After our night of celebration, morning came. The only ones still awake by then were Andrew, Alice, and myself. Everyone else seemed tuckered out after we partied a little more after my speech.

Andrew had been washing some of the glasses we'd been using while Alice and I were engrossed in literature. She was reading something sophisticated she found on my bookshelf. "The Way of the Warrior" was written by Hildegard Boudiwin. She was some sort of earthen saint that existed in the times before Ether was discovered. She'd written all sorts of books on war tactics and a mix of codes of honor collected from other minds of Earth's past. It was a lot more of her speed given how I came to know her. Alice had always seemed so cool-minded in my eyes, but then I thought about last night.

I'd been reading a battle manga called Kurami Box. It was far more smooth-brained than a book on war tactics but reading simplistic things like that wasn't that bad. Putting my manga down I leaned forward. "Hey Alice, is something bothering you?"

She looked up from her book, startled that I suddenly addressed her. She slid a bookmark on it and put it down. "Is there a reason you'd ask something like that?"

"Well yeah, you just seemed a bit down last night."

She turned away, hesitating to answer. She seemed pretty weird about addressing whatever it was that was on her mind.

"It's probably because of what I said," said Andrew. "Before we left to speak with Clarke."

I remembered what happened at that time and the dots suddenly clicked.

"Even though I spent all this time with you all, I was a bit foolish to think we'd become friends so easily," she said.

"Sorry about that love," Andrew said." I honestly didn't mean to upset you. You were right, though it wouldn't have helped Clarke if he'd been cornered to make a choice."

At the time, Alice was right. But if we did that then it would've only pushed Clarke away. Even though we've all been put in a bit of a predicament we didn't ask for, I was technically the only one who couldn't refuse.

"N-No," Alice stammered. "You were right to do what you did. Seraph and I have been traveling the cosmos for so long I'd been a little too eager to have new friends. I assumed too much of you all."

"That doesn't mean we aren't friends," I said. "You did save our lives at Albion. So we kinda owe you one."

Andrew nodded in agreement, and Alice's expression lightened a bit. "Thank you, Soran. Your words are too kind."

It was nice to at least cheer her up. Unlike me, she'd only had Seraph until this point. I couldn't imagine how agonizing it was to spend eons drifting through space.

Before we could continue any more conversation my door opened. Claudia briskly walked into the dorm and stopped just behind me on the couch.

"Commander Xenthos, it is a pleasure to see you again," she greeted.

"Claudia? I take it you've finished your preparations."

"Yes sir," she answered. "You should wake everyone and prepare to leave immediately. There have been some developments."

That certainly wasn't good at all. Each of us began waking the others so we could leave. The easiest of the bunch had been Satomi who'd already been waking up. While Seraph and Talia were a bit of a pain in the ass. Claudia led us to the elevators where we'd have to split and take separate lifts. As we all made it down the door, the platform the dorms sat on began to quake. I started to panic until I saw Claudia and the others remain calm. When we made it outside a transport vessel began touching down in the courtyard. As its hatch lowered, General Stark and my Dad stepped out. We all came to attention and saluted the general though he waved his hand for us to remain at ease.

"Please... You lot are no longer cadets of the Academy. There's no need to salute me."

He could say that all he wanted, but to us, he was still the High General of Neo Arcadia. It was more of a matter of respect than of rank. As they stopped before us my Dad cleared his throat, preparing to address everyone.

"Members of Nova Asta," he spoke, "It pleases me to make you aware we have prepared something special for you all, even at a time such as this."

He waved his hand to follow him, and with the General and Claudia, he started heading back into the vessel. As we followed him, the bad feeling from earlier worsened. We all strapped ourselves to the seats. I helped Satomi to hers and strapped her in while bolting down her chair.

"You really don't have to help," she said.

"Nah, come on. It's the least I can do. Even though you've already forgiven me."

Though she looked worried she understood. I'd be the last to strap myself in as we were getting ready to take off. As we did the initial launch was a little rough, shaking the entire vessel and nearly giving me a headache. I never liked flying in anything but a Ghost, especially since it appeared we were going to space.

"So Dad, where are we doing?"

Dad crossed his arms and it looked like he was trying hard to keep himself from blowing chunks. "You all are members of a secret organization under the prime system," he said, trying to keep himself together. "As such you have all been awarded several privileges that come with it. One of those you'll be seeing in just a few moments."

