[On the Duilleag, Akira class Star wing carrier, Skyean Kingdom]

The harsh sunlight that escaped from the halo around the planet Geolan was so intense that it even reflected off the stiff, navy blue material of Captain Vulpini's uniform, the golden symbol of her druidic rank stuck into the lapel of her jacket shone brightly. Standing on her command disc in space, she zoomed the small platform out to inspect the whole fleet; at the current viewport, the scale of each vessel was too small to see with the naked eye, so the ships were represented by three-dimensional, high-res models that were much bigger than actual size. The Kingdom's ships dominated the scene and were outlined by a soft blue glow, the enemy vessels, on the other hand, were only three in number and sat in a fixed position over the planet. They were rendered as red models in the same form as the black, crystal shaped Death Squad cruisers they represented, and were surrounded by four of her Skyean Destroyers. Sixty-six small attack fighters sat off to the side organised into three groups. Well out of planetary space and away from any possible direct battle sat the mighty Duilleag, the obelisk-shaped carrier supported by a rear guard of three additional destroyers.

All ships stood ready for her next command. It should be easy, she thought, three against my whole fleet. But wielding such an overpowering force into battle always made her uneasy, and, Adding to her caution, was the fact that they were facing the Church's dreaded Death Squad, a foe equal in every way to any other elite force in the Galaxy and one that she never thought she would ever face directly. She zoomed back down to center her view on the three enemy crystal class cruisers; they floated upright, waiting in a tight formation. No extended arrays would typically mean that the ships were not battle ready, but for this opponent, this was not an assumption to make lightly.

She threw an opcode to the captains of her sleek, slightly tapered cylinder-shaped destroyers to open their attack arrays and studied the opponent's force for any reaction--she was hoping for a shift in position or the deployment of arrays, anything that would indicate their intention. As the surrounding ships each raised two massive arm arrays from their hulls, there was no response from the enemy--no movement at all.

Damn, the Captain swore under her breath. There was one more thing she needed to do before she engaged. They had to be sure that the members of Death Squad Eight were on the ground. It would make a big difference to how she dealt with the three crystal class cruisers if they were manned with skeleton crews rather than Captained full compliments. But, just as she was about to raise a request to Gulo, the Colonel had sent her a thread request, and it was marked URGENT. She accepted, and the figure of Gulo appeared next to her on the disc. "Gulo. Report."

The royal marine Colonel stood in their light battle armour with helmet held under their right arm; their black fringe fell forward over one eye. Gulo wiped back the stray hair. "Captain, we've been tricked! There are no death squad combatants on the ground, and the planet is in passive rebellion."

"Passive rebellion?"

"They're not fighting, but they've worked with the death dealers to decieve us."

Vulpini had clenched her fists and locked her jaw tight in anger and frustration; the feeling of being fooled was not something she was used to. It took a moment for her to reply, "It is as I feared, although I have to admit too late."

"It gets worse," the marine's leader continued, "Geolan's processor wasn't destroyed. It's online and is being used to target their planetary defence system at our destroyers. I've been directed to report by their spokesperson, one Churchman Avan that if we attack the death squad cruisers, they will respond with force."

On the face of it, four destroyers against the defences of a whole planet would seem overwhelming odds against them. But this planet was a small outlier and likely not equipped to handle a conventional force. But add the fully manned crystal cruisers, and they may experice a significant resistance. She considered a quick assault, but in the time it would take for the planet to respond they would likely only be able to to take out one of the cruisers and that was provided they didn't deploy defencive tactics. No, she thought, there was another aspect to all of this that was missing--there had to be another piece to this puzzle.

"Thank you for the report Colonel. Prepare your troops to return to the Duilleag immediately." She gave the commander of her ground troops the order and then abruptly cut off the thread. Gulo was her friend and confidant, and she wanted nothing more to spit the dummy and let them know exactly how she was feeling right now, but she was sure that the King would want to review the footage of her command logs following such a fuck up. She sent HOLD_POSITION and STANDBY opcodes to her fleet and considered the next move that was now, for her, all about how to make this bad situation right.

* * *

[In the briefing room of the Geolan Spaceforce corvette battleship, Grande]

Sam was still in her formal heavy black robe, with the large hood folded behind her head and over her shoulders, she stood next to a stocky Geolan Spaceforce Commander and Captain of the old battleship Grande that was not only the strongest and fastest ship in Geolan's fleet, but it was also their only ship. Likewise its Captain, Pat was one-of-a-kind and the strongest opponent on the planet's executive against the whirlwind plan for Geolan to side with a rebel squad of death dealers against not only the Kingdom but also the Church. A seasoned military veteran and an able spacefarer, Pat was relatively fresh from his fifth gefresh and so appeared in his prime, physically not more than thirty-five years old.

