Chapter 303

Plains of Orient, Republic Province of Eternity

Tamaria Airbase

It started, as it usually did, with a misunderstanding, and was helped along by unfortunate coincidence.

Patrols, by their very nature, had to be irregular. A predictable patrol was a useless one, simply a minor hindrance, no more. Keeping the enemy guessing was key. And a good commander would do everything to keep them guessing.

And Eternia may be a politician, but her vampire advisor was a very good commander.

So it was that the Zephyr, the light cruiser belonging to the Eternia Crystallis dungeon, departed its base, unscheduled and unexpected. It was a long range vessel, built for autonomous command, with sentient monsters onboard to direct it.

And ran straight into the UDC frigate Malvaros. A ship meant for close in patrols, strictly directly controlled by a dungeon core, thanks to communication crystals. The frigate was running on a schedule, but...its commanding dungeon core, Yvira of the Golden Path dungeon was, all in all, unused to air operations at best, and in truth what some may consider incompetent. They had been selected for their loyalty to the isolationist cause, not experience or proficiency, as other, more promising dungeon cores were set aside because of their potential for siding with instead of against their fellow some already considered to be rogue. So they were running late, and instead of the Zephyr harmlessly moving in after they had passed, they suddenly found themselves on the same route.

And thus an inexperienced, indoctrinated dungeon core commanded a frigate that suddenly found itself face to face with a ship five times its size.

The Zephyr knew exactly who the Malvaros was, as they were still within ample sensor range of its home base, and they knew the vessel, having seen it often on its regular patrols. But the Malvaros, and its commander...could not say the same about the other ship.

The Malvaros banked, hard. And to their credit, Yvira did attempt to fire a warning shot.

And that warning shot obliterated the quarterdeck of the Zephyr, killing half of its command monsters and grievously wounding its captain. The vessel's arcane shields were down, as none expected an attack almost within firing distance of its home base.

The light cruiser answered in kind. Unfortunately, the Malvaros' defenses were up...which meant it survived the broadside, and was able to emit a distress call, with its precise position.

And the full squadron of UDC vessels, moving in from the South to reinforce the Malvaros' home base, forces moved in secret, responded immediately.

The light cruiser, which had made short work of the frigate, but not without considerable damage, was loitering above the crash site, preparing for search and rescue operations when the UDC ships came within sensor range.

For Eternia and her allies, they had just been attacked by what they knew without doubt to be a UDC vessel...

And five unknown capital ships, in combat formation, had just appeared at the edge of sensor range, moving straight for a major airbase. And what looked like a screening vessel had engaged an unscheduled patrol, whose goal was to be the tripwire for exactly those kinds of attacks.

The Zephyr's propellers were damaged. The crew attempted emergency repairs as they went to limp home.

They failed. Had they made it, perhaps the UDC vessels would have changed course, and instead of engaging a major naval base, opened communication.

But they didn't make it. The capital ships tore the light cruiser to shreds.

And found themselves nose to nose with the entirety of Eternia's third battlefleet, having scrambled up as soon as the Zephyr was attacked.

They, in turn tried to run.

The Hurricane-class vessels, of the same type that had almost caused the downfall of Alexandra's raiding squadron during her fight against the Republic with their powerful wind magic, didn't let them.

The UDC and Eternia both screamed for help, sent warnings to their fellows.

Both sides began to scramble their vessels and troops, across the globe. And as they did, they took the other doing the same as sure sign of an enemy first strike.

With so much friction, and such tinder...

Another spark flew. Then another. And another.

An accident there. A warning shot here.

And within the hour, both sides were openly and indiscrimately engaging each other.

The UDC Civil War had begun.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

*****

"Mmmhhh...Pasta, mashed potatoes, chili..." The young woman hummed as she went through the meal packs. It felt strange having so much food on hand. She still remembered having to survive off of military emergency nutrigel, vat grown slop whose origin she'd rather not dwell on.

