"Goodbye mom, goodbye dad..." Kerusso Barnes yelled as he stepped onto the boarding platform of the Scoutship that would take him away from Turin V, to Satori, the central system of the rebellion.

"Take care of John," his mother screamed after him as he strode up the platform into the small ship.

"Don't worry, I will," Kerusso replied, exalting in the glory of his very first interstellar space flight.

As the Scoutship finished its takeoff procedures, the repulsorlifts slowly lifted the sleek ship off the ground. Then the main engines kicked in, and Kerusso was thrown back into his seat despite the artificial gravity. As they flew through the atmosphere, Kerusso couldn't help but think of the time that he and his brother John were going to have at the Academy. They might actually get to fly the Mantas that they had seen often in the air shows that he had been to on holidays.

Now they had cleared the atmosphere, and the alarms began to blare. Three Confederate Cruisers and six Confederate Frigates jumped into the system, and the Cruisers launched their fighters. Without a second thought Kerusso knew that he was going to die, along with millions of people down on the planet below. Although Turin V had a defense fleet of 30 Mantas, it couldn't stand up to a battlefleet of this magnitude.

Kerusso helped to bring the Scout out of autopilot, and turned it away from the Confeds, in hope that the Confeds would not see him as a threat and blow him out of the sky. He flew past the planet, and he could see the 30 specks of Mantas coming out of the atmosphere to valiantly attempt to hold off the horde.

Kerusso knew that the Mantas would die, but would take down as much of the battlegroup as possible, which could possibly be all twelve fighters and a Frigate or two. But that was not what he was concerned about. He was concerned about the millions of people down on the planet below. That was the last thought on his mind as he hit the hyper button to jump to Persephone.

Upon landing on Rupert, Kerusso exercised his highest priority in visiting the Rebellion officials. He explained to them every event that he had witnessed as he left the Turin system.

"Well, Mr. Barnes, we'll send a message to Satori, and you can explain it to them when you arrive there. We would help you, but we just don't have the firepower to repel a battlegroup of that magnitude. The only places where you will find a fleet that large are the Clotho and Satori. Try Palshife. They'll help you."

"Thank you," Kerusso said as he headed for the door.

After he exited back into the spaceport, Kerusso decided that he would stop by the mission computer on his way back to the ship, figuring that he might as well make some money on his way to Palshife. He saw that a group of people wanted passage to Satori, in return for 15,000 credits. Kerusso left a message for the group to meet him at docking bay 4 at 2000 hours. On his way back to the ship, another thought crossed his mind: he needed to make his ship stronger. He decided to visit one of the weapons dealers to buy a few upgrades for his ship. He found that the prices were very reasonable, so he sold his two laser cannons, and purchased two proton cannons. For the 6,000 credits that he spent, Kerusso felt that he got a good amount of firepower. He was now almost broke, and very appreciative of the mission that he had accepted. He made his way back to the ship by way of the spaceport bar and the casino, to try his luck and see if he could win any of his money back. 2 hours and 1,000 credits later he conceded that he was not going to win any money, and left the casino. On arriving back at his ship, Kerusso found that his upgrades had been installed and that his passengers had arrived. The passengers were one of the strangest groups of people that Kerusso had ever seen. They were a blackish tint of green in skin color, and all had spiked blue hair, while maintaining an entirely human face and body structure.

"Hello..... I'm Kerusso," he said politely.

"Uhh..... Hi. I'm Michael, and these are my colleagues John, Habib, and Brandon. We're kinda in a hurry, so if we could take off now....."

"Sure. Your the boss. We can go now. Just out of curiosity, though, why are you in such a hurry?"

"That is of no concern to you. Let's go," replied the one called John.

"OK...we'll take off then. JOHN! Get up here!"

"Yes, Ker?" John replied, hurrying onto the bridge.

"It's time to go. Buckle yourself in. These are our passengers...."

"Michael, John, Habib, and I'm Brandon," Brandon said before Kerusso could finish his sentence.

"Hi," said John.

"Hi," the others replied in unison.

The Scoutship slowly lifted off the pad and approached the jump line. Kerusso warmed up and tested the proton cannons to make sure that they were in proper working order. When the blue stream of energy flowed from the ship, Kerusso was satisfied... and hit the hyper button....

...When they reached the Satori system, they saw a huge fleet of Rebel ships beginning to amass. There were already a half-dozen Cruisers and a dozen Destroyers, and a swarm of Mantas. Kerusso inferred that the message from Persephone had preceded him. He hailed Palshife and requested landing permission.

"Scoutship 302, cleared for landing. A few of the Cruiser Commanders would like to speak with you. Land on the personal pad near the HQ building, which I am designating to you...now."

