The bridge of the Daedalus was humming. Chosen as the command ship, the large Carrier was finally finished, armed, modified, and stocked to the gills with men, ships, and weapons.

All needed to get this dirty but necessary war underway.

A man in a black uniform, strikingly cut with yellow accents, stood at the front rail of the main viewport, looking out into the space around Eladard. He'd delayed as long as needed to secure what he believed would be an advantage - at the moment, Eladard and Aquas were on the opposite side of Solar from Katina, Venom, and Titania. This would hamper communications with both main bases, and add at least a day and a half travel time to any of their heavier reinforcements.

An Arwing or a light capital ship will make it faster...but I'm not concerned with those too much. It's the heavy artillery that we need to be ready for...and this should give us time to dig in and be prepared. That, and our trump card...

The man, a fox with the look of a man approaching middle age in coloring if not form, chuckled a little. It hadn't been hard to arrange this little play, at least from their end; how the other party would play it off would be known only with time.

It matters little to me. My men will kill anything trying to kill them, flat out. They are well trained, well equipped, and more than a match for anything on Aquas. This is our time.

Some of his ground agents were already in place; spies within the Rebel base, on the streets, sleeper units ready to strike out the moment troops touched down. The Underground had proven nearly impossible to infiltrate, with the one successful spy lasting two days before being caught out and summarily executed; despite the setback, though, it too would fall. If I have to level parts of their pestilential city to do it, they will die.

Insight and Innocuous were on the ground, keeping track of everything. She'd thrown herself into her job of intelligence and organization on Aquas, more than he'd expected her to; he suspected it had something to do with Nought, but again, it mattered little.

Foresight was here, in the central command room of the Daedalus, analyzing the scout data for what was around Aquas, and deciding how best to deal with it. The old ram really showed his worth here, proving to be genius at handling it all. That isn't to say, though, that the fox didn't set the plans. They played by his rules, to see this done right.

Insensate was overseeing the setup of an outpost in Meteo, the first of likely several from which assaults on Corneria could be directed and launched. They'd found an old base, one that records say was previously occupied by a civilian group. One that a Terra Bartley had cold-bloodedly wiped out some six years previously.

He felt a chill run through him at the thought of the bounty hunter - he'd looked through her history, after hearing of her reputation; though she seemed unaware of her descent, he knew who she was and it made his blood boil. I'd like to kill her myself, and settle that score. Perhaps I'll have the chance, but I doubt that. After all, there were more important things than bounty hunters to deal with.

The fox shook his head. No time for distractions such as that. It's time for this to begin.

He tapped a button on the rail, and spoke. His voice was quiet, but the words went through the entire fleet like a shock of lightning; every Captain tensed when that light, accented voice toned through their comms. "This is your Leader. Today, your wait is made worthwhile. Today, our vindication begins." A pause. "Today, we bring peace to Aquas."

"We will be underway as soon as all final checks have been reported to the Daedalus. You have until we arrive to set your affairs in order; remember that you may not come back." Again, a pause. "Lylat will remember this day. The day it's freedom came home again."

To himself, the fox, the Leader of Apostasy, thought, The day my family legacy is fulfilled once more. He smiled, and anyone who could have seen it would have been chilled to the bone. The McClouds are peacebringers.

And I will bring peace.