Chapter 8: Anticipation

Luckily, there was a specific room down in the bunker designated for smoking. Unfortunately, half of the damned junior officers had followed her to smoke as well. One of the little shits had even tried to bum a cigarette off of her, get your own dude! Two of the officers were moderately attractive women, girls to be precise, and four were fresh-faced, doe eyed, boys. Chloe ignored them and did her best to finish her cigarette before her companions summoned their courage to attempt conversation. She failed.

She had initially wondered why so many of them had been sent to keep them company, why send a dozen when you could send one or two? The most senior of their caretakers seemed to handle himself fairly well, he actually seemed grizzled and mature where the rest were more akin to childlike idiots. But, of course, that's why they had been sent down. They were untrained, inexperienced, bottom of the barrel idiots, they had probably been sent down here to keep them out of the way. She soon found out that their commander, Captain Cage, was a combat veteran of dozens of battles, a solid soldier, but he was now incapable of serving on the front line. Apparently, the idiots wouldn't stop gushing about him, the man had seen some shit, some serious shit. He had once been a badass in every possible meaning of the word, but now he was a shell of his former self, mostly broken, only really capable of looking after new recruits.

The young officers weren't shy about how green they were, which she found odd. She had expected the young men, who kept looking at her the way young men do, to try and impress her with bravado and tales of glory. However, they were refreshingly humble. They knew where they stood in the food chain, they knew why they had been sent down here, and wouldn't you know it they were honored. You could see it in their eyes, they were super stoked about being sent to look after Chloe and her companions. It didn't matter that they were basically glorified babysitters, they couldn't care less.

As she conversed with the young officers she hated them less and less, and even found herself getting along with them. They even let a few tiny morsels of information that they probably shouldn't have slip out while they were talking. Apparently, this grand admiral dude had a clone and he was on his way here for safe-keeping. They all wondered if this clone would be as awesome as the real man. This leader of theirs, whoever he was, apparently could do no wrong but the head honcho of the base didn't like him, for some reason.

The boys, and one of the girls, interestingly enough, were also really excited about the clone's lady-friend, she was apparently really hot. Suddenly realizing that Chloe was still in the room several hasty compliments were thrown her way, they certainly didn't think that this fabled beauty had any chance of being hotter than her, score. She found herself enjoying the company so much that she even had as second cigarette… and took the time to make some coffee for Max, she probably needed some after all.

Politely excusing herself from the conversation, she left her new friends and went in search of Max, steaming coffee in hand. She hadn't gone far. She was still in the main room and the holoprojector was once again showing a highly detailed image of the earth and the fleet guarding her, the awesome purple ship was there as well. Cruising in the shadow of the much larger Night Hammer the much smaller ship looked far less dangerous, but Chloe knew better. Max was quietly listening to an intense conversation that the FBI agents were having, mostly led by Walter, and of course, it was about aliens.

Max saw her coming and gratefully accepted the coffee, wolfishly devouring it despite the fact that it was probably still quite hot. As Max thanked her, it quickly became obvious that she was hardly invested in the ongoing conversation. With a subtle nod of her head, Chloe motioned to one of the room's four exits. Her partner's eager nod brought a smile to her lips, hands clasped together, they made their escape.

The pair wandered for a few minutes until they found a suitable place to hunker down. They passed by offices, server rooms, an armory, a bathroom or two and a kitchen until they found something suitable, a bedroom. The room was small, smaller than the cramped dorm-rooms back at Blackwell Academy, but it had very little furniture so it seemed much bigger. A semi-comfortable double bed dominated the room but there was a small desk and a chair as well. There were two metallic nightstands on either side of the bed, the room had a closet which was filled with identical blue and white uniforms.

"Want to cosplay as these Treize Faction douchebags?" Chloe playfully asked Max as she held one of the jackets up to her chest, it might actually fit. Max smiled and took a careful sip from her coffee but shook her head slowly.

"I doubt that they have any that will fit me, unless they have any in extra-small." Chloe found herself grinning from ear to ear as she tossed the jacket haphazardly onto the floor, moving to join her partner who had seated herself on the bed. Running her fingers through Max's hair, she almost lost herself to the moment as she felt the tension bleed out of her. Similarly affected, Max relaxed considerably. However, her shoulders remained somewhat rigid while the tension in her eyes resiliently persisted.

Max knew what was coming, they had to talk about what had happened, she knew that it was unavoidable. It would happen when it happened though. Chloe was determined to enjoy their peaceful moment for as long as she could. Surprising Max with a quick kiss on the side of her neck, she withdrew and watched as her partner's resolve crumbled. She was surprised herself when Max tackled her onto the bed, nearly smothering her with her desperate kisses. The coffee was spilled, clothes were wrenched off and she quickly found herself worrying less and less if the door was locked or not.

"So… these Mgalekgolo… they are hive minded?" Peter and Walter had been overjoyed to learn that the Sangheili were indeed aliens. Their excitement grew exponentially when Captain Cage had begun to explain that the Sangheili weren't their only alien allies. Using the holographic projector, Captain Cage showed them image after image of three different aliens, each more impressive than its predecessor. Olivia remained silent and let her two more interested companions ask the questions. It wasn't that she didn't find it fascinating, Kimberly and Astrid were quite interested as well, but they knew better than to interrupt Walter when he got like this. He was like a petulant child at times, especially when you asked something he had been pinning to ask or made a deduction that had been on the tip of his tongue.

The first alien was of course a mighty Sangheili, a race of proud warriors with very advanced technology. Their ships and weapons were the best that they had ever come across. When the captain had described them as utilizing 'plasma' technology Walter had scoffed and insisted that was impossible. The captain had admitted that it was all way above him, apparently no one really understood their technology very well, but that's what they called it. Grumbling some more Walter had nonetheless allowed the man to continue.

The creatures towered over humans, usually they were seven or eight feet tall, and were a saurian species that was nonetheless somewhat humanoid. They had legs, arms, a few toes and four digits on either hand. The images showed the creatures in impressive sets of battle armor of various colors so it was impossible to see many other details other than their general appearance. But their faces could be seen, unfortunately. Their maws could give children nightmares, their jaws were quadruple-hinged, with an upper jaw and a greatly reduced lower jaw that consisted of four mandible-like lips. There were teeth everywhere, on the upper jaw, on the lower mandibles, lots of sharp pointy teeth. Imagining that the rest of their visage was just as horrid, Olivia was glad that all of the images were armored and revealed few other details.

