The stars in the viewport ran together like watercolor on a soaked canvas before they stretched out into a tunnel of fluorescent light. Tony asserted himself and shuffled one of his feet back a half step to brace against the sudden acceleration when a screen popped up in his vision.

  You have unlocked the Command Screen

  Please Verify Crew Assignment

  Tony focused on the notification and was brought to the Command Screen where he saw a shimmering projection of the Anomalous with several pop outs showing his assigned crew and where they were assigned.

  Helmsman: Moanthin (Level 24 Skirmisher)

  Navigation Systems: Renestrae (Level 18 Pathfinder)

  Shield Modulation: Kaelen (Level 18 Enforcer)

  Weapon Systems: Vireth (Level 20 Bombadier)

  Systems Support and Repairs: Selmira (Level 22 Tech Medic)

  Chief Gunner: Sidro (Level 15 Blaster)

  Flight Commander (Fighter Squadrons): Ost (Level 21 Valkyrie)

  Everything looked fine to Tony, so he confirmed the assignments and continued to pace the bridge. He was anxious, but not in the doom and gloom kind of way; he wasn't happy to be going into a zone where his fellow Ascendants were under siege and potentially facing final death and he wasn't excited... he was just... ready. While Tony had fought at least two agents of The Cadre of Justice and two beings empowered by Ignacious, he'd never encountered their numbers out in the open. The previous battles against Tolik and Mendacius had been singular, system-generated events. The fights against Sujuko and Akmor the Black had at least seemed to be more organic encounters where Ignacious and Pahadron had capitalized on the opportunity to get rid of him.

  Tony furrowed his brow. Had those encounters been by chance, or had the system led him along a route to them specifically? The Cube of Red Judgement had left him with a lot more questions than it had answered.

  "Coming out of DC Jump," Moanthin called, "fifteen seconds."

  "What's DC stand for?" Tony asked reflexively. There was a lot of ship-based terminology that he hadn't caught onto quite yet.

  Moanthin rolled his eyes in a way that said, "Really? Who gave this simpleton a ship?"

  "It stands for Distance Collapse, Commander," Moanthin replied curtly.

  The Celestial Elf helmsman had insisted on calling Tony "Lord Ascendant" or "Lord Antonious" at the outset of their working relationship. Tony had tried to get him to address him just by name, but Moanthin would hear none of it and said that "decorum and procedure have their places and uses, and for us, it is the difference between surviving an engagement, and dying. Not all of us respawn." So, Commander had become the compromise.

  "Alright then," Tony acknowledged as his eyes flicked over the command screen again, "Kaelen, bring shields up to full as soon as we're out of the tunnel, Ost, have your Interceptor-class fighters at the ready, we're going to need to run interference, and Sidro, get that cannon charged. If you have a good shot at a large target, you take it, if we're dealing with fighters and only fighters, back Vireth up."

  He swiped the Command Screen away and looked over the bridge, his crew sitting in a stunned silence as the tunnel began to run and blur, "Those were Orders!" Moanthin shouted.

  A chorus of "Yes sir!" rang out across the bridge and his crew erupted into motion just as his Strike Team arrived.

  "There may be some hope for you yet, Commander," Moanthin whispered as he strode past Tony and took up his position at the helm.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The Anomalous came fully out of Distance Collapse and Tony's mouth fell open

  The Infernal Machine  Level 45 Automated War Forge

  Core: Mendacius(Fractured)  Threat Rating: Catastrophic

  "Hey!" Vasna's voice shouted from his side.

  "Ah, fuck," Tony jumped.

  "We killed that asshole!" she shouted again.

  Tony searched through his menus, certain that there had been some indication of the cyborg's demise.

  Processed Souls: Shard of Mendacius

  "Seems like we only got a piece of him last time..." he grumbled.

  "Analyzing The Infernal Machine, would you like me to put what I find up on the main screen when I'm done, Warden?" Orbis' tinny voice rattled in Tony's head.

  He willed a mental affirmative to the winged orb and looked between Renestrae and Moanthin, "Who's out here with us?"

  Before either of them could answer, Esava spoke up.

  "That's D'jorin's frigate and Tathra's carrier," she said pointing out of the main viewport at the two distant ships.

  The large frigate, still dwarfed by The Infernal Machine, was in position between the Carrier and the swarming drones that poured out of the gargantuan station, its outward facing weapons streaked the space between, striking down drones in swathes as the shielding of the carrier flickered and sputtered, struggling to reform.

  The Anomalous rocked as its primary cannon fired and sent an essence charged ferro-round straight into The Infernal Machine. The massive station's shield's flashed an angry red at the impact and though the drones continued to harry the frigate and carrier, the station itself began to rotate slowly and deliberately toward the Anomalous.

  "You said to take the shots when I got em, so I took it..." Sidro shrugged.

  He was a large fire-aspected Ashtar with dancing candelabras for eyebrows and licks of flame that swept up from his collar and over his shoulders.

  "Well don't stop now!" Tony barked.

  "Analysis Complete! On screen now!" Orbis interrupted.

  The Infernal Machine  Level 45 Automated War Forge

  Core: Mendacius(Fractured)  Threat Rating: Catastrophic

  Hull Integrity: 16,000,000 (100%) Shields: 3,255,000/3,500,000 (93%)

  Defenses: High Capacity Shield Matrix | Heavy Kinetic Plating | Medium Plasma Shielding | Light EMP Insulation | Autonomous Hunter-Killer Drone Foundries (3)

  Weapon Systems: Long-Range Annihilator Cannons (4) | Plasma Shear Beam (1) | Flak Storm Array (Numerous) | Orbital Siege Missile Silos (Numerous)

  Vulnerabilities: Shield Reactor Nodes (6) | Orbital Siege Missile Repositories (Numerous) | Core (Must board to damage directly)

  Tony's brain locked into overdrive as the bridge fell into a hush again, waiting for his commands.

  "Orbis, can our fighters get through their shields?" he thought.

  "They lack the firepower to-"

  "I mean can they fly through the shields," Tony corrected.

  "Ah, yes, that makes more sense. The frequency that the shield oscillates at and the sheer disparity between the crafts should allow for your fighters and bombers to navigate close to the station's surface," the construct responded.

  "Deploy all available fighters and bombers, target the shield nodes with the bombers. I want half of the interceptors with the bombers, they have to make it to target and take out those reactors. We won't punch through those shields while the reactors are still live. Sidro, belay my last order, help Vireth. I'm sure we're going to be swarmed with Hunter-Killers soon. Ost, do we have any hot-drop landing craft?"

  "Aye Commander, we do," Ost replied.

  Ost was easily the biggest Selenian that Tony had seen. They were primarily androgynous, as the rest of their kind, were well muscled, but maintained some feminine grace and curve.

  "Think you can get the Strike Team on that station?"

  "Aye Commander, I do... permission to speak freely, Commander?" Ost asked.

  "Go for it," Tony answered.

  "I've heard that you're a crazy son-of-a-bitch, but that you've got a knack for winnin'. I'll follow you, no matter how harebrained the scheme, Sir."

  Tony couldn't help the wide, slightly crazed, grin that parted his lips as his armor clanked into place, summoned from his inventory.

  "Strike Team! Let's get to work, Moanthin, Bridge is to you," Tony ordered.