Sweat was pouring of the young soldier’s face; an immobile piece of paper in front of him. Try as he might, he could not get the thing to budge. Trixie sat next to him offering words of encouragement and advice.

“Don’t force it,” she whispered calmingly into his ear.

“I need to master this, and fast.” Jaze replied tersely, “I’ll need every advantage I can get if I want to beat that freak.”

“No need to get upset.”

“I’m sorry,” the man sighed, “the first batch of soldiers is going to be here today and it has me on edge

“I understand, but you still have to concentrate.”

“Alright, I’ll give it another go.” He screwed his face in concentration and tried once again to use magic to lift the paper. He could reach out and touch it, but trying to lift it was like lifting a boulder from the mud. Sweat once again began rolling down his face as his hands started to glow with the aura of his magic. The same glow formed around the paper and, slowly, the paper rose into the air an inch. Exhausted by his success, he slumped over from the strain of using magic.

“Easy there big boy,” Trixie admonished, “Don’t try too hard, you might hurt yourself.”

“I did it!” he laughed as he straightened himself, “I managed to lift that infuriating piece of paper!”

“Good job, but don’t get over confident.” She lifted the soldier out of his chair, “You’re still barely a novice and you really need to keep practicing. Right now, you are nothing but a foal in the arcane arts. Granted, you’ve taken your first step; but you’ve still got a long way to go.”

“I know, but I still did it.” Jaze laughed.

“That you did.” She gave the excited soldier a small grin, “Applejack and Dash are probably waiting for you, you know.”

“Oh, right. I should get going then. Today is the last full day we’ll be able to put in.”

The clang and clamor of battle rang through the forest. A rainbow colored blur dodged between the trees, heading for a tall, dark figure. Another clang of metal on metal rang out as the figure, Jaze by name, blocked the rainbow mare’s vicious attack. A twig snapped behind him and an orange earth pony lunged to attack, her cover blown. The three way battle raged; each seeking and exploiting weaknesses in the others’ defense and trying to avoid the blows that rained down at them. For a few minutes that felt like hours, the three pushed each other to the limit and beyond. Eventually, the clash of the mêlée quieted down and the three tired warriors fell to the ground to catch their breath.

“Good use of the trees, Dash.” Jaze said when he finally caught his breath, “It made it really hard to keep up with you. And Applejack, you are a lot stealthier than I gave you credit for.”

“Thank ya, Jaze.” Applejack beamed.

“Yeah, thanks man.” Dash agreed.

“You two have shown that you have mastered the basics of the sword; so I guess that means today is graduation day.”

“Come again?” Applejack asked.

“I can’t teach you anymore. The only thing left to do is for you both to continue training on your own.”

“But how are we supposed to train without you showing us what to do?” Dash sounded worried.

“Simple, you two should just keep knocking sparks off each other.” The two sports-ponies looked at each other, and then back to their teacher, “I can’t help you to develop your skills anymore; I’m in a different league. But you two are roughly equal in skill; you’re the perfect match for one another.”

“But we haven’t learned enough; we still can’t beat you, even two on one you win.” Dash protested.

“You two really are stronger than you were before. Don’t worry; by having matches between yourselves, you will improve much faster than if I kept trying to train you.”

“If we’re so much stronger then before, how come we still can’t beat ya?”

“Because even as you got better, so did I. If you fought yourselves from just a few days ago, you could see it.” Jaze sighed and dropped his piece of rebar, “Don’t need that anymore. Come by my house, I should have something for you two soon.”

And so the three left the confines of the Everfree Forest; all glad to be free of its ever-present darkness. They had gone there for their final day of training to show the two ponies what it was like to fight in a dark, cramped environment. They had done surprisingly well, especially considering their inherent fear of the place. They had been having a mock war for several hours before Jaze had called it quits and the three were dead tired. The two ponies were quiet proud of what they had managed to accomplish in just a few days.

Jaze was watching the skies as they walked; searching for the first signs of atmospheric reentry. He didn’t expect the human ships to arrive until later in the day, but traveling at faster-than-light speed often produced unintended results. He found that he was excited to get to see another human face after so long; he just wished that it had been under peaceful circumstances.

“Hey Jaze,” Dash broke into the soldier’s suddenly homesick thoughts; “I’ve got a question.”

“What do you want to know?” He replied.

“Are the Cye alive?”

