"So, is the capital gone?"

"Um..." I breathed, not quite believing my eyes, "Looks like more than the capital is gone, Jack."

"What do you mean?"

Just to make sure I wasn't seeing things, I took one more look at the blazing inferno before me–the platforms that barely hung on for dear life, the rubble that still rained down from the sky, and the countless vehicles that screamed around us. To put it gently, the scene I had just entered was one of unbridled chaos.

After several minutes of silence, I cleared my throat. "Just know that the job was taken care of. You won't have anything to worry about on the planetside."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because people will be too busy putting out the fires we caused," Alannah snapped, "The Capital building was blown out of the sky, taking several other platforms with it and causing a fair amount of damage. You are clear to commence the siege of Versalio, Jackson."

"Before you continue onward," I cut in, "Be aware that there are apparently a few Dreadnoughts waiting in the Irrata system. Want us to take them down?"

"Oh, sure. I've known the Federation's had a shipyard in that system for a bit of time now. We've just never gotten around to decommissioning it permanently. I'll make sure to send a detachment of my forces with you to provide backup."

"Thanks Jack."

"Of course."

After we were done speaking with Jackson, I slumped back into my seat and sighed.

"Well, we have our next assignment," I breathed, "Here's hoping that backup Jack mentioned will show up in time to help us. I'd rather not have Dreadnoughts bearing down on us."

"Trust me, I doubt anyone would want that," Alannah replied, "You don't happen to have any god breakers on hand, do you?"

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't have Tyr load any up, so I only have standard munitions on hand."

"That's still good though. Even if we can't wipe out the Dreadnoughts, we can at least damage the ship manufacturing plant–which reminds me: which planet in the Irrata system houses the plant?"

"Excellent question," I muttered, contacting Jackson again, "Could you tell us where our next objective lies?"

"The main planet you should attack is Stratos. That's where most of the UTF's heavy hitting vessels are manufactured. The main force is just arriving before Versalio, but I did send a detachment ahead of your vessel. They should be there by the time you arrive in the Irrata system."

"Excellent. We'll make sure the manufacturing plant is as good as fucked by the time we're done with it."

"Good. Take care of yourself, Cylus. We're getting close to being done with this whole mess."

"Will do."

With that, I engaged my ship's warp drive again and watched as we moved past distant stars.

"Can't help but wonder what else Jackson wants us to do," Alannah grumbled, "We blew up the goddamn capital building, and yet we're still not done. What more can we do?"

It took me several moments before I had a suitable answer. "I remember hearing about a mythical creature called a hydra–read about it a few times in some of the books I managed to liberate. Just because we sever one head–just because we blew up the capital building doesn't mean we've won the day.  We have to keep fighting until each and every head is decapitated."

"Wait, doesn't the hydra regrow its heads?"

"Yes. That, mijn sintel, is why you cauterize the wound after you cut off a head," I rumbled.

"...Good point. What do you think we'll have to do after we deal with this shipyard?"

"Beats me. Guess we'll see when we get the job done."

"Fair enough..."

A heavy silence settled in the cockpit like a heavy layer of snow. Alannah's question was a valid one: what else would we have to do? My crew and I have hunted down countless officials in the past month alone, and yet look where we are. Who else has do die before we can reign supreme?

When no answer greeted me, I sighed and tightened my grip on my ship's controls. No matter what happens–no matter what I have to do, I will see this through. Mark my words.

Through the silence, I heard Vik hum to himself. "Your resolve is admirable, Cylus. I am surprised you are still finding the willpower necessary to continue on."

Yeah, so am I.

"You have done this for several decades, no? Going after targets and eliminating them?"

Yep, but I haven't really gone around blowing up buildings and decimating cities. I'm more of a single-target bounty hunter.

"And yet you have risen to the occasion. May this next conflict go by swiftly."

Here's hoping...

We arrived at our destination sooner than I was hoping. Already, a full-blown war had broken out before the shipyard. Speaking of which, the yard itself was built above Stratos. That meant several things: firstly, Jackson's forces would have a relatively easy time getting at the shipyard and tearing it a new one. However, they would have to get past the three Dreadnoughts guarding it.

"Jesus Christ..." Alannah breathed, leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at the obstacles before us, "Those are full-blown Desecrator-class Dreadnoughts."

"Indeed they are," I mumbled, studying the dark vessels that were currently holding off the diverse onslaught that was Jackson's detachment, "Here's hoping we can get the job done."

"Oh please. Since when have we ever failed to complete a job?"

I grunted in response. "Good point. Fasten your seatbelt, love. Things are going to get bumpy."

