“… Camouflage cover your sectors! Habu close that gap!” My suiter yelled.

Muzzle flashes from the end of his wrist guns illuminating his armor while at his side the recent addition to our lance Shiraui, fired her cannon casting them both in an eerie red light.

“Hooo! That's all of ‘em boss.” Trombley sighed as the last missile exploded almost one hundred meters away.

“Not yet, that was only the first wave. Lance form up, watch eachothers backs. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

“Iceman, I can not see anything in this debris, her sensors are picking up many false readings.” I said as I reloaded my flechette rifle and fell in behind my suiter.

“Keep your head on a swivel Habu. Stay cool, just Icequeen taught you.”

For several moments we watched the vista pan and felt the Manitoba twitch underneath us as it maneuvered. In the distance one of the PDCs swiveled firing streames of pearl white tracers into the void.

Suddenly we halted a raised hand from my suiter stopped pur advance. “Stand by, we have fighters and dropships coming up from the planet. Top thinks their gonna try and get in close and take out the PDCs, punch a hole in our grid, and give their people a straight shot at the Gally and the Manitoba.”

“Snow Viper actual, Templar actual: how copy?”

“Solid copy Templar. Go ahead.”

“I don't like this Iceman, This isn't their usual strategy. Usually we would be swamped by now.”

“Agreed. Recommend regroup. Break... I just got this image capture of one of the incoming dropships from Icequeen. Sending now.” A window appeared in the corner of my heads up display showing what looked like a flight of UEC shuttles. Even now, several years after being freed from the UEC the sight of a single flight of buffalo shuttles made my blood run cold. As in her past that sight usually meant a pacification force was coming for someone in your area.

“Wait for iiiiit, there, freeze and zoom into section twelve.” The image stopped the rear most shuttle shifted sending a wave that cleared the lingering clouds behind it.

Emerging from the clouds were several shuttles that did not fit the UECs standard design. There were no smooth sweeping shapes, no graceful appearance, or garish livery. Instead these ships were closer in design to the dropships used by the COG, built for function rather than form making them more of a dropship than a shuttle.

Grey black in appearance, they displaced nearly twice the mass of a buffalo and bristled with weapon hardpoints. In a way not dissimilar to the NAC's dragonfly gunship. Four powerful vtol engines carried them towards us as well as a quartet of quad rocket pods, and a mean looking double barreled nose gun. The light from the systems stars glinting off of their red cockpits. But what had my human compatriots and myself confused was the symbol emblazoned on the sides of the incoming unknown dropships.

The image zoomed in again before clearing to show a deep purple octagon with a deep crimson V cutting it in half. Then emblazoned on the surface of the backdrop were two silver and gold spirals resembling a galaxy.

“What is that?” Avery Fallon asked with a sharp edge to his voice.

“No idea, but I don't like it. Form up with my lance Snow viper Crux out …. All embarked personnel, stand by for second wave.” Crux said before cutting the link.

Off to my left I could see Crux, standing grew grew 3

“Alright people. This is where the fun begins.”

“Exiting subspace, supreme commander. In three… two… one… transition.”

“Sensors, status report.”

“Second assault force on route. Seventh and twelfth fleets transitioning and moving into position now supreme commander.” My sensor operator, a grey scaled tymerian bearing the mark of the kleese empire on his uniform reported. With a wave of my top left hand I brought up the sensory input screen as well as a visual feed. The display flickered at my gesture before coming into focus.

The image before my eyes set my heart to racing. Near on thirty earther vessels all built to standards that would do any ancient kleese fleet prefect proud. “What are the statistics?”

Hir'kell swiveled a pupil towards one of his screens before standing strait on his four legs. “Fleet commander, with the final fleets exiting their warp jumps now. We now outnumber them nearly four point three to one.”

https://youtu.be/k8-HHivlj8k

“An overwhelming margin against any normal opponent, a notion these humans are far from. This will be an even fight. Alert the fleet, space out and overlap shields. Focus fire on their siege breakers before that heavy battleship. Tell the ships commanders to maintain an evasive pattern, make the humans work for their kills…”

My orders given I took a deep calming breath. It would not do to become worked up and unprofessional in front of the men as that would be bad for moral. “Weapon crews batteries online, ready plasma cannons and energy lances. Launch fighters and bombers and raise shields.”

