"The Stingers are sweeping the spot with their beam weapons. It's gonna take awhile." Yvian spoke into the holorecorder. She'd much rather be talking with Yuriko in real time, but the comm restrictions at the Research Station were strict. The only way to pass information to and from the Research Station was a Node that could only be interfaced with by Peacekeeper units. That also meant the Peacekeepers would hear everything she had to say. Yvian wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea. On the other hand, Kilroy had been monitoring everything she said and did since the day he came on board, so maybe this wasn't so different. "But it seems to be working."

"As for the Last Hope of Those Who Were Betrayed..." Yvian wasn't sure she should be sharing this information. Dr. Miner had been part of the team of humans that tortured the Hope. Risking her life to save the ship didn't wash that stain away. "Well..." Screw it. Yuriko was on a secure station with no way to leak what Yvian shared, and she needed someone to talk to. Preferably someone other than Mims. That man had been moody as Crunch all day.

"Turns out the Hope is pregnant. The Captain's pissed." Yvian hadn't thought the man cared much about the living ships, but his outrage at what had been done to the Hope would have warmed Yvian's heart if it wasn't so terrifying. "He's a lot more caring than most people think he is."

"The bad news is, there's no way Skygem's going back to the Gate." Yvian brushed a few strands of hair back into place. She'd donned her favorite outfit for this message. A red swimsuit with Space Captain emblazoned on the front. She'd considered doing the recording naked, but humans weren't as casual about nudity as her people. Better to play it safe. "No force in the verse is going to pry her away from Hope. I tried talking to her. Crunch, even Mims tried talking to her."

She glanced around, an unnecessary gesture in the privacy of her quarters. "Do you know what the ships call him? The Sad Man. They like Lissa almost as much as they like me, but with Mims... They don't like talking to Mims." She scratched her head. "I thought they were afraid of him at first, but that's not it. I think talking to him hurts. Like his mind is broken and they don't know how to make it better. Makes them... sad... I guess."

Was this a mistake? Should she be reaching out to Yuriko like this? They'd had one night together, and she'd disappeared without a word. Yvian imagined Dr. Roboto would explain her sudden departure, but still...

"Anyway, we're not gonna have a Lucendian ship putting out anti-tech fields anytime soon. They're all parked at City 43 so Shard can watch over them." Crunch. Did Yvian really have nothing to talk about outside of work? "Did I tell you about Shard? We think she's the last Lucendian. Her mind got stuck inside City 43 somehow, and she's been there ever since. She cried her eyes out when she found out that Hope is alive. Well her soul did. I don't think a crystal city can cry for real."

She was babbling. Yvian made herself take a breath. "Anyway, that's not why I'm... I mean, that's my day, but what I wanted to talk about was..." She brushed her hair back again. "Look. Last night..." Was it really just one day ago? Memory forced a smile onto Yvian's face. "Last night was amazing. And I'm sorry I had to leave like that. Without, you know... saying anything. We had an emergency and..." Yvian was touching her hair again. She forced herself to stop. "I really like you. I like you, and I was-"

Yvian's comm chirped. "Yvian, it's Mims. I need you on the other bridge." The Captain's voice was grim. "The other shoe just dropped."

"Crunch." Yvian turned off the recorder before she answered. "On my way."

Yvian didn't have the energy to sprint, but a brisk jog brought her to the bridge soon enough. Crunch, she was tired. It had been a long, long week. "I need a vacation," she groused as she entered the room.

"I know." Mims gestured at the holodisplay. "The YEETs are back. And they brought friends."

Yvian peered at the sensor readings. Thirty thousand YEET Artillery Barges were at the East and South Gates. Forty thousand were at the North. Stingers were already firing at them. The North Gate's original defense force was still occupied with the YEET rounds from the last attack, but Stingers from patrol groups and the other Gates had replaced them. That still left defenses a little light, but it was more than enough to destroy the YEETs if they were dumb enough to stick around. But not, Yvian realized, before they could launch more half ton slugs at New Pixa.

"Crunch." Yvian shook her head. "That's going to be a mess."

"We've got bigger problems." Mims typed into a console, and the sensors zoomed in on the North Gate. "Kilroy, can you patch them in?"

"Affirmative." The Peacekeeper unit put his hand over the control panel. The holodisplay flickered. When it came back on, Yvian's breath caught.

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"Two million ronin class stealth cruisers," said Mims. "Unmanned. With beam weapons. Station sensors aren't good enough to see through the stealth, but the Stingers have better equipment."

"That's... not good." Yvian frowned. The main advantages of the Stinger units were speed and the ability to fire at extreme range. A ronin battlecruiser would be a match for dozens of them if it had beam weapons of its own. Maybe hundreds. "So what's the plan? Let them get closer to New Pixa? Use the Last Resort?"

"Not an option," said the Captain. "Those YEETs are already firing. If we activate City 43's anti-tech field, our Stingers can't stop the planet from getting sterilized." He pointed at the fleet. "They're not headed for New Pixa anyway."

