"" Here is the price of freedom:" "Your every drop of courage, ounce of pain, pint of blood." "Paid in advance."" "Sebastian Lee "The Rising Tide" AFC 271" "Target one eliminated." "Switching fire control to target two." "Can you identify the source of the distress call?" "It is an Enduring Victory class armored transport." "Nietzschean design, Sabra-Jaguar." "Pride markings." "One of the Nietzschean ships has turned to fire on us." "Big mistake." "Tyr, fire." "Firing." "Targets two and three eliminated." "Fire control locked on to transport." "Tyr, we are allied with the Sabra-Jaguar Pride." "Theoretically." "Well, theoretically, hold your fire." "Sir." "For now." "Transport is hailing us." "On screen." "Hello, Dylan." "Thrilling entrance, as always." "Elsbett Uh ...what are you doing here ?" "Just extending an invitation." "I'm sure you could have found an easier way." "So so what is this?" "Another wedding?" "A different kind of party." "Pride Sabra-Jaguar is going to war with the Drago-Kasov, and you're the guest of honor." "According to our agents on Enga's Redoubt, the Dragons are refitting hundreds of their old decommissioned warships and when they're through, they will have doubled the size of their fleet." "Their first target will be the Jaguar homeworld." "You know, that's funny." "I have agents, too, and according to them, you're building a major new war fleet of your own." "Unfortunately, ours won't be ready for months." "Theirs launches in a week." "Well, if that's the case, shouldn't you be at home taking care of your new son?" "I forgot how tall you are." "Charlemagne is a wonderful lover, but his stature does leave something to be desired." "Much like the current size of our fleet." "Luckily we have you to make up for our unfortunate deficiencies." "Is that so?" "This is a copy of the Mutual Defense Pact between the signatories of your Commonwealth Charter." "Signatories which include the Sabra-Jaguar Pride." "You want me to fight the Dragons for you?" "Actually, by the terms of this pact," "I demand it." "I cannot believe we are going to war to help Elsbett and the Jaguars." "Well, you know that old expression "Politics make strange bedfellows."" "Well, it wouldn't be the first time." "First time for what?" "Our problem is with our other allies." "Castalia, Moebius, Sintii they're not exactly superpowers." "I'm Dylan's only real military asset." "One he can't afford to lose." "Mmm-hmmm." "Unfortunately, Dylan gave Charlemagne and the Jaguars his word, and that's the one thing he's got that's even less expendable than you." "We're approaching the rendezvous point." "Dylan, according to the messages I'm processing from the Sabra-Jaguar fleet, there have been a series of battles on the Jaguar frontier." "The war has already started." "Once again, your timing is impeccable." "I do my best." "Updating the tactical situation." "The Dragons have taken Hruska and Barbour systems." "Hruska?" "Already?" "!" "?" "That's the key to the entire Diogenes Cluster." "Signal my fleet." "Let them know Hruska will be our first military objective." "Belay that, Rommie." "I am the Supreme Commander of our combined forces." "If you want my help,... you do as I say." "Where have I heard that before?" "Well, unless you want to continue the fight on your own..." "So controlling." "I'll return to my fleet and inform them of the new chain of command." "With the Supreme Commander's permission, of course." "Permission granted, of course." "Ahhh!" "She didn't salute!" "Shouldn't she salute?" "Well, I'm think that maybe she went to the Beka Valentine School of Military Discipline." "Dylan, I've just picked up a coded message in the Comm traffic - directed through us and relayed through Moebius intelligence." "I'll take it in my quarters." "Actually, it's addressed to Harper." "Brendan!" "Seamus." "It's been a long time, cuz-o." "Too long." "Right back atcha." "...oo long." "Look, uh..." "I heard about you and your friends." "This new Commonwealth thing sounds like a choice scam." "Wish I'd thought of it myself." "The thing is, hum... we been hearing rumors back home that there's a war comin between your Dylan and the Dragons." "The ubers are stocking'up on workers, Seamus." "The slave raids we getting worse every