Reluctantly accepting her role, Sherry flew back to Carkul Station, bought as much antimatter as she could carry, and quickly jumped into hyperspace.

For the next two hours, she sat there, hugging the plush toy she had received from Susannah as she silently waited for the countdown to reach zero. Despite travelling significantly faster than the speed of light, the trip was still two hours.

Two long, lonely hours.

She tried her best to hold onto positive thoughts.

Her friends were experienced pilots, and they have done plenty of raids against Termite Hives in the past. Both their ships and their personal skills was good enough that they should be able to hold back the Sigma Drones.

But at the same time, the risk of death was real here, unlike in Stella Nova. Sherry couldn't help but worry if something went wrong. And the guilt that she wasn't there to help scared her even though she well knew that her Valkyrie was unsuited for this sort of engagement. Not only was her ship slow, but its shields and hull were comparatively weak, and her weapons were hard to use against numerous small targets. What she was doing was their best chance at surviving as well as beating the mission.

Even still...even still, the newly reborn girl wanted to evacuate her stomach with all the stress that was piling up.

But instead, she simply squeezed harder on the toy owl as she took in its scent, thinking nothing but about her friends.

And after those two long hours ended, Sherry quickly zoomed into the Blue Steel's hanger bay and roughly docked after banging her landing gear hard on the deck.

"Command AI!"

The girl practically screamed into her comms as she jumped out of her pilot's seat.

"Yes Captain?"

A steady voice came clear through.

"Unload my ship, and drain the fuel tanks. And prepare to jump immediately!"

"Understood. The target coordinates?"

"Oh, umm...this. This is it!"

Sherry quickly went through her ship's logs from her wrist terminal and brought up the location of where everyone was fighting.

"Understood. Preparing to jump."

"Oh, and ready the Noisy Cricket! Load it with fuel and ammo!"

"Understood."

Despite the jumbled and rushed instructions, the ship's onboard AI had no issue complying and comply responding as the girl rushed around.

"Caution. Hyperspace jump is ready."

The moment Sherry strapped in to a different ship, she got the news she was waiting for.

"Got it. Initiate jump!"

"Understood. Jump initiating. Countdown. T minus thirty seconds."

Sherry further tightened her restraints and she started up her new ship's systems, confirming the important bits regarding it while the Command AI calmly counted down.

"Three. Two. One. Initiating hyperspace jump."

And with a sickening lurch as she felt like she was suddenly occupying three places at the same time, the carrier Blue Steel disappeared from deep space.

 

Back at Carkul Five.

"Got you!"

Roaring in his cockpit, Kelly squeezed his trigger, neutrons annihilated in an arc in front of him as a pair of Sigma Drones half evaporated.

"Go! Get your shields recharged!"

"Th, thanks!"

The other pilot, now free from the drones that was chasing it, focuses on gaining distance from the Sigma Hive so he could restore his shields and return to the fight.

"Help! Help! I've got five on my tail!"

"Fuck. This is crazy."

Hearing another call for help, Kelly turned his ship and zoomed to help another pilot in trouble. Over the last while, he had hardly pulled back his throttle, almost entirely relying on using system energy to adjust his speed as he worked as the top firefighter ever since Sherry was sent back.

But ever since then, the battle had gone completely crazy. The mishmash of ships and pilot skill on top of just plain being an uncoordinated group without a proper procedure to bind their tactics together. This raid had turned into one giant clusterfuck with the three remaining members of Section Nine doing everything they could to keep the threat contained.

"Jetflame! Stellar Scream! Fall back to these coordinates!"

"Ah, 'kay!"

"Got it!"

Hawkins adjusted his position, manoeuvring almost entirely through his secondary thrusters. Meeting the nose of his ship with the flight path of the ones he called out to, Hawkins quickly targeted the Sigma Drones that chased after the pair. The moment they came in range, he fired off his particle accelerators, slicing through the automated ships one after the next. Close to a dozen ships fell tumbling.

"Take a short break and recharge you systems. Once you're ready, go and reinforce this position."

"Alright!"

"Will do!"

Hawkins gave his next set of instructions before turning the nose of his ship once again. His particle accelerators flared up again, spitting beams of charged particles through space and lanced through a few lone drones, cleaning up the battlefield and making his sensor readout more legible.

"Susannah, how are you doing? Can you make it?"

