Oh look, an update. When did this get here?

In all seriousness though. This got… A LOT of traction.

I… I'm so damn happy, folks.

Thank you so much, everyone. Especially at the SpaceBattles Forum. You guys have been AMAZING with the feedback.

Well, enough dilly-dally! Let us… Begin.

~O~

UNKNOWN LOCATION – MEDBAY OF THE MCS HIPPOLYTA - EIGHT HOURS AFTER EMERGENCY JUMP

Elyse had gone through her fair share of hangovers, reentries, concussions and bar fights, so headaches were something she had grown quite accustomed to. According to the ship doctor, it was decidedly not a healthy thing to happen, but at this point it was a useless argument.

So imagine her surprise when she was hit by the absolute WORST headache of her entire life as she rose from the bed with a pained growl, one hand propping her body up and the other clutching the side of her head. Thankfully, there was no bright light shining onto her eyes, an abundance of noise or someone pushing her down saying "Whoa, don't get up yet!" or something stupid like that. Instead, a greeting she had grown somewhat… Fond of.

"Look at that, she's awake," spoke up an aged-sounding voice from somewhere in the room. After a short moment to let the jackhammer inside her brain calm down a bit, Elyse searched the modestly-lit from where the familiar voice was, and quickly found its source leaning over a cluttered table in the corner of the med-bay, tinkering with a terminal and a few boxes of medical supplies. "Welcome back to the world of the living, commander. Glad to see you're still a light sleeper," quipped the Hippolyta's chief medical officer, Doctor Roman Hahn.

"Hey there doc," replied the commander of the Sentinel Corps with a smile, now fully sitting in the bed and with her legs hanging off the edge. "So, how bad was it this time? Did you need to break out the good drugs?"

At that comment, the doctor chuckled, closing the box he had been tinkering with before grabbing a cane resting to the side and hobbling towards his superior. "Well, you took a while to get up. Definitely had me a bit worried this time, but I can say you have a clean bill of health."

"Then what the hell's this headache? Feels like I got ran over by a warship…"

"Well, that's usually when happens when you end up going through an ultra-long jump. Spatial distortions end up messing with your brain functions, especially if you're not used to them," said the doctor calmly, placing a small plastic cylinder on a desk beside the medical bed. Inside were two blue-and-green pills, quite large, and some text imprinted information on the cylinder. "Here you go, freshly made. Take them if the headaches don't subside in four hours."

Elyse gave a thankful nod to the doctor, taking the container and stashing it inside one of the many pockets in her still grimy Pilot uniform. Something for later. "Thanks, doc. Any news on the rest of the fleet?"

And to her surprise, Roman's expression grew somber, looking at his commander with a sadness she had seldom seen before. "… They're waiting for you on the Avalanche, Elyse. They'll… Explain everything there."

"Al… Right. Thanks, doc," and with a quick swing off of the bed (and making sure that her sense of balance hadn't been left behind in the jump), Elyse was off. Roman watched the woman leave, and only when her footsteps finally vanished did he let out a weary, tired sigh.

"I'm sorry, Elyse… You… Better hear this from someone more qualified than me."

-O-

UNKNOWN LOCATION – 5TH FLEET FLAGSHIP, DOMINATION-CLASS DREADNOUGHT, MCS AVALANCHE

The shuttle ride to the flagship of her fleet did not take long, thankfully. And it at least gave her some view of the state of the Sentinel Corps.

It pained her heart to see how many ships were missing. And the ones that remained bore the scars of the recent battle. As she had approached the hangar of the Domination-class dreadnought, she saw the M-RVNs and repair crews working non-stop to patch holes and restore armor and weapons. There were even some Titans pacing alongside the hull, dragging heavy cargo or holding down large patches as the workers put them in place.

At the very least, the crew had been hard at work. If there's one thing she knew the Sentinel Corps for, it was their unyielding drive and determination. In fact, it was probably the only reason they had gotten through VAULTBREAK at all.

