Rise of a Solar Empire (Micro sci-fi Nation game IC)

[Trent01]

Its the year 2275, Mankind's gone out into the stars, and has long left Earth in peace after so many destructive wars. A hundred worlds are colonized in its place, each of them becoming new Earths and new homes for Mankind.

And for a time, it was good. The Central Authority managed the colonies fairly and peacefully. And it was a century of peace and prosperity. Naturally, all golden ages come to a end as the CA gradually became more corrupt and unable to manage the growing number of worlds. A rebellion formed, and war broke out, shattering the CA into a thousand divided systems.

Our home system is the Lakota star system. A modestly well-off star system even with the collapse of the Central Authority with a corporate-style government. It now stands as one of the few star systems that may be able to reunite the colonies and form a empire of its own.

18 months after the collapse, they begin down the path of forging their Empire.

* * * * * *

Lakota System
Orbital Lifter Complex orbiting Empyra

Governor Suzari looked out of the window as she watched the ballet of ships and freighters play out in orbit of Empyra. Her home, literally her planet as planetary governor.

She vaugely remembered the time of Central Administration, before the lines of communication broke down and her system was isolated. It took them 18 months to consolidate and become barely self-sufficent, which was more than some of the neighboring systems given the refugee transports that occasionally arrived.

"Ma'am, your Council has arrived." Reported her dutiful secretary. She nodded and turned to her wristtop computer. Time to roll the dice and get the Sydnic Empire on the move.


(Everyone starts at the meeting room. Introduce yourselves and what you've been doing for the 18 months of consolidation and rebuilding.)

[AYoungWarthog]

Seated at the far end of the mahogony confrence table, Daniel Ruben smiled, tightening his grip on a small attache case used to carry files. Lifting the front flap of the leather case he extracted a pile of manilla folders; tossing them on the table in front of him he cleared his throat, "Madam Governor, Mister Harris, ladies and gentlemen... I believe this file will suffice to explain what my progress has been. I trust, Madam Governor, that you will be delighted to know that the last seeds of rebellion have been crushed outisde of Lakota's orbital system and that Gleu, a gas giant though she is, has been structured quite rapidly to house and support the bulk of our Imperial Navy."

Opening one of the folders marked "Operation Cobra" he smiled.

Operation Cobra

The following operation has been detailed in Section 981002 of Naval Code. All Naval personnel are to be placed under command of a soul officer in wartime and peacetime operations are to be directed by said offic

The rest of the file was covered by more papers. Nodding he looked to the Governor, "Also, Madam Governor, Task Group Sigma has become the leading trainer and supplier of Naval crews and vessels in the past six months. With said progress... I'd like to push for a motion with my Senior Staff Commodore, Grayson Pantleo, to push Operation Cobra as underlined in the Naval Constitution, Section 981002, to have full control of Imperial Naval forces directed towards me and away from your Supreme Admiral; whom I trust you will find has made little effort to better his forces or to quell rebellious factions in the outer rim."

Grinning to himself for his fine presentation, the Vice Admiral sat in his chair, removing his white and red officer's cap from his short, eye-brow length brown hair and staring around the table with his cold, observant, dark blue-gray eyes. He knew what he had done was rash, but he also knew that the Governor could not argue around him.

[Marrone]

"Unfortunately, Vizeadmiral, your efforts are not as effective as you might've found. More and more pirates seem to like the idea of the 'revolution', and that combined with all the refugees from your raids seems to pile up a mess, right into my scarcely guarded lap." With a sip of his decaffinated coffee, his swallow is heard, "And while it is convienient to you, especially after this, to usurp even more control under the illusion of your superior military skills, I can safely say that perhaps a more serious review be taken towards the effects of your military administration."

Another gulp resonated throughout the room, "There were quite a bit of refugees, and without them being present I guarentee your heroic ability could hardly be presented, if you catch my drift." Although, Arthur did not believe that Ruben freed prisoners for his own benefit, he knew that he couldn't let the Vice Admiral get away with trying to short-change the Supreme Commander. And the issue was still relevant; pirates were mounting up at Uzdho at an increasing rate.

Another reason he'd been so harsh was that he wanted to press an end to the conference. The only space-based defense they had was a few turrets and the light cruiser which waited for Arthur to go back. He wasn't sure that nearly threatening the Vizadmiral was a smart idea, but he knew that while they might insult his planets general uselessness, his achievement in making the primary space station a viable and realistic hub for colonists could not be ignored.

