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The battle for another universe begins...

"You have no idea what's going on. You're a teensy, tiny man in a teensy-weensy, little bubble."
"Oh, Jimmy."
"Oh, don't you fucking "Oh, Jimmy" me.

---

God waited regally on his throne, idly tossing small things around his chamber. He refused to have any projector screens in his room, (“The damn things give me eye strain! GET THEM OUT!”) but he had other ways of knowing what was happening outside the ship. He felt a slight bump and stood, obliterating his playthings against a wall and inhaling. “Rhetorician!”
One slunk from a wall alcove. “Yes, God?”
“We’ve arrived, haven’t we?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Good! AT LAST!”
He whirled on the Rhetorician. “Bring me my war gear! And get me a neural interface so I can pilot my temple!”
“Yes, God.”
The Rhetorician slipped away again. God was about to monologue, when something ticked at the back of his mind. Something faint, something unintelligible, but something horrifyingly, undeniably real. “What… is this?!”
It blinked out. Off-put by this slightly, God returned to his throne to brood. Soon, he would be linked with the ship and in direct command, able to kill and destroy as an extension of his own body. Any momentary discomfort was worth the utter bliss that would come with the Sytis’ total destruction.

Nestled in a corner of the red-tinted bay, Cain was trying to nap, but God obviously had other plans. As they drew closer to the outermost planet in the Sytis system, the commotion in the cargo bay ramped up. Both Cain and Polos came awake as swarms of concierges dragged large pieces of technology into the bay, followed by a Rhetorician, who simply watched. Polos stood, but Cain stopped him from taking action. “I think we’re here…”
“Probably. Look, they’re bringing that stuff to the force field…”
The concierges began setting up the machinery on either end of the massive exit to space. Grey Fox, who hadn’t slept and didn’t look the part, indignantly walked up to the supervising Rhetorician. “What are they doing?! You can’t alter the properties of that field or else you’ll-”
“Your work is now on hold. We are entering combat soon. These emitters will ensure no intruder can enter through this cargo bay.”
Grey Fox sighed, clasping the bridge of his nose. “Fine.”
He turned and returned to his work. Cain raised an eyebrow. “Hmm…”
“What? What were they saying?”
“I have a plan. I think I know a way we can keep our resident genocidal maniac- er, that is, the one from our universe, from taking us all to oblivion.”
“Yeah, okay, but what were they saying?”
Cain pointed to the concierges. “They’re blocking Grey Fox’s access to space. He won’t be able to form a… Shit, what was it called?”
“You mean the beam?”
“No, I called it a… Vortex?”
Polos chuckled. “Oh, it’s nothing like a vortex. It’s more of an interdimensional aperture-”
“Whatever. He won’t be able to kill us.”
“Yeah, if that force field is meant to stop weapon’s fire, it’ll stop the beam.”
Cain snapped his fingers. “So you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”
“No. Stop being vague!”
“Ugh! You have no flair for this! Come here…”
Cain and Polos walked quietly to where they had abandoned the small projector-computer. Cain set it up, very close to the wall so that the image was small. “Gray Fox is definitely scheming a way to get rid of those force fields.”
Polos nodded. “Probably. Oh, shit, I know what we’re gonna do!”
“Let’s mess with his work, shall we? Show me a live sensor feed of the system.”
The screen shifted, and a mess of unreadable data was splayed out on a map of the Sytis system. “Looks like… Wait, which one is us?”
“I think it’s that one…”
“Okay, that leaves us a few hours.”
“Until what? We should try and get the jump on him, that’ll stop his work.”
“I’m still counting on Nai to launch an attack. But if you wanna come up with a plan B, I won’t complain. If we can keep those fields active long enough, we might be rescued. Then, once this place is under our control, we’ll lower the field and get the hell out of here. Clear enough for you?”
Polos grinned. “Clear enough.”

~~~

“And then, just tap that little button there to answer. Simple.”
Vaà held the S-Com in his claw. He reached up with the other claw and gently pressed the button. Zach patted his back. “Like that! This is the only way we can talk.”
