He'd had plenty of time to catch onto the basics of most of these games while he'd been at the BattleSchool. The rules differed slightly in each one, but the goal was always the same. He had his little craft up and skimming on the land before she did, but not by much.

They were in some sort of valley now, skimming low across the ground as she followed him tightly, both of them skirting in and out of obstacles in their wild chase. Just like a little game of cat and mouse... Kat toyed with Mode, firing only enough for superficial damage, letting him move out of range before jetting ahead with deadly precision. He hunched over the controls too, absorbed in the fight, and she suddenly whooped with a snicker of laughter as one of her lasers caught his back left jet and his fighter burst into flames, whirling out of control to crash into the earth.

No one else was paying them much attention, and he slid out of his seat and leaned against hers instead, tilting her face up. "Now don't get too cocky, Kitten," he said with a grin and leaned down to kiss her briefly. "Or I might not let you win next time." He toyed with a copper ringlet, tickling her under the chin with it. So pretty, his Kitten. Wandering around in public was beginning to appeal to him less. It was almost dinner time, though, and he was beginning to get a little hungry. He'd skipped breakfast, and had been in Detention during lunch. Dinner sounded more than appetizing.

She turned her fighter around and started back towards Cas's. Seeing little blinks of light, she realized that the enemy had found Cas. She started nearing his position to help out when a fighter darted out from behind an asteriod, missing her as she banked to get a better view of Cas's battle.

The level went on, fighters weaving in and out of the asteroids, trying to get clear shots. Several of the enemy fighters actually ended up crashing in the asteroids after trying to imitate tricky manuvers.

The levels after that one were a bit more difficult, better AI, more fighters. And around level 72, they encountered solar winds, causeing their sensors to malfunction and leaving them completely blind.

With only a few fighters left before the completion of the level, Helen spun her fighter around to see a flash of light as Castor's fighter was blown up. Only a few minutes later she was blown up herself by a fighter that snuck out from the cover of an asteroid and hit her from behind.

Helen sat in her pod for a minute, staring at the blank screen, amazed at what happened...they'd lasted that long.... She stumbled out of the pod and walked over to Castors pod and waited for him to emerge.

The rest of the brothers had apparently wandered elsewhere as none of them were at the games any longer... no wait, there was Kevo... and also Tony... both seeming to be in another place as they warred on their individual vidgames. They didn't even notice Ryan and Davn as they stepped into the Arena. No matter. Ryan didn't seem to want to deal with anything right now in the first place; Davn realized as much when the captain didn't even bother to ask where those goddamn Jaydes were who supposedly had been looking for him. He peeled off to leave the man to himself; Davn had things to think about on his own accord. Mika had been taunting him ever since they'd arrived earlier on today... kept telling him that there was something he'd hacked up on the School files that he would really want to see. Mika wouldn't joke about anything if it was only complete shit. There was always a foundation to it, and Davn couldn't help but think that it had something to do with Mai...

Ryan had been roaming idly and was about ten feet away from the simpods before he realized who it was that they contained. One encased a boy, only vaguely familiar to Ryan's eyes which were oblivious to all... except for the redheaded vision that the other pod held inside its dim interior. He felt the water leaking back to touch the rock, though not close enough this time to seep in through the cracks of surprise and stupid, mindless vulnerability... he had Zion close beside him now, in this ragged patch, in his hatred... and so he would be fine. Ryan would never need to cry for him again. But this Kat... this satan-born creature was another story. She was the one who'd killed his oldest, most abhorred nemesis... and for this, Ryan felt the realization of the strangest, most twisted touch of love for her. And yet this bitch had also killed his brother, his lifelong kinsman in heart... she had killed Zion Jayde. Zion... Freeman. Ryan had pieced it together- it was clear as the sky. Kat had had her own Zion... that Fleet-shit by the name of Jax Narita. Those two men had become friends during their time on landside... Zion's presence would have been enough to prevent Jax's death if only he had known that it was imminent... so Kat had gotten rid of him. Gotten rid of what was not hers to rid.

He hated her, he loved her.

He was standing perhaps ten feet away from them, watching her silently through the almost transparent plastic of her pod. Slipping languidly from her seat, Kat ignored Mode's curious glance as she sauntered toward the other boy, pausing a few steps in front of him. Straightening her shoulders, a few stray curls in her eyes going unnoticed, Kat stared at Ryan with her serpentine-gold gaze locked with his own brown eyes. His face was cold, set as resolutely as her own, and the injuries he'd inflicted upon her were forgotten as she absorbed the pain hidden behind his calm mask and felt that twinge of remorse strike again.

