“INCOMING!” Warrol ducked as rockets slammed all around him. Two of this fire team went down in the blasts. “Damn it!”

At their flanks was a hover platform with a rocket team, raining fire down on the Frontier units in range.

“Yo Ace! We’re pinned here! Think you can take out those guys?” Warrol yelled through his COMM. “Ace, ya hear me? Ace!”

Another explosion racked the pathway, killing another frontier member.

“Shit!” Warrol swore, jolting out of cover opening fire on the fire team focusing on the hover unit at the platform’s underbelly. After a quick burst, the unit exploded, dropping the platform into the abyss. “Ace, come in!”

More fire rained down on them from Altosk’s defensive structures just ahead. With a roar, Warrol opened fire, raining hell on the entrenched enemy.

****

The convoy slowed to a crawl once more as resistance around the dreadnought only strengthened. Even to Ciryn, who was upfront raining hell on the enemy while dancing in melee with a centurion proxy before blasting it back into enemy lines, she could tell the momentum was lost. Frontier did not have the numbers or equipment for a long drawn-out battle.

The plan was to cripple Altosk and keep up the pressure to allow Ciryn and her convoy to breach the Sovereign's Hope and liberate the Star Singer. It had already gone awry when Ace informed her that the Star Singer had already taken flight. It seemed Altosk either didn’t notice or cared because resistance only tightened. The troopers had recovered from the initial attack far faster than anticipated, and the reinforcements from the Sovereign's Hope and the stronger barricades set up proved devastating. Squads 6, 10, and 11 were lost, overrun and gunned down and there were heavy casualties reported amongst the other squads, the convoy included.

Just a minute ago, a borgo fighter was killed in front of her, hit by an energy rifle, and before that three were killed by an entrenched gun emplacement before Ciryn could destroy it.

“C-Ciryn! We can’t keep this up!” A bunika yelled, taking cover behind some of the wreckage of the previous Altosk barricade, blind firing to the second.

Ciryn gritted her teeth, conjuring a barrier to block a rocket attack, spinning on her axis before firing out a blue ball of energy at the Altosk barricade, destroying another entrenched gun.

Then, something ejected from the Sovereign’s Hope, something big that took flight. It avoided the battle, heading straight for a grav-train before opening fire on it. Ciryn didn’t know what to make of it, and frankly, if it wasn’t after Frontier she didn’t care.

Only thing that mattered was destroying the dreadnought.

“Lances! What’s your status?” She barked over the COMM as she ducked behind the barricade.

“Lance 4’s nearly at overdrive, but the others still need time.”

Since they were now planning to destroy the ship outright, the lances had to be charged beyond they’re normal output in order to bring it down. This unfortunately meant that they needed a far longer time to charge.

“To all Lances, forgo coordinated strikes! Fire when ready!” Ciryn barked as she blocked another missile.

****

“Alright! You head the lady!” The sergeant bellowed. “Once we’re ready, fire at the eather cannon!”

“Right!” The four gunners manning the lance nodded as they shifted the large weapon into position.

“And…. F-”

Explosions suddenly racked the lance as projectiles peppered the weapon.

“What the-?!”

“Is it an enemy!”

“UP THERE!!”

Hovering a few feet in front of them was a proxy, the likes of which they have ever seen. With its gun turrets it continued to hammer the weapon.

“Damn it! Shoot that thing!” The sergeant yelled as the gunners drew side arms, opening fire on the proxy.

“You fool, that’s not gonna be enough,” Fukinoki said, walking along the pathway with his humanoid proxy that morphed into a chain gun turret.

“Shit, A LIEUTENANT!” These were the final words of the sergeant as his body became raked with gunfire. Lance 4 exploded soon after.

Fukinoki smiled, twirling his staff as he dismissed the turret before jumping off the pathway. The flyer floated him away.

****

“Oh shit! Look at that!” One of the gunners of Lance 1 yelled pointing to the explosion of Lance 4.

“Damnit… How we looking?”

“It’s good to go! Ready for the countdown!”

“Screw the countdown! Fire now!”

The bunika operator slammed on the controls and…. Nothing.

“What….?” The operator slammed on the buttons of his console and still nothing happened.

“What’s going on! Fire already!” The sergeant bellowed.

“I-I can’t. I’m locked out!”

The weapon itself whirled with power, unruly energy gathering at the point ready to unleash at any moment.

“Hey… Hey it’s still charging!”

“It’ll overload at this rate! Fire the damn thing!”

“I can’t! The controls aren't responding to me!”

The monitor began to blink and glitch with white noise and static. The energy around the gun only grew, with arcs of energy sparking in all directions.

“I-I got control back!”

“Then fire the damn thing!”

“.... It’s not responding! IT’S GONNA BLOW!”

Felt watched from a safe distance as her proxies returned to her. “All too easy,” She said with a satisfied grin as the lance overloaded, blowing a massive chunk out of the pathway it was on.

****

“Sarg! We’re ready to fire!” One of the gunners at Lance 3 informed.

“Alright! Open fire! Rip that hulk apart!” The borgo sergeant bellowed. The lance whirled into life, energy forming at the tip. Everything was ready to tear the dreadnought to shreds.

“Huh? Somethings coming…” An operator said, pointing to a flying object heading straight for them. “It’s a… speeder?”

“At that speed…. Oh no, run! Get away from the lance!”

