So how about that Liberation Day Trailer? Looks like they grabbed a bunch of CGs, which admittedly look really nice. Hope they play that well in the actual game. Probably won't change anything here. MEANWHILE, in Rewritten Land: Literally nothing in this chapter happened in VN. I don't care at this point.

Long ago, before Ryuvia even held the seat of the head of the galactic human empire, warp technology was slow. Instead of nearly instantly arriving at a destination going faster than light, ships sped at the speed of light or even slower. Crossing between systems was a month or year long expedition that required a ship be equipped with cryogenic systems, or the crew arriving would be several generations after the crew that departed. Warp travel required a ship to be, for all intents and purposes, at the very edge of a system before warping away or all hell would break loose.

Now, those issues were solved. Once it would be completely impossible for a ship like the Sunrider to visit the graveyards of former battles in a single tour, now it was as easy as waiting for the warp capacitors to recharge. A ship as small as the Seraph could do it, though it had the benefit of Ryuvian technology long lost to the galaxy. To each battle site did the Sunrider go, only after getting approval from the Seraph that no PACT crews were still a threat; it only occurred once, a single ship's crew having survived on the supplies in their hold and using EVA gear to pillage 'nearby' ships when they ran out. Their cries for aid and rescue went unheard as the Sunrider smote them from the galaxy.

Ava sighed as yet again, red Xs displayed on the tactical map. "Captain, we're not finding a single suitable ship." This was their fifth convoy ambush, some time after they acquired Asaga and Chigara, and their fifth warp in to check the ships they'd destroyed. "I guess that is a bit of a good thing, it means we're thorough." Shields barely got a rise out of Pfeiffer, and the thought began to creep into his mind that his plan would not be possible. "Look, we've got four more sites to check, after that we'll figure out a new plan to rescue Asaga, but I'm almost positive it'll be the next one."

"And why the next one? I don't recall you giving the order to only disable a ship and not destroy it, even to Chigara."

"Because you specifically said we haven't found one yet, that's why. Don't you remember any Ceran literature? We're bound to find what we're looking for the moment someone says we won't or can't find it." She didn't even sigh, she didn't even shake her head - the stress and lack of proper sleep was putting Ava on edge. "Captain, permission to speak freely?"

"If I say no it won't stop you, so yes."

"That's just stupid. We've spent the last three hours after refit looking at ambush sites for a single ship to have a working warp drive and cargo holds. Just because you read one too many books in school doesn't mean they were all fact. I highly recommend that, if we're going to save Asaga, we do it now."

"Ms. Crescentia, not even Alliance intel is good enough to get us the telemetry required to make a warp jump within meters of the Star Palace. We need a way in and we need to transmit that as close to the jump as possible. The only way that happens without the entire Alliance Navy behind us requires sneaking in, and, well, the Ghost Ship isn't exactly a sneaky ship." He patted the arm of his chair, pretending it could hear him and was offended. "So we need to find a ship that can sneak into PACT territory and get docked near the Star Palace. From there, we can warp and save Asaga. There's only a few more sites left now, once we've checked them all, you have my word that we'll follow through with your plans."

"Your word, Captain?" The hand that once patted his chair now gripped it in a vice. Shields slowly turned to look at his Executive Officer, speaking between clenched teeth. "Yes. On my word. The same word that saved those goddamn orphans, those goddamn Ryder Pilots, those goddamn slaves and by my own bare hands this goddamn galaxy." The bridge was completely quiet - it seemed even the Sunrider silenced herself at Shields' rather angry outburst. Mcclain and Pfeiffer were both sitting ramrod straight and staring straight ahead like two children when their parents fought. Ava looked into Kayto's eyes for a second before looking down. "Y-yes Captain. I… apologize."

"Good. Helm, get us to the next site once Sola confirms no hostiles." The Sunrider accelerated beyond the speed of light and arrived at a scene almost the same as before. Quickly, the Seraph brought itself down on the Sunrider and was pulled into its docking bay. Before them lay broken PACT vessels, useless to their former commanders. Life pods drifted aimlessly without fuel or supplies, their occupants long perished. A quick ping showed some still generated electricity and no major life signs, this site already richer than the last. "Captain, at least three of those ships out there are still online… cameras are putting them in focus, look like the Venture Free, Centauri, and Breakwater." His fingers flew along the control panel in front of him. "The Venture Free has a blown bridge and the Breakwater looks like it's lacking standard communications dishes. It appears the Centauri… scratch that." The Centauri rotated to a degree that a massive gash down the side - a glancing blow from the Saviors - appeared, coring the vessel. "Looks like Breakwater is still salvageable. I'm getting energy readings from it, and the bridge is intact."

