Bullets hit the dirt inches in front of Jaze’s nose, spraying him with pinpricks of stinging soil. He ducked back behind the earthen fortifications before a stray round found his helmeted skull. Guns clattered deafeningly as the Marines fired back at the advancing enemy. Heavier machine gun emplacements sounded out above the other sounds of battle. Bright moonlight lit the field with a ghostly luminescence. The dusky blue light shone off the androids’ metallic skin, lending an otherworldly feel to the invaders.

Just a few feet away stood Celestia surrounded by many of her now armed and ever-loyal Guardsponies. Her spiraled horn glowed a pale gold, belching great gouts of gilded light that cut through the invaders with ease. Every robotic foe that came near the beam fell blackened and melted by its intense heat. Even from where he was, Jaze could see her weariness had fled. In its place was an almost enraged determination as she used her magic to destroy entire platoons. Despite their deadly nature, the beams that the Princess of the Sun threw forth held an odd beauty, not unlike the sun from which she drew power.

The scarred soldier whirled up over the embankment to return his weapon to the volume of fire being poured at the advancing androids. They had been slowly creeping towards the beleaguered defenders for the better part of the night and were now a scant few feet away from the defense line. Soon, they would be able to begin jumping down into the trench itself. And from there the fight could only get worse. The night sky was still full enemy dropships bringing in reinforcements by the thousands, and the shipments showed no signs of stopping.

Bodies of fallen metal troopers began forming a carpet over the ground, turning footing for the robots treacherous. The Cye showed no fear or sadness for their multitudes of fallen comrades, marching over their bodies without a glance. For every android put down, ten more filled in the gap before the defenders could reload. Even with the heavy machine guns mowing down the foremost lines of the automatons they just kept pushing forward, firing all the way.

Unfortunately, the enemy was not the only ones taking casualties. Even as Jaze knelt to reload a Marine next to him screamed and plopped down onto his backside, clutching a bullet wound in his arm. The soldier didn’t even have time to call out before a unicorn field medic descended on him. She spoke calmly as she dressed wound and used a few healing spells to stop the bleeding and begin the healing process. Jaze helped the other onto his feet before they both took back to firing into the Cye lines.

In the few seconds that Jaze had been kneeling, the androids’ line had inched forward until they were almost at arm’s reach. A curse fell from his lips and he quickly brought the rifle to his shoulder. The gun spat fire into a small cluster in the leading android’s chest. It went down, quickly followed by three of its companions before his rifle clicked on an empty chamber. He automatically thumbed the release lever and knelt down for another magazine, snagging one from the pile he had placed at his feet.

Jaze took a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow. His arms were sore from the constant kick of his rifle, and his silver eyes were watering from the constant flickering light of muzzle flashes. Constantly being on the brink of death, not to mention several close calls, had left him feeling ragged and worn thin. Every movement was a struggle, and the part of him that refused to believe he was getting shot at again wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest for a year.

As he slammed the fresh magazine into the weapon’s receiver a flustered Night Guard stallion came charging up the trench. His face was streaked with mud and fouler things, while his chest heaved from the exertion of his run. The stallion made a beeline for Celestia, screaming over the din of battle, “Princess! Your sister requires aid! She and a few volunteer mages are under heavy assault; her forces are quickly becoming depleted and the line is threatening to break!”

Jaze waved to get the white alicorn’s attention, and shouted, “Celestia, don’t you worry about Luna. I’ll take a few soldiers and reinforce the line.” He racked back the charging lever for emphasis, fixing a determined look on his face.

“Yes, go Knight-General.” the Princess called back quickly, adding, “Take a few of the Guard as well, you’ll be hard pressed to find anypony as determined as they are.”

Jaze nodded, shouting, “Good, I was going to steal a few anyway!” He singled out five and pointed towards the runner, “You follow him to reinforce the Princess; we’ll be right behind you.” They gave quick salutes with their hooves over their hearts and left, running as fast as their legs would carry them. The Colonel watched them run for a moment before he picked a nearby Marine fireteam to accompany him.

The group ran after the Guardsponies, keeping their heads ducked low. Bullets whizzed over the top of the fortifications to bury themselves in the opposite wall. They brushed past Marines and Guardsponies screaming in wordless rage as they fired back. Adrenaline coursed through Jaze’s body and kept him on his feet, but only just. His nose burned from the heavy odors of gunfire and death surrounding him, and his lungs nearly refused to breath in the tainted air.