The gunners scattered as the speeder slammed straight into the lance, the impact causing the weapon to overload and tear itself apart.

“S-Shit-! What was-”

Haida landed behind a hune operator, and just as he turned, she grabbed his head, sparking her hands and electrocuting him. She then rushed the borgo sergeant as he drew his firearm. She skirted down, dodging a bullet before delivering an electrified palm strike in the chest, letting the sergeant drop to his knees before uppercutting him in the jaw, followed by a final round-house kick to the back of the neck, clicking her fingers as the brute dropped.

“D-Damn you!” A hune and bunika operator fired their handguns which fired kinetic rounds. Haida swerved through the fire, electricity surging through her body. Then, she disappeared, repairing behind the three remaining operators. She kicked the second bunika like a ball, sending him flying into the hune knocking both off the pathway. Then with a final palm strike, she incapacitated the last bunika operator.

She then strolled away from the carnage clapping her hands together.

****

“This is Lance 2, we’re under attack! A lieutenant! I repeat! We’re under attack by a lieutenant!” The Sargent bellowed as his men fired their pistols, one being hit by an electrical discharge.

“Come on, sidearms aren’t going to be enough,” Rall said, casually strolling towards the gunners with his clockwork staff held out. In front of him was a shield with four gears hovering around projecting the translucent, blue energy that protected him. “Where’d you guys even get something like this anyway? Hard to get that kind of shit on the black market.”

“Hurry up and fire the damn thing!” The sergeant yelled at the operator manning the console which controlled the lance.

“I don’t think so,” Rall pulled back his staff, gathering energy within the clockwork mechanisms. Then, he dropped his barrier and fired a powerful burst of plasma at the weapon, lowering his body to avoid being hit anywhere important, letting bullets staff his helmet and protective plates.

The plasma struck the lance on the left side, with Rall raising his barrier moments before the weapon exploded, taking out the weapons team close by.

****

Ciryn witnessed the destruction of Lance 2, then followed her eyes to the other three Lances only to see smoke rising from their positions. All Lances had been destroyed. There was no way for them to destroy the Sovereign’s Hope.

“Oh no… What do we do now!” A fighter shouted, huddled behind cover as the retaliation fire increased.

Ciryn bit her lip in anger, swerving her staff, using her eather to force away an incoming missile aimed at the convoy. She had to think of something very fast. Frontier was now outgunned and outmatched. Even though she couldn’t see the other teams, she could guess they were in dire straits given the state of the convoy. Damnit! We need to retreat!

Something shot past the right side of Ciryn’s head. An explosion followed as the centre vehicle suddenly exploded. Ciryn didn’t look back, there was no need. However, just in front of her, walking into no man’s land was the one person she was hoping not to run into, and the one person she was expecting, gunblade smouldering at his side from the round that was just fired.

“Leo….” Ciryn could feel her grip tighten.

The Gunbreaker said no words, made no remarks as he pulled the trigger, launching himself towards Ciryn.

****

Felicia ducked as more fire strafed her position. She retaliated, firing her energy-submachine guns in controlled bursts at the hovering platform. What was left of her team did the same, drawing the gunners fire, losing one member in the process.

“Get some!!” With the Altosk gunner’s attention drawn, Warrol opened fire with his chain gun, tearing the gunners to shreds.

“Contact! To the left! They have a proxy!” A fighter yelled. Warrol and Felicia moved to the makeshift barricade of debris as the fire team returned fire at the incoming Altosk troopers while Warrol tore the Centurion proxy apart with his chain gun.

“Can this day get any worse!” Felicia yelled as she downed a borgo trooper.

“Come on! Gotta let out ya fightin’ spirit for situations like these!” Warrol said ducking behind cover to reload his weapon.

“Easy for you to say!” Felica said ducking into cover to vent her weapons.

All around them, the survivors of three fireteams, fifteen fighters in total, had made a rally point. The battle had gone horribly wrong. All four lances had just been destroyed and most of the fighter teams were falling back or killed.

“Ciryn! It’s Felicia! We can’t hold out much longer! We need to get outta here! Ciryn!”

“She’s not picking up either!” Warrol said as he resumed fire.

“Damn it,” Felicia swore, lifting up both of her guns. “.... Do you… do you think this is it for us?”

“Hell if I’m gonna let that be the case!” Warrol barked.

“...em 5. I re... team 5…” Static came through the COMM.

“Last caller, say again.” Felicia answered the call.

“...t..to your…COMM dow...”

“Contacts! Right flank!” A fighter yelled. On the lightly guarded right flank, four hunes could be seen running towards them.

“Damn bastards!” Warrol growled. He readied his chain gun.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa! Don’t shoot!” Felicia yelled. “Squad 5, wave if you can hear this!”

One of the hune’s waved. It was fireteam 5, or what was left of them. Then, something fell on them from a ruined pathway above. A bang was heard sending the hune’s flying. It was a heavy trooper with a grav-hammer.

“Damn it!” Felicia swore as she and three others moved to the right flank to rain fire on the new contact. The borgo was about to charge when all of a sudden it dropped forwards dead, a smoldering hole baked into the back of its helmet. A lone hune stood behind the brute.

“Ace!”

“Huh? Wait! Ace!”

Running past the dead borgo was Ace, clinging to his rifle as he leaped over the barricade to the left flank, firing his weapon once before ducking down.

