On board the Remember Eternal, one of the Federation's new Argent class heavy cruisers, a grim faced Vulxeen sat in the command chair.

"Has the Morran courier boarded?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, Captain," one of the crew replied and then smirked, "He says that he is dissatisfied with his quarters and demands to speak with you."

"Oh, does he now," the captain replied as the bridge broke out in malicious chuckles, "Well, send him to one of the 'reception chambers' and tell him I will meet with him when I am able."

"Yes, Captain," the crewman snickered and then ordered security to take the courier to the brig.

"Has the jump been calculated?" he asked in his calm, emotionless voice, all feeling burned from his soul by the Republic. He and all of his crew were "distinguished veterans" of that catastrophic conflict.

"Jumps for all four Argents have been calculated and laid in," the navigator, a Kreneel who was missing the feathers on one of his arms, replied in an equally impassive voice.

"Synchronized jump at will," he said in a monotone.

"Jumping," the navigator replied as all four warships slid silently into hyperspace.

"How long are you going to make the Morran simmer," his first officer, a physically unscarred Kaavel with Gloria-like eyes, chuckled as it perched its small furry body on top of the oversized chair (for her) on which she lounged.

"The who?" the captain replied impassively.

"Nevermind," the Kaavel sneered and then looked at their status display. "Four Argents, most of our fleet, assigned to escort duty? I assume there is a reason?"

"We are making one of the new convoy circuits," the captain said, "On board, we have over a dozen couriers carrying the payments for their agreements in cash, several trillion credits worth. If they fail to reach their destination, the results will be severe. Even if their partners, most with legitimate grievances, decide to grant them mercy, the damage to the economy of the races we are carrying will be seriously impacted… and the Forsaken will get all of that to finance their operations, including giving untold billions to the Republic, which will then use the money to expand their arms production. At our 'fattest', we will be carrying half again as much as well as a significant amount of cargo, most of which will be food and industrial raw materials that are urgently needed by yet more systems. We simply cannot bear the commerce attacks that we are suffering..."

The captain allowed himself a slight smile.

"Besides, Federation intelligence has ensured that the Forsaken will know everything we carry is being conveyed by a convoy consisting of two cargo vessels, a passenger vessel where the couriers and cash will be located, and a single Federation cruiser. If they want it, they will have to commit enough of a fleet to engage that cruiser. If they do, they will instead find us."

The Kaavel chuckled.

"How unfortunate for them."

"Have the crew double-check our point defense arrays, especially the fast-neutron projectors," the captain said flatly, "See to it personally, Commander. Inform the crew that I will personally be overseeing the third inspection."

The Kaavel grinned.

"On it, boss," she snickered and lept off the chair.

***

In a tiny apartment in Capital City, a very nervous Palg sat on a couch as a rather ragged-looking Xvli with a droopy ear and patches of fur missing sipped a cup of tea, his rather extravagant jeweled engagement bracelet glittering in the light.

"H-how long are you going to keep me here?" the Palg asked, its porcine snout twitching anxiously.

"We are staying here in this comfy little safe house until that convoy reaches its destination or the trap is sprung," Senior Agent [email protected]@ said pleasantly.

"And then you will let me go?"

"Absolutely," [email protected]@ said reassuringly. "We always keep our promises."

A reptilianesque xeno wandered in from the kitchen, holding a large pot.

"Soup's on!" he said happily.

"Wonderful!" [email protected]@ said with delight. "Your dumplings almost rival our noodles."

His fellow agent snorted.

"Speaking of 'noodles'," it grinned as it ladled out two bowls, "hear from your disgraced councilor yet?"

Xree groaned.

"I can't believe she, of all people, would turn her back on her duty for a… human, especially that one!"

"I dunno," the reptile said as it pulled a silver spork from his pocket, "I think he's kinda hot."

"You Vtsbn think everyone and everything is 'kinda hot'. You are worse than humans, and that's saying something."

"I mean, have you ever seen a human penis?" his comrade snickered. "They are magnificent! I wish I had one."

"I believe strongly in 'need to know'," Xree replied as he pulled out a set of gilded chopsticks, "and I am pleased to say I have never needed to know."

"If you did, you might have some insight into her decision."

"I'm trying to eat over here," Xree snickered.