The hangar and corridors had been just the same. A chaos of activity as debris was cleaned and carted away, damaged Spectre and Stalker units were piled to be repaired or recycled, and in a few rooms, bodies were laid as respectfully as they could, covered by black tarps and tended to by a few crestfallen crewmembers. All of them nodded or greeted Elyse as she passed, with nods, calls of name or salutes addressed to the commander, and which were equally returned.

But the entire way, Elyse saw that there was something… Off about all the crew.

Like if their work was being done not only with the purpose of professionalism… But as coping? What had happened while she had been unconscious?

Not a few minutes later, Elyse found herself walking through the large, reinforced doors leading to the main CIC of the Avalanche. It was a massive room, large enough that several Legions could comfortably stay inside, and still have space to spare. Right in the middle stood a large table, with an equally large holographic emitter atop it projecting a 3-D representation of the 5th Fleet, with several of them shown as red and the word LOST above them. Surrounding the table were many men and women, all dressed in formal-looking uniforms with armor plating in several parts, some even with old and worn Pilot helmets upon the table in front of them, scars and bionics visible in their faces. One was even a simulacrum.

And of course, near her own seat stood Shatterglass, the Avalanche's android commanding officer. Built onto the same Spectre-derived chassis as the IMC's Spyglass, Shatter was a mobile AI platform that inhabited both the physical body standing amongst the massive group, and within the many, many computers of the Domination-class dreadnought.

In this room were gathered the twenty-four surviving captains of the Militia's 5th Fleet, all awaiting the arrival of their commander, Elyse. And as soon as the woman walked into the room, twenty-three figures rose and saluted, with Shatterglass instead simply turning its head towards and her and giving a quick, mechanical nod. "Commander Elyse."

"Shatterglass, captains. At ease," she said calmly as she walked around the holo-table and sat herself down on her own chair. The captains seated themselves once more, their postures a bit more relaxed than before, but their expressions still hardened. Elyse looked around the room once more, and felt her chest tighten. "A lot of empty chairs…"

"We all knew the fate that might befall us when we accepted this mission, commander," spoke Captain Alberte of the Graves-class battlecruiser Damocles. "And it was that sacrifice that gave us a chance to succeed."

"I am aware… But I wish I had more to show for it than the packages and… Well, this."

"The probability of survival for the entire fleet during OPERATION VAULTBREAK was rated to 2.63%, with a variation of 1% above or below the stated threshold," spoke up ARIES, the simulacrum that commanded the Hephaestus-class Mobile Factory Athens, their tone completely level and devoid of emotion. "Under the given circumstances, our performance exceeded combat parameters. Your results are acceptable."

"Thank you, captain," replied Elyse with an uneasy smile. The commander let out a weary sigh, running a hand over her hair and brushing some stray locks away from her eyes, before straightening her posture. "Alright, give me a report of total losses. How is our combat force?"

Shatterglass quickly reacted, pressing a few buttons on a control panel in front of itself. In response, the hologram of the fleet shrunk, allowing several graphs to fill the space they occupied. All of them were blue disks, which began filing up with red at differing sizes. "Current losses total: 42% of capital ships, 49% of fighter wings, 31% of armored ground forces, 67% of mechanized infantry, 24% of Pilots, 40% of Titans and 18% of surviving ships' crew." The AI zoomed back once more onto the fleet, dismissing the many "SHIP LOST" markers and instead focusing on their remaining vessels, several of them having portions of their hulls marked in red. "Current remaining fleet is at a net 64% efficiency, with repairs calculated to be completed in twenty-four days with no access to drydocks, sixteen if proper installations are found."

"Our resource stockpiles and production are thankfully plentiful and undamaged respectively," added Deanna, captain of the Orpheus, their Liberty-class carrier. The woman took a long drag of her cigarette, letting the smoke eb from her mouth like a dragon about to breathe fire, and stared at Elyse with her augmented eyes. "We can easily return the fleet itself to full combat capacity, but in terms of our aerospace and ground forces, we must be careful. Otherwise, we'll deplete ourselves quickly."

