Same Day

— Wednesday, February 15, AD 2130 —

“Mote! Kate! It’s been so long!!”

“It’s only been a month— oof!” Kate staggered backwards as Danielle leaped at her, embracing her tightly. Kate immediately began struggling, looking down at Danielle in annoyance. “Hey, get the hell off me!”

“As prickly as ever, I see,” Major Hackett remarked as she approached behind Danielle, accompanied by Colonel Saito, Captain Travis, Researcher MacTavish, and Mark. Behind them stood the towering Interstellar Gate of Eana — the Gate that CSF-1, Mark, and Danielle had just arrived through, each of them carrying one bag with their personal effects.

“Indeed,” Mote commented, passing Kate an amused smirk as he watched Danielle cling to her. “You never were good at expressing yourself.”

“Why don’t you look in a mirror, asshole,” Kate retorted.

“It’s okay, though!” Danielle insisted, turning her head to grin up at Kate. “I know you missed me! Right?”

Kate looked back at her, bewildered, before glancing away and scowling. “…Look, just get off me!”

“Okay!” Danielle replied cheerfully, releasing Kate — only to immediately bound over to Mote and nearly bowl him over the same way.

“My, someone sure seems to be in high spirits, today,” Saito commented with a smirk.

“The circumstances may not be ideal, but it is nice to see each other, again,” Mark said while passing Mote and Kate a warm smile. “How were things while we were gone?”

“Just… great,” Mote responded, exasperated resignation on his face as he let Danielle continue to hug him tightly.

“I got some research done, but it’s also been boring as all fucking hell,” Kate reported. She then slammed her fists together, an eager grin crossing her face as she proclaimed, “which is why I’m looking forward to another mission! And a fuckin’ big one, by the sounds of it!”

“I’m glad you’re ready, but remember that ‘big’ missions are also dangerous missions,” Saito stated. “We’re going up against EA, too — someone who’s demonstrated an ability to counter SERRCom’s tech to an extent that no one else has. Without knowing what else is up his sleeve, we need to approach this mission with caution.”

“Which is, no doubt, why they called in all eight of us, huh?” Travis remarked.

“A-and the Genesis…” MacTavish added.

“Will the mission really be that hard?” Danielle questioned, finally releasing Mote to turn her attention to the group — just as the Interstellar Gate behind them shut down.

Saito glanced back at the Gate, and then gestured for the rest of the team to follow him as he led them out of Eana’s Gate room and into the halls beyond. “…It’s hard to say,” he eventually replied. “By the sounds of it, EA was giving even the Big 3 PMCs a run for their money, and that’s no small feat. We haven’t had a briefing yet, though, so I’m not aware of any additional details.”

“Bah,” Kate scoffed. “Fucking PMCs aren’t shit compared to a military like SERRCom.”

“Careful. That arrogance might be your downfall,” Mote replied.

“I’d rather go down like an arrogant bitch instead of a cowardly little girl, personally.”

Mote snorted and shook his head in response, but otherwise said nothing.

Saito and Hackett, however, immediately took note of Mote’s lacking response. They exchanged an amused glance before Hackett spoke up, remarking, “well, the two of you seem to be getting along well.”

“W-what?” Mote and Kate spluttered simultaneously, both of them snapping their attention to Hackett — and then immediately looking away.

“That’s a weird fuckin’ thing to say…” Kate muttered.

“Nothing’s changed,” Mote insisted. “…I just figured that we should save our energy for the mission. That’s all.”

“Ooooh?” Danielle jumped forward to start walking between Mote and Kate as she looked between them eagerly. “Did something happen? While we were gone?”

“I already told you that nothing happened,” Mote responded crossly.

“And what about you, though, huh?” Kate questioned while fixing Danielle with an annoyed look. “If you’re so interested in the boring shit that we did, then why don’t you go first, huh?”

“Alright, there’s no need to be so harsh with her,” Mark interjected. “Danielle’s just happy to see you, that’s all.”

“Yeah! And there’s a lot that we did while on Nimalia. It wasn’t boring at all!” Danielle exclaimed. “We even went to different planets, and Mark fought some people, and then there was a big holiday—“

“You were in a fight?” Mote questioned warily as he looked back at Mark. “What happened?”

“He wasn’t the only one,” Travis remarked. “In the month we’ve been gone, we’ve actually all had run-ins with both the Bleeders and the metallic infection. It was pretty crazy.”

“What? Seriously?!” Kate responded incredulously. “You mean, if I had gone with you fuckers, then I actually would’ve had a fucking fight? Seriously?!”

“Didn’t you say that the Bleeders were beneath you?” Mote countered.

“Shut up. That’s not the point.”