Up ahead, a powerful beam of deep blue light nearly lost in the gloom burst from the trench into the enemy forces. Several smaller beams of various color blasted out in rapid succession as well, lighting the ditch up in brief flickers of radiance. Cye rifles screamed and spat rounds into the area where the magical light seemed to be originating, and the rifles of either Marines or Guardsponies answered in kind. Despite the best efforts of the defenders the enemy was slowly advancing. Seeing Luna’s magic had pushed Jaze into running faster. Worry filled him as his legs blurred with speed, and he silently hoped that they weren’t too late.

He came around a slight bend in the trench just in time to watch the first Cye trooper drop into the ditch. It was looking away from him, and he could see the Princess just beyond it. She was still holding off a large knot of the metallic soldier and hadn’t seemed to have seen her peril. The scarred assassin’s heart ached and his legs moved faster than he thought possible, until he had far outpaced the Marines behind him. Just as Jaze reached it, the metal trooper began to bring up its gun. It was too close to Luna for Jaze to use his gun; he would just as likely hit her as his target. Instead, he let the gun fall and drew his sword, removing the Cye trooper’s head in one swift stroke.

Luna spun when she heard the thing’s hull hit the dirt. For a moment she looked shocked and appalled, but she soon hid the emotion behind a smile. She gave him a nod of thanks and looked ready to say something, but Shining Armor came sprinting up from her other side in a panic and yelled, “Princess, I was told you need reinforcements…”

The Guard Captain had a pair of rifles suspended in a magical aura beside him with both muzzles pointed upwards. He regarded his commander with a blank stare, though he gave a respectful nod. Powder blue eyes took in the fallen trooper amongst the dead defenders, and his stare turned to one of anger. A magical aura surrounded the android and threw it out of the trench with all the force that the Captain could muster, catching a trio of enemy troops attempting to jump in.

For the first time since he arrived Jaze took a moment to examine his surroundings closely. Corpses of fallen ponies and humans littered the ground and made footing perilous; it was a wonder he hadn’t tripped and broken something. Not far away sat an unmanned gun emplacement, its operator still propped against its stock missing the better part of her face. A pair of Marines silently began moving their fallen comrades out of the way so they wouldn’t get stepped on.

Before the assassin could bend to retrieve his rifle, a large group of enemy soldiers crested the embankment and jumped down next to him, knocking the pair of human soldiers to the ground. Sairugi was still in his hand, and he quickly set to work on the foolish foe. The first went down with a quick, deep slash across its chest. It hadn’t even hit the ground before his sword sunk to the hilt in one of its companions. Unfortunately, the blade caught something and was yanked out of his hand as the limp android rolled to the ground. He reached for his side arm as a third trooper turned and brought its rifle to bear, but he wouldn’t be able to draw in time.

One of the Marines that had been moving the dead leapt from the ground and tackled the robot, smashing it against the wall of the trench. It was still moving, and the soldier responded by smashing it in the face and chest with the butt of a rifle until it was still. As his savior turned to look at him, Jaze realized for the first time that it was a young woman. She was so caked in grime that her features were unrecognizable as human, and her armor made her appear like any other soldier.

She offered a salute, but there was no time for a proper introduction. A thump sounded behind him as yet another Cye soldier landed. When he drew his pistol and turned to put it down however, he found it suspended in the air. Shining Armor regarded the struggling android coldly before his rifles riddled it with bullets and he casually tossed it aside. The two warriors moved closer to the midnight-blue alicorn still firing bolts of magical power to try and force the Cye back. The gold-armored human bent and picked up a fallen assault rifle and retrieved his sword, dropping a fresh magazine into his weapon as he took his position on Luna’s left.

Jaze called to the woman who had saved his life and pointed to the silent heavy machine gun. She nodded and grabbed her companion to relay the order. The pair practically crawled towards the gun, carefully avoiding the bodies of their fellow soldiers. A few times they had to stop and put a few androids down that jumped in the trench with them, but soon they were gently pulling the fallen soldier from the post she refused to leave, even in death. As soon as they reached the gun the Colonel turned his attention back towards the Cye troops.

