[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dBPJauf.jpg[/img][/center] [color=lime]INS Roanoke Hyperspace Local time: 0830[/color][hr] [color=lightblue]“So much for a day off.”[/color] Ingram grumbled to himself as he quickly marched down the cramped hallways of The Roanoke. The squadron had only just finished PT and breakfast when Eva had appeared to inform him that he was to report to the bridge. He knew what they were supposed to talk about- after all, they had an Imperial Princess on board, kind of just… sitting around. The Captain needed to talk about their next steps and just what the hell was going on. There were still plenty of questions ringing through Ingram’s head: For instance, [i]why[/i] was a member of the Royal Family this close to the front line? Obviously she was here to take command of her battlegroup, but why? Surely there were better places to have a Royal’s Change of Command Ceremony. Captain Sarret either had the answers, or more questions to add to his already compounding list of them, Ingram figured, though knowing his luck he’d just get more of the latter. Ingram sidled his way into The Roanoke’s bridge elevator, returning a salute from a pair of security troopers that made room for him. Now with an armed escort, Ingram was seen to the top level of the bridge: what amounted to a small observation deck. Mostly blank and featureless, consisting primarily of large open windows with unobstructed sight lines of the entire ship and its surroundings, an operations table in the center, and a small railing to prevent people from falling off the side and onto the other levels of the Bridge. The deck itself was set with a bluish glow, with occasional motes of purple or red, as the light within the room mostly mirrored the colors of the hyperspace outside the windows. Captain Sarret stood in front of the table, facing out towards the windows, watching space fly by. Without knowing who she was, Captain Sarret struck a rather un-intimidating or meek figure: barely taller than Abigail, and slightly leaning over on one side, pressing the majority of her body weight against a cane. Not that anyone would ever say ‘meek’ or ‘un-intimidating’ to her face. Upon closer inspection one would see the look of a woman who had walked through hell, and came out thoroughly unimpressed: silver hair and olive skin contrasted against the matte silver/steel of prosthetic bionics that took up the majority of the left side of her body. Hearing rather than seeing Ingram enter the deck, Sarret motioned for him to join her, her cane- a scorched chunk of starship plating, polished and reforged into a proper shape- indicating where he should stand. [color=Lavender]“Good morning, Commander.”[/color] The Captain greeted him, not cold or unfriendly, but her voice always seemed to lack a warmth to it. [color=lightblue]“Morning, Captain.”[/color] Ingram nodded, standing in his designated spot next to her. The Captain had a weird way of communicating with her crew, not quite as formal as receiving a report from across a desk, but not quite as familiar either. [color=Lavender]“I read the reports, and spoke with the Princess on what happened. How are Harlow and Jakunta?”[/color] [color=lightblue]“Physically? Well, a couple bruises and a mild concussion on Pips’ end, and Jakunta, well if he wasn’t good to fight he’d tell me- and he hasn’t said much of anything at all, so I’ll assume everything’s good.”[/color] [color=Lavender]“The Direwolves performed admirably yesterday, protected the castle, saved the princess, and no casualties to boot.”[/color] Sarret commented, in about as pleased a tone as one would expect from her, [color=Lavender]“Commendations are in order when we get back to friendly space.”[/color] [color=lightblue]“Thank you, Captain,”[/color] Ingram said, somewhat relieved as his shoulders relaxed a bit. [color=lightblue]“But I think getting some R&R will be reward en-”[/color] [color=Lavender]“Which is why I’m sorry to say, it might be a while before we get back to friendly space.”[/color] The Captain interrupted him, her lips pressed into a thin line. Ingram managed to keep his jaw from dropping, but it wasn’t hard to read the emotions on his face. [color=Lavender]“Not through my own choice, I assure you. Horizon Point was already overwhelmed by the time we left the surface of Cerol. Punching through a Coalition armada with a single ship and half a combat ready squadron was not a gamble I was willing to make, so I jumped us away from the enemy fleet.”