“What of the missiles sir?” One of the few equestrian appointed officers asked. Grunting in annoyance as I watched impressed at the half sphere formation the humans were adopting to deal with an attack from multiple vectors.

I folded both sets of hands behind my back as I clamping my hands together to cover the excited shaking. As I watched the humans fire their missiles and torpedoes eight, twenty four, sixty seven, then one hundred and fourteen, as the seconds ticked by more and more missiles popped from their housings and spread towards my task force.

“They would not get through the earthers defencive screen at this range. We close in and use them there. Sixth fleet, weapons free, for the Kleese… for the conclave!”

Space ignited both sides of the conflict showered in the silver light of Galactica's main batteries as it fired again and again. Methodically taking out UEC super destroyers with every shot of its triple barreled guns.

On screens and through windows both sides watched as the space between the two fleets began to fill with ordinance. Missiles, torpedoes, plasma quarals, railgun darts, gauss cannon slugs and gigantic bolta of sizzling plasma all mixed together into a riot of color. And behind the opening salvos from both sides flew swarms of fighter craft. While on the hulls of the human vessels PDCs whurred to life and mechs turned swiveled their weapons and readied themselves.

As the faster human shots struck their targets nearly a dozen of smaller UEC vessels vanished in violent displays of newtonian physics. Shaken several small corvette and escort commanders broke their formation and swiftly found themselves swamped in penetrator missiles, and plasma torpedoes.

Then came the turn of the UEC, as their slower weapons fell on the mostly unshielded yet impervisteal armored COG fleet. Hulls melted, were flesh vaporized, or burned away revealing the guts of several human vessels who continued to fire their weapon in desperate defiance until their reactors either went critical or died.

Crimson lightning arked across the hulls of the siege breakers as they coordinated their firing solutions, staggering their fire for maximum effect. One by one they fired their weapons at half or quarter charges before a lance of crimson energy reached out from the flagship of Supreme commander Krysk to touch the Yamato.

Armor boiled and vaporized as the zaltule plasma lance struck its target taking the siege breakers main weapon offline. Seconds later five more volleys of boiling plasma slammed into the defanged Yamato before its escorts moved and interceded their own hulls with another voly.

But to no avail and as dropships, mechs, fighters and escape pods launched, many in the joint UEC task force watched one of the COG’s harrolded siege breakers die. Its hull split in two by its reactor overload, but as it died the ships dissipating AI fired every weapon at its disposal even as the ship rapidly disintegrated its core.

Radiation warnings blared across the fleet as the Yamato fired its racks of massive orion seed killer missiles. The massive pykrete missiles burst from their hardpoints on gouts of nuclear fire racing ahead of the dying ship even as the ship emptied its racks before vanishing in its own nuclear fireball.

The siege breakers fire shifted from the smaller UEC vessels to the six kleese ships that made up the backbone of Krysk's battlefleet, knowingthst those ships were the larger threat. Concentrated fire from the Donnager and Manitoba flashed through space at fractions of the speed of light before slamming into an ricocheted off of the overlapping reinforced shields of the six ships.

The next siege breaker to be decommissioned was the NAC:OPAS Matayo. As concentrated condenser lense fire from Rarity's seventh fleet splattered against its hull. However unlike its sister ship the aging Leathy class siege breaker expelled its grid of mechs, fighters and dropships before its commanding officer twisted a key, tearing a whole into space in front of the ship before a swirling tear in subspace pulled the ship through. A fraction of a second later another tare reappeared and spat the rapidly accelerating ship out in the midst of the closest UEC fleet.

Condenser cannons turned ponderously aboard the comically small UEC super destroyers around the human vessel as it burned for all it was worth. Spinning slowly its vast arrays of railguns and PDCs raked everything in its vicinity it accelerates towards the shielded kleese ships. Scoring no less than three kills, before the belter built siege breaker speared straight through a smaller luna class destroyer. Splitting The UEC ship two as it was dashed against the Matayo's armored bow, before the flaming vessel barreled into the protective barrier around the kleese ships.