day." "We need your help, and more." "When this war comes, we want in." "It's time, Seamus." "It's time to rise up... and drive the Dragons off of Earth forever." "Syncro Bye Anubis Corp." "La trad arrive, patience." "For crying' out loud!" "I'm not just talkin' about some mudball here." "We're talkin' about Earth!" "Terra!" "The mother-world of all humanity!" "It's only the most important planet in the whole freakin' universe!" "Hardly." "There are 10.433.000 Tarn Vedra class planets in the known universe." "In the Dragon empire alone, there are 837 slave planets just like Earth." "Slave planets?" "Mmm-hmmm." "I think what Rommie's trying to say in her usual Diplomatic fashion is that Earth isn't what she used to be." "No, she's not." "Not since the Drago-Kasov pride conquered her destroyed our economy and enslaved our entire population..." "Yeah, that would pretty much make things suck." "BUT, we have a chance to fix that now, and we have to take it." "Harper, I don't want you to get your hopes up." "We're fighting a war, and we don't have the time or the resources to liberate every slave planet in the Dragon empire." "All right, all right." "What exactly are you trying to tell me here, huh?" "That Earth doesn't matter?" "!" "?" "Unfortunately, Earth...doesn't matter." "Unless we make it matter." "You want me to go by myself?" "!" "?" "No." "You can take Rommie." "I got a better idea." "How 'bout you round up all those warships out there, head to Earth, and blast the Dragon garrison to pieces?" "I intend to..." "AFTER I've drawn the Dragon fleet out of position and as soon as you and Rommie make sure that all their armored units are out in the streets where they're vulnerable." "Great." "Start the revolution without me." "Anything else I can do for you?" "Transmute the elements?" "Reverse entropy?" "Make you a sandwich?" "I won't make you go." "Your cousin doesn't even know we got his message." "Besides, I could use you here." "But if you want freedom for Earth, Harper, you're gonna have to fight for it." "So, what's Earth like?" "What do you care?" "It has no strategic value, remember?" "Harper, I'm a warship." "I always consider the military situation first." "It's my nature." "But I do care." "Well, it's a place you love." "It's, uh, you know, it's a good feeling." "Until you have to see it all torn down around you." "And there's nothing you can do to stop it." "We tried - me and Brendan and,..." "our buddy, Isaac." "Yeah, we thought we could beat the Nietzscheans all by ourselves." "We'd steal their weapons, we'd mess with their floater engines,... we'd blow shrillers outside their barracks at night..." "Shrillers?" "These little whistles I invented." "They,... they'd extend into the ultrasonic and irritate the hell out of Nietzschean ear canals." "We'd blow 'em and they would run like hell." "Sounds like fun." "Yeah, it was." "It was." "Until, uh, until they ambushed us." "An entire Nietzschean platoon outside the barracks, waiting for us to show up with our stupid little toys." "Brendan spotted 'em right away - he's good like that." "He warned me, but, uh," "Isaac was on the other side of the compound and, uh, we could hear his shrilling, and then it was cut off by gunshots." "Yeah, you're gonna love Earth." "A direct assault on the Dragon Capitol?" "That's suicide." "I would agree... were it not for our Captain Hunt." "His survival instincts are, uh, well, formidable." "And if they weren't, you'd be commanding this starship instead of the human?" "The current state of affairs serves my purpose." "A purpose which might be better served by gaining entry into my family." "Oh, please." "I don't need to marry one of your spare sisters in order to achieve my goals." "Who said anything about a sister?" "Now, tell me the captain's *true* intentions..." "It will take a great deal more than a whispered promise to extract from me any further information than I've provided already." "However you are oh, so very welcome to try." "There she is, Rommie" "The blue jewel of the galaxy" "Earth." "Heh." "Craters, high levels of carbon dioxide, soot, ash, nuclear fallout." "Lovely." "Hey!" "At least all that crap in the atmosphere makes us harder to detect." "The question is:" "How do we get around that Nietzschean orbital defense network?" "I gotta hand it to you, Rommie." "I gotta hand it to you." "An artificial meteor swarm?" "It's brilliant!" "And that is why I love me for making you." "Uh, and I mean I do love you too." "And by making," "I do mean in a, uh, professional sort of way." "About that." "When we meet your friends, don't mention I'm an android." "I've found on missions like this, it's always best to hold a few surprises back from everyone concerned." "What's the matter, Rommie?" "You don't want to listen to me brag the whole time we're here?" "No." "Deal." "Ah... the smells of home." "This way." