Warp Transit,

USS Donald Trump, 1500 hrs

Anderson sat in his room with a solemn expression, his impatience has just caused him to lose three out of the four ships he had been granted command of alongside one of his oldest friends from the academy, he starts dozing off while thinking of his first encounter with Kendall long ago when he was still in his third year of training as an aspiring cadet.

...

Flashback

Earth Orbit,

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Officer Academy,

Anderson was running through the halls of his dormitory, he had just missed the first bell and was late for his operations strategy class due to oversleeping, as his roommates had physical training early in the morning leaving no one to wake him up.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I am so done for, it had to be that terrible teacher's class today, he always kicks out everyone late," Anderson thought to himself as he ran through the corridors of the station.

While sprinting through the station he crashed into a young boy with a slim build and blonde hair causing him to fall "Owwww, watch where you're going!" the blonde boy yelled out at Anderson while getting up from the floor.

"Sorry mate, I'm late for Instructor Lewis's lecture" Anderson replied antsy to reach his class.

"Dude if you go now he'll just kick you out, but I know of a way we might be able to get you in!" the blonde boy whispers his plan to Anderson and quickly convinces him.

"Name's Kendall. Nice to meet you!" Kendall moves his arm forward and shakes Anderson's hand.

"Happy to meet you too, my name is Anderson" he replies and decides to execute Kendall's Plan.

Anderson enters his class and immediately gets spotted by Lewis who looks at him with a sneer and says "Look who we have here! Mr Gonzalez, at what time do you think class starts?"

Anderson tries to speak but Lewis shuts him up before he can tell anything"No don't open your mouth I don't want any excuses, just get out of the class "

Moments later Kendall enters the classroom carrying a stack of files and places them next to Lewis's desk telling him " Sir I brought the health report's you had requested from our class "

"Good Job Kendall you can keep them there and leave " Lewis replies slowly perturbed by his sudden appearance.

"Sir, I would like to clarify why Senior Anderson came late today!" Kendall then discloses what had occurred.

"While I was on my way to bring the files from our classroom to you, Clive pushed me onto the floor in front of the washroom and became violent, when a senior Anderson, who was running towards your class saw me and forced Clive to run from the scene and helped me gather up the files leading to Senior being late to your class, please overlook this mistake, Sir," Kendall says while lowering his head to Lewis as a form of apology.

"Alright Alright take your seat Anderson, I'll overlook today as you helped my pupil out of a bad situation, don't be late from next time onwards."

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir" Anderson replies and gives Kendall a thumbs up inconspicuously as a sign of success while walking towards his seat.

...

A while later,

"Damn that worked better than I thought " Anderson says while drinking coffee at the cafeteria alongside Kendall

"Didn't I tell you it would work out well, Lewis hates Clive because of his attitude towards the other students and it doesn't help that he has issues obeying orders, all in all except for his physique he does not have much going for him" Kendall says snickering while imagining Clive getting berated by Lewis in front of his whole class.

"Well, all's well that ends well, Cheers to our partnership!" Anderson raised his cup and touched Kendall's while laughing thunderously with him.

...

"WHEOOOOO WHEOOOOO, ship exiting warp in T-minus 5 minutes" The noise from the alert system jolts Anderson up from his dream, although he does not remember what he was dreaming about immediately he washes up and starts dressing up in his Service Dress consisting of his navy blue coat and trousers, with a white shirt inside, alongside a black tie in preparation for his debriefing.

He walks towards the bridge just as the ship enters the Sentinel System, showcasing all its glory for the crew to admire.

Sentinel System was USNA's Largest Garrison Colony in the inner ring consisting of their Theater Command at Sentinel's Reach, the three majestic star Fortresses surrounding it and the Massive 150 km Long Quantum Relay which allowed for near-instantaneous communication between nearby systems and Earth.

The Fortresses were behemoths of their right being over 100 Km in width and over 40 in length, they towered over the planet preventing any assault onto the planet's surface with their massive Dual Rail guns and cadres of Spacecraft alongside Hoplite CIWS point defence system protecting boarding craft at all times.

