[Thursday, Feb 11]

Finishing the HMS Colossus has taken longer than hoped, but it’s finally completed and finished its integration testing. However, the delay has given the Commonwealth military the time it needed to staff the massive ship and finish building its accompanying fleets.

Currently, the Colossus and her fleet are doing workups as they await the Goliath’s return. Once she has, Goliath and her fleet will be allowed two weeks of R&R before both Planetary Assault ships along with their fleets will be deployed to Sigma Draconis.

[Friday, March 5]

Today is the last day of training to use the four versions of armored suits and all of their associated weapons. I have to admit, the training was hard, but it was funny too. When one of us would make a mistake, I could tell that Drill Sergeant Ruiz wanted to yell at us many times. His face would get red and you could see him struggle to control himself. Anyway, the training was still extremely hard for us, especially for my Chinatsu. She struggled with the physical training, but we did finally finish. All I can say for me is, ‘Thank God for my Krav Maga training, which Honoka makes sure I keep up with. Not only does it help me stay fit, but it also helps to relieve stress.

As I said, today is our graduation. We thanked Sergeant Ruiz for all his time. Yes, I know it’s his job and he’s paid for it, but having to put up with some nobles and his Queen… Yeah, the poor guy probably went home and got drunk every day.

So, with that in mind, after our graduation ceremony, we all smile as General Chambers walks out to us because we have a nice little surprise for him.

“Stand at attention, Master Sergeant Ruiz.” Jason looks at me and says, “Your Majesty, if you will.” I nod, step up in front of Sergeant Ruiz, and smile at him. He looks a little confused about what is happening.

Jason continues, “Attention to orders! The Secretary of the Commonwealth Army has reposed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and professional excellence of Master Sergeant Juan Ruiz. In view of these qualities and his demonstrated leadership potential and dedication to service in and to the Commonwealth Army, he is therefore promoted from Master Sergeant to First Sergeant. Promotion is effective 5 March 2077 with a date of rank of 5 March 2077.

“Signed, Jason Chambers, Gen, JCS

“Congratulations, First Sergeant Ruiz.”

“Congratulations, First Sergeant,” I tell him as I reach up and remove his rank insignia from his collar and replace it with his new insignia as I tell him, “Thank you, First Sergeant. I know it must have been hard on you training us. Hell, I could see you wanting to explode at me many, many times when I would screw up. I’m amazed at your self-control and extremely happy that you are the one who was chosen to train us. I do hope you continue to train excellent soldiers for us in the future.” I offer my hand to him, and he lightly takes it. “Again, Congratulations on your promotion. Believe me when I say that you’ve more than earned it.”

[Tuesday, March 23]
[DTI HQ]

Erica has barely sat down at her desk in the morning when the phone chimes. Looking at it, she sees that it’s Dakota calling.

“Hello, Dakota.”

“Good morning, Erica,” she says excitedly. “You might want to get the champagne ready because we’re coming to see you. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Bye.”

Dakota hangs up as Erica looks at the receiver, more than a little confused. She shakes her head and smiles as she thinks, ‘That’s Dakota for you.’ Hanging up the phone, she boots up her computer while she waits for Dakota to arrive.

Ten minutes later, Dakota arrives with Becca and Indy and takes a seat. Dakota sits there looking at me with a roguish grin.

I quirk an eyebrow at Dakota and wait for her to begin speaking.

Dakota shrugs and begins, “We finally finished testing all the integrated functions Sora wanted added to the CALi. I have to say that I’m more than a little surprised by how easy it is to use.”

I look at her questioningly and ask, “You have one?”

She nods. “Of course.”

“So, how is it?”

Dakota smiles. “It’s amazing, to put it mildly. I was at home, and Indy wanted to show me something, so we linked our Kites and then our senses. It takes a bit of getting used to, and it’s a little disconcerting at first, but you adjust quickly. Just think, you link with people halfway across the world, and you can see what they are talking about without having to use anything else or go there. It’s amazing is all I can say.