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." "She's so frightened." "She's got a lot to be frightened about." "It's ok, you can come out." "It's ok." "Oh, is this your sister or your cousin?" "Well, either way, you're both very beautiful, very brave young ladies." "Can you do me a favor?" "Can you please try and find Brendan Lahey and tell him his cousin, Seamus, is here." "Can you do that?" "What do you want with Brendan?" "Like I said, I'm his cousin, Seamus." "Funny," "Brendan never mentioned a cousin." "Especially not a collaborator in nice, shiny new clothes." "I'm not a collaborator." "We're not with the Dragons." "In fact, we're actually here to try and help save you from the Dragons." "Yeah!" "And I'm the second coming of Hylees Lassie." "Why don't you tell your girlfriend to drop the lance and maybe we'll talk." "There are at least seven more just like him in the side passages." "Oh, man." "Bostonians." "Why do we always have to do this the hard way?" "All right, on three." "One, two..." "Seamus?" "Brendan!" "Seamus!" "Seamus" "Brendan!" "Hey!" "Ah, it's good to see you, cuz-o." "Likewise, likewise." "Hey, Ozzie!" "Come here." "Everybody!" "Come here!" "Come here!" "I want you all to meet my cousin," "Seamus Harper." "He's come down from the stars to set us all free." "Heh." "No pressure." "The Nietzscheans keep a pretty tight seal on the main living areas here." "We don't get out much, the Dragons don't come in much... except when they send in floaters to pick up more slaves." "Since the war started, they've been taking pretty much everybody they can get their hands on - little ones, old folks." "Last week they took Jake's mother over there right off her death bed." "Why would they take people who can't work?" "Well, there are rumors about resettlement centers." "Death camps." "But, umm, we're gonna put a stop to all that aren't we?" "Yeah." "Yeah, of course." "Heh." "Look, we'll do what we can, but we're just the advance team." "The key is to force the Dragons to commit their armored units." "Once they're exposed, the Andromeda will arrive and pick them off from orbit." "Yeah, a lot of this is gonna have to depend on your resistance fighters, Brendan." "How many can you mobilize in Boston?" "Uh, well, you know, you... you gotta realize I expected you to show up with a lot more company than just one, admittedly very attractive, woman." "How many fighters, Brendan?" "Well, you're lookin' at 'em, Seamus." "You have FIVE fighters?" "!" "That I can count on - yeah." "Look, they got friends, and their friends have friends, and a lot of them claim to be in the resistance, but how many people can I get in the street?" "Especially before your Dylan arrives?" "Like I said, five that I know of." "That you know of." "Brendan, why did you call us?" "What'd you expect?" "Well, what I expected was...hope." "How am I supposed to give them hope?" "I know how hard their lives are." "That's why I ran away in the first place, remember?" "Harper, if we can't get the local resistance organized in time for Dylan's attack, our surgical strike will turn into a bloody war." "I don't even know where to start." "What do I say?" "Say whatever it takes." "All around the world, people are ready ready to rise up." "In, uh," "Paris," "Tokyo," "Singapore ...uh, Johannesburg." "In, uh, thousands in hundreds of thousands!" "And they're all waiting....waiting for you." "Waiting for BOSTON, because this was where it all began." "Uh, the most important revolution in the history of Earth started in Boston." "The very idea that all people, whether born or engineered, are equal started in Boston." "So now, it is Boston's turn