All of Vatra's focus returned back to the path before them. Swirling easels of light vanished from sight. They'd dropped out of the gambol into the Dead Zone already.

The space in the Dead Zone was supposed to be empty. Lifeless and dark. As it usually was, save for the rare moments of brave pirates. Like those that had attacked them on their way in.

However, the Dead Zone was not so barren. Dozens of ships sat in a formation, as if waiting for Vatra's ship to appear. They were looming masses of metal that outmatched her vessel in size and weaponry.

The remnants of escape pods littered the vacuum of space. Burnt to crisps, it appeared that no one had escaped Pocarro. Vatra shut off the manual burn with a shaking hand, watching crushed and mangled bodies float by.

She dared not look over her shoulder, hoping that Hisato wouldn't see the destruction. It was a foolish hope to have.

"Those bastards," Hisato growled. He'd freed himself from his restraints and leaned into the cockpit. "I'll kill them myself."

Vatra lowered her still wavering hands into her lap, tightening her fingers into fists. "I don't think I can get us out of this one," she said.

Her focus drew to the main ship in the middle of the formation. It was more than ten times the size of the Agkistrodon, and trying to take them on would be like spitting water on to their hull. Their rail guns and missiles were useless.

"Don't tell me you're giving up," Enyalius mused from behind Vatra.

Sparing him a look of complete hatred, Vatra kept her gaze on the symbol painted almost proudly on the front of the vessel. The outline of Earth with two swords behind it didn't bring back any fond memories of the planet she knew as home. She didn't feel pride or longing for the past. Vatra was furious—disgusted that a group of people were bastardizing the memory of Earth.

Vatra shook herself from the fear paralyzing her muscles. "Don't tell me if you were in my place, you'd risk fighting these guys. Last time I checked, you were terrified of them," Vatra said.

A chuckle blew warm breath along the back of Vatra's neck. "I'm not the one piloting this ship. We're gods, love. Being reckless is what we do best," Enyalius leaned forward, "and I can't imagine anything more reckless than going out with a bang."

It was one of the first times Enyalius had acknowledged her as being on an equal level to him. He claimed her as a god. She'd always been lesser than to him; a creation versus a being of power.

Shaking hands steadied. Vatra grabbed the controls and looked back over her shoulder. "Everyone better get seated. This is going to get bumpy."

The Agkistrodon lurched forward. A manual burn was the fastest they could manage, but it also meant it was the fastest the enemy could go, too. And their ships were much larger than hers. This was an advantage Vatra would take.

Much more streamlined than the bulky cruise-ship styled vessels before her, the Agkistrodon easily took to the obstacles set in front of them. Spinning down toward an asteroid field, Vatra dodged and took cover from enemy fire.

Fiery blue and white lights shot past them. The asteroids took much of the fire, shattering off into more pieces with each hit. Breaking down even further, the asteroids provided more and more cover with each hit. Eventually, the Agkistrodon was completely hidden behind a wall of debris.

Vatra kept the Agkistrodon close to the field of asteroids, glancing off the side of it like the waves on Doatis. Before the field dissipated, Vatra pushed the controls forward as far as they could go. They careened downward, testing the true strength of their restraints. The rattle of debris along the belly of the ship bounced off with sharp cracks.

A smile cracked through the tense muscles of her cheeks. Vatra held back a shout of joy as the Agkistrodon gained speed with each second. Just as the debris field ended, Vatra pulled up and hit the manual burn with all it had.

The enemy's ships sat unaware above them. It reminded Vatra of being deep beneath the surface of an ocean, and a school of hungry sharks swam above her. Famished and ready to feed.

None of them would be able to maneuver to a position to fire in time. If they even noticed the Agkistrodon, that was. Vatra leaned forward while maintaining a steady hold on the controls. The curved glass of the Agkistrodon allowed her to watch the bellies of the warships pass overhead.

Enemy fire continued to rip apart the field of asteroids. Bit by bit, they destroyed the cover she'd used. Within a minute or two, they'd realize she was no longer there.

That's all the time I need, Vatra thought 

She ignored the monstrous pieces of the destroyed planet, a sight that would usually capture her attention. The only thing on her mind was to reach the point to gambol. This wasn't the end she'd envisioned. No, death wasn't going to take them today.

The controls balked against her. A hum grew beneath them, which sounded more like an animal dying in agony. It might as well have been one. The Agkistrodon couldn't handle a full burn at that intensity without aid from the system the Dead Zone locked Vatra out of.

"That does not sound good," Spyro said. His knuckles whitened against the restraints.

Vatra forced a laugh. "We've been through worse."

"No," Spyro replied. His head turned against the force of the burn pushing him deeper into the seat. "I do not believe we have been in a situation even comparable to this."

Glancing over to meet the concern in his eyes, Vatra shrugged off his words. She couldn't allow herself to think negatively. "We're almost there."

"This ship will rip apart before we make it," Spyro warned. The lines in his face disappeared as the strain tugged at his skin. "The Agkistrodon was designed for combat, not distance."

A grumble rattled in Vatra's throat. They were so close, but she couldn't deny that the ship was starting to give way. The Agkistrodon was a rubber band being pulled as taut as possible with no give, which a gambol would have allowed. Eventually, the band was going to snap. Their bodies would be ripped to shreds along with it. 

"Fine," Vatra said. "Combat it is."

Pulling back the controls sharply, Vatra turned the vessel toward the enemy. She took aim at the main ship and fired without a second-thought. The light of the missiles passing by splashed Vatra's face in an array of yellow and white.

Watching almost with a hunger to make a kill, Vatra pushed the missiles forward with a will to destroy every one of them. None of them hit the intended target. A wave of almost translucent light wavered slightly from the impacts. Each missile exploded across the protective shield surrounding the ship.

"Shit," Vatra muttered.

"Don't tell me you expected to take them out?" Enyalius called from behind her.

Gloves crinkled as Vatra tightened her grip. "You told me to do something reckless!"

"I never agreed to be reckless," Hisato chimed in. "Now they know we're here."

"You wanted to kill them, too!" Vatra shouted, projecting her voice toward the others. "Next time I'll let the backseat drivers take the wheel," she grumbled to herself.

The previously unaware vessels above them started to break their triangle-shaped formation. Slowly, the smaller ones began to descend on their location. Vatra wondered if this was how fish felt before being snapped up by a shark. The shadows of the larger ships enveloped the Agkistrodon.

"Now what the hell do we do? Anyone have any bright ideas? They're about to blast us from existence," Vatra said.

No one answered. Whatever last words they wanted to say, they were all keeping them to themselves.

The controls were unexpectedly yanked from Vatra's hands. "What the-" Her words were cut off as the Agkistrodon started to move, rather hastily, straight up.

They passed by the smaller ships, their weapons charged and aimed right toward them. None of them fired. Instead, the Agkistrodon continued on for the belly of the main ship. A belly that had opened up.