Ivy felt a strong hand, yanking her away. On instinct, she tried to pull back, locking eyes person—Lenan. His jaw was clenched, and he tried to start running with her. Around them was noise and utter chaos, but Ivy tried to get him to stop. She needed to do something.

"Wait—" she started.

"We need to find somewhere to get a plan." There wasn't any hesitation is his voice. "If we stay here, we will end up dead."

Ivy waited one more long second before nodding. Lenan released her arm, and together they ran towards the parking lot. Cars were coming to life as people hurried to escape, but blue-skinned aliens were already moving in that direction. A few cars had already been flipped from blasts of energy.

Ivy and Lenan crouched behind one of the cars, and Ivy looked back at where the main group of Stellas advanced. She averted her eyes as soon as the scene took shape. Humans and Stellas, lying still on the ground.

Lenan's human mask flickered, blue coming through for a moment. "We need a plan." From his expression, though, Ivy could tell he didn't believe the situation was very hopeful. "The only thing I can think of is surrender. Or to find the starbeam and give it to them."

Ivy shook her head. "They won't take surrender. And even if there was some on earth, I certainly don't have access to it. In the meantime, people are dying." Ivy tried to take deep breaths even as her chest constricted.

Lenan remained silent.

Ivy flinched as someone screamed from the direction of the fighting. "We have to do something." Her words barely came out as she forced her eyes back to the scene, scanning it. Most of the Stellas were already at—or past—the original line of policemen. They were taking cover behind the police cars, and the remaining police were dropping back.

"That's strange." Lenan murmured. "Not everyone is going up in the fighting."

Ivy glanced back, and saw three Stellas standing back. Two of them were armed, but the other one was only holding the box Nyssa had handed him. It clicked. That was why she had thought Nyssa holding a weapon was important. She was no longer guarding the box.  But what was in the box?

"What is the box carrying?" Ivy found herself asking, studying it. It looked like metal vines wrapped around a oval. A gold glow was coming from the inlaid cracks.

Lenan didn't answer for a second, as he located the box himself. "It has to be the starbeam. In order to power their weapons, it must be on earth."

"Then if we shut it down, their weapons are useless." Ivy said slowly. "Yes?"

Lenan's eyes sparked to light. "For the most part. Or at the least, they would lose a lot of their power."

"Around the pods." For the first time, Ivy felt a spark of hope. She could see the path in they could make around the pods to reach the box. This could work. Give them a chance if nothing else.

"Then let's get going." Lenan stood up, and Ivy followed him through the maze of cars. When they got to the pods, they slowed their pace to keep hidden. From pod to pod they moved, Ivy's nerves grinding against each other every second they were exposed.

As they reached the pod that the Stellas were by, Lenan slowed his pace further. Ivy tucked a stray piece of ginger hair behind her ear, taking quiet, deep breaths. She knew she couldn't match the Stellas in strength. Or speed, really. But there was nothing else to do.

In front of her, Lenan's human skin spasmed for a few seconds, before dying entirely. Ivy couldn't help but stare for a second at him. She snapped out of it when he turned to look at her, speaking so softly, Ivy could barely hear him. "I'm going to try and distract them. That's when you need to run in and see if you can disable the box."

Privately, Ivy had her doubts, but she knew that there wasn't much time for a better plan. Each passing second the attacking Stellas gained more ground. And more lives were lost.

Lenan didn't move, closing his eyes. A minute passed, and Ivy could barely stand to wait. Finally, his eyes opened. And he stepped into the open.