Everyone was pretty sure bodies didn't end up in the bioprocessors anymore, there'd been a huge enquiry and study about it, but that was only for humans. Who knew what unlucky animal, having survived the horror of humanity's madness, would have just finally expired and used as a handy source of protein.

She finally settled on one, and pulled out a pack of meatballs and rice. And almost dropped it as someone rang the bell of her apartment.

Technically she was in a boarding school, but she got her own place. Her parents' allowance was enough for that, besides which the network of environmental engineers that kept everyone alive took care of its own, and she'd gotten it for a pittance. Wouldn't be any other way, unless the director cared to have his air filtration system fail and get a good lungful of toxins.

Still, own place or no, it was small, and she quickly crossed the room to open the door, moving over her bed, which she knew from experience was only enough to have a second person if one was on top of the other. Which was okay, since it wasn't used for sleeping when she had someone else over.

She flicked a switch, looking at the small, warbling screen showing the door camera, and her eyes went wide, immediately hitting the button to open the door.

"Big bro!" She yelled out as she wrapped her arms around the neck of the man outside her door, sharply dressed in a neat naval uniform, bearing the insignia of a lieutenant-commander, not even leaving him room to react.

"Hey there, sis." Said the man as he hugged her back. "Missed me?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I missed you! I thought you were still out there." She gestured vaguely at the sky, well, ceiling.

"I've been given a short bit of liberty."

"Ah. Heading somewhere even farther?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I..." He looked at both sides of the hallway, as if he was afraid of prying ears. Fat chance of that, the place was a block of tiny apartments like many others, buried within the wider hab tower, and populated by students who didn't want to have anything to do with each other. They didn't exactly go out of their way to rent them to mix with more of their kind after all. She certainly didn't. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." The young woman stepped back, allowing him in, before making an elaborate bow. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"You've been watching those holovids again." Said her brother, his voice slightly exasperated.

"Just because you think medieval stuff is stupid doesn't mean I do."

"Knowing how to swing a sword isn't a useful skill to have, Alex."

"Yeah, well maybe someday I'll be stranded somewhere and knowing how to smelt iron will come in useful! And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"What do you want me to call you then?"

"How about my name, oh Emile?"

"How about pixie, instead?" He chuckled as she huffed at her childhood nickname, before gesturing at her desk, covered in half dismantled electronics. "Or sparks."

'Alex' rolled her eyes.

"Fine, be that way."

"More seriously though, you shouldn't just leave that stuff around."

"It's fine. Besides, it's for an assignment. They're supposed to teach us how to code, but we sure spend a lot of time with hardware." Alex remembered she was holding a mealpack, and waved it. "You don't mind...?"

"No, of course not. Sorry I interrupted you."

"Nah, it's fine." She made her way to the microwave, embedded into one of the walls, and popped the mealpack in, quickly entering the time, before stepping back to look at her brother with a raised eyebrow at his disgusted expression "Yes?"

"I really don't understand how you can eat that stuff."

"It's not so bad. Better than school food. Or nutrigel."

Emile shivered at that.

"Fair enough."

"Trying not to say that your vaunted naval rations are much better?"

"I don't get rations, I get a galley, and an officer's mess."

"I'm sure it's a mess alright."

"Ah ah. Seriously, sis, you won't reconsider?"

"Reconsider what? Spending half a decade in some stick up the ass academy, to then be shipped off to die halfway across the solar system against the Confed for some iced up rock?"

"It's not how it is, sis." Said Emile in a pained tone.

"No? Well, it sure seems that way." The microwave dinged, and she pulled out the now warm pack, tearing it up in a heartbeat, messing up the Arcadia Systems logo on the top, to get at the warm food underneath it.

She sat down on her bed, pulling a fork out of one of her drawers, and began to eat.

"Look, sis-"

"No, big bro. Drop it." She speared a meatball with the fork, and pointed it accusingly at her brother. "You managed to get Leah into the navy. Not me."

