Rhea finally finished going over most of intercepted and broadcasted transmissions, including one, from a ship by the name of Icarus, claiming that their AI had acted without orders when it had tried to invade every ship in planetary orbit. Rhea had almost laughed at that, it was obviously a hastily spun lie to cover up their information gathering. While the hacking attempt could be considered a hostile action, it was an understandable one. One had to know firstly whether those around you were enemies, and secondly whether one could fight or if it was preferable to run. If Valerie was capable of such cyberwarfare, Rhea would’ve given the same order in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Valerie’s capabilities were limited outside of her body, be it the ships systems or her android Avatar. “Valerie, see if you can make contact with the Icarus’ AI and find out about them. They might be useful allies, and it seems they are in just as unusual a position as us.” If they had just tried to hack the ship she’d probably already be shooting, but they’d apologised on an open channel and that made Rhea think they might be useful as an ally.

Her train of thought was interrupted though, as Valeries form once again appeared on the bridges screen. “Captain, the Galactic Empire ships have powered weapons and targeted us, among others. I’m also detecting attempts to jam communications.” That was just what Rhea needed. A firefight while she was still determining her course of action. “Fine. If they want to play it like that. Battlestations. Deploy battle blades, load defensive missiles and put PDLs on standby. ECM to maximum and keep us moving in an erratic holding pattern, I want their targeting jammed.” Rhea hardly listened for the acknowledgements from her ship and crew, she knew they would all get their tasks done quickly and efficiently.

In the mean time, she looked over the specs Valerie had been able to gather on the various ships in orbit thus far. One of the ships was truly massive, twice the length of an XMC and far bulkier. All her instincts told her that that ship was one she wanted on her side. It was also the only one not doing much transmitting, and while some of the other ships seemed to be largely indicating they were on the same side, this one was unknown. She pointed to its signature orbital map displayed on the left screen “Valerie, establish communications with that vessel. If this is going to turn into a battle, I want them on my side.” The AI turned her face sideways, as though to look where the captain was pointing, before turning back, a single slight flicker of her eyelids the only indication that she was working.“Communications established.” She stated before disappearing from the screen.

“Unknown vessel, this is Captain Rhea Shohashi aboard the Systems Commonwealth vessel Valorous Intent. Both of our vessels have been targeted by the ships of the Galactic Empire and my sensors indicate they are prepared and may fire at any moment. In the interests of survival and victory, I propose an alliance. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”