"You even masked your breathing, impressive." On her knees and with an open panel before her, Lt. Croxen felt the cold barrel of an Officer's sidearm parting the hair at the back of her neck.

"Now what's an ADC doing messing around outside the reactor chamber?" asked the man. "Place your hands on the back of your head, interlock your fingers and stand up, slowly." The voice was calm almost cold within an air of mystery. Croxen complied with the directive, her blade and sidearm were removed from her belt and thrown across the floor, she turned slowly to face her captor.

"Captain Yamada." She smiled as if greeting an old friend. "You'll have to teach me how you stalk so well," she giggled.

"Silence!" Yamada barked, he narrowed his eyes, "I'm sure you'd know the penalty for sabotage is execution. But I am curious as to how you knew which relay was behind that panel?"

"Tell me, Captain, are you loyal to the High Council, to your Colonel and the Mandates themselves?" asked Croxen in a calm voice.

"Of course I am! Why else would I stop you from destroying the ship?" he scoffed.

"I'm afraid you have it backwards. The Major wants this ship and he's going to kill anyone he needs to in order to get it. He spent years finding men he could trust. He has no intention of returning to Gaia, nor could he give two shits about the Titan's Mandates. This is it, we found a viable world and he intends to claim it for himself," Croxen explained desperately.

Captain Yamada pondered Croxen's words. He was a brilliant man with a keen intellect and something had occurred to him, how could a 1st Class Lieutenant have access to a Titan's self-destruct code? Only the rank of Colonel or Major should possess such knowledge. "So you'd destroy the Hyperion, along with yourself and all onboard just to prevent a mutiny?"

"Yes," she admitted coldly, "such is my sole purpose. I'm here under direct order of the Council, my life is void, I must stop Sova from taking this ship and I'm ordered to destroy it if I have to."

Captain Yamada gasped, his face expanded as he came to the realisation. "You're an Inquisitor aren't you?"

Croxen winked. "If I was, do you think I would just tell anyone that asked me? Mind you I must be good at my job considering you're the only one so far," she laughed.

Captain Yamada narrowed his eyes. "If it really is true, then you will know my PIN," he said bluntly, "Gaia said as much."

Croxen turned her face as she thought, "let's see, hmmm, Yamada, Yamada." Captain Yamada looked to be losing patience. "Sorry, I had to memorise them for all officers on board," she smiled. "Ah yes, 45539234, Captain Yuji Yamada, son of-."

"I see, this explains a lot, but I can't just let you destroy the ship. The Colonel must be informed," Yamada unknowingly cut her off as soon as he was certain she gave the correct code.

"It's too late, the mutiny has already begun. As we speak the Major is heading to the Colonel's quarters. What's more, he knows who he can trust, I know you were personally selected by the Colonel for this expedition so Sova's men will be looking for you too," she explained.

"To be eliminated most likely," he said softly.

"I'd say so, otherwise he would have approached you already to try and corrupt you," she explained. "My guess is he was at least smart enough to recognise how loyal you are Captain," Croxen added. Captain Yamada moved Croxen away from the panel. He took the plasma cutter from his belt and re-sealed the panel. "What will you do now?" she asked.

"I know my unit is loyal to me and I have friends on board who won't take part in this madness, I have to find them and hopefully we can flee the ship," answered Yamada, desperation had crept into his voice.

"Don't trust any military or non-military personnel not under your direct command and take a beacon with you. When the communications relay with the nearest probe ceases, the probe will be sent to find the Hyperion," advised Croxen, "that way you may be able to get word back to Gaia or another Titan."

"You can't possibly stay here," declared Yamada, "we all need to flee, regroup and try to take back the Hyperion."

"I must, I have the Major's trust and I can't reveal my hand just yet, there are still things I must attend to. Just don't die out there, when you return to re-take the ship I'll spring my trap to help from the inside. If I can't destroy the ship then I'll just slit his throat," she grinned.

"Good luck then," nodded Yamada.

"And you." Croxen then allowed her face form a smile and for the first time in almost two years it was utterly sincere. She picked up her weapons and darted off leaving Yamada in awe of her speed.

Higher up on the ship the Major approached the Colonel's quarters with an entourage of troopers in full combat armour. He instructed them to remain outside and drew his sidearm as he proceeded inside. There he found the Colonel at his desk having just finished a page of his book. The Colonel and Major locked eyes after the Major's sidearm was noticed. Lt. Shyfer had also seen the weapon from the Colonel's lounge in the corner of the room. He fled out the door only to be seized by the throat by a rather large Sergeant laying in wait. Shyfer was thrown to the floor and with a mighty leap, the Sergeant crushed Shyfer's throat underfoot.