"And what, stay here, with your best hope being that maybe you'll follow in mom and dad's footsteps?"

Alexandra set her mealpack down so hard the food almost went flying out, and Emile deflated as she gave him a gaze fit to melt steel.

There was a long, awkward silence, before she finally spoke.

"Why the hell are you so insistent about this? What, is the navy desperate for warm bodies now?"

He looked away.

"Yes."

"Why? Big war coming up?" There was a tinge of fear in her voice. She couldn't help it. She'd lived all of her life in the ruined shadows of the Terran Hegemony's atrocities. It was hard to not be afraid of war when you could see the skeleton of a nuked metropolis out of the windows of your classroom, and knew that going outside without a filtration mask was playing dice with the Gods.

"No. I can't tell you what's happening. But I know there's going to be a massive expansion of the navy. One that'll require so many people, anyone already in will be catapulted upwards."

"Oooh, big secrets, is it? My brother is privy to the thoughts of the High Admiral and the Council now?"

"More than you know." His tone made her hesitate, but this was her big brother.

"Come on, spill. You've never been good at keeping things from me."

"I always was when it came to protecting you."

"Oh, please. What's the all the hush hush? What kind of big secret would have you scared?"

He met her gaze and she froze like a deer in headlights. She'd never seen her brother actually afraid. He was always bull headed, full of bravado. Meeting bullies with fists, not words, and he'd taken that same spirit up to space with him.

And what she saw now was true, actual fear.

"The kind of secret they've executed people over."

There was another, long silence, only broken by Alexandra chewing on her cooling food.

Finally, after she was done, she looked up.

"Okay. So you want me to enlist?"

"No, I want you to try the academy. I have some friends there still. Plus I've gotten a lot of favors. Rubbed some backs, now they'll rub mine. If you're in, you'll have it easy, trust me."

"Uh huh. Of course." She met her brother's gaze again, and sighed. "Okay, fine!" She threw her arms up. "I'll try. Sign up for the entrance exam. See if I pass. But no promises, okay?"

"That's all I ask." He smiled at her, and grabbed the cap he'd had under his arm the whole time, jamming it on his head.

"That thing is still freaking ridiculous."

"You should see how the flag officers look with their capes."

"Just because your bosses look more stupid that you do doesn't make you look good."

"Ah! One day, you might wear that cap with pride, sis. Maybe even those ridiculous half capes."

"Yeah right. Over my dead body. So, off to space?"

"Yep."

"Jupiter? Saturn?"

"Can't say. Let's just say it's...among the stars."

"Aaaah. Outer system? The Kuiper belt? I heard there was a lot of noise there. Something about independence and lack of investment."

Her brother gave her a small smile.

"Something like that sis. Something like that..."

"Still being mysterious, uh?" She frowned. "Does it have something to do with that big expansion?"

He looked away.

"It does. But trust me, when it'll be public, you'll know instantly. Now I really have to go. I need to go see mom and dad before I go back in orbit."

Alexandra got up, and wordlessly hugged him. He returned it, equally wordlessly.

They just stood there for a minute, before she spoke up.

"Be safe, big bro."

"You too, little sis." He smiled, as he ruffled her hair. "And remember what you said, alright? You've got a bright future ahead of you, Alex, I can feel it."

Alexandra woke up, like she'd been hit by a sledgehammer, rising her head from the workbench as Emilia entered the workshop.

"Alex, we- what happened to you?"

Alexandra touched her cheek, and realized they were stained with tears. Had she been...sleeping?

She hadn't slept since she'd become a dungeon core. What the hell was happening to her?

"I think...nevermind, what's happening?"

Emilia clearly was wondering what the hell her girlfriend had going on as well, but clearly she had bigger worries right this second.

"You have to get to the communications room." Her face was grim. "The UDC just imploded. It's a new dungeon war. And this time it's dungeon against dungeon."

Alexandra wiped her tears, under Emilia's worried gaze.

"I'll be right there."