Fast Battleship Group 0-1A, Task Force Extricate

6,316 light-years from Earth

May 28th, 2176 A.D.

The task force flashed out behind the first gas giant, and Command Unit 273 ordered silent running protocols to be enacted. It received confirmation pulses from its companion AIs and ran passive scans to verify the results.

There were no sensor returns, and 273 confirmed with its companions that the protocols had been successful before turning its attention to the android and connecting to it.

I need confirmation of the Insectoid presence in this system before proceeding.

The android began communicating with the Insectoid next to it, and the android soon responded to 273’s command for confirmation.

~They are here, Command Unit 273. The command drone cannot isolate their general location or determine their number due to the primary’s current solar maximum phase. The increased emissions and flare activity are most likely why the survivors have chosen to hide here.~

I concur with your assessment, AS-317. How does the command drone wish to proceed?

~The command drone wishes to try to reach out with her mind and communicate with them; she is waiting for your approval before doing so.~

I find their ability for superluminal communication fascinating, AS-317. Tell her to proceed, and I want you to translate her communication attempts to me in real time.

~As you wish, Command Unit 273.~

AS-317 turned back to the Insectoid, and 273 set all the interior scanning instruments to maximum as it tried to detect the Insectoid’s communication attempts.

There was a massive spike registered by the electroencephalographic scanners, but there were no other signs of signals or emissions that could be detected except for the spike emanating from the command drone.

The Republic was capable of superluminal communication utilizing a null space communications relay system, but the power requirements were enormous, and the system was extremely expensive to maintain and operate.

As a result, the use of the null space relay system was reserved for only official government communications and emergency transmissions. Distance was also a factor in the expense, the power requirements exponentially increasing for every additional parsec after 127 light years.

Null space military comm drones were sufficient for most communications, the small drones being able to transit null space up to fifty times the speed of the fastest Republic warship null drives due to their smaller mass and the absence of biologicals.

The transit time and distance of twenty days for the fastest Republic warship crewed by null space veterans could be achieved in 14 hours, 43 minutes by emergency military comm drones, 37 hours, 16 minutes by standard military comm drones, and 107 hours, 37 minutes by the fastest Republic civilian comm drone models.

273 marveled at the Insectoid ability for instantaneous communication with each other over vast distances, though only Hive mothers were able to extend their range limit using the strange focusers they create.

Command drones like the one 273 was watching now could engage in instant telepathic communication with another command drone within a range of 5 billion kilometers, and Queens had almost double the range of command drones.

Worker drones were able to receive thoughts within the range limits of the command drones and queens, but their own projection ranges were limited to a mere 500,000 kilometers.

273 focused its attention on the communication being sent by AS-317.

~The command drone has contacted the survivors within the system. Your hypothesis was correct; they are indeed heading to the fallback position you calculated. The command drone wants your permission to have them come to us so we may protect them.~

How many ships, AS-317? Why did they choose to stop their journey and hide here?

~Four Hive ships and forty-six cruisers, Command Unit 273. They are heavily damaged, and they were being pursued by a large Balrikan formation of 137 warships. The command drone leading this group did not want to lead the enemy to the fallback position and endanger any other survivors.~

How many surviving ships in total are trying to reach the fallback position?

~The command drone’s last count before they split up was just over 3 to the power of six, according to her. Sixty-two Hive ships and six hundred and ninety-four cruisers are all that remain of the Guardian Fleets.~

They are to remain here and affect what repairs they can, AS-317. We will continue searching for the others and bring them here to join them, and then we will escort th-

Alerts sounded in the control center, and 273 focused all its attention on the source of the warnings from the sentry drone network monitoring the outer system.

273 had deployed them when they first arrived, and it compiled all the scanning results that came from the three drones that had flashed out next to the task force.

The source was three formations of enemy warships that had flashed out of null space, and they had arrived four minutes ago. Two formations were 845,356,082 kilometers from the primary, while the third formation was much further out, along the inner boundary of the system's Kuiper belt.

The light from the warships would not reach the current position of the task force for another 33 minutes and 12 seconds, which means the enemy would not receive the light of the task force until 32 minutes from now.

273 decided to take advantage of the element of surprise and issued command pulses to the task force while simultaneously telling AS-317 to order the command drone to enter the acceleration chamber nestled deep within the ship.

