The panic of getting to the ship with the battery settled in our bones as time ticked past. I flew the ship as fast as it would go, but there was nothing I could do other than that. The small break to make sure the Captain didn't fall apart hadn't done anything to make us forget about the situation. That crew had our means to save the Patriot's crew. And time was moving too quickly.

   The ship rattled and groaned through the flight. I stayed in the bridge and worked to keep the ship stable on the Zipline. The Hyper engines were what kept us stable, and with them dead, it was incredibly hard to keep the ship from falling apart. I didn't know how much time had passed before Zoel finally came into sight. And as the planet did, so did the other ship. It was just in front of ours and aiming directly for Settlement Mirah.

    I reloaded my gun and stuck it into my belt, grabbing the control. I pressed the intercom system. "We're heading to land. Their ship is seconds in front of ours." I checked my communication clasp and felt myself pale. 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes, 51 seconds. "We've got seventeen minutes until the Patriot powers down." How had the time passed so quickly?

   There was a response. "We're ready to land. And we've tied up Ordell in the airlock and given him enough air to survive a few hours. It won't be a tragedy if we forget, anyway." It was Byrne.

   "Get them to hold onto something. I won't be landing smoothly if it means we land faster."

   "Copy."

   I let go of the button and returned both hands to the controls. The Captain's voice filled my ears a moment later. "I know we were trained to be the diplomatic ones in a situation. We're done with that today. These people aren't going to stop. When you have a kill shot, take it." A sense of finality came with his words. I didn't disagree. A faint warning to slow down appeared as we finally reached Zoel's gravity. I ignored it and forced the ship to keep going full speed. To my anger, the other ship did the same. Both of us raced toward the surface. It grew increasingly warm as the sides heated up and began to glow red hot. Sweat dripped down my brow as I counted down, slick hands almost letting go of the control.

   At the last second, I cut off the power, turned the thrusters, and turned them as strong as they'd go. The ship screamed in agony as it jerked and rattled, desperately fighting gravity and momentum, and then we hit the ground. I was thrown around in my seat and my head hit the side. Trees smacked into the front of the ship and one speared through the glass and narrowly missed my head. I unbuckled my seatbelt before the ship even stopped, racing for the exit. My knee yelled at me to stop, aching violently, but I found the door was already open.

   The other ship had landed seconds before us. I'd managed to land us right next to the clearing the Patriot was settled in. There was no sign of Mayor Spencer's militia. The other ship steamed and smoked as the doors opened and yellow zodiac blasts rained toward the ship I was running out of. I lunged to the side and avoided getting hit, growling as I was forced to take cover. The four ran out of the ship and raced for the Patriot. I peered out from my hiding place to see Byrne launch out and tackle Perenna to the ground. From a sniper's position, Bird forced the remaining three to back up. The fight had started.

   I located the battery in Tase's hands. My lip curled and I rushed out from behind the tree, sprinting to catch up to him. I was inches from snatching the battery in his grasp when he turned around and lifted his zodiac. Bird's shot knocked it from his grasp and I caught Tase's wrist, twisting it to make him drop the battery. He spat into my face and his fingers dug into the wound in my shoulder. I shrieked.

   Edwards suddenly ran past, stooping to pick up the battery, and sprinted for the Patriot. "No!" Semper ran after him but I wasn't allowed to pay attention. Tase's arms suddenly caught my throat. I bucked my hips with a screech and grabbed his hair. He shouted as I used it to slam the back of my head into his nose. I dug my elbow into the bullet wound in his gut and twisted, punching him across the face. He stumbled back and pressed his hand to the mark on his cheek. His lip curled. "You aren't going to win, Autumn."

   Edwards shouted and the battery flew from his hands. Emrys caught it just as Decker rammed into his side. Captain Thorn's hand barely missed the battery as it sailed from Emrys's grasp and straight into Peterson. He yelped and clumsily trapped it against his chest, his wrapped hands unable to hold it. He ran straight for Captain Thorn, preparing to give it back. Semper got into the way and raised her zodiac.

   A shot from the trees buried straight into Semper's heart. Her eyes widened briefly before she collapsed. Peterson exhaled in relief. Tase screamed. "No! Semper!"

   He doubled over and tears wet his face. "That was my wife, you bitch," he spat. I curled my lip and cocked back my fist. "I don't have time for this, Ambrogio."

   With a scream, he jumped. His hands wrapped around my throat and my back hit the ground. I choked and beat my hands against his face, but he was too angry to care. I dug my nails into his eye and he screamed again, lifting my head and slamming it back down. "I'm going to kill you!"

   The closest person was Peterson. He looked between the battery and me, panicking, before he turned and ran my way. He clumsily used the two fingers sticking from his bandages to pull something from his belt and rammed it into Tase's back. Tase roared and jerked off of me. I gasped in air and kicked his wounded stomach. Before I could hesitate, I pulled my gun, shoved off of the ground with my spare hand, pressed the barrel against his skull, and pulled the trigger.