The question brought Jaze to a standstill, “Well, that is, uh…” he found that he could not give the simple answer that she so obviously wanted, “That question, that is something that humans have burned to know for since we first encountered the Cye.” A thoughtful look crossed his face, “No, it goes further than that. I guess that kind of question has been around since humans first built computers and started trying to develop true AIs.”

“What in tarnation is a ‘AI’?” Applejack asked in confusion.

“‘AI’ stands for ‘Artificial Intelligence’. Basically, it’s a machine that can think for itself. Humans have wanted to create an AI for hundreds of years. But philosophers have since asked; if something can think, is it alive? Are humans now fighting machines that are just doing as their programming dictates? Or are they thinking beings, beings that have a will and reasons and justifications all their own?” The tired soldier heaved a sigh, “I think it comes down to this: Are they alive like us? No, but they do have some form of life.”

“So ya mean that we will be killin’ these Cye?”

“In a sense, yes, I guess we are.”

“That was way too heavy for this early in the day!” Dash stretched her wings and took to the sky, “They started this fight; now all we’re doing is finishing it.”

“Yeah, Ah guess so…” She did not sound convinced.

“Applejack,” she brought her worried face to meet the soldier’s eyes, “I know that you don’t like the idea, but that is war. It’s the reason that I tried to keep it from this planet, but now that it is here you’ll just have to deal.” He gave her smile of encouragement, “Besides, you’ll not have to any fighting if I have my way.”

“Thanks fer yer concern Jaze.” The orange earth pony still sounded down. It did not take them long to emerge from the forest, and Jaze could see Ditzy walking towards his house; two large packages balanced on her back. He ran to meet her just as she started to knock on the door.

“Special deliverings,” the mail mare said emotionlessly as she handed over the two wrapped bundles.

“Thanks a lot Ditzy.” Jaze said as he started to open the door.

“Why you no telling us?” Ditzy said from behind hi

The accusatory tone pulled him up short, “Because, I hoped that it wouldn’t matter.”

“No lying?”

The assassin from the stars sighed, “I also did not want to make my life here any harder.”

“What mean you?”

“If everypony knew that I was from another planet, I would have had no peace.” Jaze replied as Dash and Applejack joined him. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, just disappointed only.” The gray mare gave him a gentle smile, “Nopony hatings you, soldier boy. Just worried about what mean you for us now.”

“I worried now, but your friends be coming help?”

“Yes, they’ll be here any minute now.” The smile on his face was slightly forced, “Don’t worry, the StarSide Marines will take care of everything. They are the best fighting force in the galaxy.” With a nod of acquiesce, Ditzy left to continue her mail route.

“What ya got there, Jaze?” Applejack asked as he turned back to the two ponies.

“A graduation present for you two.” He opened the door and stepped inside. Trixie was sitting on the couch, Jaze’s radio in front of her. “Hey there, any word?”

“Yes,” the blue unicorn replied, “I was told by a soldier with the ones being sent here that they are only an hour out.”

“Good, thank you for telling me.” He turned to Dash and Applejack, “Sit down, if you please.” He laid the two long, wrapped packages on the table as everyone found seat. “I had these made for you when you came to me for training.”

“What are they?” Applejack asked.

“What kind of swordspony doesn’t have a sword?” He unrolled the two swords from the paper and held one up to show them, “This one is yours, Dash, a katana like mine.” He lifted the other, a broadsword, “And this is yours Applejack.” He set the swords next to their new owners. The hilts were missing from the swords; with only the metal tang protruding from the crossguards.

“Where are the handles?” Dash asked.

“Right here,” Jaze lifted two gauntlets that had fallen out when he unrolled the paper, “you wear this on your foreleg and click the sword in place, like so.” He put one on Dash and slid the katana’s blade into the slot on the right side of the gauntlet. “Then just push the button on the bottom to release the blade.” He pushed the button to show them it worked.

“This is nice,” Applejack commented, “but where’d ya get ‘em?”

“I paid the Canterlot blacksmith to make them for me.” He let out a small laugh, “Turns out being friends with the Princesses and the planet’s first visitor from another world gets you a discount.”

“Thanks so much Jaze. This is so cool.” Dash said in awe.

“Yeah, that’s mighty kind a ya Jaze.” Applejack agreed.

“Keep them handy; if nothing else, being armed will make people take you more seriously. Now we’re just waiting for the Marines to arrive.”

Suddenly, the radio beeped and a soldier appeared on the screen, “Uh, Miss Pony Lady? You there? I have a message for the acting colonel.”

