The Next Day

— Monday, January 2, AD 2130 —

The soft clacking of keys on a keyboard once more filled the research offices aboard the space station Opportunity, as Kirstin went about her early-morning research tasks. She, as well as the rest of CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir (except Mark and Luke) had returned to Earth three days ago, and Kirstin was eager to get back into the office — even on the day after New Year’s. During her time in Compound Tresnon, her access to SERRCom data had been extremely limited, so only now was she able to return to the full breadth of her research options.

Among those options were analyzing the coordinates from the Aldredian Dreadnought, and of those coordinates, Kirstin was most interested in the one pointing at Earth. Nearly two months had passed since Scott told her to focus on the non-Homeworld coordinates, but Saito’s story about SERRCom’s ownership of Earth’s Interstellar Gate still echoed in her mind. Kirstin hoped to get to the bottom of Saito’s odd story, but she only felt comfortable doing so while Scott was out — and for a workaholic like him, there were few such opportunities. Knowing her father, and his penchant for drinking on holidays, Kirstin knew that New Year’s Day and the day after would be her best chance to get in some work without having to worry about him seeing. And so here she was, readily working at the bright and early hour of 7 in the morning.

The Earth Gate, the Earth Gate… she thought to herself as she dug through collections of data and files from decades ago, just why is it so odd? I know that the Gate was originally found in a cave in Colorado, and was moved to New York City two or three decades ago… but all the information on the Gate before that point is so difficult to access! Why is this all so classified? I don’t understand what there is to hide…

The Researcher continued searching through the files, only to continually come across massive blackout bars or access permission errors. It truly seemed that all information pertaining to the Interstellar Gate from before its relocation to New York had been classified to the highest level; if she wanted to access any of it, she would need Director-level permissions. And as cavalier as Dad can be, he isn’t likely to just hand those over… Kirstin mused, is this a dead end? No, it can’t be… the more I look at all this, the more it seems like Colonel Saito had a point. This is all too suspicious! There HAS to be something here, but where—?

She paused for a second, her eyes stopping on a particular record. It appeared to be an official announcement bulletin, intended for SERRCom High Command. Its classification level had been dropped over the years; it was still classified, but now even Kirstin had the permissions to see it. On first glance, nothing about it seemed special: it merely announced the coordinate of Earth’s Interstellar Gate, so that it could be provided to other planets and communities in the galaxy to dial Earth. The announcement was so mundane, in fact, that Kirstin had nearly skipped it… if not for a peculiar choice of words that caught her eye.

“Earth’s Interstellar Gate coordinate is ‘now’ this…” she mentally read. …”Now”? That implies that the coordinate used to be different… right? Otherwise they’d just say “Earth’s Interstellar Gate coordinate is this”. But that can’t be right. Gate coordinates are determined by a relatively static galactic grid. Changing a Gate’s coordinate is the same as changing its physical location in the galaxy. But Earth’s Gate has been on Earth all along… right? And I know Earth itself certainly hasn’t moved. Not enough to change coordinates, at least. What’s going on…? This, this can’t be right. Maybe I’m just reading into it too much. It’s only the one word. But… but… hmm—

The sound of the office door whooshing open jolted Kirstin out of her thoughts. In a panic, she closed out of all of the windows and terminals she had been using to look into the Earth coordinate — given just how heavily the matter had been buried, she didn’t want to be caught digging into it.

“Oh, Kirstin! I’m surprised to see you here, already!”

“O-oh… S-Sarah…” Kirstin responded. She sighed of relief, but still remained tense; Sarah didn’t have a Director-level position like Scott, but she was close enough all the same.

“Just that eager to get back to work, are we?” Sarah questioned with a cheeky smirk as she crossed the office, coffee cup in hand, to stop in front of Kirstin’s desk. “You do know how early it is, don’t you?”

“W-well… y-yeah…”

“Though I suppose I shouldn’t be getting on your case about it. After all, I am here myself! At least you aren’t Scott, I doubt we’ll see him until this afternoon. I swear, he’s the only person I know who gets so bloody drunk on New Year’s Day itself. Doesn’t he know you’re supposed to do that on New Year’s Eve? Honestly.”

