USD: One day after returning to MIL-1A
Location: Meltisar, Mil-1A, Naval Academy, Instructor Housing BLKA, Alex’s Room
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“I’m going to be late!” Alex exclaimed, her voice filling the apartment. She hopped on one foot as she struggled to pull on her gray cadet boot, while her bag wobbled precariously atop her head.
As she slipped out of her room adjoining the kitchen, Elis handed her a bento box that had just finished being packed. The faint aroma of freshly cooked rice wafted through the air as Alex grabbed it with a grateful smile. “Thanks!”
“One day back and you’re already uncontained chaos,” Elis commented, laughing at the sight of her disheveled sister. Her red hair and eyes shimmered in the kitchen’s soft lighting.
“Sorry! I overslept!” Alex replied, acutely aware that she had no time to stop and chat. Thea had already left for groundside, which meant that she didn’t have a minder today—both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, she could sprint freely through the station’s labyrinthine passageways without having to slow down; but on the other hand, it could be helpful to have someone clear a path through any crowds.
Feeling the pressure of her mounting tardiness, the corridors seemed to stretch endlessly before her. Alex’s journey through the Academy courtyard turned into a frantic sprint as she nimbly weaved between well-manicured shrubs and expertly employed parkour techniques to vault over the glistening water cascading down the central fountain. Thankfully, no crowds stood in her way, as all other Officer Candidates had already made it punctually to their destinations.
Upon reaching her classroom, Alex discovered another hand simultaneously moving toward the door control alongside hers. She offered a warm yet apologetic smile, hoping it would soften the irritated lieutenant who shared her tardiness, but he remained tight-lipped in response. Both of them were five minutes late, a fact that hung heavily between them.
He shot her a stern glare before opening the door and ushering her inside. The room was arranged with tables and chairs separated into two groups that faced each other, each seat outfitted with its own monitor and console.
Alex noticed Rachel sitting at one of the tables, shaking her head disapprovingly at Alex’s tardiness. Her brown hair framed her face, and her eyes seemed to silently scold Alex as she scurried over and took the seat Rachel had saved beside her.
The training officer introduced himself as Lieutenant Bridges, their instructor for the day, and announced that he would oversee their exercise. His gaze fixed on Alex once more as he skewered her with a question. “Cadet Myers, can you please remind everyone why we are here today?”
Panic bubbled up inside Alex as she realized that she hadn’t read the day’s curriculum and therefore didn’t know why they’d gathered for this session. She glanced at the way the tables were arranged, searching for clues. Swallowing her apprehension, she stood up and said with as much confidence as she could muster: “Opfor… Uhm…”
Just as panic threatened to overwhelm her, Nameless came to her rescue, speaking inside her head with a calming certainty.
[Informative: This class assignment is to engage the class in an adversarial competition, with each part of the class commanding a simulated warship. Each team member will lead one scenario for their team.]
Alex quickly relayed this information to the classroom, relief washing over her face. Lieutenant Bridges nodded, satisfied with her answer. He proceeded to explain the structure of their exercise in more detail. They’d be fighting through various scenarios with randomized order-of-battles and ranks assigned to each cadet. Each one of them would have a chance at least once at fleet command.
Lieutenant Bridges’ eyes scanned the class before asking them what they were waiting for—they should put on their headsets.
Alex slipped hers on, only to find that nothing happened. The silence was unnerving, and she furrowed her brow in confusion before mentioning her problem aloud.
Lieutenant Bridges approached her console, his expression a mix of concern and impatience. “What’s the issue?”
“It’s not activating,” she replied hesitantly.
[Notice: This unit will translate the simulation and stream it directly to Avatar, since the hardware is expecting a standard human neural net.]
Suddenly, Alex found herself engulfed in an unusual fluid space that seemed to defy physics. She felt suspended between dimensions, as if floating in a comfortably warm pool of water. A screen displaying Lieutenant Bridges appeared before her, hovering like a hologram. “It’s fine now,” she told him quickly. “It’s working.” He nodded in response before his image vanished from view.
She felt like she was being sucked down a drain before landing on a starship bridge. Taking stock of her surroundings, she realized it was far smaller than Aegis’ but vaguely reminiscent of Shrike’s bridge. The consoles surrounding her hummed with energy, and the scent of ozone lingered in the air. She dusted herself off and confidently took her seat at the captain’s chair just as other crew members materialized around her — AI NPCs, according to her HUD.
