winters were captured by the gang, who we identified as Copperhead."

Nevada groaned when he heard the name. He knew he was leading them.

"We identified Callista Sion but after assessing the situation I wished to save non-Agency personnel. I attempted to trick her into ship-to-ship combat which worked. She allowed us to leave with Dionysus and Winters. We double-timed it to the shuttle for immediate extraction, but Agent Tartarus and Sgt. Traverstine were left planet-side to make time."

"In space, thanks to the piloting of Philicia Faransai, we were able to avoid sever damage from a dreadnought but my plan was unsuccessful. We succeeded only in damaging the hull for Alliance forces. I decided to pull out to save my crew."

"I regret to inform you that the mission was a failure, sir."

Zeus hung his head. This had to be the last straw. Nevada, however, actually chuckled. Zeus looked back up, bewildered.

"What failure?" Nevada said. "I sent you to stop the war and you did. You went about it in... unprecedented ways for an Agent but the results are what I care about. As for Callista, well, others have tried and failed to bring her in as well. Camelot Squad, Bullet Squad, even Zodiac Squad couldn't do it. Before they rebelled, I was contemplating sending White Squad after her."

Zeus was breathing properly now. They did... well?

"I consider this mission a success, Agent Zeus. I am giving you time to have your ship repaired, your personnel healed and your munitions restocked. I will also reinstate Agent Apollo if that is something you wish."

"Yes, sir," Zeus said, unable to contain his smile. "Where would we pick him up?"

"Send me the location of the shipyard you go to for repairs and I will have Apollo delivered to you by Camelot Squad. They'll be heading out soon on their own mission. Anything else you wish to discuss?"

Zeus thought about it for a moment. They had done well in Nevada's eyes so he had reinstated Apollo. That meant there could be a chance in the future for Cerberus. Not now, though. Asking for two lives seemed like pushing his luck.

"Can you recommend a good place to get weapons for the ship?" Zeus asked. "We fought a dreadnought with four Alcine cannons and laser turrets."

This statement made Nevada laugh. He was impressed at the audacity to face a dreadnought with such simple weapons.

"That is getting you and your squad up two ranks on the board. I recommend that you dock at Isis Station. It's a favorite of most squads looking for starship upgrades."

Zeus nodded and saluted Nevada. Nevada terminated the connection. Zeus laughed loudly and collapsed back in his chair. He couldn't believe it. Olympus was back in the Agency's good graces, Apollo was being returned to them and they were getting starship upgrades.

Were those people that hated the Alliance just hating because they disagreed? He had been worried of the truth but today had shown him a man that understood missions do not go as planned. He had rewarded them.

Zeus breathed out again, standing. He was going to have a drink to celebrate and he wanted his whole team there.

"Olympus, report to the mess hall. I have something important to tell you."

The pod opened, allowing the evaporated ice to hiss out and billow around Nevada's legs. He stood in his dress uniform with an intense gaze on the pod.

"Did it take?" he said quietly.

A lime green hologram appeared on the display by the pod. It was a young woman with her hair cut into a bob that framed her face. She seemed to be wearing a dress from the early 21st century that looked like it belonged at a cocktail party.

"Identify, A.I," Nevada commanded.

"Morgan, sir," she said coolly. "My integration into Agent Apollo was a success. I await your orders."

Nevada turned and started to type into the console. "You will be my eyes and ears on Olympus. Report your own events quietly but tell no one of your purpose. Assist Apollo as Alice assists Tartarus. If you become compromised you have authority to self destruct and take Olympus with you if possible."

Morgan bowed her head.

"Of course, Captain. I exist to serve."