“This is Acting Colonel Jaze Armand. What is the message?” Jaze asked.

“Oh, Colonel Armand, sir,” he gave Jaze a smart salute, “I was told to report that we will be arriving much earlier than expected. ETA is fifteen minutes, sir.”

“Thank for letting me know, marine. Anything else?”

“Sir, no sir,” A look of confusion graced the marine’s face, “Um, sir?”

“What is it?”

“That pony that spoke to me before, are all the aliens like that?”

“Some of them, yes. You’ll see more when you get here.” He gave the soldier a smile, “Don’t worry, they’re quite friendly.”

“Uh, yes sir. This the ECS From Dusk, signing off.”

Jaze watched as the first of the ships ferrying troops and supplies from the super carrier From Dusk descended from orbit. His palms were sweating as they descended; he had directed them to put down in a large field near Ponyville. He turned to his friends, Trixie and the rest of his friends from town as well as Celestia and Luna; standing beside him and watching as these new things fell from the sky. He could see the worry on their face as these tools of war came to their peaceful home. The soldier had to fight to keep the anger from his face; this was one more thing Carn would pay for.

As with everything the SSM attempted, the off loading was quick and efficient. The soldiers were met by their new commander, in a full dress uniform with Sairugi belted at his left hip, as well as nine of the strange equine aliens. They all waited with bated breath as two, the tallest and most regal of the nine, stepped forward.

With a slight bow of their heads, they said “Welcome humans, to Equestria.”

The first group of soldiers to meet the princesses let out a sigh of relief. They had been, fearing the rulers’ reaction to their appearance since they had set out and were glad to finally have met them and not have that threat over their head.

Suddenly a voice rang out, “Jaze, where in the name of the galaxy are you?” a young lady forced her way through the crowd, “There you are, I think I owe you something.” It was Shelby, and Jaze could guess what she had in mind. As she neared and raised her hand, Jaze’s eyes slid shut in anticipation of the punch. He was pleasantly surprised to find himself in a strong hug instead.

“C’mon Shell,” Vincent laughed, “I know you said you were going to kill him when you saw him, but if you choke him to death now, who’ll lead this fight?”

“Oh, shut up.” Shelby glared daggers at Jaze, “And don’t think you’re getting off this easy. I’m still going to beat you raw later, but,” she hugged him a little tighter as the rest of the soldiers left to set up their base while the princesses followed to oversee the process. Most of the buildings were flown in, premade; now all the soldiers had left to do was fortify and garrison the base.

Some started working digging trenches while others began setting up turret emplacements around the base. More were digging supply bunkers to house the ammunition and weapons. The newly promoted colonel was wandering around; getting a feel for the base and its inhabitants. Jaze could feel the looks that the soldiers were giving him as he passed. They now knew who he was and what he had been. He saw looks ranging from curiosity to respect, but he found no fear in their eyes.

“So Jaze,” Vincent suddenly asked, “have you seen the new fighters?”

“Not yet,” the assassin replied, “where are they?”

“No too far,” Shelby answered quickly, “you want to go see them? You won’t be disappointed.”

“Alright, let’s see this.” Jaze answered enthusiastically. The group picked up the pace, eager to see the new space craft. Dash was particularly interested; she wanted to see what could let the wingless humans fly.

“There they are!” Shelby exclaimed as the fighters came into view, “Those are the RX-80 Thundercats, fastest and most agile fighter craft to be built by human hands.”

“It’s got a reactor that runs twenty percent cooler than the previous model,” an excited Vincent breathed, “while actually boosting power and they managed to solve the VTOL issues. It really is quite the feat of engineering.”

“What’s VTOL?” Twilight asked.

“Vertical Take Off and Landing,” Jaze answered shortly, still enthralled by the sleek new fighters.

“And this one here,” Shelby pointed to the nearest fighter, “is yours, Jaze.” The assassin stared at his new fighter. He could see “Colonel Jaze Armand” painted on the side; he found himself excited by the prospect of taking to the sky again.

“Now I want to take it for a flight.” He looked to Trixie, “You want to join me?”

“S-sure, I guess so.” was the unicorn’s nervous reply.

“Why so nervous?” Shelby asked teasingly, “He’s one of the best pilots around, second only to us.” She indicated to herself and Vincent.

“But, I wasn’t meant to fly.”

“Don’t worry,” Vincent assured her in his deep tones, “once you get up there, you won’t want to leave.”