"There is also the matter of our munitions," continued Gedeon Raikov, of the Koshelev, his accent thick and voice hoarse. "We have expended much, and must replenish it as well. We cannot overtax our factories."

And throughout all of this, Elyse merely listened, even when the crushing feeling in her chest became even tighter, until Gedeon finished speaking and silence returned to the room. "Alright then… We'll head to the closest Militia stronghold for repairs and resupply, then head back to Harmony and drop off the packages. What's our current position?"

It was Elyse's Pilot modifications that allowed her to see the reaction of all the gathered captains. Shuffling nervously, shifting in their seats, some even locking up and straightening their postures minutely. Even ARIES began twitching their head, switching his gaze to many points in the room. The one that didn't react had been Shatterglass.

What the hell was going on here?

"Alright, first it was Roman, then the crew acting strange, and now all of you. What the hell happened while I was unconscious?" she finally asked, with a hint of steel behind her questioning. And to her frustration, none seemed willing to answer.

That is, until Shatterglass did.

"Commander, contact with Militia forces is currently, and for any future projections, impossible."

… What?

Shatterglass did not wait for her to voice the confusion that she now expressed, and instead manipulated the hologram to instead show a representation of their fleet moments before leaving the space around Nibelungen. Behind them, the massive beam she had seen be shot from the planet, with readouts and scientific information she didn't recognize or understood. "Before the fleet could perform its out-of-system jump, a spatial distortion several times the magnitude of the IMC's Ark weapon was fired towards us," spoke the AI, pointing to the blue stream that had wiped out so many of the ARES Division's ships on its path towards the 5th Fleet. "Following your orders, we performed an uncalculated jump, with the intent of avoiding the unknown weapon. However, though the beam did not strike our vessels, it interacted with the distortion caused by our fleet-wide jump." Like a recording being played, the hologram began moving, showing the beam slamming against an invisible bubble that seemed to surround their fleet, before the twenty-five ships jumped out of the system, represented by a large blue dot that began travelling forward.

And forward… And forward…

Elyse's eyes widened and her mouth hung agape as the hologram zoomed out further and further, showing their fleet fly through the Frontier at ludicrous speeds, past any mapped space and into the outer arms of the Milky Way.

And then out of it.

Further and further away, until the dot stopped so far from their galaxy that it had become no bigger than the fleet's marker.

"By approximated calculations, the attack overcharged the jump-drives of our ships by 6,707,243,449,002,323,076%. Using accepted parameters and observation data from external cameras and navigational data, it has been concluded that the 5th Fleet is no longer within the Milky Way galaxy, and have exceeded any theorized distance limit of a jump-drive. We have, from the count of approximately eight hours prior to this meeting, performed the first recorded trans-galactic jump, into an unknown galactic body. Without navigational data related to the galactic drift of our origin point and of this one, return to the Milky Way is impossible."

…

Another… Galaxy…

It was only thanks to the discipline hammered into her head through years of Pilot training that Elyse managed to not pass out again, right there in front of all the captains. But still, that discipline only went so far, and the commander found herself slumping on her seat, staring wildly at the projected path they had taken. "… The crew… They…?"

"They already know," said Deanna softly, her gaze cast down at the floor. "We… Made the announcement fleet-wide while you were unconscious."

"We judged it to be the best course of action," said the captain of the Graves-class battlecruiser Calamity, Islay. "If fleet-wide panic happened, then at least we'd prepone the possible consequences. And the fact we are nominally stranded… We counted on that assuaging thoughts of mutiny." The other captains gave slow nods at those words, and through the fog of worry and restrained despair… Elyse knew it to be true. Better to gauge the fleet's reactions now, when the environment was far more controlled.

"And I suppose the fact they're throwing themselves at any work possible is the reason things haven't… Collapsed into utter chaos, isn't it?"