The next group of aliens, the Unggoy, were much more appealing to the eye, almost cute. They were much smaller than the Sangheili, about five feet or so, and resembled several different animals all at once. Like earth's primates, they seemed to be able to walk upright but preferred to use their oversized forearms to aid them in travel, like chimpanzees. Their bodies were naturally armored with exoskeletons, but the images were all wearing additional orange combat armor as well. Their faces were covered in breathing masks and is was explained that the creatures breathed methane and could only survive for a short period without it. The small creatures had multi-hooved feet and three digits on their small hands. Olivia couldn't help but speak up towards the end of the explanation, interrupting Walter's questions about their blood, which apparently was bright blue.

"Apologies for interrupting… but the way you talk about these little guys… I would say that you've been around them quite a bit?" The captain nodded gravely, his face shadowed and grim.

"Yeah, I fought beside a gaggle of them for a while, tough little bastards…" Peter seemed rather amused by this statement. However, before he could speak his mind the captain continued, eyeing Peter harshly for a moment. "I know, I know, they look like teddy bears or some shit… and yeah they are fairly easily spooked… but when shit hits the fan and their backs are to the wall they fight tooth and… hoof for their lives. They've got this pack mentality, so when the pack is in danger they stop thinking of themselves as individuals. You see, we… as in our forces as a whole, used to have a few other planets colonized. But the grand admiral was seen as this holy figure by the Sangheili so their enemies sought to snuff him out. We lost all of our outposts on our other worlds save for one, the planets were glassed, just fucking wiped clean of life. But that wasn't before they sent in ground troops to wipe us out, they wanted to be sure that they got the big man's body after all, couldn't do that if he was burned to ash."

The captain was silent for a long time, clearly haunted by his memories. The young officers in the room were listening intently, nearly drooling over his words, this clearly wasn't something he talked about often.

"So, there I was, me and my squad, dug in on this planet… damn I don't even remember what we called it… nothing but glass now. Anyway, we were the last line of defense as the non-combats and the civilians evacuated. Our position was reinforced by a Sangheili commander and a whole platoon of Unggoy. The big one bought it early on, we got rushed by the Jiralhanae and some of the other aliens and the damned fool charged at em' with a glowing sword. Not to say that he didn't take a few of them with him but he bought it nonetheless, and the little bastards panicked. They saw us getting picked off one by one, they saw their leader get slaughtered so I guess that some of the little guys thought that we were fucked."

The Jiralhanae were large eight to nine-foot-tall ape-like hairy bipedal creatures, Olivia couldn't even fathom fighting one of them, especially if she was about five foot tall. But as the captain continued to speak she found herself listening intently, her mouth slightly ajar in shock.

"But they didn't run, it was damned obvious that they wanted to, hell I wanted to! But these little bastards held fast and fought like little maniacal demons. Two of them, the crazy bastards, they threw down their weapons and I thought they were going to run, just fucking bolt on all fours, but they didn't. These two guys popped two of their glowing blue grenades, one in each hand, and just rushed the brutes. You should have seen their hairy faces! One moment they are about to overwhelm our position and then the next they are getting charged by two little bastards waving grenades and shrieking at the top of their lungs. You see, these little guys, the damned crazy bastards, are basically walking fucking bombs. They've got methane canisters on their backs, methane! Throw some grenades into the mix and boom! The rest of em' charged into the fray and I saw a bunch of the bastards just tackle an injured brute, just mobbed him. He managed to rip one of their heads off before they beat him to death. We charged with them, me and the boys that I had left just said 'fuck it' you know?" Pausing again he turned to look at the young officers in the room and he nodded at them grimly, as if giving them permission to come closer and stop pretending not to listen and listen. The youth eagerly abandoned their tasks and crowded around as he continued to speak.

"These little guys, they are savage when they need to be. I saw one of them get his breathing mask ripped off and tossed aside, he could have scrambled to grab it so he could save his own skin, but he didn't. One of my boys, Corporal Wierzbowski, was getting manhandled by one of the damned beasts and this little guy used his last dying breaths to save the kid. Shocked me at the time, but someone explained to me later that because of our situation the little guys had embraced us as their pack. They weren't just fighting to save themselves, they were fighting to save us too. I tried to get his mask back on but the little guy was dead before I got it figured out. It was stupid, if I had been paying attention I wouldn't have gotten hit right then, but the little bastard had saved one of my boys so I had to try." The man's face was filled with emotion at this point, his voice was still steady and unwavering but it was obvious that reliving the memories was hard on him.

"I should have been looking after myself but I was a sergeant then, and sergeants look after their own damnit, that's just what you do. So, I got hit, damn near died, got hit square in the chest by a big damned hammer or some shit. I was crippled, choking on blood, and as the big hairy bastard got ready to finish me off I saw one of the little guys jump on his back and blast him right in the face. My own guys tried to get to me but they couldn't so the little guys dragged me back, got me out of the fight. I figured they were just dragging me back so they could get out of the fight too, but no, once we made it to the rear with the medics the two crazy bastards charged right back. It's all about the pack you see, and so long as one of em' makes it out, the pack survives. None of them made it back, not one, very few of my boys did, but they made sure that I made it…" The room was silent for an eternity, it was heavily oppressive, no one dared speak. The man was mourning the loss of his men, but he was also feeling the loss of his pack, the Unggoy had welcomed him into it and made sure that the pack had survived.

"So… did you get out of there captain?" The question was eventaully asked by one of the younger officers, a very young and pimpled faced youth with an awe-stricken face. The question, being quite foolish, snapped Captain Cage out of his remembrance.

"Of course, I got out of there! Would I be standing here if I hadn't?" The young man recoiled visibly from his superior's tone but he nonetheless managed to gather the courage to ask a second question.

"But how?"

"Quit your interrupting and I'll tell you how, now… where was I? Right… so there I was laying on my back with medics worrying over me and the fight was drawing nearer and nearer, you could hear it, you could see it in the faces of the medics who kept looking over their shoulders. We were being overrun but all the non-coms had been evacuated so it didn't really matter, we had held the line long enough. The ground started to shake, I thought it might be artillery or an orbital bombardment, but I was wrong. I don't have the words so I'll just show you a damned picture… there, it was one of these colossal fuckers… well two of em' to be specific."

The image that was now being projected was a massive armored creature, damn near the size of a tank. It had two thick, powerful legs, a large torso, and two thick arms. One arm ended in a massive cannon while the other had a enormous, thick, armored shield attached to it. The creature's head was small and barely discernable from the rest of its armored hulk and several large spines protruded from its hunched back. The thick armored body was dark blue and gray but in between the different intersecting sections of armor little patches of bright orange could be seen, was that its skin?