The same order was transmitted to the other seven ships of the task force with biologicals on board before 273 selected an attack pattern from its war gaming scenario lists and transmitted it to the others.

Initiate attack pattern Theta-3B. Squadron one and three, target enemy formation at coordinates 227 mark 187.26. Squadron two and four, target enemy formation at 267.2 mark 117.34; execute in two minutes, twenty seconds.

273 received confirmation pulses from its companion AIs as the task force broke into three squadrons of four fast battleships each and activated their shields and weapons systems. The remaining three fast battleships would join 273 when they flashed into null space.

273 felt its armored hatches sliding to the side as the new kinetic weapons systems emerged, along with the quad particle accelerator turrets and point defense systems. It strongly felt the desire to engage in combat and destroy the enemy hunting down the few remaining insectoid survivors of the Guardian Fleets.

The countdown reached zero, and 273 felt its neural pathways surging with anticipation as they flashed into null space. Six seconds later, 273 and the other seven fast battleships of the two formations it was leading flashed out, attacking along both the z-axis and y-axis relative to the enemy position.

Squadrons one and three initiated the same pattern, their attack run an inverse of squadrons two and four. The sixteen ships of Task Force Extricate charged through the enemy force at 0.002% light speed, their war beams slicing through the unprepared enemy ships as they surged through them at 2,158,505.6976 km/h.

Their time passing through the enemy measured in milliseconds, the four squadrons blitzed through the large enemy formation and flashed out into null space, remerging above and below the enemy force relative to the plane of the ecliptic 1.238 seconds later.

This time, they were accelerating at a mere 127,000 km/h after projecting a dampening field in front of them as they transitioned through the threshold from null space to normal space and arrested their momentum.

The biologicals aboard the enemy ships still had not processed what just happened as the four squadrons passed through them again, now firing their new kinetic weapons systems and upgraded triple bolts as they penetrated the formation.

Hundreds of the new fragmentation railgun slugs were fired as they passed their targets at what seemed like a crawl to 273 and its companion AIs. The FRS rounds detonated right before hitting their targets, turning into giant shotgun blasts that entirely vaporized the smaller ships.

The larger cruisers and battleships of the enemy had entire bow and aft sections disappear as they evaporated under the onslaught. Targets that had been hit amidships suddenly became just bow and aft sections that were no longer part of a whole.

273 selected a target, an enemy battleship that had yet to be hit, and sent a single volley of upgraded triple bolts towards it. The torpedoes shot out from their tubes, and 273 waited with anticipation to see the results as they neared their target and converted to plasma.

The upgraded bolts had enhanced warheads and a new system created by Republic military researchers after the technology transfers initiated by President Sarix of the Neo-Commonwealth.

Commonwealth weapons researchers successfully miniaturize single-use null space capacitors, but their versions would self-destruct as soon as they tried to flash back out of null space.

Republic scientists, with help from the Ma’lit, finally succeeded in perfecting the system and bringing the concept to fruition. The result was a plasma torpedo system that had miniaturized null space capacitors installed inside the warheads.

They were fired normally and would reach their maximum velocity before converting themselves into plasma warheads. Instead of having to breach hulls, the new weapons systems would flash into null space and then flash back out inside the targeted ships, bypassing the armor plating and both the outer and inner hulls.

Emerging from null space with their previous velocity, the weapons would now tunnel through the internal compartments as they smashed through bulkheads and entire decks before finally detonating their enhanced warheads.

The triple bolts 273 had fired suddenly disappeared, the balls of shimmering plasma no longer in real space as they flashed out. The targeted battleship suddenly lost power, the internal lights flickering before the entire ship went dark.

The massive vessel seemed to buck before it erupted from the inside out, breaking into three large pieces that spewed gases and flash-frozen fluids as thousands of small objects were ejected.

273 barely had time to register that the objects were biologicals before the enemy reactors went critical and the three large pieces were vaporized. 273 marveled at the results as it processed the time it took to destroy an entire enemy battleship: 3.683 seconds from time of firing to destruction.

The task force only had two volleys of the triple shots per ship, and 273 selected and targeted another nearby battleship as it sent a command pulse to the others to only use the new weapon system on undamaged enemy battleships.

By this time, the enemy finally started reacting to their attack, and 273 felt energy weapons impacting on the shields protecting it. It did not feel actual pain, just an awareness of where the enemy weapons were hitting it.