“It is… crude. Mechanical activation? This is a thing of the past.”
“Hey, I wanted the buttons. There’s a gesture-controlled version but it costs like, a small boat.”
“... I forgot which button to push.”
“Never mind. If I can’t get you to understand it, I won’t be able to explain it to those soldiers… Serleah’s going, right? I’ll give it to-”
The intercom blared to life. “Battle stations everyone! I’ve picked up a large ship moving in from the edge of the system!”
It was Leena. Zach sighed. “Alright, big guy. Get that S-Com to Serleah and tell her to keep in touch!”
Vaà looked once more at the S-Com, and began to doubt the plan.

Lenny had never been given command of a ship before. His younger years were spent in a protective Human family, who tried their best to foster his interest in flight and space-ships while also keeping him safe. When he was allowed to take the helm of a ship, his mother would always hover over his shoulder, watching his every twitch. Even when he was on his own, he never made enough money to buy a ship, or was proficient enough to be hired on one. Now that he had his paws on the controls of a state of the art Atriean Military gunship, he was starting to think his hobby hadn’t fully prepared him for the real thing. He was trying to adjust the turret to fire along with the forward weapons (the manual he had found was helping, but it made for dry reading) when the com lit up. He toggled it and ducked back under his console. “Battle stations everyone! I’ve picked up a large ship moving in from the edge of the system!”
Lenny growled, reached up and hailed the Frontier with one paw. “This is Lenny! I’m not ready yet!”
The voice came back over the com with a bite to it. “Explain that to the Evil! How long until you’re ready?!”
“I don’t know!”
There was silence. “Hello?!”
The com beeped again, and Lenny sat up. “You cut out.”
“Rico’s having trouble too… Leph hasn’t gotten here yet, so just keep working!”
Lenny grumbled, dropping back to the floor.

Leena was warming up the engines by the time Leph arrived in the cockpit. The two were alone in the cockpit. Leph took the captain’s chair and drew a deep breath. “Status?”
“Lenny and Rico are having problems with their weapons systems. Vaà says the Sytis soldiers are ready, but the Rocinante is still barely holding together.”
“I was told we had another day. Where did they come from?”
“I can’t tell. I-I’m sorry.”
“Leena, we’ll make it work. Call Leo.”
“This is Leo! Leph, our shields are working, but I haven’t calibrated any of our weapon systems for… fluidic combat yet. I can’t be much help if the computer can’t hit anything.”
“Can’t you aim manually?”
“I can fire the missiles manually, but they won’t be guided. The point defence won’t work either, and I couldn’t hit a missile with them even if I did have direct control.”
Leph tapped his paw for a moment. “Leph?”
“Move the Rocinante behind the Frontier. Make your weapons top priority.”
“Aye. Leo out.”
The air in the cockpit was heavy. With all his preparations, things were already spiraling out of control. “Peach… I’ll be taking weapons. Call Serleah.”
The weapon systems on the Frontier hadn’t been updated since the day it was built. The controls stuck, but Leph was able to get the turrets to move. Serleah’s voice came from a small speaker by the targeting screen. “We’re ready here, Leph. Hey- Watch it!”
Leph grinned. “Trouble?”
“Sorry, our Sytis pilots don’t exactly fit in this room!”
“At least you’re ready.”
“We’re not comfortable, though!”
“File a complaint, Leph out. Leena, do you have an ETA?”
“U-uh… forty minutes!”
“That soon… call Zach.”
“Hey Leph! Ion drive’s working better than it ever has.”
“Alright. Oh, good thinking on using S-Coms to communicate with the Sytis.”
“Thanks, man…”
“You sound nervous.”
“Yeah?! I didn’t notice…”
Leph chuckled. “Zach, we’ll be fine. With you keeping the engines online and the bulkheads intact, we’re sure to be.”
“You’re right. Heh, my engineering skill is probably the skill I’m… second most confident with.”
