Lyra, Lanzur, Yara, Keltor and Freya watched as Olsur and Reyna sparred, their practice weapons clashing. Over the course of the past week, Olsur had improved significantly, and could now match each of them, and a few times, even won against Keltor, Lyra and Lanzur, though Yara, Freya and Reyna were still too much for him to overcome.

Reyna thrust with her practice spear, and Olsur sidestepped and unleashed a barrage of sword strikes. Unlike the wild and telegraphed overhead swings he used to employ, his attacks now were much more fluid, calculated and precise. His variety had improved as well, now able to mix in mid level and even upward strikes into his sequences. And it showed. No longer was Reyna able to outflank or surprise him as much as she used to, forcing her to significantly alter her style. Olsur was learning quickly.

Reyna batted his sword aside and leapt into the air, kicking him in the chest. Unlike in their previous engagements, Olsur was able to maintain his footing, and immediately retaliated, landing several hits to her shoulder and pushed her back with a triple kick to the chest. He ducked under a swing and locked the spear in place. Reyna kicked him in the thigh and slammed her elbow into his knuckles, forcing him to drop his sword.

Olsur reacted quickly, elbowing her in the shoulder and slammed his knee into her gut. Reyna turned her back to him and wrenched her spear forward. She slammed her elbow into his chest, and wriggled out of his grip, simultaneously turning the spear, and locked his arm facing upward, her hand pressing down on his shoulder. Olsur escaped the pin with a roll and swept her off her feet. She leapt back up and unleashed a barrage of hand strikes and kicks, which he blocked or evaded. He caught her kick and took her down to the floor. He brought his elbow down onto her back, and caught her in a head lock with his elbow.

Before he could force her to submit, she managed to reach his sword which was lying nearby, and slammed the pommel into his forehead, forcing him away. As she swung, his foot connected with her wrist, and before she could recover, he retrieved her spear and held the blade to her neck, ducking just as the tip of his sword passed overhead.

Freya, Yara, Keltor, Lyra and Lanzur clapped, and Reyna just stood where she was, her facial expression of pure shock. She hid it quickly, however, and nodded.

"Well done, little brother", Yara said, patting Olsur on the back. "Now we no longer have to babysit you all the time", Freya added, her tone more cheerful than it had been not too long ago. "Oh shut it or you will get it too", Olsur replied. "I think it's best if you rest. Freya, face me, if you don't mind", said Yara. "Let's", Freya replied.

The rest gave them room. Yara attacked first, striking with her twin swords, which Freya blocked with her electro staff. The Vigilante thrust with the staff, and Yara sidestepped. She struck again, but Freya evaded and swung for her back. Yara blocked, and slashed for her leg. Freya lifted her foot, and the sword passed under it. Keeping her foot in the air, she kicked Yara in the gut and struck her on the shoulder with her staff, making sure to aim straight at the shoulder guard. At the same time, Yara's elbow slammed into her jaw, and her kick drove the Vigilante back.

Freya launched her own offensive, when the Astreon shook, as gliding bombs struck it. Alarms blared, and they rushed to the bridge. Kirtan, Luteor, Talea, Masters Arlen, Lorea and Toren were already there, along with a few other instructors and students.

"They caught up to us. Four Raecyon battleships and 12 razer squadrons. They are deploying boarding crafts. We don't have the numbers to fight them off. The fleet will keep us from escaping", Admiral Aegis said. Indeed, tow cables pinned the Astreon in place.

"They are after Olsur and me. They might let the rest of you go", Freya said. "Don't even think about it. Either all of us are leaving, or none at all. Worst comes to worst, we are all going down together", Yara said sharply, grasping her shoulder. "I am going to get my suit", Freya said. Yara let go hesitantly, and Freya rushed to her room, where her suit and other weapons were stored. She quickly secured everything, and rushed to the hangar. She could not let the others engage in a fight they all knew they would lose. She got into a gunship, and left the hangar. Her comm beeped, and Yara's frantic voice came through.

"What are you doing? You have no chance alone!" "Don't try to stop me! Or you can join me and increase our chances!" Freya replied. "You are almost as bad as Olsur!" Yara sighed, and within the next few minutes, the last three arklancers and 3 more gunships joined her. By then, she had already destroyed one of the boarding crafts. Together, they and the Astreon destroyed more of them, while the other Sky Guard warriors and remaining rebel soldiers defended the cruiser from the imperials that had already boarded.