“Bout time! We’re the hell’ve you been!”

“Uh… bit of problems on my end.” Ace said as he vented his rifle. “Xeno’s on the field.”

“XENO?!” Felicia exclaimed.

“Relax. Weren't after us. We was-”

A bunika fighter collapsed following a shot to the head.

“Shit, tell ya if we get outta this alive!” Ace re-joined. The fray, keeping the Altosk response suppressed. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Just kill every tin head we see!” Warrol yelled amides his fire.

“Uh huh. And the real plan?”

“.... I donno. Ciryn! What do we do?”

“Well… on the bright side, things can't get any worse.” Ace said, just as a sensor on a dead fighter began to blink. “Oh shit…”

The pylons of each pathway began to emit an emergency klaxon, almost drowned out by the gunfire until it began to lighten as Altosk took note of what was about to happen.

“You just had to say that.” Felicia glared.

Enforcer Retaliation

Allisa looked back following a loud explosion somewhere in the distance. Looking back at the battle, she caught sight of a massive explosion from one of the pathways close to the imposing hulk that was the Sovereigns' Hope. Smoke, flame, various explosions and tracer fight lit up the area, with debris falling into the abyss below.

“They’re really going at it,” She ended up staying out loud. The closest she had seen of such a sight was the battle in Sterland Village, and before that when the swordsman Gai Tsukiyo attacked Celtic Hoard.

This one was vastly different, due to the weapons and technology that was far in advance to what she had ever seen in her life.

“Hey spy! You’ll be left behind at this rate!” Berken barked. He was with Ion a few feet away.

“R-Right!” Allisa ran to catch up. The supposed vehicle depot was getting closer, and hopefully their ride out.

Then the pylons on the pathway began to emit a klaxon. Both Ion and Berken stopped in their tracks while Allisa walked on puzzled by the sounds. “Uhh, what’s that mean?”

“Oh no….” Ion had gone pale.

“Ohh those Frontier idiots have gone and done it now!” Berken said floating in orbit around Ion.

“What is it? Did they find us?” Allisa asked.

“ALLISA! BEHIND YOU!!” Ion frantically pointed.

Allisa turned to see a white glow of digital light materialize out of nowhere. Whatever it was, it made her hair stand on end. As it burst, red beams began raining down on her. Allisa summoned Excalibur, deflecting a beam, fired from four silver robots that had materialized from the light. She teleported towards them, getting within striking distance. Excalibur made short work, slicing the frames into two separate chunks until scrap metal laid at Allisa’s feet.

More lights began to form in the air around the expanse, from them spheres with tendrils emerged, flying towards the battlefield.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” Allisa asked, alerted by what had just happened. “Is it Altosk?”

“No… It’s the Enforcers.” Ion said.

“Enforcers?” Allisa was certain she heard the name before. “.... Wait, as in those robots the others fought?”

Ion nodded.

“But… why did they attack us?”

“Cause of that!” Berken pointed to the battle. “The ensuing battle must have caused structural damage to Sora itself. When that happens, the Enforcers materialize and purge the area of anything they deem as threats.”

“Purge?!”

White lights began flicking on the pathway close by. Allisa threw herself in front of Ion as a different machine with an electrified polearm emergency, twirling the weapon like it was on parade. Allisa raised her blade and blocked.

****

“Commander, weapon systems almost repaired.” Operator Inarg said, tapping away at the console. Like everyone else, the harness on the chairs had restrained the bridge crews in wake of the artificial gravity being disabled.

“Good! I’m issuing a fire-at-will order!” Aralius barked, tapping on a button on his command chair. “Engineer teams! Once weapons are restored, proceed to getting the shields back online! When that’s out of the way, see to it the damn gravity is restored!”

A small confirmation came through the radio.

“Commander! We received word from Lieutenant Fukinoki! All anti-ship Lances have been destroyed!” Operator Gorra said. “We’ve also got word that the First Star has engaged Ciryn!”

The news made Aralius grin. Victory was now within reach, a golden opportunity to finally crush Frontier once and for all. “Give the order to all forces. Advance and destroy these rats, once and for all!”

“Rodger that. All teams your clear to-”

“C-Commander!!” Operator Tycia interrupted, turning from her console looking pail. “There’s been a reaction! Sir… the Enforcers…”

She didn’t have to say anything else. A silence fell over the entire bridge as the worst-case scenario of the battle had finally come. Aralius slammed his fist down on the arm of his command chair, breaking the buttons under his massive fist. “Those damn fools….” He said, gritting his teeth with rage.

“Belay everything! All teams are to pull back to defensive positions at once! Gunner teams are to shoot down anything that appears in range!”

“Yes Commander!” Operator Gorra nodded.

“And tell those damn engineers to get those shields up at once!”

****

Ciryn’s shield absorbed incoming fire from Leo’s gunblade. She gritted her teeth, as she released her barrier, launching a lightning strike on the man’s position. Leo dodged with a burst from his weapon, zooming to the left before landing on one knee.

Ciryn ducked as a round passed overhead, holding her hat down to avoid it being blown off. She retaliated by firing off a beam of her own. Leo effortlessly dodged, launching himself towards his enemy. Ciryn charged eather within her staff as she parried Leo’s blow.