“That’s… that’s him, for you…”

Sarah passed Kirstin a wordless glance before silently sighing and changing the subject. “Well, this is the first I’ve seen you since you returned from Nimalia. How was the trip?”

“I-it was… okay…” Kirstin responded meekly.

“I see. Do anything interesting?”

“Um… well… n-not really…”

“Really? I heard that CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir got wrapped up in an attack over there.” Sarah adopted a playful grin as she remarked, “have you been with CSF-1 for long enough that even an attack isn’t ‘interesting’ to you?”

Kirstin looked up at Sarah in confused distress. “Uh, n-no, I, I just, um…”

“Oh, relax, I’m just teasing you. You really are different from… er, well.” Sarah cleared her throat, as if realizing that she shouldn’t continue her thought. She then walked over to her desk across the office as she remarked, “well, that aside, I do feel I owe you an apology. Both for myself, and for that bloody dunce Scott.”

“…Huh…?” Kirstin questioned, warily eying Sarah as she retrieved something from her desk and returned to Kirstin’s.

“I’m sorry for not realising this earlier, but… happy 21st birthday!” Sarah said as she handed a card to Kirstin.

Kirstin responded only with dumbfounded silence. She stared at the card for a second, and then glanced up at Sarah, as if unsure if the latter was being serious.

“Go on, take it,” Sarah urged. “Your birthday was on the 15th, right?”

“Um… y-yeah…” Kirstin replied, slowly taking the card off of Sarah and looking it over. The card itself appeared to be a cheesy Hallmark birthday card, but Kirstin couldn’t help but notice the predominantly silver color — her favorite color. And on the inside were the signatures and well-wishings of both Sarah and Scott. A small smile began to appear on her face, only for her expression to return to confusion as she looked up at Sarah. “Uh… h-how did you know…?”

“Well, I am friends with your father,” Sarah remarked with a smirk. “That aside, back when you and CSF-1 learned that you’d be spending the last couple weeks of the year on Nimalia… I recall you trying to convince Scott to let you stay here, or find a way to get him to come with you. I thought it was a little odd, but the ‘why’ occurred to me once you were gone. You wanted to spend your birthday with him, didn’t you?”

The red of embarrassment filled Kirstin’s face as she averted her eyes and tried to hide behind her bangs. “U-um… w-well, that’s… y-you know…”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Kirstin. It’s hardly unusual to want to spend time with your family,” Sarah replied. “Even I returned home for Christmas, and I don’t even celebrate the bloody holiday. At least I can celebrate my birthday around the same time…”

“Huh?” Kirstin looked up at Sarah again. “…Your b-birthday is, um, o-on Christmas…?”

“Well, not on Christmas, but it might as well be,” Sarah remarked. “Mine’s the 21st — the solstice. Just about a week after yours, in fact!”

“Right… b-but three years, um, earlier…”

“Well, true, I am older than you, but not by that much. I’m still closer in age to you than I am to Scott, by far.”

“And yet, y-you’re, um… a S-Senior Researcher…”

“A position you’ll soon hold, I’m sure. You have just as much promise as I do. Hell, you even go out into the bloody field with CSF-1! I know I’d never be cut out for that.”

“…”

Sarah eyed Kirstin as the latter refused to make eye-contact, instead fiddling with the card in her hands. With a wary sigh, Sarah took a sip of her coffee and then said, “if I may change the subject for a moment, and if you don’t mind me asking… just when was the last time you spent a holiday or a birthday with Scott?”

Kirstin glanced up at Sarah again, only to then look into the distance, as if in thought. Eventually, however, she shrunk down into her chair. “…A while ago…”

“I feared as much…” Sarah replied. “I’ve never been able to get a clear answer on that from Scott. For all the years I’ve worked with him, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him visit home. Scotland, right?”

