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against others. Possibly to go hunt down the others throughout the galaxy in order to contain them.”
    “Ouch,” Riley said, seeing the twisted logic in that.
    “We need this Uriti out of their grasp. I’m assuming we can’t have it help us against an enemy fleet at close range?”
    “Not with its larger weaponry,” Nefron agreed. “It does have the ability to target select ships at close range, but that would require a discipline that Namishta has never demonstrated before. You can point it at a target and say kill, but you cannot specify how you want it killed or what you don’t want destroyed nearby along with it.”
    “What happens if the Trinx attack when it’s nearby?”
    “It will either ignore them or wipe us all out in the response. We can survive at decent range given the upgrades to the shields, but in close the power levels will be too great to overcome.”
    “Right,” Paul said with fake cheerfulness. “So let’s hurry, shall we?”
    “You want to go on ahead?”
    “With our friends here we don’t need to wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive.”
    “If they are friends,” Riley pointed out, though he was in agreement. He set a course with a thought and coordinated with Paul as the two command ships tugged along several warships towards the jump point for the distant planet. When they arrived there they headed out along with a sizeable chunk of the defending fleet while the rest stayed at the star to act as a backstop for anyone else entering the system…Trinx or otherwise.
    It took a few hours to get all the way out to the edge of the system to the fat, cold planet the Uriti had dug itself into. The holes in the surface were large enough to be seen from orbit, some of which were surrounded by mounds of crushed rock from it coming back to the surface and pushing the material up and out rather than further down as it descended.
    “Worm in the apple?” Riley asked as they settled into their preferred orbit and the defending fleet surrounded them, with most of the 7 races’ ships interposing themselves on the side facing the somewhat distant Trinx fleet that was stoically holding position as if nothing had changed.
    “Lizards on the planet,” Paul replied, noting many landed cruisers and transport ships. “They’re down there fighting the minions beneath the surface.”
    “Why haven’t they evacuated?” Riley asked, then checked himself. “Never mind, it’s obvious. They answer to the Trinx and the Trinx didn’t want to pull them out.”
    “Bingo.”
    “Can we get the Uriti out without smashing them to bits?” Riley asked Nefron.
    “It will come out where it likes. We can only summon it.”
    “It’s not near them right now,” Paul pointed out, getting the Chamra feeds of its approximate position that the Star Force sensors were beginning to back up despite their altitude thanks to the upgrades Nefron had made specifically to track the Uriti within planets and stars, though there were limits to both. “If it was they’d be dead anyway. Normal procedure is to drop minions in its wake and let them grow in numbers. The lizards go down and attack them after the Uriti moves out of range.”
    “But we could see a lot of splattered lizards if it chooses an odd path out?”
    “There is no way to minimize the risk,” Nefron insisted, “other than to wait until it is located away from their current position, which it is now. It could return and kill them at any moment regardless.”
    “Alright, let’s do this,” Riley said, connecting through the system with Nefron. “Watch our back.”
    “Always,” Paul said, his voice and hologram disappearing but his presence within the system still lingering as Riley entrusted him with the fleet and his own ship’s security again.
    “Are you ready?” Nefron asked.
    “I’m just going along for the ride. This is your show.”
    “So be it,” the Chixzon said, touching a few controls around him as he telepathically linked his full