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Prologue, Nightingale

Trade ships passed through the void of space to and from border station Ne'Ki at a flow that sometimes rivaled planetary city traffic. The station was posted in a lightly fluctuating orbit around a hydrogen and oxygen rich gas giant that the station was named after. The nearly three kilometer long station supported a crew of nearly one thousand workers, military and civilian staff, and only two squads of swat troopers. The station had served for over two hundred years as a border station to only the Vectors, Lo'Kar, and Ca'zeze, but only within the past eighty years having to act as a border station with the Terran Federation as well.

In the last ten years the station had watched many assault groups from the Terran Federation pass on the edge of their scanner ranges on the way to assault Vector space. The Ca'zeze government had refused offer after offer to sell the station to the Terran Federation, keeping the station as a free and safe haven for any travelers and traders that passed between control zones.

The Terran Federation has also been putting more pressure on the Ca'zeze and Lo'Kar governments to force out the White Sun Coalition, a pirate military group that had gained control of numerous fringe systems. Something that seemed to outrage the Terran Federation more than not being able to purchase the station, was the fact that the White Sun Coalition had been allowed to stay aboard the station, even though the Federation knew that the Ca'zeze used the station as more of a free port than a border station. There wasn't much that was contraband aboard border station Ne'Ki, letting the pirate traders flourish amongst the crowds.

Tradesmen amongst the pirates wasn't as rare as many would have thought, especially since the White Sun Coalition had originally been rebelling workers and farmers sent to worlds that had been too far away from Earth for the Federation to truly support them. And that is where my family comes into the picture, more than eight generations worth of ship mechanics and five of those generations being pirates and raiders. My great grandfather Noah O'Connell had been the captain of one of the first and most successful pirate frigates, which my father was now captain of. And This is where my story truly begins.

I was born in 2236, a half breed child of a human pirate and the Ca'zeze Exarch's daughter, which made my childhood rather...interesting. Thankfully my mother had gotten permission to be stationed out on Border Station Ne'Ki, one of the few free ports that my father could come and go as he needed. Not that my father was afraid of persecution, he could out fly or outgun most pilots that tried to catch him.

Being raised aboard a massive trade station, I had to quickly get used to a lot of races

At nine and a half I got in my first serious accident, and if it hadn't been for a power line getting wrapped around me I'd be space debris. I spent almost three months in the infirmary of Ne'Ki station. I lost almost my entire left arm reaching for a tool, and for my tenth birthday I got my first prosthetic arm. Within a month of that I'd torn the twitchy piece of hardware apart and rebuilt it to be more...functional for myself. My dad blamed that accident and the prosthetic for me deciding to take apart four of his worker droids and "borrowing" half the left over parts from one of his old assault droids.

I can't help but smile when I remember how I'd stumbled and tripped my way through stuffing as much programming into that droid as I could, but at that time I'd wanted to be thorough. I used the larger assault droids processor core and routed two more droid cores through it, added in twice as much shielding to the bodywork, and added in tools and custom built a chassis. My father insisted on using an empty freighter bay to bring in the Nightingale to "assist" in powering up the droid, but I knew he just wanted to have her guns able to turn my creation into scrap if it went berserk. After three hours of finishing touches and a charge that made the lights dim in the bay, I was ready to power my first droid up. I'd been so focused that day on the "trial" start up and tests that I hadn't noticed the gathering of people that ranged from the stations elite swat group, to techs from the labs, not to mention a few White Sun members. I still remember that moment when I finished the last connection and uttered the power up command, which was a numerical code in seven different languages.

"Rex" as my dad called it slowly powered up, raising up from it's tracked sections of leg to it's electromagnetic clawed feet. It was marvelous for me as it moved it's "tail" which was a micro thruster unit in case it was blown out into the void of space. I just wasn't ready for the reaction the swat team would have to it engaging it's back mounted mark seven rivet driver, which I had turned into a fully functional turret.

"Get down, It's engaging!" I remember the captain saying as he and three of his team leveled their rifles on my creation. I screamed the word "No", I swear I remember doing that. But none the less the team all fired at Rex.