“Besides, it’s fun to be the fastest thing on the planet.” Shelby added.

“Oh, really?” a certain blue pegasus questioned, “You think that thing is fast? I’ll show you fast! C’mon Jaze, you and me, one race. I’ll leave you in the clouds!”

“Dash, be reasonable.” Jaze appealed, “This fighter is made to break from the atmosphere, there’s no way you could…”

“I’ll show you! C’mon, let’s do this!”

The soldier heaved an amused sigh, “Alright, but no whining when you lose.”

“Now you’re talking!” Dash exclaimed excitedly.

“While I get changed into a flight suit,” Jaze said to Vincent, “could you get Dash a com?”

“Sure thing, top.” He replied with a slightly impish grin, “You want to be able to hear her reaction?”

“Something like that.” Jaze replied, the grin now spreading to his face.

Jaze tugged at the skin-tight flight suit as he left the changing tent; trying to get it to lie against his skin more comfortably. His heart was beginning to beat faster at the prospect of finally taking to the air in again. To add to his excitement, Trixie decided to try overcoming her fear and fly with him. The soldier was thrilled to get to show her another part of his world. As he walked back to the fighters, Shelby intercepted him.

“Okay,” she whispered, “I just have to tell you not to laugh. Or I’ll beat you raw.”

“Why…” Jaze started, but then he caught sight of Trixie sitting in the copilot’s seat behind his. She, too, was wearing a flight suit, but hers was bunched up at the tops of her legs and someone had to put a belt around her waist to keep the suit from sliding around. Despite Shelby’s warning, he could not help but chuckle at the obviously distressed pony as she tried in vain to get the suit to sit right.

The young warrior felt a sudden slap to the back of his head, “I told you not to laugh, idiot.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.” he replied as he tried to hold back his mirth, tears forming in his eyes from his mostly unsuccessful efforts.

“Stop it,” Shelby started.

“It’s fine,” Trixie interrupted, “I know I look silly. They told me I have to wear this if I want to fly.”

“You don’t look silly, you look…” Jaze said, a smile still firmly planted on his face, “Okay, you look silly. But everyone does so don’t feel bad.”

“But I look particularly silly.” She grinned back.

“Alright you do.” Jaze agreed as his smile widened, “Are you ready then?”

“Yes,” she replied, nervous tension in her voice.

“How about you Dash, you ready?”

“To kick your tail? You bet!” the cyan pegasus called back.

“Alright then,” Jaze said as he climbed into the cockpit, “let’s see just what this baby can do!”

Dash gave a confidant smirk, “Meet you in the air!” she called into the comm unit Vincent had given her and took off, a rainbow trailing behind her.

“Running preflight system check,” the colonel said to the soldier running ground control, “engines nominal, flaps are good, no problems with comm.” he reported as he checked each system and the fighter came to life with a loud hum, “Any problems on your end?”

“Everything reads green here, sir. You have are cleared for takeoff.”

“Roger that, Control. Colonel Armand in fighter A-1, call sign Angel Lead, preparing for launch.”

“Control copies Angel Lead. Have a good flight, sir.”

Jaze turned to his passenger with a devilish grin, “We will.” The pilot sent power to the fighter’s belly jets to lift it from the ground.

“Oh gods, it’s moving.” Trixie said as the fighter rose into the air.

“Yeah,” Jaze chuckled, “it’ll do that.” The flight controls seemed to jump into his hands as his heart began to pound. This is really happening; he thought ecstatically, I’m actually flying again. He dipped the flaps and gave the thrusters a little power to send the pair of them into the air. Jaze could hear groaning from behind him and he turned to check on his equine passenger.

“I want off this ride,” She groaned, looking decidedly green.

“Wait until we’re finished with the take off,” Jaze said encouragingly, “it will get better. I promise.”

“Okay,” she gulped, “I believe you.”

The pilot wore a boyish grin as he put his spacecraft into a gentle climb, while his passenger hid her eyes behind her hooves. The fighter leveled out at three thousand feet and Jaze encouraged the frightened pony to look out the windshield at the amazing view surrounding them. Her eyes widened as he put the craft into a gentle bank; she could see everything. Everything including a cyan colored blur that was fast approaching from behind them.

“Hey Jaze,” Dash’s voice crackled over the comm, “we gonna do this or what?”

“You count on it; first one to that mountain there is the winner.” Jaze replied as he lined his plane up with the mountain in question, “As soon as you pass me, the race is on.”

