06:30 am, standard Galactic time.

The bustling Alliance controlled planet was slowly awakening, it's tri suns blazing in the distant horizon, the first of these fascinating stars rising. Aliens, immigrants and refugees alike were starting to strut their wares in the vast spaceports and docking stations that abound the planet. Be it off-planet or on-planet, nothing was different. For the Alliance, any business is good business, especially slave acquisition. But this time they had suffered a set-back.

Somewhere in deep space, a wild starfighter with the call sign 'Wild Deuce' was wreaking havoc on their trade lines and cargo shipments. Most of their freighters were either confiscated, destroyed, or utterly shot down to pieces by the vaunted 16th fleet of the ADD, under the leadership of the pilot riding the 'Wild Deuce'. People had begun talking, and the Alliance had already lost a lot more than it should be gaining.

Corsecus Hanzo was the last of the traders to be shot down. Corsecus was quite the hero, having secured safe passages under heavy fire and was legendary for evading the fleet under the command of ironhand General Armstrong of the ADD. It seemed he would live out the rest of his days a legend...that is, until the 16th fleet tracked him down.

He never even lasted 30 seconds in a dogfight against the 'Wild Deuce'.

This was driving the top brass crazy. Bad business meant few and fewer trade deals and the Alliance was losing more and more money.

06:45 am, standard Galactic time.

A knock on the door of 1st Lt. Kouzakai Gorshnak meant his day was beginning. He was the new officer in the Alliance and was making quite a name for himself. With almost 300 done deals to his name, and quite a slew of agents under his accomplishments, he feels that everything was just beginning to reach its climax.

It was a summons to head for the boardroom, where he was to be met by Scout Patrol Lt. Darkfang Goran, a Lycanthine from the twilight planet of Gom-gorath, which was aligned with the Alliance.

" Look, Lt. Gorshnak." He spoke in a deep, growling voice, secluded under a heavy hood. He higly disliked light, and for him, the only light worth seeing was the light of the full moon...of which they had 10.

" This rogue agent has been doing mission runs for only a bit of time. But since her first mission..."

" Her? It's a 'her'?"

" Well there aren't many male officials in the ADD are there?"

Anyway that was true. The ADD was almost completely composed of females, save for a few male commanders.

" Well, anyway we have a problem. And it's up to you..."

" Up to me?"

"...to infiltrate and try to engage the 16th..."

" Wait. This is wrong. I haven't even been..."

" You will be outfitted with a starfighter, and a fleet..."

" Wait!!"

"..befitting you rank of Lieutenant."

Kouzakai held his tongue, it seemed like there was no longer any veering away from the subject. He just closed his eyes, prayed to Neptune for strength, and spoke again.

" I'm sorry. It's just that...I'm still new. There are a lot of other deserving personnel out there, and...I think you should have picked them. Not me. But I guess I can't avoid it anymore, can I?"

" You're right..." Darkfang replied. " But you are somehow qualified since...look at you. You've gotten successful deals left and right. Plus your victories are a source of morale for the troops...you're qualified for this job, Kouzakai."

" I...I guess..."

" Don't worry, I'll be with you in the fleet. It'll just be like the old days."

The old days were those days when Kouzakai was just newly incepted, and when flying a sub-standard cruiser he decimated a fleet of 300 ADD ships. Luck or coincidence, no one knew. Only Kouzakai knew.

" Look, just...let's go. We have lots and lots to do."

Having said that, Darkfang and Kouzakai left for the spaceports, eager to be at the helm of a whole new hunt once again, where a new challenge awaits him.

Captain. It still made no sense to Kaylee whatsoever. She flew along in the Wild Deuce through space, leading nine other fighters towards a system in the Archanius Alliance. True, she'd managed to make decisive strokes during several key battles, crippling the Alliance's power and mobility somewhat...but she doubted she'd done quite as much as deserving to lead an entire fleet.

She shook her head. Speculating wasn't helping, even after these past few weeks of trying to get used to the title. She shoved it to the back of her mind, deciding she'd set things straight soon enough and relinquish command to someone else. After this mission, of course. Kaylee picked up the comm and broadcast to her squadron. "All right, coming up on the split point. You all know the drill: go in, trash comm and broadcast systems first, take care of resistance second, then mop up the rest and secure noncombatants as final objective. Try to keep casualties down to a minimum. Our target is Khorvaus, an Alliance outpost for slave trade. It's not too heavily guarded, which is why we're so light...but it is spread out a bit, for an outpost. Khorvus is an asteriod field, so be careful; it's easy to get ambushed." She marked out the sectors that each ship would be searching through. "Remember, if you come into heavy resistance, don't try to play hero, radio for backup. Fighters are priority targets. I don't want anyone getting blasted because they tried to stop a transport or two while they were getting shot at. Be careful, and godspeed."