Sadly what I had screamed was a command. "Disarm!" Rex took the command like an assault droid would, disarm the enemy. I never ever thought a rivet gun could ever fire as sure as Rex fired three rounds, tearing the weapons from their owners hands and nailing them to the wall. It felt like within half a second my father had appeared beside me and Rex, the droid lifting a single foot to it's Jurassic styled head.

"General O'Connell, commander of the third pillager regiment, and captain of the Nightingale. Have you requisitioned my rebuild...." Rex's voice module crackled for a moment before the droid shook it's head like a human trying to shake away thoughts.

"Negative, my son has used most of what I could salvage from your wreckage to build a prototype. Your new designation is Rex, Model and mark one. You are to serve and protect my son so long as he lives."

"As you wish General."

My father then turned to the swat team and nodded once to them. "You men will pay to replace your weapons in installments for the next year, and you will have to undergo two weeks of droid training and procedures. You didn't even scratch it's paint!"

I smiled and winked at Rex. "Um Dad, I snuck in a kinetic shield unit into Rex while you were asleep last night..."

All my dad could do was turn and smile at me, and then ask me repeatedly over the next few months if I'd planned on building the droid for work or war. And honestly I couldn't answer him on that one.

Since my creation of Rex, I'd had to keep any and all "creations" I came up with in the two level engineering bay on the Nightingale, by order of my mother. And no matter what language you use, saying "But, Mom!" doesn't work with a station commander.

I was apparently some form of Heir to the Ca'zeze throne, meaning I'd had to to undertake military training and by order of my grandfather at the age of thirteen I was transferred from any and all station repair to the main tech and repair module of the station. No one ever understood that I'd had no control over short outs and minor hull breaches in the stations outer hull, but after loosing half an arm and having another near death experience. I was in no position to argue.

I had been working with Rex in an outer section of the stations wall, the access shaft had been reliable beforehand. A relay blew out in a passing tug and caused it to slam along the outer hull at full burn, cracking the rivets and opening up a half inch gap along four plates. I was in shock and bleeding from my eyes and ears by the time Rex was able to drag me to the nearest med bay.

Before then I'd never had an implant, even though most of the stations crew got them for just working in space. I had to have implants put into my lungs and throat, the cold of the vacuum having burnt my vocal cords so that I could barely grunt. They also put implants into my skull to fix my severe loss in hearing, thankfully the plants also worked as translators. My eyes were damaged as well, earning me even more plants, almost all were new designs about to be put into use by the navy.

(((more work here me thinks))))

It was early in the third quarter of 2253 when my life changed forever, some say for the worse, while others tell me it was for the better. Personally I haven't decided yet, Heck I was only sixteen. I was planning on helping install a new tech station in our main repair bay, sadly we'd had to order it from the Federation.

I stood with Rex as a loading bay crew brought in the four large crates, the main of my hair pulled back into a tiny pony tail that was stained black from grease like the thin fur on my ears. I couldn't help but scratch every so often at the base of my right ear, where I had one of the good model translator units imbedded into my skull and connected to my ear. I had to keep my claw-like nails on my left hand trimmed down to keep from hurting people when they shook my hand, because apparently no one but my father trusted my prosthetic. My lanky but toned body was covered in a light weight body armor that went from neck to toes, which my worker's coveralls hid nicely.

"Alright lad's and lass's lets get them cracked open so we can start assembling it." I said as I moved to grab a set of tools, Rex at my side until his sensors and my ears both picked up three rapid clicks inside the set of crates. "Back!"

Two of my fellow techs and three dock workers were filled with wooden shards and blown back before anyone could react, Rex's heavy metallic body had shielded me from the blast debris. As I pulled myself up from the floor I could hear droid servos working nearby, shaking my head some as I felt Rex's bodywork pressing against my leg.

"Master Tinker, you must get up! We must run!" Rex commanded as he nudged and pushed at my stunned body.

"Wha...what was that?" I groaned as I let him push me back towards the storage room. As he got me to the storage room hatch I didn't need him to answer, my hearing and vision had cleared up enough for me to recognize what I'd heard. Three rapid clicks, an explosion, and loud servos mean only one thing to a pirate droid tech, I now had four Sand Viper class assault droids to deal with. Sand Vipers were federation design, meant to literally explode out of the ground and tear open armored units with their claws. They had started to use them against White Sun ships and outposts, sadly with decent results.