"This is a Mgalekgolo, or however you fuckin say it, we just call em' hunters. Why? Because they hunt, always in pairs. These two massive twelve-foot-tall behemoths stomped onto the scene and god damn did they make a mess of things, thank Christ they were on our side. The hairy brutes threw everything that they had at em' and then some and it didn't fuckin matter. Now listen, I know you two are scientist types, real eggheads, so don't smother me with questions that I can't answer. But I can tell you that these… creatures, these hunters, they're not single entities, they're made up of god knows how many individual slimy little worms called Lekgolo or whatever the fuck. The more worms that come together the smarter they get, kind of like a network of computers, so these hunters are colonies of worms… really violent, methodical, damn near unstoppable worms." And that's when Walter had asked his question about hive-minds and the captain thought long and hard about this before answering.

"Yeah, sure, sounds right to me. Apparently, the warrior organism that you see on display here is the rarest form of the worms that occur, but we've only ever seen their warriors. If there are just two of these things on that Sangheili ship up there then god damn put them on the moon and challenge these fuckers who are set to invade us to a ground pound, we'll win, easy…" His words trailed off as one of the female officers crept into the room. He had sent her off to find out where Max and Chloe had gone. He wasn't worried about them not hanging out with everyone else, he was just making sure that they weren't snooping around one of the armories or something like that. Smiling to herself, Olivia noted that the young woman's face was bright red with embarrassment. If Olivia was correct, and she would have wagered to even Peter that she was, the young woman had intruded on a very passionate moment between the two girls.

The young ensign whispered something in the captain's ear and his face flushed with color as well. Chuckling he seemed to whisper something back to the ensign then dismissed her. Turning to the rest of his officers he quickly sent them back to their duties, telling them that 'story-time' was over. Drawing closer to Olivia and her companions he spoke in a hushed voice.

"Those girls of yours are… how do I put it… blowing off steam at the moment… I'm guessing that they've had one hell of a day?" Olivia nodded and told him how they had been kidnapped by Treize's forces and then rescued in a firefight. Not wanting to go into details she simply said that one of them had suffered an affliction during the encounter but she was recovering. The man listened intently during her tale and cast a quick glance at Kimberly at the mention of the Treize Faction trying to kidnap the two girls. "I know you guys want answers, I'd like some too… we here are technically Treize Faction ourselves and it pisses me off to hear about all this shit that went down just because the big bosses at the top had a spat. I'd smack em' both in the mouth if I could… give em' a few words too. But either way you can't blame the two ladies for wanting some privacy… when shit hits the fan and things get deep… you gotta keep those you care about close, real close. That means you ma'am, I won't think less of you if you and the young egghead disappear for a while yourselves, go on, time's a wasting, could be the end of the world after all."

"You see Peter! Even he sees it! Agent Dunham, I've been telling him for months now to…" Peter, seemingly as embarrassed as she was, quickly quieted his father and Astrid took him to the side before he could say anything further. Kimberly was smiling, clearly pleased with the situation.

"They both have a point you know." Those were the only words that she offered and she left to join Astrid as she tried to settle Walter down.

"You're damn right I have a point miss! You can't hide this shit from me, Captain Cage see's all, just ask my boys and girls." The captain winked at her and dismissed himself with a slight bow and all of the sudden she and Peter were alone. Peter was doing his best to shake off his awkwardness and she knew that her face had colored slightly. She liked Peter, or did she really like him… or maybe she really, really, liked him… either way she wished deep down that she wasn't so hesitant to explore her feelings for the man. But why? It's apparently abundantly clear that there's something between us… hell even this captain noticed it and we've only been here a short time…

Maybe it would be a good idea to spend some time alone with Peter, what was she afraid of after all? Is that it, am I afraid of getting into something… more with him… does he know that I'm afraid, is that why he's never said anything after all this time? He always reads me so well… so how can he not know what I'm feeling… but how can he know if I don't even know? All of these questions and more soared around her head but she soon managed to meet his sheepish gaze. As she looked into his eyes she felt something change deep inside of her. She was no longer afraid.

Kevin, thanks to Ensign Haratio had made it to the bridge, and Captain Noin motioned for him to join her at the front where she stood, surrounded by less than organized chaos.

"I assume that you have questions." She hadn't turned to face him at all as she spoke, nor did she turn as he responded. Not really knowing how to bring up his earlier concerns that still plagued him, he stammered out his confusion about the difference in uniforms. "Well as a Commander you have authority over everyone on this ship, save for myself, you're my second in command…" I know how military hierarchy works… but as she continued he was glad that he kept his thoughts to himself. "… and, as I'm sure that you've undoubtedly noticed, you're the only one aboard wearing that uniform, any thoughts as to why?" that's what I just asked you… fine I'll play along… for fuck's sake.

"This is a Treize Faction ship, and you're all Treize Faction… and I'm not… even though I was given this rank by members of the Treize Faction… or was I…?"

"You weren't given anything, you earned that rank as per the results of your years of training and your capabilities in the simulations you were challenged with… and… because of who you are and who you are expected to be, you're a clone of the grand admiral after all." So that training… I earned this rank? But wait…

"I damn near lost all of those exercises, I only won the ones where I had an unfair advantage to start with… and that almost never happened."

"Who do you think you were playing against? A computer, a simulation?" Oh shit… now this is where she tells me that I've been fighting against… him… all along… no wonder I rarely won.

"Okay… fine… that explains why I rarely won. So… I earned my rank due to my performance and then the princess and two generals present me with my rank out of the blue and now I'm all of the sudden allowed to lead troops into battle, fine, I'm ready. But what about this damned uniform… why the difference?" She finally turned to face him, her face filled with amusement.

"You really are just like him… you don't understand politics at all, do you?" Taken aback, he wasn't sure if he was more annoyed about being compared to the man he was cloned of or about her amusement. But his displeasure melted away, the young captain had this way about her, this almost carefree honesty that made her next to impossible to dislike.

"Politics? How is this about politics? This is about a uniform." His rushed response only made her earnest smile broaden and he began to feel rather foolish in her presence.

