Ares Centios

The Buffer Zone

NSW Lunar Eclipse

Centios looked over the message on his terminal with a thoughtful expression.

A message from home had come in with a delivery of supplies and new personnel from the Central Buffer Zone Station. People often rotated between ships and the station out here to give them experience in a large range of jobs in a 'safe' place so they could find their strengths and work on their weaknesses. It was rare for people to ship out here en masse but sometimes smaller groups of people were sent with the supply ships that provided the station and it’d attached fleets with what it needed.

He had been given a batch of those people. Not a lot, only an Ensign and few enlisted, but they weren't Novu Sol citizens.

They were TriStar citizens and military personnel. This message explained that the TriStar Systems had been accepted to be trained by the Novu Sol Navy and some personnel were being taken aboard Novu ships for training purposes. Most had some experience, pretty much anyone who had been on a hyper capable ship had fought the pirates that had threatened the capital planet or at least worked on a ship for some period of time, but their actual ships were far behind Novu Sol standards in terms of hardware, software and capability.

Centos smiled a bit as he tapped a command to comm for the new arrivals into his cabin's terminal. It would do them well to serve on his ship, the best Novu Sol had to offer without going to the Test Yards themselves.

After a few minutes a young ensign shuffled in, he looked tired but presentable and the enlisted, two older men and a woman, looked nervous. They weren't used to being brought up in front of Admirals for much of anything. He studied them, their uniforms a light gray with rank markings or patches that were pitch black, making them stand out from their base fabric and he had to admit it made it easy to tell their ranks apart in a mere instant. Their salutes were crisp and close enough to Novu Sol salutes it didn't seem awkward to watch.

"I am sorry for summoning you like this, I know it's been a long day getting your bunk assignments settled and making sure you have jobs to do but I wanted to speak to you." Centios laced his fingers together, leaning back in his chair and let the silence draw for a moment. He saw the woman steal a nervous glance at her companions but everyone else remained at attention. "At ease." He said, a mild amusement in his voice. They relaxed at the command but remained attentive. Good.

"I have been reading the report about the attack on your capital and I have to commend your navy for managing to destroy the pirates, that took guts and skill." He looked at the Ensign. "Ensign Vance, I believe you were on one of the other destroyers for the battle were you not?"

"Yes Admiral." Vance responded. "It was not an easy fight."

"Battles rarely are." Centios agreed, his voice solemn. "Why did you come out here?"

Vance still looked nervous, his young age showing as he swallowed and shifted slightly, eyes flicking away before returning to him. "I volunteered to come out here because I wanted to learn from the best navy in space. What better place to learn than the place where Novu Sol sends its best ships?"

Centios looked at the enlisted. "Is it the same with you three?"

They nodded.

"That is good to hear." Centios said. "See this is the first time I believe any outsider had been allowed to serve in the Buffer Zone. Quite an achievement for all four of you. I do not know what you have heard about the Quarantine Zone or the AI or any rumors about this place," His voice got stern, cold, "And I do not want to hear that you are trying to spread rumors or lies. Facts and stories have grown in the telling and we have a very important job to do out here. We guard our planets from the menace that stalks the Old Sol Star System, we make sure the warning arrays stay functional but most importantly, we protect people from themselves."

He could see the confusion on their faces, Centios' smile was thin and humorless.

"You see, one thing we are all taught at a young age is that AI are bad, if they get a chance they will attack us and bomb our worlds in a heartbeat but you see," He waved a hand and a star map appeared, showing the span of stars all the way back to Old Sol. "Old Sol is all way back here, without hyper technology, they cannot reach us, sublight travel would take decades and still barely be out of the star system itself. However we have hyperdrives. Civilians have hyperdrives. Pirates, privateers, thrill-seekers... they have the ability to reach that star system and put themselves and all of humanity at risk. All it would take is one ship, one person stupid enough to think they are the exception to the rule to put every world in danger."

He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the four TriStar citizens. "You have to realize what position that leaves us in. We may one day be asked to do something none of you would like. Perhaps it has been hinted at or told in passing, but I will tell you plainly. We have orders to open fire and disable any ship that crosses the Buffer Zone. If they do not heed our warnings and still attempt to run or resist we will destroy them. It doesn't matter who they are. Pirates, merchants, passenger liners. We will destroy anyone who does not heed our threats." A small pause. "Even our own. Do you understand?"

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The four were silent for a minute, looking at the star map and exchanging glances before the Ensign, looking back at three enlisted and said something in a language Centios knew was the TriLingua, the native language of the TriStar Systems. The three nodded and Vance turned back to Centios. He would have to address that later.

"Admiral, Sir." Vance said, "We will do our duty to protect humanity, not just our own."

"Even if it means open firing on one of your own civilians?" Centios pointedly asked.

"Yes Sir." Vance nodded. "It's our duty to protect civilians, but not if they are endangering literally every world humans live on."