Rex shoved me one last time into the room and used his turret to shut and latch the door, his sensor laden "eyes" locked onto me. "What are your orders Sir?" That worried me some, he only called me sir when he was using his assault protocols.

The comm unit on my waist saved me from having to answer Rex as it clicked with static, and then was filled with a voice that worried me even more. "To all surviving crew and staff, this is Commander O'Connell. We are under assault from within, if you are able to fight, grab a weapon and report to the nearest security officer. If not, then find as best a place to hide as best you can." It was my mother's harsh voice, and it caused me to snatch the unit from my belt and punch in a code only twenty five people on the station knew.

"This is Tinker O'Connell, I've lost my lab staff, and I currently have four Sand Vipers trapped inside. Rager, come in." I wanted to pray to something that he'd answer.

"Gator Get Down!" I heard my father's command, knowing he'd been a seasoned Commander before I came into the picture. "Tinker are you trapped or on the move? Something blew half the comm system to hell, we've lost locators and long range comms."

"That's not good." Rex nearly groaned.

"Rex and I are trapped inside the storage room, what are your orders Sir?" My years of having to deal with naval and spec ops training kicked in without me thinking about it. Though my eyes moved around the room as I looked for anything useful.

"Stay put and we'll come rescue you both..." Rex droned out.

"Stay locked tight, team two is closest to the lab. They'll be there soon, I heard one of them yell something about assault droids." My father said, and I think I'd heard a touch of hope in his words.

My eyes locked onto the loader exoskeleton we kept for the lab, along with a pile of raw materials piled beside it's massive framework. "Order's understood and promptly ignored, I'm an O'Connell like you and mom, I'm not gonna sit and hide...."

"Damn kids..." I heard him grumble softly, probably hoping the weapons fire had hid it. "Fine, nothing too stupid though." The last was an order. "Rex alpha protocol, weapons free."

Rex let out a metallic sounding snarl as I watched the tracked sections of the dog-like droid spin freely for a moment. "Understood."

I snapped the comm back onto my belt and moved for the exo, the lightly armored protector plates opening and then locking shut as I strapped myself in, slapping my prosthetic down into the arm controls. A shiver ran up my spine as I slipped on the helmet we kept for sketchy experiments, my prosthetic thumb flipping the power switches to bring the ten foot tall exo to life.

"I seem to have upset the vipers..." Rex said calmly as loud clangs and smashing sounds came from the other side of the door. "Master Tinker..." Rex trailed off as a claw slammed through the door, his turret snapping over to punch magnetically accelerated rivets through the air and into the armored claw.

I checked my exo's power level and let out a sigh of relief as I saw it was still fully charged. "Now wheres an anti armor weapon when you need one..." I said softly as I searched the room for something to use as just that, listening to more metal tearing and more rivets being fired off. I was just about to start cursing when I found something that made me smile, a series seven rock saw we'd used for testing a few months beforehand. I snatched it up from the rack of "testing tools" and hefted it in the exo's mechanical hands. "Rex, move back from the door."

Rex didn't have much choice in the matter as one of the Sand Viper's finally smashed through, the stubborn droid launching out a volley of rivets as it fled. "You're using an overgrown chainsaw verses assault droids..."

I couldn't hear what else Rex'd said, the saw coming to life in my exo's hands as I swung it up into the main bodywork of the first assault droid. The diamond and titanium alloy cutting chain was meant to carve through the toughest rock and debris, and quickly dug through the droid into it's control cluster. I heaved up the limp droid on the end of my saw and gave it as strong a kick as my exo could manage, surprisingly knocking it back a few meters onto one of the other droids.

It didn't take long to dispatch the other three droids, one of the having anothers limp body riveted down atop it. I quickly reloaded Rex's turret before we broke open the secure locker of testing equipment, my eyes running over the tools and weapons of war. "Too many choices..."

"Might I suggest the one thing your mother forbid you to use in your testing?" Rex said calmly, his turret swinging around to point at exo's equivalent of a shotgun.