The nods she once again received as a response only served to acquiesce her emotions slightly. Her gaze was still focused on the image of their fleet hovering on an unknown star sector, the surviving souls of the fleet that had been entrusted to her.

What could she do?

...

"… Shatterglass, are comms working?" she finally asked, her expression hardening with determination.

"Affirmative. Fleetwide communication were still operational post-jump."

"Good… Patch me through all ships."

-O-

HEPHAESTUS-CLASS MOBILE FACTORY, MCS ATHENS

"To all of the fleet's members, this is commander Elyse."

Aboard every ship, as one, every man, woman and machine stopped their work and turned to face the speakers and screens that now echoed the voice of their leader. They knew she had been unconscious for quite some time. Did she know?

"As you all have already been informed… And as have I, a few moments ago… We find ourselves in a situation never expected. We…" the voice paused, faltering slightly and allowing the crew to hear a hitched breath through the comm link, followed by a deep sigh. "As of eight hours ago, following Operation VAULTBREAK, we have… Suffered an anomaly on our jump drives… That launched us into another galaxy."

-O-

DEFENDER-CLASS ASSAULT CARRIER, MCS HERCULES

"… And from all the information currently available to us… Said jump is irreversible. Meaning that the Frontier…" Another hitched breath, another pause, much shorter than before. "That the Frontier… Is lost for us. Our homes, our comrades, our war… They are unreachable."

-O-

GLADIUS-CLASS CRUISER, MCS BERSERK

"When I took command of the 5th Fleet, and of the Sentinel Corps, at the foot of the shipyard where we first launched and in front of all of you, I made a promise. That I would see victory to the Militia through, that we would be free of the IMC's tyranny, and that we would gain control of our lives. That we would not have to fear the shadow of those who sought to exploit all of us for their own gain, and who would sacrifice us for the sake of 'a better world' that was meant only to them… And that we would return home in victory… But I failed. The moment we arrived on this unknown galaxy… I failed that promise."

-O-

TRIDENT-CLASS RAIL-CANNON CRUISER, MCS AGRIGAN

"And because of my decisions… Because of my shortcomings… Your homes are beyond your reach…"

And though they had heard those words before… Even if not worded as that, even if not spoken so personally, every crewmember felt it return. That feeling of dread, of hopelessness, of… Defeat.

Many felt their shoulders sag. Some let their heads drop, others curling up on the ground.

"… But…"

-O-

LIBERTY-CLASS CARRIER, MCS ORPHEUS

"I refuse to allow it to end here."

And once more, their heads rose, facing the direction of the voice.

"Our homes may be gone… But we carry it with us," the voice spoke again, this time once more filled with determination. With steel and pride. "We are the Frontier. We are its people, its way of life. If our Frontier is gone… Then we shall make this our new Frontier. In this new galaxy, in this new world… We will forge onward, as the Militia always have! And I will keep the promise that I've made, ten years ago! We will be free, now and forever more! We are the Sentinel Corps! So will you join me, braving the unknown!?"

And across the fleet, aboard every ship… They cheered. They shouted, hollered, some banged tools or clapped. Some of the warships even fire their weapons into the emptiness of space. As one, their spirits were lifted.

It was not a complete upheaval. They would still carry bitterness. But for now… For now, they would take this victory. For however twisted… It was still a victory.

-O-

With communications shut off, Elyse sank onto her seat once more, rubbing her temples and letting out a long sigh.

To her surprise, she soon heard another sound. One coming from the room she was in.

Clapping.

And indeed, as she raised her head, Elyse saw all the captains smiling and standing, their eyes focused solely on Elyse.

"Priyatno videt', chto u vas yest' navyki v teatral'nom iskusstve, komandir," spoke Raikov in mirth.

"Well, I learned a thing or two while out there, captain," she replied with a chuckle of her own. "So, inspiring speech aside… We need plans. Shatterglass, what data do you have for me?"