"It's not an easy promise to make but I feel you mean the words you speak." Centios smiled. "Thank you Ensign, you all are dismissed." He watched them salute and walk out the hatch, his eyes lingered on the star of Old Sol. Perhaps putting the fear of god into them wasn't exactly the right way to do things, but Centios had to make sure. It was too easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and get dangerously soft. It was then that the security measures would fail and someone would try to get into the Quarantine Zone. Staying paradoxically both alert and not too nervous was a fine balanced line he would have to impress upon Vance and he knew his Chiefs would impress that upon the enlisted.

After all, the TriStar Systems let their guard down and got burned for it. They managed to escape the dire consequences of their tiny navy though, the burn minor compared to what could have happened. Novu Sol was still paying the price for humanity's hubris with the AI in Old Sol, and, he thought bitterly, eyes turned from the star map to the painting of his home world, Novu Sol still has a debt to pay to you, to me, to all of us on Centurion IV. What could truly have gone wrong in the TriStar Uno System. You better be glad it didn't happen to you. Lucky bastards.

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"Good job Ensign." Alixia praised as she looked over the shoulder of Ensign Vance. "You got the timing just right on the defensive fire activation, giving the enemy missiles little time to adjust their courses." She smiled as straightened. "Not bad for only having three months out here with us. It took me weeks to grasp how to properly manage defensive fire."

Vance seemed almost overjoyed at the praise. Alixia loved to help train young officers, but she wasn't too free with her praise. She always knew just when to give it to max effect so the younger officers felt they had learned and grown enough to earn it, rather than being babied along or straight up abused. "Thank you Ma'am. I still see a few things I could have done better."

Alixia seemed pleased that it wasn't going to his head. Last thing anyone wanted was him thinking too highly of himself. An officer with an inflated ego was a terrible thing. "Of course Ensign, there is always room to improve, but you have come far for someone raised on aging last-generation equipment. The navy we are helping your nation build will be much better able to defend your planet."

"I hope so Ma'am." Vance replied as he shuffled data around his station, referencing a guide on one screen before tapping in some commands to send the data of the simulation to his tablet. The small tablet at his side beeped in confirmation of receipt of the data.

Centios watched from his position at the back of the flag bridge, not wanting to intrude but interested in the progress none-the-less. As an Admiral he usually didn't have a direct hand in training young officers, being too worried over fleet matters and multiple ship captains to have time to worry about junior officers. He did indulge himself occasionally, after all he had just come from a stint teaching at the Academy and fostering the next generation of officers was the least he could do to give back to his navy.

Vance turned around as one of his fellow TriSystem people approached, he grinned at the woman as she presented her tablet to him to transfer her own information to his station. He began to talk to her, his native language standing out on the bridge, making some of the others falter as they glanced over at him, not used to hearing the language.

"Ensign!" Centios gave his voice the snap of command and instantly the Ensign turned to him, the enlisted woman almost coming to attention at his side.

"Yes Sir?" He asked, eyes nervous.

Centios walked over to stand beside him, looking down at the young officer for an uncomfortable moment of silence before he spoke. "Here on this ship we speak Novu Solarian, Ensign. I do not care what language you spoke on your own ships or what you do in your own time, but you are a guest on my ship and of my navy. You cannot be speaking the TriLingua here."

"I... I'm sorry Admiral." Vance said. "Since I was talking to Petty Officer Lucia I thought it would be fine."

Centios spared a glance over at the woman who said nothing, not wanting to invoke the wrath of an admiral.

"As I said, what you do in your own time is your doing. I will not fault you for writing home in your native tongue, or speaking to your fellow countrymen off duty in TriLingua, but when you are on duty, you speak Novu Solarian." He paused for a second, eyes flicking over to Alixia and made a small hand motion to her.

"Ensign," she picked up the thread of his logic seamlessly, "there are very good reasons. You are young and prone to mistakes, more so than our own young officers given that you were trained on last generation, less effective equipment. We need to know what you are saying so we can catch mistakes before they become a problem. It also helps with information flow, even if you were the best officer in the universe, no one here would understand your orders or warnings, as you can imagine, in a crisis that would Be the death of this ship."

She laid a hand on his shoulder, a comforting smile on her face compared the stern expression Centios wore. "So stick to Novu Solarian while you are out here Ensign. Before you know it, you'll be home and serving on a TriStar cruiser, where you don't have to worry about any crossed wires due to language."

"Yes Ma'am, Yes Sir." Vance straightened in his seat and turned back to his work.

Centios, satisfied that the point had gone home, looked over at the TriStar enlisted woman. "You may continue your work, and tell the others the same goes for all of you. You are on our ship, you speak Novu Solarian."

"Yes Sir." The woman saluted and hurried off back to her job.

Centios watched her go, hiding his smile until he was out of the flag bridge, no longer needed there to hover and stifle Alixia. He was in the mood to go lift some weights, it would do him some good to get some exercise.