[This is Gamma Lead to Command. We're approaching the vessel now.]

Shown on the screens, was a scene of fourteen fighter ships maneuvering around the unknown vessel docked to Serenity. The plan was to latch onto the vessel with their landing gear and push it where needed. Then, they'd detach and slag it after they gain some distance.

An unorthodox plan, but certainly not unheard of. In fact, it was a good alternative to slagging for vessels captured by the Empire. Since it gave them time to get past the biometric locks.

Unlike those times however, the vessel hadn't been emptied out.

Hundreds of dark brown roaches poured out of the airlocks and swarmed the fighters. A bunch even leapt off the vessel to catch them, missed, and floated into the void.

[Gamma Lead to squad. Do not engage hostiles. Stick to the briefing.]

There was a palpable sense of dread coming from the insects as they piled underneath, around, and onto the one-man ships - getting crushed and cooked by the engines in the process.

[Gamma to Command, all landings successful. Beginning maneuver.]

Despite the ear-splitting clicks and scratches they heard through the microphones, there was no sense of worry from the pilots. Everyone kept their cool.

[Gamma 9 to Gamma Lead, I've lost visual. Please detail all next moves.]

[Gamma 7 repeats.]

[Gamma 12 repeats.]

[This is Gamma Lead. Understood, loud and clear. Point engines 50 degrees down and 170 degrees backward. Fire in three… two… one.]

The unknown vessel was much larger than the fighters and several thousand times heavier. But due to its seemingly-deactivated state and the lack of gravity, it was doable.

[Minimum distance of 3 miles, cleared. Reaching for 5.] Gamma Lead's voice echoed once more, while they and the unknown vessel became a speck on the cameras. [5 kilometers reached. Gamma squad, detach in sequence and perform evasive maneuvers. Afford 10 seconds before following.]

[Gamma 1, detaching.]

A shining blue speck could be seen separating, then drawing circles and lines as it got farther away.

[Gamma 2, detaching.]

Soon Gamma 3, 4, and 5 followed. But ten seconds passed. Then fifteen, and twenty.

[Gamma 6, what's the hold up?] Gamma Lead waited for another ten seconds, before they continued. [Gamma 1 to 5, can you get eyes on 6? In the meantime, Gamma 7 go.]

[Acknowledged, Gamma Lead.]

[Gamma 7, detaching.]

[Gamma 8, detaching.]

[Gamma 9, deta - what the -] Just as she was about to scream, the line was replaced by static.

[Gamma 9?! Gamma 9, respond!]

[Gamma Lead! This is 4, I have eyes on 6! We left him near Serenity and his ship's been smashed open!]

[Sir, Gamma te-!] Another one of them was silenced before they could say their piece.

[Everyone detach now! Fly in a straight line! Others provide cover fire!]

All at once, bright blue streaks tore through the insects, while HE rounds riddled the vessel.

Then, once all fighters, including Gamma Lead, were at a safe distance, they switched to torpedoes.

[Gamma Squad to all ships. Going nuclear in ten!] For the few seconds that 7 low-yield payloads traversed empty space, there was silence. Then came a bright flash that blinded anyone still staring directly at it.

[... Target destroyed.]

A couple more seconds passed, before Gamma Lead's voice echoed through the bridge, once more.

[What the hell was that, Command?! You said the insects couldn't pierce through our hulls?!]

[They can't!] A man responded from aboard the Ceres Parlton's bridge.

[Then, what the hell could've-]

Before the conversation could continue any further, something else interrupted those within Serenity's Bridge. A voice that had remained quiet until now, listening in on the operation.

[How good of a success are we talking about, Captain?] It was the Count, his voice still cold and demanding.

"... Very, Lord Count. The unknown ship is gone." The Captain hurriedly answered while one of the comms officers cut every other line.

"But we lost three of our pilots." The Captain said as he turned to a comms officer speaking rapidly into her headset, at the opposite end of the bridge. "How do things go on your end?"

