The night was endless out in the black, the hours stretching until time no longer seemed to move. The longer hours made the crew restless and edgy as they waited to finish their mission. Half of the crew remained on duty, while the others tried to sleep, and to the disdain of the commander there were two crew members that did neither.

Val leaned back in his chair as he studied the cards before him. He glanced over at Rath, trying to gauge if the cards he was hoarding would beat his two of a kind. As usual, his face was expressionless, betraying no clue for Val's eyes to see.

"Raise you two platinum," Rath stated, his voice betraying nothing but confidence in his cards as he placed two silver coins in the middle of the table.

"Two?" Val repeated, studying Rath closely and he held back a gasp of glee as he noticed the small twitch of Rath's eyebrow. "I'll see that and raise you two more." Val smirked as he tossed four coins into the pot.

Rath raised his brow, briefly studying Val before glancing down at his cards. "Damn, Valenti, what did you have?" He groaned in defeat as he tossed his cards down on the table, revealing a pair of tens.

Val chuckled, taking the pot before he flashed Rath a pair of fours. "Read and weep."

Rath growled, grumbling under his breath as he gathered the cards and began to shuffle them again. "I should learn not to play these silly Earth games with you."

"Ah, you love it. Guerin." Val chuckled as he counted his growing collection of coins. "Besides, what else is there to do?"

"Nothing, as long as his majesty keeps treating us like dirt." Rath grunted and Val sighed, shaking his head.

"You think-" Val began, but stopped as the ship jerked forward and plunged, causing the whole ship to shake. "That's it!" Val roared as he stood up, ignoring the game at hand and turning toward the cockpit.

"Val," Rath called after him as he quickly gathered their things, not wanting any of the crew to lay claim to their stuff.

"Can't take this." Val snapped, ignoring the rest of Rath's protest as he ran down the corridor and stopped behind the pilot's seat.

"You ain't suppose to be here, Valenti." The pilot Ivan and Zan's second in command slurred as he glared back at Val.

"If you flew the ship, instead of fucking off, I wouldn't be here." Val sneered as he crossed his arms over his chest and returned the icy glare.

"Don't do this," Rath whispered harshly into Val's ear.

Val brushed him away, not caring anymore. "Ivan, learned how to fly from a trained monkey."

"Huh," Rath gasped, taking Val's comment seriously. "Then why is he so bad?" He questioned dryly, causing Val to laugh and Ivan to growl in annoyance.

The ship shuddered and groaned as it dipped once more. "Get out!" Ivan hissed as they stayed firmly in their spots.

"What the hell is going on?" Zan demanded as he entered, immediately turning his gaze to Rath and Val. "Shouldn't you be on latrine duty?" He smirked before turning to his second, ignoring their presence. "Change course to the Drial Complex, the quickest path possible-"

"You think that wise?" Ivan questioned as he started to plot in new coordinates. "The quickest path from here will bring us through the fridges of the Galen galaxy."

"What of it?" Zan shrugged as the ship turned sharply and made a hyper jump to a set of coordinates, bringing the ship close to the Galen galaxy.

"That's what-" Ivan whispered as he turned his gaze to the viewing screen.

"What is that?" Zan gasped as he eyes took in the endless miles of what appeared to be the wreckage of different war ships.

"The remains of the Galen War," Rath spoke up as he took a step forward, gazing at the carnage before him, seeing it for the first time. The pictures never came close to the raw energy that he felt. "The wreckage of five battlestars and countless raptors- held together by the strong gravitational pull of what used to be the lush planet of Galen."

Zan shot Rath a glare. "And how do you know that?"

"Unlike you, I read the Galen Manifest," Rath replied dryly.

Zan snorted and turned his attention back to Ivan. "Can you fly it or not?" Zan questioned harshly, hating to look like a fool among the new recruits.

"Um, maybe." Ivan mumbled as he gazed down at the controls and then glanced back up.

"That's reassuring," Rath grumbled. "Not to mention that some of that-" he stated as he waved toward the debris, "are live mines that were never detonated. It's suicide."

"I can," Val quipped as everyone turned to look at him. Rath flashed him a knowing smile and nodded, recalling the tales that he told of his father.

"You?" Zan gasped. "No. I don't think so."

"You said the quickest path possible," Val shrugged. "You can back track if you want, but that'll add another two days, and by the way Ivan pilots, three day tops."

Zan hissed, shaking his head. "Ivan?"

"I can't," he sighed. "Either we snake back or we go through- we can't hyper jump since the edge shifts so much-" Ivan rambled on as he unbuckled his harness and stood up.

"Let me do this," Val stated as he jumped into the pilot seat. "This is why I am here. This is why they chose me."

"Very well," Zan grated, giving his permission as he glared at him. He huffed and quickly turned to leave, Ivan following quickly behind him.

Val and Rath shared an amused glance as they were left in peace in the cockpit. They took a second to savor their first win, both enjoying their command of the ship, if only a moment. It felt good to them.

"I can't believe he agreed." Val smiled as he strapped himself in and began flipping a few switches on the control panel before he adjusted the throttle.

"You can do this, can't you?" Rath suddenly asked as he took a seat in the co-pilot seat and strapped himself in. "I've yet to see you fly-" he began as the ship lunged forward and Rath snapped his mouth shut.

"Watch and be amazed," Val grinned as he glanced out and visually plotted his route, knowing exactly which maneuvers to use.

Rath heart skipped a beat as the ship seamlessly weaved through the debris and live mines. He glanced over at Val and he couldn't help but gasp in awe at his new friend.

An hour later they had passed the last of the wreckage and Val glided the ship to a halt, flipping it over and brought the wreckage back into view. He winked over at Rath as he leaned over and pressed a button, launching a seeker probe.

They watched as the probe floated away and it was only a few seconds before it hit a mine and blew up, causing the ship to shake slightly with the shock waves.

"One. Two. Three." Val chuckled as Zan flew into the cockpit, staring at the two of them.

"What the hell was that?" He growled as he glanced over the field of debris. "You haven't even moved?"

"On the contrary," Rath smirked as Val flipped them back over and continued on the designated path.

"You made it through?" Zan gasped his eyes wide as he stared at Val.

"Naturally," he smiled. "I am a Valenti."

Zan groaned, turning away sharply as Val and Rath shared a smile. "Suddenly things are looking up," Rath sighed as he settled into his seat and continued to watch as Val flew them out over the black.