The shield flared brightly as it attempted to absorb the kinetic energy of millions of tons worth of starship being dashed against it. But just as the shield seemed it would withstand the blow it suddenly crumpled as a voly of railgun and gauss slugs truck it. Now undeterred the remains of the Matayo and her dead or dying crew continued onward to dash itself against one of the Kleese battleships.

Both ships crumpled under the force of the collision, explosions rocking their hulls before they broke apart. With one of the Matayo's engine pods separating and being sent into the hull of a super destroyer taking both ships out with it.

Between the two warring fleets a white and blue Gungnir-2 in valkyrie mode kicked its leg out as three fighters closed in behind it. Tracking its wrist gatling towards the repurposed shrike as it screamed past her, its blond pilot fired her jets backflipping as it transformed back into fighter mode to avoid a gun run by one of the UECs new breezee interceptors.

Banking to follow the earther fighter, the rainbow maned pilot of the commandeered nac fighter craft rolled hard to the right before a stream of tracers forced her to break off the maneuver. Arching her back and neck captain Rainbow Dash saw another fighter, it's autocannon spitting gouts of flame as it burned hard towards her.

Her fighter shook and rolled wing over wing as a missile slammed into her shield. As she rolled she saw the earther pilot scream past getting a better look at the earther shrike. Recognition struck her and she ground her teeth before slamming a fist against the canopy.

“Red tail.” She spat as she managed to get her own shrike under control. When she spotted the fighter she had shut down over Tearus it was using its maneuvering thrusters to flip around so it was flying backwards while facing her. “Buck!” She shouted goosing the engines as Eagle fired his cannon at her having used up all of his missiles in the first volley.

”Come on bitch.” the Tuskegee trained pilot grunted as he was pressed against his crash couch. “Knight one on your six.” a voice cried out over the tac-link before he broke off pirouetting his fighter away from a pair of dumbfire missiles before a flash from behind him precursored a small shower of debris.

“Thanks Snow.” The Galactica's CAG said as he watched a black avenger fighter soar past his canopy, its forward swept wings folding forward into its fuselage as it gained speed to chase down a blue and gold pegasus fighter.

“You again!” A revived Spitfire yelled. Banking her fighter around a hail of cannon fire as she spotted the fighter that had shot her down over bagmare.

But just as she manoeuvred to fire her condenser guns a streak of gold particles swept past her as the fighter she had been chasing with the others shot past her. Behind the transforming fighter prime captain Shining Star was hot on its tail with his breezee interceptor.

“Come on, come on, come on.” The unicorn pilot muttered, the engine screamed in Star's ears as he struggled to keep behind the earther. His scopes screamed at him as he watched the reticule bouncing between having and not having target lock as the earther jinked and swerved their fighter.

Tone came and he fired his missiles fully expecting the ordinance to fall short of finding find their targets. Waiting for the earther to transform into its mech form and begin shooting down the missiles her was surprised when a stream of tracers came from nowhere and struck them out of space.

The explosions from the missiles illuminated the earther fighter as it transformed in the eerie orange glow before arching it's back around one of his shots, aiming its left fist at him twin rotary guns spinning. Firing two more shots he quickly spun to the side avoiding a stream of grenades before the fighter with the white and red snowflake logo transformed and followed him.

“Icequeen, Manitoba reports unknown contacts are deploying mechs onto her hull. Looks like their taking a page out of both our and the lankys handbooks.” A voice called out into Charlotte's comm, it was Doll her wingman.

“This is what Avery would call a shit show. A total charly foxtrot…. Nothing we can do now, we have our job to do, the others have theirs.”

‘Please Avery be okay and make it through this… Miiora make sure he makes it through this.’

https://youtu.be/WH-E98MltJc

“What the fuck is that thing?” One of the basic pilots yelled as what could only be some kind of UEC mech was deployed onto the hull. The thing looked weird like it had toomer's on its arms or something.