“Um… w-well, me and, um, m-my mom moved to… uh, A-America after the, um… y-you know…”

Sarah sighed again. “Right… it would figure. It explains your accent being different from his, too. But, well… I suppose it isn’t really my place to say this, as it should really be that bloody dunce who tells you how he feels. But Scott really does think about you a lot, you know. You don’t know how many times he’s spoken of you to me during the years before you joined SERRCom — or even just how proud he seemed when he learned you were joining. I don’t doubt that he still loves you, as a father should… he’s just convinced himself that he doesn’t have a place in your life anymore. I think that’s all it is.”

Kirstin eyed Sarah before averting her eyes again. “S-so… he r-really does, um… spend his time w-with you, i-instead…”

“Inst—?” Sarah began to echo, only to stop herself, recognition washing over her features. She watched Kirstin carefully for a second, as the younger Researcher finally put the card to the side and attempted to distract herself with work. “…I see,” Sarah eventually said. “…I think I understand how you feel, now, Kirstin.”

The Researcher responded only with a quick glance before returning her attention to the computer screen in front of her.

“Right… well.” Sarah awkwardly retreated from Kirstin’s desk to take a seat at her own. “I’ll… leave you to work, then, Kirstin. …But if you’ll allow one final useless interjection… I do think you should speak to Scott. If you just tell him how you feel, I’m certain he’d come around.”

“’J-just tell him’, right…” Kirstin muttered under her breath, far too softly for Sarah to hear. She then returned to work, shifting her focus to the other Dreadnought coordinates in an effort to distract herself from everything else.

---

*

“I really don’t see why I have to keep doing this.”

“For the billionth fucking time, you’re the only person who can even turn the damn thing on,” Kate replied in exasperation as she began hooking cables up between Mote’s Aldredian Armor and a nearby computer.

“We’ve had this armor for months, now,” Mote pointed out, turning to give Kate an impatient stare as he sat in a chair while wearing the armor. “Have you really not figured out a way to activate the armor without me?”

“Maybe it’s just really hard?” Danielle suggested as she watched Mote and Kate while laying on top of a nearby table, her chin in her hands and her feet idly kicking like a bored child. “This is advanced tech, right?”

“Exactly,” Kate declared. “This shit is super advanced compared to anything this galaxy has seen before! Even when the armor is active, it’s a real pain in the ass to try and peek into its systems. Whoever designed this thing really didn’t want people fucking around with it.”

“Aren’t you an Intellitechnic?” Mote questioned. “I thought solving these kinds of problems was supposed to be easy for someone like you.”

Kate glared at Mote. “You callin’ me dumb?”

Mote looked back at her before sighing and relaxing his head against the headrest of his seat, to look up at the ceiling of a research lab aboard the space station Opportunity. “…No. No, I didn’t mean to. But if even you’re having a hard time cracking the armor’s secrets… I suppose it really is just that advanced.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you this whole fucking time. God.”

“This isn’t the first time SERRCom’s found advanced tech, though, right?” Danielle pointed out, “like the Genesis! But we still managed to figure out how its tech worked and build our own versions, right?”

“Even Genesis is fucking child’s play compared to this armor, or even that Corvette,” Kate replied as she began typing away on her computer. “And even then, we haven’t actually figured out most of Genesis’s most important systems. Our reverse-engineered Subspace Drives are slower than Genesis’s, our reverse-engineered beaming systems are less accurate, our reverse-engineered Chaos Cannons are too big to mount on any of our existing ships, our reverse-engineered energy shielding is less efficient… and we still haven’t figured out how to replicate the fucking ACS at all!”

“Oh.”

“And this armor is even more advanced than that,” Kate declared. “If I ever meet the fucker who made it, I’d shake their hand on the good engineering job, and then sock them with the other hand for making my life so fucking difficult! Especially with this god damn gene-locking bullshit.”

“Agreed…” Mote muttered.

“Oh relax, all you have to do is sit there. You could even take a nap. I’m the one doing all the fucking work.”

“I don’t do naps. And there’s nothing I dislike more than just sitting around, doing nothing…”

“We could talk!” Danielle remarked.

