"Not good," Vinny moaned softly as the large warbird hung menacingly between the Levitos and their chosen path. Tommy calmly maneuvered their craft directly toward the warbird. "Are you insane?" Vinny whispered. Tommy raised one eyebrow and the corner of his mouth as if to say maybe, then banked the tiny craft slightly, deploying a large robotic arm which reached out toward the warbird. Vinny thought for sure that they were toast. The crew of that warbird would see the little craft coming at them with it's little robotic arm and fry it without warning. Then, through a small observation window he saw the answer. Tommy was guiding the arm toward a small piece of debris floating aimlessly in the shaft. Tommy grabbed the debris with the robotic arm and disposed of it in the rear of the craft which opened like a dumpster to receive the load. Vinny heard a synthesized female voice say,"debris contained - area clear," as Tommy guided the small craft around the large warbird, directly toward the duct work vent. Using the same robotic arm, Tommy melted four contact points on the vent and removed it. He slid the craft inside the duct work and resealed the vent from the inside. "Beezle, Tommy, bastin' beezle!" Vinny cooed as the small craft eased its way down the duct work of level 4. They reached level 5 without incident.
Tommy maneuvered the robotic arm into position to melt the contact points on the vent to level 5. Just as he melted the final point, a blast erupted outside of the duct work. Tommy held the vent in place as he maintained the position of the craft. I don't think they're after us," he said to Vinny, "but I want to get a look at what's happening out there. You hold the craft steady and I'll keep the vent in position." Tommy managed to keep the vent right in position, while adjusting the camera on the arm to get a view of the area just beyond the vent. What they saw was incredible. Three ships, most likely free source fighters, were in an all out battle with the warbird they had steered around just moments earlier. By the looks of things, the warbird was losing. All of the ships were fighting in the central area where the passages converged, the very spot that Tommy had pointed out on the holographic model. The free source fighters encircled the warbird, firing a ceaseless and beautifully orchestrated series of phazer blasts and torpedo attacks. The warbird rolled a little to one side then launched a powerful blast from the center of its nose, striking one of the fighters and disintegrating it instantly. Vinny had one hand on the steering and one hand busily searching frequencies when they heard, "We lost Jeffers, keep up the pattern and stay away from the nose."'Vinny leaned over as close as he could to Tommy and whispered,"Sounds like Kowalski." Tommy nodded. Just then, a huge explosion rocked the area and the entire warbird disintegrated. "Oh yeah!", the cry went up from the free source fighters. Immediately, another explosion shook the place hard. One of the two remaining free source fighters just shattered to bits.
"Hello Kowalski," said a familiar voice.
"Z? Is that you?" Kowalski asked in disbelief and anger.
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