"You said it lacked communications systems?"

"Yes Captain. Scanners are definitely picking up some welded metal where the antenna used to be. My guess is it's got limited communication ability, possibly less than planet to planet."

"So you're saying there's a chance?"

"Yes sir, there's a good chance that ship is what we're looking for." Shields considered turning around and mockingly smirking at his XO, but decided against it at the last minute. "Excellent then." He pulled up the Ryder pilot display, Sola replacing Asaga's portrait. "Pilots, mount up and head for the tagged ship. Icari, get in close and make sure there's nothing freaky in there. Sola, hang back and do the same. Chigara, when you get close enough, disable communications and engines, just to be safe. And Claude." The moment he said her name, her eyes turned to hearts. "Don't use the special thingie."

With acknowledgements from his pilots, Shields pulled up another feed, the pictures of his shuttle pilots and Leo Thayer. "Pilots and boarders, the Ryders are being dispatched now. Once they give the all-clear signal, get on that ship, kill anyone inside, and make it space worthy if it's not anymore. We'll pump atmo if you need it." Each of them acknowledged, Leo opting for a salute while the pilots uttered "aye" each.

Minutes later, the Ryders were pulled from their docking bays and pushed into the void. Sola kept near the Sunrider, scanning the ship on her own and keeping the rifle pointed down the metaphoric Range. Icari was speeding off to do her own inspection, followed closely by Chigara. It was easy to see her disablers warming up as they got close. "Captain. I see nothing in my sensors. The ship is dead."

"Understood Sola. Icari, how's it look to you?"

"Not even there yet Captain! Just looking at it, it's not even responding to us. That thing is dead in the water!"

"Keep watch anyways, we can't risk it at this point." Chigara raised her hand in the cockpit, and Shields politely stopped speaking. "I disabled their communications array and engines Captain… I think it's safe for them to come aboard."

"Copy that." He tabbed to the docking manager. "Levings, the shuttles are clear to approach, get them in the air ASAP. Shields out." A minute later, the two shuttles carrying half of the Mining Union militia left the hangar of the Sunrider, on a direct course to the Breakwater. Most of them had their own EVA gear, but a few lacked and were borrowing unused Ceran gear - without the full crew complement and casualties, the Sunrider was overflowing with some equipment. The hope was they could find PACT EVA gear, or better yet, actual PACT soldier armor for use later. And since the shuttles were without proper attachments to board vessels, it necessitated they drop off troops outside primary areas of the ship or find a hole close enough for them to enter.

One shuttle headed towards the bridge, near the center of the cruiser, while the other maneuvered to a two meter wide hole near the engines. As the bridge crew began to weld their way in, the engineering crew gathered on the outside of the Breakwater, then cautiously entered. Some lights were still operating inside the Engineering Section, weapons drawn and visually scanning the large atrium. Shields heard rather loud chatter on the both their lines, and had to remind himself once more they were not military but glorified militia, not used to proper etiquette when boarding a vessel that could still contain hostiles. The Bridge crew finally made their way inside, progressing down the corridors, passed frozen bodies and globules of blood floating in the void.

"Hey Captain, there ain't nobody here, and I think we can use some of these bulkheads as airlocks… In fact, the one to the bridge is still shut. We might be lucky."

"Go for it Leo, just make sure it's breathable first." He mumbled under his breath, being commanded by a young pup like Shields, then directed his charges as close to him and not on the wrong side of the soon-to-close bulkhead. Once they were all in one section, they pulled a lever to emergency bulkhead down the corridor, watching it slam shut before opening the one to the bridge. Immediately they were assaulted by a wave of low-pressure air, knocking some of them off their feet, short laughter following from a few left standing. Before anyone had the chance to remove their helmets, Leo produced a small rectangular box, letting it tick-tick-tick away until a small green light blinked on the top. "It's breathable boys, let's get to work!"

As one, the militia closed their air tanks and opened up their air ports, letting the stale, metallically tinged atmosphere flood their senses. For some, it was a reminder of homes from long before. For others, it was just another obstacle in doing the job they way they did, nothing more than a distraction. Leo was firmly in the latter group.

"How's it looking in there Leo?"

"Weapons is completely busted up, electrical feedback, saw it happen before. I doubt any of the projectors are properly working either, if we get this running it'll be all terminal based movement. Other than that, we just need a minor patch job up here to work. How's engine crew?"

"They've hit a few… snags." A man with a rather thick yokel accent called up on the comms. "We take offense to that! Not our fault the good cap'n decided to gore the ship's engine!"

"Are you telling me this ship is not operable and we wasted all this time?"