"So it's mutiny then?" enquired the Colonel trying to remain composed as he could hear the final whimpers of his ADC gargling and gasping for air, slipping away. Sova remained silent, tilting his brow slightly and baring his teeth to form an ominous grin. "Does eating those beasts really mean that much to you?"

"You really are a naive old fool. How do we expect to survive with our hands bound?" questioned Sova.

"Funny, I had no idea that morality was such a handicap," sighed the Colonel. "We are not starving and the indigenous life poses no danger, it seems more to me that you just wish to do as you please, a blatant insult to that uniform."

"Correct Sir I will do as I wish, and now I'm going to take command of this ship, its crew and claim this planet as my new home, a sovereign nation for my humanity," responded Sova as he bared his teeth. "Oh, but not before I dispatch you first of course."

"You're insane Sova, and I won't just roll over and die, know that," the Colonel's eyes darted between his holstered sidearm by the entrance and his ceremonial sabre displayed on the bookcase. He measured the distances and the steps required for success, but the Colonel's planning was interrupted.

"There's no point, you wouldn't reach either," Sova forced a laugh aloud to insult the Colonel further. At that moment the Colonel seized his one slim opportunity. Bursting from his chair a concealed blade took flight, Sova darted to his right the knife finding his left eye. Sova howled in agony as he raised his arm whilst firing, a round hit the wall the second grazed the Colonel's arm. Sova steadied himself, firing a third and final round between the Colonel's eyes.

Meanwhile, Captain Yamada burst into the main laboratory finding Felix and Carl. "Felix, where's Maddison? We have to get out of here." Yamada was anxious, panicked, emotions formally unknown to him. He was sweating and it was obvious to Felix that something was very wrong.

"Whoa Yuji hang on, what's going on?" asked Felix, greatly alarmed by his friend's concerning demeanour.

"Mutiny!" fretted Yamada with a forced whisper, "the Major is taking the ship, he knows I won't join him, that I can't be trusted. We have to get going now!" warned Yamada.

"Fuck! OK, she said she was going to lunch with Chance. Should I go get them?" asked Felix. Carl still hadn't moved from his seat, his jaw, however, had dropped and was still yet to return. Carl snapped out of his trance, his eyes filled with terror.

"Someone has to tell the Colonel, he will put a stop to this," Carl choked hoping he was right.

"Doctor chances are he's already dead, and you will be too if you don't follow my instructions," snapped Yamada. Carl sat back in his seat awaiting orders. "I want you two to go down to the lower decks to the Cargo bay where the Behemoths are. My troops are there waiting to evac. I'll go get Maddie and Chance and meet you there. Don't stop and don't run, we don't want you to stand out. Look for Lt. Lloyd Niezen, he will look after you. Now go!"

"Got it Yuji." Felix grabbed Carl by the shirt pulling him to his feet then placed his hand on Yamada's shoulder. "See you soon," Felix chirped before heading off with Carl in tow. Yamada nodded and proceeded to the Galley.

Felix and Carl along with a handful of lucky scientists and engineers they found on their way arrived at the Cargo bay. They found troopers loading up Behemoths with supplies and were met by Lt. Niezen who was overseeing things.

"Why are we only taking those ones? Wouldn't it be better to have all of them?" asked Carl pointing to the other Behemoths.

"We don't have the time to load them all up," barked Niezen, "get inside that one now and strap in!"

"Understood," confirmed Felix with a nod, still dragging Carl and they boarded the nearest Behemoth. They sat there strapped in, sweating in silence waiting to depart.

Within minutes Yuji arrived, he had found Maddison and Chance and dragged them to the Cargo bay with next to no explanation. Maddison boarded the next Behemoth yet to be filled whilst Yuji and Niezen set to planting explosives to sabotage the remainder to be left behind. For a few minutes, Chance just stood there watching everyone scurry around him. He couldn't fathom what was happening and he wanted answers. He stormed over to see Yuji and demand an explanation as to what he had been dragged into. Yuji was in the final Behemoth almost finished when Chance caught up to him. In his confusion Chance had convinced himself that they were just there pilfering items until he saw the open crate behind Yuji. Chance began to tremble, not one to normally know fear he suddenly found himself in a moment he could not accept or fully comprehend. Yuji looked over his shoulder seeing Chance.

"Hand me that last detonator," instructed Yuji as he reached behind himself. But then, Yuji's arm dropped, limp with an odd sensation of nothingness as Chance slowly removed his knife from the side of Yuji's neck, a heavy flow of blood followed. Chance stripped the Captain's patches and pins from Yuji's still warm body and exited the Behemoth still shaking and now muttering to himself.