again!" "Time to show your courage!" "Time to storm the barricades!" "Time to fire a shot that will be heard around the world for freedom!" "He's right, let's get the ubers!" "Now's the time!" "Freedom for Earth!" "For freedom!" "!" "Freedom !" "...!" "Freedom !" "..." "I gotta hand it to you, cousin." "You really got 'em believing in themselves for the first time!" "It was a very good speech." "Yeah." "Tokyo, Paris, Johannesberg, Singapore sure." "There's only one problem." "It's all a lie." "Come on, Dylan." "Correct me if I'm wrong, but are we actually winning?" "The Jaguars are holding our center." "The Castalians have routed the Dragons' left flank." "The enemy is in full retreat." "Go, fish-men, go." "IF this continues, there'll soon be nothing between us and the Dragon homeworld but open slip-routes." "Yes, how convenient." "Too easy?" "Much." "Andromeda, hail all allied commanders." "I'm standing down the assault." "Aye, aye!" "How's your friend doing?" "Well, she's already hidden recon eyes all over the ghetto." "Now, all she has to do is plant plasma mines outside the armory." "The armory?" "Yeah." "No, no, no, no, no." "She shouldn't go anywhere near the armory." "They're gonna see her." "Rommie?" "Not freaking' likely." "How do you know?" "Uh, let's just say I, uh, made her what she is today." "So, uh, you guys serious?" "I wish." "You know how it is...we're too busy flying around saving the universe." "Yeah." "Well, just remember what you're saving it for Earth" "her and all that's good in the world." "I got something for you." "I've been saving it." "Here." "It's your old tin whistle." "No, no, no, no" " I, uh," "I threw this into your parents' grave." "Yeah, you did." "I pulled it out for you." "I been saving it... you know," "for when you're ready to play it again." "Simply point the lance, press the trigger." "The computer targeting system will do the rest." "Now, if you find yourself up in close and you want to do a lot of damage, you can switch to plasma blasts, here." "Now, when you return to your cell members, authorize them to use your lance, so if you go down, someone else can use it." "Questions?" "Bracers, for communication." "ECM Generators." "Wear them both." "And remember, a malatov cocktail will still burn a floater." "But*so* wait until they hit the barricades, and then throw as many as you can." "Oh, yeah, one more thing." "Shrillers." "Enough for everybody." "You know, these toys are great, but... what if you give the signal and no one rises up but us?" "Why are you here, Ozzie?" "You know why." "Kathy." "We all got a Kathy at least one" "my sister," "Seamus' parents," "Colin's kids." "We've all lost someone." "Now you remind people of that, and you'll have no problem getting them to fight by your side." "For Kathy." "The Dragon slave caravan is on its way into the ghetto." "Man, there... are a lot more of them than we expected." "They must be reinforcing their positions because of the war." "No plan of battle ever survives the first engagement with the enemy." "What if Ozzie was right, Rommie?" "What if the people in the streets won't rise up and join us?" "Then we lose." "But if we do nothing, we still lose, and we may never have an opportunity like this again." "Yo, cousin." "Transports are in position." "What's the word?" "Uh... the word is... ummm..." "Attack." "Attack!" "Attack!" "Attack!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "You in the back!" "Come on!" "Move!" "Move!" "Go!" "Over the wall!" "Over the wall!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Ozzie!" "Floater!" "Throw the malatovs!" "Throw 'em!" "Throw 'em!" "Throw 'em!" "Seamus, we're being overrun!" "Seamus, what do I do?" "Fall back!" "Fall back to rally points three and seven." "Fall back!" "Fall back!" "Fall back!" "More Dragons are moving to intercept." "They're outnumbered." "If Dylan doesn't get here soon, we're all dead." "So, every bit of evidence we've got suggests that these ships we've been defeating aren't really real." "They're just empty hulls equipped with slipstream drives." "I don't care if they're Dragon schoolchildren on a summer picnic a victory is a victory." "It's a victory the Dragons want us to have." "They could be using these ships to mask the size of