A wave of the androids fell into the trench, only to be met with several quick bursts from the defenders’ combined weapons. Magical bursts from beside the Captain of the Guard took down dozens of the robots before they could jump down. It must have been the volunteers that the Night Guard had mentioned earlier, but he couldn’t quite see who it was because of the curve of the trench. Their actions did manage to push the Cye back a few steps, enough so that the rest of the group could reload in relative peace.

Shining Armor placed his forehooves on the wall of the trench so he could peek over while his rifles floated just over his head. One was always firing while the other was being reloaded, making sure there was a constant stream of lead death pouring from his position. The stallion was standing next to a stack of ammunition, but it wouldn’t last long with the continuous fire. Even now it was beginning to look small, and there was no telling when one of the supply corps would be able to come by with more ammo.

So Jaze knelt and began rummaging through the various pockets and pouches of the dead Marines around him for any spare magazines they may have been carrying. Most of the soldiers had at least one magazine stashed somewhere, while many had two or even three. But much of what he found were simply personal effects; pictures, lucky objects that had run dry, a few credits here and there, various odds and ends of every sort turned up in his search. For each fresh magazine he found dozens of reminders of how he had let these men and women down, not to mention their families.

He tried to force the thoughts aside, but they kept nagging at his mind. Stories arranged themselves in his mind for each new face he pulled out of the mud. In particular, a woman in her late thirties with stringy, nut-brown hair stuck in his mind. Her face was set in a rictus of pain and sorrow, and her dead, green eyes stared accusingly into his as he conducted a quick search. In her pocket was a picture of her and a man of similar age both wearing Marine dress uniforms standing arm in arm with a young girl in front and between them wearing a pretty, white, frilly dress.

Curiosity drove him to roll over a dead soldier laying next to the lady, and sure enough it was the man from the picture. They had died side-by-side on a world far away from their daughter, fighting for creatures they had just met. Shame filled his heart as he stared down at them; that he was alive while they had been forced to leave their child behind felt wrong. He wished nothing more than to take their place and give their youngster the parents she would most surely miss.

“Gaia to Armand!” a voice yelled from nearby, making Jaze’s head turn fast enough to make it pop. Shining Armor was watching him intently, his weapons pointed skyward once more. The stallion’s tone was urgent, though he seemed less angry than he had right to be, “These things aren’t going to feed themselves, you know.”

“Right…” the scarred soldier called. He gave his helmeted head a quick shake and shoved away from the bodies laying on the ground, “Here take…”

Before he could pass a few magazines over to the Captain, more of metal soldiers boiled over the embankments and filled the trench. Jaze brought his rifle to his shoulder and fired into the crowd before they could regroup and begin attacking. Three of the androids fell to the ground with small holes puckering their chests. All too soon however, the pin dropped on an empty chamber. One of the troopers used the chance to step up to him and knocked the gun from his hands. As the gun fell, his hand darted to the hilt of his sword and drew it.

He took the blade in a two-handed grip as his foe began to raise its rifle. Moonlight shined off the blade as it craved a path through the android’s thin neck. It fell to the ground limp and headless as the gold-armored soldier spun to the nearest machine. A quick slash across its middle, and the thing joined the bodies littering the ditch floor. But even as it fell, another stepped in to take its place.

He watched one float into the air in an aura of dark blue magic and be quickly pulled apart, each piece used as a missile to kill several more of the automatons. Luna had been forced a few feet away from the scarred assassin, surrounded by enemy troops. Even as he watched, her magic snagged another android and used it to batter more of the machines apart. Several fired at the alicorn, only to watch their rounds ping off a dark pink shield around her. Shining Armor stood next to his Princess; a strained look distorted his features and his horn was alight with a magical aura that formed the barrier around them.

A grunt drew his attention back to the Marines that had been trying to get the heavy machinegun working. The young woman who had saved his life before was grappling with one of the drones while her companion worked to reload the heavy gun. One of Luna’s Guards rushed to help, but a clutch of the machines blocked his path and he was forced to stop. Jaze watched the android slam her head into the trench wall and bring up its rifle for the kill.

His pistol was in his hand with no memory of drawing it. The first shot went wide, flying well over its head, while the second and third served to take off its head. The young woman had just begun to recover as her foe fell to the mud. She turned to give him a quick nod of thanks, but soon they were each embroiled in their own battles once more.

Jaze turned back to Luna and began carving a path towards her. None of the androids seemed particularly interested in him, and several of the robots fell to savage slashes from behind before the first ones turned to deal with the new threat. His blade was a blur as it hacked through the soft metal of his foes, cleaving through them with relative ease. Their guns were next to useless when he was this close, but already his arms burned from the effort. Each cut took far more out of him than he would have liked.