“We will still have to work on adapting our tech so that we can link with it to control it. We worked with the engineers to build one, and the control interface is rather easy to build and install. So far, we’ve done it with a few things. My house computer is one of them. I can control anything on it with a simple thought. Honestly, I love having the Kite.

“We’re going to have to talk to Sora, too. I set it for the Kite to control nanites. Trust me, that little feature was no small feat. Among the things I can do with it is to turn on or off pain receptors. Oh, I found out that our nanites are able to accept program updates. So, we can now control our fertility, meaning that we can finally have sex without having to use condoms if we don’t want to get pregnant. Basically, the nanites will destroy the sperm rather than transport it to our ovi.

“We’re ready to begin mass production whenever you give the go-ahead, but we’ll probably have to work with TGR to produce the quantity of nanites we’ll need, or build new production facilities of our own.”

“Congratulations, Ladies. Great work on getting it done so quickly. Send me all your data and I’ll set up a meeting with Sora and Katsuo to decide how we go from here.” I look at Becca and Indy. “Ladies, you have no idea how rich you’re about to be. Thank you for your hard work.”

“You’re welcome, but we aren’t finished yet. We have more ideas about further expanding its capabilities.”

“I never thought you were finished. There are always improvements that can be made. That’s the nature of what we do. We definitely have job security because of it. Well, Ladies, you can go back to work. I’ll call Katsuo and Sora and inform them. I expect they’ll be giving you a rather large bonus and a celebration party for you soon.”

[Sunday, July 25]

It’s taken more than six months to pacify the planet. The massive cost in casualties of Commonwealth armored troops and ships is far more than the total casualties of WWI and WWII combined. While the number of casualties compared to the number of enemy troops they faced is extremely low, their deaths still weigh heavily on Admiral Abrams.

Between the ground troops and fleet losses, the total is 2 supercarriers, 197 carriers, 206 dreadnoughts, 426 battleships, 519 assault carriers, 580 troop carriers, 1,992 battlecruisers, 3,089 cruisers, 10,271 destroyers, 17,724 frigates, 20,009 strike fighters, 104,731 fighters, 69,756 fighter/bombers, 3,212,619 dropships, 2,892 heavy bombers, 361,917 gunships, 2 transports, and 2,628,451 armored troops and Marines. The total number of dead for the commonwealth is 42,995,657.

Cassiopia estimates that the total number of Alkarin military deaths in the Epsilon Eridani system exceeds 200,000,000. Cassiopeia has no real clue as to the number of Alkarin civilian deaths as of yet, but she believes they will exceed 2,000,000. No more than a handful of them are due to Commonwealth troops. Abrams closes her eyes as she tries to come to terms with the number of deaths overall.

She tells herself, ‘I’ve only done my duty to humanity and the Queen, but still, I’m appalled at the utter waste of it all. What’s going to happen in the Alkarin’s more populated systems?’

She simply can’t imagine the death toll that taking them will bring. Standing up from her seat in the CIC, she says, “XO, you have the con. I’m going to rest.”

[Monday, July 26]

Admiral Abrams is in a video conference with the 18 supercarrier captains.

“Thank you for joining me. I know everyone is still tired. It’s been a long, hard fight to get here. However, Eridani is ours. We’re about to jump for Earth, but we have to leave a force here to protect the system. I realize that everyone would like to go home for some R&R, but not everyone can. I’m leaving your supercarrier battlegroups here. Captain Singer, you’re the most senior amongst the supercarrier captains, so you’ll be in command of our forces here.

“I’ve already talked to Admiral Jessup’s replacement, Admiral Brown, and she’s putting together your relief forces as we speak. They should arrive in about two weeks. Until then, stay sharp. When you get back to Earth, the first round at the Officer’s Club is on me.”

A couple of hours later, the fleet is ready and jumps for Earth.

[Thursday, August 13. 22:49 UTC]

Abram’s massive fleet exits jump space at the L4 Lagrange point. Abrams contacts CMCC and is ordered to immediately make way for high orbit around Mars at the Asteria Station shipyards for repair and refit while the crews are released for two weeks of R&R.