   Peterson was pale as I stood up above his body and took the battery. My face was cold. Now I could see the knife buried in Tase's back that Peterson had stabbed him with. I started to run for the ship, battery in my grasp, as Perenna broke free of Byrne's distraction and ran straight to intercept me. I saw she was on target to collide with me and reared back my arm to throw the battery straight for Captain Thorn. It sailed for his arms just as Emrys raised his hands and caught it instead. Captain Thorn growled and headed straight for him.

   Edwards suddenly screamed. I whipped around to see his back sizzling. He collapsed to reveal Julian clambering off of the HyperZipline ship, zodiac in his hands. Edwards wasn't moving. I flashed back to our shared time in the Lounge and the whiskey. With a shriek, I lifted my gun and fired multiple shots at Julian. He threw himself behind a tree. I rushed for Edwards, panicking, as I heard Byrne cry out. She went down, holding her side, and Perenna stood above her with Byrne's own gun. I skidded to a stop, torn between the two, before the decision was made for me.

   Peterson barreled into Perenna's side and sent her toppling over. He used his wrapped hands to beat her against the face, kicking the gun from her grasp. She threw him off and clobbered him on the head. Peterson, dazed, crawled away.

   I reached Edwards just as Bird emerged from the trees. He rolled Edwards over and swore at the smoking flesh. "I've got him! Go get the battery!"

   I hesitated, cursed at myself, and turned back around. Emrys still had the battery and he ran from Captain Thorn, fumbling with it. Byrne suddenly cried into our heads, "They need the battery to use their suits! That's why they stole it – and if he uses it, it'll be gone."

   That explained why none of them were using their disappearing technology. I finally reached him and slammed my foot against his knee. It gave and he tumbled, shouting, and Captain Thorn tore the battery from his grasp. Emrys wasn't done, however. He pulled free some sort of zodiac and a blade on the end activated. I jumped backwards as he slashed, but Captain Thorn hadn't seen it as he turned to run for the ship. The blade sliced through his calf and he looked down, aghast, as blood spurted. The pain kicked in and his face screwed up tightly, his hands clutching the battery tightly as he stumbled over his feet.

   I reached into my boot and pulled out my knife, lunging for Emrys. "Get to the ship!" I screamed at the Captain. "We haven't got time!"

   He was already on his way, dragging his leg and stumbling for the Patriot. Emrys rolled from my lunge but I hooked the long bo-staff with my foot and sent it flying from his grasp. He growled and jumped to his feet, his foot slamming in my gut. Then his own knife slashed for my face and connected. Stinging fire raced down my forehead and I locked our forearms with his knife milliseconds away from gouging out my eye. Blood trickled from my forehead into my vision and down my face. Emrys growled and twisted his arm free, lashing out again.

   My heartrate was getting faster and faster. I had no time to check the timer on my wrist. The ship could be seconds from powering down. I took the risk and lifted my arm as Emrys reared his arm back. My eyes had just landed on the numbers when his knife slashed against my wrist and broke the clasp in two. Fury lifted up in a wave and I shouted, turning the knife in my fist to point down and slashed wildly at his throat.

   He moved backwards in time to just avoid a fatal strike. Even so, a faint red line appeared across his neck. I attacked with the fury of a wildfire, stalking forward and giving him no time to adjust. My bad leg limped. Blood dripped from my back, my face, my arm, my ear, and my stomach. Everything hurt. But there was no way in hell I was letting this crew of lab rats kill my crew.

    Byrne suddenly screamed. Decker was still trying to subdue Perenna and turned around to see her fall. Julian shifted his aim to Peterson but Bird lifted his rifle and fired. Julian's weapon was thrown from his grasp. Perenna suddenly broke free and bolted for Captain Thorn, pulling another weapon from her side and aiming it. My eyes widened as she fired and hit the ground in front of him. Captain Thorn howled as debris was blown into his leg and he tripped. Before the battery could break, he launched it wildly.

   It sailed through my arms and straight toward Byrne's form against the ground. It landed and rolled to her side. She didn't move. Emrys struggled to break from my attack as Perenna turned for Byrne, but Decker tackled her around the waist. Byrne and Edwards were down. Peterson was scrambling with something on the ground. Bird was chasing after Julian. Decker was furiously trying to keep Perenna away from the battery, but his side was bleeding badly. Emrys finally broke free from me and sprinted away. I tried to chase, but my leg was too far gone. There was no way.

   And then Peterson was there. He had unwrapped his mangled hands and held some sort of device in his hands. It looked shabbily put together. He crawled for Byrne and grabbed the battery. His wide eyes darted between the battery and Emrys as he ran faster towards him, growling. Peterson finally got what he wanted. He lifted his arm, device in hand, and activated it. The battery was launched into the air, way above Emrys's head, and straight toward me. I rushed to align myself and lifted my hands.

   It had hardly landed in my grasp before Perenna was suddenly right in front of me. Her face was twisted into a snarl and she had a knife in her hand. It was aimed for my heart. No! I threw myself backwards and turned my head up to look behind me. Mid-fall, I threw the battery as hard as I could. My body hit the ground and my jaw slammed on my tongue. The battery sailed in seeming slow motion until it landed in Captain Thorn's hands. He held to his chest like a football and finished wedging his way into the cargo room of the Patriot. The door closed behind him, leaving a smear of blood.