“And distract Kate? You’ll just make this take longer…” Mote replied.

“Bitch please, I can talk and work at the same time with no problem,” Kate retorted as she stared at the screen in front of her. “…But talk is boring, anyways.”

“C’mon, guys, don’t be like that!” Danielle insisted. “We could talk about our trip to Nimalia! I really liked it, there, and I really want to go back at some point and see more of the sights! Like those massive trees that Mark told us about!”

“…I must admit, the trees did intrigue me…” Mote responded.

“So it’s a bunch of tree houses strung together to make a city, so fucking what?” Kate snorted. “Our last ‘trip’ to Nimalia was really just more fucking work disguised as a vacation. Don’t talk to me about going back unless we can get some actual fucking time off to do what we want to do!”

“True…” Danielle agreed with a frown. “And having to deal with that attack, too… who were the attackers, again? The… Bloods, or something?”

“Bleeders,” Mote corrected with a scowl. “I would have liked to destroy the whole lot of the lawless bastards, but I was too busy powering the shield, at the time…”

“What a fuckin’ shithole,” Kate said. “And we’re leaving the newbies there, too, huh? Well, maybe it’ll actually do those useless assholes some good to see danger every now and then.”

“Don’t talk so badly about Tresnon!” Danielle exclaimed, “they’re just doing their best with what they have, after all! It seems like no one else on Nimalia wants to help them… I kinda wanted to stick around and help out…”

“Can you really blame Nimalia? Treséd is a fucking wasteland shithole. There’s nothing there.”

“There’s still people, there! And those people deserve help!”

“Personally, I’m more concerned that the Bleeders had access to technology more advanced than what you’d typically find in those parts of the world,” Mote pointed out. “According to the Colonel, it’s far from common for lowlife criminal gangs like the Bleeders to get their hands on personal energy shielding, or cybernetic prosthetics. There’s clearly something more, there… hopefully, the Nimalians can handle it on their own.”

“Even if they can’t, we’re liable to be too fuckin’ busy with our own shit to help, if the past few months are any indication,” Kate grumbled.

“True…”

“But maybe once it’s all over, we can go back to Nimalia for a real vacation!” Danielle remarked. “Like that one day when Saito and Hackett took us all over the city!”

“Ugh, that was so boring…” Kate replied.

“And a waste of time…” Mote affirmed.

“You guys say that, but I know you had fun! Admit it!” Danielle countered. “Especially that race at the end! I think you two got more into than anyone else!”

Mote and Kate exchanged a brief glance before sighing in tandem.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that…” Mote admitted.

“Look, I like what I like, so what,” Kate added defensively.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s a good thing!” Danielle replied with a grin. “Maybe next time, we can see about joining the race ourselves!”

“As long as Kate isn’t piloting,” Mote said.

“Oh fuckin’ bullshit, I’m the best pilot out of everyone here!” Kate declared. “Who, out of all of us, designs fucking spacecraft? That’s right, me! Don’t forget that I beat you at that racing game, too!”

“That was a fluke. I’m the one who’s done the most piloting recently, anyways.”

“The fucking Corvette doesn’t count, that thing is basically a neural interface. I’m talking about real fucking piloting, with a harness and a stick and everything. And on that, I’m way better than you!”

“You only beat me by one point.”

“A one-point victory is still a victory, you fucking sore-ass loser.”

“You guys really liked that game, huh?” Danielle remarked, “how many times did you race each other? Ten? Twenty?”

“It was only… thirteen times…” Mote refuted, quickly losing steam halfway through his sentence once he realized how much time he had spent on the game.

“…Hmph…” Kate responded in kind, her attention re-focused on her work as the slightest tinge of embarrassment appeared on her cheeks. “…Well, so we like games, so fucking what? That’s no big deal.”

“See, I knew you guys had fun,” Danielle replied with a cheeky grin.

