Date: 29th November, 2311. 12:00 (ES/GMT)
Location: Pilot Briefing Room, TCV-X: Hephaestus (Gliese 105 trinary system)


“I assume that by now you have all heard about the attack on the settlement on Eta Cassiopeiae that occurred at oh-five-hundred hours this morning.” Tessa surveyed the faces of Odin and Freyja squadrons’ pilots from behind the podium, somber eyes moving across tired gazes, quiet, watchful eyes. “I also assume that you are all aware that we lost the Feynman, the Banneker, and the Normandy there, all three ships with all hands aboard.” She closed her eyes, and as she paused, the tightness in her expression became like a wince, a genuine expression of pain. When she finally opened her eyes again, she pulled in a shaky breath, swallowed. “I’d like to take some time before we begin to observe a moment of silence for the men and women that were lost today.”

Pulling in a breath, she watched as the officers averted their eyes, closing them or letting them fall to the deck as silence rose to fill the briefing room. There was only a moment of self conscious hesitation before the major licked her lips, let her eyes drop to the podium, her thoughts moving through the names that had been on the list. Captain Kongar-Ool, Captain Montgomery, Captain Winslow. So many others. So very many others. She closed her eyes, breathed a sigh that was tired, soul-deep. God speed, brave fallen. We’ll see you soon on the other side.

“These kinds of losses are unacceptable if we’re going to win this war.” She said suddenly, shouldering aside the silence and staring hard at the pilots as their eyes came slowly back to her. “I just got a report on the way here that the Freeman is crippled and drifting in open space fifteen lightyears from Earth, every single one of her pilots dead or missing.” She pulled in a deep, shaky breath, hands gripping the podium as eyes reached out to meet those of each pilot in turn. “The Crazy Horse is fighting a losing battle against seven Coralate warships intent on eradicating the colony at 36 Ophiuchi right now, right now.” She bit her lip, shook her head. “The Coralate is ripping us to shreds. They’ve cut us down to just a handful of worlds at this point, and they aren’t stopping. We have to fight back, and we have to fight hard if we’re going to keep them from reaching Earth.” Breathing a tired sigh, she forced herself to get control again, forced her anger back into its cage. “The good news is that we might just have a chance to do that today, here, in this very system.” She turned, barely managed a gesture, caught the eye of the man who stood off to one side, strong and imposing as he watched her carefully, silently. “Major Esquer, if you will.”

“Of course.” He nodded once, stepped up, one dark hand gently squeezing Tessa’s shoulder in a gesture of support, of friendship as he crossed to the podium, pulled at the sleeves of his dark uniform.

“Alright people, here’s the scoop.”

Lights flicked off. Behind him, a realtime map of the Gliese 105 trinary rose out of the wall, spun silently like a mass of rock and ice caught in a slow motion blender. He pulled in a breath, held it, turned to face the wall.

“Command has reason to believe that the next strike will come here, in Gliese 105, with the target being Golimowski station,” Red crosshairs picked out a tiny speck of steel and struts in the middle of the stellar morass. “It’s the only thing of any strategic value in this god-forsaken patch of irradiated rock that command calls a system, and it’s the only refueling and refit capable post still left this far out. This makes it a priority.” Turning back, he breathed a tired sigh, gripped the podium, stared hard at his pilots, at Tessa’s pilots. “The size of the attacking force is unknown. The time of its arrival is unknown. All we know is that a small task force of Coralate ships will bend space into this system, and that they’ll do it soon. The station’s defenses are in automatic mode, and the crew has been evacuated to the Hephaestus. Our job is to hide in the radiation wash of the Alpha star, wait for our chance, and then hit them hard, hopefully before they can do any real damage to the station. Any questions?”

Silence. Esquer set his jaw, stood up to his full, imposing height, took in the eyes of each pilot in turn.

“This isn’t going to be easy, but we’ve all been caught in worse at some point in our careers, so command thinks we can handle it.” He paused. “I know we can handle it. Just don’t get cocky out there.”

“This war has already claimed too many dead heroes.” Tessa spoke up from beside the podium. “Watch yourselves, and watch your squadron mates. I want everyone to come back from this one alive, got me?” She glanced at Esquer, smiled as he gave her a slow, somber nod, then turned back to the pilots.

“Alright, I want everyone on standby and I want all rigs prepped to fly at a moment’s notice.” Esquer snapped his fingers, triggering the lights. Already, pilots were gathering their gear, helmets and masks, silicon sheets and noteputers with charts, sectionals, calculations and checklists loaded into their screens. Esquer gripped the podium, pulled in a deep breath. “I need everyone ready to fly the instant the Coralate shows up in system so we can hit them fast and hit them hard. The frontier is getting too close to home. Lets win this one, people.”

When the cheers died down, Tessa grinned, let her hands come together behind her back.

“That’s it.” She nodded once. “Dismissed. See you on the hangar deck.”