The Admiral stood behind the ready room’s podium and lectured the four pilots on the exercises and functions she wanted to cover for the week. The screen behind her had a number of diagrams and statistics.  Miko was absolutely rapt with attention, though it may as well have been completely blank to Eva. And what the Admiral was saying may as well have been gibberish to her. They had only been in there for an hour, and she was already braindead from the lessons. Just like all the other times she was in a classroom, she found herself unable to pay attention and learn. But she had stopped lamenting the fact and instead let her mind wander a bit. She thought a bit about Jackson Stone, the game designer for Bellum Aeterna. Or, more specifically, she thought about the threats that he had programmed into the game. She also thought about the dangers that existed

Klaxons rang all throughout Tartarus Base as the Admiral’s lockdown order went into effect. Civilians, merchants, and contractors fled to their habs, closed their blast shutters, and sealed their doors shut.  In contrast, military and combat personnel swarmed in droves to do their duty. Armored hoppers sped from all corners towards the hangar bay, their bellies filled with eager Federation servicemembers of every discipline. Those who were already in the hangar were busy gearing up to be the first wave out. Pilots climbed into their cockpits as their techs did the final checks on their chassis. Gunners climbed into their secure pods and powered on their turrets. All were suited up and eager to defend the base. But it was more than the simple need to keep themselves secure.

The doors to the bridge snapped open as Merlin walked through. He whistled in awe at the simplicity and efficiency of the bridge’s layout. It was the first time he had ever been on a bridge like this, and he was absolutely delighted to the core. Valos stood in the middle along a catwalk, while his officers and their terminals surrounded him. And all along the walls around them were multiple large MFDs which displayed all manner of information. Some were filled with live feeds of the battle, while others were covered in readouts and data outputs. Valos spotted Merlin, and waved him over to his side. “Ah, there he is! Man of the hour! Come on over.” A huge grin filled Merlin’s face as he stood next to the Templar. “I guess

Valos and Merlin watched the screens around them with absolute joy. The Admiral and her set of toys were so easily defeated, to the point that every Federation pilot ended up running from the fight. “I bet some of your pilots are a bit disappointed,” Merlin mused. “They were probably lookin’ to have a big ole’ fight with the Feds.” “Hah! Yeah, I bet that too. They’ll prolly gripe a bit, and maybe even get into a few fistfights back at the flagship. But they’ll forget all about it once we divvy up all the loot.” “Templar!” said an officer. “Sensors are picking up increased power signals from within the asteroid. Incredibly faint, but they’re clearly powering stuff back on.” Valos’ eyes went wide in shock. A mere hour had passed - that wasn’t nearly enough time to fix

The last of the four Federation frigates cleared the hangar and joined the others in advancing on the fighter swarm. Their own fighters had done their best to quell the pirates, but were slowly losing.  Drones were meant to be a supporting force, not a main attack force. The fleet desperately needed frigate support on their side as well. On the bridge of her ship, the Admiral watched as the battle unfolded before her. Drones harassed the pirates while her fighters polished them off. Their discipline and skill were certainly an advantage over the more reckless and chaotic pirates. “All ships,” she ordered. “Sync up to the asteroid’s false transport signature. If they’re successful with their port, we need to jump in with them!” Though she was appraised of the fig