“Yes, yes…” Mote responded with a resigned sigh. “I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed to going back, in the future…”

“If only things would actually fucking calm down in the future,” Kate retorted. “I just want to do some damn research, but all these fucking missions keep getting in the way…”

“We both know that you like fighting too much to really think that.”

“Like I’ve even had a chance to fight on any of our recent missions. If you can find me a real fight, then I’ll stop complaining!”

“Why don’t you just fight each other?” Danielle suggested as she glanced between Mote and Kate. “Mote, you like training, right? And Kate, Mote’s one of the few people you don’t have to hold back against!”

“The Colonel’s barred us from sparring with each other…” Mote lamented.

“Something about ‘too much collateral damage’,” Kate affirmed with a snort of disbelief.

“Oh… I guess you guys are just that powerful, huh?” Danielle remarked.

“Just once, I want to fight someone who’ll give me a real run for my money,” Kate declared. “Like that no-faced bitch back at the shipyard! I couldn’t go all-out back then ‘cause I thought there was still a chance to save the fucking Dreadnought… but next time, ooooh next time! I’ll smash her non-existent face in!”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Mote warned, “as you might just get it.”

“No shit, dumbass. That’s why I’m wishing for it!”

“…Right.”

“Speaking of Telregina, though, I want to hear about how you guys fought her, again!” Danielle exclaimed. “It’s such a cool story!”

“But we didn’t really beat her,” Mote countered.

“So? It’s still a cool fight! And it’s a way to keep passing the time, right?”

“…I suppose it is. Fair enough,” Mote admitted with a resigned sigh, and then began to regale Danielle with the story of his and Kate’s encounter with Telregina aboard the Aldredian Dreadnought, whiling away the hours as Kate continued her study of the Aldredian Armor.

---

*

“It certainly seems that your trip to Nimalia was an… eventful one, Colonel, Major.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Saito replied, passing a quick unamused glance toward Hackett before turning forward again. Both superior officers of CSF-1 were sitting across the desk from General Matthew Lead in his office on the space station Opportunity.

“There was a lot to take in while reading your report,” Lead remarked, his hands clasped on his desk in front of him as he looked Saito steadily in the eye. “The Bleeder attack on Compound Tresnon, the build up of NSD and CSA forces in the Nimalia solar system in response to Riaxen scouting parties, crumbs of information regarding EA’s activity, the news that Telregina is still alive, these new ‘Infection Capture Devices’, and also the news that the NSD has no intentions of getting involved in Treséd…” The General took a deep breath. “I’ll admit, Colonel. I thought I was sending you on a straight-forward two-week visit to Nimalia, but it would seem I was wrong.”

“That’s just how things go in our line of work, sir,” Hackett stated.

“And while I would still like some proper leave, the things we’ve learned aren’t things that can be ignored,” Saito pointed out. “I take it you called us here today to discuss them, General?”

“To an extent,” Lead replied. “There isn’t much to say regarding EA or the Drakkars. We know now, due to the NSD, that EA seems to be interfering in the operations of the Black Suns, Chaos Knights, and Light Keepers — and that even the Nimalians think that he is accruing resources and materiel faster than one man should be able to. But we still don’t have any leads on his actual base of operations, or his logistics chain, and until we have that, we can’t do anything. And the Drakkars… well, I don’t think I need to tell you that SERRCom is in no position to lead a pre-emptive strike on the Drakkars, especially if Telregina survived a Drive Bomb. We’ll monitor CSA reports on their chatter, but that’s all we can do for now.”

“And the Riaxen issue?”

“A concerning one, but there isn’t anything for CSF-1 or the Eximius Vir to do, there. I’ve put Commander Markovic in charge of coordinating SERRCom’s naval response with the NSD in the face of potential Riaxen aggression… but that’s all I can say at the moment. The other matters, however, are much more pertinent to your activities.”

“How so?”

“The Infection Capture Devices, or ICDs as the ETAA has taken to calling them, will be very useful in any confrontations with the metallic infection — and since you ran into the infection while investigating one of the Dreadnought coordinates, it stands to reason that you might run into them again. From here on out, CSF-1 should bring several ICDs with you on your missions. And if you ever successfully capture an infected specimen and can safely transport it to Eana, then the ETAA would love to begin studying it. We need to learn as much as we can about the infection if we plan to fight it.”