"Nah, me boys can handle it no problem, like you said, quick patch job. We'll have to be on air supply though, big hole we can't patch without looking funky back here."

"The Sunrider can provide some spare air tanks and get you an air room, engine crew. How long do you both think repairs will take?"

"Probably around eight hours, at that, Captain." Leo looked around to see his crew rummaging around the stations, some already ripping wiring out from the broken terminals and holomonitor systems and handing them off to people waist deep in computer guts. "You've got half that, Thayer. Get to work."

"Yes sir. Hey, Malley, any chance of getting normal power to the bridge?"

"Let's check up here son… Engines and generators are online, 'cept for a few of the weapon specific ones, those are overloaded and gone. Uh, yeah, maybe."

"Good, I'll let you know when."

"Alright, hit it!" Immediately, each of the terminals in the dark bridge came to life, broadcasting a red light across the entire bridge. Some sparks flew from a holomonitor station but a swift kick kept them from coming back. "That's got it boys, power's coming up nice and good." Each of his crew examined their stations, two men on navigation and helm with another on operations. Thayer put himself at the communications station, like his previous jobs, getting antiquated with systems he hadn't touched in years. "Feeds coming in nice. Hey Shields, you getting me?" A few seconds ticked by. "Uh, Shields?" He looked over the terminal now, wondering where they screwed up when he saw it was still on PACT only broadcasting. He flipped to the common civilian line. "Shields you there buddy?"

"Sunrider's still here guys, everything working now?"

"Right as rain Captain. If we had weapons, we'd be good to go destroy a few prize ships."

"Too bad. You still remember the second part of this plan, right?"

"Yeah, I remember. We warp to Ryuvia, pretend we're a hurt vessel that barely survived, then transmit docking telemetry to the Sunrider. Not even a tough plan."

"You're forgetting that part about not completely destroying everything while you're there, and preferably not alerting them until the data is sent. It's useless to us if it's massively changed when transmitted."

"Yeah yeah yeah, no problem. Should be just one more hour until we're ready to warp out. Gotta run some maneuvering tests and shit like that."

"Understood. Sunrider out."

"How are the preparations, Fontana?" Arcadius failed to stop and question his subordinate, instead walking the length of the chapel he would soon be wed in. "They progress my lord, albeit slower than before. The Ryuvians are… less productive than their king reported them to be."

"Will it interrupt the ceremonies in any way?" Fontana shook his head, handing a holopad off. "We rotated in another shift of the workers and projections have the soundproofing and defenses produced within the next six hours. After that, you should be able to continue the moment guards are posted."

This finally caused Arcadius to stop. "They are not already? Fontana, we are disappointed at this lack of detail." Realizing the attack, Fontana furiously shook his head in defense. "No my lord, guards are posted now, but we need the workers finished before we can fully deploy the soldiers. Our best of the best may be above the Palace now, walking the grounds, but they cannot simply walk around the chapel without some cover. As I said, it will be finished in time."

"See to it, because it appears Cullen cannot. Speaking of which, how go his preparations?" The two of them stopped inside the chapel, near the middle. Four rows of pews sat unused, all facing the holy baubles and furniture of Ryuvia at one end, away from the large reinforced doors that made the exit. "You wish for my truthful word, my lord?"

"We do."

"Cullen has somehow managed to alienate even the best of our troops and they refuse to be present inside the chapel while Cullen is."

"And why cannot we switch soldiers for Cullen?"

"Because we require witness, lord, and soldiers are specifically outlawed from being witnesses on Ryuvia. I figured it more important to appear to follow their traditions…" Arcadius was silent at these developments, thinking through his various plans and procedures for how to react. "Acceptable. You are right, Fontana. Now, tell us more of the fleet…"

Several kilometers away, Asaga laid in a bed not touched for years, staring up at the holoscreen that simulated the Ryuvian sky she could not see any more, unobscured by PACT ships. The room looked exactly the same as when she left it - neatly put together except for everywhere. Clothes that no longer fit were left on the ground when she furiously packed, her old candy hiding spot wide open and filled with dust, the action figures she'd carefully and secretly procured still in one of her drawers. She'd expected the staff to clean up the room even a little bit, but it appeared that her father decreed otherwise.

The thought of her father brought a single breath to escape her, knowing that she'd still failed to speak to him since PACT dropped her off in the Palace. He had tried to apologize or at least get her to say hello when the squad of Elite PACT soldiers escorted her in, but her lack of response was enough of an answer to him. Deep down, she really did love her father, and she understood why he did what he did. Doesn't mean she had to be happy with it, though. She is Asaga, the eternal rebel, the eternal adventurer.