Luxor, Jarvelon, Irma and Orkala attacked the SG warriors, and Inspectors Raleon, Zandor, Artana and Overseer Ramos backed them up, along with a few other IGs, Hunters and Mechas, mostly from other bases.

Kirtan deflected strikes from an IG and a Hunter, and unleashed a laser beam from his laser staff, grazing the Hunter's shoulder. He blocked the IG's strike and kicked him in the gut, pushing him away. The Hunter unleashed a volley of electro shots, which Kirtan deflected with his staff. The SG leapt over a mid level strike and kicked the electro gun out of the Hunter's hand. He ducked under an electro shot from the IG and launched several laser shots from his staff, destroying the IG's gun as it was about to fire again, blowing up in his face. He focused on the Hunter, pummeling him with strike after strike, driving him back.

Reyna, Keltor and Yara moved their arklancers over to Freya's gunship, and the four ships destroyed the final boarding craft along with several razers. Meanwhile, the Raecyon cruisers kept their positions, and only the razers attacked the Astreon and the 7 other rebel ships.

"They should have moved in a while ago. Something is wrong here", Yara said, as she shot down another razer, and put a power cell into her wind drive, side swiping between two razers who were aiming for Olsur's gunship, pushing both into the firing paths of Lyra and Lanzur.

Suddenly, Freya's gunship lurched, as a tow cable fixed to it. Olsur's gunship was likewise restrained. Keltor, Reyna, Lyra, Yara and Lanzur fired on the cable launchers, but razers blocked their path, surrounding the two rebel ships. Only then did the imperials odd strategy make sense. They did not fire on the cruiser after the first few salvos because they only needed to keep the strongest SG warriors occupied long enough for them to isolate and capture Olsur and Freya. "Admiral, they have Olsur and Freya. We need help with the razers now!" Lanzur said into his comlink. "On it. The imperials started to retreat", the admiral replied.

Kirtan cut through the IG's neck, and beside him, Luteor and Talea killed another Hunter. The imperials started to retreat back to their boarding crafts. Overseer Ramos glanced at them briefly, before turning back, and the boarding crafts, along with 9 remaining imperial soldiers, as well as the surviving IGs, Hunters and Mechas, and the three Inspectors, retreated back to the Raecyon battleships. The Astreon and the remaining 12 rebel gunships and 3 arklancers concentrated fire on the razers, destroying them quickly.

But by then, however, it was too late. Both Olsur and Freya's gunships were pulled onboard of one of the Raecyons, and the ship started rotating, ever so slowly. The other three Raecyons moved into the Astreon's path, and opened fire on the cruiser.

Admiral Aegis contacted the rebel pilots. "Target their tow cable launchers and keep the razers away from the cruiser. We will be pushing for the lead Raecyon. We can not lose them now", he said. The 15 smaller ships formed a protective semicircle around the cruiser, while the warship accelerated, as the pilots added more power cells into the wind drives, allowing the ship to propel forward. Any tow cable launchers were destroyed, but the Raecyon's larger frames kept the Astreon from pushing through to the lead battleship, which had almost finished its rotation, and would be gone, Freya and Olsur with it, if they didn't break through quickly.

"Sir, we are running low on power cells", said a pilot, as she emptied her last cartridge into a wind drive. "Give it all the power you can. We can not lose that Raecyon now", Admiral Aegis said.

Finally, as the lead Raecyon finished its rotation and slowly started accelerating, and the seconds ticked away, the Astreon started moving again. The admiral's mind raced, as the cruiser propelled forward, and launched its frontal tow cables at the retreating Raecyon. With relief, he saw that the cables locked on, and the Astreon accelerated.

"Kirtan, Luteor, Talea, Yara, Reyna, Keltor and Lyra, keep the razers away from our tow cable launchers. Lanzur, Master Toren and Master Arlen, go with me. Keep the razers away, focus on those nearest to the launchers. If they are destroyed, we lose Freya and Olsur", Master Lorea ordered.

With tremendous difficulty, the rebel ships guarded the tow cable launchers and the cables themselves, destroying any razers that got too close for comfort. Thankfully, none of the other three Raecyons could launch more cables, and the Astreon was faster, though it was still at risk from their ion cannons, missiles and gliding bombs.

Olsur and Freya cut down the last few soldiers, and looked around, scanning the area for other threats. "Where is everyone? Didn't they get back to this ship?" Freya said. "Maybe its just us, though I wouldn't count on it", Olsur said, adjusting his grip on his sword.