Despite this, some suspicion had still been requisitioned on him. His anarchistic and communistic tendancies towards social policies fringed on radical political goals that were only previously imagined. If he hadn't fought off the rebels and made a port-in-the-storm amongst them, there would be no doubt that he would be leading the rebellion. But of course, he was on the capitalists side; the Governers side. And for now, that was alright, because it was preferable to the mess of garbage politics adopted by pirates, barbarians and revolutionaries of this time.

[Trent01]

Suzari narrowed her eyes as she glared at Supreme Admiral Vente. She had to admit, he was useless, but also firmly in her pocket. The Vice-Admiral on the other hand...she wasn't sure if her "dossiers" had as much scratch on him.

"I will assess your suggestions Vice-Admiral, and will make a judgement in due time." She said, glaring at Vente for a second. "But for the moment, I believe we can assume a quick restructuring of the fleet is necessary for the task to come."

She tapped a few keys and a hologram of the Lakota system emerged above the meeting table. "While I praise the efforts of everyone here over the past 18 months, I'm afraid we have some more serious long-term issues that have just come to my attention recently. Engineer-General?"

The Chief of Engineering, Miles Tayber, stepped forward and raised up a series of graphs and charts. "Thank you madam governor. Gentlemen, we have a serious issue on our hands. I've completed a three month review of all industry and infrastructure in system, and I've found major gaps in them. Before anyone starts pointing fingers, this is no one person's fault, it was the work of the Central Authority and some of their inane colony-control methods, or some factories were simply destroyed in the riots nine months ago. The point in summary is: we cannot manufacture new power cores."

He indicated part of the graph. "We have the machinery, we have some of the experience needed, what we don't have are tech-templates to make certain critical components. In addition, there are severe gaps in technically skilled manpower needed in their production, we simply don't have enough people to work the assembly lines even if we had the templates. We also have similar tech-template gaps in multiple other areas, but Power Cores are the biggest issue right now."

"In short gentlemen, we need to find more tech-templates or we're going to run out of ships." Finished Suzari. "Intelligence has already identified a target for possible salvage." A pair of secretaries passed around briefing folders.

"The Nova system was a former CA forge-world complex. While its currently overrun by a half dozen feuding pirate warbands, intel managed to cram a scout corvette into high orbit of the main world and take pictures before being detected."

Inside each folder were scans and pictures of the ruined forge world. Once a entire world dedicated towards fueling the Central Authority's will and navies, it was now home to a endless war between pirate bands. Some factories and facilities were still intact, and being fought over.

"We found at least twelve industrial complex-districts are still in semi-working status. There, we can find more tech-templates and infrastructure we need to ensure the strength of the Syndicate." Suzari then glanced at Vente, then turning to Vice Admiral Ruben.

"Vice-Admiral, how long does your task-force need to scramble a aggressive acquisition force? I want you to grab as much as you can. Gear, templates, people, ships, anything to strengthen this Empire."

[Ionisus]

"Perhaps you can shepherd them with your communistic beliefs. We are not a singular nation or a spaceport, Mr. Rudolf, we're a solar system with not enough eyes and ears...and not enough ships," Commodore Pantleo interjected before Governor Suzari briefed their mission, flicking a stern stare towards the leader as he articulated his retort. It was the sort of sharp comment not any deputy commander could mouth off, and in fact Pantleo was expecting to reprimanded if not at that exact moment then after the meeting. Yet it was his commentary that supplemented their briefings, the analytical insight that allowed his vocal freedom from time to time.

Regarding the pirates that Arthur Rudolf mentioned, Grayson was exactly right. In the wake of their sovereignty opportunists no doubt used the transition to impose whatever fringe or sectarian belief they idealized by way of force; that or being motivated by simple greed. Too many times had he watched the feeds from his fighters, drifting silently after the pirate flotillas. Clouds of charred debris and hollow graveyards of space ports were left in their wake, the dried husks discarded by the parasites. Too many times had he recovered the thousands of dead or dying, left to their fate by thieves and murderers. He knew exactly the frustrations Arthur Rudolf felt and exactly how the powerless refugee felt but would not let his Vice Admiral, and in turn himself, be criticized for their "limited successes" and "implications". It was enough for him to disregard Operation Cobra in that moment, and honestly the task force group commander didn't want to ponder the outcomes of its potential implementation.

