WARNING! INJURIES DETECTED! BROKEN TAILBONE. TORN LIGAMENTS IN LEFT KNEE. MULTIPLE CONTUSIONS.

The warning in Yvian's HUD brought a smile to her face. She'd done it. The anti-tech field was down. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts," she said.

PAIN REMOVAL ACTIVATED, said the HUD. Yvian's hurts vanished. Her body was still damaged, but not feeling it would make the next few minutes easier. Speaking of the next few minutes, Yvian looked through the scope of her Bigger Better. She zeroed in on the human ship. She didn't like what she saw.

Humans. A lot of humans. They wore armor similar to Yvian's, but in white. Unlike Yvian, they weren't hampered by dense Peacekeeper tuxedos. They would be faster than her, and they were heavily armed. More importantly, they knew where she was. Calculating the trajectory of the MAC round she'd fired would be a trivial matter for the humans, let alone Reba. The humans would be heading her way in seconds.

"Activate SHIELDBREACH," Yvian commanded. Her armor responded, and Yvian jetpacked through the shields of the closest battlecruiser. No point in being subtle. She raised the Bigger Better BFG. One shot should be more than enough to blow the viewport on the cruiser's bridge. She'd fly in, take control, and...

"Crunch." Yvian didn't have any tools. Even if she did, trying to wrest control of the cruiser from Reba was a fool's game. The Synthetic Intelligence had been one step ahead of them this whole time. The odds she wouldn't be ready for Yvian were practically zero. The cruiser wasn't an opportunity. It was a trap.

Yvian changed direction, angling to keep the cruiser between herself and the humans. Movement caught her eye. An airlock, maybe eighty meters down the length of the hull. More humans. Shit. Yvian shifted again, moving towards the top of the ship. She prayed to the Bright Lady no one would look up for a few seconds.

"Oh, hey!" Barillas condescended over the radio. "Would you look at that. You accomplished your objective after all. Good job, Mark!"

The Captain got his target, too? Was that all of them? Yvian shook her head. No time to think about that. If this cruiser was full of humans, then all of them were. No, she realized. Not all. She hadn't seen any bodies on the derelict she'd passed through. The outer two layers of ships would be empty. If she could get there...

"To reward your hard work," the pirate continued, "I'm giving you a special prize."

Yvian thought furiously. Run or hide? Her Peacekeeper suit would keep her hidden from sensors. The humans would have to find her the old fashioned way. That was the good news. The bad news was it would only take a single human to bring the rest of them down on her.

She had four shots left in her Bigger Better, with one spare magazine strapped to the side of the gun. No other weapons. Taking one off a dead human wouldn't do her any good. DNA locked.

"XTRO Agents!" Barillas elaborated. "Won't this be fun?"

Stripping off the Peacekeeper suit and PALLETESWAPPING her voidarmor wouldn't fool anyone. Sensors would immediately pick up on her pixen biology. If she used the armor's STEALTH, any human who saw her would notice she didn't register on sensors. Besides, Mims had told her about XTRO agents. Highly trained and Fucking Dangerous. They wouldn't do anything as stupid as splitting up. Anyone flying around alone would be an obvious enemy.

No time left. Find a hiding spot on this cruiser, or make for open space? Yvian glared down at the ship. There were gun turrets and shield generators. She could get close to one. Stay in the shadows. Hope the Agents passed her by.

No. The Extra-Terrestrial Reconnaissance Organization was one of very few groups Mims feared. The search would be thorough and highly competent. Hiding would buy Yvian a few minutes at most. She needed to get to open space.

With a prayer on her lips, Yvian changed direction again. The best and shortest way out would be to make for the derelict she'd passed on the way in. It was also the first place the humans would look. Yvian angled for an undamaged cruiser four ships above and two ships to the right of it. Her armor was black, as was most of her tuxedo. The light of her jetpack was blocked by the Peacekeeper suit. If she could get just a little distance without anyone looking her way...

"You see, Mark," Commandant Barillas lectured, "this Op was doomed from the start. You think we're here to stop you from rescuing the Xill. We're not. We don't give a shit about the Consensus."

Yvian resisted the urge to look at the humans as she streaked away from the cruiser. Mims had told her he could sense when she was watching. He never explained why or how, but he'd proven over and over that it was true. If the other humans could do the same...

"We've had the Hub locked down for weeks," the pirate continued. "We got everything we needed before you even knew there was a problem."

So far so good. Just a little further. Yvian's blood pounded in her ears. She'd thought years of training with Mims had lessened her terror of humans. She was wrong. The deadliest species in the galaxy was hunting her. She couldn't hide. Couldn't fight. Her only chance was to run, and hope nobody saw. If someone did...

Yvian's armor was based on human tech. Their AIMASSIST was probably better than hers. If the humans saw her, the only warning she would get was when they riddled her with holes.

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Commandant Barillas gave an annoyed grunt over the radio. "Still nothing to say, Mark?"

"Oh, here's a little something," Barillas was back to being smug. Yvian would pay real money if that bitch would shut up. "Someone just snuck aboard one of our ships. Yvian? Is that you?"

Someone broke into Reba's cruiser? Who would... "Oh, Bright Lady," Yvian breathed. A cadet. One of her pilots. Yvian reached for the button on her helmet. She had to warn them, had to get them off the ship...

No. Yvian's finger froze over the button. A warning might or might not save her pilot. It would definitely kill Yvian. She couldn't afford to give herself away.

"Trying to commandeer Reba's ship?" Barillas chided. "Did you really think that would work?"

Blue light washed over one of the ships in Yvian's view. The Gate Effect rippled over the cruiser. A single, brighter flash, and the ship was gone.

