O'Graugh was no hero. Hell, he didn't even want to be in the fookin' army, let alone in combat, and there was no way he was risking his life for those two broads.<br/><br/>With a shrug he headed after the others. The image that was burned in his brain would stay with him for ever, though.<br/><br/>Escape pods. There was a whole rack of them here before, but there were only three left and other soldiers coming fast from other directions. Church was holding one, and Paddy dived through the hitch on the heels of Daniso.<br/><br/>It slid shut as Church dived in and Paddy looked around at the men and women crammed into it and strapped himself in, seeing ashen faces, some wounded, some looking ill, practically no-one unaffected by what they'd come through. After a moment the pod lurched and g-force hit hard. "SHHHEEEEIT!" He yelled, jubilant, until someone looked at him and growled "We aint outa the woods yet!"<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"Okay, people, we have a new problem."<br/><br/>Paige had never actually done this before. She'd heard about it being done, third hand, and had always prayed that the opportunity would never come her way. She'd successfully manoeuvred the bioship away from the assault carrier and had watched as hundreds of escape pods had launched, together with a few of the shuttles and landing craft. Some of them were mopped up by the bioships. Others drifted deeper into the battle, away from any possible help. But there were two destroyers hanging back, showing up as hostile in her vision when she linked with the ship.<br/><br/>She had steered towards them and it soon became clear that one was moving in to pick up survivors. Twenty minutes were soon up, and she shook her head as the carrier became a small, short-lived star, consuming all those still aboard, putting them beyond pain, and taking some who had been slow getting to escape pods too. But now the bioships were turning the same way. Two, she figured were in friendly hands, besides her own.<br/><br/>"We've got friendly destroyers ahead", She told her 'crew', "But we're in an enemy vessel. We need a way to let the good guys know we aren't the bad guys, so they don't blow us the hell away. Any ideas?"<br/><br/>It was Gullins who spoke up. "Sir? There's a way..." She moved close and spoke softly so only Paige could hear.<br/><br/>As the Fleet comm tech explained, a grin broke out on Paige's face. "Oh man, that is sneaky!"