After Commander Kestat's death, Captain Crai stood on the Pogue's bridge watching all her sensor displays as they approached the last known coordinates of Peyton's convoy. She didn't have time to grieve, to feel, but all she did while standing was think about everything that was coming for them. Peyton, her brother. "Gods I hope they're still fighting."

Sorrel's moved to stand with her. "I know they are, Lev promised me he would."

Captain Markov turned to her, his face told no lies. "Debris field ahead. Multiple ship signatures. I'm also detecting active weapons fire. We're not looking at complete wreckage, we're looking at a combat zone."

Crai studied her display with growing alarm. "Can you identify the ships under attack?"

"Partial readings suggest Coalition. Two distinct quantum signatures which match the Silent Thunder and Iron Covenant configurations." Markov's voice wavered. "Captain, they're barely holding together. Hull breaches, minimal power, and it looks like the enemy dropped drone platforms. They're systematically destroying their any defensive capabilities they have."

"Wearing them down," Sorrel said. "How many drones?"

"Sixteen automated platforms, with frigate-class weapons systems. They split the fleet on purpose, they're not trying to capture them—they're…." Markov's voice trailed off.

"General quarters," Crai ordered. "I repeat. Pogue all hands. General Quarters."

The Pogue's as large as she was transformed as crew members rushed to their stations.

"Who was…" Crai tapped the side of her head.

"Morales, Keating, and Havlock," Sorrel said. "Use Beta271."

Crai gave her a sideways look but hit for comms. "Beta271 this is the Pogue. Hang on. We're coming to you."

Static-filled responses came through barely functional communication systems.

"Pogue... this is... Keating... Iron Covenant. Hull integrity... critical. Weapons... offline. We've been... holding them off... for hours."

"Silent Thunder... Havlock here... only twelve crew... conscious. The rest in... medical coma. Can't... maintain shields... much longer."

Hours. These crews had been fighting for their lives for hours."

"ETA to weapons range?" Crai looked over to Nyx at tactical.

"Four minutes at maximum acceleration. However," he warned. "The automated platforms are tracking our approach. They're engage us as soon as we're in range."

"Suggestions?"

"I'm going to hack them," he said. "We'll take out as many as possible, but I will take control."

"You can do that?" Sorrel asked.

Nyx smiled in an uncanny way, for an AI, his human side just didn't feel right, though Crai knew he was trying.

"They belong to Brakers, as did I. I doubt they had time to reprogram everything in the universe against me."

His smile turned into an awkward lopsided grin, and Crai had to laugh. "Then plot our course, we're going in."

"Will we be in time?" Sorrel asked.

"Uncertain. Silent Thunder's shields are at eleven percent and declining. Iron Covenant has lost shield capability entirely and is relying on hull armor that's failing fast."

Sorrel gripped her datapad, her face pale. "I'll head for medical."

"Tactical assessment of the drone platforms?" Crai asked, though she understood Sorrel's need to be where she was needed most. "Go," she mouthed, "I'll keep you posted."

"Standard tactical programming with adaptive response capabilities." Nyx replied.

"Any weaknesses?"

A 3D view of one of the drone platforms popped up on screen. "Their automated systems lack human intuition. They respond to tactical patterns. Additionally, they're networked for coordination—"

"If we disrupt their communication that would degrade their effectiveness?"

"Yes," he replied. "A concentrated electromagnetic pulse in a frequency they're using for networking should work."

"Or we hit their command node—" Markov added and brought up targeting solutions. "The remaining platforms should revert to individual tactical protocols. They'll still be dangerous, but less coordinated."

"Two minutes to weapons range," the officer to Nyx's right reported.

"Which is their command?" Crai asked.

A red line spread out to one of the platforms. "Set course to intercept and destroy," Markov ordered.

"Entering weapons range in sixty seconds," Nyx reported. "They are positing to engage."

"Good," Crai said. "That means they're not shooting at Silent Thunder and Iron Covenant."

A momemt later and Crai noted Nyx was grinning again. "I'm inside their security systems."

"Weapons range," the tactical officer announced.

"Weapons free," Markov said.

The Pogue's main batteries opened up, its energy weapons carving through space in an instant. The automated platform's shields flared as concentrated fire overwhelmed its defensive systems. For three seconds it held, its adaptive algorithms redirecting power to reinforce damaged sections. Then the shields collapsed entirely, and the platform died in a brilliant explosion that scattered debris across the combat zone.