Leph raised an eyebrow and wiped his sweaty paws on his pants. “Wait… what’s the first?”
“Stealing wallets.”
The com went dead. Leph laughed. “Zach-! Did you hear that guy?!”
Leena was giggling uncontrollably. “I heard!”
“I knew it… Get ready to contact the Sytis soldiers, and let me know when the Evil is five minutes out.”
“Five minutes? We agreed on twenty.”
“We need more time to get ready! The Frontier might take a few hits, but we’ll be fine. Let the fleet know we’ll be in for a bit more of a rough ride…”

Yalogalil stood in the main hall before two dozen soldiers, trying not to look as nervous as he was. Serleah was next to him, a rifle in her paws. “From what Vaà told us about past encounters with Evil, we can expect heavily armored resistance. Aim for the center of mass and don’t miss! As for our approach, we’ll have the cover of some of the best hardware Atriea has to offer.”
Nai raised his paw from the crowd. “Hey! My gunship design is clearly superior-”
“Nai, please?”
He lowered his paw. “Sorry, just trying to clarify.”
“Anyway, once we breach, the strike team’s job is to get Nai here to a large cargo bay filled with equipment, clear it, and hold there. Once the attack begins…”
Yalogalil studied the faces of the Sytis soldiers as Serleah recapped the plan. He detected a noticeable tension in the air (that had nothing to do with the smell) despite the Sytis showing no emotion. They had small hand-held weapons only, but Yalogalil knew not to underestimate their power. However, if they had a hundred soldiers and not this small force, Yalogalil himself would be less apprehensive. He shouldered his rifle as Serleah finished. “… we’ll be gone and so will your evil. Assault team? Get into your ships! Strike team? Stand by!”
Serleah checked her weapon, then turned to Yalogalil. “I’ll go with the assault team. So… thanks for helping us.”
“It is right.”
Serleah frowned, then patted Yalogalil on the shoulder. “Yeah.”
She ran after most of the Sytis soldiers. Yalogalil turned to Nai and three Sytis. “We wait. Before we do, I will say something. I was part of the military for a good deal of my living, and I know what I say. Please try and obey me when I speak.”
Nai nodded, then the Sytis imitated him. Vaà lumbered into the room. “Everything good?”
“Yes, Vaà. How is the Evil here? Er… Have they arrived?”
“Soon.”
He glanced at the strike team and left without further ado.

Leph watched his screen as the sphere ships deployed, hovering a few kilometers away from the Frontier. “Get me Leo.”
“Leo here. I think I can give you guided missiles, but still no point defence.”
Leph was about to get frustrated, but the com beeped. Leena glanced back. “It’s Rico.”
“Leph, both gunships are ready.”
Leph grinned. “Good! Remember: don’t make yourself a target. We don’t want you getting destroyed before the strike team is away.”
“Don’t worry, we know the plan.”
“Leph out. Leena? Leo.”
Leena switched the com back to Leo, who was still on the line. “Hey, Fieru just told me we can get point defence online. We’re ready.”
Leph stood from his controls. “Peach? ETA?”
“Ten minutes, Leph.”
“Hm…”
He ran over to his chair and looked into the view screen. He panned the outer camera to the right, the starstream coming into view, then the planet a moment later. “Wait.”
Leena gulped. “Aye…”

Leo and Fieru sat at their stations, concentrating like professionals. “How much power do we have?”
Fieru glanced at a dial. “We’re charged up to 67 percent.”
“Activate the plasma shield.”
Fieru waited for a second, then fired up the shield generator. Deep in the ship, a large reservoir of plasma began to churn. With a deep hum that could be felt through the bulkheads, streams of plasma began to channel to the outer hull, where dozens of electromagnets formed it into bubbles which covered the surface of the Rocinante. Through the cockpit window, (now tinted a light purple) Leo spotted a small red dot. It was moving closer. “Activate weapons.”