A knock resounded from her door. "Princess? I have your gown, it needs to be fitted." Asaga briefly considered ignoring the request, but knowing that getting it fitted now would mean a more uncomfortable wedding ceremony in the future. Not to mention, she was still in her pilot suit - wearing something else, at least for a little bit, wasn't a terrible idea. She rolled out of bed and silently approached the door, taking a peek at the staff through the peep-hole. The princess opened her door and ushered the smaller woman in, carrying a massive amount of white clothing that it seemed bigger than both of them combined. Asaga slammed the door shut and set her arms out, remembering the fitting process of other gowns from long ago. The dresser had a ruler out, muttering numbers to herself as she measured the princess. After a nod, Asaga was handed the bundle that was her gown and went to her dressing room to try it on.

When she returned several minutes later, the dresser immediately set about to fix it up as best she could - actually pulling the back together and placing it correctly, then noting areas where it was too loose or too tight. The arms were much too tight, it appeared that Asaga would simply rip them off with a single flex, thanks to her years of Ryder piloting. After some time of being poked and prodded and pinched by fabric, Asaga switched back into her pilot suit and handed off the gown to the dresser, who left to sew it to proper proportions. Had anyone else needed a dress or gown, it would a week between visits to get it correct, but as princess, Asaga was guaranteed to have it within the coming hours. Especially considering the wedding was due by the end of the day.

"Attention on deck!" Over two hundred crewmen snapped to attention at Ava's bark, slamming heels together and putting arms at their sides. Shields approached the several dozen closed caskets that occupied a cleared region of one of the cargo bays. He hated funeral detail, even when it was a simple accident, a death on board a ship was never a good omen in Ceran folklore, no matter how common it could happen. But considering Cera was gone, he thought, there was little that could go worse. When he was two meters away from the closest caskets, he stopped and turned on his heels to face his crew. Those assembled were only those off duty, meaning Harker, Brown, and Jimenez were unable to be there. However, twenty of the marines, including Aguirre were standing ramrod straight beside the caskets, two of them at the end of each column of caskets with Aguirre standing off to the side. Bertozzi was present, standing on a crutch and doing her best to stand at attention as well.

Shields took a moment to look at the caskets displayed before him, knowing each was a valuable member of the Sunrider's crew that they could not recover, wishing that some weren't so mangled that they could have a proper open casket funeral arrangement. Instead, they were all closed, the crew assembled knowing that a few of the marines were so badly beaten that there was no chance of an open casket. He took in a breath and began his short speech. "When we left Cera for our test run, we did not expect what occurred to happen, and we did not expect to be brought into this conflict. But we did expect losses, and we were prepared." His voice cracked towards the end of his statement and Shields forced himself to breath for a few seconds before continuing. "Prepared as best we could. Each of us knew the men and women in these metal caskets personally, each was best in their field. No matter what happens, we will remember their sacrifice to get us to this point." No applause came, as it should not have.

Kayto turned on his heels once more, to face the exit to the cargo bay. "Present, Arms!" Emphasizing a non-existent H in 'arms' gave him enough volume to be heard across the bay. As one, the Cerans threw their arms up in salute, watching as the caskets carrying their friends were slowly walked out into the void. The metal boxes carried only a single insignia of Cera on them - an engraving of the flag, exactly where the head would be. After the first set of caskets departed the Sunrider and began to travel on their own, Shields called out once more. "Order, Arms!" The Ceran hands fell to their sides. "Left, Face!" They turned on their heels, towards the cargo bay barrier, watching the caskets leave the Sunrider one by one until they were all in the void. "Funeral Detail, dismissed!" They lifted feet and turned on the heel of one and ball of the other, spinning exactly 180 degrees around, then walking towards the exit of the cargo bay. No one said a word, the funeral area a respected place and an unwritten rule to never speak during or after a funeral arrangement. One of the marines approached Bertozzi and offered an arm to help, but she waved him off and walked under her own crutch-fueled power to the lift. With the caskets gone and the crew going back to stations, only Shields and the deck crew were left in the bay.

Kayto finally appeared in the CIC a half an hour afterwards, long before the Breakwater was ready to warp, accompanied by Aguirre, Bertozzi, and the Ryder pilots. Though they were still working on getting power fully operational, Leo Thayer was representing the Breakwater in voice alone. Shields was busy planning the operation to speak, and it was only with a jab in the side by Icari that he finally produced the plans to his crew. A virtual, wireframe representation of the Ryuvian Star System appeared before them all, even Leo on his station, then quickly zoomed away to a spot far off from Ryuvia itself.

