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“What is that?” Commander Giles said.
Captain Marlena stared at the screen and didn't see what her Commander was staring at. She turned to him, but his face was intensely looking at his own Holo-screen on his console.
She said, “Commander, what do you see?”
He peered at her. “Sorry, Captain, but you need to look at this.”
Her dad’s plan was working so far. She moved close to him and moved closer to look at his screen. Then she noticed what he was looking at. One of the large behemoth Vvong spaceships started to move and flank them.
“This is not good,” she said.
She knew this was going to happen if they started forward. Something appeared on the Commander’s screen. It was new instructions and coordinates. Yet, she didn't understand if this message was correct. The message said that her dad’s ship was going to intercept the behemoth ship with his own group of a squadron of fighters. They were still going to move toward their regular coordinates.
Captain Marlena understood what her dad was doing, and she was not going to stand for this.
She said, “Commander, open a channel to the flagship, Equinox.”
Captain Marlena didn't want to sound desperate, but she felt it when she spoke.
Commander Giles touched a few controls of his Holo-terminal and then said, “Go ahead.”
“Duke Grendel,” Captain Marlena said, “do you hear me?”
“Yes, Captain Marlena, I hear you. What do you need?” Duke Grendel said.
Captain Marlena watches as the Equinox turned toward the left and speeded toward the large enemy battleship. The smaller Vvong space crafts started to attach themselves to the Equinox’s shields.
She said, “Dad, what are you doing? You cannot take on all the Vvong ships by yourself.”
“Don’t worry, Captain Marlena. The Equinox is a tough ship.”
Marlena scanned the readout of the Equinox. The flagships’s shields were losing power fast. Then Duke Grendel's Black squadron fighters shot forward and started to clear a path through the enemies ships. Her ship and the others were moving toward the line of smaller Vvong ships. The enemies vessels surrounded them. Explosions shot from both sides of the Equinox.
Captain Marlena felt desperate and wanted to give the order to leave the confines of the fleet. She thought about her mom who was on board her dad’s ship.
Duke Grendel said, “Captain Marlena, General Romo is now the commander of the fleet. I want you to follow his orders.”
She turned to Commander Giles. “Is there anything we can do?”
Commander Giles was about to respond to her when General Romo’s voice came clear through her ship’s communication. “Captain Marlena, please stay on target. We are taking heavy losses.”
“Yes,” she said. Her mind was racing thinking of something to do. Nothing came to her mind and then she wished Lazarus and the Alpha mages were here. They could do something. Their combined power could destroy the Vvong ships. Then she thought about the Bastion and realized she understood what she could do. It could work and she needed another magic user to help her.
“Commander,” Captain Marlena said, “do we have the battle wizard from the Magical Conclave on board my ship?”
She already knew the answer.
“Yes,” Commander Giles said and looked at her with curiosity. “She’s on the bridge.”
Captain Marlena forgot the mage was onboard sitting only at the next terminal. She recalled that all Hive’s ships always had a representative on board. And they usually didn't do anything. She recalled the Magical Conclave representative on her dad’s former ship wanted to send her in jail before when she used her own magic.
“Yes, Captain Marlena,” the lady turned to her. She was young and Captain Marlena forgot her name.
“I need your help. This is going to be unorthodox but I need you to come to the ship’s hold,” Captain Marlena said.
She moved toward the ship’s elevator and waited for her. The mage nodded and came toward her.
“My name is Valeria. And I think I know what you want from me to do,” she said.
Captain Marlena thought she was going to get resistance from her, but things had changed since she became Captain and also the hero to the magical races. They rode the lift down to the ship’s hold.
Valeria turned to her. “I have read your exploits from your reports. Is it true that you helped the Alpha Mages on earth?”
Captain Marlena said, “Yes, Lazarus and the Alphas are considered my friends and I want to get to Earth and help them.”
The ship’s lift stopped and opened. They strode through the hallway. Crew members saluted her and Captain Marlena nodded to them. She instantly felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. She didn't like this, but she knew since she was a child she wanted to be a captain like her dad.
She led Valeria toward the Bastion that was in her storage.
Valeria said, “You are a strong mage and you want me to boost your power so you can send this Bastion over to the Behemoth Vvong ship.”
“Yes,” Captain Marlena said, “how did you know that?”
“Well, I don't have to read your mind. It was the only choice you had and judging by your reports you had done this before,” Valeria said.
“Well, to tell you the truth I only transported General Romo and a crew member onto my dad’s ship. I don't know about trying to teleport this large Bastion,” she said.
“I believe in you. Sorry, about Narlia trying to imprison,” Valeria said.
Marlena nodded. They stopped in front of the large round Bastion.
Valeria said, “Tell me when you are ready.”