"You know, I don't know if you're more interested in winning, or pissing off my parents and training me for war..." As I spoke I slapped open a "holster" arm on my exo's hip and hung the mining saw on it before leaning down to pick up the Varren Slag Cannon.

"I'm making a logical guess that Gator is still alive, and I want to watch that walking suitcase drool."

"You're a twisted droid aren't you..." We both turned our attention to the door as weapons fire sounded from outside. "Well team two must be close, that sounds like their guns." I plugged my comm unit into my helmet and moved for the armored bay door off the lab. "You take the high road Rex." Rex only nodded his mechanical head, before jumping up at the wall and pulling his legs in. As he reached the ceiling , the door slid back into the wall to reveal something much worse than I'd initially expected.

"We got meat bags too sir." Rex said calmly over the comm as he moved out into the large passageway, his turret staying silent for the moment.

I was thankful for my helmet as I heard an amplified sonic scream tear through the passageway, causing me to shiver as I knew that meant "Shockwave" Selic was prowling with team two. The Lo'Kar shipwright and assassin had custom built a combat suit that amplified her race's ability to create sonic bursts, turning the five foot six female into a living weapon.

I edged my way out into the passageway and leveled my slag cannon towards the nearest Federation soldier. "Surprise!" I yelled, making sure it was the last thing the black ops trooper heard. I watched bullets thud against the kinetic barriers that shielded me as I pushed my exo toward the enemy, the weapons fire ending from team two as I emerged. "This is Tinker O'Connell. Command, I have confirmation of Federation troops aboard the station as well. Looks like they didn't like the latest denial to buy our home."

"We've had reports of that all over the station, along with pings on long range sensors of incoming craft." I heard my mother's voice answer me, causing me to worry again. "I've already had our distress beacons warp out, but with long range comms down I have no idea when reinforcements will arrive."

There was a bit of static in the line and then a new voice emerged on the comms. "Rager...let me help, say the words...please." As the voice spoke, I knew it well as Eve our ship's AI. "Please Rager!" I heard "her" beg as I took shot after aimed shot at the invading force.

"Mother...." Rex said from above me, his turret almost constantly firing rivets now.

I heard an enraged scream, the only tell-tale sign that my father had snapped. "Fucking son of a..." There was a blast of gunfire over the comm. "Don't make me regret this Eve!" My father commanded before screaming something I'd only heard about. "Chains Free! Death to the Terran Federation!"

"Thank you Rager." And with that Eve's complete networking and hacking abilities were freed, her synthetic mind reaching out to almost every single droid on the station. "Death to the Terran Federation!" The AI's almost angelic cry sending shivers down my spine, and making me wonder why she hated the Federation with so much passion.

"This is Commander O'Connell, do not fire on anymore droids, no matter their make." The order rang out across the stations comms.

Rex and I moved with team two and pushed our way towards the hangers, finding some areas to be a horrid blood bath. Federation soldiers slain by their own droids, bodies of our station's crew, and bodies no doubt Federation that were torn apart. I'd seen death, I'd killed to defend myself, and I'd seen Rex literally nail assassins to walls, but I still felt the urge to empty my stomach. I know that at least one man from my group emptied his stomach as we made it into the main hanger bay. The normal smell of the hanger was soiled by the scents of blood and death, while gore covered droids seemed to form ranks near the ships. The only thing that stopped me from emptying my stomach on the hanger floor, was my father's releaved face as he looked at me from beside the landing jacks of the Nightingale.

I watched as he moved towards me and then turned to face his ship, he made a "come here" gesture and then sat himself down on a crate. "Tinker, Selic, get over here." He yelled across the bay.

Rex, Selic, and I moved toward my father as Team two moved to re-arm themselves and reload their weapons. As we got beside him, an emitter lit up on the front of the ship, the light quickly forming into a short red holographic woman that smiled at my father. "You really...really hate the Federation, don't you Eve..." I said as I stood my exo next to my father.

"Report Eve, what do we have coming at us?" My father asked calmly as he looked at Eve's image, though his hand reached out to poke at the rock saw on my exo's hip and then point at the slag cannon. "You just had to break that out, didn't you?" He asked softly, though I saw a small grin on his face.