   I let myself fall to my knees in relief. My chest heaved with my breaths as I gasped to catch my breath. The Captain would be plugging in the battery in minutes. We just had to keep the doors to the ship secure. "You l-lose," I said to Perenna, turning my head. But she was gone. I pushed myself to shaky feet and turned around. All of the remaining blood in my body pooled into my feet when I saw where she had gone.

   Peterson was pale and shaking. Perenna's arm was around his throat and she had something against it. Blood trickled from his head. Everyone on the battlefield froze as she raised her voice. "Call your Captain back down here, or he's dead." Peterson yelped as she dug what looked like a needle into his skin. "You are fools to think that we didn't have a backup plan," she hissed. "Call him back, or you'll figure out just what that plan is."

   Her eyes were locked onto me. I wiped some blood from my face to stare at her, my heart thundering. Peterson's eyes bored into me, begging for help, and I felt the weight of making a decision. I felt compressed. My innards twisted. I swallowed. If I called the Captain back, the crew would die. But if I didn't, Peterson was going to die. In reality, I knew the right decision, but I couldn't make myself sentence Peterson to death. He was the first to wake beside me and I wasn't going to be the one to end his life.

   His voice suddenly filled my head. "Captain, get that battery plugged in. Don't listen to Autumn. Don't. Please." His voice wavered as my eyes widened. "Peterson! No!" Perenna smiled darkly as I went for a weapon, any weapon—

   She jabbed the needle in and pushed the plunger. Peterson's eyes widened. I roared as she yanked the needle out and shoved him away, turning to watch eagerly. He put a hand to his neck, scared, as I heard the sound of the Patriot's weapons firing up. I whipped around to see the lights on the exterior glowing to life and the cargo doors began to lower automatically. A deranged laugh forced out of my lips. He'd done it. The Patriot had power. And judging by the sound of the weapons activating, the battery had supplied enough for us to fight back, at long last.

   Emrys suddenly rushed through the doors and onto the ship. My eyes flashed open in a panic and I shouted, running for the ship. "Captain, Emrys just ran on board!"

   "I see him! I'm activating the AI defenses—"

   Suddenly I heard another ship activating weapons. I turned my head over my shoulder just in time to see the others' ship turning one of their weapons toward the Patriot. My mouth opened to scream a warning when it glowed yellow and fired.

   The Patriot exploded.

   A shockwave blasted outwards. I was thrown off of my feet and sailed for several yards before I smashed onto the ground, my head spinning. A ringing filled my ears as I forced my head up, staring at fire as it swelled up around the remains of the red and blue ship. Debris was scattered in such a way that I was amazed I was alive. My brain refused to work. All I could do was stare.

   The first sound I heard was the laughing. The shrill cackles echoed through my ears and circled my head. I turned my head over to see Perenna doubled over and crying with laughter. My fingers closed around the barrel of the zodiac and I found myself rising to my knees. I pulled the trigger at the same time Decker did. The woman was hit from both sides and her body became nothing but a fried corpse.

   "No..." I whispered hoarsely, pushing myself to my feet. I turned to look at the Patriot. It was nothing but a pile of pieces of metal. "No!" My words turned into a scream once the image sunk into my brain. I screamed. Everyone on board... everyone ... the Captain... all gone. All dead. And there was nothing I could do.

   My ears picked up on the sound of the zodiac before I felt it hit me. The blast hit my back and sent me rolling until I sprawled on my back. Burning agony shot through where it had blasted straight through my chest, leaving a gaping hole. I gasped and choked, hand weakly trying to help the pain as it rocketed through my brain as a white-hot poker. Julian climbed down from the weaponry of his ship and lifted his zodiac again, face twisted with hatred.

   A blast from a zodiac connected with his hand and blew it clean off. Julian screamed in agony and doubled over. I turned my head over weakly to see a piece of rubble shift and push away. A dark hand holding the zodiac finished heaving it off. Captain Thorn's face was covered with soot and blood. He weakly crawled out, stumbling, and only made it a few feet before he collapsed to his knees. He was almost shredded, but he was alive.

   He sat there beside me, his breaths rattling in his chest. His eyes stared into the distance, lost in space. I laid there, sprawled, with a hole smoking in my chest. Blood seeped into the grass and sunk into the soft soil. I gazed up at the cloudy sky, speechless.

   It was utterly silent in the clearing until someone screamed. Byrne staggered upright and ran for the ship, crying someone's name. She screamed and screamed and screamed as Decker caught her waist and pulled her back, his own face streaked with tears. Bird stared at the remains of the ship. He was beside the two limp bodies of Edwards and Peterson. I hadn't even realized I'd heard Peterson screaming until he suddenly wasn't. He laid there, unmoving.

   No one wanted to move. I couldn't. I couldn't even feel anything anymore. My eyes closed and tears cut through the soot and dried blood across my cheeks.