The enemy was in complete disarray from the sudden, unexpected attack as the tight formation fell apart, several enemy ships colliding as they panicked and initiated uncoordinated evasive maneuvers.

273 fired its last volley of upgraded triple shot at the battleship it was targeting and maneuvered to target a trio of cruisers along its axis of attack as it increased power to the engines to close the distance between them.

4.1 seconds later, a second battleship broke apart as 273 started firing its main weapons, the four bow quad turrets all slamming into the middle of the targeted cruiser and breaking the ship into two as the spinal mount was severed.

Shields flaring a dark red as dozens of enemy beams hit them in concentrated volleys, 273 continued firing its railguns and war beams at targets of opportunity all around the fast battleship as its bow turrets fired again, shearing off the entire aft section of the second cruiser it was targeting.

273 surged past it, sending a volley of anti-ship torpedoes and standard triple shots out of its aft tubes towards the third cruiser as it finally exited the enemy formation and reached empty space. 273 flashed into null space and remained there, waiting for the others to join it as its shield emitters recharged themselves.

Sixteen seconds later, the entire task force was now in null space and reforming themselves into a diamond formation as 273 ran a battle damage assessment. Of the thirty-four enemy ships in the formation they attacked, twenty-seven had been destroyed, and the remaining seven ships were lifeless hulks with no power emissions or life sign readings.

There was only minimal damage to three of the fast battleships, where concentrated volleys from the enemy had caused shield quadrants to fail, but the ablative armor did its job and prevented any serious damage to the vessels.

Sending command pulses to the rest of the task force, 273 entered null space to assault the second formation 78 million kilometers away. This time, the enemy knew they were under attack as the light from the first battle had reached them, and they were ready for an assault.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

273 planned for that, and he had the four squadrons flash in and out all around the formation and launch their standard triple bolts, railgun slugs, and anti-ship torpedoes in a rolling volley as a single squadron would flash out, fire their weapons, and then flash back into null space.

The next squadron, then the next, then the next, continued the attack pattern, flashing out at different points around the formation as the others would emerge at a different location. The enemy formation was unable to deal with the random attack pattern and disintegrated.

Detecting distress calls from the surviving enemy vessels, 273 flooded the area with jamming signals, the other AIs adding their own jamming frequencies as the remaining twenty-three enemy ships fired wildly all around them.

273 noticed one of the AIs fighting more aggressively than usual and detected an anomalous signal coming from 246. 273 focused its receivers on the signals emanating from 246, curious about the dual jamming frequencies.

There was another signal piggybacking the jamming frequency, and 273 isolated it as he executed evasive maneuvers to dodge the weapons fire from a cluster of ships in front of it.

It was discordant sounds with a repeating beat, and 273 analyzed it, comparing it to the databanks at its disposal. It quickly found a match and accessed the files. It was a song from an ancient human video game called Doom and was labeled “Gladiator Theme.” Intrigued, it activated the file and played it in the control center.

The song came over the speaker system, and 273 analyzed it while connecting to 246 and asking it to explain its actions. 246 responded, informing 273 of its research into how human music can increase their aggression index. It sent over files of its research, and 273 scanned them.

246 requested 273 to join in its research and to activate the emotion chip. 273 did so, and within milliseconds, the strange discordant sounds of the song caused it to undergo an emotional response.

273’s desire to destroy the enemy seemed to be magnified, and an overwhelming urge to ram the nearest enemy battleship flooded its neural pathways before 273 was able to resist the impulse. Several missiles hit the shields, and 273 found itself becoming enraged by the action.

Anger flooding its pathways, 273 flashed into null space and reoriented to emerge behind the ships that had fired the missiles at it before flashing back out, all sixteen war beams of the four bow quad turrets firing directly into the aft engine compartment of the nearest enemy ship.

Its neural pathways seemed to thrum with the music still playing over the speakers, enhancing its combat abilities as 273 surged past the now crippled ship and fired a broadside of railgun slugs from a mere 86.317 kilometers away.

The cruiser disintegrated under the barrage, and 273 felt sheer joy at the destruction it was causing as it fired two volleys of standard triple shots into the massive hull breach on the starboard section of the crippled battleship it was passing.