No. She refused to feel any sort of guilt as she idly licked the point of her canines and gazed at him steadily through half-closed lids. It wasn't her fault that she'd managed to erase whatever revenge he was entitled to. But Jax's life would never had been hers to take if Zion had remained alive... she had convinced Jax that the traitor Jayde assaulted her, and he'd helped to end the boys life. After that, her window of opportunity was short and concise, and she'd taken advantage of the situation. No guilt. Yet her icy heart burned with frostbite pain as she let her glance flick toward the patch concealed in Ryan's breastpocket. And she wondered, however briefly, just what she owed him now.

"Hello, Ryan." Her normally mocking voice was devoid of maliciousness, and with passive defiance she tilted her head and smiled slightly at him. This handsome, vengeful Jayde... couldn't he see how much they were alike? Both with their enemies and loves finally disposed of; and although that meant their rage could be allowed to abate now, it was evident it might never disappear. But that cold flame of anger still burned as brightly within her as it did him, and she felt an unexpected surge of understanding for this Ryan Jayde. He knew her pain, her anguish, her nightmares of love lost and vengeance nevermore. He knew her more completely than anyone, even Mode, even Jax had ever known her.

Which meant she loved him for sharing their souls so closely... and her love meant his death.

He shifted cold eyes from her face to his, studying the man before him. He was nearly his own height, with rough dark brown hair cut into a military style and brown eyes that settled on Katera with a mixture of emotion he couldn't quite identify, but not much of it seemed complimentary. His build was wiry, but the muscle mass was there - and if he'd managed to hang on to Kat long enough to inflict as much damage as he had and only had the cut on his neck to show for it, he could be a formidable opponent.

"Needa favor, lover boy." She kissed his cheek, sliding back down to the floor and leaning onto his game display as she winked at him. He rolled his eyes but removed his hands from the controls and smirked. "What is it, Roxy?"

Rox bit her lip and giggled. "Well, y'see... I need you to be Donovan. Go challenge Nicolai to a sim game, and then you'll see my little surprise." She leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I've got it all rigged up, you're going to smoke him so bad, and he'll be so pissed off cause he's already all mad about Dante! Then it'll serve him right for saying all those mean things about me."

"He did what?" Dom's eyes narrowed a little, but Rox shook her head. "Nevermind. Oooh look, here he comes. C'mon, Donovan, go show him what you're made of."

Dominic winked at her cockily, falling into the role with ease. After all, hadn't he practiced it for years? With a grin he sauntered over toward a very disgruntled looking Nicolai, knocking his shoulder roughly with a fist. "Ho Nicolai. You up to get your ass kicked in the sims? C'mon, a fight."

"What?" The incredulous tone in Nicolai's voice did nothing to hide his underlying anger. Fucking Donovan, causing the rift between him and Dante. All his fault... it didn't really enter Nicolai's thoughts to blame himself. He was never wrong. It was this goddamn twin who'd stolen his target. He could taste the victory already. "Okay, Donovan. I'll fight you."

He'd met her when classes let out in the Commons, and she'd been more than happy to go with him when he suggested the Game Arena. She doubted he would have allowed her to remain by herself anyway, and even as they walked, her match was scanning the hallway as they spoke quietly.

She didn't blame him. She was too.

Her limp was much decreased today, and Jor's subtle support made it much easier to move. She took a seat in one of the chairs nearest the game Jor had selected before she noticed the gathering crowd looking at the display screen for the simulator. Eyebrow raising, she lifted her eyes and looked as well.

He noticed Rox, nearby, looking like she was up to something. Not that that was unusual -- Rox was always up to something.

No one was really paying attention to her; after all, she was tucked away in the back, but the expression on her face was unmistakeable. She looked up as someone approached, winking as she recognized Rabin. A kindred pranking spirit, this one. "Whose head you dancin' on today, Roxy?"

Rox couldn't suppress a snicker.

The overanxious pilot in Pod A just hovered there like a green for a moment, as if stunned by the minor asteroid collision. It really hadn't done much damage, but now the other Talon was looping about, skirting the asteroid, diving down beneath it to come up and fire at the unprotected belly of the first fighter.

More whispering floated through the room as the first fighter finally geared up and dodged, and Wick caught the name "Nicolai." Wick blinked in surprise. She'd only faced him once, but Nicolai was anything but poorly controlled - in the simulator, anyway. She watched the conflict with renewed interest.