"Command node destroyed," Nyx confirmed. "The remaining platforms are reverting to individual protocols. Their coordination efficiency reduced by sixty percent, I am concentrating on gaining control of them all."

"Evasive maneuvers," Markov ordered as energy weapons fire tracked toward their ship. "Return fire. Engage targets of opportunity."

This engagement became a chaotic running battle through the debris field. Crai noted something and zooming in, was mortified. The debris was remnants of Ghost. She glanced at Nyx who lowered his head. Understanding.

The Pogue weaved between the wreckage while its weapons carved through the automated platforms as fast as she could.

"Platform seven destroyed," the tactical officer called out. "Platform twelve taking critical damage—shields failing."

"Hull breach on deck three," someone reported. "Emergency bulkheads are holding."

"Casualties?"

"None," he replied.

The Pogue shuddered beneath her as enemy weapons fire impacted their shields. Through the viewer, Crai watched another platform explode, but there were still three continued their relentless attack.

"Captain," Sorrel commed from medical, "The crew of the Iron Covenant are deteriorating rapidly. Whatever they're doing over there, it's not enough. They need immediate intervention."

"We're a bit busy at the moment," Crai replied as another weapons impact rocked the ship forcing her to find a seat.

"I know." Sorrel replied. "But if we don't get medical personnel aboard that ship in the next twenty minutes, we're going to lose people who are currently saveable."

"Nyx, how close are you to full access. Can you clear us a path instead?"

"Concentrate all fire on platform four between our position and Iron Covenant. Give me fifteen minutes."

Looking back to the firefight she didn't think she had fifteen minutes to give him. "Do it."

"Punching through to Iron Covenant." Markov replied.

"Platform three destroyed. Platform four critical damage."

"Taking fire from flanking platforms," the tactical officer reported. "Shields at sixty-two percent and declining."

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Through the viewport, the Iron Covenant grew larger. A massive vessel showing the scars of extended combat. Her hull breaches were sealed with emergency patches, her weapon turrets were destroyed or offline. What was worse, there was a visible list to the right suggesting significant structural damage.

"Medical team, prepare for emergency transfer," Crai ordered. "Dr. Kosta, you have ten minutes before we withdraw."

"I'll take what I can get," she replied.

The Pogue positioned alongside Iron Covenant with their expert hand at navigation. It wasn't Kestat, but he was superb. The docking clamps engaged with its damaged hull and then groaned under the stress. When the airlock cycled, Crai watched as Sorrel led her medical team aboard, speeding fast to the CIC and likely the worst affected.

"Final platforms are adapting," Nyx warned.

"How the hell do you not have control yet?" Crai barked but then regretted it.

"Ten minutes," he said. "They are complicated systems."

"Doctor?" Crai asked.

"They're hurting…" she replied.

Crai zoomed in from Sorrels' body camera. "I can see that. Can you move them?"

"No, if you need to leave, go."

"We're not leaving you." She turned back to Nyx who was managing to keep fire up and yet, his eyes were blazing blue lights. "Nyx?"

"Platform six destroyed. Platform eleven critical. Platform Fifteen is pulling back."

"Captain," Captain Markov reported, "Silent Thunder is hailing. They're requesting immediate medical assistance—their casualties that won't survive much longer."

Crai looked at her display. Eight remaining platforms were still lit up as red dots, and they were clearly operational. They were taking them down, but not fast enough to prevent casualties.

"Maintain engagement. We need to finish these platforms before we can safely conduct any more rescue operations."

She once agan look to Nyx, hoping.

"Almost there," he said. Then the blzing blue from his eyes faded and the enemy weapons fire stopped. "I'm in. All platforms neutralized."

"Damage report?" Markov asked, then the reports were flying in.

"Hull breaches on decks three and seven."

"Shields at twenty-eight percent."

"Weapons systems are nominal."

"Life support nominal. We're functional but compromised."

"Casualty report?"

"We have four non-critical wounded crew members. No fatalities."

Crai allowed herself a moment to breath in deeply. A second of relief before she focued on the next crisis.

"Dr. Kosta… Your status?"

"Twelve crew members conscious and functional. Six in critical condition."

"Can you stabilize them?"

"We're working on it." She paused. "I need every dose of nanites we have. The crew's neural damage is approaching permanent. Without immediate treatment, we will lose them."