“Alright, but get used to looking at my back; cause that’s all you’re gonna see!” The rainbow maned pegasus blew past them a second later; her wings pumping for all they were worth. She was determined to show the human just how fast she could be. Jaze made no move other than to hover his left hand over the accelerator control.

“Come on Jaze,” Trixie pleaded, her natural competitiveness coming out, “she’s going to win if you don’t hurry up.”

“Just hold your, uh, just hang on a minute. I know what I’m doing.” He said calmly, “Alright, now hand on to what’s yours.” He rammed the accelerator forward and the fighter took off at tremendous speed.

Dash was flying faster than she ever had before. Tears formed in her eyes from the wind; her body was shaking from the adrenaline rush that was overtaking it. This is what she was built for; this was speed. She grinned as she imagined the look of surprise and distress on Jaze’s face as he watched her slowly fading rainbow trail outpace him.

“Hey Dash,” the human soldier’s voice suddenly came in her ear, “heads up.” Just as suddenly, the formerly sluggish aircraft blew past her; spinning her end over end through the air as it passed. She recovered quickly and tried to catch up, but to no avail. The pegasus’ wings were no match for the machine’s reactor-powered thrusters. She could only watch vexation as the blue streaks left behind by the craft flew on towards the mountain.

“Jeez,” she breathed, annoyed enough to forget the mike at her mouth, “didn’t realize that thing was that fast.”

“We did try to warn you, Dash.” The slightly smug pilot responded, “But you wouldn’t listen.”

Jaze circled around the mountain to give his companion a better view. She had her face pressed to the glass as she looked to the ground, her fear long forgotten. The assassin could not help but grin at her sudden enthusiasm; she reminded him of a little girl with a new toy. He wished that he could preserve that innocence; for it will surely be lost in the fight to come. But, until the war touched off, he did not see why they couldn’t have a little fun.

“Control, this is Angel Lead. I’m going to go for walk above the sky.” Jaze said into his mike.

“Roger that Angel Lead.” Control replied.

“Are you sure that’s wise, Colonel?” Shelby asked.

“Should be no problem. Why, is something wrong?”

“Vincent is having one of his feelings again.” Shelby said in a worn tone of voice.

“Is he now?” Jaze replied in a knowing voice. Vincent had a knack for smelling trouble a light year away, “Copy that Shell, I’ll be careful.”

“If you are sure…” leaving the thought hanging, Shelby signed off.

“What do you mean, ‘a walk above the sky’?” Trixie asked

Jaze gave her a smile over his shoulder, “I’m going to take you to space.” Once more, the soldier dipped the flaps and pointed the nose of his craft away from the ground. He quickly keyed a code in to the computer by the accelerator. The computer displayed the message “prepare for exit burn? Y/N”. Jaze hit yes and the whole craft began to thrum with power. It suddenly let out a roar and the two inside were thrown back into their seats as the fighter rocketed towards the heavens.

They soon were above the pull of gravity and Trixie found herself pushing against her flight harness. Jaze shut the fighter down to rest the engines and spun to his friend.

“So, what do you think of space?” he asked with an excited grin.

“It’s beautiful,” the stunned unicorn managed to say; despite having lost her breath at the sight before her. She had never seen the stars clearly before, and many of the finer details were lost in atmosphere of the planet below. Suddenly remembering where she was, Trixie looked down at the planet. Her home, the only place she had thought had life of any sort at all and now she was floating above it with a creature from another world. It was all just incredible to her, and for once she was glad of everything that had brought her to this moment. The good; and the bad.

“I know how you feel; it was the same for me the first time I came to space years and years ago.” He wore a serene smile, “In fact, I still feel that way every time I see it.”

“Um, Jaze?”

“Yes?”

“Can Control hear what we’re saying?”

“Only what I say, for the most part. Why, do you want me to switch to receive only?” The unicorn gave a nod. He pressed a button on his ear piece, “There, now they can’t hear a peep. But if they need me, I can hear them.” He unclipped his combat harness and turned around as much as he could in the cramped space of the cockpit, “What’s up?”

“There’s something that I’ve been wanting to tell you, but I just don’t know how.”

“The best way is always just to say it dear.”

“You would think that, but that is the hardest thing to do. Isn’t it?” She turned away from the soldier’s gaze, “Besides, I don’t know if you’ll be angry at me.”

“It would be pretty hard for you to get me angry, Trix.”

