Commander Grev stood on the bridge, looking down at the glowing blue planet. The Ramesian fleet floated silently in tight formation above it with their shields activated.

Pressing a button on one of the control panels in front of him, he called Scout Leader Nevle. "Report!" he ordered.

The communications remained silent. He waited for several moments before roughly slamming his hand on the comm button and trying again.

"Report!" he ordered again. His voice grew louder with anger.

The communications remained silent. He waited again for several moments, realizing that no one was going to respond.

Commander Grev looked around the bridge at the stiffly standing crew. The bridge crew stood at attention, their faces slack, waiting to receive their orders. He sneered at those on the bridge before taking one last look at the glowing blue planet below. He had lost yet another scout team.

Commander Grev stormed off the bridge and headed for the hangar. He decided he was going to the planet's surface himself. Even under the influence of the serum, it was clear he couldn't trust sending another scout crew to investigate. This was the second missing scout team, and he didn't want to chance losing a third.

When Commander Grev entered the hangar, his flight crew stood at attention. Their postures were stiff; their eyes focused on nothing as they waited for him to give an order. Only after Commander Grev entered the shuttle did they enter behind him to take him where he wanted to go. No one spoke unless it was absolutely necessary. Commander Grev would kill anyone who spoke out of turn.

"Take me to the sight of the scout team!" he barked out, grinding his teeth in agitation. He didn't want to have to go back down to the surface until the entire planet was under his control. He felt like he had no choice. He had to go down there himself. All his plans had been ruined with the death of Council Leader Tosh. Now two of his scout teams were missing. He'd had enough and wanted to get to the bottom of it, not trusting yet another team to investigate. He had to do it himself.

No one in the flight crew spoke; they only did what they were told. They made sure the ship was cloaked so the Ramesians' fleet's sensors couldn't detect their small shuttle heading toward the planet's surface.

Commander Grev's ship landed next to the uncloaked scout ship. He stared at the ship through the front window in anger, his rage growing every moment. He could tell by its appearance that he would find it empty.

"Open the door!" he demanded, seething in rage.

The copilot flipped a switch, and the ship's door opened, falling to the ground like a drawbridge.

Commander Grev stormed off the ship and headed toward the scout ship. When he entered, he found the clothing and weapons in piles on the floor. There was no sign of the scout team. The Ramesians had followed their regular procedure, stripping their prisoners to avoid items being smuggled in. He was sure they scanned them for disease and implanted devices as well.

Lifting his wrist communicator, he ordered through the small wrist device for a small fleet of fighter pilots to land in front of the main dome. His anger seeped through his orders.

As the fighters came into the planet's atmosphere and into view, Commander Grev headed back to his ship. "Take me to the front entrance of the main dome!" he demanded, not even trying to contain his rage.

The flight crew immediately complied. It was an order, and the serum inside them forced them to obey.

Commander Grecv rushed into a chair, sat heavily, and waited as the flight crew closed the door and sent the ship to the entrance of the main dome.

Once there, they landed the ship and waited for the incoming fighters he had ordered to the surface to assemble around it.

Once they were in position, Commander Grev got out of his ship and faced the dome's large gate entrance.

*** *** Inside the Dome*** ***

Seeran stood at the East gate at the entrance of the main plasma dome, watching the group of fighters land their small crafts. They surrounded a shuttle as if posturing to protect whoever was inside it.

He had already notified Council Leader Vorik of the group of fighter crafts landing at their front gate. He had also ensured that the blast shields were up, worried that the fighter crafts would start shooting their weapons at the dome.

Council Leader Vorik rushed up the steps to stand next to Seeran. "It looks like Commander Grev is preparing to battle. I don't want to hurt any of the men. They are under the influence of a serum that controls them. If we can counter the effect of the serum, they won't follow his orders," Vorik said evenly. He was afraid he wasn't going to be able to help killing them.

Seeran looked at the panel beside him. "The blast shields are at full capacity, sir. If they shoot, it will not affect the shields."

Council Leader Vorik nodded in acknowledgment. As they both turned and watched the shuttle open, it was a large door that fell to the ground, creating a ramp. An aging Kreq exited. His anger could be seen all the way from the dome.

Behind them, Jada came running up to them. Orik was close behind her, not wanting to leave his sight. She could be reckless.

Jada grabbed a set of binoculars and peered through. "That man from the shuttle is Commander Grev," she stated, not looking at anyone. Her eyes were focused on the man standing in front of his shuttle. She looked at the surrounding fighters. "Well, he's back down here. How do we kill him without taking the shields down? I think if we lower them to shoot him, those ships that look like fighters are going to shoot at us."

Council Leader Vorik looked at Jada. "I believe you're correct. The moment they see the shields down, those fighters will shoot. Most likely all at once. We can't protect against that.

"I think he's pissed we have two of his scout teams," she continued as she looked at the man at the shuttle. "He's creepy looking," she added. "Considering I'm half-zombie, that says a lot."

Council Leader Vorik tried not to laugh at Jada's description. It wasn't the time for laughter. They could all be in danger at the moment.

Commander Grev moved forward toward the dome; the fighters rolled closer with him as he walked.

When he reached the gate, he looked up at those watching him.

"I'm told Council Leader Tosh has been assassinated," he stated clearly. His voice was strong and loud.

Jada spoke up. "He wasn't assassinated. He was challenged, and he lost," she spat out arrogantly.

A sneer transformed on his lips. "I don't speak with females!" he growled. "He was killed by a man named Nik!"

Jada started laughing, which made Commander Grev even angrier. "I will invade this dome, and you will be the first one I eat!"

Jada laughed louder. "Nik didn't kill Tosh. There isn't even a Nik here. Her name was Niki, and she challenged Tosh, and he lost!"

Commander Grev's face paled.

Jada turned to Vorik. "Do you think his men are listening?" she whispered.

Council Leader Vorik just shrugged. "Why?"

"The conversation with Krem. When we made him listen when we started talking about his family, the serum started to dissipate," Jada whispered. "I can see if I can get his men to listen."

Vorik shrugged but didn't say anything.

"Where are my scouts?" Commander Grev demanded before Jada could start talking.

"Some are being guarded in homes, and others are in the cells. If you keep sending men down here, we will just keep detaining them," Seeran called.

Council Leader Vorik flinched. Seeran was showing disrespect, not allowing his leader to deal with Grev.

Before he could say anything to Seeran, Seeran turned. "I don't think it's a good idea for him to know you are our leader. I think that information could hurt us," Seeran explained quietly. "I am deeply sorry for showing disrespect."

Commander Grev smiled wickedly. "I will bring down their families and execute them while you watch. Their families' deaths will be on your hands."

Council Leader Vorik didn't say anything. He knew he needed to find a way to save the families if brought down to the planet's surface.

Commander Grev returned to his ship. They watched as it lifted into the air, the fighters following him as they disappeared through the atmosphere.

"Notify me when they return," Vorik stated angrily before turning on his heels and storming off. He needed a plan. He didn't like that Commander Grev was using families to get to the scouts.

Pulling his comm link out, Vorik called the guards to have all sixteen scouts brought to the Council Chamber. Then he rushed there himself.

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