“True…” Mote then turned to look at Saito, concern crossing his face. “You say you’ve run into both the Bleeders and the Nanocreatures, on Nimalia… is it really safe to leave the recruits there, then?”

Saito passed Mote a look before sighing and turning forwards. “…It’s not about ‘safety’ at this point, Mote. It’s about what’s convenient for SERRCom.”

“What…?”

“What are you saying, sir?” Mark questioned.

Saito shook his head. “…The short of it is… short of one of the recruits dying, I don’t think SERRCom’s going to pull them out any time soon. But,” he quickly added, pre-empting Mote’s incoming reply, “the recruits aren’t why we’re here. EA is. Let’s remember that.”

“But isn’t EA a clone of one of the recruits?” Danielle pointed out.

“She’s got you there, sir,” Travis remarked with a smirk.

The Colonel passed him a quick look before rolling his eyes. “…For now, we need to focus on the mission. The planning meeting is in barely half an hour, and you’ll be there with me, Mote. I expect that we’ll be boarding the Genesis and leaving before the day’s over.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Kate exclaimed. “That fucking quickly?!”

“It is true that CSF-1 were the last participants in the mission to arrive here, on Eana…” Mote mused. “You’ve been here for a couple days with me, Kate. You’ve seen how active it is, around here. I think the Colonel’s right — we’ll be moving out very soon.”

“I suppose the General sees EA as a legitimate threat, then?” Mark questioned.

“So it would seem,” Saito said, just as the group reached a junction in the hallway. “…Anyways. Mote, you’re with me. For the rest of you — I know reunions are great, and all, but make sure you’re ready to leave on a moment’s notice. Understood?”

“Understood, sir,” Hackett replied.

“Alright, then.” Saito then turned down the right hallway, Mote trailing behind him, while Hackett led the rest of the group down the left hallway. “Time to see exactly what’s going on with SERRCom’s newest enemy…”

---

*

“Colonel Saito… we meet again.”

“Krick,” Saito replied as he nodded towards the Chief Captain of Genesis. He then looked to the side, towards the woman seated next to Krick. “Mendoza.”

“Saito,” Chief Captain Mendoza, of the Battlecruiser Origin, greeted in kind.

“Now sit your ass down, Colonel, Lieutenant,” Krick insisted impatiently. “We’ve got a lot of shit to cover, so let’s get this over with.”

“You don’t say,” Saito drawled as he and Mote took their seats at the table before them. While little about the room itself stood out — it was merely one of the many meeting rooms within the Eana Gatefort complex — its small handful of inhabitants struck Saito as quite odd. After all, he, Mote, Krick, and Mendoza were the only people present.

“…You seem surprised, Colonel,” Mendoza remarked.

“I expected to see more people here, is all,” Saito replied. “Is the plan to attack EA’s base with just the Genesis and Origin?”

“Obviously not,” Krick retorted. “There’s a whole damn battlegroup assembled here on Eana. Screening Frigates, several Cruisers. Tons of mechs and tanks. We have half a god damn army here, all ready to move out on our command.”

“But this was all assembled very quickly,” Mendoza added. “We don’t actually have a full plan of attack, yet. The purpose of this meeting was to come up with one.”

“…How soon is the mission?” Mote questioned warily.

“It’s not just a mission. It’s a whole god damn operation,” Krick declared as he threw a folder onto the table in front of Saito. “Operation ‘Thorn Crush’, the brass are calling it.”

“A little on the nose, if you ask me…” Mendoza muttered.

“I agree it sounds pretty damn stupid, but it is what it is,” Krick said. “And we’re leaving Eana tonight.”

“Even though we don’t have a plan, yet?” Mote questioned incredulously.

“Were you really waiting for CSF-1 to arrive before you planned anything…?” Saito asked, briefly glancing up at Krick before beginning to flip through the folder in front of him.

“CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir are the only members of SERRCom that have gone toe-to-toe with EA, before,” Mendoza stated. “…Those new recruits notwithstanding.”

“And based on our intel, EA’s base is fortified like a god damn turtle,” Krick remarked. “A purely space assault won’t cut it. Some poor bastard’s going to have to go groundside, and CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir are our best bet.”

“Let me guess, then,” Saito replied. “You and Mendoza will be leading the forces in space, while I take command of the forces planetside?”

“You catch on quick, Colonel. You at least have that going for you.”

“Thanks for the praise,” Saito retorted. “Now how about you fill us in on the details so we can get to actually planning this operation?”