Much to his relief, he soon stood just outside the shield. The young stallion motioned him to just walk through the shield, despite it having stopped anything else from getting within a few feet of the pair inside. Jaze shrugged and slashed through the last few Cye soldiers between him and apparent safety. He had expected the shield to stop him, but it only gave him a slight tingling sensation as he passed right through it. The barrier passed, he stopped inside the protection of the shield for a moment to catch his breath.

Luna spared a moment to give him a brief smile of pure joy before she turned her attention back to the horde pounding on the pink bubble. A violent glow over took her horn, and suddenly it seemed like a crushing weight settled on the remaining Cye. They all fell flat and seemed unable to rise; easy prey for the Marines and Guards outside the shield. The Night Princess turned with a confident smirk on her face; the look of enjoyment on her face made the Colonel feel slightly ill with worry.

“It is a beautiful night, is it not Knight-General?” crooned the dark alicorn before she turned towards the still-advancing army to unleash more hell into their ranks.

Her soft tone made him realize that the din of combat had fallen to a distant murmur. His ears rang loudly in the sudden silence, and he had to resist the urge to knuckle them in annoyance. Without the constant threat of being killed, he was able to turn his attention to what was going on outside his immediate vicinity.

The flashes of light from down the trench line were flickering faster, though the lights seemed to be weaker. But somehow, the mages had managed to hold back the rest of the Cye forces. There was no telling how many dozens of the robots had fallen under the powerful magic being loosed on them. The nearby Guards and Marines made quick work of the last few stragglers thrashing on the trench floor before turning back towards the main battle. The defenders spread out across the weakened section of the line, stalling the enemy’s advance once more. Just beyond the embankments at the front of the line a low wall of destroyed androids had formed to where the ones moving forward had to climb over their fallen comrades. But even as they hobbled over, they were picked off by heavy weapons’ fire.

Hope began to return to Jaze’s heart as he watched the androids fall by the hundreds. Even in the past hours of pitched battle, the enemy hadn’t managed to get much closer. His heart soared, until he looked up and spotted the silhouette of the Cye space station against the night sky. It darkened a swath of the sky and hung as a promise of doom, silently watching. The assassin stared at it, trying to think of some way to remove the threat. Almost on instinct, he knew who awaited him aboard the planetoid. All he needed was some way to get close enough to kill the insane man.

The shield dissolved as Shining Armor took up his rifles and once more stepped up to the trench line. Sound rushed in to fill the peaceful space, bringing the scarred warrior back to reality. He moved to where he had lost his rifle and left the stacks of ammo; future battles could only be won after the current one was over. He began passing out the magazines to everyone along the line just as an earth-pony dropped off a small crate with more. Resupplied, he took up position near the heavy-machinegun that had finally started adding its roar to that of its brethren to make his own argument on why the Cye should leave.

“Holy hell Stacks,” the young woman called teasingly, “Took you long enough didn’ it?”

“Shut up Sis!” replied her companion, “Damned thing was jammed, and I am a marksmen, never used one of these things before.” The gun stopped firing, and the young man cursed loud enough to be heard over the din of battle, “Now what?!”

Jaze couldn’t help but smile as he yelled, “You’re out of ammo!” The pair jumped, apparently unaware that they had friendly company. They seemed even more shocked when they saw who it was that had joined their banter.

The young sniper checked his new weapon and grunted, “I guess it is.” He looked around and found a pack of the large magazines used in the gun and embarrassedly shoved a fresh one into the weapon. He went back to firing the weapon, and if the gold-armored soldier looked closely under the grime a mortified blush was just visible.

They woman shrieked with laughter and slapped her companion’s arm, “Come on bro, you’re slipping into senility!”

“Sh-shut up!” he called.

Jaze laughed, but before he could say anything another, a familiar female voice yelled out, “Excuse me, Captain?” The dark-haired Colonel turned, and his mouth fell open. Standing next to Shining Armor, looking disheveled, was Trixie. She waited for the white stallion to turn before she continued, “The volunteer unicorns just down the way are in dire need of water. We are not trained soldiers; none of them can stay up and fighting much longer. Is there any way to get them something to drink, and possibly something to eat?”