It was Commodore Pantleo's comment that coincided with Engineer General Tayber's brief. As the briefing continued and the hologram illuminated to life, he directed his attention to the Nova system display. Immediately he began to think of the strategic execution of entering the system, their first problem being the passive detection systems. It would be easy to have his corvettes, stealth fighters and his intelligence cruiser to pass into the system with little observability but if the entire task force jumped in mass it would set off the bells and whistles of the discarded CA defense network. A solar system of such importance had to have robust defensive infrastructures, and the distance would render a majority of his stealth assets out of range of longer missions without cruiser support. This meant most likely coming in "loud" as his pilots would say, or blatantly showing up in the Nova system for all to see.

Another issue was combating whichever force was holding the equipment they meant to take, not so much as defeating them but the attention the battle would create. Pantleo concluded if another force observed their operation it was the perfect chance to ambush the task force while occupied and attempt to gain the equipment and whatever else for themselves. This vulnerability would only be expounded when the task force would have to bed down and extract the requested equipment. It was a dangerous mission the Governer was ordering, but she was correct in the criticality of it. It was vital for their survival and thus had to be completed. If Vice Admiral Ruben wanted Suzari to implement Operation Cobra a deciding factor would be the way this mission would be conducted. Upon her asking the time in which they could mobilize, Grayson Pantleo turned to look at his commander to answer.

[Marrone]

Grayson’s remark was biting but before he could even respond, the meeting started. He simply let a sheepish smile Grayson’s way. Tit for tat, he supposed, but to Arthur it was a sign that no more childish games between the few should ensue, and that it was him who (wrongly) entertained the notion. But as the conference went on, and the Governor turned to the Vice Admiral, he couldn’t help but interject.

“If I may, Governor Suzari, we might be better off making a two-pronged plan in which one group goes incognito and the other approaches as a frontal assault,” He paused, before leaning up, placing his coffee cup against the wooden table. “I know the Nova System pretty well, or at least how it’s occupants work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t work with the bastards—they try to kill me everyday, and even now I want to go back to make sure they’re not.” He gulped his drink, wiping his lips quickly, “You can’t just barge in—we already figured that out. They have a technical staff of hackers that reach beyond what our computer engineers can do, and that says a lot.”

“You see, what they do is they force their hackers to work constantly, and when they’re not working they’re taking highly addictive accelerants. The deal is, is that if they do happen to fail, there wont be any drugs; and since they’re so addictive, they will literally die as a consequence. So, in short, their whole alarm system, automated machine guns, computer protection—all of that, is by a group of capricious hackers whose skill exceeds our own imagination and they’re constantly living life on the edge. We captured a few on the station when we were clearing out the crimelords, but they, well, expired because rehabilitation failed.”

Arthur felt he talked a bit too much, but he still had more to say. He almost thought about the smart remark Grayson threw at him, but to be honest, Arthur was still smiling at its ingenuity. He loved being recognized for his radical ideas, and it was partially because of that, that he was about to introduce a wild plan to the Governor.

He started by clearing his throat, “So, in addition to that—and please, forgive me for being verbose—The plan I propose to you from what I can offer is unorthodox, but entirely appropriate given my only real ship is the one waiting outside. The plan is to stage a mutiny, gain the trust of a specific gang and initiate the same procedure we did when we cleared the gang leaders from my space port,” Clearing his throat once more, he continued with the plan,

“The deal is, is that when a government plaything defects, gangs love them. They’ll do almost anything to grab them on their side; so we let them think of it like that. Once we got close enough to their leader, we killed him; and then defected from one gang to another, under the premise that we just killed a major gang leader. And then we rinse, wash and repeat until they start to realize what we’re doing. I’d imagine we could do the same thing in the Nova System, and by the time they realize something’s going wrong, we can have the frontal force come in and mop up whatever’s left.”

He leaned back in his chair now, placing his hands behind his head, “I think that if we amalgamate several of our plans here, we’d be in for a more successful trip. The more diverse ideas we can throw at the pirates and make their heads spin, the faster they’ll destroy themselves and allow passage for us.”

In Arthur’s mind, plots already stirred. Contacts who were with semi-friendly terms with the pirates and black marketers could be interrogated. Hackers who weren’t affiliated nor addicted could also be utilized for the plan. He wondered, though, if it would take a small crew to mutiny from Arthur, or of Arthur to defect from the Governor (of course, feigned in both cases). However, bringing up these thoughts, he could only imagine his peers concern to his loyalty. But his time for talking was up, someone else proceeded and he listened as thoroughly as possible; there would be no time to profess his innocence before being called out as untrustworthy, if it were to come to that.