Leo’s weapon went wide, throwing the man off balance before he recovered, pulling the trigger of his weapon. Ciryn blocked Leo’s next attack, propelled by the momentum of the round within the cylinder of his weapon. The woman skidded back a few feet towards Frontier’s line. With a grunt, she lowered her staff as her opponent stood at ease, yet not relaxing his guard. He wasn’t the First Star for nothing. Even with her talent as a technomancer, Ciryn was not certain if victory was possible.

Meanwhile, more Altosk reinforcements had arrived at the First Star’s back, now outnumbering and suppressing the convoy and ready to deal the killing blow-

“THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ALERT TO ALL ALTOSK FORCES!” A voice boomed through the battlefield. “ENFORCER MATERIALISATION DETECTED! I REPEAT! ENFORCERS INBOUND! ALL FORCES TAKE DEFENSIVE MEASURES AT ONCE!”

“Enforcers…?” An Altosk trooper said as the gunfire died down.

White lights then began to materialize behind the Altosk defensive line.

“Oh shit! Enforcer-” A hale of beam fire followed as Altosk’s reinforcements were fired upon by freshly materialized Drones and assaulted by skirmishers. Altosk immediately turned their attention to the new threats, heavies fighting off the skirmishers while fireteams shot down as many drones as they could see with heavy casualties mounting from their exposed positions.

The attack was sobering to Frontier, ceasing fire to watch in relief and horror as their enemy contended with the new threat. Even Leo had looked away from his opponent. Ciryn, however, could see how to take advantage of the chaos. Charing her staff she fired an arc of energy at the distracted Leo, who responded quickly, raising his gunblade to block the attack while his feet dragged across the ground.

Once the energy died down, Ciryn turned to her men. “Now’s our chance! Fall back!”

Ciryn jumped on one of the trucks while the survivors mounted, forced to leave their dead behind. Leo fired a shot towards them, but Ciryn raised a barrier to block it as the convoy turned and sped to safety, running over a formation of drones that had materialized behind their lines. The last she saw of Leo he was drowned in white lights as sentinels materialized around him.

As the convoy sped down the highway all was in chaos. Enforcers materialized in great numbers, swarming the battlefield with drones and other constructs. Altosk’s forces were now locked in a fight for survival. The weapons they had brought to bear on Frontier were now being used to fend off the new threat. The Sovereign's Hope was joining the fray. The weapon systems seemed to have been restored and were now firing at the gargoyle frames that were swarming them.

It would be nice if they did our job for us. Ciryn wished but knew it was futile. Altosk would fight them off, there was no doubt about that.

The convoy came under fire from drones, with the survivors firing back. All the while, Ciryn smashed the receiver of her COMM. “This is Ciryn! All fire teams respond!”

Static followed, interference from the Enforcers before a voice came through.

“Yo, Ciryn!” The transmission was slightly muffled but there was no mistaking Warrol’s voice.

“What’s your status?”

“We all good. Felicia and Ace ‘re here too! Ah, damn you walking piles of scrap!”

“Ciryn! This is Felicia! We’ve rallied all surviving fire teams- shit!” There was an intermission before Felicia continued. “Sorry. Damn Enforcers are everywhere. Thankfully they’re keeping Altosk busy so we could get away!”

“Right…” Ciryn fired off an energy blast, incinerating a group of drones that had materialized to the convoy’s left flank. “Ace. The Star Singer?”

“Bout that, they got jumped by Xeno.”

Ciryn cursed under her breath.

“But last I saw of her, she and that hune had jumped onto a grav-train. Probably speeding away from the battlefield as we speak.”

“... That’s something at least.” Ciryn nodded. While the plan was to liberate the Star Singer from Altosk and place her in Frontier’s custody, her fleeing from their clutches was something of a victory. The thought wasn’t much of a reassurance.

“So, what’s the plan!” Warrol barked. “We go in and finish’em off!”

“Don’t be stupid! We need to retreat!” Felicia yelled.

“What? I ain’t runnin’! Sovereign’s Hope’s still there and defenseless! We gotta take it out!”

“With what?” Ace interrupted. “We lost the Lances. Got no way of destroying it from a distance.”

“.... Ahhh damn it!”

“Ciryn.” Felicia spoke again. “Look, the Star Singer has fled. She’s not in Altosk’s hands anymore. It’s time to cut our losses and get out while we can.”

Ciryn took one last look at the flaming hulk of the Sovereign’s Hope, lit up by the various explosions from the Enforcer’s raining fire over its surface. That ship had been a symbol to Altosk. The damage it would cause them if it were destroyed would be immeasurable. There could never be another chance to destroy such a hated symbol.

But… as Ace pointed out, there was no way to destroy it from a distance. Only way was to fight into the ship, through both Altosk and the Enforcers.

“...... Agreed.” It pained her, but she had to consider her men as well. “Frontier…. Withdraw. There’s nothing left for us here.”

“Ciryn…. I’m sorry.” Felicia said before the transmission was cut.

A rough flight

“Aqua Heart!” Allisa’s blade transformed as the four-armed machines assaulted her. Using the added momentum, she was able to fend them off, adding the already sizable trail of broken machines that littered the pathway.

Yet even more white lights shimmered.

“Ah, come on!” Allisa yelled in frustration as she pulled Ion through the hail of beam fire, pulling her in front of her to parry one of the polearm machines, launching it over the edge of the pathway with a burst of water.