As we began breaching the stratosphere the light of day no longer appeared to us. Instead, millions of dancing lights began showing up along with the surface of the planet. As we entered outer space, the shaking stopped.

No matter how many times I saw it it was quite a sight. Long ago space was considered the final frontier. Its infinite vastness of it was meant to be explored in all of its glory. Normally one would wear an Exo suit before coming out to space at all due to safety regulations. But I guess our destination didn't require such things.

It'd been thirty minutes before we'd reach anything that resembled a destination. In the meantime, some of us chatted while others tried to catch some more sleep. My Dad seemed to be engrossed in some documents on a datapad. As he looked up from it he began noticing my new attire.

"Wow... You look pretty sharp son. You remind me of myself when I was your age."

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"Come on old man, you expect me to believe you had a fashion sense back in the day."

"Give me a little more credit than that. I was quite the lady-killer back then."

"Don't remind me of your lecherous days," scoffed Uncle Donnell. "I'm still surprised Crystal managed to tame you."

There was no way I'd believe my Dad was a ladies' man, not in a million years. Knowing how Mom was if he even caught a glimpse of another woman she'd probably do unspeakable things to him. A sentiment that seemed to cross my Dad's mind too. Pulling on his tie, his eyes darted left then right.

"Ah, would you look at that, it seems we have arrived." Waving his hand, a screen generated at the hatch. The image displayed a starship of incredible size. Its design resembled a boat with large wings sticking out near the bow from the hull. There seemed to be several ports along the bow with two more toward the rear of the ship on the port and starboard sides. There were even some armaments lining each side of the vessel and a hanger under the ship. As we approached, my Dad took off his safety belt and floated along toward the screen.

"As you all know Neo Arcadia has thousands of warships in its fleet," he spoke. "From small battleships to the four great Dreadnaughts. Each is crafted using the technology of the five races. But this ship is the culmination of all of that hard work. The NVA-111 Asterism. The first Phantom Class starship of its kind."

The ship was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Though it seemed as big as a cruiser there was so much more going on with it. Smaller and larger transport ships were also docking in the hangar and as we made it inside I could see the other transports drop off other people. Most of them I recognized as students of the senior class. There were some soldiers and other personnel. The hangar itself was huge. There were several platforms for ships to land with some lowering themselves to a deck underneath the hangar.

Our ship began to power down as it landed on the furthest platform in the hangar. We'd all taken off our safety belts and I'd helped Satomi back to her chair. As the hatch lowered we were greeted by the sight of all the personnel running around to different places. Though as I emerged from the craft, everyone seemed to slow down and stop.

Many began murmuring amongst themselves when they saw me. I could pick out some of what they were saying.

"It's Commander Xenthos..."

"Isn't that the guy that piloted Bahamut?"

"That guy saved Albion..."

They all saluted me. There were members of all races gathered here from every corner of the prime system. As some even disembarked their transport craft they got out and saw what was going on and followed suit. My Dad patted my shoulder as he stood beside me.

"There are over 3,000 souls aboard this ship. Each one is dedicated to the cause. The Asterism is the first ship with stealth capabilities along with being as small as a cruiser yet packing the firepower of a Dreadnaught. Treat them well my Son."

I couldn't honestly tell what to feel. There were so many people aboard this one ship. I had to guide them all. Their lives had been in my hands and a single order I gave could sentence them. There was only one thing I could think of.

"I gotta hurl"

I'd gotten shoved from behind by Andrew. Wrapping his arm around my neck he started lightly punching my arm. "Come on Lord Snow White... Your audience awaits your response."

Looking out at the crowd I tried to think of an appropriate response. So I returned their salute. Cheers began to erupt within the hangar as all the personnel seemed fired up over my response. It was a little excessive in my eyes but it seemed like something they needed. Being acknowledged by their commander as well as the guy who saved them that day. Heck, even I would get fired up over it.

"Alright. This is as far as we go," my Dad said. "General Stark and I have to return to Neo Arcadia's surface. Lance Corporal Bordeaux will brief you on what comes next."

Dad and Uncle Donnell returned to the transport craft. As it began to power up my Dad help up two fingers near his glasses. "We will be watching you Soran. Be careful my son..."

As I looked at him seeing the hatch close, I could feel a tear welling up in my right eye. My normal life was over. Now I'd be involved in war and carnage. I wondered if I was even close to arriving at the answer I'd been seeking.

