Irma, Luxor, Orkala, Inspector Ramos and several newly graduated IGs and Hunters stood on the bridge of a Raecyon battle ship, escorted by three Lancet destroyers, and several Razer squadrons. The battle group was transporting supplies captured from a newly destroyed Rebel base. For the new graduates, this was their first mission.

The ship shook, as tow cables attached to it from 4 sides. A Rebel Kalestar battleship appeared in front of them, and 6 Astreon cruisers surrounded them from the stern, port and starboard sides. Boarding crafts flew over to them, escorted by what looked like 50 Skywings and Arklancers. Their Razers were outnumbered and outperformed. Some of the boarding crafts were shot down, but the others landed, and unloaded nearly 200 Rebel soldiers, supported by 7 Sky Guards.

Verlan, Lyra, Lanzur, Judeor, Lurana, Kelja and Alenar took the lead, cutting down the initial line of Imperials.

Lurana flicked her hand, and several soldiers slammed into the ceiling, before falling back down. Kelja fired several arrows from her bow, killing three more and injuring another, and teleported, reappearing in the midst of a small group. Before they could react, she knocked one down with a high kick to the back of the neck, and another with a haymaker to the temple. The others turned their swords on her, but she teleported again, and grabbed onto two of them. She teleported into the sky, and let them fall to their deaths, screaming, before reappearing back in the hangar. Alenar launched a rain of ice shards, killing a few around them, and Judeor cut down a line of them with his twin swords.

Caelor, Aldur, Leorin and Erjana attacked Judeor and Alenar, while Irma and Orkala fought Kelja and Lurana. Lyra, Lanzur and Verlan faced off against Luxor and Overseer Ramos.

Alenar blocked Caelor's sword and bashed him on the temple with the haft of his spear. He evaded Aldur's halberd and swung his spear, sending several ice shards at him. Aldur blocked with his halberd, and retaliated. Alenar sent a water wave at Caelor, distracting him, and covered his spear tip in ice, reflecting the sunlight into Aldur's eyes. While he was caught off guard, Alenar closed the distance and went in for the deathblow.

Aldur moved at the last second, and instead of cutting through his neck, the spear glanced off his forearm guard. Alenar bent back, as the IG's halberd passed a mere inch over his face. he got back up, just as the rookie drove his boot into his chest. At the same time, Caelor attacked with his sword. Alenar conjured a water wave, and froze it in ice, simultaneously covering the bottom of his boots in ice blades, and slid on the frozen wave like a skater. He defrosted his feet, and turned the wave back into liquid, atop which he propelled himself toward Aldur.

Aldur moved out of the way, but Alenar hit him with another water wave, throwing him into the ship's hull. He heard Caelor behind him, and turned the floor to ice. Caelor barely maintained his footing, while Alenar was just fine, his boots once again covered in ice blades. However, using so much energy at once was already draining him. He drew most of the ice back into himself, replenishing his strength, only leaving a small perimeter, where neither Caelor or Aldur could attack him effectively. He hoped Lyra and Lanzur would be able to deal with the Mecha before it blasted the ice with its fire.

The rookies attacked, but due to their lack of combat experience, Alenar was easily able to outmaneuver them. Their fairly developed dueling skills, while inferior to his own, prevented him from completely dominating them, however.

Aldur batted his spear aside and jabbed with the spike on the head of his halberd, which Alenar met with his ice covered hand. He blocked Caelor's sword, knocking it with the halberd, and released a water whip, freezing it over their weapons. Aldur discarded the halberd, and tackled him, in an attempt to beat him down with his superior physique. Caelor broke his sword out of the ice, and ran to finish Alenar off. Alenar slipped away on an ice sled, which he converted into a barrage of ice and snow, bringing as much discomfort to them as possible. When they recovered, he was already at a safe distance from them. Ice covered their boots, and he seemed to bait them onto the ice, where they could move easier.

They took the bait, but almost immediately, ice spikes appeared under them, throwing them off their feet, and before Caelor could get back up, more spikes sprouted from his torso, having entered the gaps in his armor.