“You want us to bring one back alive, sir?” Hackett questioned incredulously.

“I understand there’s risk involved,” Lead replied. “Which is why I want to emphasize that you should only do so if you can be confident that the infection will never breach its containment shields. The actual infection research will not take place on Eana, either. I’m not a fool; I won’t risk SERRCom’s Primary Fortress World for studying the infection. Does that alleviate your concerns, Major?”

“…It does well enough.”

“I take it we’re to continue investigating the Dreadnought coordinates, then?” Saito asked.

Lead nodded. “That’s the plan — and actually the main reason I’ve called for the two of you. The ETAA has decided on the next coordinate it wants investigated, and as per my earlier decision, CSF-1 will investigate alongside Genesis and Origin. To the best of our knowledge, there’s no Interstellar Gate at this coordinate, so there shouldn’t be anyone interfering in your search… but as always, remain vigilant.”

“Is that all we know about the coordinate?” Hackett questioned.

“It’s around 50 thousand light years away, somewhere in the uncolonized Perseus Arm,” Lead answered. “Since you’ll have Origin with you, expect a six-day trip, one way.”

“Both Genesis and Origin… should we be expecting trouble, sir?” Saito asked.

“The two ships usually travel together; they’re the Flagship Strike Group, after all,” Lead pointed out. “Besides that, we are talking about the uncolonized arm. The only reports we’ve received from out there are the ones from the NSD about EA’s activities. In the absence of more information, caution is certainly warranted.”

“Fair enough. When do we leave?”

“Two days from now — on Wednesday, the 4th.”

“That’s a fast turnaround,” Hackett remarked.

“Well, there are a lot of coordinates to work though,” Saito replied, and then turned his attention back to the General with a solemn look on his face. “I’m sure you’ll forward me further details on the mission later today as usual, General, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to address the elephant in the room.”

“You mean to ask about the recruits, and Compound Tresnon?” Lead responded.

“That’s it, exactly. I’ve told you everything that’s happened, there. Do we plan to do anything about it?”

“Well, in a word… No.”

Saito and Hackett exchanged a wary glance.

“…If you’ll excuse me for asking, sir,” Saito replied, looking back to the General. “Why? I think it’s fair to say that the recruits are in more danger than we expected.”

“It’s fair to say that very little of what has happened on Nimalia is as we expected,” Lead declared. “But I understand your concern, Colonel, and out of respect for that, I’ll outline my thinking. There are several key matters in play, here: one, that the Deans of the Schools of Chaos feel pressured to put non-Nimalian students in the one school farthest from the public eye; two, that the NSD is so hands-off with Treséd that they’re willing to grant even SERRCom permission to interfere as we see fit; three, that our deal to have the recruits train on Nimalia was with Archoné Culana, rather than the Nimalian Union; and four, that the Black Suns have one of their own at Compound Tresnon. If only one or two of these were true, then I would push for a renegotiation, or withdraw from the deal entirety. But as it is… I think there is a way to work this to the advantage of both SERRCom and the recruits.”

“…I don’t see it.”

“I’ll state this outright: it is in SERRCom’s best interests that the recruits become capable Chaotics as quickly as possible. The threats to us and Earth have exploded in number and severity over the past few months, and it is only a matter of time before we will have to face them head-on. If we withdraw the recruits from Nimalia and train them ourselves — do you think you will be able to make them ready for Chaotic combat within just a year or two, Colonel?”

“That’s… difficult to say.”

“Exactly. And I’m well aware of the recruits’ resistance to their own conscription. They are much less likely to want to learn if they’re with us, rather than on Nimalia. However, if they’re to train on Nimalia, then it seems that WCU and Compound Tresnon is the only viable location for them to do so — which, as you’ve explained to me, is not a very secure city. That does bear concern, but there are two mitigating factors: the fact that a Black Suns officer is present, and the fact that Dean Densalin herself has seen fit to teach the recruits directly.”

