A/N: Here it is! The fruits of my current labor. Get ready for some rip-roaring action, dramatic twists, and a hell of a ride.

In an age where humanity has given up mass warfare for man-to-man combat in space, opposing governments struggle to gain the upper hand. This is the story of Amadeus, an android given one of the most important assignments in the history of the Republic.

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Explosions ripped through the eerie silence of space. A fierce battle was raging over the planet Atlantis. The Dynasty of the Seven Suns had sent a wing of Personalized Assault Vehicles, PAUs, to destroy a convoy of Republic ships. After intercepting a Republic PAU and torturing and interrogating its pilot, the Dynasty had learned that the android Amadeus would be transporting a group of mechanics to the Republic, not in a passenger ship, but in a PAU. If the Dynasty succeeded in destroying the escort wing and capturing Amadeus, they would deal a significant blow to their enemies. There was a chance, even, of learning their location. The Republic pilots knew how important the outcome of this battle would be to the survival of the Republic itself, and steeled themselves for the horrors of man-to-man combat.

“Wing leader. Prometheus is down!”

“Brady, requesting assistance.”

“Atlas. I’m with you, Brady.”

“Hades. Two fighters approaching you from behind, Roland—”

“Wing leader. I’m coming, Roland!”

“Too many of them! Too many—” A moment’s worth of static hiss was all that remained of Roland. Debris from his PAU sprayed across the blackness of space.

“We’ve lost Roland.”

“Cronus. Confirmed.”

“Brady. I could use some help, here! Anytime!”

“Cameron. One less Dynasty prick on your back, Brady.”

“Shit! There’s two more! Get out of here, Cameron, get—” Hisssssss.

“Cameron! Brady’s gone! I tried to help him, I tried—”

“Hades. Keep your cool, Cameron.”

“Wing leader. We’ve lost three, but seven is still strong. They’re ignoring the rules of the dogfight to gang up on us one by one, so we’re going to do the same. I’m going to list you in pairs to fight together. Cronus, Hades. Atlas, Cameron. Junior, Ares.” The fighters’ new assignments flashed on their screens as wing leader Botnik entered them into his computer.

“Atlas here. And you will be..?”

“Covering Amadeus. Everybody try to draw those Dynasty dirtbags away from Amadeus.”

“Atlas, roger that.”

“Yee-haaaa! Another scumbag out of the sky.”

“With all due respect to whoever said that, keep your trap shut.”

“Cronus. Hades, there’s one coming up behind you.”

“One behind you too, Cronus! FUCK! He’s down.”

“Wing leader. Coming to join you, Hades.”

“Atlas. Watch it, Cameron, he’s about to pull a Lightman on me and attack you.”

“Ares. Junior, for god’s sake—”

Amadeus, avoiding enemy engagement, turned his fighter around just in time to see Junior launch twin missiles at the enemy PAU he and Ares were fighting. The enemy maneuvered smoothly behind Junior at the last moment. One of the missiles hit Junior; the other barely missed Ares.

“Ares. Junior’s—”

“Cameron! Atlas is gone!”

“Wing leader. We’ve lost Junior AND Atlas?”

“Ares. Confirmed.”

“Cameron. Confirmed, God save us…”

“Hades. New teams?”

“Wing leader confirming. Hades, you’re with Cameron. Ares, you’re with me.”

Amadeus opened a private channel to Botnik. Although his orders were to stay out of the battle, Amadeus still had a higher ranking than the wing leader. He couldn’t fight, for the risk of his ship being destroyed along with the mechanics was too great, but he could lead the battle. “Lead the enemy as far from me as you can, then retreat and go immediately to the rendezvous point.”

The voice that responded was appalled. “Sir! You’ll never be able to escape the enemy, there are still seven of them left!”

Amadeus let go of the controls, to throwing up his hands in anger. “Do you think I don’t know that, Botnik? You don’t think I know that what’s left of your wing stands little chance against the enemy, even if I helped you? Do it!” He must have accidentally brushed the audio panel, for Republic communications was silent for a moment, broken only by the sounds of galactic combat as the PAUs struggled for survival. Everyone had heard what Amadeus had said. There was a faint crackle as Botnik relayed the orders to his team.

“Orders from Amadeus. We are to lead--” Hisssssss.

The three remaining pilots gasped. In the middle of relaying new orders, their wing leader had been killed. Botnik had taken his enemy down with him, but it was not a pretty sight. All around them floated torn bits of metal, shards of glass, and pieces of fuselage. There were now three Republic vessels, not counting Amadeus, versus five remaining enemy fighters. Cameron gulped, knowing that he was the only human remaining. The others, named for Greek gods from ancient Earth, were androids. In unspoken agreement, Hades, Ares, and Cameron closed the distance among themselves, banding together to protect Amadeus behind them and to face their adversaries, who had paused their attack.

Amadeus opened a private channel to Ares. “You specialized in war tactics of the Dynasty at the Academy. I’m putting you in charge.” Notifications of the new leader popped up on their screens. Ares took control immediately.

“They’re trying to intimidate us by making us think they’ve already won. But look—they only have two more than we do. And with Amadeus on the cleanup committee, how can we lose?” There was an unintentional, yet sarcastic pause.

“Hades. I’m with you.”

“Cameron. Let’s do this.”

“Alright, then listen up. They’re going to try and pick us off one by one, so stay in a tight formation. Move as little as possible and maximize long-range warfare. Keep your eyes on all five of them and watch each other’s backs.”

Amadeus cut in. “I’m going to boomerang with the gravity from Atlantis. When I emerge from the other side I’ll be moving so fast the Dynasty won’t know what hit them. All you have to do is hold them off until then. Listen to Ares and you’ll do well. Godspeed.” Amadeus flicked a switch on the main panel, cutting off audio transmissions to his PAU as he took aim and fired the ship’s boosters toward the planet. The last thing he saw before turning away was the three Republic PAUs spreading out slightly to prepare for the oncoming attack.