The Porrima System was one of many across a large swath of space that made up the current border against the TEC Loyalists. It was a relatively new creation, as a result of the breakdown in the TEC itself and the separation into dual, competing factions. Admittedly the Rebels, as they were so called, were more focused on fighting the Vasari and the Advent, but that did not prevent the occasional flare up of violence. There was no full scale war yet, but no one wanted to be caught with their pants down and allow the other to get a decisive advantage. Not yet anyway.

And that was why they were here, Erich Villaneuva mused to himself as he looked out on the sea of stars from one of the observation rooms aboard the Percheron class Light Carrier, as part of the local battlegroup. Beyond could be seen Garda flak Frigates, some Cobalts, and an Arcova, though this particular grouping didn't have any capital ships in it.

But that was understandable, really. They were just a frontline reaction force, while the capital ships were kept more in reserve in case a full scale fight broke out, in which case they could sweep in and clean everything up. At least, as far as he understood it anyway. He was just a hotshot pilot after all, not a commander.

"Man, this is boring," he said with a sigh aloud. Hardly any action, lots of drills, he wondered who he had pissed off in the chain of command to warrant this. Sure, he was a bit of a loose cannon, but in combat you had to think on your feet. Was that really such a problem? As far as he was concerned, the TEC could use all the talent they had if they planned to win this war.

Ah well, it wasn't his problem. For now he relaxed, waiting for their next drill or something else to pop up. One had to enjoy their off time while they got it, and he definitely would.

Drill after drill, and nothing more. Drills weren't anything new to Rikke, but the lack of action was something new. She was used to a higher frequency of combat, but it seemed like times change, and had to go with the flow. Admittedly, she was disgusted by the Vasari and leery of the Advent, so joining the so called 'Rebels' was a better option. Rikke only wished she had been put into a unit that saw a decent amount of action.

Aside from the obvious desire to fight, she also had a desire to make sure her craft didn't cease functionality while in flight. And thus, would talk with mechanics and technicians to make sure everything functioned. Most had grown used to it, while a few remained annoyed.

It took a few minutes, but once she was satisfied with everything she had heard, she walked to one of the observation rooms to finally relax with what little time they probably had till next drill. Though Rikke was surprised to see another person in the room, and she wasn't one to shy away from socializing. She soon took a seat, and kicked her legs up onto another chair. "Staring at stars? Or admiring the tiny task force that we are apart of?"

Erich glanced over as Rikke joined him, the other pilot vaguely familiar from all the drills and such that they had to perform, amongst everything else. She wasn't exactly familiar, not in the sense that she was a friend, but it had become apparent that he could at least trust her to cover his back, if nothing else. And when in a profession like this, that was good enough to give a read on a persons character and reliability. So there was nothing to worry about there.

He glanced back at the pilot then, a smile on his lips as he ran his fingers through close cut brown hair. "All of the above," he replied nonchalantly. The ships were nice to look at, and the stars, though he felt he had seen enough of them recently. But it was a different experience when you weren't actively moving or fighting for your life, which was why he was willing to pursue it for the moment.

There was a pause before he added to that, lest she get the wrong opinion. "Also waiting for the next dogfight I have to fight against asteroids and drones." Surely she empathized with him when it came to the drills, of which there were too many. He understood not wanting to lose an edge, but at some point it just became too much. He felt it, and others had to as well, as he stood waiting for her answer.

Rikke laughed when he mentioned fighting against asteroids and drones. "Unlike us, the admiral feels threatened by those asteroids" She joked. She wouldn't mind the frequency of the drills if there was frequent combat to balance things. But still, she did hate the amount of times they did drills in their schedule.

She stood up and fixed her ponytail. "I'd really like to see some action again. I've forgotten when we last saw some fighting." Her red hair shining dully. A few of her friends joked about how her red hair was the reason she was so eager to fight. A small smile formed on her face as she remembered them, and all of the fun they had. Sadly, most were either busy with life, or in other systems, no doubt doing the same drills she was. Last time she talked to a friend, she felt a bit small. Metaphorically anyway. And wished she had the luck her friend did, who was in the captains chair for a whole ship, though she couldn't recall which ship type it was.

"So, what do you think? We'll see some action in a few years?" Joking again.

Erich snorted as he glanced out the window at the far distant asteroid field. Making jokes at the admiral's expense was fine by his book, even if the man probably didn't want to be out here either. Still, they all had their jobs, didn't they? "And he's the one in a big ship, unlike us," he noted aloud. One hit to a fighter from an asteroid, and you wouldn't be looking so hot, as opposed to a ship with armor, or shields.

He couldn't help but nod in agreement with her sentiment though, as if he'd feel another way when it was the truth. It had been a while since they'd seen some action, and he hadn't joined the military to sit around doing nothing. When their way of life was threatened and planets were being wiped out or enslaved left and right, someone had to stand up and fight. And after his family had been killed, he'd done just that.

Still, it didn't mean that he was unable to relax and unwind a bit, especially when it came to humor. "Depends," he replied noncommittally. "Do we count the pirates as action?" There were enough jokes to be had there, in spite of how serious a problem pirates and raiders actually were. And as far as he was concerned, they could all burn, even if they did have their uses once in a while. But that was besides the point, so he looked for her reactionn, grinning all the while.

