The bridge was silent. Kat knew her people knew what to do. They were veterans, most of them at least. And the few newbs on board were still trained Alliance warriors, raised since birth to serve and graduates of the harshest training program ever devised. They would do whatever was necessary. She was sure of that.

“Thirty seconds.”

Kat took a deep breath, centering herself. She pushed the emotions aside, banishing fear, worry, regret, to the depths of her mind. A familiar coldness flooded through her, her focus intensifying. She was ready. Ready to face whatever was waiting for her ship behind the moon.

“Coming around now, Commander.”

Her eyes were already on the screen. There was a delay, no more than a few seconds, while new scanner data came in, and the computer updated the display. And when it did, she almost gasped.

What the hell is that?

It was a construct of some kind, over four kilometers in length, hovering in high orbit around the moon. Even looking at the sanitized icons displayed on the screen, she could feel the menace of it. And around it, standing like a pair of sentinels, floated two of the biggest orbital fortresses she had ever seen.

Fighters were pouring out of the fortresses, engaging her own squadrons. Her people were fighting hard, but they were outnumbered four or five to one.

Retreat…it’s the only choice…

Vindictus couldn’t defeat the heavily-armed platforms. It would take half the fleet to destroy those fortresses. And her fighters could only hold so long against the massive cloud of enemy interceptors.

Then she saw the energy spike, the strange construct firing again, a massive burst of laser light, stronger than any she’d encountered before. Any she’d heard of before. It could only be one thing.

Bomb-pumped lasers.

The Alliance had been pursuing the technology for years, the use of controlled nuclear detonations to power extremely strong laser blasts, but it had never managed to get the system to work. Apparently, the Helians had…

She felt the tension in her body. Every military doctrine she knew, all her training told her Vindictus couldn’t face the two giant fortresses, not without help. She had to pull back, warn the fleet.

No…you can’t wait.

The Alliance fleet had blundered into a trap. Alliance arms had enjoyed half a century of unparalleled success, and with victory had come arrogance. They had viewed the Helians as a lesser foe, one they could easily overwhelm.

And now half the fleet is headed into a deathtrap…

“Increase reactor to one hundred ten percent. All power to thrusters.”

“Commander?” Wentus sounded confused.

“We’re going in, Optiomagis. We’re going straight for that space-cursed thing, and we’re going to blow it to scrap.”

“What about the fortresses?”

“Damned the fortresses! Forward…full power!”