Is this how the creators feel when in battle? 273 wondered as it flashed into null space to break the locks of the fourteen missiles still targeting it. The combination of the emotion chip and the music was intoxicating, and for the first time, it didn’t destroy because it had to; it destroyed because it wanted to.

273 flashed back out just in time to see the last cruiser of the enemy formation turning back into its constituent atoms as the core overloaded after being breached by Republic war beams.

The second enemy formation had been destroyed, and 273 turned the music and the emotion chip off as the task force flashed back into null space to do a battle damage assessment and recharge their shields.

273 had minor damage to its aft section but was still fully operational. Seven other ships had moderate damage to their outer hull, and several weapons emplacements were destroyed, but they were still combat effective.

Running trillions of calculations, 273 focused its attention on the last formation of forty-three enemy ships on the outskirts of the system. The jamming worked, and the last of the enemy had not received the distress calls, nor had the light from the battle reached them yet.

They were 600,672,012 kilometers away, and it would take thirty-three minutes for the light to reach them. Unlike the other two formations they destroyed, this last one constituted most of the enemy’s combat power within the system.

Sixteen battleships, eighteen heavy cruisers, and twenty-four heavy destroyers comprised the forces of the last enemy formation, and unlike the others, this force had their mass drivers already deployed and activated.

Analyzing the positions and makeup of the enemy forces within the system, 273 concluded that the two formations of medium and light warships they had just destroyed were tasked with locating the insectoid ships hiding in the system and flushing them out.

The heavy warship formation on the outskirts would then target the fleeing ships with their mass drivers. It was a tactically sound plan, and 273 acknowledged the enemy’s thoughtful planning and execution of their mission.

Unfortunately for them, Task Force Extricate was in the system as well.

The calculations and war gaming scenarios 273 had run indicated a 97% probability of victory, but a 27% chance of four of the fast battleships being destroyed and a 17% chance of six fast battleships being destroyed.

This was unacceptable, and 273 connected to its companion AIs and asked them for input. One minute and thirty-two seconds later, 241 presented an intriguing plan that would utilize the insectoid presence in the system.

They all agreed with the proposal, and 273 shared it with AS-317, the android still restrained in one of the acceleration couches in the control center. The android left the control center, and 273 continued to replace burnt-out shield emitters and close the hull breaches, hundreds of repair drones crawling all over its hull.

Six minutes later, AS-317 returned with the command drone and translated between them as 273 outlined the plan. The command drone then shared thoughts with the nearest hiding Guardian ships and carefully passed along the instructions of 273.

AS-317 and the command drone then strapped themselves into the acceleration couches along the rear bulkhead of the control center to ensure instant communication with the Guardian ships during the coming battle.

273 would now be restricted in its speed, maneuvering, and number of null space flashes to prevent turning the command drone into a puddle of flesh within the acceleration couch. There was nothing to be done about it, and 273 would just have to adapt to the restrictions now placed upon it.

The other AIs would have no such restrictions since their biologicals were still inside the acceleration chambers, protected by the special inertial dampeners and the induced comas that prevented neurological damage from the repeated null space flashes.

With fourteen minutes remaining before the last enemy formation would see the light of the prior battles and detect their presence, Task Force Extricate flashed into null space to initiate the complicated plan.

At the same time, the one Hive ship and eighteen cruisers that were hidden within the magnetic flux below the southern polar region of the seventh planet activated their engines and came out from hiding as they fled towards the inner system as ordered.

The planet was the fourth gas giant and the closest to the last Balrikan formation along the inner boundary of the Kuiper belt. Only 190,098,210 million kilometers away from the enemy, the light from Guardian ships now fleeing deeper into the system would be detected by the enemy in 10 minutes, 52 seconds.

The light from the two battles would now reach the Balrikan ships in 13 minutes, 12 seconds, and 273 waited with the others in null space to execute the second phase of the plan as it ordered the repair drones to cease repair efforts and return to the interior compartments.

If the Balrikans did not detect the light from the Guardian ships in time or react as expected, then the plan would be a failure, and the task force and Guardian ships would suffer unacceptable losses.

11 minutes and twelve seconds later, 273 received a confirmation from the stealth sentry drone network. All the enemy ships flashed into null space and flashed back out behind the fleeing Guardian ships at 503,456 kilometers, the battleships and heavy cruisers immediately lining up their mass drivers towards their targets.