Susannah continued to pepper the hive with her gauss cannon, cycling through her limited ammo. Even though what they needed most was to reduce the number of drones coming out of the hive, a gauss cannon was quite the large weapon for a ship that was operated only by one person. Due to that, there was a severe limit to how much ammunition could be stored internally, though it wasn't nearly as bad as for torpedoes or even missiles. And that limited ammo reserve was split between the various types of ammo loaded onboard.

Fortunately, the generally most useful ammo was prioritized as the standard load out. Half were canister rounds, a third penetrators rounds, with the remaining few being tumbler rounds.

But no matter how much she tried to optimize her ammunition, there was a limit to what she could do when the raid ended up getting extended the way it was.

Susannah carefully watched her sensor readout as the blips wandered around. Red clouds swarming here and there chasing after individual green dots. A single blue dot flitted here and there, puffs of red blinking out wherever it went. Another blue dot drifted around, reinforcing green dots where needed.

"I think so, but I'm almost out of ammo."

Despite pacing herself and doing her best to preserve her ammo, the long raid had almost completely drained her reserves. Soon, she wouldn't be able help cut down future waves as they exited the hive.

And just as she said that, the pilot spotted the readings of another wave of Sigma Drones as they were exiting out to the void of space. Nervously looking at the readout of her ammo reserves, Susannah gulped before pulling the trigger, a squat telephone pole flickered through space at superliminal speeds before flowering up, expelling its contents. The canister round gave off flashes of white as the metallic pellets vaporized upon contact and the space was one again filled with more debris.

But despite that, some of the drones still managed to get through. But dealing with those was the duty of the other.

"Crimson Magnum, Field Cracker, how's your ammo look?"

Susannah contacted the two ships that were filling the gap in between her volleys.

"I'm gonna run dry soon."

"Same. Only got a little spunk left!"

She grimaced as the unfavourable answers came back.

A glance at her clock told her they still needed to hold the line for a little while longer. Even with their best estimates, Sherry would take a little more time to return.

"Are you sure this is going to work Hawkins?"

Susannah's unease was growing by the minute. Half a dozen ships were hiding in the shadow of her White Star's bulk, taking advantage of the refuge to recharge their systems. The CIWS mounts flaring out once in a while whenever a Sigma Drone got past their defensive field of fire.

They were gambling it all on Sherry being able to turn things around completely. And while they would've had no doubt that it would've been sufficient in Stella Nova, this wasn't a game where things were deliberately balanced for the players' enjoyment.

Originally the four of them had expected this being a beginner level raid, something that could've easily been finished with the composition they had, even if a few of the pilots were flying worryingly underequipped ships.

There was even one pilot that had obviously fallen into the newbie trap that was common amongst all space sims: players purchasing a bigger ship without making sure that they had enough money left over to upgrade some of the new ship's modules.

Just watching how sluggishly the ship flew and how little it could fight before having to return to recharge its systems was quite telling that it only had the base modules equipped.

It was a the sort of thing that was little depressing to see in Stella Nova, but most people didn't worry too much about, as it was only a game. But here, where your life was on the line, it was frankly pretty alarming.

But none of them had the leeway to worry so much about this pilot and his future prospects. They could only do their best to make sure that nobody died in the immediate future.

"Nothing is for sure. This isn't a game. But I still think this is our best bet."

Hawkins gritted his teeth. They were sliding closer to the knife's edge.

People were getting exhausted, ammunition was running out, and everyone's ships' accumulated damage was getting dangerously high.

It was only a matter of time before someone got killed.

*Click!*

Susannah pulled her trigger, yet nothing happened.

Nothing, but red warning letters flashing on her screen, the ones she dreaded most.

[No Ammo]

"I'm out! I'm dry!"

She practically screamed out into her comms. The dreaded words that sent a chill through everyone's' hearts. The heaviest hitter of the entire group, now empty of its primary weapon, the thing that was keeping everything manageable.

Did someone miscalculate? Was it panic? Were they just wrong somewhere?

They didn't know. All they knew was that this fresh wave of Sigma Drones wasn't going to be whittled down by the gauss cannon before reaching the blockade.

"Fuck this all to hell!"

Some ships, fearing that the mission was a failure started to back off. That was, until a series of long bursts of fire from the two rail gun platforms managed to make a serious dent in the latest wave.

"Just hold out! Hold out a little longer! Reinforcements will be here, and then the hive'll be cracked in two!"

Seeing that things weren't already lost, together with Hawkins' words of encouragement, the mercenary pilots managed to regroup themselves and continued the fight.

"Sorry ma'am, but I'm almost out too."

"Same here. Another wave or two and I'll be empty."