As Donald Trump got closer to the planet, it was hailed by the Colonial Border Control Authority

"USS Donald Trump this is Sentinel HQ, How Copy" Sentinel HQ radio's in

"Sentinel HQ, this is USS Donald Trump, we copy you loud and clear, requesting for docking rights at Liberty Spaceport"

"Docking rights confirmed dock 3 is clear move and prepare for boarding"

"Roger that, Donald Trump out" after confirming docking position, the ship moved towards the planet into Star fortress Liberty and powered down at the hold to allow for a damage inspection.

"All hands prepare for boarding and inspection, non essential crew may disembark and rest within planetary premises till return order" announces Anderson as he left the bridge towards the space elevator to reach the capital of the planet Patagonia where their Regional HQ was situated.

As he went down towards the elevator he saw a glimpse of the USS Lambda, a recon vessel proficient in espionage and covert operations used by spooks, but he knew better than to get involved with the CIA, thus deciding not to get a closer look.

As Anderson arrived at the elevator he was greeted by two soldiers who came up to him saluted and spoke: " Sir we've been assigned to escort you to Admiral Jane."

Anderson saluted them back and replied "Understood lead the way"

The two men moved towards opposing sides of the space elevator and inserted their tags to activate it which caused the machine to start with a loud noise slowly moving downwards to the planet.

As it inched closer and closer to the planet, the massive metropolis of Patagonia came into view becoming clearer by the minute, even from above the clouds the size of the city was something to behold, having over 10 million residents and being the only major manufacturing hub near the outer ring it had a special position in the American Colonial Administration as it was the only garden planet near the outer ring.

While Anderson contemplated the city's importance to the administration, the elevator had soon reached the surface of the planet and he walked outside the elevator only to be greeted by two men in black suits who dismissed his guards.

"Captain Anderson, we were waiting for you!" the black men said as they opened the door of a black limousine signalling him to sit inside.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" Anderson asks the men suspecting CIA involvement.

"Captain, would you be able to explain how you lost three warships and nearly destroyed your own in a system where the most danger would come from warp calculation errors?." the men in black ask while looking at him keenly.

"I would understand if you do not believe me but it was most likely a first-contact scenario." Anderson enunciates the truth of the incident.

"Sorry Captain but we think that is a little too much even for us, now I would appreciate it if you cooperate with us and tell the truth" the bulkier of the two men replied, getting slightly agitated.

"I have nothing more to say if you do not believe me but just entertain me till the debriefing, if you still aren't convinced then I will leave everything to you" Anderson states with utter fearlessness.

"This isn't a negotiation Mr Anderson, I want the answers now or else I will be forced to do something that neither of us would appreciate" the bulky man vocalizes his displeasure.

"Now! Now! Calm down, at least hear the man out" the surprisingly feminine voice suggests while trying to pacify her colleague.

"Alright but only till the debriefing not a single second more, is that clear?"

"Crystal, thank you for your trust," Anderson tells them with a sombre expression.

...

They soon reached the HQ after their discourse in the car. While leaving the car Anderson knew what he needed to do even if it was not morally right Kendall's death had left him without a choice and there was only one way he could obtain the support of the people.

He walked into the small brick & mortar building with his mind steeled to convince the Admiral of the current predicament.

Admiral Jane's Cabin,

Jane was exasperated by the current state of affairs, the Donald Trump had returned with half of its armour melted off and one of the reactors in a meltdown due to damage but that was not even the worst part, all of its escort destroyers were utterly absent and it did not end there, they were also escorting refugees from Prospecta of all places, a planet which was as far from any possible conflict as physically possible.

While she engaged in straining her mind to bring some coherency to the situation, a knock came on her door.

"May I enter Mam?" Anderson requested nervously.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Yes please enter Captain Anderson" the admiral stated finally breathing a sigh of relief as Anderson may be able to remedy the current conundrum.

"Ma'am Captain Anderson of the USS Donald Trump reporting" Anderson announced, saluting her with extreme professionalism.

