Captain Luke Lavin stood on the bridge of the massive torpedo shaped starcarrier the UPSS [United Planets StarShip] Percy J. Wellington in high orbit over the mottled brown green and azure sphere that is Earth. From up here it looked so peaceful, so calm, so right as the large ship slowly lumbered towards the dark side of the planet. From here you could almost not notice that the planet was almost completely exhausted of natural resources. That only a well maintained chunk of the Central American rain forest prevented the Earth from turning into an inhospital carbon monoxide dominated world. Even with the growin awareness that the Earth would not hold human life for much longer the human race had not changed one bit in the last five hundred years. They had continued on with their practices until Australia was wiped out in one large solar flare in which doses of Gama radiation thousands of times the lethal dosage had bathed the barren land in a grim reaper like glow. In one day a billion people were fried and whole cities turned into pools of molten metal. The entire area became a radioactive wasteland. Still that had not been enough. Now the Earth was nearly dead, with even the unfortunate, poor, and stubborn being forciblely evacuated before the atomsphere faded away and the last few vestiages of life were exposed to the harsh solar winds of space.

Refugees.

That was his assignment, the cargo holds had been converted into makeshift barracks, he only had the minimal force requirment of three interceptor flights and a single light frigate escort for a starcarrier. The massive ship was almost ten kilometers long it had a crew of thirty thousand and was able to support up one hundred thousand passengers, he converted as it was now with most munnitions holds converted to hold refugees it supported three hundred and fity thousand people and five hundred transports each with their own three man crew. Like tadpoles flocking aorund their birthmother the final streams angled towards the giant canyon down the center of the massive fight carrier that formed the launch deck. Though most fighters were VTOL [Vertical Take Off and Landing], a carrirer could sling a whole flight of fighters out like a swarm from a bees nest at near black out speeds. Giving the pilots time to get into the fray without being shot down at landing.

At long last the ant trail of silver chrome transport ships stopped flowing from Earth the last silver tadpole finding a docking couch deep in the cavern of the starcarrier. As the starcarrier's smooth sleek body entered the pitch black dark of the darside of the Earth Luke prepared his mind and started giving orders even as the one of the techs reported the simple facts he already knew by being observant. The man made his report and Luke nodded.

"Alright then. Mr. Farewell, Carson's World cordinates locked in the navigation system?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sound the horn."

Throughout the ship a long low pitched wail from the sirens sounded through out the ship one long tone timed with a flash of orange lights. A second counter appeared on Luke's wrist datapad. The digital display read one hundred and twenty seconds and counted down. Like wise on the Light Frigatento Bill Clinton holding just starboard and aft of them followed the same proceedure. A small image of grizzled old man framed behind an ancient brige where most of the technical parts still lay exposed, he had gray hair and a salt and pepper beard while one eye was a vivid green, the other had the constant red flicker of a cybernectic implant.

"The greenhorn purest natives all buckled in tight eh? Lavin. Don't even see why they sent us out here when we could be chasing pirates and giving the crew pleasure stops along the HutchStarksy Sector." The old man spoke with a gravel voice of decades worth of policing the space lanes.

"Standerd procedure, Captain Frankfurt."

"Forgot you were one of those stiff neo-Brits, Luke, need to get some salt on those rank tabs. Anyways we'll see you on the farside." The old space captain cut the video connection and the Light Frigate flared nova bright then burned a hole in reality as it traveled the 170 light years to Carson's World. Luke frowned at the man's lack of space faring courtesy. It was always nice to let the Captain with the bigger ship cut connection first and then jump since the chance for slight errors at the remergance point tended to be more common the larger the ship was. The digital alarm clock beeped zero.

"All crews and civilains properly secured, all stations manned, we are ready to Jump, Captain."

Luke paused a second noting the constellation before settling into his command couch and fastening his safety belt. He lifted his head facing straight ahead, "Then Jump, Mr. Farewell."

Reality shifted as billions of terrawatts of electricity funneled into the huge drive core that would catipult the immense craft across the hellish landscape of Burnspace. Everything suddenly twisted and writhed as silence, asbolute noise, blindness, and more colors than possible to describe happened in a moment that reality was twsited and contorted. Then as quick as it happened everything as it was except the constellaions had shifted and the UPSS Percy J. Wellington hung in deepspace several hundred light miles from Carson's World. Though as the subordinates reported all systems nominal, all was not as it should be as Luke's icey blue eyes scanned the field of stars. Where Central Spire Station was supposed to be nothing more than a red hot molten pile of metal, the defense and refueling military base was destroyed.