“We have heard that Dean Densalin is a powerful Chaotic…” Hackett said warily. “I suppose the place would be a lot safer while she’s around…”

The General nodded. “I agree. And, believe it or not, I met her, once. Long, long ago… but I did. She still seemed unsure of herself at the time, but even then, I couldn’t doubt her Chaotic power. If she’s grown even half as much as I’ve heard, then I have no doubt that she’ll go to great lengths to keep both the recruits and Compound Tresnon safe.”

“And the Black Suns officer?” Saito questioned.

“Gavon Savénos is Sector 1,” Lead stated. “You told me earlier about how he warned you about a potential schism between Sectors 1 and 2; I’ve had the EIIC look into this, and most of what Savénos has said seems to be true. Much of it reflects SERRCom’s own attitude toward the Black Suns, besides; Sector 1 has a long and respectable history, while Sector 2… well, not quite so much. As such, I believe Savénos himself is trustworthy. Additionally, his presence in Compound Tresnon indicates that Sector 1 places at least some value on the city. While he remains there, there is little doubt in my mind that Sector 1 is monitoring the situation. Should things get bad, they may well intervene themselves; it fits their M.O.”

“Are we really betting on the goodwill of a PMC to protect our own from harm?”

“While the Black Suns as a whole have a questionable past, Sector 1 is — in my studied opinion — fairly trustworthy. The NSD’s refusal to involve themselves in Treséd’s matters makes it more likely for the Black Suns to intercede, as they won’t have to bother with NSD bureaucracy and would be able to curry favor with the locals. Furthermore… the NSD has given us explicit permission to land our own ships in Treséd as we see fit.”

“Fair enough, but I still don’t see how we or the recruits stand to benefit from any of this.”

“It all comes down to the recruits. I’ve explained how they aren’t in quite as much danger as you might think; especially since Compound Tresnon was recently attacked, they’ll be on alert for any additional raids. This is a perfect opportunity for the recruits to get real-world Chaotic experience while still having skilled and powerful Chaotics to watch over them and prevent true harm from befalling them. And while the recruits are in Compound Tresnon… I must cynically admit that it gives SERRCom a good excuse to leave a Frigate or two in the region.”

“…Are we intending to spy on the Nimalians?” Hackett questioned incredulously.

Lead passed her a level glance. “I said nothing of ‘spying’, Major.”

“Well, if we really are sending a Frigate, then I suppose we could just scan for the Bleeders and bomb the hell out of them, ourselves…” Saito mused.

“That’s one option. It’s one that won’t be available for some time, however. Our navy is currently stretched to its limits with the current patrol burden, that being watching for both EA and Drakkar incursions into our space, while still guarding against any metallic infection outbreaks… we won’t be able to spare a Frigate for the immediate future. Perhaps not even for several months.”

“That’s a long time…”

“Given the situation, I think it’s more than manageable. Between Dean Densalin, Dean Wrikax, and the Black Suns, Compound Tresnon’s safety in the immediate future is secured. I’ll have the EIIC look into how the Bleeders obtained their tech, but aside from that, I do not believe SERRCom needs to do any more at the moment.”

Saito and Hackett exchanged another glance before the Colonel released a wary sigh. “…Alright, sir. I’ll trust your word on this.”

Lead nodded sagely. “Thank you, Saito. It may seem that I’m being callous to the recruits, but I do believe that this is the best course of action for them, especially considering SERRCom’s current burdens. And speaking of the present, I do believe the two of you have a mission to prepare for.”

“That we do…” Saito replied as he and Hackett began to stand up from their chairs. “And so, we all just go back to normal, like the past couple weeks never happened… eh, sir?”

“It may seem that way upfront, but trust me, Saito. SERRCom knows what it’s doing,” the General replied as he stood as well, offering a quick salute to the Colonel and Major that they promptly reciprocated. “Good luck out there, Colonel, Major. You’re dismissed.”