All 34 of the mass drivers fired, the 2.1-meter-long slugs hurtling towards their targets. It was time; their plan had worked, and 273 sent a command pulse to the task force.

Execute attack plan Gamma two.

All sixteen ships flashed out under the enemy battleships, their bow quad turrets targeting the exposed generators that were recharging the mass driver vanes in preparation for firing again.

All sixteen generators were destroyed, the explosions triggering a catastrophic feedback loop that surged past the breakers and back into the ship.

As they intersected and then went above the line of battleships, anti-ship torpedoes and triple bolts fired from their aft tubes and targeted the dorsal weapons emplacements to knock out their primary energy weapons.

273 executed evasive maneuvers as the other fifteen ships flashed into null space to initiate the second phase of the attack. They flashed back out and attacked the heavy cruisers as 273 continued its turn to loop through the heavy destroyers and begin the attack run.

Secondary weapons fire began impacting the shields, and 273 pirouetted the ship to spread the attacks over all shield vectors as it responded with triple bolts and railgun slugs.

The intensity of weapons fire impacting the shields increased, and they flared dark red as more of the enemy heavy destroyers focused their fire on the single ship not flashing in and out.

273 reached the edge of the heavy destroyer wing and continued firing as it charged through the disorganized ships, adding broadsides of grapeshot and volleys of secondary plasma turrets as it targeted the enemy ships all around it.

Exiting the heavy destroyer wing, 273 pirouetted again before turning into a wide loop, releasing the new decoys added to its defensive network. Twenty-two anti-ship missiles were fired by the heavy destroyers, and they chased after 273, the sensors confirming multiple target locks.

Activating the decoys, 273 began targeting the missiles with its point defense systems in preparation for shooting them down as the decoys began blasting emissions signals that mimicked what was coming from 273.

Fourteen missiles went after the twelve decoys as the missile warheads suddenly found themselves in a target-rich environment and pivoted towards the closer targets. The decoys had fragmentation warheads and activated, sending hundreds of thousands of tiny ball bearings outwards when the missiles reached the optimal range.

The missiles were shredded to pieces as the ball bearings ripped into them, and the remaining eight missiles still chasing 273 activated their final boost phase as they went into terminal guidance.

273 activated the point defenses, sending a cloud of anti-missile grapeshot all around it as the point defense lasers tried to burn out the missile warheads. Five missiles were shredded by the grapeshot, and two were successfully destroyed by the laser.

The remaining two streaked towards 273, executing evasive maneuvers that prevented the point defense lasers from drilling through the hardened nose cones. The first missile impacted the port shield, its powerful warhead sending a disruption wave that allowed the second missile coming right behind it to slip through the gap.

The missile slammed into the port armor belt and blasted its engines one last time to push the missile deeper before detonating. 273 felt itself being knocked off course, becoming aware of a large part of its outer hull being torn out as multiple alarms began blaring.

The missile strike was a bad one, and 273 created a sub-mind to oversee the repair efforts as it tried to coax more power from the engines. Several critical power transmission lines had been ruptured, and 273 wondered if this was what the creators felt like when bleeding, as leaking electroplasma from the ruptured conduits was lost to space.

The engines were only operating at 68% now, and 273 debated flashing into null space, dismissing the notion in .3 milliseconds. It could not risk damaging the command drone’s mind by flashing into null space so soon after exiting.

Having no choice in the matter, 273 continued executing evasive maneuvers, feeling heavily restricted in its maneuvering due to having to compensate for the command drone strapped in the acceleration couch.

Seeing that 273 had been moderately damaged, six of the Balrikan heavy destroyers were now pursuing it and firing, their polaron beams slamming into the aft shield quadrants as 273 struggled to get away and avoid the strikes.

The fifteen other ships of the task force were heavily engaged with the remaining twelve Balrikan cruisers, who had put themselves into a defensive formation and were now being reinforced by the surviving eleven heavy destroyers.

AS-317 connected to 273 and informed it that all the Guardian ships had successfully evaded the mass driver volley fired at them, according to the command drone, who was still sharing thoughts with them.

Pleased with the update, 273 was just about to tell AS-317 to have the command drone order them to continue fleeing deeper into the system when a dozen null space flashes suddenly appeared behind it.

Twelve Insectoid cruisers emerged from null space, firing particle beams at the six destroyers pursuing 273 and causing them to veer off wildly from the unexpected appearance of the guardian ships now blocking their path.