[/color] [color=Lavender]“Unfortunately, this means-”[/color] [hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OkIVQ2Q.jpg[/img][/center] [color=lime]INS Roanoke Hyperspace Local Time: 1030[/color][hr][color=lightblue]“-we’re going to be exiting hyperspace in the middle of the FEZ.”[/color] Ingram mentally braced himself for the incoming deluge of upset pilots as he continued their briefing. Shortly after concluding his debriefing with the Captain, Ingram had to bring the rest of his squadron back to the officer’s lounge and bring them up to speed on the new developments. The lounge, filled with the members of the 7th, also had a guest with them: Princess Aurelia stood by the head of the table next to Ingram as he addressed his squadron. [color=lightblue]"Luckily for us, we’re not completely up shit creek. The Roanoke will be dropping out of hyperspace nearby the planet of Randledon, Zeta Tau system.”[/color] As he spoke, a dossier of the planet appeared on their holopads. Randledon was a moderately populated planet in the middle of the Free Enterprise Zone, also referred to as the FEZ- the unofficial name for the no man’s land between the largest theater of war in the UEE-Coalition conflict. Far from a prosperous metropolis like Earth or Mars, Randledon resembled a pock marked and cratered desert, bombed out and long abandoned by both UEE and Coalition forces. A former manufacturing hub for Coalition mobile armor, Randledon was a shadow of its former self: a collection of small settlements clinging to life, subsisting off scraps and salvage from ruined factories. Small settlements littered the planet’s surface, surviving off small wellsprings with stretches of barren, craggy terrain between them. Coalition presence on the planet was limited to none- much like UEE presence on the planet, but it was a hub for mercenary groups and raiders alike, who picked the remains of the factories to arm themselves with mechs and weapons. [color=lightblue]“Randledon is home to the 8th Fleet’s ‘Fort Nyx’, a special operations outpost hidden on the planet. We’ve already made contact with them, and they’ll be receiving us for rearm and resupply. Now, the Roanoke is too big to land nearby, and we don’t want to give the FOB’s position away, so the Roanoke will be landing a ways away and hiding itself, the 7th will be making the journey on foot.” “The Roanoke’s detachment of jarheads will be joining us in an armored convoy to carry the supplies we get from Fort Nyx. Needless to say, our job will be to make sure that convoy gets there in one piece. “Leave your nameplates and uniform patches on your bunks, as far as Randledon is concerned, we’re just another merc outfit. The fewer people who know who we are and where we’re going, the better.”[/color] Leaning in slightly, Ingram cleared his throat a bit, [color=lightblue]“Eva-”[/color] [i]”Yes, LIEUTEN-[/i] [color=lightblue]“-close the doors and disconnect yourself from the lounge please.”[/color] Ingram quickly cut in before the VI even had a chance to appear in front of the squadron. [i]”Yes sir, sealing the lounge.”[/i] came Eva’s disembodied voice over the room’s speakers before falling silent, the doors to the lounge quickly shutting and locking. Turning back to his squadron, Ingram shrugged apologetically before continuing. [color=lightblue]“The following does not leave this room, and will not be spoken about with anyone other than those currently in this room. Everyone understand?” “We have reasons to believe that the Coalition attack on Horizon Point was specifically targeting Sunray. Her movements are state secrets, so that means [i]someone[/i] in the fleet fed the Coalition information.”[/color] Letting that sink in for a moment, Ingram continued, [color=lightblue]“Luckily, none of us grunts knew anything about her being here, and we were supposed to be cycled out anyway, so that more or less clears us from suspicion. The remaining suspects are the ISS bodyguards- who are dead or MIA, Captain Sarret, and the rest of the Roanoke’s bridge officers.” “Now, while I doubt Captain Sarret would endanger herself and the crew of the Roanoke with such an act of treason, these circumstances mean that until we are relieved, protection of Princess Aurelia falls to us alone. As such, she’ll be coming with us. While she is with us, she is [i]not[/i] to be referred to as ‘Princess’, we don’t want anyone overhearing us and getting any smart ideas.” “Any questions? If not, get started on your own preparations. We drop out of hyperspace in 3 hours.”[/color]