The lines of ships blurred into a claustrophobic maelstrom of burnished metal, energy beams and explosions. Flights of fighters chased each other around the hulls of their parent ships as they grappled in close combat, and swarms of drones threw themselves as torpedoes.

The Outreman line held firm partly because of the mission parameters - they needed a quick victory in order to join back up and take out the key ship. But also because there wasn’t an easy way to disengage. They could either retreat back through the asteroid field, or push straight through the enemy which surrounded them and into open space. Both options required breaking  their shield-sharing formation and limiting their ability to fire back.

The Tindrel signalled they were planning quite a sophisticated crash stop, whereby they’d spin the planetoid’s tail out to face the enemy. While less defended than the rock top, it would allow them to bring a dizzying array of weaponry to bear at once. There was no time to argue with them now, as they’d be danger close in a matter of seconds. If one listened closely to their comms channel, one might hear a rolling chorus of chirrups which loosely translated into a ‘yeehaw’ type sentiment.

In their desperation, Outreman commanders had also requested reinforcements from the support group stationed some distance away. It was possible that they could jump ships straight into close quarters, with a bit of good fortune.
[hr]
All this activity was being closely watched by Earth - they had a couple of dozen light peacekeeping craft on station around Psi-Helios at any one time which were more than capable of intelligence gathering. Almost immediately after the exercise began, more (and heavier) craft began arriving. What had begun as a trickle became a torrent, until their entire 9th Mechanised Spaceborne Fleet was stationed on the other side of the planet. This intimidating mass of ships was usually parked in empty space, ready to jump at a moment’s notice to any of Earth’s interests.

The Earther fleet’s admiral sent a message to all commanders of the exercise, asking them to respect the system’s demilitarised status and move away from the planet towards the fringes. Strictly speaking, only the battle group comprising the Rothian Admiral’s vessel and the Barbarossa was anywhere near the real demilitarised zone. 
[hr]
“Ok, lets do this.”

Dr Lang came up behind Marae and gently placed both hands on her shoulders. Her AR glasses lit up with thousands of additional bits of data. Freyr used her implants to gland a chemical mix called Through The Looking Glass. Immediately, it worked to clear her mind of all prior assumptions, while forcing her to ‘relearn’ everything she witnessed from the scans again. It had proved useful in the past for stimulating the savant part of her brain into making connections which were previously blocked off.

“Earth has started getting skittish and ordering us back from the perimeter. We may need to consider our strategy here.” Masgard announced. He didn’t seem like a quiet lawyer anymore.