UGT: 7th Ruan 280 a.G.A. / 9:04 a.m.

  ASF Aurora, above Karesh-Ti, Karesh-Ti’Varn system(yellow dwarf), Inner-Noran sector, Ruidan Raider Association, Milky Way

  The intercom darkened with a final flicker, Admiral Thorrison’s face dissolved into a wash of static before vanishing entirely. Silence settled in his place, thick and heavy. I stayed seated longer than necessary, hands folded on the armrests, eyes fixed on the void where he’d been. Fen broke the quiet in my ear, careful, almost amused.

  [ That went about as well as it could. Considering you didn’t shoot one of our still working railguns at him just to prove you still can. ]

  I exhaled through my nose. “Don’t tempt me.” My voice came out dry, too steady to reveal how close I’d been to snapping at him. I really hated having to play politics. Keeping up the claim of being a First Federation Captain was hard enough already without having to be involved in Second Federation politics.

  The ASF Aurora groaned faintly around me, bulkheads shifting, conduits rerouting power along charred lines. A muted chorus of strain, the sound of a ship bleeding but alive.

  [ During you little talk with the Admiral I finished analyzing the damages to the ASF Aurora and how to fix them. Do you want the complete list? ]

  "Yes, please. I need the full extent of our current situation."

  [ Very well, Captain. Our structural integrity sits at 83%. Antimatter reactor remains offline, cold-fusion reserve reactors have stabilized output at 60% nominal. The staggered hypershield is still down and will be for quite some time. Our normal hypershield backups are starting to stabilize, by now having reached 34% capacity again. Our Gauss Cannons are operational at 65%. Disintegrators sit at 50%. Point-Defenses are still nominal in most sectors. We lost both the wormhole-drive and the jump-drive. The wormhole-drive should be fixable in a few weeks’ time, the jump-drive will take longer. The emergency jump-drive is still working, same as the hyperdrive. Regenerative hull tissue is engaged, the nanites are working on everything else, repair efficiency at roughly 32% right now. Structural integrity should be restored up to a maximum of actually 91% in the next three weeks. Seeing how we lost some sectors entirely, we can only replace them, but not the completely obliterated technology inside. Our hangars are undamaged luckily, our Stealthfighter is still intact. ]

  I listened in silence. When he finished, I rose from my chair, slow and deliberate. I needed to stand, to move, to remind myself this was still my ship. “I`m taking a walk to check out the hangar.”

  [No problem, I have everything under control. ]

  The corridors smelled of ozone and scorched insulation, the tang of plasma still clinging to the air despite the scrubbers working overtime. Repair robots clustered at open panels, scattered tools, conduits pulled like veins from the walls

  [ We had some losses regarding our robots. Some maintenance robots that are easy to replace but also some combat robots. Not many, but enough that I think I should inform you that our reserves are running thin. ]

  “Understood. But I don't plan on letting anyone have a chance at taking over the ship in a conventional way anyways,” I said quietly. My hand brushed the wall as I passed, grounding myself in the metal. Soon after I reached the hangar. "Open the Stealthfighter for me, would you?"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  [ Done. Do you really plan to take a flight right now. ]

  I sighed. "Of course not. But I do want to check the systems personally. Let's just call it me dealing with nerves."

  After doing the checkups on the Stealthfighter and obviously found no problems whatsoever I left for my cabin to read up on some more modern space combat material Fen managed to gather. But not even an hour later, I was interrupted again.

  [ Captain, new long-range interceptions from our recon drones. ]

  “Go on,” I said, not looking up from my task.

  [ The RRA's Eastern Hyperlane Defense Fleet just broke formation. All units. They’re pulling out of the system and heading towards the hyperlane. ]

  My head snapped up instantly. “They're retreating?”

  [ They’re heading for Republic of Aerondel space. Straight into it. ]

  I let the words sink in. "Aerondel. I remember it from the starmaps. That's the small starnation neighboring this system, right? Neutral, at least officially. Federation-aligned, but cautious. The sort of government that prefers strong declarations at council meetings over war if they aren't sure who will come out on top."

  [ That is correct if Federation information is to be believed. And before you ask, I triple checked already. There is no doubt about the Association and their destination. ]

  I exhaled slowly, steadying the storm in my chest. So that was our enemies’ plan? A gamble that could easily drag a neutral republic into the fire. “They’d rather provoke Aerondel than face us again,” I murmured.

  [ Seemingly yes. They expect Aerondel to tolerate their presence and that we won't be allowed to pursue them. That they would not risk their neutrality like that. ]

  “They’re trying to survive,” I said. “If they hide behind Aerondel, they'll obviously force us to rethink every move we planned. If we pursue, we will push the Republic of Aerondel into war, one way or another. Admiral Thorrison will not support that. It would also be too big of a delay into our plans for attacking the Kingdom of Ferron. That means the Association and whoever holds command now will unfortunately live to see another day. The secret of the ASF Aurora's existence is out of the bag."

  [ Or they simply die another day. We did put quite a hole in their fleet. And it will take them far too long to warn the Association or their allies of our existence. Especially if they're stuck in the Republic of Aerondel. As long as no ship managed to evade into the Kingdom of Ferron, everything should be alright. ]

  I sighed. “Okay. We'll ignore Aerondel for now. Strike the Kingdom of Ferron instead. Clear the corridor to Yra-S?l’Vareth, where the rest of the SHF fleet is waiting. That secures the path into Ferron and also finishes the SHF takeover of the entire Inner-Noran sector while destroying the last encircled Association forces in the sector that are blocking said corridor."

  That was it. The core of it. Not just victory, but balance. The SHF had tasted leverage at Karesh-Ti'Varn, and Admiral Thorrison would squeeze every drop of it if I let him. But if we took the corridor and showed him the ASF Aurora could still easily break systems, even scarred and battered, the pendulum would swing back.

  “Prepare everything,” I ordered at last. My voice carried across the bridge, sharp and certain. “Signal SHF command as well. We are to move within forty-eight hours. The ASF Aurora can take it. Tell Admiral Thorrison our plans, he'll have to agree. I promised him some decisionmaking capabilities after all and he should have the same goals as us right now. Aerondel is not our battlefield. Not yet at least."

  [ Bold move, Captain. You realize this pins everything on the ASF Aurora being fully combat-ready again when we reach the other part of the SHF fleet, which is highly unlikely. Otherwise, Admiral Thorrison will make sure you will be bound to the Federation even tighter. ]

  "I don't think so Fen. Because of the last battle we saw that at least someone in the Association command had some understanding of strategy. And I expect there to be a certain surprise waiting for Admiral Thorrison when we reconnect with the remaining SHF fleet. Something that will put quite a bit of pressure on him."

  [ As you command, Captain. ]