In high orbit of the spider webs of lights that represented Carson's World near eternal urban landscape on the darkside hung a predatory ship. A second Soviet era battelship hung in low orbit over the planet. City lights outlined it even as sensor tech identified it.

"Sir, single hostile contact Klashnikov CX3K9 Battleship. Sir it's fully armed." As an image appeared in the recessed holo tank on the wide swept bridge, it was a proven fact the smooth corners and rounded edges put the mind more at ease in battle. A full color micro model appeared in mid air with exact details. Down to the six tripple rail gun turrents that still made old model Soviet Two Era Battleships an effective and cost effective tool in any pirate's or private dictator's fleet. Three turrents two low and one high in the middle sat on the dorsal side while three turrents likewise rested on the under side. Though only six kilometers long the ability to hail eightteen balls of super hardened nickel slugs across space at near light speeds made for a potent capital ship killer and planet buster.

Luke already spied the limping Light Frigate Bill Clinton away towards the mass shadow of the ruined Central Spire station. "Bring the ship into line enemy battleship they've bound to tag us by now and know were carrying a fat bounty of potential slaves, your top pritority is to get them to safety. Order the crew bosses to load out all our fighters with the heaviest load outs they can carry. First Officer you have the Bridge."

"First Officer has the Bridge, sir, but where are you going?"

"Where else but to battle?" The crew sat stunned for a second then went about business, everyone knew that neo-Brits did things differently. Luke smiled as he enterered his ready room and quickly shucked his uniform and dawned the airtight jump suit of an Aerospace pilot. The gray jumpsuit had only one indentifying mark the single gold bar on his right and left shoulder marking him as Captain. Luke had been oringinally a Aerospace pilot but had risen to far to command fighters, so he had let himself be trained in the art of capital class ship warfare. His heart was in the joystick though. The gray metal helmet was armored with a resperator and golden visor. Luke lowered the helmet onto his head as he rode the fast lift to the launch deck two kilometers below the bridge. The ship shuddered as the First Flight rocketed away like rail gun slugs away from the ship.

A deckman checked his suit then gave him the thumbs up as Luke passed throguh the hazey blue field that seperated the atomsphere from the vacum as he bounded over towards his Longsword Intereceptor. The matte black triagnle blade like ship rested ready for him it had a silver splinter painted over a blood red zero on the nose. Four Archer torpedo pods were nstled into the wings with each thrumming engine pod. Luke climbed up the back load ramp and crawled into the forward pilot compartment and settled into the pilot's couch. He jacked his helmet's comm, bodysensor, and brainwave relayar into the console.

"This is Splinter Zero, joining Splinter Flight."

"We're glad to have you Captain."

"Cut that out Riggs, you're incharge of this flight."

"Copy that Splinter Zero. This is Splinter we're go for launch."

The last of the tugs moved the fighters on the magtracks, the second flight shuddered forth on the launch deck below rocketing away. A green digital display in the corner of the front view screen flipped from -stop- to -standby- then the fighter launched forward as Luke fimrly gripped the joystick as the -launch- burned green. At nearly twelve gravities the fighters rocked away from the carrier. Luke let a small breath then clenched his jaws as Carson's World and Klashinkov battleship grew in size the enemy fighter screen became apparent. There was a giant nova bright flash as the refugee laiden ship burned a whole in reality hopefuly to go bring help to the beleagured planet.

Captain Nikolic surveyed the area through sparkling brown eyes. A swarm of enemy fighters were plummeting their way, but the smirk upon her face showed that it didn't seem to faze her.

"Captain Nikolic, what are your orders?"

Nikolic's position was rather casual, her healed boots upon the empty space near the monitor, and her back leaned far into the chair. Pushing strands of her black hair out of her face, she looked to Karl's impassive expression on the smallest screen. "Tell Hawk 9 to sweep in from the back. Give the order for Reaper 3 to shift from their place and take the front. Corner them, Karl, dont let them breath. When Reaper 3 starts to lose men, have Srebro 2 take them from .201 spot on the map I gave you before. These bastards aren't getting anywhere, on my watch. Crazy for even trying."

