Cadet Commander Lady Elisabeth Windsor was the only exceptional cadet from Sol Command Region. Well technicly she was not, she was from Avalon but her situation was... Complicated.
'This exercise is dumb' she thought.
Elisabeth was sitting on the bridge of Retribution class Dreadnought drinking her tea thinking about the task. They all were obviously tested but how this test was asymmetrical was blowing her mind.
In this scenario, She was on a winning position. At her disposal was the entire tactical net of Home System minus Titan, Neptune, and Lunar bases as well as half of the fleets defending the Capital of Commonwealth. And other cadets were just tossed at her with the task of sneaking past her and reaching Earth.
This is so stupid.
Most of them probably... Well, she was almost certain that all of them will use Dashu'uns since they have the best stealth profile, at least the first 4 did so. But she had to admit she would also have picked Dashu'un for such mission. She heard about new corvette- Aria class with even better stealth properties but it was not in service as of yet.
That doesn't mean no one will use some modified or prototype ship. It was even certain someone will came with some prototypes. Like new drones types two her future college brought.
But she is protecting Lunar bow sitting in the command chair of Dreadnought and having under orders fifteen Fleet Carriers with their battleships deployed.
Dashu'un was a relatively new ship and had excellent armament. With the creative usage of drones that ship is very dangerous. She fixed her long golden-blonde hair and waited. Under her orders was half of the home fleet.
This exercise is so dumb...
"Raven Rock to Sol Comand." She heard communication from system traffic control.
Raven Rock? She checked Fleet units. There was no such ship. She decided to intervene.
"Raven Rock, this is Elisabeth Windsor, temporary Home Fleet commander speaking. We don't have you on the list. Your codes are correct but identify yourself properly!" She couldn't believe anyone would make a such stupid mistake.
"Commandor Windsor, I confirm we are not on your list. This is Guardian of Fa'enni speaking. We are dropped in the Kuiper belt and relesed our representatives. Currently, we are underway toward Terra in vector two Charlie. In 20 seconds you will have our approach route."
What's going on?! They just burned their representatives. But her sensors didn't picked anything so most probably that's a bust. She already caught 4 out of 6 candidates. Rings sounded when the 5th Dashu'un was detected by Sparrow drones.
"Thor take him down!" she ordered to the closest dreadnought.
"Target down" Thor replayed after 5 seconds.
These exercises are so stupid...
She was depressed. It was not right to make such thing. It was impossible to infiltrate Terra's defenses.
She used her free time to check once again Raven Rock.
"Freya! Raven Rock is Fa'enni Royal Palace!" Her eyes were round from excitation. Maybe she will have a chance to meet Fa'enni Queen everyone was talking about! And someone have an interesting sense of humor to use pun while introducing himself. "Guardian is AI serving Fa'enni Royal Family!"
"Yes, Commandor Elisabeth. He already talked with me. He is my friend." Elisabeth nodded. She hoped the last Dashu'un will show up soon. Rings of alert rang on the bridge.
The alerted voice of Freya sounded in her mind. "Inner system active scanners are being destroyed. We can't identify a single source. Before the sensor array nxc2342 was destroyed it detected a hostile drone of an unknown pattern!"
Last Dashu'un! But what are they doing?! This is not an infiltration run! She barked an order.
"Send drones toward the approach vector of Raven Rock! Make them scan as focused as possible."
"Raven rock is still in the outer system!"
"Impossible! What is destroying my sensors?!"
"Unknown. No weapon match standard or known Dashu'un configuration. SIGINT is reporting EM signals of railgun slugs."
"Order to all Home Fleet Planetoids! Begin modified scanning protocol theta!"
Whatever they used to destroy scanners won't help against all ships she will use now.
"We have lost 12 dreadnoughts Commandor!"
"WHAT?!"
"Lady Elisabeth we are receiving an incoming transmission from Terra orbit!"
"On screen!" It was audio only. She saw not usual symbols of the Commonwealth Navy but she saw a big Commonwealth flag with a crest she never saw before.
On deep blue background was a slivery-green tree at which was sitting a black raven with icy blue eye.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Elisabeth heard the most charming voice she have ever heard.
"BUM. You are dead."
The ring of bells signaled her defeat and the end of the exercises. She dropped on her command chair.
"It's impossible! They had to cheat somehow. They can't be this fast! I know Fa'enni made Dashu'un and they know probably more of them than anyone else but you can't cheat physics!"
"Agree. Chariel 1 is dropping stealth in 5..4..3..2..1..Now!" Her jaw must have dug a hole in the command deck. It was not Dashu'un!
But It was even more beautiful. She saw on its side the same crest as one in transmission.
"Hail Them please!"
"Unknown ship this is TCF Freya. Introduce yourself!"
"TCF Freya, this is TCF Ra'volta speaking. Thank you for providing a suitable test for me." Ra'volta's voice echoed through Her bridge. It has subtle tones of raging fire and the destructive power of lightning. Only AI can produce such effects with their voices. She opened a translation system, Ra'volta in Fa'enni was the name of their God of Destruction.
"We are hailed by one of the representatives of Fa'enni." Told Freya. Elisabeth nodded her head. She saw Thunderbird dropship leaving Ra'volta and heading toward still far away Raven Rock. It jumped using the compact jump drive that allowed it to jump inside star systems while receiving calculations from AI.
Meanwhile, a transmission from Ra'volta was displayed on her screen and she saw a very handsome man sitting at the first officer seat. She was a little upset that the Captain of this vessel don't want to talk with her. He clearly was Fa'enni- quite tall and almost delicate, like a typical elf from fantasy tales. Silver-blonde short hairs, sky blue eyes and really in them she could see swirls of glitter.