"Let's go back before more of them show up", Freya said.

"You two are not going anywhere", said a voice behind them.

Inspectors Zandor and Artana walked toward them, and the two rebels stood side to side, weapons raised.

Zandor struck at Olsur, and Tauron blocked. Artana and Zandor continued launching probing attacks at the insurgents, but this time, their foes were well prepared. To his astonishment, Zandor could no longer penetrate Olsur's defenses as easily, and himself had trouble defending.

Freya blocked Artana's sword and thrust with her electro staff, only the Inspector's armor saving her from what would otherwise have been a lethal blow. The force of the impact still pushed her back, creating enough room for Freya to attack with her electro guns. Artana deflected or evaded the oncoming electro shots, but the Vigilante maintained his assault, firing rapidly.

Freya ramped up the intensity, switching her guns to the automatic firing mode. The effect was immediate. A few shots slipped through her foe's otherwise impenetrable defense, hitting her in the shoulders, legs and arms, and one in her gut. The Inspector was considerably slower now, and more exposed, and Freya continued her assault.

Bolstered by her success, Olsur ramped up his own offensive, cutting his foe on the cheek. Zandor batted his sword aside and backhanded him in the face, before pushing him back with a triple kick to the chest, and landed a cut to his shoulder. Olsur tried to retaliate, but the Inspector had abandoned all defense, and Olsur had trouble containing his mad offensive.

The insurgent broke finally, and Zandor locked his arm by the wrist, and pushed him against a wall, pressing their crossed swords to his chest, bearing down with his greater height and strength. Tauron stepped on his foot, in a desperate attempt to knock him off balance. Zandor rammed his knee into his gut, and twisted his wrist, tearing the sword out of his hand. Before Olsur could recover, he slammed his elbow into his chest, and threw him against the floor. Olsur grunted, as the pain and shock from the throw partially paralyzed him for a few seconds.

Zandor heard a satisfying crack, as he stepped on his foe's arm, and held his sword to his neck. "You are only alive now because Overseer Ramos wants you captured. But you shall be executed anyway. I will see to it personally", he said, before knocking him out with a pommel slam to the temple.

Out of the corner of her eye, Freya saw Olsur go down, and Zandor rushing over to them. She moved toward Artana, but turned one of the electro guns on Zandor, forcing him to slow down. She kicked Artana in the leg, making her stumble, and swept her off her feet. As she raised her staff for the deathblow, an electro shot struck her shoulder, stopping her for a second. That was all her foe needed. Artana got back to her feet and struck her in the jaw with her armored elbow.

Freya swung her electro staff around her, keeping the two at bay. Zandor fired several electro shots, allowing Artana to close the distance, and lock her arms. Freya tried to free herself, but Artana's grip was too strong. She hooked her legs around her waist, and locked her in a headlock. Freya slammed the back of her head into her foe's face, and kicked out with both feet, staggering Zandor. Both she and Artana fell to the floor, the Vigilante on top. The fall winded Artana, allowing Freya to get out of her grip. She retrieved her staff and rushed at Zandor. He aimed his electro gun at her, but she knocked it out of his hand with a swing of her staff and struck him on the face, knocking him out. She secured her guns to her waist and picked up Olsur and his weapon, and rushed back to the hangar as fast as she could.

As she hauled Olsur into the cockpit beside her, and activated the gunship's engines, soldiers and other personnel surrounded the vessel. She popped a power cell into the wind drive, and the vessel accelerated. She unleashed ion shots on the imperials, but did not risk launching gliding bombs. Still, most of the imps fell, leaving few alive, neither of any threat. The ship exited the hangar, into a midst of razers and gunships. Freya heard Master Lorea, Arlen, Toren, and Lanzur contact her, and flew to them, when her ship lurched, as gliding bombs struck it, and began a rapid drop to the ground. It jerked again, and Olsur's eyes snapped open. He looked around, and massaged the bruise that was forming on his temple, evidently still half asleep. "About time you woke up. We have to eject. I am losing control rapidly", Freya said.

They ejected, seconds before the ship crashed, exploding on impact. Above them, the Raecyons drove the rebel ships away, and troop carriers descended. "Run for it", Freya said, and the two went under the cover of thick trees, away from the battle.

"Finally. We almost have them", Luxor said, as he, Inspector Raleon, Orkala, Irma and Jarvelon and a detachment of troops set off after the insurgents.