Thanks to the larger ammunition reserves that the smaller rail guns provided, the two pilots of the rail gun platforms were still able to cut down the drone numbers before they were engaged with the other ships. But with them having fired such larger volleys up to this point, it was clear that this wasn't going to continue for much longer.

(Sherry, I hope you'll get here soon!)

Despite actively eschewing religion due to her family trying to forcibly push their beliefs that denied her body's instincts, she couldn't help but pray. Pray that salvation would come.

While the three members of Section Nine themselves weren't in serious danger, even if they got swarmed by the Sigma Drones, they could've survived long enough to escape. The same couldn't be said for most of the other participants in this raid. And none of them wanted to witness the death of another pilot.

With her gauss cannon being out of ammo, Susannah edged her ship forward to help engage the surviving drones. With the larger numbers that everyone had to deal with, it was even more important that she take on as much of the burden as she could bear.

Her CIWS ceaselessly flickered, lasers being fired into the void, stinging the automated ships over and over every time they came within range until their hulls melted and internal systems were fried.

Every time clusters of drones congregated within range, she targeted the groups and let loose swarms of little missiles, throwing chaos into the mix despite her limited missile reserves being quickly depleted.

Hawkins diverted all excess system energy to his weapons, both to keep them powered and to help their coolant systems keep them from overheating as he sent lance after lance of charged particles in a near continuous barrages.

Kelly, giving up trying to properly clean up the straggling drones, dove right into entire swarms, burning what he could in quick volleys of his neutron blasters in alternating fire while taking advantage of his speed to use himself as bait to draw the remnants of the swarms away from the slower ships.

The battlefield was turning into the epitome of the term controlled chaos. But as the fighting grew more and more desperate, the control part of the term was slowly disappearing, and everyone could feel it.

Suddenly, a large energy signature appeared on everyone's sensors.

"Reinforcements!"

"But...this energy signature's really big. Is that a portable hive coming in?!"

Wild speculation or not, those words were enough to spread panic across the entire fleet. The formation was crumbling as ships broke off and started to flee.

"Wait! That's not enemy reinforcements!"

Hawkins desperately tried to call out as a pinprick of the deepest of darkness appeared in space, slowly growing and consuming all light as something large was tearing its way out of hyperspace. Lightning cracked around its surface, practically daring anything to try approaching.

But try as he might, the other pilots didn't listen and fled, trying to make enough space between themselves and the drones chasing after them so that they can charge up supercruise with reduced interference from the mass of the chasing enemies.

The hyper engines, used for both hyper jumps and supercruise, were effected by nearby sources of mass, slowing the systems ability to warp space and allow superliminal travel. Common sense dictated that the best way to jump quickly was to get away from mass sources, especially large ones, before activating a hyper engine.

But before any of the pilots managed to escape into supercruise, the tear in the void had finished expanding, and with a finale extra large ripple of electricity, the pitch black sphere vanished as if it had never existed. What floated there in its place, was a long and sleek ship, far larger than any other in the combat zone.

"Is, is that a Lindwyrm class?!"

"Then, that means it's an ally?!"

Realizing the possibility that their luck had instead turned, many ships turned instead from running away to flying towards the massive support ship.

And as the numerous Sigma Drones entered the carrier's range, its many defensive weapons lit up. Countless lines of concentrated light flickered in space as repeated strikes burned out the drones' shields and bore holes through their hull.

In practically an instant, the tables had turned. With such a powerful focus for defence, the pilots could feel some confidence again.

Moments later, a single ship zoomed out of one of the hanger bays. Painted reflective gold with black streaks, the ship was quite eye catching, though partically for a reason that few would consider flattering.

"Did a pigeon just come out of that Lindwyrm?!"

"Seriously? Our reinforcements is using a pigeon?"

The members of Section Nine could only put on a wry grin. They could entirely understand what the other pilots were saying about what they saw. On the other hand, they understood why the pilot had chosen that ship to launch in.

"This is the Noisy Cricket! All ships, if you're being chased by Sigma Drones, come to the Blue Steel! We'll wipe your asses for you!"

A light voice rang out clear as day through the comms as the little wedge shaped ship zoomed towards the closest group of ships being assaulted by an ever growing number of Sigma Drones.

While the other pilots could accept that this pigeon wasn't a very typical example of its ship class, they found it difficult to believe that such a ship could make a difference in this battle.

Those pilots, soon found themselves having to pick their jaws off the floor of their cockpits.

Large flames roared from the pair of cannons mounted on the Noisy Cricket, large calibre shells flew through space and accurately exploded against a Sigma Drone, instantly turning the automated ship into scrap metal. And it wasn't just once or twice.