[Forseti]

Reiner was sceptical at first, this syndicate empire, decades of upbringing and training had made him a Central Authority soldier and loyalist. That was eighteen months ago however, some of it confusing and dangerous, then for a time he and all of the Deuplatian 1st had a clear idea and position of Deuplat. They moved and deployed their arms in towns and ports under threat from rioters and far vocal and fanatical revolutionaries, all turned back by the Deuplatan 1st and then eliminated. It troubled Reiner, those weeks of peacekeeping and fighting, he had grown up dreaming of liberating worlds from tyrants and villains. Now he was shooting die hard old men and easily influenced youths for causes common and uncommon. He rationalised that he was protecting innocents and his friends but waves of these people seemed infinite. Every island had some hostile number ready to shoot at any outside influence. There were some who didn't fight them and even welcomed them as saviors and heroes, but they were too far flung or isolated to make any difference on Reiner's conscience.

The military engineers who had accompanied Reiner to Deuplat had found their own little niche on this new world. Originally from the Tenebrosian 12th, They had the deep sharp accents as a trait descended from their New Zealander and Maori heritage, something that was an ever present reminder of their homeworld. To stave off the home sickness and their unlikely plight of returning to their world, they turned to their duty and their work, like all soldiers did when they grew longing for their home.

This work had gone into fruition as what was Fort Falkreef. Once a training camp with two chainlink fences and watch towers, it had expanded some four hundred meters outwards to incorporate a network of bunkers and underground access points, a small munitions and arms manufacturing line, proper sanitation and facilities for at least double their current number, and finally a highly complex and intricate perimeter of defence and fortifications. It was the work of the last year and a half that Reiner was most proud of, it was only until recently that it had caught the attention of some outside of Deuplat itself.

This meeting of a syndic empire, it reminded Reiner of the collapse of the Roman Empire, the desperate and the ambitious scrambling for the corpse of a vast empire. This Governor Suzari, seemed to be the grand leader of this empire he'd only heard about a fortnight ago. Was she expecting to be called empress or wasn't she that ambitious enough yet for such a title, it was a alien concept either way to Reiner, he supported the right to vote for all members of humanity and didn't like the idea of a totalitarian regime, but he did ponder of whether this was but part of a transition to democracy...only time would tell that answer.

Reiner sat at the long conference table of this meeting with some high hopes that it would clear up some concerns and answers that he had, but as the briefings were continued he patiently watched and listened to their proceedings. Sitting next to the commanders of the Task force group Sigma, he certainly got an air of ambition and clear wielding of his power from the Vice admiral and a calm and collected counter balance from his subordinate next to him. Reiner appreciated the work of the navy as a military force, however he didn't appreciate how the vice admiral in particular was a stereotype of a naval officer with his head in the clouds both literally and metaphorically.
Reiner glanced at the folders that were infront of most members of this meeting, he had seen some of them glance over his report but hadn't seen anyone fully engage in it. Reiner felt he had to explain his actions in his report more than how the actions worked out, he didn't want to seem like some warlord or feudal master on Deuplat.

With the briefing from the Chief engineer over, the assembly of a task force seemed a necessary move to maintain their survival. Reiner agreed with the move although this mission to the Nova system seemed a bit smash and grab to him, this wasn't some operation for some grand theatre of war, this was a raid on some desolate and dangerous world. Reiner was uncertain of his role in this task force, the navy had their marines for this mission to make landfall and get what they want, but the other commanders might want to use the expertise of his engineers and maybe the armored division to be deployed for this raid. It was uncertain how this mission would pan out and when the adventurer Arthur Rudolf spoke he found his experience with these pirates refreshing and of use in means of stratergy. Admittedly you would have some tough luck finding someone willing to go to these crimelords and work on the inside, but Reiner could see the benefits of such a plan if it could be pulled off.
Still, Reiner sat and elected in his mind to stay out of the planning until his role was defined, either by someone else or himself later.

[AYoungWarthog]

Smiling bitterly at Rudolf's proposed procedures for invasion he nearly laughed aloud. Downing his burning coffee he stood and pulled on his watch-coat, "Mister Rudolf... Have you ever directed a Naval engagement?" the man remained ghostly silent, "No? Then, Madam Governor, please ignore his insanely childish idea. Now, Madam Governor, Engineer General... You both know our Naval vessels do not run on the same power substance as the rest of the Syndicate. Our hydrogen fusion reactors are small and extremely powerful. Why, the seven reactors powering the SIS Shanxi could fit in this room. Our drive cores are efficient as well, months of sailing time can be gotten from ten hydrogen fuel rods; and the rods are easily made from the Gleu atmosphere. Now I propose we repurpose a few of these to power the major planets while we make our attack. Only to keep the Syndicate aflo-"

"And what, Admiral?" the Engineer General spat, "Cripple our Navy?"