Niezen was losing patience, he knew they would be found trying to flee any second."He's taking too long, we're out of time," Niezen said still staring at the main entrance to the cargo bay from the cockpit of his Behemoth. "You, go see what the hold up is," he ordered pointing to the nearest Trooper.

"Yes, Sir!" The trooper undid his restraints and darted out towards the other Behemoths. The Trooper entered a Behemoth finding the explosives had been disarmed. He stepped back outside to find Niezen now waiting by the entrance. "Sir, this one's been tampered with, it wasn't going to go off as planned," he explained. Niezen's face turned red, he ran for the next Behemoth as the Trooper followed. As they entered the next vehicle they discovered it's sabotage had been thwarted as well. Niezen went to check the next Behemoth and was mortified to find his Captain's lifeless body, with so much blood now pooled across the floor.

Furious, Niezen ran back outside finally spotting Chance as he was exiting another Behemoth. "Kill him!" screamed Niezen as he drew his sidearm but Chance managed to slip behind more crates and escaped back into the depths of the ship unharmed. Niezen quickly went about resetting the charges but could only fix the one as enemy Troopers loyal to Sova had arrived to stop them. "Contact!" Niezen yelled out, as he headed back to his Behemoth, alternating between suppressive fire and darting between cover. The deafening sound of assault rifles filled the air, echoing from the steel walls of the Cargo bay.

More troopers began to pour out from the entrance and open fire instantly. Niezen gave the order and the entourage rolled out. The sound of rounds ricocheting off the heavy armour was drowned out by the explosions in the Cargo bay as three Behemoths were disabled beyond repair, filling the air with thick smoke and shrouding their escape.

Major Sova, after having unceremoniously dispatched the Colonel was rushed to the infirmary by his men to have his damaged eye replaced. But again, more sabotage. With all the Infirmary's medical bio-vats out of commission, the Major's left eye could not be replaced."You imbecile!" roared Sova, "get them working again now!" he screamed at an unlucky engineer who scurried off terrified. The medics on hand treated Sova's wound to stem the bleeding and filled him with painkillers before he marched off to the bridge. "I need reports, how many escaped?" Sova demanded furiously of the military staff that had gathered there.

"We aren't clear yet Sir," a voice answered from the lineup of trembling Officers, "some of the crew have barricaded themselves in their quarters, once we've finish clearing and processing them we will have an accurate number, Sir."

"So give me an inaccurate number then," seethed the Major.

"Perhaps 20-40 personnel Sir," answered the Lieutenant. The look on the Major's face caused the Lieutenant to regret his response immediately. He lowered his head in an attempt to not anger the Major further.

"That bastard Yamada! How did he do all this with so little time?" Sova asked himself aloud as he paced around the bridge. The main reactor had been shut down and hence the Hyperion could not even move, and all reserve Hydrogen tanks had been vented into the atmosphere. Even using electrolysis it would still take months to acquire enough hydrogen to restart the main reactor. Communications were also disabled, along with weapons and both internal and external sensors. The Hyperion had essentially been crippled.

"Sir, may I make a request?" came a voice from the lineup.

"Ah, Sergeant Bailey. What can I do for you?" Sova queried in a softer tone. The Major's demeanour shifted quickly, in either direction and often without warning, most frightening to those around him.

"Sir I request command of a squad to pursue the traitors with the remaining Behemoth." Chance spoke with his chest out and head held high.

"Denied, I may, of course, reconsider once the ship is back under control, but in the meantime get to that infirmary and motivate those repairs, I look terrible with an eye-patch," joked Sova.

"Understood Sir," Chance marched off leaving the Bridge.

It took the better part of two days to repair the first medical bio-vat, another three to grow Sova's new eye. Captain Fitzroy didn't approve of the Major's priorities, as far as he was concerned weapons and sensors should have come first for the engineering teams to focus on. Under his own initiative, Fitzroy had a team start repairs on one of the sabotaged UAV's. His request was met with pessimism as the engineers essentially had to build one from scratch. The escaped crew would certainly now be beyond sensor range and be in a prime position to return and attack a defenceless ship.

The next few days saw a significant alteration to the Titan's personnel. The entire female crew of which there was a much lower than average ratio for this particular expedition, were confined to the brig as breeding stock. Sova knew he would need more forces in time, instructing his men to go about replenishing their ranks wherever possible. The last few remnants of the crew hiding in their quarters were removed in a timely manner and their worth assessed by Captain Fitzroy personally. Most were executed to squash any hint of an attempt to retake the ship long before it could manifest. Fuelled by their growing aggression and insatiable appetite, a hunting party was sent out daily to restock the galley. Sova's men grew ever more barbaric and sadistic each day. As the Behemoth sped along many indigenous creatures were being shot for the sheer fun of it, their carcasses wasted, simply left to rot in the sun.