Another rushed past Allisa, aiming for Ion with its blades drawn back. Allisa teleported in its way, sliced two of its arms off before stabbing the machine in its core.

With the gap in their numbers, Allisa grabbed Ion again and ran, following Berken as they circumvented a large cluster of garbage that had been dumped, similar to the pathway they were on when they left the Sovereign’s Hope.

The depot was just in sight, standing far bigger than it looked from afar, and alarmingly there was no visible way in except a massive iron gate that had been sealed shut.

“Okay, what now?” Allisa asked.

“Give me a minute,” Berken said floating to a control panel.

White lights began to form behind them.

“... We don't have a minute!” Allisa said as Ion ducked into cover. More machines appeared, the ones that simply fired as they slowly walked towards her and the four-armed machines with plasma swords for arms. Allisa made short work of them, using the power of Aqua Heart to cut her way through them. Yet no sooner had she destroyed them, even more appeared out of thin air.

“Berkeeennnn… Anytime now!” Allisa said as a second wave descended on her.

“One moment!” Berken called back. “Stupid CPU’s practically burnt out.”

Ion poked her head out from behind cover, ducking down as a laser beam struck the metal crate she cowered behind. “B-Berken!”

“Almost… got it….”

Allisa had just destroyed the fifth blade machine that lunged at her as the metal door began to slowly creek open.

“About time,” she grumbled, swinging her blade to deflect a laser before running towards the door as it opened wide enough to squeeze through. With a final act, she summoned Azure Flame and swung a Vermillion strike at the incoming hoard, destroying scores of machines in the process. More white lights followed as Allisa ran to the doors, following Ion and Berken in squeezing through the small gap.

Fortunately, Berken was right on the money when he said it was a vehicle depo. Lining the large room where sixteen crafts that Allisa could immediately identify as starships she’d seen from movies and TV shows before. They were all different, some lean and angular while some were big and bulky. Unfortunately, from the condition of some of the ships; lost wings to half of the craft missing, as well as the equally messy debris scattered around, it was likely this was where the workers or Altosk stripped old ships for scrap.

“Wow, look at all these,” Ion said with wide innocent eyes sparkling. “Berken, a spirit! I haven’t seen one in years!” She said pointing to a ship that had been snapped in half. “Oh, and a pelican!”

“Sorry. Ion love’s ships and speeders,” Berken said to Allisa, who couldn’t help but crack a smile.

If time would permit her, she’d love to simply take in the fact she was looking at star ships that could be straight out of a sci-fi movie, much like when she first arrived in Avalon. However, with the doors still open and the sound of what was most likely a hoard of machines was still coming.

“O-okay… which of these do you still think would fly?” She asked Berken who was scanning the room.

“.... This Orca seems to have been retired recently.” He pointed to a big, bulky ship to their left. “I’m still detecting energy, so the engine hasn't been removed yet. That said, these things are slow given they’re size. Probably something faster-”

A metallic screak came from beyond the door.

“On second thoughts, it’s perfect.”

Berken zoomed towards the Orca at high speeds with Allisa and Ion following behind, running as fast as they could. Berken reached the ship first and lowered a walkway at the left-hand side of the cockpit. Allisa charged up followed by Ion into the small sanctuary by the one-man cockpit.

The door closed behind them as Allisa took a seat at the cockpit and immediately could see a problem. Berken had restored the power, which included the engines at the rear of the craft, which meant escape was possible. However, Allisa was now surrounded by blinking buttons, dawning on her that she had no clue how to fly a ship.

“Okay. Power’s cycled so we should be able to fly this thing outta here!” Berken said floating beside Allisa. “There’s an opening above us where they bring these things inside. Just hover us up there.”

“R-Right… Uh….” Allisa pulled the joystick. Nothing happened.

“What are you doing? Get us up!”

“Don’t rush me…” Allisa began tapping buttons randomly. The craft then began to float. “Yes!” She tugged the joystick, but still nothing.

“Come on! The Enforcers will be here any second!”

“I know. Now….” Allisa tapped a button. The Ship lurched forwards, the nose scraping against the surface. “Nononono!” Allisa slammed the button again, stabilizing the craft.

“Careful! Are you trying to kill us!”

“Shut up…” Allisa tapped another button and managed to get control of the joystick, sending the ship crashing into the broken ship adjacent to them before Allisa could stabilize the craft, pulling it back until the rear end of the ship crashed into the wall behind them.

“Don’t you know how to fly this thing?!”

“Of course I don’t know how to fly this thing! But, you know, h-how hard can it be…?” Allisa pressed another button. The ship hovered upwards while spinning across the room, crashing into another ship before scraping against the walls again.

“ABANDON SHIP!”

“Come on….” Allisa gritted her teeth as the ship ascended uncontrollably. Ion suddenly squeezed through the gap from the space behind them and pressed several buttons. The ship stopped floating upwards and began to stabilize.

“Whew, that was close.” She sighed with relief.

Allisa and Berken stared at her like fishes out of water. “.... Ion, can you fly this thing?” Allisa asked, to which Ion gave an unsure nod.

“Well I’ve… flown before.”

A beam whizzed past the cockpit. Below the machines were gathering, firing at the Orca while it was sitting ducks.