The main screen flickered to life, revealing Rachel with an impressive Rear Admiral title under her name. Alex couldn’t help but feel a twinge of surprise—and maybe just a hint of envy—as she prepared for the simulation to begin, taking note of the intricate details on Rachel’s uniform that signified her new rank. One of the largest drawbacks was that she didn’t get to design their uniforms, but she quietly asked Nameless to store a copy of the Rear Admiral’s uniform in a file folder for her for later examination when she had a chance to update her Starlight Revolution uniform designs.
As Rachel took command of the blue team’s fleet, a basic text order appeared on Alex’s command console. The message instructed the Cadet-Captains to familiarize themselves with their ships and move to specific locations around the Flagship. Alex confirmed that she had a small corvette and pulled up the ship schematics on her main screen.
A tangle of metal and engineering sprawled across her display, revealing every nook and cranny of her vessel. She took a deep breath, savoring the challenge ahead as she examined the vessel’s systems in detail. Its top-rated speed nearly matched that of the Shrike minus the maneuverability factor, and its weapon systems left much to be desired: no missiles, only light PDC-K and PDC-L turrets, an anemic EWLS(Electronic Warfare Launch System) that made her wince, and a single pair of light railguns.
Disappointment surged through her, but she quickly fought it down; this was only their first match, after all. There would be time for commanding better ships in future rounds.
Reading off the coordinates for her designated location to the helm, the NPC helmsman diligently plotted their course. The ship hummed beneath her feet as they began their journey towards their assigned position.
[Interrogative: Would you like this unit to assume full control of the ship’s functions?]
Alex hesitated at his offer, but ultimately declined. “No,” she replied firmly. “I want to practice giving orders and commanding on my own right now. There’s no need for your intervention yet.” Determination glinted in her eyes as she prepared herself for whatever challenges lay ahead.
Her hands squeezed the arms of her command seat as she surveyed the bustling bridge around her. The officers moved efficiently through their tasks, each one focused on their role—but telltale hints that these were not actual people began to sneak in. The way one officer carried themselves robotically between stations, and the lack of chatter and emotion in their voices, was really telling.
There was a sense that the air was supposed to be charged with anticipation, but it felt dry to Alex, and the reality that this was just a simulation was all too evident. Someone had forgotten to program what the bridge was supposed to smell like, and there was no way she’d ever forget or miss the scent of sterile ship air mixed with oiled metal and… ship smell.
Alex watched as the fleet slid gracefully into position around the Flagship. Her corvette took its place amidst a small detachment of other light elements at the front. The small squadron of corvettes deftly maneuvered around one another and formed a screen, a textbook standard formation.
Just as she finished settling in, Rachel appeared on her command console, her image crisp and professional. “Alex, I need you to take command of our scouting elements and screen for the enemy. Did you check the system nav?”
Alex nodded and glanced at the navigation screen. They were in a relatively simple system, with a single gas giant orbiting a lone star. A dozen moons of various sizes circled the gas giant. On opposite orbits were markers for the blue and red fleet starting locations, and the scenario was straightforward: destroy all hostile elements mission for both sides.
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“I’ve got it,” Alex confirmed.
Rachel gave her instructions firmly, “I want you to split our recon elements into two groups—a spinward and anti-spinward detachment—and sight the enemy fleet. Once you have eyes on them, relay that back to the main body, and we’ll maneuver for a full engagement.”
Alex nodded, aware that this was a standard approach. “I can handle that. Do we have fleet parity or superiority?”
“Both fleets are mirrored,” Rachel informed her.
Suppressing a wince at this revelation, Alex knew facing an equal fleet head-on could be risky. However, she silenced her inner critic—questioning Rachel’s decisions would not help anything. With a smile and confirmation of her orders, Alex signed off the channel.
She pulled up information on her scouting group elements—eight Silverflash corvettes, including her own—and asked Nameless to list each ship’s captain, sorted by his rating for who would be best suited to command the second detachment.
[Confirmation: Producing personnel list.]
Eight names appeared—five male and three female—all listed by their fictional simulation ranks. Alex focused on Nameless’ first choice: Commander Tamara Harding had excellent tactical sense and was a quick thinker; however, she followed directions almost too rigidly.
Her eyes drifted down to Commander Benjamin Fields—the second-best candidate. His scores were similarly impressive, but a note about his flair for improvisation and out-of-the-box thinking caught her attention. This could be the advantage they needed to keep the enemy on their toes.