"It has everything to do with politics. Everyone knows that a war almost broke out because two powerful men disagreed on something. We're all on the same side but a line was drawn and soldiers who had been brothers found themselves on either side of a widening battle-line. I issued you that for two reasons, firstly, and most importantly, it shows the men and women aboard this ship that even though you aren't one of them, you're still standing with them. Secondly, if I had issued you a Treize Faction uniform, far too many people would have taken it as a snub against the grand admiral. Just imagine, the very clone of the grand admiral waltzing around in a uniform that represents the very man that he had almost gone to war with, such a thing might restart hostilities once again… that we cannot afford." Politics are stupid… it's just a uniform… but as he mulled over her words he eventually decided that it wasn't just a uniform, it was his uniform.

His newfound feelings of pride soon gave way to steadily increasing feelings of discomfort, he was being watched. Not directly of course, everyone on the bridge was busy with various tasks, seemingly hard at work. No one was outright staring at him, but the multitude of quick, almost nervous glances was steadily becoming unbearable. He did his best to ignore the unwanted attention as he desperately did his best to convince himself that it wasn't a big deal.

Due to his attire he was a speck of mundanity in a sea of far more interesting creatures, he stood out like a sore thumb. Refusing to look with his eyes, and therefore acknowledging the discrete attention that he was receiving, he stretched out his feelings and took in the myriad of emotions from his audience. They weren't looking at his uniform though, they were looking at him. His face, his lack of the scar, his presence. They knew who was, they all did, they knew what he was, or rather, what he wasn't.

I'm not a real boy… the thought bore down on like an oppressive accusation, worse than it had ever done before. When he had finally come to terms with the fact that he was indeed a clone of someone else, even though it had seemed ludicrous at best, it hadn't really bothered him. He had lived a unique life and was just the same as everyone else, it hadn't really mattered that he was apparently a copy of someone else. He was so very different from this other him that it had created a sense of uniqueness between the two, establishing each as their own exclusive individual. The constant reminder from these people that he, and the man that he was a copy of were 'so much alike' made him nauseous.

"They don't know what to make of you, yet. Don't worry about it, we'll show them." Captain Noin, obviously noticing his discomfort, was trying to make him feel better, she acted like she was on his side, which was weird.

"Are you the only normal person in the Treize Faction, you don't act all pompous and self-involved like the rest of them, it's… refreshing." It hadn't seemed possible before, but her smile widened further at his comment. She seemed to be toying with several different ways to respond to his question but eventually settled on one.

"I'm from the ranks, not an aristocrat or a career officer like the rest. But don't worry, I'm not soft, just ask my crew." Kevin immediately forgot what he was going to say in response when one of the watch-standers called out to their captain.

"Ma'am, the second wave of transports from Europe is en route… the first wave from Africa will be touching down shortly!" She nodded in acknowledgement and the man returned to his duties. Turning back to face him, she must have noticed his brow furrowing in slight confusion.

"Treize reached out to the nations of earth… they are answering." His eyes widening in surprise he did his best not to allow his mouth to gape open as well, it was a challenge to be sure. "The grand admiral has ships and barely enough crew to operate them efficiently, but he lacks soldiers. He seems to think that the enemy will attempt to board our ships and the Treize Faction doesn't have enough soldiers to fill his needs and keep enough soldiers on the ground to protect our assets in case of a ground invasion." She paused for a moment as she regarded the central holoprojector that showed a digitally rendered three-dimensional map of their location. According to this, they were currently off of the west coast of Spain and green symbols that Kevin recognized as designating various types of transport craft were steadily advancing towards them, dozens of them. "Some governments are being more generous than others but it seems that mostly everyone is doing their part. Apparently, we have a few transports loaded with handpicked soldiers from a few warlords too, their best apparently. It's not all good news though, The US, Russia, and China have all refused to send troops, all for different reasons of course."

"Let me guess, they're all moronic, self-serving reasons?" He immediately regretted his words because her smile, that had decorated her face since he had met her, vanished. If he had doubted her resolve in any way before, which he hadn't, his concerns would have dissipated at that moment. Behind the friendly demeanor of Captain Lucretzia Noin was a very serious and seemingly formidable woman.

"The US refuses to work with us because our agents were caught within their borders attempting to abduct several of their citizens, friends of yours I-."

"What? Who?" He blurted his words out quickly and perhaps louder than he should have, the entire bridge crew seemed to flinch as his sharp words brought sudden silence to the entire room. It was obvious that he was angry, his hands were balled in fists of rage, his entire body was rigid with tension. He didn't care though, his thoughts had immediately gone to Max and Chloe, he didn't know why but somehow, he just knew that Treize had tried to abduct them, he just knew. Captain Noin regarded him for a few moments and then turned to cast a gaze at her crew, but did not signal for them to return to their duties. Instead she raised her voice slightly so that her words would be heard by everyone.

"Maxine Caulfied and Chloe Price were abducted but then rescued by US federal agents in San Francisco, rumors are that the grand admiral had forces in play as well and I suspect that he did. The Treize Faction agents were killed to the last man, apparently refusing to surrender. A second abduction attempt was also thwarted at Harvard University, this time solely by the grand admiral's forces. Though I am unsure of the target, there are rumors that those same two girls were evacuated from that location following the attack." That bastard! Did he go after Max and Chloe just to get to me? He already had Kate! He didn't mention a word of this to Kate and I… I would have killed him… wait, why is she putting this conversation on display like this? Politics probably… does she want them to see my reaction… if so does she want me to flip out or remain calm? Damnit, should I say something?

"Please tell me that Max and Chloe are okay, that nothing bad happened to them?" I would have sensed it right? Terror seized his heart when he noticed a subtle shift in the woman's stance, something had happened to them, something bad.

"Details are scarce but I heard a report that something strange afflicted one of the girls, that's all that I know, I'm sorry." Max, it had to have been Max… had her powers come back? If so I should have sensed it… Later, he was going to make a demand to be allowed to get into contact with them, wherever they were. Thinking on it, he hoped that wherever Kate was being shuttled off to was the same place that Max and Chloe had disappeared to, that made some sense. However, he would deal with all of that later. He had a chance here to impress the crewmen around him, they could see that he was angry, they could tell that their captain didn't approve of these abductions. He had to make it clear to them that he could work with them, despite everything that had happened. Forcing himself to be calm he did his best to sound interested in other matters, and not just the fate of his friends.

"So that's why America is refusing to join us, what about Russia and China?" Noin smiled grimly at him, seemingly amused at something. At first, he suspected it was his muted reaction to her news, but her next words confirmed that it wasn't.