"Please take a seat, I need you to clarify this fiasco," she says as she puts a tablet in front of Anderson.

Anderson took a seat in a chair opposite the Admiral and with a heavy heart began to explain "During our scheduled patrol, we encountered an anomaly in the gravitational field surrounding the outer rim of the system, I ordered our patrol group to investigate it in case of a warp anomaly but when we had arrived at the point of interest, we encountered an unidentified warship which refused to respond to our communications and tried to escape from our patrol.

Although we gave chase, the ship was too fast for us to follow and!" Anderson hesitated a bit contemplating if this truly was the right decision, but remembering Kendall's sacrifice he finally decided "They shot at the USS Thunderbolt using unknown weaponry necessitating the destruction of the alien vessel."

"But minutes after the destruction of the vessel, nearly a thousand warships came into the system using unknown means of FTL, leading to the fall of Prospecta and the loss of our escort fleet and the death of my subordinates!" Anderson ended with a sorrowful tone.

Jane looked at Video Footage and sensor data from the Donald Trump and finally with a grim expression stated " So does this mean we are at war with an unknown enemy with a hidden agenda?"

"Yes Mam I would believe so" Anderson spoke with a straight face looking directly at the admiral.

"Alright if this is truly what transpired, I need to inform the Secretary of Defense immediately, you are dismissed Captain please rest while you can" Jane spoke still slightly suspicious of Anderson.

The black men simply didn't appear after the meeting had ended although Anderson had expected them to leave he still wanted to have a final word with them but they had either decided that the incident was the truth or were planning for something far more sinister.

...

Next Day,

New York,

United Nations Security Council Chamber,

Jacques Starweaver walked towards the Chamber worried about his term as the UN President since not even a year into his term, the Americans had come up with reports of alien hostility near the edge of humanity, he was distressed by the news as it meant re militarization of space but even with all of his contemplating, he had to conduct the meeting thus finally announcing the start of the meeting.

This United Nations Security Council Meeting is called to order on the topic of the presence of alien threats to Human Controlled Space.

"Good afternoon, distinguished members of the Security Council. We are here today to discuss the possible threat of alien invasion of human-controlled space. I would like to remind everyone that this is a very serious matter, and we must approach it with great caution and deliberation. I will now turn the floor over to the representative of the United States who were the first to encounter this threat."

"Thank you, Mr President. We are deeply concerned about the possibility of an alien invasion of human-controlled space since as witnessed by Captain Anderson of the USS Donald Trump, their actions have been hostile from the very start as shown by this footage" The representative played a recording from the donald trump exhibiting liberty being torn apart by the alien plasma weapons.

The Chinese and Russian representatives looked at each other and stood up stating " My fellow representatives do you truly believe in the lunacy of the Americans, all of a sudden they come here declaring that they found aliens when none of us here found a single trace of aliens before today, wanting our support in their ambitions of expansion, I implore all of you to think about it before following them like sheep"

The African and Indian representatives followed the previous two questioning the authenticity of the news and requesting Captain Anderson to be present in this meeting as the only officer who survived first contact.

The meeting continued with accusations being thrown about by every major power at each other for various reasons from imperialism to inciting internal conflict, leading to absolute chaos.

In the midst of it all the Osean Representative Luna Starlight, absolutely fed up with their antics shouted throwing pictures of alien ships on the table "For God's Sake Calm Down! This is not the time to play your little political games, it is a state of emergency, the aliens most definitely exist, we have found the presence of their vessels near Prospecta exactly as described by the report, and they are visible using any telescopes in the nearby so, we need to stand united if they are truly a foe as fearsome as we understand."

After her outburst Luna sat back down in her seat and sighed thinking about the behaviour of the people who were supposed to represent humanity's strongest "God, these people behave like kindergarten children, even raising Zephyr for sixteen years did not infuriate me to this degree, arguing like little children finger pointing at each other just to satisfy their ego's."

