The feed showing the bridge of the insurgent's ship went dead. "Where did they go?" Garrick barked at Okoro.

"They're moving to attack, sir Okoro for once sounded agitated. "The ships are all moving in different directions."

"Open fire! Tell the fleet to do the same."

The viewport showed the Ezekiel swing around to follow one of the three insurgent ships as it aimed a shot at the Edinburgh.

Damn, they're fast.

"One Alliance ship already down!" Peters called out. "Cut clean in half by one of those lasers."

"We're struggling for a lock, sir--they're too close to the Alliance ships," Ramsey said.

"Fire anyway! We can't let them get away Garrick cursed Mayeaux for not believing him. It would have been a much fairer fight if they had a warship or two assisting them.

Beams of light stretched out from the Ezekiel towards the insurgent ships, but they missed their mark. Shot after shot flew past the ships and with each one the rage Garrick had kept inside him threatened to explode out.

He sprang up from his chair and moved over to the weapons station. "Okoro, we have to do more."

"They're too quick she sounded like all the fight had gone out of her.

Garrick had had enough. He pushed Okoro aside and took the weapons controls himself and set about factoring in the speed of the ships to the ship's targeting systems. The Ezekiel wasn't the most advanced ship in the fleet, but with a bit of help it was now starting to land some of its hits. With a glare at Okoro, Garrick continued firing at the nearest of the three ships.

The Ezekiel's newfound accuracy drew the attention of another ship and Garrick was soon thrown to the ground by the force of an impact from one of their weapons. "Damage report!" Garrick shouted over the din of the alarm. He crawled back to the captain's chair and left Okoro to the weapons again.

"One engine down, but we still have limited manoeuvrability Ramsey tried to make himself heard.

The Ezekiel narrowly avoided being hit again and landed a sustained volley of its own on the vessel pursuing them. The viewport showed that vessel being hit again by a barrage from the Edinburgh before spiralling out of control.

"One ship disabled Okoro told him what he already knew.

"How many of ours remaining?"

"Us and two others--the Seine and the Edinburgh," Ramsey said.

Shit. They'd lost three quarters of their ships in a matter of minutes.

Ramsey continued. "Most of their attention is on the Edinburgh--it looks like they're trying to take out its defencive systems. They must be trying to board her," he marvelled.

Garrick hadn't told him everything that he had worked out about how the insurgents were trying to steal a bomb. "Bring us about to target the ship working on the Edinburgh." The viewport shifted again just in time to catch the Seine being consumed by an explosion coming from inside it. Garrick swore again as the second of the remaining insurgent ships spun around to come at them. "Target that ship!"

Okoro obliged, getting off a strong volley before they were hit again even harder than before. Garrick slammed into the deck from his chair and his vision went. Multiple alarms were blaring now. It took him a moment to realise that he could still see--the only light was coming from the viewport. Fearing another hit by the ship that had been heading towards them, Garrick stayed down and braced himself, but the hit never came.

Confused, he got to his feet and took in the scene before him. Most of the bridge crew were still down. One officer had his neck at an awkward angle, and Peters was sprawled on the floor. He still had a pulse, so Garrick left him there before turning to help Okoro get to her feet. She wasn't steady and was clutching her head, so Garrick guided her to sit down in his own chair. Ramsey was still at the helm.

The viewport showed no sign of the ship that had been pursuing them, but they had a unimpeded view of the Edinburgh and the assault it was still being subject to. The other insurgent vessel must have been disabled by the last volley they had got off. They were lucky to be alive. Garrick wasn't about to waste the opportunity.

"Ramsey!" he shouted. "Come with me. We're going down to see if we can get any power back he could see his silhouette nodding in the darkness. "Okoro, you're in command until I get back. Monitor what's going on with the Edinburgh. We'll be back when we can shoot again."

#

The Ezekiel was in a terrible state. Garrick was sure in normal circumstances she would have been towed to the nearest Alliance station and scrapped. But now, this ship was the only thing standing in the way of the end of the Alliance.

Garrick stepped off the ladder and shone a torch into the engineering room beyond. Bodies were scattered everywhere. Small fires illuminated the powered down reactor deeper inside, the source of their problems. "Spread out," he said. "Find someone that's still breathing."

It didn't take them long to find the Chief engineer was dead, as were two of her deputies, but Ramsey had found at least one technician who wasn't too concussed to help.

"The reactor--" she coughed. "It's cold. That's not coming back soon."

"I need it working." Garrick had his hands on his hips.

"With respect, sir, the only reason it powered down was to save us from a meltdown. We mess it up, we die. You'd have no weapons, no thrust--"

"We're dead anyway. Get it done." The technician stormed off towards the reactor. "Go help her," he told Ramsey. "Engines and comms the priority."

"I'll sort it." Ramsey nodded and followed the technician.

Garrick sighed. "How's it looking, Okoro?" He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his grubby sleeve. He wondered how much air they were burning through with the recyclers down.

"The Edinburgh is holding position--I think they've also lost power like us. The insurgent ship is circling it but hasn't yet moved in to board again. They tried once, and the Edinburgh opened fire with a beam emplacement the insurgents weren't aware of, and I think they're wary about doing it again."

"Good, that should buy us some time. Things don't look good down here, but we're trying to get you engines at least."

"We'll need more than that if we're going to save the Edinburgh."

"Leave that with me. You just keep an eye out Garrick dropped the connection.

He figured this could well be the end of the line, but just like the feeling he had when he left Jansen and the Phoenix Rises behind, there was a burning growing within him that wouldn't let him give up. He would kill those insurgents if it was the last thing he did.

A sudden thought struck him, but before he could act on it, his communicator began chirping. Garrick looked down to see that Okoro was contacting him and his heart sank. "Talk to me. Is the Edinburgh being boarded?"

"No, sir. Not yet at least, but that's not why I called you. There are ships coming through the gate on the far side of the system."

Garrick stared at his communicator. "Who's ships?"