Affirmations of her orders were given, and her unit split up, each ship going to its designated area. Kaylee kicked up her acceleration and sped off towards her own sector, keeping her eyes peeled amidst the floating rocks. Why the hell had they made an outpost here, of all places? It couldn't possibly be good for business...still, the briefs had said there was a new installation, and her orders were to shut it down and make the Alliance choose something closer to home, while they still had any trade at all. Kaylee slowed down on entering the field and warmed up her weapons, making sure her assault canons and Diamondheads were ready., and watched her screen and her viewport carefully for any sign of ambush or of a target, keeping an ear out for anyone radioing for assistance.

Kouzakai made his way onto the tarmac where something was waiting for him...something out of the bounds of his imagination but quite a thing which he would have asked for nonetheless.

There it was, engines humming on it's own. It was seed shaped, although slightly smaller than a passenger ship. It was three lobed, and from the outside it looked more like a living creature...a plant, or maybe an alien lifeform in its own...but it had it's share of integrated mech. The Labs had taken the liberty of placing in triple torpedoe cannons on it's underbelly, while on each side it had four lava cannons and was propelled by something similar to a dovin basal.

" Look at it, Kouzakai." Darkfang said, smiling. " It's like you. It is a beast, in every sense of the word."

Here and there something like coral formations were diving in and out of their shells and Kouzakai thought he saw what had looked like eyes staring at him. He touched the ship. And it seemed that it responded to his attentions, as it hummed enthusiastically when he touched it. It had the insignia of the Alliance burned into it's side and it looked like a beautiful, intrinsic tattoo.

" Perfect..." Kouzakai could only mutter.

" I shall call you...'Devourer'"

As if in approval, the ship opened it's port door, to let in the pilot of it's own choosing, Kouzakai.

---

Moments later the fleet were into space. Darkfang was at the lead, while Kouzakai was hidden among the ships and the escorts. The fleet was escorting a transport of two heavy cruisers, and these cruisers were outfitted with weapons...and carried heavy Yamato guns they have taken from wrecks of ADD ships, particularly flagships of the 18th and 19th. These could wipe out an entire fleet, and there was a reason they had to outfit these ships.

Aside from the problems of the 16th, they were securing a delivery to the meteor fields of Khorvus and it was important to clear the way for these ships. They were carrying fresh catches, which Kouzakai himself had secured and these were to save the sinking economy of this particular part of the Alliance's space.

Kouzakai darted in and out and around of the smaller and larger asteroids, playing with the Devourer's engines. It was superb, lightning fast and aside from that seemed to have a mind of it's own. And it seemed it's main directive was keeping itself...and it's pilot alive. Everything was just as Kouzakai had wanted. Not that he wasn't a skillful pilot himself but this clearly cuts the job in half.

Just then, the buzzer sounds, and Darkfang's voice comes from a coomb spore which has just infalsted and had done the impression of Darkfang on it's smooth, sleek skin.

" Trouble Kouzakai...we have just spotted the 16th. Be on the ready."

Around him the clear, dark space had just erupted into firefighting and the Yamato guns erupted. Kouzakai readied himself and slipped into his aqua face mask.

" Alright beast...let's go."

Devourer hummed to life and shot forwards to the fray, signaling it's entry by firing lava bolts at the nearest ship, catching it by surprise and scathing it's wing off, leaving it defenseless.

All at once, reports began to pour in through her speakers. Some told of enemy ships being neutralized, some of her agents coming under fire...she scanned her sensor screen...and her jaw dropped. What was this? Not only was she up against the defense systems of the fields...but apparently, she'd had the misfortune of attacking in the same area as the arrival of a convoy...and after all the ruckus she'd stirred up lately, this convoy was apparently heavily armed and waiting for her unit especially. This was very bad...

Wasting no time, Kaylee yanked up her comm. "Attention! All units, combat throughout the entire sector. If it doesn't have a friendly ID tag on your screen, blow it down, no questions asked, and move on! Whatever you do, don't stop moving, and don't do anything risky!" She couldn't help but smirk at that, given her own form of combat when in space. She dropped the comm for a moment, taking the time to gun down one of the marauders, her assault canons blazing to life, firing down at the thing. Shots scored on its wings, its engines...and the vessel went critical, flaring out of existence. Now was not the best time to be lecturing her unit on how to fight. They probably had it down by now. "Offer assistance where you can, and if it starts to get too heavy, book it and take back info as to what happened to the Serandis system! Now then...let's give 'em some pain!"

She heard a few cheers as she hung up her comm and set herself in for some action. A sharp turn brought her into a dogfight with another ship...which she quickly ended, firing in front of the apparently inexperienced pilot's ship and making whoever it was slam into an asteroid as they ripped off to the side to escape the wrath of her bullets. She flew towards the thickest area of combat, eager to make sure that this fight ended favorably for her and her unit. "Damn...I wish I could just go back to being a scout again...I'm not meant to fight battles like this..." But she couldn't deny that the feel of battle rushing through her was undeniably enjoyable as she shot down yet a third Alliance fighter, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone that might need her assistance.