Jaze stepped closer and yelled, “Of course, we’ll get someone on that. Now would you tell me what you’re doing here?”

Her head whipped towards him, and a smile spread across her face. She trotted over to him, staring into his soul with her irresistible eyes, and answered, “I’ve been leading the volunteers from Ponyville, and I think we have been a valuable asset.” Her lips curled in a joking smile, “If I recall, we even saved you at one point.”

“True enough,” the assassin replied grudgingly before his tone turned dark with anger, “But you shouldn’t be here; it’s dangerous.”

Her smile slid from her face to be replaced by an angry glare, “Would you rather I sit on my rump back in town?”

“Frankly, yes. At least there you would have been safe.”

“While you were out here getting shot at?” she retorted, “The street goes both ways, Armand. I could not sit still while y… everypony was in danger. I have the skills to help, so I should be using them!”

Her moment of hesitation was not lost on the scarred soldier. His anger cooled slightly; if nothing else he could understand the sentiment. She stared up at him with anger flashing in the violet pools he knew so well, but beyond the front of irritation he could plainly see her fear. A sigh escaped his lips, followed by a slight smile, “Why can’t I stay mad at you?”

A smile of her own graced her features, and her toned brightened, “Because you know I am right.”

“Er…” Shining Armor muttered, drawing the pair’s attention back to him, “I’ll get somepony to bring your volunteers any supplies we can get; you’re too helpful to risk losing now.”

“Thank you, Captain.” she replied in breathless relief, “Then I shall go and inform the rest of the unicorns.”

The azure mare started to leave, but Jaze’s hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder almost of its own accord. She whipped back around, confused, and he lost what he had been going to say. For a moment he was silent, before whispering, “Be careful, okay?”

“There is no need to worry,” she assured with a wink, “you are far more likely to get into trouble than I. So you be careful, understand?”

His face split into a confident grin, “I’ll keep myself in one piece. I told you I’d be invincible.” She nodded and galloped back to her volunteers as he turned back to the Royal Guard Captain.

Shining Armor’s face was set in a grin, and his tone was mocking, “You like her, don’t you?”

“What makes you say that?” Jaze shot back, willing his face not to go crimson. From the look on the stallion’s face, he was sure he hadn’t succeeded.

“Because that is just about the same conversation I have with Cadence every time I have to go, or she does.” Armor’s eyes went misty, and his tone dripped honeyed sweetness, “’Don’t get hurt, be careful.’ It’s always the same.” Royal blue eyes refocused on the scarred human’s face, and a smile spread across the other’s lips, “What do you say we make it to hear another one, aye?”

“I actually have an idea towards that end.” The human swept his hand out to indicate the defense line, and asked, “Do you think you could put up a shield over the whole trench? That would be immensely helpful.”

The Captain looked up and down the trench, deliberation showing clearly on his face. After a short bit of thought, he looked up and nodded, “I can, but not for very long.”

“How long?”

“Hmm…” the stallion pondered aloud, “Five, no… Ten minutes is all I can give you for sure. At least, that’s what I can give and still be in fighting shape.”

“That’s at least enough time to think, and breathe.” Jaze gave a quick nod, “Do it, but give me a second.” He triggered the comm in his ear and switched it to the command frequency, “To all Marine squad and fireteam leaders: in one minute, have all your Marines cease fire. And make sure to pass the word to any Guards that may not have comms. We’re about to get a break.”

It took several seconds for all the soldiers to report in that they had received the message, and longer still for the rest of the Marines to acknowledge it. Seconds ticked away, dragging on like hours, while Shining Armor concentrated. The scarred human could feel a sort of tug, a current moving towards the stallion before him. A soft glow surrounded the Captain’s horn that slowly brightened as the minute neared its end. The assassin offered a silent prayer to whatever deity may have been listening that his plan would work.

Just as the minute expired, the stallion’s horn flared with intense pink light and a shield popped into existence around the defenders. Cye troops hammered thoughtlessly against the barrier, throwing every bullet and even their bodies at it to break it. But it held strong, though its creator looked exhausted by the effort already. The stallion gave a weak but confident smile, though the dark-haired assassin could still see the physical pain that the other was in.

All was quiet in the ditch as soldiers tended their wounds and weapons. Ammunition was distributed, rations consumed, prayers muttered, and soldiers stretched sore muscles before the next trip into hell. As they rested, Shining Armor shared an idea that put a smirk on the Colonel’s face. He passed the idea along to his soldiers, and similar grins graced their features as they moved to act on it.