Judeor crossed his sabers, blocking a flurry of strikes from Leorin, and pushed Erjana away with a kick to the chest. He allowed Leorin to land a few strikes, and retaliated, moving like a propeller. Leorin barely managed to block his strikes, and tried to retaliate with an intricate sequence of his own attacks. Judeor's armor shifted, and he blocked all of the attacks with his arm. He caught Leorin's next strike outright, and drove his armor enhanced fist into his gut. He channeled energy to his back, deflecting a volley of electro shots from Erjana. he pushed Leorin away, and turned his attention to her, evading her shots, and struck her electro gun with his armored fist, the extra power shattering the weapon into pieces.

Erjana barely raised her sword in time to deflect his sabers. Leorin rushed to her aid, but he blocked both of their attacks. For a while, he simply defended, conserving his energy, letting them hammer away at him. Then, when they were least expecting it, he dropped his sabers, and caught their swords, before executing a pirouette, kicking them both in the jaw on the way down. They attacked again, disorganized, and he easily defended. Judeor shattered Leorin's arm, and rolled over his back. Before he could finish him off, however, Erjana kicked him in the gut, pushing him away. They attacked again.

Verlan blocked Ramos's sword and whip, and retaliated with a torrent of fire, which Ramos evaded. Ramos flicked his wrist, and the whip wrapped around Verlan's laser staff. Verlan deactivated the blade, and launched forward, reactivating it inches from Ramos's face, as the Inspector blocked with his sword. Verlan ducked as the whip came at him again, and blocked several slashes from Ramos's sword. He retreated a few steps, only to hit him with a fire slash, grazing his face.

"Pathetic", Ramos said, scoffing, and attacked in a storm of sword and whip attacks, which the Sky Guard blocked with his staff or evaded. Ramos switched to his electro gun, and Verlan responded accordingly, blocking every shot. He launched a torrent of fire, splitting it into 12 snakes, which curled around Ramos, though the Inspector was able to evade them.

Lanzur unleashed volleys of air balls from his pistols, allowing Lyra to retrieve her weapon, and be able to use her powers without restrain. She blocked several aero shots from the Mecha with her flaming sword, and launched several fire daggers, which Luxor met with the Mecha's sword. He released lightning lances, which Lyra either evaded or absorbed with her palm. Lanzur escalated, and waves of wind streamed out of his pistols, staggering the Mecha. A steel net came flying at him, but he evaded, and kept firing, just as the Mecha's sword crashed into him, sending him flying. Without his armor, the blow would have been lethal.

Lyra blocked the Mecha's view of him with a fire wall, which she sent at the Mecha, thinking it was over. But the Mecha came out virtually unscathed, and several steel darts found their targets, hitting her shoulders and arms, and another scratched her neck. Lyra blocked the rest with a fire wave, and leapt over the Mecha's sword. Lanzur fired from the back, hitting it in the back of its knees, and the more vulnerable parts of its back, staggering it. Lyra gathered her energy, and conjured a massive fire scythe, hooking it around its legs, and pulled, throwing it off its feet.

Lanzur ran up to it, and unloaded a volley of air spikes to its head, just as Lyra drove her fire sword into the blue light in its chest. The combined energies exploded, sending them flying. Luxor scrambled out of the Mecha, and drew his sword. One of the Sky Guards turned to Irma and Orkala, while the other launched at him. He blocked her fire attacks, and retaliated with strikes of his own, pushing her back.

Lyra held her weapon close to her body, maintaining a tight defense. The rookie she had fought before had been replaced with a skilled, and experienced warrior. No longer could she dominate him. He attacked, not allowing her to use her powers, and kneed her in the gut. She pushed him away and launched a fire whip, which he evaded. He resumed the offensive, and though the Sky Guard blocked his sword every time, she was clearly tiring. Given enough time, his superior endurance would allow him to grind her down.