Her voice was sharp, strong, almost as if she had been giving commands all of her life. There was a nod from Karl on the small screen before it zapped into darkness. Nikolic stared out the giant monitor before her, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Well, hello, Captain Lavin. I've heard so much about you," she whispered to herself, watching the fighters intently as they carved through space. Nikolic's eyes flashed as their colors grew brighter, her hands giving the arms of her chair a quick squeeze. This was going to be interesting, and this type of action was what she thirsted for.

Captain Milla Nikolic heard the rumbling from below decks that gave her the cue that Srebro 2 was getting ready to deploy in case Reaper 3 couldn't finish the job. She lifted herself swiftly from her seat, taking steps that one would if he or she already saw victory. Making her way to the next room, she walked her way to where Srebro 2 was loading their pilots. They were not going to lose what they already had in their hands, and she was going to make sure of it.

What was that saying... If you want something done, do it yourself. She knew of Captain Lavin's history, and she was going to play the same game.

"Got an enemy flight trying to get on the six."

"There's just too many of them."

"Aiiyyaaaaa....."

"Come on people keep it together, you were born and bred for this." Came Riggs stern command voice, on a private channel he spoke to the Captain, "Sir, I don't know what you have planned but unless we break off soon their won't be a chance to do anything!"

Luke paused a moment to let the targeting computer lock onto to the bogee as it tried to squirm out of his cross hairs, the computer pulsed an alarm as the it locked on, he depressed the second stud and an Archer missle streaked away on a contrail of exhaust. It homed in on the evading fighter as it tried to slip away and detonated against the fighter's hull together they combusted in an flare of light against the void. Luke's eyes focused on the Battleship.

"Ok all Flights listen up. Eagles One, Two and Three begin attack runs on the Battleship, they don't know whether we got enough to sink 'em. Make 'em sweat. Focus on launch ramps don't let them get anymore fighters into space. The rest of Eagle Flight Four to Twelve is to fly cover for the rest of us, get anything in your cross hairs and chew it's ass off. When I ordered heavy payloads I didn't just mean ordance, under each seat is a combat carbine, a breaching charge and a flak jacket. Lance and Splinter Flights go evasive, while Eagles play rearguard. Make it look we're trying to run for the planet then divert for the Battleship, our weapons can't scratch it's armor but we're gonna scourge it from the inside out. Get below their minimal fire range and go spaceborne. Eagle Flight is to then provide cover for the Bill Clinton only, make sure they get home Eagle Flight. Everyone got it, good go!" Luke pulled back sharply on the joystick he rammed the throttle to full. The two engine pods on either side of his fighter glowed nova bright as the twenty some fights broke into corkscrews, jittering loops, and burned away evasively from those hounding them.

Eagles One, Two and Three flew in close to the ship streaking under the fighter screen in the utter confusion and craziness as the UPSS fighters appeared to have broken. An anti fighter battery caught Eagle Two blowing it away in a cloud of fire and vapor. The other two fighters streaked below the defenses and delivered their payloads pulling away and screaming towards the Light Frigate. The remainder of Eagle Flight fell upon the enemy fights with a wrath for each fighter that fell the Eagle took two or three with him or her. Lavin closed his heart against the screams and crys of his dying men.

Lance and Splinter Flight made runs for the atomosphere, pirates called on broad band channels taunting the soldiers, flinging curses at them and calling them cowards. As soon as the first fighter glowed red of passing into the planets atomosphere the two flight reformed into a double wedge and skipped off the planets atomosphere. Afterburners thrummed red as the fighters screamed away from the planet back into the fray. The ponderous Battle ship loomed closer. Anti Fighter fire became intense as the gunners slowly reacted to the renewed threat. Luke targeted one such turrent dumping a whole load of missles into it as his fighter shuddered from the impact of shells.

The battle ship was less than a kilometer away.

"Lance, Splinter Flights prep for EV."

Then it happened the fighter pilots ejected from their crafts sky rocketing upward into ballistic arcs onto the ships huge surface. In the silence of space the fighters detonated against the side of th ship. Mere flea bites compared to the massive behemoth. Luke hit the surface hard rolling along the ship's smooth metal plates and skipping along until he finally got a grip in a sensor groove. He caught another man's hand as he skipped off the surface. Another woman landed nimblely next to them. Nodding to each Luke pulled out his breeching charge and planted it on the view port. The eighteen some men and women that made it to the surface formed into fire teams of three and broke towards suitable breaching points.