"How many doses?"

"Minimum of forty per patient, but sixty for anything approaching full recovery."

The numbers ran across her HUD.

Nyx didn't speak; he didn't need too. Three hundred sixty doses for six critical patients, plus whatever was needed aboard the Silent Thunder. Their nanite reserves would be severely depleted before they even reached Peyton's convoy. However, leaving people as vegetables, was not an option either.

"Use what you need." She replied. "We'll deal with it later ."

"Understood. Beginning treatment now."

"Captain Crai, I can't thank you enough for the assistance." Keating said. "Another hour and we'd have been floating debris."

"What's your ship's status?"

"Hull integrity at forty-seven percent. Our primary weapons offline. Our secondary systems only partially functional. We can maintain formation and provide some defence, but we're not combat-ready without major repairs or a dry dock."

They didn't have time for that. "What about your nanite production?"

"If we take a little time out now, with the resources here we can be up to full production again soon."

That was good news, perhaps they had a chance. "Commander Havlock, Silent Thunder's status?"

"Similar situation," Havlock replied "We're functional. Hull patches are holding, life support is on backup power. Fourteen crew are conscious, eight more requiring immediate medical attention. The rest… we lost."

Crai lowered her head. Feeling that impact, reminding her of Kestat. "I am sorry for all our losses," she said. "Dr. Kosta is finishing with up with the Iron Covenant. She'll transfer to your ship next."

"Understood. Captain, there's something else you need to know."

"I'm not sure we can take any more bad news," she admitted.

"It's good news, I hope. We still have the Faulkner on our long-range scanners. They were broadcasting emergency distress signals, and we couldn't respond due to the drone engagement. But they are alive."

Crai's heart clenched. "Current status?"

"Their signal is extremely weak but still active. I believe running on backup power. Their last transmission indicated complete engine failure and ballistic drift."

Sorrel's voice cut him off with barely controlled panic. "What do you mean complete engine failure? Where are they?"

"Their last known position was deeper in the asteroid field, bearing two-seven-three mark eighteen. But without active signals, we'd need close-range sensors to locate them."

"Then that's where we're heading next," Crai said firmly. "All ships, prepare for formation movement. We're going after the Faulkner."

"Captain," Nyx said. "We're operating with damaged ships. Depleted nanite reserves, and our crew members requiring ongoing medical attention."

"I'm aware of the risks. We don't abandon anyone."

"Thank you, Captain," Sorrel whispered.

"Don't thank me yet." Crai replied. "We still have to find them."

"Nyx, maximum sensor range." Markov ordered. "My wife and children are with them. Search patterns for disabled vessels."

"Captain," Nyx said, and she looked his way. "There are escape pods in the debris, adrift."

Crai swallowed. "Pogue, all hands, prepare for extended search and rescue operations." She put a hand to her chest. "We're not leaving till we pick up every last one of our people."

Peyton

"What time is it?" I asked.

<<You know the time is about five minutes since you last asked me…>> Lia wasn't impressed.

"Sorry, I just…. I need to get out of here."

<<We all do,>> Came her reply, this time a little less snarky. <<We have an hour until we can attempt to leave the asteroid field.>>

Just one hour, and it was dragging. I made my way to the mess hall for some breakfast and had coffee in hand and was eating my way through a full plate when Lev's voice came through my HUD. "Peyton, we need you in the CIC."

The chef frowned at me as I threw my breakfast on a sandwich and then made a run for it, eating as I did. It might be a while till I could grab more and all too often my stomach thought my throat had been cut.

I found Lev studying tactical displays alongside Mac. I approached cautiously.

"They've found passage routes through the asteroid field," Lev reported. "But that's not the worst news."

"Define worst news." I finished the last few bites of my sandwich although it was hard to swallow it.

"The original six ships have been joined by two more. Eight in total, and they're maintaining blast coordination formation as they navigate the asteroid field."

I watched as the red icons moved through the maze of rocks with precision that made my stomach clench. Their movement patterns were too clean, too synchronized and something about it bugged me. "What's their ETA?"

"Forty-five minutes until they reach our current position," Mac replied, sliding his finger across with multiple trajectory projections. "But their coordination is what's bothering us. Look at their response times."

"The data shows reaction patterns faster than human crews could manage. Course corrections initiated simultaneously across all six vessels, formation adjustments that require split-second timing across multiple ships."