"...As you wish Sir," he nodded, "Then as for our attack..." he began slowly, "Our vessels are equipped with Swift drives. We could make Mass Zero jumps to the outer rim of the Nova system. From recent incursions and the files on the table you'll find that the system is not defended in the exterior belts. Once our fleet is staged in the outer rim we can send recon vessels to read the enemy... And then... The full blunt of our force can do what we do best."

The room chuckled at his comment as he wrung his hands. Smiling he walked to his place and lifted his hat, "I am returning to the SIS Tiger, we will have a full force ready to jump in two standard days. Commodore, I suggest you hurry your stay, and find me on the Tiger later. I'd like to run over the operation before getting it underway," he said as he stepped out of the room, closing the door with a snap.

--Five Hours Later--18:50 Capital Time--87.67° Above Lakota Orbital Equator--76.70° Off of Lakota Zero Degree--0.777 AU from Lakota--SIS Tiger--

Daniel sat calmly in his Boardroom Office on the separated bridge deck of the SIS Tiger. The Sigma vessel's curious design had the Bridge level, containing the Bridge, the Commander's quarters, Bridge Crew Quarters, Armory, Bridge Mess Hall, the CIC, and a Med Bay, were all isolated from the rest of the vessel. Sitting at the front of the ship, the Bridge was accessible via a small elevator that connected it to the main hanger.*

Daniel massaged his temples as he removed his reading glasses, having read the entire file on Nova. He knew almost all there was to know about the Novan history that had ever been written and recorded. The task of invading the system would be a difficult one. Sighing heavily he pulled a silver case from his desk and opened it, placing a mentholated cigarette in his lips and extracted a zippo, lighting it and exhaling a thick cloud of white smoke. As the door to the Boardroom opened he looked up to see his Executive Officer, a Commodore, staring him down, "Sir?"

"Aye?"

"The Senior Commodore, Grayson, has just arrived on the Main Hanger deck. Would you like me to send him up?"

Daniel sighed, "Yes... Bring him to the Boardroom."

"Aye, sir," he replied as the door snapped shut.

[Marrone]

Rubens marked disrespect towards the tried-and-true methods initiated by Rudolf was almost surprising. Arthur was sure he would oppose his plans, but not so informally or without tact. And the question which was laid upon him was entirely unfair. He almost spoke out, but decided against it, staying silent; it was the Vizeadmirals turn, and he didn't want to interrupt him once more.

When the Vice Admiral finally left, Arthur looked to Pantleo, recovering from the outburst of laugh, "Oh, don't get me wrong. I think the Vice Admiral is a wonderful asset, and that it's a privilege to have him." The door clicked closed, "But while the outer rings are not defended sufficiently, he should probably know about the smugglers who constantly go in and out. For one, they'll escape your long-range scanners for three reasons-- if they’re affiliated with hackers, they'll put a disruptor on the ship and render it invisible to our scanners. Secondly, they might be covering their ships with bits of asteroids or debris to avoid looking like a ship at all, and thirdly, they also use drones that are too small for our sensors to pick up."

Leaning back in his chair, he took a sip of his coffee. "The smugglers themselves are fairly easy to destroy, but the fact that they will squeal like a pig upon even thinking about a giant naval fleet in their space is what scares me. I refuse to shoot smugglers anymore at Udzho-- I keep them from getting in my station, arrest them maybe-- but never destroy them. Because when you do, those gangs are bound to know something's wrong, and they always send someone to protect the rest of their assets and loot the scavenger. They treat smugglers like Renier here would treat medics-- you never shoot medics nor civilians."

But he realized how thick the Vice Admiral had been, attempting to reason with Grayson, “All I want you to do, is to trust me when I say—Be careful. And that the gangs will form up into one big union if something strong enough comes their way. That’s what they did to me on my station, and that’s also how I lost the most men. It surprised me; I don’t need it to surprise you. And don’t tell the Vice Admiral you heard this from me, if you’d please, I think that might deter him from his respect for you and the advice. But I trust your instinct, Grayson—you know I’m not out to get the Vice Admiral, and that I support him as long as he supports the Syndic people.” He turned towards the rest, making a general statement while also branching off the previous conversation, “And besides, he’s not the one who calls the shots,” Nodding towards the Governor.