Khorvus station was having a hard time repelling the intruders, since it was mostly a drop-off point and a stop-over for most trade ships plying these routes. It's master, Rock-eye Maddex, was a hardened miner turned Alliance dealer. He valiantly led the defiance but the 16th was just swarming the station.

Just in time though, the fleet of Darkfang and the Lieutenant came from out of nowhere, joining the fight and quickly turning the tide of battle. Fighters engaged fighters and a free-for-all ensued, in the thickest of asteroid fields.

Kouzakai found himself being dogged by three ships from the 16th's main force. Somehow, this awakened Kouzakai's intincts and like a mad dog he thrusted forward, relying on instincts alone.

" Alright baby, show me what you got." He said, talking to the Devourer.

As if responding the ship turned to a steep dive towards an asteroid. Kouzakai let himself be drawn, drawing two agents in the process. Laser bolts erupted behind him, but as he accelerated a minimal blackhole opened where he was and it sucked up the energy bolts. He turned into a spin and just as the ships were about to close in he notched the stutter stick upwards, climbing all of a sudden, and taking the pursuing ships by surprise and in the process, crashing them against the craggy surface of the asteroid.

An agent found herself alone in the thick of battle, when from out of nowhere Kouzakai appeared and rained lava bolts at her...

Three ships did not return to the call of their captain.

Meanwhile, the 16th sensed a trouble in the sector nearest their captain. Seemingly that sector was a blackhole which sucked up the ships and never spewed them again. There was only one reported ship there...a weird looking techno-organic ship that shot lava bolts instead of laser and left temporary blackholes where ever it last accelerated.

In Kouzakai's mind, this was a challenge to the ADD...

'Come and get me, fools...'

" All units proceed to battle positions and safeguard the station. Resist enemy fighters and shoot them down..." came the general message to all the fighters. Then switching to a private channel, he spoke to Darkfang.

" Hey Darkfang, I'm doing Blindman's run...drift in and drift out."

A dark smile came onto his face.

Kaylee gave a fierce snarl as she saw several of her ships shot down by what looked like a flying aquarium. She calmed herself, letting her blue eyes focus on the battlefield as she made her way across it to the enemy vessel, blowing two more vessels out of existence and smiling coldly as one of her ships took out a third that had been trying to sneak up on her from behind. She sent back a hurried thanks over the comm, then focused on her prey once more. No way was he gonna get away with that. She got a weapons lock for her canons, thought about waiting for her missile lock to come online...and then dismissed the thought just as quickly. Gun him down with her assault canons, instead. Why waste missiles on something like that?

She followed the fighter for a few seconds, trying to get a tag out of it, but unable...whatever it was, it was unmarked by the Alliance, as far as the Directorate's systems knew. Whatever, it hardly mattered. She'd never been one for taking dogtags on the ground, when it came to the alliance, so why do it in space? "Goodbye, nameless..." She hissed venemously, her finger clamping down over the trigger of her weapons controls, and sending bursts of gunfire at the vessel, each one of them glowing like melted copper in the darkness as they streaked angrily forward towards the ship...

All heads display showed triple bogeys heading his way, and one of them was the ship in question, the Wild Deuce. Being the leader she was she was doing pretty fine for Blindman's run...zigging in and out of asteroids like he did. The seed-shaped coral skipper effortlessly evaded enemy fire and shot them down effectively, making his a total of 8 or 9 in a minute so far.

Kouzakai looked around, trying to get a general view of a much wider battlefield. The fight had to be taken to open field. Too much casualties, and everyone was dying so quickly...Knew we should've had Fleet 64 or some more stronger fleet to escort us....

Just then, heads-up display gave out the alarm that he was being targetd locked. He couldn't evade, as in all sides there were asteroids coming at him, and countless debris. He ran out of space without even looking and...

Surely, bolts of lasaer fury blasted out of the Wild Deuce's gun pod, wishing to mark the Devourer as a new notch on her nose. Kouzakai just couldn't allow that, but what choice did he have...

Suddenly the fighter gave a huge lurch forward, throwing him against his restraints. He expected to hit something or to feel something explode but nothing gave out. Instead he found himself in the vicinity of the carriers, nearing the Khorvus station. He did not know what had happened, or how he got here...all he knew was that he was out of danger's way, and it seemed his mission: deliver the goods safely...was about accomplished after all.

Still unsatisfied, he returned into the fracas to fish out whatever he had left of his fledgling fleet.

Meanwhile, from where he was moments ago, a mini-blackhole opened up just as he jumped out of view, sucking up gunfire into its blackness and everything around it, then disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.