Oh how right I was. In no time at all, I fell into a rhythmic pattern of dodging enemy fire and bearing down on targets until their flaming vessel exploded in an uneven ball of fuzzy plasma. At times, I had to assist an ally ship that was being antagonized by a UTF vessel, but those problems usually sorted themselves out rather quickly.

Alannah was quick on the trigger, and she helped me mow down our targets with ruthless efficiency.

"Please tell me you sent some bombers with that detachment of yours, Jack!" I snapped into my comms.

"Of course I did. From what I can tell, the squadron of bombers are approaching one of the Dreadnoughts. If I were you, I'd provide them cover fire."

"On it."

Upon sighting the squadron of bombers Jack had mentioned, I hauled ass over to them and gunned down hostile Dreadknights that had tried to gain the upper hand.

"Geez, the Federation really loves to put 'Dread' at the beginning of everything, don't they?" Alannah mused to herself while she casually gunned down another ship, "You'd think the poor bastards would have more imagination."

I couldn't help but chuckle. Thank god my wife has a good sense of humor. "Yeah, you aren't wrong. It's all doom, gloom, and dread when it comes to the UTF."

"No wonder most of the remaining officers are all wrinkly old cunts. They're probably a bore in bed."

Despite the current situation, I felt myself snort in response. Unfortunately, I had to take evasive maneuvers right as I started to feel my diaphragm seize up.

"F-Fuck," I hissed, "A-Ali, cool it on the humor please."

"Oh grow a pair," she grumbled, gunning down our aggressor before they could hit us where it hurt, "Would it kill you to laugh a little?"

"Right now, maybe. Don't distract the pilot from doing his job."

"But what's shotgun supposed to do?"

"Shotgun's supposed to keep us all alive while looking pretty."

"Psssh, I do that already."

I rolled my eyes. "Not my point, but okay. Just make sure our bombers don't get taken out."

Another Federation spacecraft spiraled out of my field of view and was reduced to a messy kaleidoscope of colors. "No worries there, love. Will these vessels have enough firepower to take out a Dreadnought?"

"Guess we'll see..."

Without further hesitation, we both fell back into the steady rhythm that had overtaken us previously. It wasn't until I noticed the bright colors in front of me that I realized the first Dreadnought had probably been destroyed.

"Huh," was all I said.

"I know, right," Alannah replied, "Oh, look at the bombers. They're tearing apart the second Dreadnought."

Sure enough the bulky ships were launching their projectiles at the next unfortunate flagship.

"I wonder if those bombs are rocket-propelled?" my wife continued, "Well, duh: of course they are. If they weren't, the damn things would just float in space."

I grunted in response. That would be a funny image though.

Seeing as how our task ahead consisted of gunning down enemy fighters and protecting the squadron of bombers, time flew on by.

"Well then," Alannah murmured when the last Dreadnought was torn apart, "That settles it then."

"All that's left is the shipyard," I pointed out, "Might as well add to the havoc."

"Hell yeah!" Alannah chirped, launching several concussive missiles at the large structure in front of us, "Let's fuck shit up!"

I rumbled with laughter. "Prime all the munitions, love. I may not have god breakers on board, but Tyr always sets me up with the good shit before we leave for missions. There's bound to be something particularly devastating in the Ravager."

As I said this, I pressed a button on the dashboard before me that primed all loaded munitions. "Have your pick, love."

In hindsight, I should not have done that. Rather than launching off one or two missiles like a normal person would have, Alannah fired off...every single missile. From EMPs to concussive missiles to even some armaments older than Alexander, they were all shot at the unassuming Federation shipyard.

"You do realize those missiles were supposed to last us until we got back to Sylkiir V, right?" I prompted her.

She shrugged as part of the main structure was torn to shreds. "Eh, doesn't matter. What better way to solve a problem than to throw a shitton of explosives at something? Now that's the Slangen way!"

"Indeed it is..."

After the first salvo, the rest of Jackson's forces tore into the manufacturing plant along with the smaller ships that had already been built. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by shrapnel.

"Well, I see you got the job done," Jackson began in a mild tone, "Versalio has been seized–all remaining Federation officials are being rounded up as we speak."

"Very well. What do you want us to do now?"

"Head back to Sylkiir V. We certainly hit the Federation where it hurts, but we're not done yet."

Of course we're not. "We'll be back soon. Hang tight, Jack."

"Oh, I'm on the bridge of the Sovereign-Breaker over-looking Versalio. I wasn't going to hang back while everyone else had fun over here. That being said, there's no rush to get back."

"Duly noted..."

After I was done speaking with Jackson, I leaned back in my chair and took ran a hand across my face. "Well, here we go again."

"Oh well. At least we're fucking up the Federation. That has to count for something, right?" Alannah prompted me.

"One would think so..."