But the enemy was far from idle. While the Marines and Guards made their preparations, the androids used the time to clear their dead from near the front line. Piles of scrap accumulated as tall as houses near the dark trees of the Everfree Forest as they moved the destroyed bits of former Cye. Soon, they had cleared all of their fallen comrades and began hammering away at the shield.

By then, the Marines had all called in their ready status. Jaze looked to the blue-maned stallion and gave a quick nod. Relief shone on the pony’s face, and it was easy to see why. His mane and coat were slick with sweat, and his limbs were shaking from the effort of holding the barrier in place. The light from before flared once more and the barrier exploded outwards, shredding the first rows of machines while throwing many more back several feet.

The defenders used the breathing room to unleash a torrential rain of explosive rounds. Each soldier with a rifle, be they human or unicorn, had several small stacks of the detonating ammunition, and they used it to quickly mow down thousands of the advancing androids. The few Guards without rifles hurled millions of empty shell casings with deadly speed and accuracy, grinding even more of the robots in broken scrap.

As ever, the androids continued marching into the metal grinder. But between the explosives and the unicorns throwing anything they could down range, the Cye were slowly being turned back. They couldn’t move forward fast enough, and step by step they were forced back towards their landing zone. Humans and ponies alike screamed at the retreating foe in a ruckus that would have made any living being shiver with fear.

Jaze thumbed the release lever and slapped a fresh magazine into his weapon as fast as he could. The roar of combat almost drowned out that of his fellow soldiers, though it still carried across the line. Somehow the sound lent strength to his limbs as he continued firing into the horde. His weapon had begun to get so hot from the constant firing that he had to set it aside and retrieve one from a fallen Marine nearby.

Heedless of the bullets whizzing past him, the gold-armored human never let his fire slacken longer than it took to reload. Wind off the rounds sometimes brushed his cheek, and the mixed smells of gunpowder, oil, and blood filled his nostrils with their horrifying odor. But none of these sensations actually reached his mind and went completely ignored. The thrill of combat swept through him, giving him the strength to keep going long after he normally would have stopped.

He reached down once more to reload, only to find that his stacks of HE rounds were gone. He switched to armor-piercing ammo and kept burning through the second stack of magazines. A grim smirk touched his lips; Shining Armor’s plan was working well. Already enough space had opened up to land several dropships end to end, with more ground being gained with every second.

A snort sounded from behind him, and he heard Luna growl fiercely, “More of the enemy doth join their allies above our fair planet.”

Jaze looked up, and sure enough he could see several more bright flashes of light appearing in the night sky. The lights began moving towards a cluster of what appeared to be stars, but soon revealed themselves as more of the enemy’s vast fleet. He couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the flashes wheel about in the starry depths. He looked to the Princess with a sarcastic smile and called, “Doesn’t really matter does it? We can’t be in any deeper than we are now!”

He turned back to the battle and kept firing, a frown overtaking his features. Every passing second made this fight go from bad to worse. But even before there was no way they could have actually defeated every one of those ships with just a few fighter craft. A buzzing sound issued from the comm in his ear, going mostly ignored. It was probably just Control about to tell him that more ships had arrived.

From the comm, an amused male voice cackled loudly and said in a deep, familiar accent, “This is the ECN super-carrier Vigilance asking: son, jus’ what in the hell did you do to piss off every single Cye bastard in the galaxy and bring ‘em here?”

The assassin’s brow furrowed in confusion; the man who that voice belonged to was supposed to be dead. Killed in a battle for Earth. His heart hammered in his ears, and hope once more began to invade his thoughts. He triggered the comm and asked incredulously, “Admiral Gaston? Is that you?”

Gaston laughed, “Surprise Jaze! Thought ya migh’ want a bit o’ help from every damned ship I could lay hands on.”

The scarred soldier grinned stupidly, his heart nearly singing. This had to be a dream; he had already written off his older friend as dead. He had trouble forcing words to form, though he managed to ask, “You brought a fleet?”

“Damned right I did. Ain’t gonna leave ya hangin’ on a limb.” The Admiral’s voice took a dark tone, and he added “’Sides, these bastards got a bit of payback comin’ after what they did t’ Earth. So what say we show ‘em why you don’t mess with the best damned fighting force in the galaxy!”