"Command, I've got incoming. Unidentified craft in unknown formation. Reading twelve total."

Captain Lucius Valos looked to the officer seated at communications. "Which patrol is that?"

"Lieutenant Hardwick, sir."

"Put him on. I want to talk to him."

"Done."

The Captain leaned down to the microphone. "Lieutenant, can you hear me?"

"Yes sir. Loud and clear. Orders?"

"Not yet. Do you have visual?"

"No sir. They're on radar. Do you want me to get a closer look?"

"If you can, Lieutenant."

An officer, second in command, called from across the bridge. "Sir, our allies have confirmed they have no units in the area. Our intelligence says no other nation is in this territory."

Captain Valos snorted. "Well. That settles it, then." He spoke into the microphone again. "Lieutenant, wait for a visual before you act, just in case. If they're allies, warn them that they're playing with fire by encroaching our boundaries. Enemy craft are to be shot down on sight. You have a go."

"Understood, sir."

The Captain turned back to his second. "Commander, we're at the edge of the solar system. Hardwick's patrol takes him nearly three astronomical units farther out. Who could be out that far?"

The XO shook his head. "Mauria, Auldu, Bristak, maybe the Roskles."

"I don't like it. Mauria and Auldu are focused in nearly the opposite direction. Roskles couldn't get this far out if they worked on it another decade." Grumbling, the Captain grabbed the microphone again. "Lieutenant… which direction are they coming from?"

Silence reigned for a moment before the pilot came back. "Straight out, sir. They're coming in from further out than I am. Picked 'em up almost a unit out. They're almost in range now."

The XO walked across the bridge. "Captain, they must be moving pretty damn fast. Faster than any craft I know of. And if they're coming in from outside the system…"

The Captain finished the thought for him. "We could be dealing with something far worse than just Bristak with new tech. Lieutenant, be advised. If you do not recognize any make or markings on the incoming craft, do not engage. Turn around and jet it back here as fast as you can."

His fears were realized sooner than he would have liked. "Captain! They've opened fire! It's some sort of energy weapon! Plasma or something! Half my squadron's gone, and they're not even in range yet! Moving to intercept!"

"No! Lieutenant! Get your squadron back here! Now!"

"Five remaining craft returning, sir, but I need to get you visual confirmation first!"

"Turn your ship around, Lieutenant! That's a direct order!" He looked around the bridge, trying in vain to find anything that could tell him what was happening beyond his ship. Failing that, he returned to communications. "Lieutenant, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"My God, sir. Twelve craft incoming. Predicted trajectory is Mason, the thirteenth planet. They are not small craft, sir. They're huge. Maybe ten thousand meters. Markings in sight… foreign. Totally alien, sir. …Alien. Completely. We don't sta-"

The communications officer checked his console over. "Sir… we've lost him."

The XO step forward. "Sir, I strongly suggest as soon as the five remaining fighters return we signal the other patrols to steer clear and sit tight while we take the long way around and retrieve them."

The look on Captain Valos' face showed that he had already made a very hard decision. "No. We have a hostile alien incursion. Those ships move remarkably fast, and will be gaining on the patrol even now. We wait for them and we'll only be inviting our own demise. Send an evacuation signal to our bases on Mason with an estimated time of arrival. We'll be moving in and away, whatever direction will take us farthest out of their path, and swing around to pick up the remaining patrols."

The XO was taken off guard. "We're just going to leave them to be trampled underfoot by those monsters?"

"Commander, think three-dimensionally. Contact the remaining ships and tell them to go down. With a little luck, the stampede will continue on its present course. But if we remain in the path of the stampede, and we are in their path, not only will we risk the loss of every soul on this ship, but we will lose all record of the encounter and condemn all seven patrols to death when they run out of fuel and air."

The XO nodded. "I understand, sir."

"Good. Now you have your orders. Relay them immediately. When we have all the patrols back aboard, check with the Mason bases that they've evacuated and point us back home." The Captain walked to the door at the back of the bridge. "I'll be… preparing to deliver condolences to the families of the pilots we've lost."

"Sir, Lieutenant Hardwick has a daughter."

"I know." Captain Valos let out a long breath. "She goes to the same school as my own daughter. Michael Hardwick was my friend." He straightened up. "You have your orders, Commander. If our situation changes, let me know."

"Yes sir!" The XO called after Captain Valos as the commanding officer, looking much older now than he had minutes ago, headed to his quarters.

---

"Elaine and Beverly!" The teacher's voice echoed across the gym to where an audience of girls watched the mats in the middle of the floor.

Pushing her way through the seated girls, Elaine made her way onto the mat where she met her opponent. She bowed politely to Beverly, then turned and bowed to her teacher. Beverly made no such gesture. They each took their stance, and the teacher clapped her hands to start the match.