The battle seemed to be going well again, moving into Nicolai's favor as a quick dodging path through the asteroid belt slowed his opponent down. He executed a lovely 180 degree turn, bringing the nose of his craft to bear against the other fighter as he fired a laser barrage - but the craft kept rotating, and the lasers burned harmlessly into one of the impervious asteroids as Nicolai went into a spin.

The murmurs were getting a little louder. Spins were difficult to execute, but everyone had their limits, even Nicolai. He must have pushed it too hard, and this was his result.

Wick started to smirk.

The other Talon, who had broken and banked away as soon as he saw Nicolai beginning to turn, now approached cautiously from the other side of the asteroids, reluctant to enter again. Nicolai finally got his craft under control and launched up, sidestepping the huge rocks with breathtaking ease and gaining on his opponent with dangerous speed. The second fighter reversed as Nicolai approached, his progress much easier for lack of obstruction, and jetted to the right as Nic launched a cluster missile to make him run faster.

The missile spun off in a strange arc, and someone in the audience laughed out loud. Nic must have been going too fast to set his aiming mechanism properly, trusting on his own ability to aim instead of the computerized mapper. The lack of success was evident as the missile zoomed off to the side and exploded in open space near the edge of a nebula.

Nicolai wasted no time puzzling over his mistake this time, and immediately brought his fighter in towards the other one. There was no way his opponent could escape him, not at this range, and his orientation was bad. Nic moved into position to take his shot. The room was entirely silent.

Nothing happened, and the second Talon locked its own lasers and Nicolai's fighter exploded into a dust cloud of sparkling fragments.

He'd moved perfectly the first time, the deft maneuver well-practiced, automatic. It was such an unbelieveable occurrence that he wasn't even prepared to counteract it, and Nicolai paused dumbstruck, watching as his fighter collided lightly with a passing asteroid. Hadn't he just moved the joystick? But Donovan came around quickly, and he was forced to recover, shaking off the loss as some bizarre and rare mishap.

Not so the second time, when he jerked his scout into a turn, once again bewildered as the ship kept spinning uncontrollably, despite his best efforts. The murmurs and snickers of laughter coming from the game room went unnoticed as a single, nasty thought ran through his head and Nicolai's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Goddamn you Roxy...

He didn't know how she did it, only that she had. There was no doubt. The computer that ran the simulation was AI, incredible technology, and highly maintenanced. There was no way something like this would happen; continuous and random system malfunctions, but only in his pod? Donovan seemed to be having no trouble taking advantage of his errors, and Nicolai was hard put upon as he fought with all the skill he possessed merely to stay alive.

But it was her, no doubt. No one else could hack the mainframe. No one else pranked him after every fight. And no other bitch would pull such an underhanded trick. His blood boiled as the target locks for his cluster missiles failed, his jaw clenched tightly as his lasers refused to fire, and Donovan beat him in a bright explosion that sent waves of laughter through the game arena.

The moment he was destroyed, Nicolai had the headset thrown at the display, the pod door opening as he threw himself out into the room, face darkening as he scanned the crowd. Wick and Jor were nearby, smirking at him, but he hardly noticed anyone else until his eyes rested on Rox, seated in a corner, typing away on her computer with that all too familiar grin on her face. "Roxy, you little fucking bitch, I'll get you for that!"

Rox had time for a snicker and one word before Nicolai was almost halfway across the room and about to reach her. "Shit!"

She dropped her desk and hopped to her feet, smiling broadly as he came after her, and with a shriek she ran to hide behind Rabin, peeking out as Nicolai came nearer. "Wasn't me, Nico, you just suck as a flyboy! Ahhh Rabin!" He was angry, more angry than she'd ever seen him before, but the thrill of the prank was too much, and she giggled anxiously, still using Rabin as a shield. "You lost to Donovan, Nico, heehee!"

"I'll get you, Roxy..." She hopped to the side as he made a lunge at her, the two of them running through the room, a wild chase that sent her running over tables and dodging through people as Nicolai tried to catch her. Rox was getting closer to the door when she noticed Swede and her friend nearby, and with another shriek she grabbed onto Swede and hid behind Rye, sticking her tongue out at Nicolai as he glowered and came closer. "Ah, Nene! Nico's pissed he lost!"

