The reptilian behemoth space arrived in the Himmerfeld solar system upon the unsuspected orbital garrison at Himmerfeld. It didn't even need to fire anything from it's seemingly endless number of batteries. The ships in orbit all surrendered and were commandeered, as well as orbital platforms and space stations.

"Your majesty, Turraski is on the line" said Kerick Kildore remarked.

"Pick up" Avistra said not wasting any words. Kildore hit a button and Turraski's face appeared on the large screen, his sharp teeth visible from his grin.

"Your'e making a big mistake, Turraski" Avistra taunted. "You can't possibly launch any meaningful invasion with that thing."

"You're absolutely right" Turraski said. "You can overpower us right now, but can you out-last us? Let the games begin" and Turraski disconnected.

"Your majesty" Killdore said, the communications of Himmerfeld to both the Bubble and the Armada have been severed."

"What?!" Avistra asked in a shocked, angry voice. "How could Turraski have done this?"

"I did it" interrupted a voice from somewhere around them. A young, handsome elven officer walked into the bridge.

"Zardin" Avistra said with a glare. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I have detected Michelle on the mothership's systems" Zardin asked.

"Who is Michelle?" Killdore asked?

"An intellichine" Zardin answered, "but a rather unique one. She isn't formatted to fit into an android body like myself. She is basically a bunch of computer files that moves within and between computer systems. I don't know what she's after, but I had to keep her from spreading beyond that system"

"I thought that we recovered all of the intellichines!" Avistra asked in a frustrated voice.

"I didn't think we'd need to recover her. If Michelle's on the mothership, than she's there by her own choice. There's no way that they found a way to keep her there. "

"So why is she helping the lizards?" Avistra asked.

"I have vague and fragmented memories of her – I was cooperating with her – but I don't have any clue as to what her angle his. She has definitely infiltrated the computers at Himmerfeld and is in the system. We have to make it a top priority to keep her isolated there."

"So what do we do, Kerick?" Avistra asked turning towards her grand admiral.

"Turraski had it exactly right" Zardin said. "We are going to have to outlast them. It's a real bold strategy by him, but it might be the only way they have to get things back in their favor, which makes me suspicious that Turraski came up with it. I don't know what role Michelle is playing in this stunt of theirs, but we must not act rash."

"We can at least lock them in place" Kildore said. "We can trap them in Himmerfeld and minimize the damage."

"I will consult the goddess here" Avistra said getting to the doors of the lift. Zardin quickly followed her and they ascended up to Avistra's penthouse.