“Keep your eyes peeled, Angels,” Stephanos ordered. “They’re coming.”

Samuels did as ordered, her eyes wide open as she stared into the sun, looking for the enemy. They were still fading in and out, like before, until suddenly they weren’t. Then they were there, screaming in from the brilliance of the star, but too large to hide completely. She yelled in surprise.

“That’s it! Stay sharp!” Stephanos said a moment later as the enemy began to fire. “Make sure your combat computers are automatic adaptive settings and continue to accelerate.”

The needles in Jennifer’s neck were itching, though she supposed it was all in her mind. They weren’t supposed to feel anything once they were inserted. The computer began wailing around her as one of the enemy fighters singled her out for some special attention and a glancing-laser strike tripped her combat computer’s automatic adaptive armor. The cam-plates that surrounded her shimmered, changing their base color to the best reflective surface for the enemy beam, then settled in as the wail died down.

Minimal damage, she thought as she looked over the reports. The surface of her right wing was a little scorched and probably wouldn’t take another direct hit too well, since the brief flash had ablated away most of its armor; however, it was only a small surface.

She would survive it—probably.

“Almost there, Angels,” Stephanos said tensely, the sounds of damage reports from other fighters chattering over the tac-net. “Hold on course…hold…hold…”

Then the Archangels interpenetrated the enemy ranks, the two forces slamming together at unimaginable speeds as both sides started to turn and burn, trying desperately to claw themselves, fist over fist, into the position of best advantage.

And in that moment, all across the wing, the largest amount of solar interference was gone as the Archangels dropped behind the enemy lines, circling around in tight maneuvers, and got the sun at their back.

Adm. Rael Tanner’s knuckles were bone white as he gripped the board in front of him. “What is he doing? By the Maker and all He has made, what is that insane fool doing?”

The Odyssey had stopped accelerating away from the remaining two ships, flipping end for end on the scanners, and while it wasn’t accelerating toward the ships, the distance between decreased quickly. The Odyssey was merely coasting now as energy discharges roared around them.

“Turn and run!” Tanner hissed, wiping sweat from his face with a stiff hand. “The Cerekus is here now, you damned fool. Run.”

“Maybe they don’t see her?” someone said.

Tanner shook his head. “That’s not possible. A ship the size of the Cerekus would be visible on any sensors that weren’t absolutely blinded.”

“The sun, Admiral,” a quiet voice spoke up.

“What?” Tanner spun, looking back at Milla, who was standing pale in her borrowed armor.

“The sun. The Cerekus is straight from the Forge. That means that Okana is directly behind them, and the Odyssey’s passive sensors are—”