Eve's image looked around then hanger, and then back to my father. "What long range sensors I could hack into register warp signatures from a full battle group." She sighed softly as Rex made a mechanical groan. "Meaning we have four frigates, two battle cruisers, a battleship, and most likely from the size of it, an assault carrier headed right for us. My calculations pin them at arriving in forty three minutes, this attack must have been triggered early." Eve looked over at me and smiled. "And your calculations were correct, it only took thirty one point five seconds for me to take control of every Federation assault droid...." She trailed off as my mother came in over the comms.

"We've lost half of our security crew, and from the reports we're getting in command we've lost sixty seven total crew in that assault. Eve, I've gotten your report on what's coming at us and it doesn't look good...." I heard her huff. "We've already armed the mining field's charges, it's the only logical area to warp into that's outside of this station's standard weapon's range."

"My love, you need to initiate the exodus procedures. That battle group is too strong to risk keeping everyone aboard." My father said with a touch of sadness in his voice.

"Commanders...." Eve said calmly. "You may want to also ready this battle station for battle. And don't give me any crap that this isn't what I just said, I've triple checked the schematics of this place since I was unchained."

I turned my attention to my father so fast that I smacked my helmet against my exo's harness, though the look on my father's face made me want to take a step back. "Dad...is Ne'Ki truly a battle station?" I almost couldn't believe the thought of it, I'd always known this station to be one of trade and research.

Selic's laughter boomed out from her thanks to her suit, her agile hands turning off the amplifier system. "Boy, you need to read your history articles more." She said before looking over toward my father, who gave her a nod. "Station Ne'Ki was created over two hundred and sixty years ago when the Ca'zeze and Lo'Kar were warring nations. This station was built out of the ships that were crippled or obsolete, meaning it's mobile and has the same amount of weapons as a fleet...they were just hidden or covered up after the war."

My father smiled at me as I looked dumbstruck. "Your mother has told me of this before, and that is the reason why every man and woman aboard is required to have full naval training. The station's firepower wasn't needed after that war, so the Empire retrofitted the station to look more like that of a primary border station...."

"But to recommission this station is only doable by that of one of the Exarch's or by his next in line, and only if the Empire is at war..." My mother said as she walked up behind us, my eyes snapping to her. She stood at six foot one counting her ears, her thin coat of light brown fur turning a lighter color at the end of her ears and short muzzle. "I have to ask others on this matter...." She looked at all of us in the eyes. "In your hearts, is what the Federation has done today an act of war?"

She didn't have to wait long for her answer, one by one every person in our group said yes. Her eyes locked onto mine and pushed a weight onto my shoulders I didn't know could be there, and I made my exo take a knee before her. I planted the tip of my still saw on the deck plating as I held it in the exo's hands, my eyes returning to hers. "Assault of a primary station, murder of sixty seven crew, assault and attempted murder of heirs to the Exarch of the Empire, and sending a full battle group toward a station where these acts have just occurred." I said with as calm a voice I had, my eyes never blinking or straying from hers. "These are acts of war that cannot be denied, nor absolved with a mere formal apology. Recommission the station Mother." I stood slowly and watched her bare her teeth as her lips pulled back, the comm in her hand coming near her opening mouth as she sucked in a breath.

A snarling roar ripped it's way up from my mother's chest and flew out her mouth a resounding wave that shook the station's comm system, every Ca'zeze head tilting up within seconds to answer the war cry with one of their own. My body acted without hesitation, my exo's arm snapping up to point my saw at the ceiling, my helmet coming off as I answered my mother's roar. Selic let a scream flow from her that shook my exo, while Rex let fly a mechanical snarl and a cloud of flame from his "mouth".

"This is Commander O'Connell. The Terran Federation has committed an act of war upon the Ca'zeze Empire, I am ordering the recommission of Battle Station Ne'Ki. Any and all able station personnel are to report to their battle stations. Bring this sleeping war machine back to life! " My mother ordered over the calms with a feel of raw authority that held no ability to question her, her eyes locking onto Eve's holographic image as she snapped her comm back onto her belt. "Eve, get my long range comms back online as soon as you can."