"Current deep space scans have revealed a small system at short jump distance from us," spoke the AI, moving the hologram until it focused on three planets. Short information texts appeared next to each one, and with a short beep, the hologram zoomed into the moon of the largest planet. "This satellite seems to possess adequate living conditions for human colonization. However, actual living conditions cannot be confirmed until a physical landing is performed."

"Then we must send a ship to that moon and verify its viability," growled Taurus, of the Chimera. "Our vessels are in no condition to perform any jumps, however. Repairs are still underway, which limits us to dropships—"

"Or my ship."

The gathered captains turned in shock towards the commander, seeing a confident smile on her face.

"The Hippolyta's not damaged, we have a cloak unit aboard it, and it doesn't need additional crew to operate. And the jump-drive's fast and powerful enough to get us to that moon and away from any danger better than our warships," continued Elyse, turning her eyes toward the hologram of the Draconis-class hovering beside the Avalanche. "Plus, we got plenty of Pilots and Titans aboard it. It's the perfect scouting party."

"And the fact you'd be putting yourself in danger?" asked Alberte, his arms crossed and tone dead-serious.

"I've been doings this since our first deployment, this changes nothing."

"The stakes have changed, commander," spoke up Deanna, her cigarette halfway burned and hanging from her lips. "Before, we had assistance from the Militia. Now—"

"Now we are by ourselves, I know." Elyse took her helmet and stared at it, peering into the shut-off quad lenses, before sliding it onto her head, hearing the familiar hiss before it became online. And when the four lenses came alight, she focused her gaze on the hologram. "But they've risked enough for me. Now… It's my turn to return the favor."

-O-

UNKNOWN SYSTEM – DRACONIS-CLASS TITAN DROPSHIP, MCS HIPPOLYTA'S BRIDGE

"Are you serious? 'Now it's my turn to return the favor'? Wow, boss."

"Shut the hell up, Jacob, I had to be inspirational back there. Otherwise they wouldn't let me leave."

"I agree with him, Elyse. You could have been less melodramatic."

"ADAM, you too. Shut up."

"Heh… Glad to see you back on your feet, commander."

One hour later, Elyse had gathered the Hippolyta's crew and some extra supplies from the Avalanche that had been shipped to them. With ammunition restocked, Titans repaired and left with plenty of spare parts and the ship confirmed to be in tip-top shape, all that had been left to do was ask her team.

She got three words in before they said "Yup sure, let's go," no questions asked.

And so here they were: Elyse, Jacob, Natalia, ADAM, Harper, Wolfe and Gardner, ready to become the Militia's first extra-galactic recon squad.

The Paladin Unit always did get strange missions.

"Alright, final check before we do this. Systems?"

"All of them running green, Elyse," replied Wolfe as he tapped away at his station with a smile. "Nothing to worry about, we're not exploding mid-jump."

"Jump drive is fully operational, we are set for FTL travel," spoke ADAM from the pilot seat as he typed away on the control console at incredible speeds. "I recommend we jump at a point distant from the satellite, however, as a precaution."

"Better than to piss off aliens, huh," chuckled the commander as she sat down on the captain's chair and stared out into the black expanse ahead of them. Somewhere out in the expanse, a new home awaited for them. Where and what it would be… Who knew? With how things were going, anything was possible.

But wasn't that part of the fun?

An alert sound from one of the consoles drew Natalia's attention, who quickly went over to check it, only to let out a chuckle. "Ma'am, we're being hailed by the fleet. Text-only message."

Curious, Elyse leaned forward on her chair, staring at their heavy gunner. "And what's it say?"

And with a smile beneath her helmet, Natalia turned back to Elyse and stepped away from the console, revealing only two words written in large, bold letters.

GOOD LUCK

"… Heh… Well, let's not keep them waiting. ADAM? Take us out."

"Yes, commander."

And so the Hippolyta sped away from the fleet, its many massive engines spewing blue flames as the Draconis-class dropship took to the black void. And moments later, in a blue flash of space-time distortions…

It vanished.