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

[Friday, August 14]

Sora and her cabinet sit in a conference room deep in the heart of CMCC. It’s not as large as the conference room at the palace, but it’s more than comfortable enough, even if it isn’t as well-appointed, and it’s much more secure. Though, considering the importance of the briefing that is taking place, having it held here is the correct decision.

Sitting around the oval table are Sora; Sun-Jae Song, Minister of Agriculture; Jennifer Wilson, Minister of Defense; Annette Davis, Minister of Treasury; Nao Kitamura, Minister of Oversight; Zoya Kirilenko, Minister of Intelligence; David Hawks, Minister of Science and Technology; Jason Chambers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Admiral Melanie Brown, Admiral of the Space Force; Walter Kleinhaus, General of the Army; with Admiral Jesselynn Abrams, Commander of the HMS Goliath, currently standing at the podium.

This was the first official debriefing that had been called by Sora since the fleet’s return. The summary of the battle that Abrams delivered by QC link had been far more than disturbing.

“So, you lost a third of your ships, Admiral,” Sora says, looking at the room’s display screen and the brutal list of losses it showed in stark text. “Yes, Your Majesty,” Abrams replies. She’s fully prepared to be relieved of command.

The weight of the losses and the idea of being relieved had eaten at her like acid. She knew there was far more at stake than just her career or her pride. Had she been in the Queen’s position, she would not have hesitated to cashier an officer who had lost a full third of her fleet. The Queen had given the whole of her command very strict instructions that they weren’t to sacrifice the fleet as a fighting force, but that’s essentially what she had done.

She had been appalled at how many ships were missing when the Goliath arrived at the rendezvous point around the moon. She had taken a high-stakes gamble by only sending 3 supercarrier battlegroups to the moon, even if reinforcements were sent to them after the fact, and she lost a lot of ships because of it.

The Queen stares at her, and the others in the room suddenly find other things to look at. They think they know what is coming, too. But, as she has on so many other occasions, Sora surprises them.

“Under the circumstances, Admiral, you and your crews did an amazing job,” she tells her. “I know what I told you before you jumped for Eridani, but honestly, I knew it was going to be a bloody fight. I was actually prepared to hear that you’d lost far more of your fleet.”

Abrams can only look at her and blink since Her Majesty has taken her completely by surprise. “Ma’am, I’ve already prepared my resignation and retirement papers,” she says after she recovers as if she hadn’t heard a word of what the Queen has just said.

She had practiced this conversation so many times on the trip home that her brain simply hasn’t caught up with reality.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Admiral,” Admiral Brown, her direct superior, tells her with a smile. “The Queen, General Chambers, and I are of one mind on this. The losses suffered by your forces were heavy. No one can dispute that. But you, and your troops in the ground battle carried out the spirit of our Queen’s orders.”

“You might have been able to preserve more of your ships had you pulled out of the system before the final engagement with the Alkarin fleet,” Sora tells her, “but that would have merely left us with having to return to take the system. I’ll say this only in this room, and it is never to be repeated: as great of a tragedy it may be to lose so many men and ships, it’s a price that we can ill afford not to pay. Believe me, leaving would have been an unmitigated disaster in this situation. Admiral,” she tells him, “I want you to know that the sacrifice of your ships and crews, and the sacrifice of the ground troops, aren’t in vain.”

Sora pauses and looks around the table for agreement, and everyone nods. Sora nods at General Chambers, and he picks up the reins of the conversation.

“We all agree that you did a phenomenal job. The losses are painful, but not catastrophic. All-in-all, we think no one could have done a better job considering the relevant facts. No one could have expected that they would throw that many ships into the fray around the moon.

“We’re done here, and I believe you deserve some rest, Admiral. You’re dismissed. I’ll see you in two weeks.”

Admiral Abrams looks at Chambers disbelievingly, but nods, then salutes, and quickly leaves the room.