In the audience, over twenty teenaged girls, three particular girls were paying little attention. There was Haruka, practically a class celebrity, who casually flicked her long blonde hair while looking anywhere but the fight. Aside from her were the two girls who were known to buzz around Haruka ceaselessly. Somewhat akin to an entourage, Georgia and Pristine idolized the princess-like girl. There was normally one other in their group, but…

The battle ended, and Beverly stalked back to her seat. Elaine took a few moments to catch her breath before getting up off the mat. As she staggered over to her friends, she rubbed the newly sore spots on her arms, neck, and hip.

The teacher looked over her students. "Alright… can anyone tell me why Elaine lost? Haruka, how about you?"

Barely opening her eyes, the princess eyed the wiped girl now sitting beside her. "Oh, I'm certain it has something to do with her footwork, but she's extraordinarily bad at learning from her mistakes as well. Battling Beverly, who has a consistently chaotic style, I would say her mistake was to make the same move twice, expecting the same reaction the second time. Her move to counter thus failed, as Beverly would have retaliated differently."

The teacher was nonplussed. "You didn't even watch, did you?"

"I'm right, aren't I?" She closed her eyes again, shutting down communication while she busied herself with thoughts about her own perfection.

Groaning, the teacher mumbled under her breath. "Just once, I wish she'd be wrong." Shaking her head, she decided it was best to move the class along. "Okay, we're going to work on drawing. Everyone move on over to the range, except…" All her students waited, half standing, wondering what she was going to say. "Haruka. I want you to stay at the mats and work with the next class a bit before you catch up with us. Maybe they can teach you a thing or two. Everyone else, let's get moving."

Though she'd given no signal that she had even heard, Haruka stayed seated when all her classmates left. The next class arrived, eying the girl who was two years their junior with comical thoughts of battling her. Knowing what Haruka's presence meant, the teacher for this class grinned.

"Alright, class, it looks like we have a guest today. Michelle, why don't you and Holly show her how we do things?"

The two girls who had been called stood up. Michelle, shorter than any of her classmates, was used to fighting girls taller than her. She quickly tied her bluish hair into a ponytail, mockingly beckoning to her new opponent. Holly skipped out to Michelle's side, putting her hands on her hips and grinning up at the girl still seated on the bleachers.

Haruka finally opened her eyes, taking in the challenge set before her. Two against one. Holly was tall and flexible, and she could use that to her advantage. She wore a loose shirt with only three of its ten buttons done up just where it kept her decent, her bust nearly bursting the shirt open altogether. Her hair was a wild mix of black and blonde, and her eyes matched the haphazard appearance with one green and one red. Her long pigtails and cat-patterned thigh-high stockings, combined with her green miniskirt and blue hair ribbons gave her a look of childish chaos.

Michelle wore her hair up in a simple ponytail. Her clothes were tight-fitting, but more modest. A pair of gray shorts over black tights and a sleeveless shirt. She stood not much over five feet tall, and her small bust and hairstyle gave her less restriction.

Haruka saw a disciplined and compact fighter, and a wild and unpredictable fighter. Both of the girls in front of her were deceptive and cunning, using their appearances to fool their foes. The extra display was admirable, but they gave themselves away. Holly was standing perfectly still, her eyes watching Haruka every second. Michelle was restless, warming up, the less confident of the two.

Haruka stood and stepped down to the mats. Holly's grin disappeared. Michelle stopped moving. What had once been a young upstart and a snobbish prude in their eyes instantly turned into a credible threat. Holly and Michelle found themselves facing a titan. Nearly six and a half feet tall, Haruka crossed her arms and stared down both of them.

The teacher clapped her hands, signaling the start of the match.

Totally stunned, Holly watched helplessly as Haruka jumped in the air and spin-kicked Michelle into the ground, sending her rolling off the mats. Moving fast, Haruka simply drew back her fist and drove it straight at Holly's face.

It was in this moment, with a speeding fist inches from her face, that Holly realized she should have faked sick today instead of yesterday and missed this instead of the math test. Regardless, she was not about to let this just happen.

Ducking to the side at the last moment, Holly managed to get her junior off balance. Turning to try and defend from an inevitable attack, Haruka reached out to grab Holly. Bringing her foot up, Holly kicked her away. Even though Haruka immediately righted herself, Holly allowed for a moment of pride at her hit. She would have basked in that moment for a second longer if not for the gasp from the rest of the class.

Holly looked down and saw a familiar perky pair of large breasts greeting her entire class. She looked up and saw Haruka charging her. She barely managed a startled choking sound before Haruka collided head first with her stomach, sending her sliding on her back across the mats. She lay there, knocked silly, shirt open, and one shoe several meters away.

Haruka produced a pair of sunglasses and put them on. "Well, I guess you could say that went tits up."

The teacher pointed over to the range. "Get out of my class!"