Promptly, he turned towards Renier, “Dueplat 1st, correct? I need a favor. If I’m going under—or my top men are going under—I’ll need someone to watch over my station. It’s a port in the storm around a planet full of sulfuric acid, pirates and brigands. Even now I know I’ll have to return to settle some dispute with them.” He took a drink of his coffee, “I don’t need a squad there, or even a soldier of yours—maybe a nephew, brother or friend. Mostly, they’ll stay away if a sheriff or something is there—but if not, the station looks like it’s up for grabs.”

Turning towards the governor, Arthur remained quiet to hear the synopsis from Suzuki or any of the rest of his peers. Despite this, he was eager to return; he had some work to do before the end of two standard days!

[Ionisus]

Admiral Ruben's demeaning laughter echoed in its sounds as it did in its insult, a means to use Rudolf's notion as a step ladder to the commander's own confidence. With his standing, Grayson Pantleo stood as well, meeting his commander in the eye and rending the appropriate courtesies as he replied, "I'll continue to consolidate the details for our Assumption of Alert, sir."

In the Admiral's leaving, Grayson traced his gaze to the remaining members of the meeting, stopping over Arthur Rudolf. His stare, calculating and more articulate then words in which he usually spoke, inferred to the reaction of his commander's brazen leave. Hearing Rudolf's explanation of how the smugglers entered the system undetected was amusing, not in a condescending manner but what Rudolf didn't know. Disruptors were common among ships wanting to mask their emissions, it was the basic principle in which stealth craft operated, but those disruptors had their own unique signatures or apparant lack there of. The biggest problem with stealth in space was the insurmountable backdrop of cosmic radiation and emissions, so any deliberate masking was easily identifiable to trained intelligence personnel. And the age old asteroid masking was rendered useless by the classified Drive Engine Modulation technology, that passively could detect non-electromagnetic signatures, acoustic among them. Detection and stealth were the mainstay's of Pantleo's force, and these principles were not only embraced by his crews but studied as to overcome those that would use the same ideas against them. For the sake not disrupting the meeting with technological discussions, Grayson remained silent and let his eyes retort. When Renier's and Rudolf's conversation would end, the Commodore piped in.

"Governor, If I may - Mr. Rudolf's idea is not completely unfounded, it just creates a few obstacles which may not be favorable to us. Let's say Rudolf or someone subordinate to him defects to these pirates, it could open gaps for our forces to come in, but in my opinion there will be no way we can enter the Nova system undetected. Regarding that, most likely these groups will want to avoid provoking a fight until they can strike unerred."

"So, let's assume Mr. Rudolf," The Commodore outstretches his hand to the Adventurer," comes in with this group. They could reacquisition whatever ships or resources he brought along or even hold him for ransom, seeing as he does have a notorious reputation among rebel circles. And even if that was not to come to pass, once our ships enter Nova a smart CA defector could surmise the correlation seeing as we're both coming conspicuously from the Lakota system. Governor, we cannot lose men like Rudolf or anyone within this room, and although we can't lose ships either I'd trade them for men that can inspire others. It's dangerous, ma'am, but if it can be done covertly it would help the success of this mission."

With another prolonged glance to Arthur, as if to say 'you're welcome', Grayson continued," Also our task force doesn't have a robust on world engineering team, if it can be done a supplementing engineering force will cut down our time to take these tech-templates."

With that, the accomplished commodore rose and placed his coat over a bent arm as he paced slowly to the door. Along the way he kept thinking of Vice Admiral Ruben's laughter and Operation Cobra. Would these men and women, himself included, rise as giants in an unfounded age? Would their eccentricities be written in prestige or forgotten in time? Dark days behind, and only darker days before them, those within that room would write history; it all was a question of the tale to come. With a pause, the commodore stopped at the door and turned around, addressing the group as he said," Think of what you will of the Vice Admiral, but he...we will get those templates. Good day."

With the deliberate gait of a determined man, Grayson's footfalls followed his departure from the meeting.

***

Commodore Pantleo entered the board room with an arrangement of reports and paperwork within his hands. Despite the newly formed mission, their previous allocations were still underway. Surveillance imagery, mission reports, maintenance figures and Commander reports were the bulk of papers meant for the commander. Pantleo assumed these reports would be subsided by the task at hand.

"Senior Staff Commodore Pantleo reports as ordered sir," Grayson spat, coming to attention despite knowning the informality of their relationship.

"Sir, I recalled my pilots from all current missions, they'll need to be on crew rest as we set out in the coming days," he added, still standing at attention until his commander put him at ease.