their real fleet." "Or distract us while they move somewhere else." "What they're doing doesn't matter." "So long as we attack, we drive the action." "In love, in war, in politics, the day and the night always belongs to the aggressor." "I will not lead this fleet into a trap." "We pull back make them follow us so that we can pick the next battle." "A nice idea, but it won't be possible." "And why exactly is that?" "Captain, the Sabra-Jaguar fleet is attacking the Dragons." "Brendan, come in." "Brendan, report!" "His signal's been cut off." "All right, that's it." "Rommie, monitor things here." "I'll be back." "What are you doing?" "Brendan's family, Rommie." "I abandoned him here once, I'm not gonna do it again." "You know that by attacking the Dragons now, you're forcing Dylan's hand." "He's forced my hand before." "I'm simply returning the favor." "You have no right to come aboard..." "NO!" "You have no right." "We may have shared the same position in Dylan's bed, human, but don't presume that makes us equals." "You slept with Dylan?" "He didn't tell you?" "You really should keep better track of your lovers and not let them stray so far." "Dylan and I aren't lovers." "Really?" "Too bad for you." "Rommie, what was that?" "Some kind of gravitational distortion." "Dylan, the Dragon ships are firing their slipstream cores." "Andromeda, tell the fleet to scatter." "And get us to slipstream." "My ships!" "...are in trouble." "So are we." "They're exploding!" "Brace for impact." "It's like a whirlpool." "We're going in." "W..w..wait." "Are either of you related to any of the ubers I waxed today?" "Cause it was a lot of fun." "Brendan!" "You ok?" "There's too many of them, Seamus." "Their (armor's mobilizing?" ")." "I gotta get back outside." "Whoa, no." "You're coming with me." "You need medical attention." "Your Commonwealth friends better get here soon, Seamus." "Andromeda, where are we?" "(Cralux?" ")." "Somewhere in the outer system." "Status on the rest of the fleet?" "Scattered halfway across the Orion arm, I would assume." "We appear to be the only ship in this system." "Correction." "The only Ally ship." "The Dragons just joined us." "Battle stations." "It's no good." "I can't shake 'em." "Dylan, we're being hailed by someone called Fleet Admiral Cuatemoc." "So Temmy finally got his promotion." "Tell me about him." "Cuatemoc's a high-ranking Dragon." "He's married to Charlemagne's sister, Beatricia." "The Jaguars had hoped that the marriage would bring peace between the prides." "This doesn't look like peace." "If Beatricia is anything like her brother, I can guess at the problem." "No one profited from their union especially not the Jaguars." "A gilded pea-hen can't tame a bear." "A bear?" "Good." "Put him through." "Ah, the famous Captain Hunt." "Fleet Admiral Cuatemoc." "What happened to your predecessor," "Cuchulain?" "He lost one too many battles to you." "I don't plan on making the same mistake." "You know, a plan of battle rarely survives the first engagement with the enemy." "Mine do." "Hello, Elsbett." "Charlie off getting his pedicure?" "Tell him Bea sends her regards." "Here's mine." "In-laws." "Beka,... slipstream." "Now." "Multiple fractures, internal bleeding, and,... yeah, a concussion." "Just do something about it, will ya?" "You can tell all that just by looking at me?" "Yeah, Rommie's, uh, fool of surprises." "Lucky for you." "While you were off on your little adventure, I hacked into the Dragon communications grid and broadcast news of the revolt." "The people of Earth are rising up." "Paris?" "Tokyo?" "Even Johannesburg." "And here I thought you were lying about Johannesburg." "I started lying the minute I opened my mouth." "What about the armored divisions?" "Mobilizing worldwide." "They should be fully exposed when Dylan arrives in five hours and twenty-one minutes." "Thanks, cousin." "They're still right behind us." "Now what?" "Now we... round up the fleet and fight our way free." "There are over thirty systems in this cluster and the Alliance fleet is scattered all over it." "Searching will take time." "What about Harper and Rommie?" "What about Earth?" "If the Dragons destroy our fleet, the war is over." "We have to regroup, regardless of the cost." "Where is Dylan?" "The