"It would appear that Russia was preparing an offensive against the Ukraine… the grand admiral made it clear that if they went ahead with it he would bombard their forces from orbit, so they aren't really interested in working with us. The Chinese are claiming to need all of their forces for home defense, even though a majority of their forces are still directed against their neighbors. It probably didn't help matters when the grand admiral made sure to send them a similar threat not to take advantage of the situation." Kevin mirrored the woman's grim smile with his own. So, it would seem that Treize and the grand admiral have alienated three of the most powerful countries in the world, well done you two… well done.

The time for words had passed though, the Leviathan needed to be ready to receive these soldiers and the crew still had a lot of work to do. Kevin felt like a fish out of water struggling for breath, but he was determined to prove to the crew that he was useful. The officers who had been delegated to receiving the incoming soldiers seemed to have their hands full. With approval from Captain Noin, he moved to assist them. After some initial tension, and some awkwardness, they got to work finding room for everyone in the already cramped warship.

It was amazing how therapeutic sex was. Maybe it wasn't like that for everyone, maybe it was just Chloe and how simply amazing she was… at everything, but for Max it was. The world and its worries just melted away, becoming entirely unimportant. During those heated, passionate moments nothing else mattered to her, nothing except for Chloe. But as her beating heart slowly returned to normal and her sweat covered skin gradually dried, she found herself holding Chloe's warm body tighter and tighter, willing the world and all of its problems to go away for just a few moments longer. It was inevitable, however, just as Chloe's own heartbeat gradually returned to normal, the world wormed its way back in and she was forced to reconcile with the cold hard truth.

Her powers had tried to come back and they had almost killed her. Chloe had entered into her fractured, decaying mind and dragged her back to reality kicking and screaming. Worse, Chloe now knew about her powers and she now had the arduous task of recounting events for her, specifically the events that she didn't remember because of the time paradoxes. She desperately wanted to know what Chloe had encountered inside her mind, but at the same time, she really didn't. Chloe probably felt the same way about it, but it was impossible to ignore, there was this widening rift growing between them that had to be addressed, it just had to be.

So, without warning or provocation, she started to recount her tale of the events that had been erased from existence before everything had been set right once again. She began slowly at first, speaking in a soft voice, keeping her head firmly planted on Chloe's bare chest, seeking comfort and strength from her strong and steady heartbeat. The heat from their passionate moments had begun to fade so she pressed herself closer to her lover's warm, naked flesh.

Clearly noticing Max's discomfort, or perhaps growing cold herself, Chloe wrenched the covers of the barely comfortable bed over them, taking extra effort to make sure that Max was appropriately covered. As she continued with her tale her voice grew firmer, she spared no details, she remembered everything like it had happened yesterday. All of these events, all of these moments had been removed from existence, but she had kept them with her, perfectly preserved. This new timeline that had been created dismissed her memories as fiction but they were real to her, they mattered to her more than anything.

This old timeline, the one where Nathan Prescott had shot and killed Chloe in the girls' bathroom at Blackwell Academy right before her eyes, the one where she had first realized that she had somehow acquired mysterious time powers, was responsible for who she was today. Not only had she saved Chloe with her powers, not only had she been reunited with her best friend, not only had she found love and companionship, she had also found confidence, confidence in herself. Chloe remained silent as she listened to her explain everything in agonizing detail.

Surprisingly, although not really, Chloe managed to contain her jealousy concerning the many interactions between her and Kevin, even the more intimate ones. Chloe had really grown up. Max could tell that her partner adored and cherished every moment between them, she laughed and smiled at their antics, tensed during the hard parts, and held her closer during the really special moments. There were some hard parts to talk about, equally hard for Chloe to hear, but they had to be spoken about. First there was Kate's suicide attempt, it seemed impossible to imagine Kate Marsh, the most positive and hopeful person that they had ever met, standing on the edge of a building ready to throw herself off of it. But it had happened, Kate had actually jumped, but Max had used her powers to save her.

Next was their fight and her journey back in time to save her real dad, William, from dying. Chloe's heartbeat had suddenly intensified during that part of the story but it had nearly stopped as she had recounted the terrible state that this alternate Chloe had been in. It was strange, this alternate version of her partner had been so positive and loving, so full of strength, but she had still asked Max to help her die, and Max had killed her, she had killed her Chloe. She was silent for a long time after that, unable to speak, dangerously close to tears at the memory of the traumatic event. Chloe didn't speak, she just held her, smothering her with love and comfort, lending her the overwhelming strength that she alone seemed to possess.

Eventually she managed to continue, but her resolve wavered once again when she recounted their discovery of the 'dark room' and their discovery of Rachel Amber's decaying corpse. Chloe handled the tale stoically, impressively so, but Max hurried past the event as quickly as she could. Unfortunately, that meant that she was soon retelling what she remembered of her kidnapping. Mark Jefferson, a man who she had adored, trusted, one of the few people that could do no wrong in her eyes had stuck a needle into her neck and had used her, degraded her, humiliated her. Chloe hated this part, she could feel her partner seething in rage, furious, nearly burning in anger, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. She enjoyed the part where she came to her rescue, she really enjoyed the part where she shot and killed the man who had abducted her.

But after that came the impossible choice, the worst part about the entire tale, the reason why no matter what she would always hold Kevin in the highest regard. She loved him almost as much as she loved Chloe, he had fixed everything. She told Chloe, her voice cracking and wavering with emotion, how she had begged Max to just let her die so that the storm would be prevented, so that Arcadia Bay and all the people in it could be saved. Max had initially set out to do just this, there didn't seem to be any other option, the super smart but kind of crazy Doctor Walter Bishop had agreed too.

But when she had returned to the past, returned to that moment when she had saved Chloe, her resolve had vanished. Nathan had shoved Chloe up against the wall, had a gun to her chest and Max knew that she just couldn't let her die, not again. So, hammer in hand, she had come around the corner to charge to her friend's rescue. At that moment Kevin had burst through the door and attacked with a fury of violence that shocked her to motionlessness and then she had been shot. She stopped there, Chloe knew the rest so there was no need to continue.

They lay together, entwined in each other's arms in a comforting embrace. Total and absolute silence held after that, it felt to her that a single word would tip the world over into madness and everything would plunge into the abyss. But that didn't happen, Chloe knew the right words to say, the right magical words that broke the curse that had entombed them to silence.

