Homsar Delgana and the Dogs of Sirius-12

The Master seized control of an Algolian prisoner, and having energized that flesh he swiftly broke out of the brig before the skeletal Patrol personnel presence could respond. When they did, he overwhelmed their thought screens and fried their brains with raw telepathic violence, killing them by way of brain aneurisms. Then he took their blasters and axes and accessed a hidden panel; using secret protocols, The Master released the rest of the prisoners and activated all of the concealed reserves that the Patrol did not know was there because they registered nothing to telepaths like Homsar.

General Zuzu realized this possibility as soon as Homsar called for thought screens, and in moments the Patrol marines reorganized. With Zuzu at the head, they formed a defensive perimeter. As the first wave of Algolians, now awake and armed, run into their position the firefight between them began and no quarter would be offered. Semi-portables attempted to overload defensive screens, and when that failed they resorted to ordinance. Once all of the more high-tech options proved disappointing, that was when the melee assault began and General Zuzu--space axe in each hand--howled in delight; of all the men in the Patrol, who were not Agents, Zuzu loved most to get face-to-face and cut down the enemies of the Republic by his own hand.

Homsar was no slouch. He and The Master reached out and began a furious psychic duel, each seeking to shatter the other's mind well before they found each other and attempted to hack the other's flesh into piles of blood and bone. As they ran through the halls, crawled through tunnels, and scampered up and down shafts they would periodically shudder and slump against a wall or side when a mental blow hit so hard as to reverberate into their physical form. Other minds, of lesser individual potency, joined in against him and soon he felt that The Master rallied the best minds amongst the Algolians to aide him in seeking and slaying Homsar. Instead of this being a contest of two champions, it now was a hunt of a single hero against a rival and his full bodyguard.

Outside, the Patrol and Algolian fleets continued to hammer away at each other in a confusing and merciless brawl comprised of swirling ships circling and shooting and boarding one another. If not for Admiral Campbell's presence of mind, the Patrol would have fallen to the superior numbers and desperation of the Algolians. Instead, he reached the Patrol personnel running the station's artillery and coordinated fire amongst the station and fleet gunners; at first slowly, and then accelerating, the Patrol got the upper hand and in time destroy utterly the Algolian fleet.

Homsar and The Master finally crossed axes when they found each other in the main cannon's control room. The Master and his bodyguard charged Homsar and he met with wordless rage. Twelve on one, and Homsar felt himself roughly matched. Thirteen power-armored men wearing top-end defense screens and using space axes filled that room and soon began wrecking the place inadvertently with missed axes striking bulkheads and the electronics embedded within them. The lights shorted out, and despite all combatants being mentally potent that didn't stop Homsar from turning the tables and striking those bodyguards down one by one as a thresher reaps wheat.

The Master saw himself alone against his foe, and redoubled his efforts to kill the foe. Homsar met each swing and thrust, each feint and jab, with one of his own until he positioned himself before the balcony overlooking the cannon's barrel. Then he and The Master in turn attempted to bait each other over the side for several minutes, and then tried to flip the other over, and then the two locked their axes together and tried to overwhelm the other's thought screens. The fight stalemated, and ended only when General Zuzu burst into the room. The Patrol marine general rushed The Master and impaled the Algolian on his axes, ending the duel- but not the life of this foe.

Just then, the main cannon fired and the Algolian Fleet got wiped out in a single shot. Zuzu looked at Homsar. "He got to be dead now."

Homsar shook his head. "Not likely. Even if it's just in a rat or something as low as his character, he survived- and he'll be back."

Nonetheless, this ended The Master's attempt to build a powerbase in the Sirius Sector with which to attack the Republic. Another day, another place, but today the day--once more--belonged to the Patrol.