“Good enough.” Allisa jumped out of the cockpit to allow Ion to take the controls. Slowly the ship began to rise until it was level with the opening close to the ceiling. Escape was close at hand-

The craft shook as something exploded on the ship’s surface. At the rear of the ship, a large chunk of metal was dislodged, falling down and crushing two drones from the debris.

“What was that?” Allisa asked as a monitor faired up.

“I uh… I think this ship was retired some sort of structural or energy failing….” Ion said looking at the display.

“ABANDON SHIP!”

Ion wrestled with the controls, trying to steady the craft getting it level to the gap before hitting the afterburners. Allisa clung to the pilot seat as the ship cleared the opening, floating into the expanse of the conduit.

“We-We made it!” Allisa cheered. The ship then rocked following a hit to the port side, then began to descend.

“Gargoyles! ABANDON SHIP!”

The ship descended nose first as two gargoyle enforcers flew towards them firing. The ship began to ascend once more, trailing smoke as it moved into the web way of pathways that made up the conduit, the battle looking even worse up close. All across the battlefield, Altosk troopers and Enforcers were locked in a vicious battle, playing no heed to the lone ship that had just entered the fray.

“Look out!” Allisa yelled as Ion jerked the joystick, bringing the ship up to avoid a pathway, but not in time to smash through a pylon head on. The ship divided again, then picked up altitude before diving again to avoid smashing into another pathway, spinning clockwise while grinding the top against a grav-rail, scraping off more metal. Allisa could feel the impact from the horrible scraping sound as more of the ship was ripped away.

“I-I thought you’ve said you’ve flown this thing before!”

“N-Not this…” Ion said, jerking the ship right to avoid another collision. “I’ve uh… only flown speeders before.”

“ABANDON SHIP!”

Allisa grabbed the panic-stricken Berken. “We go down, you’re coming with us!”

The ship flailed around as though it had a will of its own. Smoke billowed from the damage through near-miss to surface collisions that stripped the ship of more metal. The gargoyles stayed on their tail like wolves hunting their prey. Ion took them closer to the Sovereign’s Hope (either through intention or accident) which had all guns blazing, shooting down the swarm of gargoyles with laser fire and flack, some of which caught the Orca as it made its full turn around the hull. Spinning upside down, Allisa caught sight of Leo, fighting against an entire hoard of enforcers along with four others, two of which Allisa recognized from the steel mill.

As they passed upside down, time seemed to slow to a crawl as Leo glanced upwards. In that brief second, Allisa could feel he was looking straight at her with a look of surprise and confusion. They zoomed forwards as Ion hit the throttle. The ship was in bad shape following the collisions and hits. Frankly, Allisa was amazed they were not dead yet.

“H-Hold on…” Ion said through gritted teeth. She steadied the ship as best she could, lining it alongside the grav rail, hitting the tracks once before pulling up, following the track to a small tunnel in the metal.

“Ion… Please tell we’re not going there!”

Allisa’s question was answered as the ship zoomed at high speed into the tunnel. It was fortunately large enough for the ship to fit, but the ship's stability was another issue. Allisa gritted her teeth, clinging to the pilot seat for dear life as the ship.

“Oh no…” Ion muttered as she pulled on a lever.

“What oh no? Please tell me you know what you’re doing?” Allisa asked, now terrified of a horrible death that could occur any second now.

“The throttle jammed! I can’t slow down!” Ion responded as the ship reached a glowing circle, passing through it so fast and uneven one of the wings was sheared off, smashing through the thin metal frame in the process.

“ABANDON SHIP!”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING!”

Ion wrestled with the controls more vigorously, keeping the craft as steady as possible. The darkness of the tunnel began to even out, with metal giving way to stone. The sun shone overhead. The ship had gone from the alien collection of metal and lights to a natural valley with a clear blue sky above them. Just up ahead though was another grav train on a direct collision course.

“Iooooooonnnn!” Allisa closed her eyes as Ion pulled on the joystick as had as she could. The ship lurched up, narrowly missing the train. When Allisa opened her eyes, the ship launched itself into the sky.

“We… we’re still alive…” Allisa gasped, feeling life returning to her.

“Um… Allisa… Berken…” Ion looked at her two passengers, eyes closed, an innocent smile and holding the joystick that was now ripped free from the wrecked controls.

The ship began to lose altitude, falling to the ground in an uncontrollable spin.

“ABANDON SHIP!”

“I’M WITH THE ROBOT! WE NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE?!”

Ion tried to jam the joystick back into the console but to no avail. In the end she threw it aside. “Allisa! Grab ahold of Berken!”

Allisa clung to the rabbit, both screaming at the top of their lungs as the ground got closer and closer, barely making out Ion’s singing or seeing the light that began to surround them.

The ship crashed through several trees on its descent, smashing into the ground nose first, smashing through the rocky ground like a pebble stone through a calm pond, falling off the edge of the cliff. Allisa watched from the cliffside as the ship fell into the green field below, exploding when it crashed into the ground.

Allisa released Berken and collapsed to the ground along with Ion. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Ha-ha-ha… we… we were just in that….” She closed her eyes, feeling all the tension leave her body. “We… we’re still alive right?”

“Y-Yes…” Ion said, sounding exhausted beside her.

“R-Remind me… never to let you fly again…” Berken said, laying on his back between.

“Th-thanks…. Ion…” Allisa said getting up first, gasping for air. She had no idea how Ion had saved them, but didn’t care. Looking behind her, she saw a massive pyramid structure, which she guessed was the conduit she was in just now.

