[i]Year 2556.[/i]
[i]Earth, UNF Beijing Headquarters.[/i]

Andrew sat in the cafeteria located on the second floor in the massive hangar. The cafeteria was mainly used by the hangar's personnel but occasionally officers from other parts of the complex came here to watch over vessels within the hangar bay as they were being prepared. With a cup of steaming hot chocolate in his hands Andrew glanced out from the windows on his left side, watching as large mech units moved around in the hangar bay, hauling ammunition, provisions and fuel into the cargo hold of the Stülcken-class corvette "Bismarck" currently occupying the hangar space. Before boarding, Alfred had told Andrew he was expecting additional personnel coming in from France, and that in turn had further delayed the Bismarck from taking off. They were already behind The Avalon's preliminary preperations and would instead have to rendezvous with the exploration ship at Lunar Orbital near the moon. Andrew had wished them the best of luck.

Andrew sipped carefully from his mug and looked away from the hangar bay. The cafeteria was empty except for a small group of mech-suit pilots sitting on the opposite end of the cafeteria. His attention was diverted when the military-grade watch around his right wrist displayed an incoming call. Andrew pressed on a small button to bring up the call on screen and then rose up to his feet after having read it. He had new orders and were to report in to his flotilla. He quickly emptied his cup of hot chocolate and promptly left the hangar.

Fifteen minutes later Andrew entered the building where the command staff of the Third Flotilla were sitting. He checked in and announced his presence via a terminal by the entrance and then made his way over to a nearby elevator that would take him up to the top floor. He turned to the left as he stepped out from the elevator and navigated his way through various corridors until he came upon a briefing room. He was the only one who had been summoned. Other than Andrew there was one other person in the room, an elderly woman bearing the navy's uniform. Andrew saluted her as he entered. [i]"Ma'am."[/i]

The woman saluted as well. Commodore Marlene Ford had been leading the UNF's Third Flotilla for twelve years She had greying hair and the beginnings of wrinkles but was still tremendously tough and possessed tactical brilliance and charisma that made her a stellar superior to serve under. She gave a thin smile as she lowered her hand back to her side. [i]"Good that you are here. Is everything alright with you, captain?"[/i]
Andrew nodded. He too had lowered his hand but stood to attention still. [i]"Yes, ma'am. I'm jelous of seeing the Bismarck depart."[/i]
Marlene nodded and beckoned him over while she picked up a controller from a nearby desk. [i]"You won't be for long. Come, look at this."[/i]
Andrew made his way over to a chair and sat down while Marlene pointed the controller at a screen on the opposite end of the room. She pressed on a button and the screen switched on. The screen displayed the Sol system as a whole, with a myriad of lines and dots throughout it. The screen moved and zoomed in to an icy dwarf planet.
 [i]"This came in an hour ago from Eris."[/i] Marlene pressed another button and a recording window appeared on the screen. On it they saw a woman wearing a headset, half her face smeared in blood. Marlene pressed the play button and the recording started.

 [i]"This is Chief Technical Officer Antonia Benítez of the F3-12 Communication and Relay Post. Our facility is under assault by an unidentified force. Our security is failing and we are losing control of our systems. We require urgent assistance from any available UN forces that receive this."[/i]

The recording ended as promptly as it started and Marlene put down the controller on the table and turned to face Andrew. She scowled in thoughtful concern and then gestured to the screen. [i]"You heard. F3-12 is critical to our logistics within Sol. If we lose the station then large portions of the system will be blind. You're all I've got for this, Andrew. My hands are tied with Bismarck and so I must task you and your crew with this."[/i]
Andrew nodded. The rest of the Third Flotilla were on exercise on the other side of the sun, leaving Andrew and his crew as the only available asset to deal with the situation. It's not how he envisioned his return into space but he was always prepared that something like this might happen. [i]"We'll deal with it, ma'am."[/i]
Marlene nodded in acknowledgement. [i]"We know very little about the attackers so I will leave the ROE to you once you are there and can fully assess the situation. Do what you must, but keep F3-12 intact. You will set out immediately. Dismissed!"[/i]

Andrew sprung up to his feet and saluted, then he turned and rushed out from the briefing room and back through the corridors he came from. He ran to the elevator he first arrived in and descended the building. While he waited for the elevator to reach the bottom floor he sent out the urgent deployment order to his crew from his military-grade watch. As soon the elevator's two steel doors opened he almost threw himself out and sprinted out from the building. He turned around a corner and set off to the eastern end of the complex where he could acquire a vechicle that would take him to the military shipyards. And the clock was ticking.