Feeling Luna's determination, Jacques finally made up his mind, stood up and declared " I would like to create an expeditionary force under joint UN Command to allow us to counter this threat."

The declaration caused a stir within the representatives, with the minor nations protesting against such a militaristic action, accusing the president of being bellicose and overtly hostile towards unknown forces.

I implore all of our distinguished member states to contribute their support towards the protection of the galaxy from invaders!"

After Jacques' suggestion, the room went silent with whispering between the representatives, ending with the American and European representatives voting for the force showing clear support for the idea leading to the Indian, African, Russian and Chinese representatives also supporting it though reluctantly.

"Alright with a majority vote of 11 of 13, the UN Expeditionary force will be established within three months in the neighbouring system of prospecta, Aurous!"

At the end of the primary discussion, Luna wanted to pitch her pet project to the council members to gain financial support from the major powers

"Fellow members of the security council I would like to present a project the Osean government has been working on for a fair while now 'The Rider Initiative'.

These space-capable MECs will revolutionize space warfare as we know it, able to switch weapon systems on the go, they can switch from Multi-Role fighters to Heavy Bomber without any requirement of docking or refitting their rigging's, powered by our miniaturized nuclear reactors they can operate indefinitely in battlefield conditions but even with all of our assets the project is proving difficult to continue due to financial constraints thus, I would like to propose live testing of units in our expedition, as their maiden flight"

The project piqued the interest of the major powers, who wanted an edge over their rivals, especially since OSA was famous for its groundbreaking inventions.

"So what can you offer us in return for our support in the project?" the Russian Representative interjects.

"We would be more than happy to share the schematics of our 'Riders' with any party willing to contribute to the project's development, and we offer special customization's to suit any specific needs of our benefactors" Luna replied with a smirk on her face.

Jacques, noticing the meeting going off-topic, announced the end of the Session with frustration apparent on his face stating "Representatives, the UNSC chambers are not for negotiating national interests and trade deals please mediate them elsewhere!"

Following his announcement, the majority of the members stood up and left with Luna towards a meeting room to discuss the details of her project, the ones who didn't simply go to their respective accommodations outside the building.

...

OSA,

Orion Prime,

Asmos Academy,

It was a momentous occasion filled with pride, and honour the graduation ceremony for the 2128 batch of cadets was being held in the grand auditorium decorated with flags, banners, and the emblem of the Osean Navy the Phoenix signifying their rebirth after achieving independence from the Americans and the Russian States.

As the ceremony began, the graduates, dressed in their full dress uniforms, marched in formation to the sound of a military band, led by the academy's colour guard carrying the national flag and the academy's flag.

The graduates took their places in front of a large stage, where high-ranking military officers, dignitaries, and guests were seated.

The ceremony began with the playing of the national anthem, followed by a series of speeches from the academy's leadership and finally, the Valedictorian was announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and fellow cadets, it is my great honour to announce the arrival of our Valedictorian for today's graduation ceremony presenting Cadet Zephyr Novastride of the class of 2128.

Please rise and join me in welcoming Zephyr, who has distinguished themselves through their exemplary academic achievement, leadership, and commitment to our academy's values."

As Zephyr made his way onto the stage loud applause followed, although feeling stiff in front of the crowd of people he took a deep breath and began "It is with great pride that I stand before you today as the valedictorian of Asmos academy. It is an honour to represent not only myself but also the entire class of 2128 as we graduate from this prestigious institution.

We have spent the past few years learning what it truly means to serve our country. We have been trained to be leaders, to be resilient in the face of adversity, and to never give up. We have been taught to put the needs of others before our own and to always strive for excellence in everything we do.

As we leave this academy, we are embarking on a new journey - one that will undoubtedly be filled with challenges and obstacles. But I am confident that each and every one of us is more than capable of rising to the occasion.

Although our country lacks both the manpower and the immense resource pool of the galactic superpowers, we have made strides in our economic development being at the forefront of scientific innovation in most fields, our people are the ones who have risen from the ashes of a colonial past, we will never ever again suffer the fate of subordination to any power no matter the size.