“Yes, let’s get to the damn point…” Krick stood up from his seat and approached one of the whiteboards on the wall behind him. With a few quick hand gestures, he summoned up a holographic projection of a planet with green lands and blue oceans, not unlike Earth. “…This is the planet our bastard’s camping out on. A nice little unnamed Terra planet, a little bit smaller than Earth. It’s located…” He made another gesture, summoning up a holographic projection of the Milky Way galaxy. Earth’s location was highlighted, followed by Eana’s location a mere couple hundred light years away — and then a third location, several thousands of light years down the Perseus Arm. “…Around 20 thousand light years from Earth, in the unclaimed Perseus Arm. It’s just a few thousand light years from the Novakin Transpace, in fact. That’s about two and a half days of travel for our battlegroup, one way.”

“Intel from the CSA and Nimalian Union says that they were aware of this planet’s location, but it hasn’t been a priority for colonizing,” Mendoza reported. “It’s too far away from established space. But we do know that it has an Interstellar Gate.”

“A Gate that I’m sure EA has blocked,” Saito said.

“No shit,” Krick retorted. “That’s why we’re attacking from god damn space. But even that won’t be straight-forward. After getting that report from those Black Sun bastards, we sent a recon Frigate to do a quick sweep of the planet, and boy, Colonel… this is going to be one damn tough nut to crack.”

Saito and Mote watched in silence as Krick summoned up a number of additional holographic displays, showing off a variety of spacecraft and satellites.

“Wait…” Mote scowled as he looked over the data. “…Is this really right? You’re saying that EA has fifteen ships in orbit?”

“Mostly Frigates, but yes,” Mendoza stated. “By the looks of it, he has eight Frigates, five Cruisers, and two Battlecruisers. All marked with his insignia, that blue ring with the vertical and horizontal crossbars.”

“Not to mention all the goddamn defense satellites,” Krick pointed out. “There’s a whole array of them, all around the planet. Their sensors are nothing to scoff at, either. Our recon Frigate — that has a PCS, mind you — was only able to do a basic scan of the planet’s surface before EA’s ships started making moves on her, and she had to bail.”

“You’re saying that EA can see through a PCS?” Saito questioned.

“It sure seems fucking possible,” Krick replied.

“If he can see through our PCS, then is it possible that his technology can pierce our beam jammers?” Mote suggested. “I mean, he’s already done that before. Isn’t that a significant problem?”

“The researchers over at the ETAA have been fine-tuning our beam jamming tech for just this moment,” Mendoza said. “Theoretically, EA won’t be able to bypass the new jammers.”

“Theoretically…” Saito echoed warily.

“It’s obviously a problem, but I don’t actually think it’s a lethal one.”

“Oh, here we go with the damn idealism, again…” Krick muttered.

“You’ve seen the reports, Krick,” Mendoza countered. “I agree that it’s idealism, but we can still use it.”

“Sorry, ‘idealism’?” Saito questioned. “What are you two talking about?”

“According to all of the reports from the PMCs,” Mendoza explained, “across every single one of EA’s raids on their bases… not once has there been a lethal casualty. The PMCs report that EA’s ships and robots all shot to intimidate or disable, never to kill.”

“And he was still able to overpower them?” Mote questioned incredulously.

“It’s naive and idealistic… but yes,” Krick responded. “I can’t believe the bastard pulled it off.”

“It’s idealistic for sure, but if he’s actually succeeding, then I don’t think it’s naive,” Saito said. “But what are his plans, then, if he’s leaving everyone alive in the wake of his attacks…?”

“And more importantly, how did he get all of those ships?” Mote added. “It’s been less than half a year since EA first showed his face to SERRCom. So how has this happened? How did he build those ships? And how did he get the crew for them?”

“It’s possible that EA has been around for longer than we thought,” Mendoza suggested. “It would explain how he had the time to arrange all of this.”

“I don’t think that makes sense,” Saito countered. “EA appears to be a clone of Austin Travis, one of the new Chaotic recruits. That would make him a mere 20 or 21 years old, biologically. But you’d usually need several years or so to begin and finish a Battlecruiser, which would mean that EA was doing this since he was a teenager, which is incredibly young to pull this off — not to mention being long before Austin Travis had any relevance.”

“So you’re instead saying that EA somehow magically acquired a small fleet of ships and the crew to man them, all within half a year? That seems like even more of a stretch, to me.”

“I don’t think there are any crews,” Krick stated. “Our recon Frigate reported that the ships in orbit of the base were cold as all hell. No signs of life support, but they were clearly still moving around under their own power.”

“…Are you saying that EA’s ships are entirely automated?” Saito questioned.

“…Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mendoza replied. “He’s already shown that he’s mastered AI, through the robots that he’s used against us… But we don’t know much more than that. Hopefully, by capturing this base, we can learn more about how EA got his hands on all of this materiel and technology.”

“Is capturing it even feasible?” Mote asked.