Then her breath was taken from her again. Suddenly all her fatigue vanished. Strength returned to her once more as she got back to her feet, not blinking at what she was looking at.

“Whoa… this is… this is Sora?”

What was hard to ignore was the horizon. All she could see before her was the rocky crag surface lined with trees and greenery, segregated by various alien pylons jutting from the surface. Yet the horizon curved upwards. She could see the land continue to stretch on, and on to a wall of metal far in the distance behind a rocky up croft that looked like mountains despite it being positioned horizontally. Anymore was covered by cloud formations among the almost naturally blue sky and sun that loomed above. Yet in some places, the blue-sky gaze way to lights off in the distance; almost resembling city lights. It suddenly dawned on her that this was truly in the inside of the world.

“That’s how I saw your world.” Ion said walking to Allisa’s side, chuckling at her wide-eyed reaction. “A world on the surface like the lost homeworlds.”

“So this….” Allisa was still trying to wrap her head around what she was looking at. “Sora… it’s a world on the inside?”

Ion nodded. “The outer shell protects all of us from the void, as per the wish of Star Singer Strelitzia. To us, this is our hollow world.”

“It’s… it’s amazing…” Allisa couldn’t help but grin like a child, soaking in more of the view. The momentary calm passed by as an important question came to the front of her mind. “... So, what now?”

“We can’t say here for one,” Berken said hovering between both Ion and Allisa. “It’ll only be a matter of time before Altosk sends a search party after us, and they won’t miss where we crashed.”

“Is there any place we can go from here?”

“Uh… there are a few settlements and outposts in the Rising. But nearly all of them are under Altosk’s control. If they see us they’ll just report us in.”

“Great…” Allisa sighed. “Don’t you guys have friends out here? What about those resistance guys?”

“We’re not going to Frontier!” Berken immediately interjected. “And it’s not that simple. Ion is the Star Singer. Her movements are closely monitored and her interactions consist of Altosk big wigs and the business leaders of Ter’figmar. The only friends I can think of that fall outside of that and hate Altosk enough to not sell us out would be Bec, Markus and-”

“Rika!” Ion suddenly clapped her hands together enthusiastically.

“R-Rika?”

“My best friend!” Ion said pointing to the mountain range in the distance. “She’s a sky fairer at the Peaks over there!”

“So… she can help us?” Allisa asked hopefully.

“Well yeah but… Ion it’s been two years since you last saw her.” Berken said unsure. “Who knows if she’s even in the Peaks anymore. For all we know she may have moved on.”

Ion shook her head. “No. I know she’s there.”

Berken paused before speaking. “... On the other hand, the Peaks are sort of out of Altosk’s control. Guess it’s a good place to hide out until this all blows over. Problem will be the beasts and warframes out there.”

“Allisa will keep us safe.” Ion said, looking at Allisa with bright eyes. “Right,”

Allisa nodded back. She didn’t know what they were talking about or who this Rika was, but the two of them had the right idea. There was no telling when someone would come after them.

And there was another problem Allisa had; without her void ring she was completely stranded in this strange new world.

“Alright. We’re in your hands, spy.” Berken said nodding. Allisa glared at the robot.

How long am I gonna be called ‘spy?’

With a smile, Ion took Allisa’s hand and pulled her along as Berken led the way.

Allisa took one last look out to the pyramid behind them and to the ‘ground’ directly above her head. A sense of adventure took hold of her once more, a feeling she had last felt when she first laid eyes on Avalon. The thought of her being stranded slipped her mind, her old boring life falling back to a forgotten memory. Once again, she was no longer plain old Allisa Reed, chief of police's daughter. Here, she was just an explorer in this brand-new world.

And she couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect.

Aftermath

It took a full hour before the klaxons finally died down. Leo pulled his weapon free of a downed Striker before jumping down to the mound of broken Enforcers littering the feet of the lieutenants.

“There’s no more signals. Looks like that was the last of them,” Felt said as her proxy’s floated to her side.

“Geez, never realized Frontier was that desperate,” Rall said resting on his staff. “I mean… striking in a Conduit of all places? That was just asking to bring the Enforcers down on us. Unless that was the plan.”

“Unlikely. They were clearly aiming to abduct the Star Singer.” Haida said, flexing her fingers. “Given the previous exploits of Ciryn, it wouldn't surprise me if she was taking a leap of faith, hoping to extract the Star Singer before the Enforcers retaliated.”

“Annoyingly, they served to aid in Frontier’s escape.” Fukinoki said, resting on a destroyed Drone, his staff resting on his lap. “And who knows what kind of damage those infernal machines have caused.”

“Hey Leo, you okay?” Rall asked.

Leo blinked before looking at his subordinate. It seemed like his imagination, but he kept thinking back on the ship that passed them by during the battle. It was brief, but he swore he saw someone in the cockpit; someone disturbingly familiar.

“.... Let’s go. The commander will want a report.” He said, shaking off the feelings he had about the situation from the back of his mind.

****

Up close, the Sovereign’s Hope has sustained far more damage than Leo had thought. The anti-ship lances had left massive scorched holes, cutting deep wounds into the very bowels of the ship with fires that had not yet been extinguished. That wasn’t including the damage sustained by the Enforcer Gargoyles and Strikers that pounded the ship.