[We've been forced to surrender four of our nine alternate routes due to ammo depletion.]

Hearing that, the Captain closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Although he already knew it, the fact that the Count told about it first, reassured him that there was no other pressing matter.

[But thanks to the timely work of your officers and the support of our myriad troops, survivors keep arriving safely. Since, we have lack supplies; food, water and medicine. I've also sent out teams to resolve the issue, as well as to rescue those that they can.]

"You speak of your brother, Lord Count? The Imperial Spearhead?"

[He is among many others, Captain. But about the Ceres Parlton. Am I correct in thinking that they've accepted going last?] A short pause formed, as the Captain and First Mate glanced at one another. Then, they nodded.

"Yes, Lord Count. However, there is a catch."

[A catch?]

"Should we ever lose sight of you in our cameras, the Ceres Parlton will turn her cannons and squadrons against the Empire. Without the support of the Union, your ships are cannon fodder. That's their assurance. Am I understood, Commander?"

There was a short pause, before the Count answered with an almost jovial tone.

[You've finally regained face, Captain Mahdane. Be praised. It's only a shame that you spent so much time with your head laid low.]

"... Lord Count, I must correct you. There's no shame in asking for help when needed. Especially when it concerns the safety of others."

[Is that so, Captain? I will be returning to my duties, then. And I'm passing Minister Helman to you, since he plans to board the Dreanaught Alisei and steer it away from Serenity.]

With that said, the line was cut and the Count closed his eyes and leaned back on a polymer chair, mulling over the facts he heard. In the span of a few minutes, two pilots were already silenced and a third could barely react to... whatever was breaking into their cockpits.

Even though protective glass is meant to withstand several slugs during dogfights. If these insects were capable of piercing through that, then their welds and blockades shouldn't stand a chance. Yet, they're holding.

Then clearly, it had to be something else.

Arriving at that conclusion, he shook his head, exhaled, opened his eyes again. He was atop a cargo container used as part of the second layer wall, with the subconsole on a table next to him.

Gathered in the distance below, were thousands of people waiting for the chance to board. He scanned the process once more, looking for any inefficiencies. But the longer he did so, the more people took notice of his gaze.

So many of them were wounded, injured, tired, hungry, thirsty, and everyone was desperate. But there were an ever-growing group forced to stand behind a cordon of armed troops. This group could only watch long lines of men, women and children, walk around them and disappear into the airlocks to board.

These were people of Federation, marked by the blue pain on their right or left shoulders and they either frowned or scowled at him. This was a stark contrast to those with red shoulders who celebrated, and the orange shoulders who did so with slightly weaker fervor. It was almost funny, the fact that this was one of the few times he properly received the people's thoughts.

Satisfied by the current state of the operation, he glanced down, to where marks were being given in accordance to the passenger manifest and people were guided accordingly. No problems here, either. Save for some indignant few.

Finally, he turned around and gazed at the two dozen men and women tasked with manning the first wall, then the half-open gate with hundreds of insects just waiting beyond some invisible line.

That line was most likely the edge of lethal radiation from the waste trail. Even though they could survive cosmic radiation, Guila's engineered mix was too much? Or did they learn to fear it? Even with the obvious green glow now gone? If they were being wary, then that made them smarter than quite a few people who took it as a sign that it was safe.

But despite even the insects knowing about all these drawbacks, with civilians less than a thousand meters away, the Count and his men were confident about using something as dangerous as the Plasma Diggers. Because the airborne particles' had an even shorter half life than the liquid form. As long as they did not stand next to the waste, the most it could do was minor radiation poisoning.

[Lord Count. This is Sergeant Yize.] A voice interjected, just as he returned to his seat. [We have to abandon the D Deck-adjacent maintenance route. We're about to be overrun.]

"Understood. Evacuate calmly with the rest of your squad. Have there been any casualties?"

[No, Lord Count. These foreign men and women have been reliable. Only minor injuries to report.]

