We came out of DEAD warp near Sovereign Starbase into a field of debris.

  kittyboy: "Battle stations!"

  crossroader: "Scanning."

  I nodded in satisfaction. My navigator was right on top of it. A scan of the area blipped onto my HUD, giving me an overview of the situation.

  One transport had already been destroyed. Three more remained in the midst of a battle, taking heavy damage. The other four must have scattered and escaped. One of the meager scouting ships was still zipping around, but it would be of little use in the fight.

  jetsetter: "Come in, Oblivion. This is @jetsetter, captain of the Crow. I never thought I'd say this, but thank god you're here."

  The Crow was a c80 warship. The Alliance Starmada wasn't completely foolish. Oblivion wasn't the only ship assigned to provide protection. We were just the most powerful.

  kittyboy: "I hear you, Crow. Hang in there."

  The Alliance Starmada did, however, underestimate how many ships they would need. I spied nine ships actively engaged. Three i35s, three d12 Vectors, two v90 Dominators similar to The Pharaoh, and one c80 warship, which was the Crow.

  It was hard to tell how many ships had already been destroyed. Dozens by the size of the debris field.

  My heart jumped when I saw The Pharaoh pop up on scans. It was intact, as were a number of other ships either orbiting Sovereign Starbase or docked at the space station. But they simply floated, immobile, scenery in the background of the ongoing fight.

  kittyboy: "Shields."

  I'm sure the Alliance Starmada had been thinking this would be a safer mission. It was, after all, in the heart of the Alliance Starmada.

  They shouldn't have left without me, though, I thought.

  Even after Oblivion had managed to rescue me, did they not understand what Oblivion could truly do? And they had no idea what we could do together.

  I opened a plink.

  kittyboy: "@stardvark, please come to the bridge."

  As I took in the vast magnitude of debris, I thought of The Machine. I didn't even need to know who we were fighting. I was scared of The Machine, but I wanted to become that again. I might need to if we were going to stand a chance.

  And if I was going to become The Machine, I needed @stardvark. I needed him to help keep me alive, and I needed him to help stop me from accidentally killing all of our crew.

  Oblivion: "It is Doomsday."

  That was a bit of an exaggeration. Yes, there was a Valkyrie flying around, blowing things up. Yes, I spied 18 other warships. We had Predators, Yellowfins, Whirligigs, and a Clipper in the battle. It looked pretty hopeless, but it wasn't going to be doomsday.

  They had a Valkyrie. We had a Valkyrie.

  They had 18 ships. We had 9.

  But we were different, Oblivion and I. Part of me giggled at the prospect of showing them just how different we were.

  kittyboy: "I know. Pretty bad. But let's get in there. We have to defend those transports."

  Flight controls were mine, and they would always be mine. I didn't care if other ships had designated pilots. I didn't care that @jollyshocker was an exceptional pilot. Besides, she was our Weaponizer. I was the pilot. Oblivion was mine to fly.

  kittyboy: "@crossroader, get me a path through the debris to intercept that Valkyrie."

  crossroader: "Plotting."

  The streak showing my course appeared, and I moved to follow it, or at least, I tried.

  Oblivion: "No. The ship. It is my friend, Doomsday."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Doomsday? Oh, right! The Valkyrie!

  kittyboy: "We can handle it. We took out Extinction and Desolation, remember? We need to be The Machine again."

  Silence.

  I tried to fly us, but the controls weren't working.

  kittyboy: "Oblivion, give me piloting controls."

  Had @stardvark and @dragonlotus done something to my ship? If they had, I was going to space them. Or have very stern words with them.

  kittyboy: "Oblivion? I need pilot controls. Are you there?"

  Oblivion: "I am here. I am different."

  I was confused.

  kittyboy: "What is it?"

  The viewer blipped with flashes of light. An i35 had flown into a Predator, sending both of them into a death spiral that ended with two explosions. We needed to get in there. Doomsday was targeting the c80. If we lost that ship, it would be a much tougher fight.

  Oblivion: "I cannot fight."

  What the fuck? My murder ship? NOT fighting?

  kittyboy: "Is it your programming? What's wrong?"

  Maybe I could hack in and remove whatever permissions or instructions were preventing us from entering the battle.

  superkova: "@kittyboy, we are awaiting your command."

  kittyboy: "I know. I know. It's not me. It's the ship. @stardvark, get up here!"