At the loading docks, a triage and morgue had been set up, providing aid to the wounded while body bags stacked to mark the dead with operators taking the identities of the fallen before throwing the dead down to the abyss, returning them to Sora.

Ahead by the belly of the ship was Aralius and the bridge crew. The commander was furious, bellowing orders at the top of his lungs that could be heard halfway across the conduit.

“... Find where they came from! I want to know exactly how those vermin got into the conduit in the first place!” He bellowed at the hune trooper before punching him to the ground. “Round up whoever’s able and scramble ships! They do not leave here alive!”

“B-But sir-”

Leo arrived just as Aralius roared and punched a borgo trooper to the ground.

“GET MOVING!”

The surrounding troopers scrambled past Leo, desperate to get away from the commander.

“How did this happen?” Leo asked. “They must have known they we’re coming through the Conduit.”

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” Aralius asked rhetorically. He was in no mood for any games. “I’m up to my neck in repairing the damage, organizing the response and dealing with our ever-mounting dead and wounded! If you have time to run your mouth, then make yourself useful, I don’t care how!” He barked, jabbing Leo in the chest. “Hunt down those vermin! Find the mole-!”

“Don’t bother looking for the mole.” Xeno casually strolled past the lieutenants, Leo and Aralius.

“.... The warframe prototype. Were you the one who launched it?” Aralius yelled.

“It was to fight Frontier,” Xeno said, resting his blade on his shoulder as he strolled through the bridge operators gathered. In a flash of steel, a borgo operator was beheaded. Aralius, Leo and the lieutenants stood back in shock as the bridge operator was thrown into a panic.

“Xeno! What’s the meaning of this?”

Xeno sheathed his sword back into his spine as he searched the body of the operator he had just executed before pulling out a small object. “You should screen your people more thoroughly.” He tossed the object to Aralius.

Leo looked and saw it was a communicator, one that was not of standard issue, and clearly not something a bridge operator should have in his uniform.

Aralius crushed the object in his hands, letting out a roar.

“Geez, they seem to be everywhere nowadays,” Rall said, earning him a quick flash from Aralius.

“All of you will be in for questioning when we return to Grand Vault!” Aralius yelled at the terrified operators. “Now get out of my sight!”

The operators began to file away one after the other, some looking away while others wept. Aralius looked back over the sovereign’s Hope, struggling to get his anger under control.

“The Star Singer?”

Aralius grunted at Leo’s question. He then shifted his gaze to borgo heavies, carrying in armless Mardo to him before laying him down at his feet.

“The lieutenant here tells me she’s escaped our clutches again.” Aralius said letting the surprise wash over Leo and his lieutenants. “And take a gander who sprung her?”

“.... Guess it was that ASD of hers,” Rall said. “Told you we should just scrap him.”

“Oh, that little nuisance was there,” Aralius said eyeing Felt. “Along with that hune girl you picked up!”

“What…?” Leo looked shocked. He looked to the borgo heavies, whom he recognized as the guards to the sanctuary.

“Apologies first star,” the technomancer sergeant Ogoru bowed his head. “Our communications were jammed. We thought we could take her but... to our shame she overpowered us.”

“This idiot here,” Aralius continued while placing his foot on the back of Mardo’s head, “discovered she had been freed moments before she reached the sanctuary,” the lieutenant began to groan as the commander increased the pressure, “had he reported this in,” his voice grew deeper, “you would have been down there cleaning up your mess,” slowly taking his foot off the lieutenant, “but instead he acted alone based on a ridiculous fantasy that she was your student and went to confront her making this entire situation WORES!” then delivered a kick to Mardo’s chest, lifting him off the ground before being slammed back down by the commander's palm.

“.... Felt, Rall,” Leo had heard enough. “We’re leaving.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Aralius barked as Leo turned his back on him. “Except back to Grand Vault!”

“My priority is the Star Singer!” Leo argued.

“I’ve sent out search parties to pick up their trail!” Mardo exploded. “Make no mistake, this is on your head.” he pointed to the body bags that were being returned to Sora. “These deaths are on your head! You will go to the governess and the chairs and explain to them the Star Singer has eluded us not once, but twice!” He then kneeled and grabbed Mardo by his neck and hauled him up to ear level. “And that will be nothing compared to what will happen to you.”

With a final snort, he released Mardo, said to the heavies “Get this piece of trash out of my sight before I return him to Sora personally!” before leaving, deliberately bumping into Leo as he walked on by.

“That uh… could have gone worse,” Rall said.

“Seems I’ve caused you trouble, Leo,” Felt said.

“What's done is done. Professor Razz would still want to hear of this,” Leo said walking to the edge. His mind went back on that hune girl he fought. He had a feeling she was not ordinary for that world, yet seems to have gained the Star Singer’s trust, even risking her own life to challenge the First Star of Altosk.

Whether it was loyalty, bravery or foolishness, he did not know. Yet despite her crushing defeat, she not only sprung from her cell but managed to overpower not only a contingent of Borgo heavies but a lieutenant. Seems there’s far more to her then I had anticipated. Just who are you?

“So, what’s our next move?” Rall asked. “Sounds like we’re gonna be grounded for a while.”

Leo folded his arms, “... I think I have an idea where she might be going.” He glanced to Felt. “Could you get in contact with Marie? I have a favor I need to ask her.”