“Damage report!” Captain Jenkins yelled. “Minor damage to our hull,” replied the tactical officer. “What are we up against here?” she asked. “There are five Darkarian ships in the fleet. Each are capable of carrying over 500 Scorpion shuttles,” a Lieutenant at ops answered her. Another blast rocked them, and an alert klaxon went off. “Shields down to 79%.” Jenkins watched on the viewscreen as the Darkarian ships moved towards the Starchase and the Hexan. Repeated shots were fired upon the other ship. “The Hexan’s shields are down to 43%.” “They must be after Modaine,” Jenkins said thoughtfully. “Move us between them and the Hexan. If they want to get their hands on him, they’ll have to go through us first.” “You would protect the enemy?” “I would protect our future!” she roared. “Now follow my orders!” “Aye, Sir.”

“Evasive maneuvers!” Kevcabana yelled. The Hexan shook from the firepower of the Darkarians. Chance entered the bridge, grabbing on to a nearby console for support as they were rocked again. Kev moved and he took his seat in the command chair. “Report!” “Sir, five Darkarian ships have intercepted us. It is also apparent that their technology has advanced by 40 years,” Lt. Tray reported. “The Hexan has already suffered from the Starchase’s attack. Our shields are down to 39%,” Vok spoke up. “Sir, the Starchase is moving between us and the Darkarian ships!” “Thank you, Starchase. Move into an attack position behind them,” Chance said. Seccour moved forward until he was standing next to Chance. “You know what they are after, Modaine.” Chance looked up at Seccour knowingly. “I will kill you before I let them succeed. You realize that, don’t you?” Chance nodded. He activated his shoulder comm. “Modaine to Solran.” “” “I will be sending you information on how to dismantle their shields and engineering sections on those ships,” he said. “Using a tacheon beam, you can transmit the disruption.“ He looked at Kerok. “I’m assuming they haven’t changed that much in forty years?” Kerok shook his head. “” “And work quickly, Lieutenant.” “” The Hexan was rocked again by another blast. The Starchase was doing its best to deflect the Darkarians’ firepower, but they were being ignored. The Hexan was obviously the target. “Shields down to 26%,” Vok reported. “Sir, the shields on the nearest Darkarian ship just collapsed,” Tray reported. “Good job, Solran,” Chance said. For once he was thankful for the Darkarian information stored in his head. “Fire.” A spread of torpedoes combined with phaser fire targeted the nearest ship. The Starchase gave an equally impressive amount of weapon fire. The Darkarian ship exploded within seconds. “Impressive, Admiral,” Kerok said. “The shields on the other four ships have remodulated,” Tray reported. “Continue to attack.” “Shields down to 15%!” The Hexan suddenly shook with such power, Chance was sure that it was being ripped apart by the force of it. “What kind of weapon was that?” he yelled. “Instability from the rift!” Tray answered. “That last shock wave brought our shields down.” Suddenly Darkarian drones beamed onto the Hexan’s bridge. To Chance’s horror, Tahkisis was in the lead. Both he and Seccour stood up, ready to attack. Kerok unsheathed his kryss, turning and plunging it straight for Chance’s heart. “Dylocke!” Tahkisis hissed. At that instant, her drones fired at him with their disruptors. Seccour went down before his blade could reach Chance. They then turned and fired at the bridge crew. “Kerok!” Chance yelled. Tahkisis walked up to Chance. “Sklavus, you have no idea how much joy it brings me to see you again,” she smiled sickly. Grabbing him, they both disappeared in a transport beam. The other drones disappeared moments later. Tray, nursing a severe burn on his arm, activated his shoulder comm. “Medical! Emergency on the bridge!”

In the galley, Aurora looked out the window at the battle raging on. “Chance…” she whispered.