Less than sixty seconds after the communication from the Argent bridge, the Bandit Jacks were racing through an abandoned fuel station terminal. They had only moments to gather what they had brought with them. Hunter made the decision to try and find a shortcut through the darkened and supposedly secured facility, and he was cursing himself every step of the way now that the clock was ticking. Command One was less than 200 yards away, but every time they turned in the right direction, they found a locked door.

“Walls, I want you to listen to me very carefully! Remember when I said you were on your way to a real command? Well, this is it! Signal emergency condition two! Notify engineering I want all the fires lit! Alert section chiefs I want to muster the crew on Flight Deck One thirty minutes after we hit the jump gate! Acknowledge!”

“Affirmative, sir! What is your status?”

“We will board Command One in three minutes and rendezvous with Argent on your next orbit, Hunter out!”

The ad-hoc landing party rounded another corner and found stacked metal boxes in front of twin warehouse doors.

“Blocked again!” Moody shouted. He put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

“I don’t believe this!” Hunter barked. The sound echoed in the abandoned hallways. The others stood hesitantly for a moment before Yili wordlessly took action. She drew her blaster, turned it sideways to change settings and then took aim.

“Wait! What are you–!?”

The percussive sound and searing bright light shook the small side corridor like a metal cabinet falling down a flight of stairs. The engineer fired again and again, tearing huge fiery holes in the empty containers as one bolt of reddish energy after another exploded through the tangle of debris. Within seconds, a six-foot ragged exit had been torn in the doors. Molten steel dripped from its edges.

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to do things,” Hunter quipped. “If you can’t find an unlocked door, make one.”

Yili holstered her weapon and gestured to the others with a hand as if showing them out. Hunter stepped over the sharp, hot pieces of wreckage as quickly as possible. The others followed. Once past the loading doors, the group ran across the tarmac through the night air. Cold lights glowed from the corners and rooflines of the buildings. In the distance, they could still hear the music from Scary’s.

“Neek! This is Hunter! Scramble all systems for immediate dustoff!” The Captain held a hand to his ear as the group ran towards the waiting shuttle.

“Affirmative, Captain. Command One liftoff prep countdown thirty-five seconds and counting. DSS Argent is reporting emergency condition two. Surface scanners have picked up possible weapons fire in our defense perimeter. Are you in any danger?”

“Negative Command One. Stand by for liftoff. I’ll have a briefing when we hit system’s edge!” The group arrived at the shuttle’s hatch all at once. Neek deployed the ladders and one by one the Argent’s officers piled aboard.

Hunter scrambled inside and sealed the hatch. “Sorry about your party, Doc.”

“That’s okay, Captain,” Annora replied as she laced up and snapped her power harness into position across her shock couch. “I know how painful it was for you to leave all that good scotch behind.”

“Everybody in?” Hunter asked as he quick-configured the flight controls. The engines spun up rapidly.

“Punch it, Skipper!” Moody shouted.

Command One bounded into the sky on a superheated jet of thruster exhaust and then rocketed almost straight up. In moments, the tiny ship had reached a velocity of just under ten miles a second.

“Hunter to Argent.”

“Go.”

“Patch us to CIC and report all contacts.”

A moment passed.

“CIC to Hunter. Negative contacts. SRS is clear. No further updates since the original ComSat bulletin.”

“Very well, Argent. Navigation, give me a position report.”

“Azimuth two six zero. Estimated time to intercept your escape track is three minutes. Stand by to lock ILS. Approach control will key horizon LOS datalink and intercept closure in five.. four.. three..”

“Oh, wow...”

Everyone leaned forward to look out the starboard ports of Command One. Within moments, the impressive shadow of the battleship Argent emerged from behind Jupiter Five and approached their position, growing larger as it orbited along the edge of the planet’s atmosphere. The moment the huge vessel’s antennas cleared line-of-sight, the shuttle’s navigation systems all switched over to automatic. Hunter secured them and swiveled his pilot’s seat.

“Time to introduce yourselves to my ship and lock your codes.”

All four of the other officers nodded and murmured their agreement.

“Neek, engage Argent’s command computer. Scramble signal and authenticate Hunter, Captain Jason M. Identifier Victory Seven-Seven-One-Five. Match voice print, stand by for record write and confirm.”

“Affirmative. Identity Captain Hunter, Jason M. confirmed. Argent is standing by for new orders.”

“Stand by to authenticate assignment to Executive Officer post, DSS Argent. Voice print follows.”

Captain Hunter nodded to Annora. She cleared her throat gently.

“Commander Doverly, Annora C. Identifier Marigold Nine-Zero-Five-Six.”

“Affirmative. Executive Officer Commander Doverly, Annora C. Officer posted.”

“Stand by to authenticate assignment to Commander, Marine Ground Forces, DSS Argent. Voice print follows.”

“Major Moody, Lucas R. Identifier Thunderbolt Zero One Zero Five.”

“Affirmative. Commander, Marine Ground Forces Major Moody, Lucas R. Officer posted.”

“Stand by to authenticate assignment to Chief Signals Officer, DSS Argent, Voice print follows.”

“Lieutenant Tixia, Zony, Identifier Hummingbird Eight Eight Seven Seven.”

“Affirmative. Signals Officer, Tixia, Zony. Officer posted.”

“Stand by to authenticate assignment to Chief Engineer, DSS Argent, Voice print follows.”

“Lieutenant Yili Curtiss, Identifier Ghost Two Nine Four Six.”

“Affirmative. Chief Engineer, Yili Curtiss. Officer posted.”

“Alright boys and girls. Now you’ve got keys to the executive washroom. Let’s get aboard and get situated. I’m mustering the crew in twenty minutes to announce our orders. The quartermaster will show you where you can park and stow your gear for the time being.”

By now the Argent filled the forward viewports. It’s tractor beams were guiding the shuttle to Flight Deck Three. The four new officers stared quietly. They had been told stories about the new Citadel battleships, but being told about a ship and then flying under it into a flight bay the size of five football fields was something else entirely.

The flashing red alert indicators, however, left precious little time to be awestruck.