"All that training, and she still can't make good decisions." The pirate tsked. "But I guess that's good news for you, Mark. Your little friend's alive, after all."

Yvian gritted her teeth, activating SHIELDBREACH. She passed the battlecruiser and veered, putting it between herself and the humans. One more layer of ships. One more layer, and she'd be in open space.

"Stop ignoring me." Barillas was annoyed again.

Yvian dared a glance behind her. Was that... "Zoom in," she commanded. "Five times magnification." A window appeared in her visor. It showed the worst case scenario.

She'd been seen. The humans were coming.

Twenty humans in white armor streaked through the void. Starlight glinted off gold visors. They weren't gaining on her. Not yet. Yvian had been accelerating longer than they had. Her lead wouldn't last. The humans weren't hampered by sixty kilograms of Peacekeeper formal wear. They probably also had faster jetpacks.

Yvian veered down, putting a battlecruiser between herself and the humans. Once line of sight had been broken, she changed vectors again, heading for the Gate. She didn't want to cross into the next sector. For all she knew, there were more agents waiting on the other side. Or a ship waiting to blast the telltale blip of radiation when she exited. Or something worse she hadn't thought of yet. But while entering the Gate wouldn't be smart, getting close would make her harder to see. Yvian would take any edge she could get.

"Are you sure you want to-" Barillas started. A brief pause. "Alright, alright. I'll tell him."

Yvian looked back. Two groups of four humans flew over the ship she'd passed. Another group flew under it. Two more came around the sides. None of them stopped. They kept accelerating while they looked for her.

"Reba wants you to know," the Commandant informed everyone, "that this, all of this, it's just bait. She wanted to draw you out. Not just your forces, but you specifically. You and Lissa and Yvian."

The humans grouped together again. They changed course, following Yvian. Were they a little closer than the first time she'd seen them? Yvian cursed. She should be a barely visible dot against the rippling light of the Gate. How did they find her so fast?

"It sounds petty, doesn't it?" Barillas continued. "And it would be, if this was just about revenge."

Yvian eyed her pursuers, waiting for the flash of weapon fire. They were far enough away that she might be able to dodge. She hoped.

"You have something we need," Barillas admitted. "Something we can't get anywhere else."

There were no flashes. Yvian zoomed in again. The humans hadn't even drawn their weapons. What were they waiting for?

"The key to the crystal ships."

Oh. Oh, Bright Lady. The humans weren't coming to kill her.

The humans wanted to take her alive.

"That crystal in your head isn't just an implant," Barillas remarked. "It's alive. The dead ones can't be used. If that idiot Hayes hadn't fucked up, we wouldn't be doing this right now."

Yvian's legs shook. She'd been raised on horror stories. Tales of the things humans do to those poor souls that were taken alive. The reality would be less creative, she was sure. Her death would be a clinical thing. Mundane, even. They would kill her painfully and horribly and without an ounce of emotion.

"That dumb fuck knew the Guardians are the ones that give implants, and he killed most of them anyway. Then he let the last one kill itself." The Commandant's voice dripped with disgust. "You cannot imagine how pissed Reba was when she heard about that little fuckup. Not to mention trying to blow up the last Mother ship in existence."

Yvian looked down at the Bigger Better. Nine shots. Eight really. She'd save the last one for herself. She pressed uselessly at her jetpack's controls. It was already going as fast as it could.

"He's dead, now." Barillas snorted. "His family, too."

A plan began to form. A stupid plan, but it was the best she could come up with. Yvian's hand tightened around her gun. The humans were closer, now. Another few minutes and they'd catch her.

"We don't really need you alive, you know." Barillas remarked. "The implant's been feeding on your bio-energy for months. We think it'll live at least an hour if you decide to take the easy way out."

Yvian closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Let it out slow, trying to relax her body. It might be smarter to wait. Let them get closer.

"Of course, we don't know that for sure." The Commandant admitted. "Maybe you should off yourself. You know. Just in case."

Screw it. Yvian spun, activating AIMASSIST. The Bigger Better BFG positioned itself as she strafed to the side. She pulled the trigger.

"Oh, look!" Barillas said brightly.

The gun bucked in her hand. A MAC round followed the path she'd laid out, moving through four humans in a line so fast they exploded simultaneously. Yvian didn't waste time admiring her handiwork. She strafed down, lining up her next shot.

"Reinforcements!"

The gun bucked. She got three this time. A thrill of hope shot up Yvian's spine. Seven humans in three seconds. Thirteen left, and she still had seven rounds. She could do this.

"Looks like you planned ahead," Barillas sounded pleased. "Good for you, Mark. And since you took out that TechJammer, this fleet'll really turn things around."

The agents reacted quickly. Each of them changed direction, zig zagging to make themselves harder targets. Smart, but not smart enough. Yvian caught another two as they passed too close together. Eleven humans. Six rounds.

"There's just one problem, Mark." The pirate was smug.

Yvian fired again. Another three humans burst apart. Someone must have given an order, because the motherless sons all shot away from each other. Yvian strafed some more, trying to line up another shot. She ejected the spent magazine and jammed the new one into her gun. Eight humans. Five rounds.

"Our Jammers can cover three thousand kilometers." Yvian could hear the woman's vicious grin. "We only need one."

Yvian's HUD winked out. She lost sight of the humans as her visor dropped its zoom. Pain slammed back into her body. The gun in her hand ceased its steady tracking.

Above her, the Gate rippled. The massive hull of a Peacekeeper Queenship began it's slow emergence. Like the Doomsday Clock before it, this one would be surrounded by Stinger units, ready to protect it with their wide plasma beams. But there were no beams. The ships were frozen.

"I told you before, Mark," the woman purred. "You've already lost."