"I love you Maxine Caulfield." And the curse was broken, which unleashed the teasing. "I can't believe he called you shit like 'honeybunny', gag, holy shit I bet you that he calls Kate that and she just eats that shit right up! You two were probably super, vomit worthy, adorable together too, just say the word and I'll steal Kate away so you two can be all gross together… I bet you that she would dig me, it's cool." Max kissed her before she could say anything more, God knows that she would have gone on and on for hours if she hadn't.

"I love you too, Chloe Price…" Her words trailed off somewhat sadly, the ordeal wasn't over yet, they still had to talk about what had happened inside her head, but Chloe shrugged it off, carefree as ever.

"Don't stress 'honeybunny', holy shit I'm going to start saying it now… seriously it wasn't a big deal. It was just a whole bunch of shit that you just told me, lots of memory fragments and me dying over and over again… there was some other shit though…" She added the last words hesitantly, it was obvious that she really didn't want to talk about it.

"Chloe…"

"Jesus… fine, twist my arm why don't you… there was this younger you, I guess sometime after you moved to Seattle… you… or she…was really upset about something and kept saying how sorry she was and that she missed me and shit. Then there was this older you, she was a nasty bitch… and yeah like I said lots of me dying and you being all sad about it… and then there was this Max who took me down memory lane, like literally the stuff you just told me about. Then… there was this Max, probably could have very easily been you, standing over my grave. She let me die so the storm wouldn't happen, I had asked her to apparently, you know… just like you said… but I got mad at her. I told her that my Max wouldn't have given up like that just because I asked her to, yeah I know I'm an idiot."

Max hugged her, she gripped her partner tightly in her arms, perhaps too tightly. Turning to face her, Chloe seemed surprised at first to see her grinning from ear to ear but she was soon wearing a smile of her own.

"You… you had faith in me… Chloe… you have no idea how much that means to me…" Scoffing Chloe playfully mussed up her hair and kissed her now exposed forehead.

"Of course I did, you dork, you're supermax." Max leaned in to kiss Chloe and she looked all too happy to receive it but she suddenly withdrew when someone pounded on the door from outside of the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt ladies, but everyone is here now and lots of people are asking about you two." The voice belonged to Olivia, it sounded to Max that she was amused about something.

"Lots of people? I thought we were just waiting on like… one or two more?" Chloe hadn't moved and seemed more annoyed at being interrupted than confused as her words might have suggested.

"I did as well but apparently there was a change of plans. I believe both of your parents are here-." Chloe jumped out of the bed in a flash and was frantically throwing on her clothes and she hurried to do the same. My mom and dad are here? And Joyce and David? But wait…

"What about Kate and Kevin?" Max called out as she threw on her clothes. Olivia hesitated a moment before answering, giving Chloe time to blurt out another question.

"And what about this clone dude's lady-friend or whatever, apparently she's almost as hot as me!" She froze and looked at Chloe, half smiling, half in shock. At that moment, Chloe stood on the opposite side of the bed, her jeans on but unfastened and not quite pulled up all the way around her slim waist. She had just finished securing her black bra and was reaching down for her white undershirt, her ample cleavage even more so apparent as she bent down. She was frozen in place and was flashing Max one of her famous mischievous smiles, there is no way that anyone is hotter than my Chloe, no freaking way! Just look at her! Ugh! I want to rip her clothes off all over again! So not fair! But then it suddenly dawned on her, she had left out something very important in her recollection of the past, something that really mattered, Chloe's question had confirmed it.

"Chloe… the clone dude's lady-friend… that's Kate…" Her partner's smile vanished and was replaced with a sudden realization.

"Kate… Kate fucking Marsh… so Kevin is the clone of this grand admiral dude…?" Max nodded and Chloe's face scrunched up in annoyance, slight traces of anger crept their way into her eyes. "Two Kevins, that's bullshit!" Max burst out laughing, she couldn't help herself.

The main room was now crowded. Max had expected that they were just waiting on Kevin and Kate but there definitely had been a change of plans at some point. She would learn later that Kate had ordered the pilot of her transport to gather her family. The pilot, clearly aware of who Kate was and who she knew had immediately obeyed. Kate had also decided that Max's parents and Chloe's family should be gathered as well. Luckily for her, the grand admiral's personal soldiers assisted her in locating them. Kate had apparently gotten along with her escort famously and the five trained killers had treated her like royalty. She certainly looked the part, while the room was descending into a chaotic scene of reunions and hasty introductions Kate remained the eye of the storm, calm, collected, head held high. But as Max regarded her more closely she sensed an inner darkness within her, and the reason became abundantly clear later.

Max rushed to her parents and was immediately surrounded with love and affection. She was lucky, she got along with her parents better than anyone that she knew. They had probably been escorted out of their home in Seattle by soldiers and at Kate's behest but they seemed to be adapting to the strange situation with little difficulty. They had been told little of what had happened and she didn't have the courage at the moment to explain everything but she quietly assured them that she was doing well and that everything would be explained later. Thankfully their steadily increasing volume of questions was cut short when Chloe's conversation with her own mother turned heated.

"He what?" Chloe's shrill voice exploded, causing the entire room to turn towards her and her mother. Joyce folded her arms and glared at her daughter, clearly unamused by her outburst. "That idiot! He shouldn't have, why'd you let him go?" Momentarily confused Max quickly searched the faces in the room, all of which were now turned in Chloe's direction, and was just as shocked as her partner was. David Madsen, Chloe's step-father, was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think I had a choice! He's a soldier, the moment that he heard that there was some war on he volunteered, a good thing too, they're apparently desperately short on soldiers, haven't you seen the news?" Joyce was just as furious with her daughter as usual but Chloe refused to back down.

"Mom! Don't you get it, he's going to get himself killed!" Chloe's voice cracked with emotion and her mother's jaw dropped when it became clear that her daughter was actually concerned for his safety, she was just doing a terrible job at expressing her feelings. It was true that Chloe's relationship with her step-father had improved over the years, she had finally accepted him as part of their family, but just barely. She's worried that he won't come home again… just like her father… oh no… Chloe… Joyce chastised her for her words but it was clear that Joyce was just as worried as her daughter even though she had put on a brave face, a face that mirrored Kate's. Oh no… Kevin too?

Max tore herself away from her parents and rushed to Kate's side who was surrounded by her family. Her sisters were on either side of her looking around the room in a mixture of awe and confusion while her parents stood behind the trio. Her mother seemed furious about the whole state of affairs but it seemed that Kate's father, grim faced, was handling the experience with impressive fortitude. If Kate said that everything was okay, he believed her and was ready to follow her without question.

She nearly knocked Kate off of her feet as she embraced her and Kate seemed to be overwhelmed with happiness despite her brutal attack.