"AI coordination," I realized. "Ranger's networked their ship systems via himself?"

Lev nodded. "We're not facing eight individual ships, we're facing a coordinated intelligence that can respond to threats faster than anyone can." He glanced to Lia. "Sorry."

"No need to apologise," she moved from her station to stand with us. "You're telling the truth at the moment I'm compromised; we all know this."

"Do we have any options?"

"Not many," Lev said.

"Can we leave the asteroid field before they arrive?"

"Pushing it," Mac replied, "we'd be entering open space with damaged engines while being pursued by ships operating in perfect coordination. I've been doing my best to plot escape routes. Our best option is a high-speed run through the inner asteroid belt, using the densest concentration of rocks to break their coordination."

It did not sound good. "And our engine stress?"

"Significant." Lia said. "We'd be pushing the nanite repairs beyond tested parameters."

"Pushing everything beyond, nothing we've done here has ever been tested, we're in new territory here."

Las's voice came through comms from engineering. "Captain, Pavel and I have been monitoring the engine repairs. The nanite integration is holding, but we've discovered something else."

My stomach couldn't flip flop any more than it was. "Good something or bad something?"

"Both. The nanites aren't just repairing damaged systems. They're creating new capabilities. I believe we can temporarily override normal safety limitations and boost our engine output to ninety percent of its original capacity."

That did sound good and my heart soared, maybe we had a chance. "For how long though?"

"I'm estimating, maybe twenty to thirty minutes before they go into complete molecular breakdown," Pavel joined the conversation. "It's a one-way ticket, Captain. After that, we're looking at total engine failure, no coming back from it."

I stared at the tactical display… one way ticket. Fuck.

In my mind I ran calculation after calculation. If we could push to thirty minutes at ninety percent power that could get us through the densest part of the asteroid field faster than they could adapt. But engine failure in open space meant we'd be dead in the void unless someone found us. <<Nyx? And Sorrel?>>

<<I can do my best to make sure they're aware of our situation.>> Lia replied.

"Wait," Mac said and flipped the display, "What if…"

Lev stepped in close, "You're a genius," he grinned.

"You're wanting to bait them into a worse area of the asteroid belt," I nodded along with the others. "Mac, that's some precision flying, are you sure?"

"Lia can't, but I can, trust me. We're not risking the engines just yet."

"Do it," I ordered. "I'll help them get ready in medical. Whatever it takes."

As I walked to medical, Lev's voice came across the general comms. "Faulkner, the enemy is closing in. I won't lie to you, this is touch and go. Lock everything away. Strap everything down. We are thirty minutes from full engine burn."

I paused by the medical bay's makeshift ward. "How are they?"

<<You can see for yourself,>> Lia replied. <<Even if they don't see you, I'm sure they will know you are there.>>

"Bit of an old wife's tale that," I said, but I was heading into the ward.

The affected crew members lay in small bunks, side by side. Barely any room for the young Katya to slip between them. She looked up at me from checking on one at the end of the room. "What do you need?" I asked her.

"Help me strap them down," she replied.

"With what?" I couldn't see anything that could work. "There's only our bunk linen, but it will work, just cover them, and tuck it under."

"We're not meant for this," I said as I pulled out several sheets to help her do just that.

"Thank you for looking after them." I. "How are they really doing?"

"Their vital signs are stable, "she pointed to the first line. Then to the second, "but their consciousness patterns are still disrupted." She reported and moved to my side. I watched the monitors display each of their neural activity, tiny bip bips, just like she said, hit and miss, no rhythm at all to them.

"What can we do?"

"Hope," she replied. "If you believe in God. Pray."

<<They're trapped in a nightmare they can't get out of.>> Lia said.

"Severely heightened responses," the nurse agreed. "Like they are constantly fighting, something, though there is nothing there."

"It sounds horrendous."

<<It likely is,>> Lia added.

It didn't take us long one side each, when we were done though I was panting. It was hard work, and I was out of shape.

<<No,>> Lia said. <<Just stressed.>>

"Thanks," Katya said. "I'll look after them while you do your job."

"My job?"

"Captain the ship." She smiled. "You know. Look after all of us."

I tried to smile back at her, and I checked my HUD for the time instead of asking. "I will," I said. "CIC it is. If you need me…"

"I'll join the queue," she dipped her head to me, and I left her to it.

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