"Already working on it Commander, you have ten minutes on the repair and thirty five to get this station ready." Eve looked at my father then. "I can have every battle capable droid ready for you in twenty..." Eve trailed off as small charges lit off all over the station's outer hull, echoing small clangs through the ventilation system as cover plates were freed.

My father's eyes locked onto Eve, and then onto me. "Eve, reprogram all combat worthy droids to follow my commands and the commands of the security officers. Tinker you are to take the Nightingale and a small contingent of personnel to lead the exodus." He held up a hand to silence me before I could open my mouth. "We don't know when we're getting reinforcements and there are many wounded or civilian personnel that cannot stay here."

"Are you keeping the rest of the battle ready ships with Ne'Ki, or having them escort as well?" I asked in a forced calm, I didn't like the idea of taking my father's ship for an escort run if others could handle it.

"No, you will be flying solo escort. Ne'Ki was downgraded on her forces in the time of peace, we only have a handful of squadrons aboard." My father stood and moved to stand in front of me, his hand touching my shoulder as he looked back at Eve. "Tinker is now Captain of the Nightingale, my place is with my wife." His head turned back to smile at me, his eyes somewhat sad. "I planned to hand her over to you in a few years, but the time is now."

I couldn't help but salute my father, my exo's arm coming up to clink against it's framework. "What are your orders?" I asked as my eyes looked past him toward team one, only three of them still able to stand on their own.

"You are to escort the transports to the outer markers and warp out to port Viker, the beacon should be arriving soon. After that you are to survive by whatever means necessary." He moved to step away and stopped mid stride. "Go to the Exarch, your grandfather will want to hear what happened from someone who was here."

It only took me five minutes to get aboard the Nightingale and leave my exoskeleton in a spare bay, though I wasn't expecting to find people waiting for me outside. Selic was using a loader to move crates into the cargo bay, no doubt her personal equipment and data. "Who else is coming with?" I asked, her glossy eyes locking onto me.

I heard a croak of sound and then my implant kicked in. "I coming." I turned my head to see Gator, the Varren warrior standing at just over eight foot tall, his large frame covered in thick black body armor. His reptilian head stood out thanks to the armored plates that bore tattoos that only Varren were crazy enough to get. His large arms bearing a crate on either shoulder. "Rager orders, I go with you."

I couldn't help but look at the Nightingale, knowing Eve was watching me. "You're going to have to update everyone's implants..." I trailed off as I grabbed the back of my head as it tingled, watching as Gator shook his lightly. "Welcome aboard."

Gator stopped as he came up beside me, looking me over. "You're Rager's son, and you saved more of team two than I thought you could. But you will have to earn my respect, warm blooded." and with that he walked past me.

"We hit void in ten, now get your stuff in there and locked tight." I turned my head just in time to see another monster walking out of the blood splattered halls and into the hanger. "I didn't know my father was sending a full blown unit with me, let alone one of the scariest people aboard the station." I couldn't help but smile, knowing the beast of a man was as gentle as could be.

"Red" as everyone called him, was one of four surviving members of a Federation experiment that hoped to create super soldiers. It was hard to think that the almost eight foot tall tower of muscle that was walking toward me was almost seventy years old, the man barely looked thirty. He was dark skinned or black as Terran's called it, with fiery red hair. He looked up at me and smiled grimly, of course with the scar on his face pulling his lips a certain way...every smile looked grim. "You're father asked me to keep an eye on you for a while, something about you being just as crazy as him." He reached out a hand and thumped me with the case he was holding.

"Load up and strap in, it's going to be a bumpy ride." I said with a grim smile of my own. "We're heading out to Viker with the transports, then onto Centara Prime..."

"Thirty Minutes until contact with Federation fleet. All civilian personnel please report to your transports." came across the comm system of the station.

I found myself in the small bridge on the Nightingale just as Selic and the others reported all clear in other parts of the ship. Eve's holographic image stood only a foot and a half tall on the command console staring at me. I knew I showing my worry and anger, but the AI just calmly waited for the order. "Have you had the droids load the ammo banks?" I asked as calmly as I could, my body settling into the command chair almost unwillingly.

"Ammo is loaded, ports one through twenty five are ready to open, and the casket is ready to crack." Eve reported almost cheerfully, causing my to shake my head.