Lurana blocked Irma's electro shots, and levitated weapons of fallen soldiers, throwing them at her. Irma blocked or evaded, and attacked with her sword. Lurana was forced to retreat, unable to counter her superior technique and fitness. Irma batted her sword aside and kicked her in the chest twice, before sweeping her off her feet, and brought her sword down on her. The blade impaled her in the gut, and she barely evaded the deathblow. Lurana got back to her feet, and retaliated, but it was a short lived effort. Irma locked her sword in place, and brought the pommel of her sword down on her knuckles.

Lurana created distance between them, and attacked with her gravity manipulation, suspending her in midair, and ran to finish her off. Several electro shots connected with her chest, making her stagger, and lose control of Irma's gravity field.

Judeor saw Irma moving over to Lurana, and pushed Erjana away with a kick. He evaded Leorin's shots and rushed over to Lurana. Alenar and Kelja did the same. But it was too late. A group of soldiers fired on them. Neither Lyra, Lanzur or Verlan were able to assist them, and the Rebel troops were otherwise occupied.

"We will hold them. Go!" Judeor said, cutting down a soldier. Kelja drew on her remaining energy, and teleported on top of Irma, tackling her. She created another portal, and dragged Irma in. But before she could complete the teleportation, a soldier tackled her, and Irma maintained her position.

Alenar flared ice, but with the sun covered by clouds, the attack had no real effect, and he had little energy left. Judeor was likewise limited, and his attention taken by the soldiers, Orkala, Aldur, Leorin and Erjana. Alenar used what little energy he had to slide over on ice, and decapitated the soldier, allowing Kelja to break free.

But by then, it was too late. Irma drove her sword into Lurana's heart, and stood back up, ready for more. Alenar swung his spear, but she caught it, and attacked with her sword. he quickly found himself on the losing end. She locked his weapon, and tore it out of his grip. Then, at the last second, an arrow pierced her neck.

Judeor cut down another soldier, and floored Leorin with a cut to the leg, practically rendering him immobile. Aldur, Erjana and Orkala attacked from all sides, but he was able to hold his own, though not for much longer. He evaded a blow from Aldur, and kicked Erjana in the gut, before sweeping her off her feet. Orkala blocked the deathblow, and slid her electro glove along her sword, sending a burst of electricity at him. The purple armor took most of the damage, but the impact still send him flying.

Kelja and Alenar came to his aid, occupying Orkala, leaving him with Aldur, Leorin and Erjana. Judeor unleashed a flurry of strikes on Aldur, sending him to the floor, before he was distracted by Erjana. Then, Aldur's halberd crashed into his chest, driving the wind out of him. He struggled to his feet, his whole body screaming, pleading for him to let go. Aldur disarmed him of one of his sabers, and Erjana blasted him with her electro gun, even as another blow from Aldur flattened him.

A group of Rebel soldiers came to his aid, and fired on them. Judeor managed to get up, barely, when Leorin tackled him, and forced him on his back. Following a moment of intense struggle, Judeor covered his face with armor, and shifted energy from one hand to the other, reinforcing it, and drove it into Leorin's gut, throwing him off.

Erjana shot a few more soldiers, and Aldur decapitated one with his halberd. Erjana cut down another, and Aldur beat the last two into submission, knocking them out. They turned on Judeor, who had recovered both of his sabers. While retreating from Aldur's halberd, he brought one saber down on Leorin's neck, cutting through it. Erjana slammed the pommel of her sword into his jaw, and Aldur brought his halberd down on his back. Even with the armor, the beating was taking a massive toll on him. His armor would not hold for much longer.

At the last moment, a volley of air spikes forced both to the floor, as Lanzur came to his aid. "We have the supplies. Time to move", he said, dragging the exhausted graduate with one hand, keeping the rookies occupied with the other. Kelja, Alenar, Lyra, Verlan and the remaining 60 or so Rebel soldiers joined them, and they were picked up by gunships. The Kalestar battleship and remaining 3 Astreon cruisers departed, along with 190 fighters.

Back at the base, the news of their success were received with enthusiasm, as this was the first Rebel victory after the disastrous defeat at Arealkara. Lurana was buried, and plans were made for an eventual liberation of Arealkara.

This is the final chapter of Vigilante, Book 2.