"D-do you think I could have some?" their captive asked hopefully.

Xree tossed him a mealy food bar.

"Enjoy."

"Hey," his comrade said as he looked at his watch, "isn't it time for you to be online? We don't need you suspiciously disappearing."

"And don't forget," Xree said as he sipped the broth from his bowl, "every move you make is being monitored, and I will personally remove a piece of you for every single character I disapprove of."

"Y-yessir..." the Palg whimpered and dutifully pulled out a laptop.

***

Gwen the Elder surveyed the fleet before her with satisfaction. Nearly a hundred vessels were loaded down with compliance tubes and ready to go.

She smiled.

The haul of the century was headed right into their trap. When would the Federation ever learn about network security?

This was just getting sad.

She grabbed the old studio mic she had on her bridge.

"Is everybody ready to rock?" she shouted and smiled at the wild howls echoing from her bridge crew and blasting out of the large speakers surrounding her.

"Remember, we are actually going up against a cruiser this time. Everybody launch an EMP spread and then wings one and two launch the nukes at the cruiser set to blow just before their shields. The blast should take out the prey's shields but leave them mostly intact. Nail them with EMP missiles just to be sure. Boarding teams! No prisoners!"

More howls and cheers.

"Four vessels incoming," her sensor man howled. "They are here!"

"Ok!" Gwen yelled, "This is it!… Just like Zaran! Fire up the grills and pass out the pills! It's party time!"

***

"Would you look at that," the Vulxeen captain said, his voice actually revealing a trace of pleasure.

"Any traffic?" he asked.

"From the howling and complete lack of signal discipline," a sleek Garthra grey replied, "It's the Angels… Holy shit!… um… sorry, Captain..."

"Well," the captain replied, "share the shit."

"Gwen Shay herself is leading the attack!"

"Can you identify the vessel?"

"No, Captain, not at this range."

"Then I guess we have to kill them all," the captain replied.

"They are firing up their jump drives!" the sensor operator replied, her voice betraying a trace of fear. That was a LOT of ships.

"Visual analysis reveals compliance tubes," the tactical officer said calmly.

"Excellent," the captain smiled. "We lead with the neutron guns. We can't let them know about them. No survivors."

"Yes, captain."

"Keep shield strength at standard cruiser level until they arrive. Send the directive to all ships via laser."

"Captain?"

"Gwen Shay is a cagey one. If something is out of place, she will bolt if she can. We have good intel that their ships often carry a secondary jump drive."

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands as his mouth stubs writhed.

"I want her."

***

Gwen grabbed the railing as her ship popped into and out of hyperspace.

Her eyes widened as her crew cried out in alarm.

Argents!

"Fire all tubes!" she shrieked. "Fire all tubes!"

Each ship seemed to explode (and a few did) as they unleashed every single missile they had…

… and space exploded around them as the Argent's point defense arrays sprung to life, each one sending thousands of beams, each striking with unerring accuracy…

…and hundreds of very highly collimated beams of fast neutrons that cut through the warheads causing premature fission of the plutonium and uranium pits within them, triggering them far, far too early.

"Bail!" Gwen shouted into her the microphone, "Now! We only have a second before their sensors—"

***

"Found her," the communications officer on board the Remember Eternal said with satisfaction.

"Fire railguns!" the captain shouted. "Don't wait for the fireball to clear. Follow with every single neutron accelerator we have and keep firing the rails until you can get a clear shot with the beams!"

"Target destroyed!" the tactical officer shouted, "Repeat! Target destroyed!"

The bridge cheered.

"Silence!" the captain shouted. "We still have targets!"

***

Jessica Morgan looked at her screen, her face ashen.

"Fuck," she said after a few seconds.

"What did you manage to get?" she asked the thin pale figure floating on a darkened bridge.

"Well, I was pretty far away," the piper replied, "But the Argents are NOT standard Federation tech. For one thing, their point defense is insane and smart. I suspect AI close to Republic levels. The Angels launched every single tube, and nothing hit their shields. The firepower easily exceeds their battleships. I've never seen anything like it. They have fucking broadsides. The Angel's Fury, Gwen's flagship, only lasted seconds. They didn't even need to use their beams. They got railguns."