But the depth of his anger was a little frightening as Rox almost ran straight into her, hiding behind Rye as Nicolai came bounding forward, shoving her out of the way to grab Rox's arm. Swede hissed, kicking him in the side of the knee, but he pushed her roughly to the side with one hand, knocking her against the wall. "Beetcha Nicolai, I make you pay for dat..."

"Fuck off, green, you don't know what you're getting into." He hissed at Rye, eyes narrowed, pulling Rox away from the other boy and from Swede. The kid could watch over Swede all he wanted, but Rox was his to deal with. She tried to squirm away, kicking at him and cursing under her breath, but he tightened his fingers into her arm. "We're going, Rox."

Dominic's characteristic reserve was all that kept him from jumping Nicolai the moment he slid from the pod and stalked over toward where the other man stood. There was no use for the charade now. He could care less if Nicolai knew he wasn't Donovan now. The charade was over. Rox was being hurt.

Swede and some unfamiliar boy were next to Nicolai and Rox, the boy clenching his fist as he readied to fight. Dominic caught his eye, shaking his head, and the boy withdrew, helping Swede back to her feet. Rox turned to look up at him just as Nicolai's head whipped around, and Dominic slammed Nicolai with a fist right into the eye as he grabbed Rox's hand and pulled her to him.

Time to fight.

Nicolai staggered back, putting a hand to his eye as he scowled, enraged, and Dominic tugged Rox behind him as he lowered his center of balance. He didn't particularly enjoy fighting, especially since he knew Nicolai was no match for him, but it was the principle of the matter. One protects one's love. Rox wasn't helping the situation much, dancing behind him as she made faces at Nicolai, but Dominic shifted lower and glared right back at the other man. "Don't touch her again, Nicolai."

"Dominic? Rox, you little bitch, what kind of fuckin' twisted prank is this? Gettin' your boyfriend here to pretend he's someone else. Fuck, I was right about you three, I oughta..." Rox hissed angrily behind him, and Dominic's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Oughta what, Nicolai?"

The man glared through his good eye and scowled around the room. He couldn't possibly win, not against Dominic, not with that green of Swede's looking as if he were ready to kick his head off at any moment. Nicolai straightened, jeering at Rox. "I'll get you, hapa slut, you wait and see." With that he turned and stalked from the game arena, cursing under his breath, and Dominic turned to look at Rox for a long moment before speaking. "Shit, Roxy, you really fucking pissed him off."

"I know it!" Her giggles were back as she almost tackled him, jumping up into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist as he struggled to regain his balance. Swede started snickering, elbowing Rye, but the relief was evident in her eyes as she glanced toward her friend. "Cloze call, dat Nicolai noot let yoo oof zo eazee, Roxee, I tink dat yoo bettaire bee carefool, neh?"

Rox rolled her eyes, kissing Dominic as he set her down. "He's right, Rox. You stepped over the line with that one. You play nice from now on." She huffed loudly, sullenly watching Swede and Rye. "Serves him right, big hirestukane. Thanks, Dommy. We, uh, go talk now?" Her eyebrow raised and he buried a smile. "Fine. You okay, Swede?"

"And stay outta the barracks!" Rox was anything but discreet as she grinned at the pair and pulled harder at Dominic's hand. "C'mon we hafta talk, hurry up." Dominic had time for a half-wave at the two before Rox succeeded in tugging him off-balance, and he followed her out of the room.

Gabe had kind of expected a larger version of Battle School's Game Room. This wasn't it. There were games, yes, but not the kind of games that had populated Battle School's Game Room. These were games that stressed on-the-fly tactical thinking over simple button-mashing. And there were more than just video games; there were tabletop games as wel, like air hockey and ping pong. There were smaller tables for chess, checkers, and a few other games Gabe did not recognize.

And there were the pods. Four of them, against the far wall. These were the simpods he'd overheard students in the hall taking about.

Gabe had a feeling about these pods. A sense of innevitability about them. These pods were going to be important.

She studied the rest of the room with interest. The Game Room hadn't been much of an interest for her during their time at BattleSchool, and she'd gone months without entering it after they'd quit playing their chess games in it, but some of these games looked more like lessons in real-time strategy and less like tests of hand-eye coordination. It would bear some closer inspection.

The pods at the back are what finally captured her attention, though, and she looked up at the main display over the pods. Two of the fighters were visible on the screen, trying to destroy each other. Sol felt a small thrill of excitement. This looked like...fun.

