The mass of human-piloted A3 Hadrons and the barrage of torpedoes absolutely pounded the reptilian fleet. The reptilia put up a well-choreographed and intelligent fight, but the human assault was both immeasurably relentless and tenacious a forced a retreat.

Ava Baxter's face appeared on the screen of Grand Admiral Kildore's bridge.

"How do you like that, Kerick?" she said, her hair back in order and her makeup over her confident face.

"Did you manage to take any of the xenon vessels out?" Kildore asked him?

"Looks like we got at least several of them. I will see if we can salvage some of those batteries from the wreckage."

"Good show" Kildore croaked. "As promised, I will complete the paperwork to have you released."

"Perhaps we can talk about new defenses for the sector, then?"

"Don't push your luck, humaness. You're lucky we gave you the cover fire you asked for." He severed the communication line, not allowing her to say another word.

"Grand Admiral" Kliffik said, "I can have her taken out fairly easily. Just give the order."

"No" Avistra, who was standing next to Kliffik, interjected firmly. "They will suspect us. Besides, we don't need to do that. The goddess has a good card to play."

"What is that?" Kildore asked eagerly.

"She has engineered a virus that will infect hominids deep within the oceans of Eizen. Once they're infected we'll be able to institute quarantines and take an unprecedented level of control of the movement of human ships within the sector. You took care of it, didn't you Zardin?" She looked over at Zardin, who was now in the exterior of a tall, muscular, handsome elf.

"Yes, your majesty" Zardin said. "And I also analyzed viral particles that I could find. It has an incubation period and will spread easily, but I feel it may not take long for the human scientists to discover an interferon sequence to stop it."

"We will trust the goddess that this disease will spread and that they will become so weary that they will welcome our quarantine. Go ahead and start readying the logistics for our quarantines and checkpoints" she said.

"Yes, your majesty" Zardin said walking briskly out of the bridge.

"Your highness" Kildore said after Zardin had left, "do you think it's wise to let him help us when we don't even know who rebuilt him?"

"He has loyalty to whoever is the ruler of our kingdom. It's the deepest and most fundamental aspect of his programming."

"Yes, but what if it was one of the metphysicists who rebuilt him? They could have changed the deepest layers of his psyche."

"If they did that, setting up a shell persona for him to protect the talisman and finding a way to reactivate it was a strange way to do that." Kildore stared at Avistra for a brief moment, seeming kind of put off by what she said.

"Don't underestimate the metaphysicists, your highness. There's no telling what kind of tricks they might have up their sleeve. And if I may say so, I'm not convinced the goddess has the upper hand against them."

"If they did, they wouldn't fear her so much" Avistra retorted.

"I want you to keep a close eye on him, Kliffik" Kildore said not heeding any of Avistra's words. "And watch him closely whenever he uses any terminal within the Armada Network!"

"Yes, grand admiral" Kliffik acknowledged.

Kildore pushed a button next to the chair he was sitting. "All ships prepare to depart the system. Let's get out of this backwater dump."