" Railguns?!?" Jessica exclaimed in disbelief, "The fucking Feds?!?"

"And they are spicy," the Piper of Azathoth replied, "and that's not the worst part."

"It gets worse?"

"Much," the piper replied, "The point defense detonated the nukes, not just took them out."

" How?!?"

"They somehow have neutron beams accurate enough to hit a missile in flight and with enough flux and enough energy to cause full detonation of the pit. If anything, it's better than the detonators they came with. I know because they used them offensively on Gwen's ship."

"Are you sure?"

"It's in the data," the piper replied, "have your guys look at it, but I'm telling you… no nukes against an Argent."

"Ninety-seven to four..." Jessica groaned, "and we were completely wiped out… The Angels… GODDAMMIT!!!"

"One more thing you need to know," the piper replied, "I wasn't alone out there."

"Was it the fucking Veiled Ones?" Jessica hissed.

"Nope. Kalent," the piper replied, "Their scaly little swishes were all over."

"That explains the tech," Jessica said calmly. "Doesn't come as a surprise. They finally decided to come off of some of their toys… Stop tailing the Argents. I don't want them to spot you and realize we know what we do."

"Excuse me?" the piper laughed.

"Someone else was cocky today," Jessica replied, "And you saw what happened to her. Back off. I will have another assignment for you soon."

"Sure thing, boss."

The line went dead.

Jessica buried her face in her hands. Weakening the most egregious of the Confederacy members ("Forsaken" is just branding) was the plan, but it didn't make it any easier, even if it was necessary in the long run.

It still didn't make it any less unpleasant. She had known Gwen for over a hundred years. She was what she was, but she was a stand-up woman and could be counted upon.

She wanted the Angels pruned, not gutted. They still had ships, and without Gwen's leadership keeping them in line, things were worse, not better.

It wouldn't be the Black Angels. It would be dozens of them. Most of their senior leadership was in that raid. All of them wanted a piece of that haul. Too many ships in one fucking place...

...out of pure greed.

She sighed heavily. The only thing she could do now was whip them up into a frenzy and drive them into the Federation fleet and finish the job. The Black Angels, one of her strongest clans, was done…

...in moments.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. The only thing they could do about the Argents was run…

She opened her eyes, and they shone evilly.

There was nothing they could do for now.

Things change, and they would. But she had to survive until then.

She tapped at her keyboard.

A few moments later, an old Republic admiral appeared.

"What the fuck, Jess?" he demanded. "You're calling me at work?!? You know they are watching everyone these days! They won't be able to crack the call, but they will fucking know why they can't!"

"Your bosses won't mind this time," Jessica replied, "Besides, they know we used to… know each other… It's good to see you again, Brian."

"Likewise," he replied and paused. "I know that look, Jess. What happened?"

"Nearly a hundred Black Angels fully loaded with nuclear compliance tubes went up against four of the new Argent class. One hundred percent casualties, including Gwen. She's dead, Brian."

"… Fuuuuuuuck..."

"It wasn't even a fight," Jessica said grimly, "It was a slaughter. The Kalent finally turned loose some of their tech. It was spears versus machine guns out there. The reason I am calling is that I had a spy ship on the edge of the system. I got the whole engagement."

"You did?!?"

"Yeah," Jessica said with a sigh. "It's pretty grim, but I'm sending it now. You guys need to know about these things. They are a real threat to anything you have. Have your guys go over the data and have the monoliths chew on it."

"And in return?"

"I want to know what you know," Jessica replied, "Nothing is invincible. They have a weakness, and we need to know what it is, both of us."

"Deal. The brass won't like it, but you have a deal. I want something, though."

"Name it."

"I want your data on all Federation assets. I know you have shit we don't."

"… Deal."

"I'm sorry about Gwen, Jess."

"Me too."

There was a pounding on his door.

"Looks like the guys with guns are here," he smirked. "Later."

After the call ended, Jessica frowned.

There was one more call she had to make…

***

Gwen Shay (the only one left) was playing "spaceship" with Vee with a murder-borer pup clinging to her back as they both held model ships and were weaving them back and forth.

"And you just blew up," Gwen said with a laugh.

"Nuh-uh!"

"That turn you just made was way too tight. You just exceed the structural integrity of your ship! You are either in a million pieces, or you are so fucked up that you are easing pickings…

Gwen started poking and tickling Vee.