Kyle recognized the boy closest to him staring at the veiwscreen. He didn't know his name but remembered him in the battle room with Fox. He thought he had been a commander jsut before Kyle was sent home. The other person was behind him with him blocking their face. The closest kid shifted his arm away then back to where Kyle got a quick glimpse of her face. She looke familiar but Kyle couldn't place her.

Looking back to the viewscreen and shaking his head as one of the fighters made a mistake he looked to his side one more time. The girl's face was still blocked but a blonde spike seemed to be potruding out from around the kids arm. With a whiff of air the spike glinted red and was out of sight. Swede. There was no mistaking that. Many of times he would be the closest eagle to defeating fox with his toon and touching his helmet to their door when she seemed to always be their last defense.

That blonde-haired boy glanced her way, his bright blue eyes meeting her own turquoise ones, and she stared at him for a long moment before looking away. If it had been any other time, any other day, she would have been her normal blunt self and just stalked over and demanded to know who he was. Unfortunately, Swede was feeling rather... out of sorts. Rye's friendly presence had been enough to snap her out of her deeper pensive state, but not enough to improve her mood considerably.

But who the hell was the kid?

Her eyes narrowed briefly as the boy extended his hand, Rye instinctively tensing beside her. Protective, as always... she thought, even as she remembered the first time she'd met Kyle. After their first fight with Jor and Wick in Fox Army, and she'd been stomping around angrily through the school. A brief flicker of a smile crossed her lips as he mentioned her tackling him, growing wider in response to his own grin. She had practically tackled him, and their ensuing conversation came back to her. Florida... that's where he'd lived. No wonder he was so tan, so bleached-blonde, and she hadn't recognized him.

Kyle looked at Sue, she was still watching the game as if she didn't even know he was gone. She wasn't very far away so he called out quietly as possible, "Sue!" She turned and met his eyes and he motioned for her to join them.

She sighed and motioned toward the door. "Vanna valk back vith me, Ryee?"

The Game Arena was a little more active than she expected, but all four Simpods were free, and she grinned at Gabe. "If you beat me quickly," she observed lightly, "we'll get to the library that much sooner." What passed for amusement touched his features, and she smiled widely and slipped into the one on the end and began to study the controls. A headset for communication with one or more of the other pods, a chair, a console with a touchpad that lighted as she activated the pod and a navigational control in front with triggers on it, presumably for the weapons.

He didn't like the touchscreen setup. It was too smooth, too flat; there were no tactile points of reference by which one might be able to navigate through its functions without having to look at it. And Gabe very much wanted to find a way to use all the controls in here blind. In the middle of a battle, his eyes had to be on the holofield in front of him. There was no time whatsoever. His hands needed to know how to do everything in this pod without his eyes' aid.

There was a starfield in front of him when he opened his eyes, and the touchpad was glowing softly, with the text Press Screen to Start. Gabe placed a finger to the face of the pad, and a menu appeared. There were four buttons arranged vertically. Each represented a submenu, apparently. Player Setup, Match Options, Arena, and Simulants. Gabe entered the first, and input Gabriel as his callsign. He cycled through the available ships, looking at their stats but not terribly clear yet what each meant, and eventually settled on a smaller one which had a higher value under the Thrust heading that any of the others he'd passed. The computer asked him if he wanted to lauch with a default or custom loadout, and Gabe selected default for the time being.

Next came Match Options. There were a number of fields here, and most of them Gabe left as they were. Number of Players, however, he changed to two, and selected Sol's pod from the diagram displayed immediately after. He also changed the game's time limit to fifteen minutes and the kills limit to unlimited. They were going to be dying plenty when they first started, Gabe suspected, and didn't want to have to set all these options again.

"Gabe?" came Sol's voice in his ear, sounding slightly uneasy.

"I'm here," he said, as he navigated the menues. "I'm not sure how this works, but I've selected you as my opponent, so with any luck when I choose Play the match will commence using my settings. If it doesn't then I'll read them off to you."

From the Arena submenu Gabe selected a relatively empty-looking map titled Novice, and from Simulants he chose none, after figuring out that simulants apparently meant computer opponents.

It wasn't really nothing, of course, but next to the few bright objects that populated the field of view, the emptiness seemed very...empty. The stars were all far too distant to be anything but background. There was a single roughly spherical object about three times the relative size of her craft (as the computer saw it), and it was motionless. An asteroid (planetoid?) or a moon, but no planet was in evidence. The rest of the surroundings were completely empty.

A tiny mote moved in the upper left-hand quadrant of her vision, and she refocused on it. Maybe not completely empty. That must be Gabe, in his fighter.

