"Anything yet?"

"Nothing beyond simple identification and weapon readings, sir," Sam replied to Bradley's anticipation, sighing in defeat. "Ship layouts are too large to scan properly, and we can't penetrate their integral data. No offense, sir, but this ship wasn't made for in-depth reconnaissance."

"Acknowledged," Bradley responded, unintentionally mirroring Sam's sigh. "...How about the Imperials?"

Sam perked up a bit, probably eager for a change of topic. "They've already sent out... three shuttles, all docked with other ships. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume we're in queue," the lady reported. With a glance out of the corner of the bridge's viewport, Bradley confirmed her report, noting the shuttle docking with the [i]Andromeda[/i]. But out of the other side-

[i]“Extra-Galactic vessels, on behalf of the UNSC I would like to formally apologize for the actions of our cyberwarfare suite, it acted of its own initiative and against standing orders. We have gathered data on our current location and are willing to share this data as an act of good faith. This channel will remain open as a direct line to the bridge of the UNSC Icarus and its command crew. Caber out.”[/i]

Bradley narrowed his eyes at the transmission as he witnessed the [i]Icarus[/i] moving into parallel position with the [i]Osprey[/i] and the [i]Andromeda[/i]. A cyberwarfare suite acting out of line? That would be only attributed to a particularly feisty A.I. While Bradley acknowledged that practically all ships had some form of automation in its systems, rarely was a fully-fledged A.I. used in the Federation, precisely for this sort of reason. The [i]Icarus[/i] was already putting itself in bad standings with everyone else, and they knew it.

The pilot was snapped back to attention by a comm from Klehhi. "Hey, skinnie, get in a better position so we can shoot 'em! C'mon!" When the only response was a stern stare from his superior, he craned, "Don't me you're NOT going to shoot them! My terminal's all flecked up because of those-"

"Not our problem right now, Klehhi. You'll just have t-"

[i]"We DO NOT comply with these orders, pigs. Your empire is STUPID.. And.. And.. DUMB. Communism is the only way. I demand an immediate restructure of your government to give power to the workers."[/i]

"And why is it not our problem?" Sturm boomed from another comm. "Their actions have resulted in the exposure of critical mission data, and the loss of our ally Michiel! Do not tell me, [i]human[/i], that you do not seek retribution for such actions-"

"ENOUGH!" Bradley's voice pounded over the ship-wide comms. "In case none of you have bothered to notice, we currently remain literally surrounded by individual vessels with far more size, power and influence than us. That cyber attack was only raw evidence of what ONE ship was capable of without even TRYING to harm us! Wherever or whenever we currently are, our aim is still to return back to the Federation's last stand and destroy the Rebel Flagship. If there is a risk of us being destroyed before that happens, we are NOT taking it! Understood?" Bradley's face was pale-red in anger at the overwhelming series of unfortunate events.