"Pew, pew, pew!" she said as Vee giggled.

Arissa, her "Guardian Angel", walked up, her eyes red and swollen.

"Um… Gwen?" Arissa said in a grave voice.

Gwen's blood ran cold with one look in Arissa's eyes.

"What?" she asked in a frightened voice.

***

"Ok, traitor, you're free to go," Agent [email protected]@ said to the Palg.

"R-really?"

"Yep," Xree said, "Trap's sprung. Bad guys go boom. You get to go home, and so do we."

"Finally!" his fellow agent exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how many dates I've missed?"

"Chastity builds character," Xree snorted.

"The fuck it does!" his friend exclaimed, "Another day and I would have seduced you!"

"Then you would have to answer to my fiance," Xree replied with a laugh, "You would have a hard time getting laid without a pee-pee."

He glared at the Palg.

"What the fuck are you still doing here, traitor?" Xree snarled. "Go before I change my mind about gutting you."

With a strangled yelp, the Palg fled.

After he left, the other agent turned to Xree.

"And we are just going to let him go?" he asked, "After he collaborated with the fucking Forsaken, after what they've done?"

"Yep," Xree smiled maliciously and pulled out his phone, switching it to an unsecured line. He called the Capital City police.

"Dispatch," a uniformed avian replied.

"Yes," Xree smiled, "I am Senior Agent [email protected]@ with Federation Intelligence. I am sending your credentials now."

"Yes!" a much more alert officer exclaimed as they preened their feathers, "How can I help! Do you need to speak to someone?"

"You'll do just fine."

"Really?!?" the officer exclaimed excitedly, "How can I help?"

"I need you to inform the appropriate parties that the Palg, known as Yulip Bik, is an informant and intelligence asset for the Federation and has been instrumental in recent operations against the Forsaken. We consider him a valuable asset and request that any criminal activity undertaken by this individual be disregarded and referred to our department. We'll keep him in line."

"Yes, Agent!" the officer exclaimed, "Um… I mean, Senior Agent!"

"Thank you," Xree replied, "I know I can count on you."

"You can!" the officer chirped they were so excited. "I won't let you down, Senior Agent!"

"I know you won't," Xree replied, "Take care, officer."

"You too!"

His companion looked at him, his mouth slightly agape.

"You complete and utter bastard."

"He's a fucking traitor," Xree replied, "He doesn't deserve a cushy Federation prison cell. He was responsible for the death of Gwen Shay herself, and lord knows how many other Black Angels. Let them handle his… rehabilitation."

"But.."

"Welcome to special division," Xree replied. "Hey, you hungry? There is this great diner that is still open. They make the best sausage."

"I'll pass."

"Your loss," Xree shrugged. "See you tomorrow."

Whistling, Xree casually loped out of the safe house, leaving a deeply disturbed reptile who flopped down onto the couch.

"What have I gotten into?" he asked nobody in particular.

***

"Comfy?" Gwen said to a terrified Palg as she tied him to an X-shaped frame in her bedroom.

"Please!" the Palg pled, "I had no choice!"

"Mmm-hmm..." Gwen replied, her eyes sparkling.

He whimpered as he looked into them. They were horrifying.

"You did have a choice, you know," Gwen replied sweetly as she gently booped him on the snout. "You could have refused and spent your life in a nice Federation prison… But instead, you decided to kill my gram gram."

She kissed his forehead.

He involuntarily evacuated his waste.

"Now there are good choices, and there are bad choices," Gwen said as the words "Prepare for jump." were announced over a speaker. "And killing my gram gram was what we like to call a bad choice," she snarled as she pried his eyelids open and glared.

"But it's ok," she smiled as she released him, "Because I'm going to give you the opportunity to make it up to me."

Jumping in 3… 2… 1… Jump!

The ship shuddered slightly.

"Anything!" the Palg squealed in terror.

"There is something I've just been dying to try, and you could help me."

She smiled at him.

"Do you want to help me?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes!" the Palg squealed, "Anything!"

Gwen walked casually to a small control panel next to the shuttered observation dome and traced her fingers over the switches.

"Great!" she enthused as she pressed them…

"You get to be my boyfriend."