“It’d be a damn shame if it wasn’t,” Krick said, “but I won’t lie, it’ll be hard. This here…” He pointed at a top-down photo of a large facility. “…Seems to be the bastard’s base. It looks like a large manufacturing facility, almost twenty kilometers on a side. Nearly four hundred square kilometers in area. It’s massive, and it seems to be patrolled by those robots of his, but that massiveness works in our favor, given that he doesn’t seem to have any planetary shielding.”

“I see…” Saito nodded in understanding. “The base is so large that it only has bombardment shields, instead of a full ground-to-sky dome. Granted, this is EA we’re talking about, so we should assume that he can transition his bombardment shields into a regular dome… but for a base like this, that transition should take time. Which means that, if we can get to the base before the shield turns into a dome… then we should be able to fly under its edge and attack from the ground.”

“Exactly, Colonel.”

“But don’t make the mistake of thinking that this will be easy,” Mendoza quickly interjected. “EA has beam jammers of his own, so you’ll have to physically fly all the way down to the planet’s surface — all while dodging the orbital defenses and EA’s own spacecraft and fighters.”

“Bah, that’s why we’re here,” Krick retorted. “Genesis, Origin, and all the other damn ships with us will distract and destroy EA’s orbital defenses while the ground team lands. From there, Saito, it’s all on you.”

“Makes sense,” Saito replied. “Two questions, though. I almost hate to ask… but do we know if this is EA’s only base?”

Krick and Mendoza exchanged a wary glance.

“I damn well hope it is,” Krick eventually replied.

“But the fact is, we don’t know…” Mendoza admitted. “One thing that stands out from the recon reports is that there doesn’t seem to be a spacecraft foundry around this planet. But those spacecraft of his had to come from somewhere.”

“And we don’t even know where?” Mote questioned incredulously.

“No. But capturing this base will give us the best lead on EA’s supply chain that we’ve ever had. We can’t let this slip through our fingers.”

“Well, I guess that leads into question number two,” Saito replied. “Do we know if EA himself is present?”

“There’s been no signs from any of the damn reports…” Krick said, “but that doesn’t mean he isn’t present. Neither the initial Black Suns scan nor our scan was able to do any more than get some aerial footage of the damn base. We don’t have any deep scans or anything.”

“It sounds like we’re going in blind!” Mote remarked.

“You’re not blind, you have a fucking photo of the facility!” Krick retorted.

“Still, I’ll admit that our intel is lacking,” Mendoza said. “But unfortunately, I think this is as good as it gets. Genesis is the only ship we have with a better cloaking system than the recon-grade PCS on our recon Frigates, but our encounters with those old Aldredas sites have shown that even Genesis’s ACS isn’t as absolute as we’d like to think.”

“Which means we only have one shot at this,” Krick declared. “And that bastard is probably expecting us soon, between the Black Suns scout and our own. Expect a heavy fight, Colonel.”

“Well, at least EA seems to rely heavily on robots and AI,” Saito remarked as he passed Mote a glance. “You should do well against both.”

“Unfortunately… I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mote responded. “Several of EA’s robots have been able to resist my powers, so I don’t think we can count on my ability to instantly shut down electrical systems.”

“Right. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.” Saito sighed as he turned back to face Krick and Mendoza. “So, let me get this all straight. This base of EA’s is a two and a half-day trip from Earth, the planet is protected by fifteen ships and a bunch of offensive satellites, the base itself is several hundred square kilometers, and we aren’t one hundred percent certain whether or not EA can see through our cloaking systems or pierce our beam jammers. And on top of that, we don’t even know if this is EA’s only, or even main base of operations. Is that right?”

“Well of course it sounds fucking terrible, when you put it like that,” Krick replied with a scowl.

“But the fact remains that EA has made himself out as SERRCom’s nemesis,” Mendoza stated. “He was already able to out-tech us as of several months ago; our only real advantage is numbers, and that will disappear if we wait too long. We need to take EA out now.”

“You fuckin’ hear that?” Krick snorted bitterly. “SERRCom prides itself on being the most advanced damn navy in the galaxy, despite being the smallest… and our only advantage is ‘numbers’. This god damn bastard… there’s no way he’s bested Genesis just yet!”

“Well, it’s not our only advantage,” Saito said as he passed Mote another glance. “We have the Eximius Vir, as well.”

“We aren’t trump cards, sir…” Mote muttered.

“I think you’re far more useful than you seem to believe. But…” The Colonel turned back to look at the two Chief Captains. “If that’s all of the intel that we have, then maybe we should get started on making the actual plans.”

“Agreed, Colonel,” Krick declared. “Now obviously, I think our best bet is to…”

With that, the four officers proceeded with their planning for Operation Thorn Crush — for the operation to finally make the first offensive strike against SERRCom’s newest nemesis.