The remant of Eagle Flight only five fighters shot away towards the limping light frigate Bill Clinton. Leaving behind in space a grave field of broken fighters, many more of them the debris of UPSS fighters than pirate fighters.

Captain Nikolic took sharp breaths as she gave stern glances to her crew. Each of the Srebro Pilots gave her a salute, rigid backs and helm under their arms. Her strides were slow, keeping her in their eye site for a while as she looked each one up and down. This was the team that would be sending those good for nothing space cowboys out on their way, or burning a hole through their skulls. Nikolic now stood before Srebro's captain, Marshal. He gave her a salute, ready for orders.

He hesitated, as if she had struck him when her expression changed to disgust. Her hand shot out, grabbing the collar of his suit as she pulled his face against hers. "You fucking mess this up like last time, Marshal, and you will have a personal punishment from myself. Do you hear me?" His green eyes were wide against her brown ones, and she could feel him trembling under her grasp. His hot breathing clashed with her own, and his heart beat raced ahead of hers.

"Alright, alright," he choked.

"Excuse me?" she clenched her jaw, giving him a glare as she awaited his reply.

"Yes, Captain Nikolic. Everything will go as planned, Captain Nikolic!"

"Good," she said at a whisper, releasing him to his duties. She turned her back to him, walking her way out of the hanger. "If anything happens to my ship, each one of you know what will happen."

"Yes, Captain Nikolic!"

"Don't fuck with me, team Srebro. Don't fuck this up."



Captain Nikolic traced the enemy's patterns through the monitor. It seemed that they were losing men fast, but so was she. A few low roars came from her own ship, the giant groaning under the attack. "Great...they've touched my ship." She switched on the smaller screen, catching the worried gleam in Karl's eyes. "Karl, send Srebro in now. Reaper is losing too much, and it looks like they are headed for the planet. Tell Hawk to take a step back, keep their position and cause a little damage from a distance. Make it look like a mess out there, Karl. I dont want them to be able to see where they are going." Another rumble came from the ship, and Nikolic cringed. "Hurry it up Karl, dammit."

He nodded. The attack was underway. Nikolic sat in her seat, staring off at the battle before her. The enemy was nearing the planet, but she caught a slight shift out of the corner of her eye. She froze up. Team Srebro departed, sweeping in like sharks as she felt her eyes grow larger. Fuck.

Shots fired from the enemy, picking off Srebro like sitting ducks. Nikolic threw her fist into the control panel, Karl flinching on the screen. "Karl! Send Hawk down now, the bastards just made a big mistake!"

The three black and gray figures scuttled along the hull outside the transparent window, a single pirate maybe slower than the rest gazed out the window at them perplexed but even he realized what was going on as Luke stuck the sticky side of the explosive brick against the thick transparent steel window. A miniscule red light winked at the pirates inside as they scrambled from the room. Then a brilliant neon blue light blinded everyone who wisely wasn't looking away as charge burned a hole in the hull of the ship. Several crew and objects were sucked out by the sudden vacum but the room quickly satbilized and the three commandos swung in threw the hole. Luke landed on the floor and acted quickly, using the lasers mounted on their's suits right arm the three man team cut a piece of the deck flooring away and sealed the breech in the hull by welding the metal over the hole. It wouldn't hold very long but enough to trick the blast doors into thinking there was an atomosphere in the room.

Luke walked towards the other two commandos working the door controls. They wore the black jump suits of Lance Flight, one anem tag read Florence the graceful women the other larger man Luke had saved his tag read, Diablo. He nodded to both of them he checked the two pirate corpses that were flash frozen by the harsh vacum of space. He pulled a stun grenade and a combat knife off one of them the other only held a wristcom he had been frozen in the act of shouting his last moments warning. Luke signaled for Florence to manually open the door. She pried off the wall's circuit panel and rearranged the wires until the computer that controlled the blast door was tricked into thinking the atomoshpere was stabel again. The massive door opened for them even as air whistled past them, the three of them slipped into the deserted corridor. The light were dark except for red emergancy lights that winked on off. Luke tapped his helmet once and the three of them switching their visors to light gathering mode, and the corridor lit up as bright as day.

The directions on the wall were in krylic still from the days of the old Soviet Empire, Luke frowned it took him a few seconds to translate the directions.