So let us leave this academy today with our heads held high and our hearts filled with determination. Let us go forth and make a difference, both in our own lives and in the lives of others.

Thank you."

Zephyr walked down the podium relieved that he managed to finish the speech without any trouble, but as soon as he exited the building premises a black haired girl wearing glasses grabbed him by arm and dragged him behind the building and pushed him onto the wall

"Zephyr why didn't you tell me that you were the valedictorian?" the black haired girl angrily pouts at him

"Sorry Ayame but I couldn't have, because you and your loud mouth would have informed the entire school about it by bragging to everyone within moments!"

"Oh come on, I am not that bad!" Ayame replies sweating slightly

"Is that so, then who was it that told the entire academy about me passing the recruitment exam in one try ?" Zephyr says feeling annoyed by her behaviour.

She responds by trying to change the subject saying nervously "Ummmmmm, anyway which sector are you getting deployed in?"

Zephyr sighs and tells her that the deployment zone is not announced till the date of enlistment and even if he knew it was supposed to be confidential so he couldn't tell her anyway.

"But what if we get separated ?" Ayame mouths dejectedly looking towards Zephyr with a hint of yearning.

"Well, that would be great for me since I would be free of you after all these years of being bullied by you!"

"Heyyy why do you have to say it like that?" Ayame looks towards him with a fierce expression and starts walking towards him.

Zephyr sensing her rising anger started backing away then suddenly his phone started ringing and he used it as an excuse to run away " Sorry my mother is calling I will meet you at the spaceport tomorrow!" he said while sprinting away.

Ayame gave chase but was unable to keep up with Zephyr, out of breath she shouted "Huff! Huff! Zephyr wait I am not done come back here right now!"But Zephyr had already run out of her sight.

...

A few minutes later,

"BBRING! BBRING! " Zephyr's phone rang loudly a second time and he finally picked up.

"Zephyr why are you not picking up my calls?" Luna asked worried about her son.

"Sorry Mom Ayame was following me around again, I had to escape from her so I could not take your call."

"Did you ditch her again Zephyr, I told you that you should not leave Ayame alone like that, she is one of your oldest friends and you should treat her better."

Zephyr sighs hearing his mother's lecture to him about Ayame and tries to change the subject " Mom what happened in today's emergency meeting?"

"Ah please don't remind me of that headache of a meeting, the representatives were behaving like little children making snide remarks about each other and trying to sarcastically answer everything they could find."

Luna then went on a tirade about the behaviours of the member states and how utterly useless the president was at anything that required actual decision-making, specifically picking out the American and Russian ones who were the worst of them all, poking their noses into every country's affairs and commenting on every little mistake any of the made.

Zephyr slowly started losing interest the longer she went on and finally asked " Okay Okay I get it the meeting went bad but did you manage to appropriate the funding?"

"Ah sorry for that, but yes I did manage to get the funding for the project, most of the Security Council members are interested so we are ready to go to the trial phase and since they want to assemble an expeditionary force against the aliens in prospecta, it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase the 'Riders' in live combat."

"Great then I'll see you at Aurous I suppose when I reach there with the escort for the carrier"

"Yes I will be there but I would prefer it if you didn't participate in the operation since we are dealing with unknowns here!" states Luna expressing her clear disapproval of Zephyr joining the navy.

Zephyr shakes his head as he does not want to argue with his mother about this and tries to end the call immediately saying "Mom, Ayame's calling me now, I will speak to you tomorrow, Bye!"

"Okay then Bye, take care of yourself " replies Luna and ends the call in defeat being unable to change Zephyr's mind about joining the navy.

...

Zephyr lies down on his bed, reminiscing about his past and thinking if it truly was the best decision to join the navy even against his parent's will but he had long since decided on it after a captain had saved his when he was a young child on their visit to the Jungles of Fonterra where had got lost on an expedition and had to survive an entire week by himself before a rescue could arrive.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Zephyr ate some sleeping pills and fell asleep soon into a dreamless night.

...

TBC