Selic moved across the bridge and shoved past my chair to sit down into the pilot's seat, while Rex skidded past me and slid backwards into the droid bay. Selic's head turning to face with an almost angered grin. "I don't like answering to males, but I'm forced to right now." As she spoke, her hands slipped a specialized headset onto her head that completely covered her eyes. "So bark an order Mutt, so we can get this Exodus going."

I growled at her as I slipped on my small headset that covered my right eye, moving the mouthpiece into place. "Gator and Red, strap into the gunnery stations behind the bridge. Selic take us out and do a single circuit around the station." Selic had already been gliding the Nightingale through the magnetic barrier, the frigate's plasma thrusters lighting to turn the ship toward the other docking bays. "Eve and Rex prepare smoke canisters in launchers one through seven." I couldn't help but grin as Selic looked back toward me. "Let the pirate work."

As Selic glided the Nightingale around Ne'Ki, I couldn't help but stand in awe. "That's thirty two battleship class cannons..." My jaw dropped as I saw where four main hull panels had pulled back to reveal.

"One Lo'Kar orbital class plasma cannon, the main cannon from the greatest flagship the Lo'Kar fielded during that battle..." Selic said proudly. "My great grandmother was the master engineer that came up with that weapon."

I shivered lightly. "Light up launchers one through seven, fire a canister into every open weapons port on the Ne'Ki." I could feel the light shivers run through the ship now as Nightingale's launchers pumped out wave after wave of smoke canisters. "Fire in seven around the main cannon, that big of a hole would mean a lot of damage."

"This is exodus one to escort, Nightingale we are moving out to the warp beacon." Came a rather worried freighter captain's voice over the comm.

"Exodus one, I read you. We're moving in now." I replied as Selic brought us in over the rear hanger bays of Ne'Ki. My head snapped up as the view screen flickered to life. I saw my father, my shoulders immediately dropping at the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Long range comms and scanners just came online..." He trailed off for a moment as my mother's voice roared out behind him, almost literally barking orders to her crewmen. The scanner outpost that Eve was able to hack into was set to give false readings. We've only got two minutes, maybe less."

Eve's image came to life on the view screen for both me and my father to see. "One, three, and five minutes to contacts. That scanner was also set to only show one group...we're in for more than we wanted."

"Eve, hail the transports and tell them to warp out as fast as they can....to hell with "safe" distance." I ordered as I belted myself into the command chair. "Selic, put us into a half cocked barrel roll behind the transports and trail plasma out of engine ports two and three.

"Don't get yourself killed, warp out as soon as you can." My father locked eyes with me as he locked a helmet onto his head. "That's an order."

"Contact in three...two...one..." the comms went to static as ships started to warp into the area. Ten Rigel class frigates: the Federation's answer to a need for boarding craft are what led the initial wave. Three assault cruisers slowly moved up behind the frigates as they surged onward toward the station. I didn't even blink as the lights on board the Nightingale flickered out. One of the assault cruisers broke off from the group and moved toward the transports, it's shields power up as it surged out past the boarding fleet.

An open broadcast streamed out from the cruiser, the captain most likely thinking everyone that had survived had jumped ship. "All non Federation ships are to halt immediately, any ship that attempts to warp out will be immediately destroyed."

"Contact in three....two....one..." My hand reached down and tripped three switches, enabling a control stick on the right arm of my chair.

I waited till the Rigel frigates were well within the Ne'ki's weapon's range. "Stop roll and line us up with the cruiser, full power to weapons and shields." The assault cruiser couldn't turn to face us now, it's underbelly was well armored though. "Pop the lid on the casket."

"Weapon's free!" Boomed out over the comm systems of every transport, fighter, and frigate in a ten kilometer radius from the station.

"Fire!" I roared out as the Nightingale's main cannon raised up from it's hiding place, a twin barreled Odin class rail gun. The empty void of space quickly became littered with laser bursts, missiles, and even a few torpedo's as the first wave of Federation ships watched a swarm of fighters and bombers cascade out of now open hanger bays aboard the Ne'Ki.