Miiora had told me about her sister piloting one of those things when they came and got me and Harris. She had said they were extremely dangerous but as I punched my fist into ones cockpit and pulled out a rapidly dying caleb I couldn't help but wonder why?

“Is this a fucking joke?” I asked as with a jerk of my hand. My hand clamped shut tight crushing the human traitor with a shower of blood before tossing what was left in Shiraui's direction. “These things are terrible.”

“Careful Iceman, they may be weak compared to our 3s but the twos and ones aren't made of as stern stuff as ours. Nor are their pilots as skilled as the two of us, Be mindful of that.” Crux said as he took a step back slashing his sword up and across his opponent cutting it in two from hip to shoulder before sidestepping and in one seamless motion to stabbed his sword through the cockpit section of another of the siafu rip offs.

“Your right. Snowviper, form up, barricade formation just like we practiced people. Shiraui follow my lead.” I yelled into the squad channel as I watched Shiraui tear the cockpit cover off of another mech before biting off the upper half of the pilot.

“She obeys.” “Got it gunny.” “Okay.” Around me my lance formed up facing the oncoming borders. As one Trombley and Miiora dropped to one knee and brought up their left forearms. Imperva Steele ballistic shields unfolded from their forearm housing's as they slammed them down at an angle as their icarus mountings swung up to aim over the shields.

stepping up behind Miiora I folded my own icarus mountings up and networked our firing solutions setting them to auto fire. Then nodding my sensor bubble at a nervous Shiraui who stood behind Trombley I leveled my rifle with one hand and aimed my other arm cannon at another target before letting loose.

Instantly the difference in training and discipline between the groups of attackers became apparent. The ones carrying the UEC crest either charged on mass or held their ground firing back. They died in drothes their suited bodys being torn to shreds by strings of flechettes or blaster fire.

But the ones carrying the other silver and gold sygle had me worried. These were true professionals, disciplined and unflinching in their purpose they slowly pushed our line, advancing by squads. ‘These guys are in another league compared to the usual plebs Uec sends after us.’

Hearing the click of my feeded running dry I turned to the side presenting a smaller silhouette
“Changing.” I said cooly as I fired my rifle one handed and snapped my arm up with a jerk.

The spent canisters in my left arm disengaged and ejected sending them spinning off into space as a new set were slid down from my bicep and into the housings. “Good.”

Stepping back I leveled my .50s and sent a string of high caliber flechettes into the chest of a suited UEC marine. “Maste… Iceman, they are getting…” Miiora didn't get the chance to finish as a streak fat flashed past the manitoba and struck the unshielded Galactica's starboard hanger pod.

A blinding flash of white light ignited from the point of light drowning out the sights of battle and forcing my lesser suited lancemate's machines to cut their visual feeds to protect their vision.

“Holy! Shit!” Someone shouted unhelpfully over the tac-link's company channel.

“Ooobah that was a nuke. They nuked the Gally!” someone else shouted.

‘This is bad the situation is getting out of hand.’ I said to myself before turning to look towards the advancing troops. They were stopped dead just like our own from the flash of nuclear fire. “Crux…”

“I know, I see it. My Lcom is damaged I cant hail anyone. I'll follow your lead Fallon. We have to take back the initiative.”

“Copy.” I said before cutting the link and opening an open channel. Putting on a brave face I glanced towards my hud spotting Miiora's elevated stress levels and to a lesser extent Trombleys. Shiraui however was as cool as I was if not more so.

Stepping up I fired my jump jets and vaulted over Miioras back. Charging forward I clamped the rifle to my back and withdrew my right hand into its housing, extending the close combat spike. ‘Armor we need a moral boost. Transmit lance visual to allied units.’

[Acknowledged]

“Feel the power of the Cog!” I shouted charging forward and jamming the spike up and into the cockpit of the enemy mech just as it turned to see what was coming its way.

Not a second later the white and black of Crux's own ATLAS-3 came barreling in slamming its ballistic shield into a mech pinning it down before running shit machine through with his sword. The two mechs crumpled sparks of blue and white flew from the two dead machines as I stood up and waved to at my lance trying to look like an action hero adding in an over the top wave forward. “Come on you apes! You wanna live forever!”