"I'd like to think they do us much better than drills." She shrugged. Rikke had dealt with pirates time and time again, even before the split. She wasn't a seasoned veteran by far, but had a decent track record with the TEC military before the split. Most of it being good with a few reprimands due to her actions. She knew she wouldn't be able to get past a bomber with her attitude in combat, though currently, she was a fighter pilot.

"And by that, I mean train us better. Asteroids don't really shoot back...or maneuver" She walked over to the window, looking at the distant stars, then the parent star of the system, which was a normal star, nothing particularly out of order with it. Though it's blue tint did add some color to the interior. "Hay, you ever been in a system that had a black hole as it's star?"

"Fair enough," he ceded with regards to the pirates. They did provide a challenge on occasion, since more than once had veterans been discharged or defected to those particular brigands. It was a sad state of affairs, which had only been exacerbated by the war, piracy having been present beforehand even in the good old days of the Trade Order. Hell, that was the one actually developed part of the military when the conflict started.

Erich's eyes followed in the direction that she looked, noting the blue star there that served as the center point of the system. It wasn't that unusual, as opposed to a binary system or a neutron star, but he would just as much not be around those anyway. That sort of thing tended to cause a lot more work by their nature.

He shook his head then at her question. "Sadly, no," he admitted. It sounded like an interesting experience though, but he wasn't exactly in control of whether they went to a system like that or not. One could only hope they got the opportunity during this tour, if a system like that existed nearby. "I've seen neutron stars though." A poor replacement, but there it was.

"I've seen one, everything gets pulled on by it, causing structural damage and what not." She kept looking out the window, it was nice to take in the scenery every now and then. But for Rikke, that never lasted too long, as she soon turned away from the window. "And if you stay around it too long, it might start ripping parts of the ship off. The system I went to that had one was also quite dark, only light was from ships."

Rikke then took to thinking about his mention of a neutron star. "What are Neutron stars like? I imagine they at least produce light." She had only seen a few star types. The most notable was the aforementioned black hole, but she had seem some pretty typical stars as well. Mostly boring to her once they started repeating. Yellow, Orange, Red, Blue. Still, it was nice to have some light in a system.

She also took this moment to ask him something else. "Also, excuse me if this is to personal for you, but why did you originally join up with the military?" Rikke had another question lined up after that one, but knew she wouldn't be ask it if he didn't want to answer this one. She was curious about him. Another trait her friends picked up on, her curiosity to learn things about people. Her friends gave her a nickname, Rikke the Cat. She had no idea how the mix of curiosity and eagerness to fight made them think of a cat, but she took it anyway.

Erich nodded as Rikke explained what being around a black hole was like, impressed to say the least. He'd heard that it was the closest one could get to hell on a ship, if only factoring in the gravity and not relativity or the like. Call it a nightmare to find yourself stuck while everyone else moved at real time around you. Which hadn't happened in some time, but there were always stories of that sort of thing.

He shifted as she did, turning his attention away form the window and to her, though he did rest against it with his elbow serving as a prop at the same time. A moment was given to consider her question, before he provided an answer to it, foot tapping idly in the process. "Neutron stars are interesting. They can look great, but you still have all that radiation to deal with. You have to turn off all unnecessary electronics and basically run silent when around one, so your computer systems don't get fried. But yes, they produce light."

The next question took him by surprise, but he was in a good mood and willing to entertain it. It couldn't hurt, right? Everyone had their reasons to be in the military, especially in the Rebel faction. "I lost my family during the Entrenchment phase. After that, it seemed like the natural thing to do," he explained with a shrug, having put some distance between himself and that event. "What about yourself?" Fair was only fair after all.

"Neutron stars sound no much more enjoyable than black holes." She said as he finished his explanation of Neutron stars. But she as also a little happy that he asked for her reasons for joining. "I joined mainly because I have a eagerness to fight. Which got me in trouble sometimes and prevented me from getting anything bigger than a bomber." Rikke tapped her chin "I do have another question for you. Why did you join this side of the split? Because I joined for my hate of the other races, the Vasari in particular." She walked back to her previous seat and sat back down "Oh, and I never got your name. Could you tell me? Mine's Rikke Tessaro"

Erich shrugged at her comment, mind at much the same conclusion as her for it. Well, he'd have to wait to see up close to make sure, but he wasn't looking forward to the opportunity, simply going off of descriptions. "Doesn't seem like it," he agreed calmly, glancing back once more towards the star field before once more to the empty interior of the observation room.

He nodded in understanding at her own reasoning, which was less personal but hardly unusual for this sort of job. If you wanted to fight, there was no better place for it, that much was for sure. It wasn't as if the TEC was lacking in things to fight.

"Erich Villanueva," he answered when pressed for his name, before addressing her last question, indicating her own dislike for the races. To be honest, the distinction between the two factions wasn't that great, mostly a divide over the direction of the war effort, but there it was nonetheless. "Because I don't think we can simply wait for the Advent and the Vasari to wear themselves out, and I'd rather win while we still have something worth saving." That was his opinion, and he would not be countered on that.