“I’ve uploaded the changes to the fleet, Captain!” Milla cried out as she finished.

“Fire!” Tal ordered, turning back to glare at the screen, as if his anger could damage the ship outside.

The fleet fired on the lone Drasin ship again, the lethal halo of energy enveloping the alien ship for a brief moment in time before lashing back with another barrage.

“Captain, we hurt ’em this time. Not much, but we did hurt ’em!”

Tal leaned forward. “How are our shields?”

“Not good—down by seven-eighths, sir. The Ronako is reporting a complete shield failure and…” The young man faltered as he read something new on his console. “Captain! The Ronako is gone, sir. They just burned up.”

A brief silence permeated the bridge, terminated by the violent shaking of the ship as they took another hit from the Drasin vessel. The Carlache rocked with every focused blast.

“All ships, this is Captain Tal. Pour it on! Every eighth of energy you have. Put it all into the new systems and keep firing!” Tal ordered over the fleet communicator, clutching his armrest as the ship seemed to shake itself apart around them.

Outside, the gathered vessels obeyed and the battlefield flashed with the massive discharge of all their combined weaponry. Gradually, they saw results. The Drasin vessel fired less often and with less force. Many of the Drasin’s weapons protrusions melted off, leaving entire arcs of the ship’s hull open to attack. The massive circular area began to buckle and rupture under the constant attack.

Tal leaned forward, showing a humorless smile. “We are doing it! Keep firing!”

“Captain, we’re reading something strange from the Ronako!”

“The Ronako is lost! Keep firing!” Tal snapped, not even wanting to think about all the dead comrades on that fallen ship.

On the view screen, however, it became evident that the Ronako had once again become a factor in the battle. An energy distortion surrounded the vessel in a pale-blue light, growing in intensity as a thin funnel appeared in the swirling mass and spired across empty space to the dying Drasin vessel. Moments later, both vessels were covered in the same blue light as something was transferred from the drifting hulk of the Ronako to the Drasin ship.

A scant few instants later, the Drasin emerged from its glowing cocoon of energy and left the entire bridge looking in dismay at a fully repaired Drasin destroyer. Tal gaped for a moment, not believing what his own eyes and the ship’s sensors were telling him. He shook himself out of it.

“All ships, evasive maneuvers and keep firing. Keep your shields up. They’d have done that to us by now if they could get through the shield systems!”

The fleet vessels spun on their flaring drives, firing wildly at the repaired destroyer and dancing away from the Drasin’s lethal beams. When the fleet had evaded pursuit and recharged slightly, they ducked back in to repeat the maneuver. It was slow and brutal, but the tactic was working for them as the Drasin fire slackened.