Kerusso started the landing sequence and headed for the location pointed out by the dockmaster. When he landed, there were two Lieutenants waiting to escort him.

"Uhh.... we'll be leaving now. Here's your 15,000 credits. Have a nice day," Michael said, and tossed a credit chip at Kerusso.

"Thanks. You too," he replied, catching and pocketing the chip.

"OK, Mr. Barnes. This way please," one of the Lieutenants interrupted.

"Lead the way, Lieutenant," Kerusso replied politely, and began to follow.

The Lieutenants led Kerusso down a long corridor, into the building, and down a staircase. They stopped in front of a plain door that looked just like all the others around it.

"Just go in there, Mr. Barnes," one of the Lieutenants instructed dryly.

"OK," Kerusso replied, and walked into the room.... and then stopped in his tracks. He had stepped into the largest and most well furnished room he had ever been in. The room was exquisite, completely the antithesis of the door which he had just entered.

"Hello, Mr. Barnes. I am Captain Sherman, Captain of the R.S.S. Instigator. I am in command of the fleet that you saw as you landed. To my right are Captains Jose, Raichek, Adams, Collier, and Freedman. They are the Captains of the other Cruisers." Kerusso traded pleasantries with the other Captains. "Now, Mr. Barnes, please take a seat. Tell us what you saw in the Turin system."

"Well, sirs, I didn't see a whole lot, but I'll tell you what I saw. As I was leaving to come here, I saw three Confederate Cruisers and six Frigates jump into the system. I turned and ran, wanting to stay alive, and as I was preparing to jump I saw the defense fleet preparing to engage. Their valiant efforts gave me the courage to make it here."

"Mr. Barnes, that concurs with what little information has leaked out of the blockade the Confeds have set up. For your efforts in getting us this information, we have a proposition for you. How would you like to fly a Manta in our counterstrike against the Confeds?"

"That would be great! That is what I have always wanted to do. Just one question. When am I supposed to learn how to fly it?"

"Our pilots can give you a ‘crash course' in flying the Manta on route to the Persephone system. It will take us around a week to get there. So what do you think?" Sherman queried.

"Sure. I'll do it. Where would you like me to be, and when?"

"Be at the landing pad outside in 6 hours. Don't be late, or we'll be forced to leave you behind. You'll be on the Instigator with me."

"That's great. I'll be there."

"Just don't be late," Sherman said as Kerusso left the room.

Kerusso walked back up the stairway, out the door, and down the corridor to his ship. He punched in the code to open the door, and began yelling at the joy of what had just happened.

"Hey, John. Guess what just happened?"

"What, Ker?" John replied as he stepped out of his room.

"I get to fly a Manta, already! I'm going to kill the Confed bastards that took our planet!"

"Cool! Can I go?"

"No, John. I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous. A whole lot of people are going to die, maybe even me. But I don't want to put you at risk. You'll be safer here."

"Well, what will I do while you're gone?"

"Here, take these credits for food and stuff. Spend a little on yourself. Just don't spend them all unless it is an absolute emergency."

"I won't. I promise."

"OK. I have to get ready to go. Bye."

"Bye, Ker."

After Kerusso had packed his gear, he set off toward the arranged meeting place. When he got to the other landing pad, he saw the Captain standing by a shuttle.

"Get in. You're flying."

Noting that the Captain was in a hurry, Kerusso wasted no time in getting into the shuttle and keying it on. Sherman also entered, and Kerusso brought the shuttle up and around towards the large masses of the Cruisers. When they came close enough, Captain Sherman opened a channel and hailed the Instigator.

"Clearance granted, Captain. Proceed to bay 2."

"Thank you, Ensign."

Kerusso pulled closer to the Instigator and carefully pulled into bay 2. "You're not a bad pilot, Mr. Barnes. I can see that flying a Manta is going to be a breeze for you," the Captain said as they disembarked onto the deck and walked out of the large bay.

"...and this is the Manta Rack. Get to know it well, as you are going to be spending a great deal of time this week here," the flight instructor said as he concluded the tour of the Flight Deck. "That's all. You can return to your quarters. The Captain may want to see you later. Dismissed."

"Yes sir!" Kerusso began to walk away, towards the turbolift. When he got there, he had a sudden feeling of... sadness. He knew that his parents were dead, and that he was completely responsible for John. He would kill the Confeds for that....

"...Mr. Barnes, MR. BARNES! I said you should report to the bridge!"