"Good. Get back here quickly and seal the doors behind you."

[Yes, Lord Count!]

Even though he didn't exactly lie, the ammo situation was much more dire than what he portrayed to the Captain. Most of their firearms didn't have enough kick per shot and charged guns had a power requirement in addition to ammo. Meanwhile, those remaining with Plasma Diggers gave most of their canisters to Hiiro's group and were only useful when they had to seal passages.

But once again, Lady Luck smiled upon him.

[Brother, are you there? We've secured the shipment… and more.]

"Excellent job." The Count answered with a nod. "But what do you mean by more?"

[It looks like… I think it's best if you just had someone bring it back with the gear. Anyway, everything is just as we left it, a few dozen Diggers, 15 Heavy Mining Suits, 20 Speed Mining Suits, crates full of charged weapons, thermal blades, oscillators, and all the ammunition we could hope for… honestly, imagine if we managed to reach Aiarthe and dropped these off as planned. We'd be legless bucks.]

"... I agree. Suit up and wait for the others. They'll be arriving by foot. You'll leave for your next objective, once they've suited up." Then, while staring at nothing in particular, he sighed.

"Hiiro… brother. Are you still sound of mind?"

[... for now, we are. Better hurry up before that changes.] Strained, exhausted laughter reached the Count through the earpiece. Then it trailed off, before Hiiro continued. [Listen, I'm worried too. If we encounter any survivors, we'll hand them over to other groups, as quickly as we can. But lets talk about something else... Guila's ring. Can I?]

A chuckle, no, a chortle escaped the Count's throat, after hearing Hiiro's serious tone switch to something so reserved.

"Go ahead, brother." The Count nodded again. But this time, a wry smile had replaced his aloof, emotionless look. "It's long overdue. Just bring her back, immediately."

[I will.] The Count had no problem imagining the grin on his older brother's face, and that just made him shake his head.

Then he pressed a button on his earpiece, before dividing his attention between the subconsole's screen and the windows of operation data superimposed onto his line of sight. He had to compile everything and brief the retrieval team within 2 minutes, if he wanted to maximize the chances of keeping the remaining routes and maybe even mount a proper counterattack.

Once the conversation ended, Hiiro turned away from the red-hued abyss they ran through and the glowing green puddles that were left behind. Now in front of him were four of his men, including the Lieutenant, reloading their Diggers.

Every single one of them bore intense exhaustion behind their stoic looks.

Yuxuan and now, Jin and Shuji. These were the men they lost. Men with families. Brothers bound not by the blood that they were born with, but by that which they spilled. Even during the worst points of the war, losing half of the squad meant they had to retreat. An event that happened more than once - much to their regret. But now, in their first campaign after over a decade, they had to keep going.

"Colonel." One of them called out as he approached, armed and waiting for others to suit up first.

"Yeah, Sergeant Sung?"

"Shouldn't we… cut it open?"

The two turned to what the Sergeant was referring to. A massive white cocoon - big enough to fit a human, atop the half-melted corpse of a gigantic albino roach that reached their hips in height and was covered in spiny carapace.

"They were protecting that thing, weren't they?" The Sergeant continued, to which Hiiro nodded. Before turning to the sea of melted corpses, slag and other such debris surrounding their shipments. Of note were 11 other giant, but dark brown, spiny-carapaced cockroaches.

"Most likely. But what I want to know is why this thing was here. Out of all the places that it could be, it had to be near our weapons?"

"It could just be a coincidence, Colonel." Another chimed in from behind the Sergeant.

"I'm not willing to bet on that, Corporal. Not anymore. There's no way they could've… split our group so quickly, if they were just acting on instinct."

The conversation ended there. In the meantime, they tried to ignore the fact that all the other giant roaches like this one, had human and vatgrown children sticking out of their rear ends. They were no longer alive. They couldn't have been.

'... we didn't kill kids.' Hiiro told himself. 'Not with this weapon. Not again…'