"Commander in charge of TCF Freya we are sending you our best regards. We are also sorry our Captain can't greet you but he received calls from King and had to move to Raven Rock in an instant. I'm Riglu Khis of Fa'enni, temporary first officer of Ra'volta." So Captain was in that Thunderbird. She smiled at a handsome alien.
"You have beaten me but I'm afraid Grand Admiral will have something to say."
"Most probably. But we wanted to make the final tuning of our propulsion systems while traffic is still on hold. Are you up for a race toward Raven Rock?" She looked at the projection, she is much closer than them. They have no chance. She gave notice to her crew.
"Very well. On your mark!"
"3...2...1...go!" Her helmsman pushed all propulsion systems at alarm speed. She was already halfway to Raven Rock when Freya stated.
"Ra'volta is much faster than we are. They are traversing with 40% Light Speed and still accelerating while we are at 38% and this is our emergency speed. Anything above will destroy the main propulsion unit."
She was speechless. It turned out they were able to do what they have done.
Incredible.
17 out of 18 candidates were gathered in Assembly Hall on board of Dauntless waiting for Royal Family and Grand Admiral Denis Makosso.
All Fa'enni were at the center of attention. Elisabeth was wondering where the 18th cadet could be. Their parents and mentors were waiting at VIP lounges and the only exception was the absence of Lord Admiral Robert MacArthur and his wife. But Johan seemed not a bit affected and Elisabeth wondered why. Well, no one was present from her own family but she preferred that this way.
Doors to assembly opened and Grand Admiral entered. Behind him entered Another Human in black and gold robes, at least Elisabeth couldn't describe them any other way as a mix between robe and smoking, clearly of Fa'enni making which looks stunning on him.
He was King of Fa'enni Lord Konrad Raven himself. Hero of the Marine Corps and a man of exceptional skill. Beside him was walking Queen Shanti of Fa'enni. So delicate and tender in a long golden-green dress ornamented in complicated floral patterns made from silver or light of stars- Elisabeth couldn't decide. Her long golden blond hair much more vibrant in color than Elisabeth's own were flowing like a river of gold behind her.
Elisabeth always thought she was beautiful. Tall, slender, athletic, and with a shapely body she was always adored by boys around. But one glance at Fa'enni Queen made her redefine all she know about beauty.
She had to step up her game if she want to compete with them.
Then she saw godly Adonis himself. All girls saw him and no one could stay indifferent. He was almost as tall as King Raven so he can't be Fa'enni. But his perfect face and body worthy of God of War himself made strange but matching contrast with his otherwordly beautiful face. She could drown in his deep blue eyes. His long blonde hair similar to Queen's were combed in a traditional Fa'enni style much like a regular ponytail. But are these wings on his back?! Then it means...
"I want to officially welcome Royal Family in the orbit of Terra." Grand Admiral started. And gave his long speech introducing King and Queen, but when it was obvious he is not going to introduce this hottie she stopped paying attention and looked at him with dreamy eyes. The only slight change in the Admiral's voice made her focus on the ceremony.
"We were all witnesses of the impossible. Single dreadnought destroyed Earth's defenses. During its run stayed undetected and laid waste to installations we used to think of as untouchable. He was able to destroy 25 other dreadnoughts and heavily damaged one of the Fleet Carriers while avoiding detection. This ship was in a position from which it could threaten Terra and its inhabitants! Most of you made the mistake of using known data when fighting with the unknown. Most of you thought this exercise is simple infiltration and tried to sneak under Cadet Commander Elisabeth Windsor's nose. Only Alinti sector representatives read the order with full understanding.
The order stated ship must be undetected. Not the entire infiltration attempt. However, all crews passed these exercises. All of you fulfilled your duty to the best of your skills. All of you have a fighting spirit and unbreakable will." The audience applauded for cadets.
Admiral continued after a brief break.
"Allow me to introduce you to our prodigies! Francis Drake!"
Called cadet saluted and entered a specially prepared place near Admiral so everyone in Commonwealth could see them as this ceremony was transmitted via Space Network connecting all planets of the Commonwealth. Almost all of them were called and briefly introduced.
"Lord Johan MacArthur!" Elisabeth looked at the muscular man and wondered what it was like to grow up among Fa'enni.
"Lady Elisabeth Windsor!" She entered her place. The last empty spot near her seems like it will stay empty. Being Windsor, even from a branch family meant she is a distant cousin of the King of Avalon. She wondered which one of Fa'enni's representatives was Captain of Ra'volta.
"Crown Prince of Fa'enni, Lord Thuel Uriel Raven!" Shouted Admiral calling the last 18th candidate. According to tradition made to appease some crazy Nobles, the last spot was for one with the highest status.
Everyone focused on the unexpected guest. Not many people knew there was a Prince of Fa'enni. Elisabeth didn't know for sure but there he is.
So many thoughts run through her mind at once. He is so charming, so elegant, so stunning, so handsome beyond any words.
Oh God. Not good.
His aura of authority was incredible and she could not decide if that was only her imagination or not. She looked at him when he was standing near her. 'If he just barely notices me I'm going to faint.' crossed her mind.
He did noticed and smiled at her.
She immediately looked away to the audience hoping she don't have a beet-red face and heart racing, she tried to regain control and almost lost that battle.
There will be hell at the party. She saw promises of battle in eyes of most girls in the audience.
Elisabeth saw something like a silver light ray in the doors to assembly. When Admiral finally allowed cadets to go to prepare for the party she almost sprinted away.
When she saw Prince she was already ordering Freya to ask the steward to make her best dress prepared.
This is going to be a battle and she will not go down without putting up a fight.