"Max! Thank goodness, you're safe! I heard such terrible things!" Kate's relief was palpable and while they hurriedly spoke Chloe soon joined them, hugging Kate just as fiercely, a devious look in her eyes.

"So… Kate, there was a running bet around here that you were like the hottest girl in the world, besides me of course." Chloe added the last bit haughtily and with an air of superiority and made sure that the nearby officers could hear every word. Blushing Kate followed Chloe's gaze towards the clustered officers, they quickly found other things to do. Clearly having difficulty with her words Kate slowly prepared an appropriate response but Max couldn't contain herself and interrupted.

"Kate… where's Kevin?" Max noticed Kate's whole family tense at the question. Her father seemed to be beaming with pride while her mother became even more annoyed. Kate's two sisters moved closer towards Kate as if ready to support her should they be needed. They were. Kate's resolve buckled and her previous stoic composure was replaced with overwhelming sadness. She fought off her tears at first and adamantly refused to be comforted by her sisters, but she soon gave in to her grief and allowed Max to embrace her.

The room went quiet once again and as Max held Kate, she noticed that Kevin's parents had joined the crowd, perhaps at the worst time. His mother paled at the sight of Kate in tears, she might have even heard Max's question. His father, on the other hand, was caught up in a very heated conversation with Major Elliott, neither man seemed to be enjoying it. Somehow, a few words breached the surface through Kate's despair.

"He's gone…to space… he's going to fight." The words seemed to crush Chloe's earlier mood and she turned to look back at Joyce. Max was at a loss, she didn't know what to say or do, she stood there holding Kate as she gave in to her grief. All at once the room was consumed in commotion and the officers began to cluster around the holoprojector.

"Impossible! That can't be right!" One of the young men called out. Captain Cage, clearly annoyed, growled at the youth while he typed in a series of commands and the holoprojector quickly focused on the disturbance. Off the coast of Spain, there was a group of four signals that had appeared out of nowhere as if they had risen out of the ocean.

"Spaceships! Where the hell did they come from? Are those ours?"

"Calm down Ruiz, their I.F.F.'s are reading as Treize Faction so of course they're ours. See look, the system is reading them as friendly-."

"But where the hell did they come from, I didn't know we had a fleet!" Ruiz protested and his superior shot the young man an angry glare that silenced him.

"Major Elliot, sir, I think it's time you explained to these folks what's going on, and my boys too, if another one of them asks another stupid question I might just rip their damned head off." And so, as the four ships rose steadily into the sky, Major Elliot took the center stage as a hushed silence overtook the room. Kate's soft sobs could be heard as she buried her face deeper into Max's chest but they were eventually drowned out by the major's powerful voice as he explained everything. Kevin's parents gasped, they were clearly stunned to learn of just who their son was while Kate's family had muted reactions, Kate it seemed, had already told them. Max and Chloe's families grew quite angry to learn that their daughters had almost been kidnapped but turned thankful and approving glances towards Olivia when they learned of their rescue.

Major Elliot motioned towards Captain Cage and the holoprojector suddenly changed to show a massive fleet of warships. There were hundreds of them, far too many to count. He explained that this fleet was approaching earth with hostile intentions and that their forces were preparing to defend the planet, but were massively outnumbered. He spoke of an energy shield that was being prepared to protect the planet from invasion, but until it was operational they were in danger. Their fleet may be smaller, may be heavily outnumbered, but their ships were far more advanced and they had allies rushing to their aid. To stress this point, he motioned to the captain again and the holoprojector showed images of the skirmish that had already taken place. The gathered audience was stunned by the fierce battle and Max found herself dreading the end. Kate watched with misty eyes as the ships clashed and exploded, seemingly gaining hope as the outnumbered forces from earth inflicted heavy damage on their opponents. But in the end, she winced and grew grief stricken once again when it became clear that the defenders weren't invincible as the Hydra exploded once more.

As the major continued to speak about the upcoming battle Max held Kate closer, it was obvious what she was thinking. Kevin hadn't been aboard that ship, but he was aboard one now. As the defenders mustered their forces around the earth it was abundantly clear that Kevin was now in harm's way. When the battle broke out more ships would explode and for every defender that succumbed to their seemingly inevitable fate, it was just another chance that Kevin would be no more. It was true that he wasn't the only one fighting for the earth, but at that moment he was the only one that mattered to Kate, he was her world, and her world was in danger of being snuffed out. Max felt that way about Chloe, she was precious to her, thank God that she's here and not off fighting like Kevin and David, I'd be a wreck if she was…

This is insane! The news is probably having a field day… 'this just in, there are four spaceships rising out of the ocean! Also, strange ships have surrounded the planet but don't panic, they're the good guys! When the hundreds of enemy ships show up, then you can panic!' Kevin amused himself with his thoughts as the Leviathan and her squadron of ships slowly ascended. The two destroyers, the Pisces and the Cancer, and the heavy cruiser, the Triton, had been unloaded and were under their own power now. The Leviathan was heavy enough, it didn't need the extra weight of three ships in its now gaping belly weighing it down. Especially since all four ships weren't using their main engines for lift yet. The Leviathan and her squadron were using their repulsor drives for lift at the moment and would do so until they had risen to sufficient altitude. It was explained to him that if the massive ships activated their main engines too early they could cause significant damage. So, the ships rose from the ocean at pace akin to a snail as they slowly but inexorably rose towards the heavens.

While they ascended he found himself with nothing to do so he retreated to his thoughts. He had expected to sneak into space in one of the small Albatross transports and hide amongst the ground troops or perhaps masquerade as a fighter pilot. He was actually quite good with the simulators that he trained in, but his fantasies had not been realized. There would be no sneaking into space aboard the Leviathan, especially not as the second in command. The grand admiral would soon know what he was up to, and he would send him packing. Or would he? I'm all uniformed up and in a legitimate command position, will he really throw me out when he discovers me? I'm technically disobeying his orders… how much weight does this princess really have, she clearly knows him and thinks highly of him… maybe this is all some stupid test… if so have I failed or passed?

Before he could come up with suitable answers to his own questions he was wrenched from his thoughts when the communications officer on the bridge reported that they were being hailed by the Night Hammer. Kevin began to inch out of range of the communications gear but Captain Noin snapped her fingers at him, pointing directly to the deck, right at her side. Suppressing a sigh of dissatisfaction, he obeyed his superior all the same and stood at attention directly behind and to the right of her. Silently waiting for the guillotine to drop, he watched as a hologram of the grand admiral appeared mere feet in front of him. Even before the image had finished materializing he found himself under scrutiny, a heavy and suffocating glare locked onto him. He barely recognized the man that stood before him, even though he looked just like him, save for the scar that went through his right eye.