Across the table stood Honi also in his formal robe and beside him the beamer and freshly ordained Churchman Lucas who was still robed in her Acolyte attire with the events since Sam's sermon happening so swiftly she had not had a chance to change into Death Squad field armour. Harris and the rest of the Ascent's crew had returned to their ship along with Mother Koopak, Father Race and their crews ready to face the Skyean fleet should the plan for the Grande fail.

Pat asked for confirmation in his thick celtic accent, "So let me get this right, we're just going t' fly t' the carrier, past three o' their heavy destroyers and use some kind o' universal override key t' dock with em? 'Hi guys, we're here to take over' " Pat hadn't stopped arguing since his objection was overridden by the planetary council.

Sam, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the events that would unfold within the next hour. She ignored his sarcasm, "Yes, that is correct. Once we exit jump and fly within range of the destroyer's batteries, how long do you estimate we'd be able to defend an assault?

The Captain responded reluctantly, "Including the carrier's weapons? That'd be five minutes if we come in hard at full speed and giving us time t' slow fer the dock. Give or take five minutes. But let's be clear here, it'll be hard t' impossible, and if you haven't noticed we're no' floating in the Kingdom's finest here, this ol' girl will no' handle such rough treatment."

"Your two arrays are both fully rigged for defence. We'll be okay," stated Sam with authority.

"We'll be okay or blown t' bits. Aye." confirmed with Captain with acrimony.

Honi added, "They won't risk attack once we're docked with the Duilleag. Further, if all has gone to plan on the ground, they'll already be under threat of planetary attack."

"Four more of their destroyers and fifty starwings against three surface pulse cannons designed t' scare o' pirates? You people make me laugh."

"You..." Sam pushed at the chest of the Captain with the palm of her right hand knocking him back a step. "...shut the fuck up and fly this ship or I'll rip your fucking tongue out. Roger that Captain?"

Captain Pat stood mouth agape nodding slowly.

"Good. Proceed as planned we'll be ready for boarding. Now, go to your bridge and notify us when we're prepared to drop out of jump.

"Honi, I want you to accompany our Captain to the bridge. Slit his throat if he deviates even a nanobit from our plan."

Pat's face hid a brewing storm, but he held his tongue as he left the room followed menacingly by the tall Churchman.

Sam turned to Lucas and was about to talk when the junior cut her off. "You do realise you're supposed to be leading a reformation of the Church. A reformation based on life and love and, by-the-way you just threatened to 'slit the throat' of the Captain who is on our side!"

Sam was furious with Lucas' insubordination and clenched her fist before arching her index finger at the squad's newest member, "For a start, I'm not leading anything and next--" But then, the thought of Eiko's sermon flashed in her memory, and her mood instantly softened. "Damn it, you're right. Things are going to have to change."

Sam unfastened the belt and drew open her robe to reveal a pair of revolvers hanging loosely off her hips over matt black field armour. She undid the holster and dropped it gently on the table in front of them and took each of the large guns out placing them side by side.

"Here Eiko's revolvers: Hieronymus and Bosch, his 'gardeners' he called them. He gave them to me, but I want you to have them."

Lucas went so wide-eyed in surprise that Sam could see the whole of her beautiful golden irises and the corners of her normally hidden third eyelids. "But why?"

"Because you're the first priest ordained since all of this started. But don't get too excited, there's a catch I just thought of--think of it as a reward for chewing me out just then.

"You say we need to change our violent ways and value life. Well, if you accept these guns. The first time you take a life, I want you to take your own."

Lucas was shocked, her jaw dropped with her shoulders, and she looked up at Sam, down at the guns and back up at Sam, speechless. After a moment she picked up one of the famous shiny silver plated revolvers, it's surface sparkling in the light reflected from the skin of her beamer face. She raised it, "So this is Hieronymus?" And lifted the other with her right hand, "And Bosch?"

Sam nodded.

"I accept them on the provision that I can wound and maim without enacting the punishment?"

"Yes, you can wound as many people as you like--and if they bleed out, then that's their fault for not having a first aid kit handy."

With that Lucas knelt to the ground and looked up with heartfelt admiration at her leader. "As precious as life is to our Lord and Father. I swear on his name and the names of his children. I will not kill man, woman or child from this day forward lest I give my own life in exchange for that which is taken."

Sam bent down and kissed her temple. "Rise Lucas, Protector, and the first of that order."