The Guardian ships surged forward, still firing particle beams as dozens of missiles came out of ports along their organic hulls.

Deciding to take advantage of the reinforcements, 273 activated its maneuvering thrusters and flipped the ship, the bow now facing the Balrikan and Insectoid ships and giving the aft shield emitters a chance to cool down and recharge.

Three Guardian cruisers, already heavily damaged from prior battles, sent another volley of missiles before breaking apart under the onslaught of the enemy polaron beams targeting them.

The missiles were fired from less than 10,000 kilometers away, and the drones piloting them avenged the loss of their ships, destroying the last four heavy destroyers of the pursuit force as they guided themselves into the enemy ships.

The remaining eight Guardian cruisers then burned their engines and headed to the still ongoing battle between the task force and the remaining Balrikan warships.

The enemy’s defensive formation collapsed as they got flanked by the reinforcing Guardian ships, and eight minutes later, the last enemy heavy cruiser was finally destroyed.

273, still drifting backwards along its course, flipped the ship again and turned into a wide looping course that would return it to the others. It told AS-317 to pass along its gratitude to the command drone and the guardian ships for their timely and unexpected assistance.

Receiving after-action and damage reports from its companions, 273 began the battle damage assessment as it sent the repair drones back out onto the hull since they were no longer in danger from weapons fire.

Analyzing the reports, 273 compiled all the information into a file, reviewing it before sending the report to the black box drone.

BDA Report-1A, System J-185-Galactic coordinates: 745.3.45.67389

Enemy losses: 134 warships

24 battleships—16 destroyed, 8 derelict

38 heavy cruisers—29 destroyed, 9 derelict

56 heavy destroyers—42 destroyed, 14 derelict

16 scout frigates—all 16 destroyed

Task force Extricate battle damage assessment:

FB-241-moderate damage, repair time estimate: 16.7 hours

FB-228- Heavy damage, repair time estimate: 32.8 hours

FB-232- Heavy damage, repair time estimate: 33.2 hours

FB-218- Severe damage, repair time estimate: 57.3 hours

FB-235- Severe damage, repair time estimate: 61.2 hours

FB-236- Severe damage, repair time estimate: 58.7 hours

FB-244- Moderate damage, repair time estimate: 18.6 hours

FB-233- Light damage, repair time estimate: 7.1 hours

FB-227- Light Damage, repair time estimate: 8.3 hours

FB-243: Beyond repair, null drive capacitors destroyed—set for self-destruct

FB-246- Shipyard required; null drive functioning—remain with the supply fleet and attempt to return to service.

FB-218- Moderate damage, repair time estimate: 21.6 hours

FB-235- Moderate damage, repair time estimate: 20.6 hours

FB-222- Light damage, repair time estimate: 9.2 hours

FB-273- Moderate damage, repair time estimate: 22.4 hours

Allied Guardian ships:

12 cruisers assisted in battle

Eight destroyed

Three heavily damaged, repair time: unknown

One cruiser to be abandoned and self-destructed by the Insectoid crew.

273 saved the report and sent a broadcast to the support fleet waiting in null space. The three automated repair ships, two factory ships, and four supply vessels had finally arrived in the region four days ago, and now they were needed.

The supply fleet had an escort of six upgraded Spectre-Class nullships, and 273 welcomed the additional combat power they would add to the task force.

The support fleet will flash out in the inner system and wait for them to arrive to begin repair and resupply efforts. The three automated repair ships would link together and form a mobile shipyard capable of servicing six ships at the same time.

The factory ships would procure and manufacture whatever was required, while the supply ships would replenish their munition stocks and replace weapons components.

After taking the neural core of 243 off its ship and initiating self-destruct, the task force would ensure nothing of value remained of the ship before flashing into null space and rendezvousing with the supply fleet to begin repairs.

The lightly damaged ships would remain behind and scour the three battle spaces to destroy any derelict enemy ships that still had power emissions and life signs.

Across the system, dozens of Guardian ships began emerging from their hiding places and burning towards the inner system as ordered by the command drone still in 273’s control center.

273 felt pride as more Guardian ships continued to come out, no longer afraid of being hunted down and exterminated by the Balrikan fleet that had been hounding them across many light years.

They had more Guardian ships to find and rescue, and 273 intended to complete the mission they had been given.