Dragon armor units are killing us." "He should be here soon." "That's what you said an hour ago." "He's ninety minutes late." "Slipstream isn't always that precise." "He could have been delayed." "Delayed where?" "If he were in the system, he would've contacted us by now." "Not if he's maintaining communications..." "Hang on a second, I'm getting a signal." "A signal?" "From a slipfighter." "A slipfighter?" "It's Tyr." "What do you mean he's not coming?" "!" "He had to choose" "Save his fleet and his entire alliance, or sacrifice them both to liberate a single slave world." "But Dylan always keeps his promises." "Dylan has made a great many promises, and he only has one ship." "Now, try and get the people out of the streets." "There'll be another time." "Another time?" "!" "I'm just supposed to stop a revolution?" "!" "There are people bleeding and dying in the streets because they actually think they may have a chance to win for a change." "How am I supposed to tell them they're wrong?" "Don't." "Tell them the truth." "Tell them... that life is inherently unfair and that the wise only fight battles they know they can win." "Great." "And when I'm telling them all of this, where will you be?" "As far away from here as I can get." "Thanks." "I'm not going to stand down the attack just 'cause your Nietzschean said so." "He's not the one saying it." "I am." "Oh?" "Oh, yeah?" "Like that's any better." "Stand down!" "Retreat!" "So speaks Seamus Harper, as usual." "As - as usual!" "Whoa!" "H-Hold it!" "Are you calling me a coward?" "Well, you walked away once, Seamus." "You abandoned your home." "You abandoned your family." "For what?" "Why?" "Did it get too hard for you?" "I don't know what that makes you, but you're sure no hero." "My family died here, in case you forgot!" "Because my father didn't know how to walk away from a fight he couldn't win." "He was protecting your mother." "Whatever!" "And now they're both dead!" "And you'll be dead, too, if you don't listen to me." "No, no, Seamus, you see...you don't understand." "You can't just choose when you want to fight and when you don't." "You may think your father had a choice that day, but he didn't." "And neither do I." "So we fight." "All right, let me put this another way." "Tell them to withdraw, or I swear I'll kill you." "You gonna kill me?" "If you don't listen to me." "It'll stop millions of people from dying unnecessarily in a war they can't win." "Will it." "They don't have a chance, Brendan." "I know they don't." "They know that, too." "They knew it when this all started." "When I started this, things were different." "The circumstances have changed." "Did you think you were the first person to stand on a rooftop and shout that the Nietzscheans had to go?" "These people have heard it all before, Seamus." "Hell, our fathers heard it, and their fathers before them." "If that's true, then why did they listen?" "Why are they all out there fighting now?" "Why did your father fight when the slavers came for your mother?" "Because he was a fool!" "Would you shut up about my father!" "He fought because he was sick of lying down for them." "Because he was sick of being spat at, laughed at, stolen from, and beaten." "Sick and tired of living in fear and desperation." "So tired that he was willing to give up his life so long as he hurt them." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "And they laughed at him right up until they slit his throat." "And after." "That's true." "But in the end, he laughed back." "We both heard it, Seamus." "He fought." "He *finally* fought." "And after that, nothing else mattered!" "Yeah, especially not to him." "Seamus, you gotta let it go!" "I don't have to let squat go!" "You don't know what you're talking about!" "You don't even know what happened!" "You wanna know what really happened?" "!" "They didn't come for my mother!" "They came for me, ok!" "They both died because of ME!" "I'm sorry, Seamus." "But don't you see?" "This just proves what I'm talkin' about." "Your mother and your father did not die for nothing." "They sacrificed themselves to save you, their only son, and it worked." "They won." "If you really want what happened to my parents to be worth it, Brendan, then stop the revolt." "I would, Seamus." "For