"Ok looks like were somewhere mid-ships. The bridge is foreward, egineering aft. But I don't want you two heading either of those directions they'll be heavily gaurded." Luke keyed the war interface for more information. Then closed the think. "Head here, the starboard weapons magazine. Don't go for the big the rail gun slugs are nothing more than big metal slugs. Here... they won't suspect you here. Put a charge in the back-up starfighter ordance locker, there'll be enough missles in there to do some damage if we can set a charge off. But I plan to end this peaceablely. Radio me once you get into position." Gunfire echoed farther down the corridor as other commandos engaged the pirates. Luke looked around frantically, then spotted a service ladder, he kicked the door open then motioned for the other two.

"Here go this way the locker is four levels up near the fighter launchs."

He closed the door panel after them and trotted further down the hall. He pressed himself into a nook in the corridor as several armed and armored pirated ran down a corridor heading left of him. He noticed they disappeared into a lift. He waited for the next one to arrive and listened as some officers spoke of heading towards the bride. He waited for the rail car to leave then opened the sliding doors and hopped onto the tracks. He pulled out a maghook gun from his belt and shot the back of the car. As the line realed him in he thuded against the metal carriage. He clung to the back of it as it sped towards the bridge.

"I," Nikolic paused, staring intently at Karl's features, "I am going to be hanging someone by the end of this trouble, Karl."

Karl snapped back into attention. His eyes worked around his monitors until he turned to look at his Captain. "Breach. They seem to be inside."

"Inside!" Nikolic calmed herself down, grasping the edge of the monitor screen. "How in bloody hell did they get inside my ship, Karl?"

"I-I don't know, Captain!" His voice was trembling, as if the grown man was ready to cry.

"Then you fix it! I want guards everywhere, now! Give them weapons to the teeth, Karl, and don't disappoint me, you got that? I want them weeded out, now!!"

"Yes, ma'am! The order is on the way now!"

Nikolic slammed her fist into the call off button, shutting the reception between her and Karl. She shoved the chair's back, sending it to twirl once around before coming to a rest. Nikolic set her hands on her hips, glancing about the room before she laid her eyes upon the door. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

Nikolic turned her back to the door, watching the main monitor as the space before her seemed to empty. Men and women were dying, but the battle wasn't over yet.

Luke crawled ever so slowly up the side of the rail car as it hurtled along at stomach clecnhing speeds. He lifted the air vent grate and tossed it behind him where it clattered against the rail but was lost in the background din of the ship. He set his jump suit to cling to his body like a second flesh for more mobility with the touch of a button on the data pad. He slid the visor up on his helmet, a man stood right below the vent. He slowly lowered his arms and with a flash locked his fingers around the mans throat and lifted him up off the floor.

"Do exactly as I say or your dead."

The man quickly nodded as his face turned a puce and purple color. Luke let him down on the balls of his feet and slid into the compartment. Keeping a firm grip around the man's breath passage barely letting him breath. Luke wrapped his other hand around the man's waist and held him close like a shield, the man shifted on his feet clearly uncomforatble.

Luke took the man's laser pistol from his belt and put in the man's hand.

"If you point it anywhere near me I'll rip out your throat." He growled into the man's ear letting a feral snarl slide forth from his throat. There was a small beeping as the bridge approached.

The lift finally slowed to a stop, the doors hissing open. Luke whispered in the man's ears. "Now shoot them."

Utter chaos broke out on the bridge as the man fired on the first person and Luke used his wrist laser to fire another. He pushed the man forward into the return fire and ducked behind a counsel near the door. He shot a tech at another counsel and croched for cover.

Screams shattered her stable mind as she turned her head quickly to the door that lead to the bridge. Horrid gasps for life, more screams, and now she even heard a thump at the door and a sickening slide down the metal.

Nikolic turned, her hand quickly gliding to her holster as she whipped the handgun out. It seemed they were inside her ship, and they were causing a lot of damage from the looks of it. Nikolic shuffled her feet forward, the white boots skimming the metal floor at each cross of her legs. She kept the gun at her side, her eyes peering through dark strands of hair.

The door was close by, and it had actually cracked open from the force of some idiot hitting repetitively at it. Nikolic formed enough energy, and then with one swift movement, kicked the metal door outward. It landed over the now dead idiot who had tried to throw it open. Nikolic took a step onto the door, crushing the man's form underneath her. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, bodies falling to the floor like sacks of mail. Nikolic rose her gun, turning to her left to see an enemy space cowboy holding one of her men and firing at her crew. Her crew member was firing as well, and Nikolic decided to show him she wasn't kidding when she issued orders.