~~~

Too restless to sit, God now paced the room, growing ever more agitated. Whatever had assailed his mind earlier was now tearing it up. He was powerless to suppress it. Sickeningly sweet feelings shot through him, things he never imagined tickled his soul, and it only made him angrier. “Rhetorician!”
One appeared. “Yes?”
God stood still and raised his claw. The Rhetorician floated within an inch of God’s face. “T-t-tell me what’s going on outside!”
The Rhetorician was confused. “Sir, we are almost within weapons range, but… you are wearing the interface, you should be able to sense that.”
“This interface is useless! I deactivated it.”
As if to punctuate his point, he removed the mess of electrodes that he was wearing like a hat and tossed them aside. “Just engage them when we’re within range. I don’t actually need to be there…”
“Wh… what?”
“Don’t question me! My good, good, dear, servant…”
God released his hold on the creature. “I love you for what you have done for me, do you understand? My trusted companion!”
The Rhetorician, thoroughly off-put, retreated to the door. “Sir? Are you feeling alright?”
“NEVER BETTER! Pilot the ship!”
The Rhetorician ran, but again God reached out and stopped him, holding him in place while he crouched. “What am I saying? You… small… tiny… clone… you mean nothing to me!”
He crushed the Rhetorician, then let his remains fall. He glanced over to them. “… why did I do that?”
Another Rhetorician emerged. “I’ll have this cleaned up.”
After the remains were removed, God sat on his throne and closed his eyes. The noise filled his head again, but this time he listened.

~~~

This was it. In the minute that remained before the Evil ship was within range, Leph reflected on his life. It seemed geared towards pitting him against forces he couldn’t understand, be they entities that inhabited his body, genocidal warlords, or parenthood, Leph felt he had taken on the role of a warrior from Denokan mythology. His ancestral religion often had tales of simple men and women taking up weapons to fight monsters or demi-gods (mostly children of Laroja) with incredible powers. Usually these heroes were rewarded by a local king after they cleverly defeated their foe. Leph wondered why a king hadn’t given him anything, and with a chuckle wondered if his life would become myth one day. As Leena glanced at him, awaiting instructions, Leph recalled something a folklore teacher had told him: “If you’re having trouble picking out a theme, look at what these heroes all have in common: once they have their great treasure, they always go back to their old lives on farms or as servants, rejecting the gift. Why? Back then, being remembered was valued more than treasure, and, sometimes, more than life itself.”
Leph looked around the cockpit. “Leena? Why did I never buy a new ship?”
She furrowed her brow. “You like this ship. I like it too. It’s… Familiar.”
“I think… If I was flying any other ship, I wouldn’t be me.”
“...I’m not sure I follow…”
Leph grinned. “It’s all I ever wanted, Leena.”
There was a loud alarm. Leena whirled around. “Leph… its starting.”

Serleah floated in one of the sphere ships, accompanied by Vaà. “Say, Vaà, you’re a physicist, right?”
“I hold advanced knowledge in many scientific fields.”
“And… wow, really?”
“Yes.”
“How… old are you?”
“I am 173 years old.”
“You’re 173… impressive.”
“Thank you.”
Serleah gestured to the Evil ship, now quite visible. “Why did you join this mission? We’re the bait, you know.”
“I am aware. I… this is my plan. It is my idea to be bait. In my culture this is my mission. I must be present.”
Serleah nodded. “It’s also partly Nai and Leph’s plan. There’s no reason to put yourself in danger.”
Evading the question, Vaà turned to the helm of his sphere ship. “And you? Why did you choose this?”
“It’s my job.”
“Then you do understand.”
“I guess I do. Oh, one sec…”
She took out the S-Com Vaà had given her. “Yeah?”
“Serleah, the Evil is about to open fire; I’m detecting a dozen missile batteries opening all over the ship. Set heading to 30 degrees and move off to fifty kilometers. Make the missiles your primary target, but take a few potshots at the Evil so they follow you. Good luck.”
“Roger that, Leph. Come on, Vaà, signal the fleet.”
With their orders received, the fleet moved out. A small collection of sphere ships, and the Rocinante.