"Grand Admiral" Tal Roggle told Yaferni Gall, "I have informed all of the ships in our unit to retreat to the outskirts of the system. All ships are accounted for except for the four that were destroyed."

"This is very bad" Gall said shaking his head staring at the screen showing the movements of the reptilian ships. At that moment the door to the bridge opened and Geerhill Golmad entered, with a grim look on his face.

"Do you have any answers, Geerhill?" Gall asked nervously.

"I have some very grave news" Geerhill said in a gruff voice. "We have confirmed that the Fire Flower Clan's ships have xenon plasma cannons."

"What?!" Gall exclaimed with his mouth wide open. "How is that possible?"

"I have no idea how they managed it" Golmad said shaking his head. "But we are certain that they do, and that explains why they were able to make quick work of several our ships." Gall closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Is there anything we can do?" Gall asked.

"Not to salvage this particular battle" Geerhill said shaking his head. "I have to suggest that we need to cut our losses and tell the reptilian officers that we are willing to cede this system and start the process of removing all humans from this system. I don't think the human forces on the ground will resist this time. Turraski has landed at least a dozen large landing crafts on the surface."

"All right" Gall said. "Commander Roggle, contact Mulgrath City and tell them we have no cover for them, and they're on their own if they don't surrender."

"You will do no such thing" said a loud voice coming from above. Up on the large screen above them all in the bridge was an elfman with long, yellowish-white hair, long ears, and a pale face.

"Who are you and how did you get on this communication line?" Gall asked.

"I am the elf who is going to force a reckoning between the kingdom and the forces that are seeking to corrupt it."

"Really?" Gall said haughtily. "I suppose you have a way for us to reckon with the reptilian ships here?"

"Yes. My organization has acquired dozens of nuclear fission weapons from a frigate destroyed at the end of the war. We have just successfully detonated one over the atmosphere of Zenithala, which is a sacred biosphere for the Nal'Larak. The Fire Flower Clan forces on the ground in that system should be able to verify it. Inform the reptilians that if they do not leave the system that we will unleash a torrent of missiles that will create severe environmental devastation on the planet."

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"What you are speaking of doing is a war crime not allowed under Royal law." Gall said.

"Yes, well I figured with the clans being reunited and the reptilians having far more power than you anticipated you might want to start playing by a different set of rules."

"The elves all looked at each other, none knowing what to say."

"Just tell them right now!" Dover exclaimed. "You don't have much time left."

"Okay" Golmad said. "Let's assume we attempt to use your nukes as leverage. The Fire Flower ships might retreat, but the Black Serpent and the Dragon Claw clans have substantial ground forces."

"Once the Fire Flower ships are gone, then you can return to the planet and reengage their forces. Without the xenon plasma batteries you should be able to beat them back without losing any more ships. Leave the ground reptialian forces to me."

"Oh, you've got your own army? Or are you going to try and nuke the reptilian ground forces as well?" Gall asked saucily.

"You might say I have my own army" Dover answered. "Of course I don't think you're exactly going to really approve of what I'm going to do, but like I said, you will need to toss the rule book out if you really want to gain victory over the lizards. Now are you going to tell the reptilia we can provide a nuclear bombardment to Zenithala in a moment's notice?" There was silence. No one said anything.

"Do you realize if we do this, the gloves are off. There's no turning back from this." Gall said.

"I assure you the reptilia do not attend to fight with gloves. You can either take the advantage that I'm giving you, or you can try to explain to the people of outworld your half-hearted attempt to defend the Crescent portion of outworld with the ships they've been helping to build." Again, there was silence for a moment. Gall narrowed his eyes.

"I will forward your transmission to all of the reptilian ships. That way, everyone will know it is you will be the one who is holding the knife to the carotid of the greatest ecological sanctuary in the galaxy, and not us."

"We have an agreement then" Dover said.

"All right then" Gall said. "Forward the transmission to the Black Serpent Command ship" Gall said to an elf who was sitting at a control panel near where they were.

"You're really going to go along with this rogue's plan" Roggle said looking at Gall. "Having some renegade elf bring a victory here might be even worse than losing this system to the reptilia. We will neither score a political victory nor will the reptilia remove the humans from the system" Roggle said angrily pounding his fist on a table.

"We need time right now more than anything" Gall chided him. "These crescent colonies are expendable but we desperately need to devise some way to keep these xenon vessels from torching this entire sector."

"You realize, Grand Admiral, what it is that we need to do now?" Roggle said. Gall nodded his head.

"Go ahead and do it. See that our favorite humaness doesn't leave this star system unless she's in shackles" Gall replied walking briskly out of the bridge.