It worked, I think a little too well because almost at once damn near every mech that i could on the surface of the Manitoba and probably the fleet rose from their cover and charged the enemy.

Bursting forward I fired my jump jets, sliding under an overhang strike from one of the mechs. Rolling with the momentum I clamped my feet back down and sprang up jamming my close combat spike into the head of the serpent.

Then catching movement in my peripheral I snatched my autocannon from its rack and fired my jets again. Careful not to launch myself into space I strafed around the edge of an enemy hold out firing thirty millimeter shells into the crowd.

“Fucken love this shit!” One of my lance mates yelled as he jumped over the same position I was firing at ejecting a grenade and crashing back down on the other side.

“Come on baby get some!” My second Subs yelled firing his own autocannon from the hip. “Holy shit would you look at that!”

“What?” I asked as I stomped my foot down on a panicking caleb. A connection request popped up and I opened it in a window on my HUD. The image showed Fallon, Crux and their respective lances cutting through the enemy line.

Iceman twisted around pirouetting his machine before snapping his fist out to connect with the fist of one of the UECs mechs. The weaker machine's bulbas hand crumpled before a flash of silver courtesy of Crux's sword severed the limb from its body.

Instantly the machine retreated only for a bone white hand with fucking glowing red claws to crash through its back and out of its chest. The lanky thing then flexed its hand and with a twist yanked the claw from its kill. Taking the pilot with it and shoving the kicking and screaming mare into its mouth.

Beside them Camouflage and Habu fired their weapons from around their ballistic shields, their weaker ATLAS-2s not being up to the task of prolonged close combat with the serpents.

Taking and shouldering his rifle Iceman sent three bolts of searing red energy down range as Habu and the flayed seamlessly stepped in. Taking positions one beside and one behind the two began firing their weapons as well sending bolts of energy and strings of flechettes straight into an enemy squad. “Sector three lance leaders… enemy fighters have broken through and are heading your way.”

‘Shit that's right on them.’

Turning and firing my own weapon into the chest of another mech I saw Fallon eject the charge pack from his rifle before slamming in a new one and attaching it onto the icarus mounting to be folded onto his back. While Crux retracted his sword and mag locked it to his hib before reloading his arm guns.

Turning his back to their backs to their teams Crux and Iceman trood back to back, as they thrust their fists out firing streams of tracers towards the fighters. Flechettes and grenades from the two Atlas-3s arm weapons rose up to meet the fighters as several of the PDCs swiveled in their direction adding their own fire to the defence.

In return two fighters broke off and began stitching two lines of bolts towards the two team leaders. Without taking his right hand off of the incoming wave of fighters, Fallon stomped one foot to the left and swung his left fist in the direction of the two about to strafe his team.

His sole remaining icarus mounted blaster cannon unhinge and swung up to track along with his right arm as he sent a string of tracers into the first of the two fighters. He was about to frag the other just as a several bolts from the flayed blew it apart.

“Come on, why won't the gally get in the fight?”

https://youtu.be/ffNDSJhsVYc

“Nuclear detonation on the starboard hanger pod. Armor holding no major damage”

“General, ventral particle cannon is down again.”

“Recovery crews have picked up as as many of the Yamato and Matayo's evacuees as possible.”

‘Damn it, this isn't good, there's no way they should have known we were coming.’ I said to myself as he watched the tactical plot. As my suit marked that my blood pressure was spiking and felt that I was sweating bullets. ‘Is this what it was like during the siege? When entire battle groups were lost in just a few minutes… is that what's going to happen here?’

A thunderous clap filled my helmets speakers and I looked down at surface of the holo table to see Ryoko's avatar looking back at me expectantly. Infact looking up from the avatar I saw that almost my entire bridge crew was staring back at me.

‘...Come on Tyler your grandfather got through harder spots than this and he did it with the Leathy. You've got the best crew around and a battle group who would die to protect this ship… the ship that's their only way home… the ship that malfunctions almost daily because it was rushed out of the dock before its final shakedown run… the ship that got them all stranded out here….’