The little ship fired off artillery grade shells in pairs over and over. Between the cannons' gimbled automatic articulation and good timing by the pilot, the shells continuously found their mark, quickly sending dozens of drones tumbling away.

All the pilots in this battlefield were made to witness the power of a ship upgraded and customized to its limits. That even the lowly pigeon could be made into a formidable fighter with the right hardware and a good pilot.

All the while, the ship weaved almost effortlessly between the poorly aimed laser beams and gatling cannon bullets when the drones changed their targets to the one that was actually firing back at them.

And in only a few minutes, the battlefield was mostly cleaned up. Between the intense fire from the Blue Steel's many defensive turrets and the aggressive fire from the members of Section Nine adding their own firepower to quench the flames that were nipping at the other pilots heels, they managed to buy themselves a short while of respite before the next wave would be launched from the Sigma Hive.

"Blue Steel! Prepare firing primary weapon on my target!"

Sherry turned the little Noisy Cricket towards the Sigma Hive, still embedded in the side of the small moon.

"Preparing to fire Captain."

The AI onboard the Blue Steel followed the pilot's instructions. The 1.2km long ship slowly turned its bow towards the moon while the end of the Lindwyrm class carrier opened up, revealing the barrel of the installed mass driver.

Lindwyrm class ships were capable of having a single special module installed on them. This special module was capable of drastically changing the carrier's mission profile. From giant mining lasers for breaking apart asteroids to magnetic catapults that launch onboard ships quickly, these ships were capable of performing a wide variety of tasks, though always in more support roles.

And on the Blue Steel, a mass driver was installed in the main external customizable slot. This mass driver was one of the few weapons that a player owned carrier could have installed, all of which could only be used in a support role akin to heavy artillery. Operating under the similar basic principals as the gauss cannon installed on Susannah's White Star, the Blue Steel's version was simply a scaled up version.

A capital class mass driver, it was a weapon that could be called a planet cracker. While not literally a weapon that could break apart a planet, it was one that could shatter an asteroid, and would typically destroy all but the toughest ships in a single blow. If it hit.

Just like the smaller gauss cannon, the capital class mass driver's ammunition took time to reach its target. And a weapon of its size, on such a slow moving platform like a carrier, was forced to be fired from a longer distance. Even though it could fire its massive rounds at a greater speed, the increase in optimal firing range for the protection of the platform it was mounted on, meant that it had a significantly lower accuracy against moving targets. Anything that tried to evade the shot typically could, even if it started evasive maneuvers after firing. Especially targets that would be worth firing against.

But while the solution is usually to close the distance to reduce the time before impact, targets worth using such a weapon against could generally shoot back with weapons powerful enough to be a threat to your capital ship. So you'd want to fire from outside of their range, but doing so lowered the weapon's accuracy close to zero, hence one had to be careful when and how to use such a weapon.

But this target wasn't capable of evading anything. It was the ideal target of the Blue Steel's mass driver.

After a few excruciating minutes involving the reengagement with a new wave of Sigma drones, the slow moving Lindwyrm class carrier finally reoriented itself and pointed its sharp nose towards the Sigma Hive hidden in a crater of the small moon orbiting Carkul Five.

"Target locked. Mass driver powered up, safeties disengaged. Ready to fire."

The command AI onboard the Blue Steel dispassionately gave its report. But despite the lack of emotion in the words, they still filled everyone with hope and courage.

"Fire!"

"Firing."

The lights on the carrier flickered for a moment as a massive surge of energy funnelled through the subsystems. Thrusters readying to counter the recoil, electromagnetic shields absorbing excess energies given off by the weapon, structural field generators charging up to absorb the immense stress formed from firing the weapon.

A hardened projectile larger than even a telephone pole flew through space at a twentieth of the speed of light. And in less than a second, a flash of light appeared on the lunar surface before being completely obscured as a cloud of rock and dust was thrust out from the impact.

Dead silence filled the comms as everyone was awed by the spectacle.

Even the members of Section Nine were amazed, seeing the effects of the weapon in person for the first time.

Due to the low gravity on the moon, the dust cloud continued to rise up and out as the crater eventually revealed itself.

"Target destruction confirmed."

The command AI's cold and flat tone shook the pilots back into awareness.

"Wooo!"

"It did it!"

"That damn hive's dead!"

Cheers erupted all around even as the last few Sigma Drones were still being taken out.

But that didn't stop several of the members from sending messages back to Carkul Station of their victory.