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.It was an odd feeling, to have another care for him completely.for the first time he could ever remember.He took a deep breath and started from the beginning.“It all started back when I hit puberty, before that I was a kind.” As Trent talked, Sasha let her head fall on his shoulder and listened, along with the catillian named Terra, and a Program named Vin.Chapter 18The bridge of the TSB Ero'Cia sat eerily silent as the countdown timer ticked in unison with Daniel’s rapidly beating heart, passing five minutes till contact with the HZBF invasion fleet; the time of his betrayal.It almost seemed surreal, like he was watching someone else betray both the TSB and ABF to Duke Zehman, someone who just incidentally had an identical appearance and name as he.The feeling was odd, and became even stronger as the gravity of what he had done began to surface the moment he returned to the bridge, bringing with it an icy fear that threatened to encase his mind.It will be fine, he reassured, no one will ever know, recalling his crony, Deck Engineer Bradley, and the instructions he had provided before being reassigned to the TSB Transit Station, about how to send “sensitive” messages without TSB communication officers or engineers detecting their existence.He breathed out slowly; trying to calm his rushing heart, before turning his attention back to his tactical display, hoping to shed the layer of insecurity that clung relentlessly to him as he went back to work.The TSB fleet continued to approach the HZBF invasion fleet from the rear.But now, thirty ABF battle group signatures had joined them, scattered randomly to all sides, with only four being real.The others were “faked”, created by the powerful EW arrays of the remaining TSB EW Frigates to mask the approach of the real ABF fleet.“Helm, prepare for emergency deceleration at my command,” Captain Aysi sounded over the bridge’s com.The contact timer ticked down to one minute as his tactical display began to update rapidly, zooming in on his assigned sector of the enemy fleet as battle group command set targeting priorities.He selected the NHA Super-Capital HZBF Mar'Zif that sat in the center of his assigned targeting zone, and began marking EW anomalies that the auto-targeting system couldn’t recognize.Thirty-seconds to contact.The anomalies appeared faster and faster, allowing Daniel to lose himself in his duty as he marked one after another.He found, to his surprise, he had little trouble keeping pace.XO Geoff would be proud, had he not died in vain, he shook away the thought, turning his attention to reviewing the anomalies marked by the 16 year-old tactical trainee in CSS.Another bout of regret suddenly enveloped him, but he knew that no matter his shifting feelings, it was already too late.Ten seconds to contact.His weapon crews reported surviving LPAs active and ready, with the plasma cannon online.He hovered his trembling finger over the fire icon, sweat dripping off his brow to pass through the tactile projected station to splash atop the PDU below.“Fire all LPAs!” the captain shouted.Daniel punched the fire icon.The Ero’Cia’s two surviving large LPAs, and the remaining medium and small LPAs, fired in unison with the surrounding TSB starships.The majority streamed towards the NHA Super-Capital HZBF Mar'Zif, having been a priority target for TSB task force one, since removing another of the behemoths from the fight would provide the outnumbered ABF a better chance of survival.Daniel, along with the rest of the bridge officers, felt his tension ease as no return fire was detected and the first TSB salvo struck the enemy fleet.Four HZBF screening frigates and two corvettes flickered, vanishing as they did their job, protecting the more powerful starships within.While the few LPAs that made it through were absorbed and redirected by the super-capital’s massive ESS.“Change of orders! Helm, accelerate into plasma cannon range!” Captain Aysi shouted.This isn't right, Daniel wanted to scream, they were supposed to retreat to safety after firing their first salvo! But it was too late, the order already given.As one, the TSB Fleet accelerated, closing in on the 500,000 km preferred range of the plasma cannons.Daniel, having recovered from his momentary lapse, kept up his fire, joining the rest of the TSB fleet in sending a third salvo of large LPAs at the HZBF Mar'Zif, which flickered and started to slow, debris and air streaming free as LPAs found gaps in its weakening ESS.Then, as planned, the 30 ABF battle groups, 26 of which were groups of TSB EW frigates, reached a million kilometers.Daniel gritted his teeth as the HZBF battle groups fired their thousands of LPAs in unison at what Daniel knew were the real ABF signatures, the mass of deadly fire taking the longest three seconds of his life to stream across space.The four ABF battle groups vanished from his tactical display as the torrent of fire struck.Daniel blinked, unable to understand what just occurred.It was highly unlikely the amount of LPA fire that erupted forth from the HZBF invasion fleet could have destroyed all four ABF battle groups in an instant.He glanced over his shoulder in wonder, finding Lt.-Commander Xi glaring in his direction with a sneer.he'd been found.A message icon flashed and he punched it immediately, trying to ignore the sweat that had begun dripping into his eyes, while keeping his attention on detecting newly formed EW anomalies
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