Alex noted that the time on her HUD and the time displayed on her ship’s console had gone out of sync; the simulation was somehow time-dilated. While it felt like hours had passed as the ships spread out to scout, only a few minutes had elapsed in real life. It was a reversal of the few times she’d spent in ‘virtual’ NAI space with the others or with Nameless when she had first made her sub-cores.
“Nameless, what’s the deal?” she mumbled, a feeling of annoyance pricking at her.
[Informative: Simulation space is being moderated by a distributed neural net composed of the entire cadet group. A detailed rundown and summary of the technology, benefits, and risks were present in Lecture #838, which I have determined Avatar avoided reading.]
[Notice: This unit did not skip Lecture #838 and developed and prepared a bridge for Avatar neural pathways to distributed neural net unit. This development has been shared with authorized sub-cores Celestia and Theia.]
Alex leaned back in her console chair and frowned. “Why do you call Tia and Thea Celestia and Theia?”
[Notice: Official core designations can’t be modified without a serious reconfiguration, such as core-authority upgrade.]
“They prefer their regular names, you know. It’s a bit rude to refer to their core names.”
There was silence before Nameless responded.
[Affirmative: This unit will adjust nomenclature to sub-core’s preferred Avatar naming conventions. However, please note this unit will continue to use proper sub-core names when dealing with sub-core MainComputers for brevity.]
Alex nodded. “That seems an acceptable compromise. Thank you.”
As Alex’s squad spotted the red team’s forces maneuvering around the gas giant, a spark of excitement ignited within her. She quickly relayed the information to their main group, noting that their considerable distance from the enemy allowed only for an approximate count based on their linear drive torches. Her keen eyes observed several light units burning toward them in pairs, and she swiftly realized that by concentrating in one direction, they had twice as many corvettes as the blue team.
With two-to-one odds against them, Alex made a strategic decision. She instructed her squad to back off and avoid combat while retreating toward the main fleet.
Over the next several hours, events unfolded predictably. The two main forces approached each other in a low orbit of the gas giant, with both sides aware that a pivotal confrontation loomed near. Meanwhile, Alex’s squad rendezvoused with their allies in a slightly higher orbit before Rachel integrated them into the main fleet as dispersed picket elements.
Alex could feel the tension grow as both fleets moved toward a confrontation. The hum of machinery helped her swallow any nerves, and she relaxed into the familiar ship sounds. The thought that she’d spent so much time on ships that the sound was soothing made her chuckle internally.
Her fingers danced across illuminated buttons as she reviewed all the tactical information available to her. But ultimately, their movements and orders came from the flagship; So rather than focus on the big picture, Alex focused on her own four ships’ tasks.
As the fleets engaged, battleship missile volleys were exchanged. Two massive salvos targeted each other’s heavy elements, a deadly dance of destruction in the simulated low orbit of the massive blue gas giant. Alex focused her picket group on sniping as many missiles as possible, her crew working tirelessly to intercept and eliminate the incoming projectiles.
Despite their best efforts, several missiles made it through, causing substantial damage to the battleships and heavy cruisers on both sides. The virtual impact points of the projectiles tore into hulls and shattered critical systems, leaving once-mighty vessels crippled and barely operational.
The simulation demonstrated the devastating consequences of such a conflict, with each damaged ship now struggling to maintain its position in the fleet. But there was no time for damage control and both groups of ships hurtled directly towards each other rapidly.
As the distance between the two fleets narrowed further, a heavy exchange of laser fire erupted. Though the beams themselves were invisible as they flashed through the vacuum, their devastating impacts on targets became evident with each strike. Ships shuddered as their hulls were seared by concentrated energy, marking the darkness of space with bright flashes like artificial stars where they connected.
Alex and the light elements pulled to the rear of the fleet to avoid being primary targets for the accurate laser fire. They danced around larger ships while still providing support where possible, their own light PDC-Ls adding their contribution to the momentous energy being unleashed. The battlefield was chaotic and unpredictable, but offered opportunities for her team to showcase their skills.
Her eyes remained fixed on her command console as she directed her ship in executing precise maneuvers and coordinating with other units. With every decision she made, Alex knew that lives—albeit virtual ones—were at stake.