Claudia led us through the ship, giving us a tour along the way. There were several hangars for both Ghosts and fighters to deploy for combat. The ship almost reminded me of school with some of the layouts. There was even a large mess hall and training room we could use. Our quarters were somewhere below the bridge of the ship. Along the way, we'd even encountered the ship's core. I could see why it was the first of its kind when I saw it. There wasn't an Ether core large enough to support starships at all. It looked as though the Prime Council wanted to waste no effort or expense in preparing us for this fight.

As we reached the bridge there'd been a group of students manning different consoles about the ship. In the center of the bridge were three distinct seats. One for a captain, an Executive officer, and an adjutant. Claudia stepped over to the captain's chair and beckoned me forward. As I approached the chair I could feel a bit of nausea slowly returning. Plopping right down on the seat. As soon as I did I could feel something connect to my Animus implant and a flood of data began to rush into my head.

"Assessing U.A.D. Identification code." The voice belonged to my A.I. from my dorm. I wondered what was it doing on the ship. "I.D. recognized, Commander Soran Xenthos of Nova Astra has thereby been accepted as the Commander of the Asterism. Installing A.I. platform onto Universal Augmented Device.

I felt a little jolt through my implant and many images flashed before my eyes. There was data about the ship's weapon systems and personnel files being downloaded straight into the U.A.D. It was much worse than the feedback from an Eidolon and the pain almost made me pass out. If I was normal I probably would've had a scrambled brain. I guess it looked a lot worse than it felt because when I finally noticed my surroundings I found Minerva kneeling by my side with my hand in hers.

"I'm fine Minerva, it's just the feedback from the system."

I was amazed by the many weapons this ship was packing. Missile pods, anti-ship turrets, and a few beam cannons to boot. Not to mention the freakish monstrosity labeled as "The Stark Tachyon Cannon."

"Was the download successful?" Claudia asked as she checked my eyes.

"Yeah, my Dad didn't lie about how impressive this ship is. I didn't think you guys would use my A.I. that is."

"That would be my doing," spoke Satomi. "I was asked to integrate an A.I. into the ship's cyberwarfare suite. Since this was going to be your ship I thought it might help to put something familiar. So I virtually had to rewrite the entire A.I. for that matter."

My headache worsened and I couldn't tell whether it was the fact that I'd just received a ton of information from an implant or the fact that Satomi said something unique. "Good Work Satomi" was the only thing that I could even muster.

"Well since we have interfaced with you, it's time for you to see your own personal craft," said Claudia. "You will need to assign your Second-in-Command and your Executive Officer. After that, I will brief you on the mission."

I hadn't known I'd be getting a personal craft, though it sounded appropriate considering that Bahamut was probably destroyed. Maybe I could finally make all of the modifications I wanted to make. As I disconnected myself from the interface, I tried to stand to my feet. Though when I got up I couldn't feel my legs for a second. Clarke caught me before I face-planted on the ground.

"You aren't invincible Soran," he scolded. "Interfacing with an entire starship can produce some abnormalities."

"...You're right, I didn't think about that. Wanna just throw me over your shoulder then?"

"I don't necessarily mind. But don't you think that might look bad in front of your men."

Scanning around the room I saw many of the other personnel glancing at us. Though many of them were students from the academy there were still some who didn't know me.

"He's right dear cousin," said Minerva. "A leader must promote strength among their peers rather than be nonchalant. You're no longer a kid."

Minerva was right but did she have to sound like my Mother? So instead of getting a free over-the-shoulder ride from Clarke, both Andrew and Minerva helped me walk as Claudia led us out of the bridge. It took a little while before I regained the feeling in my legs but by that time we'd seemingly reached our destination. We'd been led somewhere around the main Ghost hangar. Most of the machines stationed here were three of the newest model Ghosts. There were some of the grunt and Commander-type Phantoms for infantry, some Poltergeist air units, and even some Shades for recon and sniping.

When we reached the door Claudia stopped us. "This is where my part ends. I'll allow Natalia to take it from here."

Talia pushed up to the front of our crowd. She raised her hand and a flash of light shines from her palm taking the form of the hammer she had back at Al's shop.

"Alrighty kiddos, today you'll be stepping into my workshop. Natalia Vitalis, Chief Engineer is your master while you're in here."