Looking back at my new XO I saw the man was doing his best to keep my bridge crew in line. Colonel Tiegh who was brought over from the critically damaged Defiant was cool as ice and was snapping orders before clomping up to my command chair, his mag boots clicking as he walked. The man looked at me giving me a once over before his eyes locked on my face, but not my face I noticed after a half second but my cracked visor and blood smeared visor. Leaning in he pressed his helmet to my own to transmit without the comm.

“General Barron, your injured sir, perhaps it would be best if you report to the med bay.” The old man said in a whisper just incase someone was listening in.

There it was, he gave me an out, a way to leave the bridge and let the an adult take control of the situation. ‘Maybe I should…’ I began to think but the thought of having to walk back onto the bridge crossed my mind. My crew would know the old man had run out on them, and no one would be able to trust my judgment again, always be second guessing my decisions, and they would be right to do it.

The ship rocked again light flashing as he looked at me with his hard eyes. “We have a responsibility to the people out there general, pull yourself together you can do whatever this is in private. If we make mistakes here people die sir. Anger keeps you alive general, but fear doesn't get just you killed. If you can't…”

Taking a deep breath I looked back at him. “Thank you colonel. Your concern for my health is noted.” I said sitting back up.

He gave a small almost invisible smile before standing back up at my side. “Of course sir my mistake.” Swiving back around I stood and eyed the tactical plot.

“Ryoko I want firing solutions for the dorsal gun on the lead ships plotted and fed to the gunnery crews. Astro navigation, plot us a course out of here I want to jump as soon as we are full up, we can refuel the ships on route….” I began barking out orders to my crew and they all seemed to be relieved as I sent a priority connection to my CAG.

“Eagle this is Galactica actual. Pull back to minimal engagement range, be ready to do a hard landing, we are pulling out as soon a Galactica's tanks are full. Anyone not on board one of the remaining ships when the time comes is getting left behind.”

“... Eagle copies galactica actual. Yes sir.”

“Gunnery crews report ready and waiting. Gun is hot.” My myrialos gunnery officer reported from her seat her chitin covered body glistening slightly in the light.

“What's our refueling status?” I asked as I watched the marker for the annihilators the NACS Vancouver wink out, replaced with a flashing red Icon and a blinking recovery beacon. ‘Dead all hands lost.’

“Fifty percent on mIn tank general, ten on reserves. They weren't filled before we left port.”

“Let the boarding part know the timetable has been moved up, tell them to be ready to leave the station. Ryoko set a timer, two hours then we are leaving.”

“Yes sir.” Both the communications officer and the admin AI said together. A split second later a flashing orange timer appeared waiting for me to give the order.

“General, several fast movers incoming from mark twelve nine seven Y.” The operations said.

“Alright people, let's get Galactica in this fight. Start the clock. Shields up, bring the flack and railguns online. Reroute power from the ventral gun to the shields, Gunnery All batteries lock on targets and engage, full volley, fire for effect..”

“All batteries volley fire aye.”

“Shields up aye.”

“Starting the clock, Stand by… Its about to get loud.” The ships AI said as she gave a very sloppy salute before disappearing.

“Maintain formation! Galactica actual, We need a Corvette and resupply over here now! Collar one, PDC twenty-two.” Mister Fallon shouted as he stomped to the side and deployed his trenchcoat. Sending shards of shrapnel towards a missile aimed at his mech.

“Understood Snow viper one-one, NES Switzerland Pike will be on station in zero two mikes….” I heard the voice say before tuning out the conversation.

“Two minutes People!”

“Christ. This sucks.” He muttered under his breath before punching his hand into the cockpit of an enemy mech. Then the sky flashed again, backlighting his form as he pulled the pilot from her machine and crushed her in his hand, before kicking the now limp mech into space.

“COME ON!” Camouflage shouted as his shoulder mounted gatling swung up and fired into the swarm of enemy patterns.

My weapon clicked empty and rather than struggle with putting in another charge pack I dropped it. Letting the “blaster” float beside me as I kicked my legs up just as mister Fallon had when he was in control of my body and twirled to join my placenta and the other human. ‘I really should find a way to hold that weapon when I'm not using it… That might work?’