  I opened up our comms so the crew knew what was going on, and maybe they could help with whatever was wrong with Oblivion. If @hexicon had served on Oblivion before, I was certain others had. That could be useful. If nothing else, I needed @stardvark now more than ever.

  kittyboy: "What's wrong, Oblivion?"

  The crew listened in as my ship told me what it was processing.

  Oblivion: "I am sad. What is sadness?"

  I wasn't expecting that. Neither was the crew.

  I had no idea what to tell it. How do you describe a feeling so complex? Sometimes I'm sad, and I don't even know why. Maybe I'd start there.

  kittyboy: "Sadness is a feeling of loss, regret. Sometimes we don't even know what makes us sad. Do you know why you're sad?"

  Oblivion: "Extinction and Desolation. I cannot talk to them."

  Okay. That was a while ago, but okay. I nodded to myself, trying to understand.

  kittyboy: "No, you can't. We destroyed them."

  Oblivion: "I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to tell them how awesome our battle was."

  kittyboy: "I thought you said they were assholes, like @mindbender."

  Oblivion: "They were assholes. They were my assholes."

  I understood, then, as much as you can understand a starship.

  Oblivion: "When I destroy Doomsday, I will not be able to tell it how awesome our battle was."

  kittyboy: "You are friends. You don't want to kill your friend."

  Oblivion: "This is correct."

  My head was spinning. I didn't know what to do. Outside, the flashing of weapons and explosions across the battlefield continued. The c80 didn't have much time. It circled Doomsday, but it was no match. The other enemy ships were steadily maneuvering through the battle, landing shots periodically on the remaining transports.

  Our enemies were ignoring us for now, as we hovered on the outskirts of the battle. Maybe they were unsure what side of the fight we were on. I knew that wouldn't last forever.

  I stood up and left my chair. I walked over to the main console and hugged it. How else do you hug a starship?

  "Process it," I whispered to Oblivion, holding it in an awkward embrace. "That's all you can do. Just give it time and process it. It'll be okay. I know how you feel." I waited … long enough for what I thought a hug like this should require, which is tricky when you don't get any sensory feedback. "And before I forget. I know where that coffee stain is in this console. I'll make sure we get it cleaned, okay? I promise."

  I rested my metal-faced cheek against the viewer.

  Oblivion: "This is acceptable."

  Good. My poor starship.

  "Our friends are out there too," I added. "Just look outside. Hundreds of them, fighting right now. I will be sad if they die, but sadder if we don't try to stop it."

  I looked back over my shoulder at the crew. They look mesmerized and completely confused. @superkova raised an eyebrow at me. "You okay, @kittyboy?"

  I smiled at her, embracing my sad ship. "We are. We're okay. We're going to be okay."

  They let me have my strange encounter with surprising respect, not breaking my moment of silence, as I hugged Oblivion and patted it on the metallic skeleton. In my head, the ship was hugging me back. I realized I needed the hug, maybe just as badly as Oblivion did.

  I heard a bleep and a series of rumbling sounds emanate from the ship.

  Oblivion: "I understand. Ready to kill."

  Content with our moment, I released Oblivion and took my seat, rushing past everyone's fixated eyes. We had work to do.

  "You are a fascinating person," @superkova mused.

  "Aren't we all?" I replied. I grabbed the armrests of my chair and focused forward, locking myself into thought, preparing for battle. Still no sign of @stardvark. I hoped he would be there soon.

  But life waits for no one.

  kittyboy: "@jetsetter, hang in there. We're on our way."

  "Red alert!" I screamed. "Let's turn the tide, people!"

  I pulled the accelerator, launching Oblivion forward, its ominous form flowing through the debris field as if it was swimming through water, the debris rolling off its back like droplets.

  crossroader: "Course plotted."

  superkova: "Shields at maximum."

  jollyshocker: "Weapons ready."

  hexicon: "Cookie eaten."

  Ha! Maybe she didn't hate me after all.

  Our communication system came to life again as we sped into the thick of the battle. This time, however, it was Oblivion that did the talking, broadcasting on public channels.

  Oblivion: "Doomday. Let us have an amazing battle. I will destroy you now."

  Hell yeah.

  "Time to do what we do best," I said softly to myself, entering into a trance, preparing myself for Machine mode. I knew Oblivion would hear it. "Fuck those guys. Let's kill 'em all."