Dressed in the uniform of an Imperial Navy Grand Admiral the man looked flashy and foreboding all at once. The entire uniform was white, save for the long black boots, a simple black belt, and golden epaulettes on his shoulders. A cape as black as space itself was draped over his left shoulder, hiding half of his figure from view. His hair was slicked back, his face was drawn and serious, and his menacing green eyes were leveled right on him, seemingly piercing right through him. I wouldn't think it possible but apparently, I can be damned terrifying if I need to be… well he can at least… but damn… I really want that uniform…

"Captain Noin… what a pleasant surprise. I've never really been fond of surprises but I will take exception to this current one. I don't usually look gift horses in the mouth either, but I have to ask… where did the Treize Faction acquire a fleet of warships from?" These questions were, of course, just a formality, the man's eyes hadn't left Kevin's for a moment.

"Admiral, it is my honor that I present to you the T.F.S. Leviathan and her escort fleet. I am honestly shocked that Treize managed to keep them hidden from you for as long as he did but I believe the answer to your question will surprise you further. You see sir… this ship was purchased from one of your allies, a rival faction within their government to be specific…" If the man was surprised to hear this he didn't show it, but he did momentarily release him from the iron grip of his gaze as his eyes flicked to Captain Noin, but only for a moment.

"So, captain, you're telling me that the Treize Faction communicated and dealt with subversive elements within the government of one of my trusted allies? I'm going to assume that your two destroyers were manufactured using the onboard construction facilities of that Amarakk Carrier then?" Noin smiled and nodded in response to the questions, he was good.

"Yes sir, on both counts."

"And that Hiroshi Heavy Cruiser… Revenant Class if I'm not mistaken… that's just as old as your carrier… where did that come from?" Noin swallowed hard before responding, seemingly bracing herself for what was about to come next.

"Sir, it was purchased from elements within the Hiroshi Empire that were less then supportive of the Empress's rule. It was, just like the Leviathan, painstakingly maneuvered through your sensor nets, taking advantage of weaknesses and gaps that have since been mended." The hard gaze swung to Captain Noin, casting its shadow on her for once, Kevin felt as if he were finally able to breath fresh air for the first time in weeks. The weight of the man's gaze was suffocating. He was silent for several moments before he finally spoke, it was clear that he was upset but no hint of emotion betrayed his anger.

"I remember them. Markaan personally lead the uprising that nearly overthrew the empress in that bloody civil war several years ago… so you're telling me that Treize purchased that ship from them?" She nodded, clearly unable to speak. But to her surprise the admiral smiled. "Funny story actually, it may have been that transaction that tipped the empress off concerning the imminent coup de-ta… very interesting. It would seem that while Treize was maneuvering against me he was also aiding one of my key allies, our key allies, and if I remember correctly it was you, Lucretzia Noin, it was you who brought the gaps in our sensor nets to my attention." Nodding once again, she relaxed when it became clear that he wasn't angry in the least concerning the treachery. But the conversation quickly turned sour once more, and once again Kevin found himself under scrutiny.

"Now we must address the elephant in the room… what is he doing aboard your ship?" You could just ask me you-. His thoughts came to a shrieking halt, however, when the admiral glared at him even more fiercely, he had heard his thoughts, shit.

"Sir, he's here at the pleasure of Princess Charlotte, he was commissioned as a Commander by Generals Volmer and Dubois. This appointment was ratified by Grand Duke William and Lt. Colonel Treize Kushrenada…"

"And pre-authorized by me, yes, I am well aware that the uniform that he wears suits him and suits him well… but you did not answer my question, why is he aboard your ship? That's actually a slightly different question… shit! Get out my head!

"Sir, as to what he is doing… he is serving as my first officer… as to why he is aboard… I believe the princess is to blame but you would have to ask him, sir." The grand admiral let out a heavy sigh that creepily reminded him that the man that was staring at him so fiercely was all too similar to him, and yet so different.

"I should have known… well, commander, what do you have to say for yourself? It had better be good because the way I see it… you're disobeying a direct order, from me, by being aboard that ship."

"Uh… sir, I'm not going to hide in a bunker while the earth is in danger. That's why I'm aboard this ship, to fight." His duplicate gave him an amused but appraising glance for a moment until his cold, hard grimace returned.

"Indeed? Well effective immediately I'm transferring you to the Night Hammer-."

"No, sir. I'll be better use to you here… sir." The entire bridge went eerily silent, it also seemed that the exact same thing had happened aboard the Night Hammer because the admiral's eyes flicked around his surroundings for a moment, as if noticing for the first time that his conversation was being so attentively monitored. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breaths as they awaited his response.

"Oh, if you would be so kind, commander, as to tell me why that is?" Swallowing hard, Kevin desperately fought back the growing lump in his throat.

"Sir, these ships lack shields so I know that you won't be directing them into the main battle line with the rest of your fleet, they won't last very long in a stand-up fight with the enemy. Because of this, you are going to use them as a flanking force and the only place that you can possibly manage this is by placing them on the opposite side of moon from where you already know the enemy fleet will be appearing. You've organized your forces in only one sector which means you expect the enemy fleet to attack from a very specific angle, I expect you will be utilizing the gravity well generator aboard the Surprise to assist in ensuring this. Due to the fact that you will be hiding this fleet out of sight of the enemy, you will also be hiding it from yourself, meaning you won't wish to send any communications towards this fleet just in case the enemy is capable of intercepting them. Therefore, you will need someone aboard that will know exactly when you want to this fleet to strike, which is why I need to be here." Kevin hadn't noticed exactly when he had started sweating but by the end of his explanation he found himself perspiring at a near-inhuman rate. Yet, thankfully, he knew that he had swayed the admiral with his explanation even before the man nodded approvingly, acknowledging his assessment without a word.

"Captain Noin, you will maneuver your fleet to these coordinates and maintain strict radio silence unless notified otherwise. If you do not receive any updates to your orders, you will defer to Commander Anderson's timing as to when you will strike the enemy, understood?" Noin crisply saluted and acknowledged her orders, beaming with pride when the admiral dismissed her. "Best of luck Captain, and congratulations on the promotion, it is certainly well deserved… you've always been my favorite among Treize's subordinates."