Damage mounted on both sides, and two of Alex’s squadron were destroyed outright as lasers burrowed through their hulls. Her display, showing the individual status of every vessel in the fleet, flared from mostly blue to mostly yellow, and finally to an alarming array of reds.
A laser cut into her Silverflash, shaking the ship and filling the bridge with acrid smoke. Unlike the Shrike, there were relatively few self-repair units on board, and all of them were simulated damage control personnel.
Alex cursed under her breath as she discovered that her entire starboard PDC array had shut down, along with one of her two railguns.
The enemy fleet seemed to be faring much the same way. From what she could tell, the overall firepower in space was gradually dropping off as both fleets lost more and more units. There were no untouched ships on either side, and the joust appeared to be on course for being a decisive engagement, one way or the other.
Seeking cover, Alex maneuvered her ship behind Rachel’s flagship, which had already sustained significant damage. Despite the damage, the dreadnought’s hull remained armed with an impressive array of weaponry. Its D-field flared defiantly, employing a non-standard multiple layer array for extra protection against concentrated enemy laser fire. However, its limits were starting to show.
Railgun shots streaked through the vastness of space, and Alex marveled at the skillful captains attempting to land critical hits by pushing their typically short-range weapons to their limits. The daring display unfolded before her eyes as fellow Captains sought opportunities for success, even if it meant stretching beyond usual operational distances.
Timing and precision were crucial in such high-stakes maneuvers, and Alex could picture captains carefully observing enemy vessels' movements, accounting for minute shifts in trajectory and velocity as they lined up their shots. Tension filled each command center's crew as fingers hovered over firing controls, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash a devastating barrage.
From her command console, she watched enemy ships scrambling to evade or intercept incoming projectiles. Skilled Captains adjusted course while defensive systems whirred into action, desperate to prevent catastrophic damage from befalling their vessels.
Determined, Alex nudged her ship just out of the Flagship’s shadow and fired her single railgun toward the remaining enemy capital ships. Alongside her attack, two dozen high-caliber turrets on Rachel’s flagship fired in unison. Anxiety gripped Alex as she knew the enemy would be returning fire in equal measure.
The counterattack came swiftly and brutally; dozens of railgun shells penetrated the flagship, tearing through the amplified D-field with ease, each shell carving deadly paths through the hull. Massive exit wounds ejected v-shaped sprays of debris outward, forcing Alex to quickly flip her Silverflash around and initiate a hard burn to escape the expanding debris field. On her monitor, half of the remaining ships in both fleets disappeared as devastation rippled through their ranks.
A cruiser’s heavy laser slashed across the hull, prompting Alex to execute the most aggressive evasive pattern she could manage. She rotated the ship’s port side and fired off a railgun round that miraculously punched through another cruiser’s bow, detonating a missile magazine and sending the front half of the ship tumbling through space while its rear continued to unleash laser fire at her.
The Silverflash’s D-field blinked out of existence, followed by a pained whine filling the ship as generators overloaded and a torrent of unmitigated energy carved a hole through one of their linear drives. A second later, a railgun round punched through her ship—and suddenly, everything went black.
“Fuuuck,” Alex groaned as she stood up. The pitch-blackness faded into the gray of a dimly lit room filled with other cadets all wearing blue armbands. Her heart sank when she spotted Rachel at the front, speaking with another cadet.
“Hey,” Alex mumbled as she approached her friend.
Rachel nodded to Alex before a small smile appeared. “I think you won it for us,” she said. Alex blinked, confusion on her face; the shot to the cruiser had pretty much wiped out the larger vessel, but it was hardly a strategic coup.
“Eh?” Alex said, as she turned to look at the monitor.
Excitement filled her as she watched the screen; both fleets had been utterly devastated by the engagement, neither side having any effective large units remaining. The hulks that were still operational could barely maneuver to adjust their orbits; reorganizing and redeploying to take out the other fleet’s stragglers would take days.
Except there was a small pack of four corvettes that Alex recognized as her detached squadron.
Cadet Fields had kept them out of the heavy fighting, and now they were flashing between the piecemeal wreckage, chasing after the remaining enemies and pelting them with small PDC lasers before following up with eight-round volleys from their light rail guns.
“Oh. Fields, looks like he’s mopping up.” Alex realized.
She’d forgotten about him entirely during the engagement, and apparently, that had been the right choice.
“I always end up with the best subordinates you can hope for.” Alex mumbled, trying to suppress a grin.