She looked down at the controls and began to prod. They were easy enough to figure out, but learning when to do what was going to take some practice. She quit messing with weapons and navigation and decided to work on scanning first. She tricked the pod into giving her a scan of information on Gabe's craft. The same as hers. Well, that was useful. He seemed to be having a much easier time of it. The movements of the little Talon on her screen were getting more and more fluid and efficient. There was a flicker of light in front of him as he tested his laser capability, and Sol decided it was now time to quit scanning and unravel the mysteries of the shielding system.

Something on the screen flickered, and she stopped and looked at it, frowning. Her view hadn't changed, though Gabe was beginning to orient on her with more than passing interest. What was it she'd seen?

The pod she was seated in rocked slightly, and the lights and display shivered and dimmed in a respectably disturbing way. Several lights began to blink insistently on her console, while a few others were now ominously dark. "Shit," she said fiercely, meaning it. Gabe hadn't fired on her, not yet. His orientation was all wrong. She looked up to the top of the screen and mentally hit herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand.

So he set to learning the basic controls, looping, rolling, practicing maneuvers like pushing the craft up to full thrust, cutting the main jets and flipping it around using the yaw or pitch jets, and then targeting backwards, or using a roll while pitching or yawing, so that his path was much more diccicult to follow.

He was about ready to begin practicing with his weapons when he noticed that there were two red blips on his radar screen. He set one of his peripheral VDUs to display Sol's fighter, and in the background he could see another closing in.

What the hell? He'd set the computer opponents to None. He remembered quite clearly.

The craft was firing on Sol. Gabe cut his main thrust and pitched the craft ventral, toward the two. The little lights were all he could see, until he came close enough for his onboard fire control system to target Sol. A set of thick brackets appeared around Sol's fighter, and a fainter crimson pair around the unknown craft. Gabe hit the control to switch targets, and the shading of the two targeting boxes reversed. Gabe then hit the command to lock his target.

He and Sol were newbies here. Someone was trying to have some fun with them. Well, Gabe didn't like other people having fun at his expense, and he especially didn't like people having fun at Sol's expense. Gabe opened up with a full salvo without so much as establishing communications first.

Irritated and angry with herself, she launched a cluster missile and sheared off to the right, intending to run far enough to regroup. There was almost nothing on this board, just a single large asteroid and no nebulas or planets. Hiding was impossible on such a blank field.

She would just have to outrun him.

The cluster missile detonated behind her with enough illumination to brighten her screen, despite the fact that she was facing away. She ducked around the large asteroid and came back to face the scene she'd fled, hoping to see small pieces of the enemy craft floating.

The other Talon was limping, but hardly out of commission. The left engine had suffered blast damage, and his portside laser assembly was half-melted, but his right side was entirely untouched. He was green, but he didn't seem to have any problem dodging. She had him in her sights, though, and even without her targeting computer, he was going to be easy to finish off.

He was rotating towards her position, but she was far more maneuverable than he, and was prepared to fire when her ship rocked wildly, the proximity alert going off almost simultaneously. Her view skewed, flickered and then disappeared in a huge orange fireball, and Pallas stared as the end of the sequence brought the replay. The green Talon she'd been about to destroy wasn't even in the picture. It was the *other* Talon, the one she'd practically disabled, only on engine left functioning at less than one-quarter power, skating sideways in what looked like a crazy uncontrolled lunge to smash into the side of her fighter. If her sensors had been up, it never would have worked.

The resulting impact had destroyed both fighters. Pallas didn't get much satisfaction out of that, considering the superior fighting condition her Talon had been at the end. Considering that she'd had months more experience in the Sims than these two greens had. Ever since the battle with Swede and the two Jaydes against the computer buggers, she'd been...distracted. Unfocused.

This just wasn't her week.

She stepped out of the simpod slowly and met the irritatingly innocent satisfied smile on Sol's face with something less than perfect grace. The other girl was already out of her pod and reached over to tap the other that was still closed, but Pallas had little doubt as to who the occupant would be. Where Solenis was, Gabriel was also. It was bad enough that she'd managed to lose to a pair of greens. That it had to be this *particular* pair of greens stung a little worse and at the same time eased a little of her discomfort. They were good soldiers, and they had performed *precisely* to satisfaction in her toon, never more, never less.

Gabe said nothing at all to Pallas. Once the girl had been their toon leader; once, he'd been required to listen when she spoke, to do what she said. Now, however, he wasn't even required to acknowledge her existence.