"What?" Yvian looked for herself. "Where are they... oh, fuck."

"They're going for the Homestar," Mims confirmed.

The Homestar. New Pixa sector's sun. The entrance to Nialla and the home of the Bright Lady. There was nothing more sacred, but that wouldn't matter to Reba.

"Bright Lady." Yvian's blood pounded in her ears. Adrenaline surged through her legs, urging her to run, to fight. "The Darkening. She's trying to do another Darkening."

"Something like that," said Mims. "I don't know if even Reba could get her hands on the weapon that turned your original Homestar into a black hole, but the Federation's got the tech to make a sun go nova. Either way, it's game over."

"Kilroy, comm the Vrrl." There weren't enough Stingers to deal with this, and the ronins would massacre their other defenders with beam fire long before they reached firing range. "We need everything they can send us."

"Negative," said the Peacekeeper. "Starfang sector is under heavy attack by Federation forces. The Vrrl do not have sufficient forces available to eliminate the threat."

Yvian swore. "How did Reba get that many ships outfitted with beam weapons anyway? The human Military doesn't use them."

"Those aren't Military ships," said Mims. "I think we're looking at XTRO's main fleet." He smiled. "And don't worry. We're not gonna need the Vrrl."

"What?" That's when Yvian saw them. In her panic, she'd all but forgotten. "The Queens."

"Forty Klaath Queenships." The human was smug. "Admiral Zhukov had them moved to the North Gate after the first YEET attack." Mention of the YEETs brought Yvian's attention back to the fleets launching death at New Pixa. The Stinger units had disabled half of them, and the other half were activating jumpdrives to evacuate the system. "As a bonus, we know Reba hasn't been spying directly. If she knew we had these, she'd have tried something different."

Another ten Queens were moving out from behind the other two Gates. It took several seconds to get far enough out to open fire without the Gates in the way, but that still left five whole seconds to tear the YEETs to pieces before they could finish their jumps. Childs play for the enormous Klaath dreadnaughts.

The Stingers at the North Gate activated jumpdrives of their own. "Why are they... oh." They were getting out of the line of fire. The Queenships were slowing, pretending to reverse course now that the YEETs were dead. "Yeah. Reba would kill them out of spite."

"Yeah, the moment she-" Two million ronin class battlecruisers dropped stealth and opened fire. "Realizes..." With their jumpdrives charging, the Stingers couldn't even shoot back. "God damn it."

The Queenships could shoot back. Hundreds of thick white beams crashed into the Federation ships, popping them like pimples. It was an awesome display of firepower. It was not enough to save the Stinger Units.

Reba's fleet didn't even attempt to fight the Queenships. As soon as the last Stinger was destroyed, they all activated their jumpdrives. The Queens kept firing, but only managed to destroy a tenth of the fleet before they all disappeared.

"Well." Mims folded his arms. "That could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse." He turned to Kilroy. "Send Admiral Zhukov my compliments. Job well done."

"Acknowledged," said the Peacekeeper. His eyes were still glowing the red of combat mode. "Peacekeeper Unit Admiral Ender Zhukov states there is no longer any reason to hide the Peacekeeper Queens. They will be repositioned to cover the Gates while the remaining Stinger units sweep for YEET rounds. Additional units will be sent to follow the XTRO fleet's trajectory and ensure no devices reach the Homestar."

"Thank you." The Captain sighed and looked at Yvian. "You know, you and I didn't really do anything."

"I know." Yvian knew the human hated being left out of the action. She clapped him on the shoulder. "Burden of leadership, I guess."

"Leadership my ass," the Captain grumbled. "We haven't accomplished a damned thing that couldn't have been done without us."

"Incorrect," said Kilroy. "There is a service that you perform that no one else can. A service that the Pixen Technocracy could not do without."

"Oh yeah?" Mims rubbed the back of his neck. "And what might that be?"

"You sign our paychecks," said the Peacekeeper. His eyes flashed yellow.

"Lovely." Mims glowered at the holodisplay. "You know, I haven't killed anything since the Incursion."

"You did shoot a bunch of people yesterday," Yvian pointed out.

"Yeah. With a stunshot." He sighed again. "It's just not the same."

"You know what you need?" Yvian clapped him on the shoulder again. "You need a beer."

"Beer?" Mims considered, then gave a nod. "Yeah. Beer. That sounds good."

Yvian knew the Captain didn't need beer. What the Captain needed was Lissa. Or something to kill. Communing with the crystal ships had left him raw, and watching a battle he couldn't take part in had made it worse. If Lissa were here, she'd know what to say. She'd know how to make him better. Yvian wasn't as good at that stuff, but she could still be there. Still be a friend. All Yvian could offer was company and booze, but company and booze was enough.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen," she told him. "There's something I gotta finish real quick."

"There is no need, Yvian," Kilroy spoke. "This unit has already delivered your message to Dr. Yurikio Miner."

Yvian blinked at him. "You what?"