Her gun was aimed, square at the man's head. One, two, squeezes of the trigger and he was clipped backwards, his body slumping in the enemy's arms as a large amount of blood pooled from the wounds. The bridge was emepty except for the two now, Nikolic giving this man a stern glance. Her eyes flickered when she noticed his features. It couldn't be....

Nikolic aimed her gun, firing one more bullet, letting it graze his shoulder, clipping him back a bit before she spoke across the large, now empty, bridge. "So, Captain Lavin, what the fuck are you doing in my ship?" She stepped off the metal door, noting the man underneath taking a gasping breath. With one downward motion of her boot, she snapped his neck and nudged him to the side, her eyes locked upon Captain Lavin.

His spine prickled as felt some one raise and gather energy, now who would know how to do that among this Goddess forsaken lot? Before he had time to react though the door on the farside of the bridge was literally kicked off it's hinges crushing some hapless pirate under it. But it was not what but who nearly shocked him out of action. A dark maimed, firery tempered, beauty raised her hand gun and shot the man infront of him he had been holding hostage his head exploding in a blast of bone and red ichor. With the confidence of a lioness she deliberately shot him in the shoulder grazzing him but tearing the suit and drawing a good deal of blood.

"So, Captain Lavin, what the fuck are you doing in my ship?"

Lavin rolled with the kinetic force of the bullet and performed a spin in the air as he dove backwards over a bridge counsel. He crouched and felt his wound, damn... He gave himself a second to let out a slow breath and released his personal pain to the cosmos. He looked once more back at the woman, double damn.

"Well, Captain Nikolic." He retorted, emphasizing her name, it had been a long long time since he had seen her but her shapely curves and almost pure Serbian feautres were burned into his brain as permanent as if she had branded them. "I'll be willing to talk about my current proffession, affairs, and philosophies over a hot cup of coffee provided your uncoditional surrender right about now. Now let's not delude ourselves, you know I'd like to see a peaceful end as much as you wouldn't, but a good number of my crew are on your ship two out of three of them still have a breeching charge. Not at my count that's twelve charges, how many bodies have your crew accounted for? Traveling the path of least harm for me right now, without your complete and uncoditional surrender would mean blasting every last one of us into the energy we came from."

Lavin was bluffing off his balls, if he was lucky the two that had been with him had made it to the weapons locker and he could really put all them two steps closers to the next life. He was gambling on the fact that no matter how much she liked her illicit lifestyle she had always valued her personal life much more. In the old days she had always run to him for protection when the people she cursed finally hexed her back.

Luke sent a laser beam sweeping across the room burning a path of destruction across the bridge and forcing her to take over as he accentuated his point.

"Well, Captain Nikolic." Nikolic set her free hand on her heart, giving a mock expression of hurt. "I'll be willing to talk about my current proffession, affairs, and philosophies over a hot cup of coffee provided your uncoditional surrender right about now. Now let's not delude ourselves, you know I'd like to see a peaceful end as much as you wouldn't, but a good number of my crew are on your ship two out of three of them still have a breeching charge. Not at my count that's twelve charges, how many bodies have your crew accounted for? Traveling the path of least harm for me right now, without your complete and uncoditional surrender would mean blasting every last one of us into the energy we came from." A laser shot through the air, frying everything in its path. Nikolic didn't so much as flinch as she stared at him. Ok, they would play his games.

Nikolic felt a laugh rise through her throat, echoing through the bridge as she stared at Lavin humorously. "You want me to give up?" She looked to the side, laughing until the laugh turned sour. "Oh, my, Captain Lavin, you seem to know what you are doing. But you forgot one thing," she held up her finger to her lips, bring a smile to them. "I dont go quietly."

Her arm swung from her side, a dead aim for his forehead. "Now, Captain Lavin, you pull everything off or your brains will join the blood at your feet." Her stern glance didn't faultier, but her thoughts were racing. The ship didn't matter. If it could be broken into so easily, it was wroth less. The crew didn't matter. If they could die so easily, fail so easily, they were nothing. A rather witty smile formed on her face a she stared into the blue eyes of Captain Lavin, "So, what do you say, Captain? I dont mind this thing blowing into tiny little pieces, you know. I'll do it myself."