"This is a simple op. Ish. The Breakwater will warp to Ryuvia, unable to fully move on its own, so that means maneuvering thrusters only, if you're going to collide with something. You'll be questioned by the Docking Command System," the appropriate wireframe building highlighting itself to fully red, "which is when you inform them of your predicament. If our ambushes are still being felt, then they'll be happy to have another ship come back and you'll be towed into dock as soon as possible." Knowing there was more, the crew was silently watching, though Claude wasn't exactly looking at Shields' plan.

"Once you're docked, they'll get medical teams out there as well as technicians to begin repairs. Even though the dock is less than twenty kilometers away from the Palace," another, much larger building appeared red, the dock command phasing back into blue wires, "the security is going to be light - Arcadius doesn't want anyone to mess up his wedding, especially since Alliance Intelligence says he's given them only a day left to make it happen. Anyways, the security will be light and you're going to fight your way straight to the Command Station and begin transmitting their fleet coordination data back to the Sunrider. Chigara has a quartet of hacking tools ready to go that will help you and we'll get them delivered just before you warp.

"Once we get the data, the Sunrider is going to warp as close to the palace as possible. Preferably within a few meters." A miniature version of the Sunrider appeared next to the Star Palace, and the shuttles immediately shot out of its hangar. "Our two shuttles will leave carrying the entire marine complement, who will proceed to absolutely destroy little Arcadius' perfect day, grab Asaga, then hightail it back to the ship. We'll pick you boys up on the way out, unless you want to steal a ship."

Leo was silently for a few seconds, and Shields took it as a nonanswer, beginning to detail the next part of the plan when he was interrupted. "We'll steal a ship, gonna be a lot easier. Then we can really hurt them."

"Good then. Once the data is transmitted, make your way to the… Oh, cool, they named a ship the Podargus after the one we sliced back at the comm relay, that's funny." When no one laughed, he looked around. "Just me, really? Okay, fine, I guess. Right, steal the Podargus, because intel has it at just about to head on patrol duty. Meet up with us after making a few random jumps near Tydaria." Being Union members, they knew where what amounted to mining operation one was. "Captain, how exactly are we supposed to just get the princess?"

"Good question Bertozzi. When the dock gets attacked, security will have to redirect, that's a fact. Sorry Leo. So there'll be a window where a major fraction of the Palace defenses will be unmanned and unobserved. That's when you do a classic Ceran City Theatre breach, grab Asaga, and leave. Maybe kill a few guys there." The Ceran City Theatre Standoff involved a dozen gunmen taking control of the most revered musical hall on Cera, trapping over two hundred guests inside and threatening to kill them all if their leader wasn't freed from prison. Ceran Defense Forces were called and after a few hours prep, managed to free each hostage without a single shot from the gunmen, thanks to their commander's tactical genius… and copious amounts of explosives on the door with some stun weaponry to back it up.

Kayto took in a breath, and before anyone could comment, he was back to dictating. "But seriously, don't kill their commanders - Cullen is horribly incompetent and only wins through sheer force, he's basically our best ally. Killing Arcadius will only galvanize PACT into fighting harder. Oh, and since Ryuvian law requires a witness from both parties' families to be present, that means a good chance King Jaylor will be there. He, obviously, is a priority one no-shot target." A repeated animation of thirty Ceran Marines standing outside the Chapel then bumrushing inside after an explosion was before there, Shields obviously not planned beyond this. Ava was, as always, on point and unimpressed by his lack of farsight. "So what's the exit plan, Captain?"

No response at first from Shields, causing Sola to smile at his loss. "I've got it! We blow our way out!"

"What."

"Yeah, trust me, it'll work. Chigara got it back online and we've got a lot of spare parts left over from the repairs, we can just blow out way out. Make our own road, like we have been." She rested a hand on one hip and another on her forehead. "I don't even know why I ask anymore. Alright, fine, it's a good plan. For the record, I'm against it because of possible loss of the whole ship but if you think it'll work, well, so far you've been right. One last note Captain, what are the Ryders going to be doing?"

The map flew away towards a small rectangular area guarded by a pair of cruisers. "The Black Jack is being held here, behind some light guards. We send the Ryders out to destroy them, grab the Black Jack, and get back here just in time for Asaga to return as well. Simplest part of this op." Icari offered no opposition to the plan, and Sola complemented her silence with extra strength silence. Claude was off in her own world, nodding along while staring at Shields. He looked at the gathered personnel. Icari simply nodded, as did the Marines. Chigara smiled wide and Sola gave an almost imperceptible nod to him as well. Full support. "No issues? Great then! Breakwater, warp to Ryuvia in three hours and let's get this ball rolling."