"Yes, Captain. I'll be there in just a moment." Kerusso stumbled out of his quarters and over to the turbolift, waking up more with every step. By the time he entered and pressed the button to take him to the bridge, he was fully awake. When the door reopened, he got his first look at the bridge. It was just as he imagined it, large, aesthetic, and crammed with panels of all sorts. Much, much more complicated than the Mantas he had spent the week learning how to fly.

"Welcome, Ensign. I just called you up to have one last talk with you before we engage the Confeds. Step over here." Kerusso followed the Captain over into one of the rooms adjoining the bridge. "I heard from Lt. Commander Smith that you took on very well being a fighter pilot. I heard that you even beat him once in simulation. That's only been done a few times, and only by the very best."

"Well, Captain, I got lucky. I guess that the simulation is too easy," Kerusso finished, trying not to boast.

"We could use a good pilot like you on our full time roster. You just make it through this battle, and we'll make it worth your while," the Captain said, and dismissed Kerusso.

Kerusso walked back through the bridge, down the turbolift, and down a corridor to the Flight Deck. He met up with Lt. Commander Smith, who helped Kerusso get into his Manta, and then climbed into his own.

"Fleet, this is Captain Sherman. We're going to go over basic battle plans one last time before the battle. Mantas, you're going to take out the remaining Patrol Ships and then split up and strafe the Frigates. Do not, I repeat, do not try to go in squads or the turrets will destroy you. Go individually and you stand a much better chance of surviving. Destroyers, form three Red Delta formations and then take out the Frigates. Cruisers, pair up. Take out one Cruiser for each pair. Stay out of the way of the neutron cannons, and you should be all right. We easily outnumber and outgun them, but don't get cocky, as this could easily be turned against us and we could lose. Good luck to all of you. When we come out of hyperspace, Mantas should break and get out of the way. Target a Patrol Ship and fire your missiles. Coming out of hyperspace on my mark: 5....4....3....2....1...mark."

The ships came out of hyperspace and spotted their prey. There were three Confed Cruisers and five Frigates. The Mantas must have done their job extremely well as no Patrol Ships were launched. Amazingly, a group of 4 Mantas took off from the planet as the 24 Cruiser Mantas were launched.

"Rebel fleet, this is Red 1, leader of the Turin Defense Fleet. Welcome. Let's kick these Confeds."

"Thanks, Red 1. Care to join ranks?"

"Sure. Red Group, join ranks and follow Mantas."

The new Mantas grouped with the fleet Mantas and began firing missiles at the Frigates. As the Mantas began to strafe the Frigates, the Destroyers formed their boxes and let their missiles and torpedoes fly. The Cruisers split up and began to pound the Confed Cruisers with the combo of missiles, torpedoes, heavy rockets, proton turrets, and mass drivers. The Confeds fought back with vigor and courage, but the overwhelming odds began to take their toll. Slowly but surely and ever quicker the Rebels disabled and destroyed the Frigates and Cruisers. In the end, one Cruiser was left disabled for boarding, while the rest were left as space rubble. Three Destroyers and 8 Mantas had been destroyed in the battle, but Captain Sherman, bereaved as he was, considered it an ‘acceptable' loss for what they had taken out in Confederate lives and technology. When the Cruiser was boarded, with surprisingly little resistance, a credit bank was found with 60 million credits in stolen currency. 1 million credits were awarded to Kerusso, with the remaining being divided between the remaining 6 Cruisers and 9 Destroyers.

When the landing shuttles landed on the planet below, Kerusso helped in the "extermination" of the remaining Confederates on Turin V. After they had secured the small areas that the Confeds had infiltrated, Kerusso took one of the shuttles to his home town to find out the fate of his parents. From the many survivors that he knew, he learned that his parents had died during the first bombing, trying to lead panicked people to what little shelter could be found. Kerusso was astonished by this, amazingly proud while in the midst of such sadness. He felt that they were partially avenged by the battle above, but that he would use his resources to travel to the end of the universe to hunt down and kill Confeds...

...When Kerusso rejoined the Fleet, he joined them in a subdued form of rejoicing. When they had finished the partial clean-up effort that was being continued by the colonists, they boarded their shuttles to the applause of the survivors...

....When they reached Palshife, Kerusso had a warm reunion with his brother, than a warmer one with the bank. With part of the money, he sold his Scoutship and bought an upgraded Clipper. He was able to use his connection with Captain Sherman to get a great deal on the upgrades. he upgraded with 2 missile racks, 20 missiles, a layer of Armaplast armor, an extra proton cannon, a density scanner and IFF decoder, 2 external fuel tanks, and an auto-refueler. He thanked Captain Sherman profusely, and set off with his brother to kill more Confeds...

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