you, I would." "I can't." "A revolution's not like a switch." "You can't turn it on or off." "It's like a fire." "And once it's lit, you can't put it out no matter how much you might want to." "And even if we could, if I did... it might never light again." "All right." "Well, what about you, then?" "L-le - just let me get you out of here." "That's the thing, cousin." "I'm part of the fire." "I need to be." "You kick some butt out there." "According to my captains, we've rounded up almost ninety-percent of our original fleet." "Unfortunately, only half of them can still fight." "The Dragon fleet is closing." "Uh, Dylan?" "Now would be the time for one of those crazy, desperate, This just might work. ideas." "Well, I've got one." "I was just hoping I wouldn't have to use it." "How about sharing your thoughts with your loyal allies?" "I've got a better idea." "We'll do a demonstration from the finest slipstream pilot in the known worlds." "Oh!" "Oh, that'd be me." "Set a course for Coolidge system." "The system where we were ambushed?" "Dylan, that system is completely unnavigable." "When the Dragons fired their slipstream cores, they collapsed slipstream into normal space." "Flying through there would be like diving into a hurricane." "We'd be torn to shreds... unless we did it perfectly." "Well, that is where Beka comes in." "You know, I think I changed my mind about this whole crazy, desperate thing." "This is idiotic." "For your plan to work, every ship in the fleet would have to navigate the vortices on their own." "They're not all "blessed" with a Beka Valentine."" "Luckily, we only need one." "We'll fly in fleet formation keep within a few thousand kilometers of each other to minimize lag-time." "We'll slave the other ships' navigational systems to Andromeda's and let Beka pilot them all." "Which means if she makes a mistake, every ship in the fleet will crash." "Yeah." "Note to self" "Don't screw up." "Goodbye, again." "Cuatemoc is hailing us." "Put him through." "Argosy fleet formation." "Interesting historical reenactment, for all the good it'll do." "We can still follow you." "Anything to escape your wife?" "You are welcome to follow us, Admiral." "In fact, I encourage it." "Or at least I encourage you to try." "Beka, course laid in for Coolidge?" "You betcha." "Coolidge?" "Impossible." "You'll be torn to shreds." "Trying to run through there is suicide." "You didn't talk to Cuchulain about me before you had him executed, did you?" "No?" "Well that's too bad." "I wonder who's next in line." "Go." "Come on, Valentine, you can do it." "You can do it." "You did it." "Yes!" "Dylan, we're clear of the vortex." "The entire allied fleet made it through intact, and there's no sign of the Dragons." "I'm...very impressed." "Aw, forced to reevaluate your opinion of a human?" "Before you begin your little celebration, may I remind you that we lost?" "Now, you see, there is where you're wrong." "We came together, we tested our new allied fleet in battle against the most powerful military in the known universe, and we got away in one piece." "See, I would call that a victory." "Beka, set a course for Earth." "Dylan, I've just intercepted a message from Dilykos Drift." "Earth has already risen up and the Dragons crushed the rebellion." "We're too late." "Mr. Harper." "I could use a little privacy right now, if you don't mind." "I understand." "But I thought you'd want to see this." "It's a transmission from Earth." "Copies of it are popping up all over Dragon space." "The Dragons call us kludges." "They call us mutts and mules, as if *we're* the genetic mistakes because we're only human." "Well, now we've shown them what we humans can do." "We kludges, we mutts, we mules." "And we're gonna keep showing them." "Today, tomorrow," "and every day until Earth is free." "Today is like no other day." "Today... we are cousins all." "Today... we reclaim..." "Earth... for humanity." "This is Bunker Hill, signing off." "They're rising up, Harper." "Slave worlds all over the Dragon empire are getting this recording,... and they're rising in revolt, all because of Brendan." "So you're telling me it was worth it, even if my cousin's dead?" "Either way, he won." "And so did you." "." "." "." "Syncro :" "Shann'auc."