Nikolic took slow steps, one over the other as the heels of her boots echoed clicks through the giant room. She neared Lavin, her breathing just as normal as ever. She loved this tension. It was evident in the way her eyes sparkled. She kept the gun as a threat to him until she was only a foot from his form, setting the nose of the gun to his chest as her face was only inches from his. "So, what do you say, Captain? Let a helpless woman go?"

"...So, what do you say, Captain? Let a helpless woman go?"

Luke gazed into her fiery eyes that sparkled with glee at the near palpable tension in the air, he stared back just as fiercely the energies flowing through both of them almost seemed to be intertwined, with a small pain he realized what had been missing most from his life, was her spark, the excitement, the thrill of not getting caught, the provactiveness. A slow dangerous smile crept onto his face as he pulled the pilot's helmet up off his head and tossed it on the ground revealing locks of blonded hair ill-kept covering the tops of his ears and sticking up at odd points, scruffiness he found kept most of the unwanted attention diverted from the opposite sex.

"No deal... but in the interest of peace, and only peace I will compromise. This ship is done for no matter what in a few more minutes reinforcement from the UPSS fleet will be here and there'll be no escape for you. How about this, you and me take one of the private yachts in the launch and talk this over like adults. Rather than children fighting." He tossed his laser to the floor and slowly gripped the barrel of her gun and forcing its aim towards the floor.

"How about it, might be like old times? I'm a better crew than all of these pukes you had on board this POS anyways." He allowed the corners of his lips to pull up ever so slightly but kept a firm gaze in his eyes his look was neither hard nor soft. Neither vengeful nor forgiving.

"No deal... but in the interest of peace, and only peace I will compromise. This ship is done for no matter what in a few more minutes reinforcement from the UPSS fleet will be here and there'll be no escape for you. How about this, you and me take one of the private yachts in the launch and talk this over like adults. Rather than children fighting."

He tossed his gun across the floor, the skids to follow stopping at a dead body. He grasped the nose of her gun, pulling it down so that it aimed at the ground. She felt her shoulders clench, and her jaw also as she tilted her head up to him, sliding hair out of her face from the motion.

"How about it, might be like old times? I'm a better crew than all of these pukes you had on board this POS anyways."

Nikolic stared this man down, her brown eyes locked upon his blue. What trick did he have up his sleeve? "Mr. Lavin, I'm not sure what you have up your sleeve, but it seems I have no other choice. But I'm warning you," she squeezed the trigger of her gun, a bullet tearing a hole through the floor near his left foot. "Don't fuck with me, Captain Lavin. I dont trust before it is proven, the first thing you should learn. Now get me out of here. Now, Captain Lavin." She kept her gaze within his, making sure she was standing at full height and that her lips were not upturned into even the slightest of smirks.

"Mr. Lavin, I'm not sure what you have up your sleeve, but it seems I have no other choice. But I'm warning you." Luke hardly flinched as she fired a hairs breath'd from his foot. "Don't fuck with me, Captain Lavin. I dont trust before it is proven, the first thing you should learn. Now get me out of here. Now, Captain Lavin."

"Then let's make our escape." He spoke and she stepped back enough he could step away from the counsel he was backed onto with out brushing against her cleavage. Following the door she had kicked down, Luke stepped into the long corridor following the blue band on the wall that lead to the launch bays. The corridors echoed as sailors fought commandos, at one point the brawl filled the corridors where Luke had to pause as the firefight made the corridor impassible. Focusing for a second Lavin took three deep breaths and flung a hand out each side creating two invisible barriers that reflected the laser blasts, the corridor was so choked with smoke that both sides barely noticed.

He grabbed Milla's arm and hurried through the intersection seconds after the barriers faded and blasts resumed flinging down each side of the corridor. At a lift tube they traversed two levels down and as it glided the metal shaft became a clear shaft as the entered the launch bay and say a vast fire fight going. It seemed reinforcements had boarded the battleship through the shield screens that seperated the space from atomosphere Luke could see two cruisers heading towards the battle ship, Marines were boarding the ship.

Ducking stray laser blasts Lavin lead Milla over towards one of the larger yachts a sleek shuttle with a rear ramp lowered. Climbing up the rear of the shuttle he lead Milla, the passenger cabin was redeocrated lavishly, with rich otomons, even a silky bed in the corner. Lavin shook his head thinking of pirate choices in decor before running into the cock pit.

He jammed himself into the pirate seat and called back to Milla, "Get up here and help me with this thing, you have the ignition codes?"