She gave a hard swallow, “I don’t know about that…”

“What is it you want to tell me? I promise that I won’t get upset.”

“Okay, here goes.” She closed her eyes and said in a voice barely more than a whisper, “Jaze, I thing that I like you.”

“I like you, too.” Jaze said impassively, “I like all my friends.”

Trixie’s cheeks turned crimson, “That’s not what I mean. I mean, I like you. A lot, in fact.”

“I know Trixie; I was just trying to offer you a way out of this if you wanted it.”

“Thank you, but I want to talk about this now.” She stared into his blue-silver eyes, eyes not unlike the stars burning around them. “I don’t know if I will live to…”

“No, don’t even think about saying you might die. I couldn’t let that happen; not to any of you.”

“I know you’ll try, but there is every possibility of that and I want to get this off my chest.” She heaved a sigh, “I’m just so confused; I’ve never had feelings like this for anypony.”

“That’s how it goes.” Jaze muttered, thoughts of his own feelings coming to his mind. He was overjoyed that she felt this way about him, but he did not feel right. They were too different; it just was not reasonable. Then again, a voice in his head mocked, when is love reasonable?

“What did you say?” Trixie asked.

“Nothing,” he replied quickly, “How long have you felt like this?”

“Since that day in the forest, when the Cye first came” Her gaze dropped, “I saw you jump out of the bush to save me, and it just kind of hit me. I feel terrible about that day. It’s my fault you were hurt; if hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have had to save me.”

“I was happy to do that.” Jaze replied; his own voice no more than a whisper now.

Trixie’s eyes snapped back to the soldier, “Why? You could have died.”

“I told you; if my death saves even one other, it was worth it.” A blush touched his cheeks, “Especially if it’s one I…”

“Angel Lead, this is Control. Do you copy?” a voice came over the comm.

“I copy,” Jaze said as he switched his mike back on, “what’s the problem?”

“Scans indicate several objects closing in on you in FTL flight.”

Jaze spun back around and began hooking himself into his harness, “Can you get a fix on what they are?”

“Too small to be anything other than fighter craft, we suspect a Cye strike force is inbound.”

“Hello again, boy.” A familiar cold voice broke in.

Jaze’s face grew dark, “Carn you bastard, where are you hiding? Are you the one coming to me?” Trixie’s face took on a worried look and she grabbed a spare headset from the console next to her.

“Not me personally, just some of my friends for you to play with.” They could hear the evil smile on his face, “Wouldn’t want you to get bored.”

“You said you would not send forces here for two months!” Jaze yelled heatedly.

“And you said you wouldn’t leave the planet. You broke your end of the agreement, so I can break mine.”

“You son of a…”

“Colonel, multiple contacts are inbound. Fifteen seconds out, roughly twenty in strength. Recommending you head back to base for reinforcements.”

“Is the fighter armed?”

“Yessir, to the teeth sir, but what does that…”

“I’ll hold them in orbit; you get the rest of the fighters launched and ready to meet me here.”

“Yes sir, ETA for the first group is seven minutes.”

“I’ll be pasted before then, get them up here faster.”

“Jaze,” Shelby broke over the radio, “Angels Two and Three are prepped and ready to fly, ETA three minutes. You hold on ‘til then, okay. We just got you back and we aren’t losing you again so soon.”

“Thanks Shell, now you and Vin get you butts in void before the paste me.”

“Roger that,” Vincent said, his voice husky with the promise of combat.

“It’s not nice to ignore someone, boy.” Carn mocked.

“Oh, I’ll show you not nice. Get over here and I’ll show you just how ‘not nice’ I can be.” Jaze growled.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk; temper, temper. You really should get that under control; it will only get you killed.”

“Stop lecturing me, you snake. I’m still going to kill you.”

“You’re going to try,” Jaze saw several flashes of light as the Cye fighters finally arrived and decelerated, “Well; I’d hate to keep you from your date. Those boys have flown an awful long way to see you.” The sneer was back in Carn’s voice, “And don’t worry, the invasion is still going to take place as planned. Think of this as a warm up. Good luck, boy.”

Jaze looked back at Trixie, “Remind me not to hold back when I see that, thing, again.”

“I will,” she assured him, “but now I think you should focus on the task at hand.”

“I think you’re right,” Jaze said as he fixed his eyes forward and accelerated his spacecraft to meet the enemy fighters, “let’s shoot us down some cybernetic fools, shall we?”