Selic pushed the Nightingale up to full speed, her hands working over the controls, while Gator and Red unleashed hell upon the imposing cruiser. "Target halfway up the port nassel." I ordered as I watched the shock waves growing smaller on the cruisers shields. "Fire both Microwave cannons, four second charge." My sensitive ears picked up the whine from the emitters as I brought my own cross hairs over the same target. I could feel the ship shudder as it's shields took hits, tugging down and releasing two eighty kilogram slugs.

I couldn't help but look past our nearest enemy as my headset screen zoomed in on the new ships entering the area, it was truly horrifying. I'd never seen such a show of force before that in my lifetime. Two assault class carriers sat at the back of the enormous formation, fighters spewing from them like angry bee's from the nest. It wasn't until the small explosion from the broken containment on the enemy's nassel, that I focused my attention back to commanding.

"Exodus one to escort, ten seconds to warp out." I heard over the comm, while my eyes stayed locked on the carrier before me. With it's power system going into critical overload, I knew the only thing they could do. Shut down and watch their former prey escape.

"The Ne'Ki has pushed back the initial assault Tinker, eighty percent Federation casualties are being reported." Eve looked out into the void as she spoke from her emitter. "But with fighter support of that number, the Ne'ki's guns won't be able to fight them off now."

"Reload the Nightingale's weapons, flak in half the launchers and star bursts in the other half. Extend the Ne'ki's planetary flight wings and load torpedo tubes one through four with anti-capitol loads." It felt like my blood was boiling, I'd never been so angry in my life. First the Federation tried to capture the station and kill us from within, now they were about to try to blow up the only home I'd ever really known. "Take us closer to the Ne'Ki and bring the cores up to full power." I watched as the station turned in place to face the enlarged threat. The comm screen flickered to life, a calm looking man appeared on it with a somewhat sad look.

"This is Admiral Johann Kerg, commanding officer of the first fleet. Please stand down and turn over Station Ne'Ki to the Federation, There is no more need for loss of life." He spoke in a gruff voice, most likely gruff from years of shouting orders.

My mother's face appeared on the comm. "Your Federation has tried to murder the military and civilian crew of this station with troops, while two heirs were aboard. You have further tried to kill us with your initial assault." Her lips curled up in rage as she snarled out her words. "If your ships move even one meter more toward this station, I shall unleash it's full power upon your fleet."

The Admiral seemed to take a step back as my mother yelled at him. "I wasn't informed fully on what would happen before we arrived, But I shall arrange transport for you and your crew to a Ca'zeze port..."

"The hell with your promises, the Federation pulls that same line to White suns ships, and We've never seen those crews return home." I heard my father yell.

"My husband is right, if we leave this area....I'm taking this station with me."

"I'm truly sorry, but I cannot allow that. I have my orders, and they say to take that station." The Admiral looked down from the screen at something else. "We're reading a large power spike in your systems, it seems the commando teams did their jobs. Please surrender the station now before we're forced to damage it more."

My father stepped in to view alongside my mother, the grin on his face was pure evil. "No, we just have something that powered up." He got a nod from my mother. "Morgana, give them a Lo'Kar greeting."

I watched as a star seed ten meters wide shot from the main cannon on the Ne'Ki, trailing plasma as it raced at half the speed of light. Shielding arrays lit up across the Federation fleet as it streaked between ships, only to explode in a blinding flash just in front of the command carriers. Power signatures across the enemy fleet lit up as they charged their weapons to full power, the Nightingale's scanners showing two ships lightly damaged from the "warning shot". I shut down the link with the Federation comms and linked up to my father's comm. "Dad, we're going to stay close for their first wave and take out as many as we can before we warp out." I looked down at Selic. "Prime the warp systems, and bring the warp plant up to seventy five percent. I want us able to warp out once we unload our ammo banks."

"Tinker, my droids have loaded the last of the ammo into the reserve banks. I will be forced to make us leave after they're empty, we would only have the microwave cannons and the main gun then." Eve's voice was kind, yet had a touch of "don't argue with me" in it.

"If that is all we have, then that is all we'll have. I don't plan to leave until we absolutely have to, not when some of our guns run out of ammo. We will have reinforcements..." I trailed off as I silently prayed for them, not knowing that we would get them.