Pink tags raced across my vision as I linked to Mister Fallon. Reaching out several million times a second I found the connection to his subconscious and suppressed the call of the one. My arms came up as I trickled power to my firing maws. Feeding into mister Fallon I felt his need, his want and turned my back on him and this other human.

“For the COG! In the name of the lord!” The older human shouted as he ran a mech through with his sword.

Finding several targets I tracked both arms towards my targets and fired two penetrators. The bone spikes slammed through their shields and pierced their cockpits. Turning around and finding more targets I soon found that the three of us Crux, mister Fallon, and myself, had formed a kind of triangle formation as we shifted our fire to cover not only our lances, and the cannon but each other as well. Whenever mister Fallon would move I would step into fill the gap followed by Crux who would step to fill the gap I had made.

My vision swirled, in the right panoramic as three spinning circles marked two missiles as they raced from a pair of fighters towards the point defence cannon. Sidestepping I swung my right arm around, my pinkish maw shell came to a rest beside the white, black and red armor of Mister fallons machine's left arm. Fire exploded from the four barrels of my placenta's wrist guns as I routed power to my firing maws. The maws glowed before several yard long spikes burst forth.

The two missiles exploded followed closely by the fighters that launched them. That's when mister Fallon's left arm snapped back while he continued to fire with his right.

“Fuck! I'm out!” He yelled before his shoulder weapon pivoted to compensate.

“Here!” Crux shouted ejecting a spare ammunition canister which my placenta caught. “Make ‘em count!”

“There's to many of ‘em!” I heard Camouflage shout as he slammed his shield into an enemy mech opening miss Habu up to shoot it in the chest.

“We must hold Camouflage.” Miss miiora said taking cover behind her mate? To reload her weapon before snapping back around and putting several rounds into the chests of an advancing squad of armored infantry.

“Yeah, I know that Habu, i'm just saying if this keeps up for much longer my guns gonna overheat.”

I began to feel power draining from my arms and almost immediately, and without provocation mister Fallon pivoted to sweep his arm over my sector while his other continued to fire on his own targets. The glowing red dome that acted as his main camera housing pivoted as well in his chest. Twisting from right to left the camera dilated and contracted as he continued to fire both of his weapons on separate targets.

“Aaaaaagh…!” He screamed as I felt The One that protects The Whole reaching out to him through our link.

“Love, on your nine!” Miss Habu shouted as one of the enemy mechs blew past her and Camouflage heading straight for my placenta.

I felt something take control and soon found that I had telescoped a long blade from my firing maw. Giggling I fired my thrusters and slashed the left leg from the enemy's machine sending it's torso barreling into my placenta raised primary knee joint.

Without breaking stride his machine slammed its clawed ped down onto the arm of the struggling mech as it tried to right it self. With his molester pinned mister Fallon cooly and while still firing his right arm’s weapons at a target I couldn't see, swept his left arm down. Sparks and short lived explosions rocked both the serpent and the Manitoba's hull as he swept his left arm up and down across his would be attacker before his arm snapped back up to fire at something else.

“Lanky, Get back in the fight.” The one known as Crux said as he ducked to one side firing both sets of arm weapons into the machines torso.

“R-right sorry.” Was my only response before I glanced up seeing the sky full of tiny pinpricks of light.

https://youtu.be/ADhSflX169c

A cheer went up as the light from another explosion cleared showing the imposing and oddly inspiring bulk of the human pattern still docked to the station. One of its hangar pods were darkened from two blast marks on her dented armor.

Then sections along its alligator head seemed to split apart as dozens of hatches slid open allowing large quad barreled turrets, and smaller two barreled turrets to unlimber themselves from the ship's hull and aim up into the black. As I watched space around the decently sized human pattern, that had remained relatively unresponsive until now suddenly came alive with the brilliant orange flashes my brief delbe into human history before my placenta came returned, told me was flak.

Those flashes of light around the human ship highlighted the name of my first friend's temporary home. The letters shining a brilliant white against the darkened black of the ships grey hull spelling out the word. GALACTICA.