-O-

OUTER RIM – OUTER EDGE OF RUGOSA SYSTEM, IN APPROACH OF THE RUGOSA MOON

And in a second blue flash, the Hippolyta rematerialized into real space, lightning still coursing through its hull. A moment later, its hull shimmered like a distorted mirror, and the ship disappeared from the void as it moved towards the green moon orbiting an ash-grey planet.

"Well, there it is. Doesn't seem like much," said Wolfe as he put images of the moon unto the screens. "Got some scans of it coming in- … Well… Fuck."

"What now, Wolfe?" asked Elyse.

"We can scratch this place for colonizing. Atmosphere's fine, but no water or detectable plant life, just a bunch of dead coral and rock formations. I doubt there's any possibility of us setting up a colony down there…"

"Are you shitting me?" asked Harper incredulously, throwing his arms up in defeat. "All that big talk and speeches, and we found a barren rock? Seriously?!"

Elyse quickly stepped up, however, moving to stand beside Wolfe. "Alright calm down, let's not screw this up so early. ADAM, can you confirm?"

"The data is confirmed to be truthful, commander," replied the simulacrum. "Underground scans and telemetry data would require an in-atmosphere analysis and application of probes."

Just perfect… So their first hope was already a bust.

… Ah, what the hell. In for a credit, in for four hundred.

With a sigh, Elyse turned to Natalia. "Alright… Natalia, send a message back to the fleet. Tell them the moon's a bust, and that we're going to look at some other planets."

Natalia nodded in response and took to the task, bringing up the communication screen and opening a line to the 5th Fleet.

…

"… Uhh, boss? We got a problem. Big one."

"Nat, if it's not a black hole flying straight at us—"

"It's not. But our comms are being jammed."

…

Okay, actually a big problem.

"Natural or artificial jamming?"

"Definitely artificial. Something's blocking signals indiscriminately from entering or leaving the area. It's not targeted, so at least it's not because they found us." Natalia switched her station onto the main screen, with their position marked on one side of the screen, with the moon close to the middle… And another object, moving towards the celestial body. "And it's affecting those guys too."

… Well… First contact with aliens it'd be.

"Gardner, give me intel."

"Small ship, just a bit over one hundred meters long," began listing the Pilot as the image magnified and revealed a the unknown ship to them: a long angular ship painted red and white, with three cylindrical engines and a few cannon turrets lining the side or top of the ship. "They're shooting hails at the moon, but they're being jammed too."

"I can peep if you want me to," piped up Natalia, with no small amount of eagerness.

"The probability of understanding an alien language is infinitesimally low."

"Noted, ADAM," replied Elyse, snapping her fingers towards the female Pilot. "Do it."

With a pep to her actions, Natalia began cracking onto the communication lines emanating from the shuttle-like ship. To her surprise, there was very little security encrypting it. Little enough that, in less than two minutes, she had access.

"… repeat, Toydarian Royal Delegation, this is the Republic Envoy. Please respond."

You could have heard a pin drop inside the bridge following the silence that befell the gathered Pilots. Finally, it was Jacob that broke the silence.

"... Please tell me I wasn't the only one who heard that."

"Audio log confirms it is English language," spoke up ADAM in his usual monotone, his mono-eye head turning to Jacob. "You are no longer suffering medication-induced hallucinations." Gardner made to give a snarky reply, maybe lighten the mood, but that was quickly cut short when an alarm went off on his console.

"Two jump signals detected! Dropping on top of the unknown ship!" he cried out, putting the entire team on alert. And indeed, seconds after his warning was heard, two ships seemed to materialize ahead and behind of the shuttle. These ones were far larger, painted gun-metal grey and blue, and had a bulbous head and tail design, with two angular wings protruding from the middle.

And not a moment later, they began raining down bright red beams onto the shuttle, shaking and rocking the smaller ship with each successful blast.

"That's a lot of firepower against a target that small…" muttered Elyse, cupping her chin in thought. The other Pilots turned to stare at their commanding officer, their anxiousness at the situation growing by the second.

Finally, it was Wolfe that broke the silence. "You want me to get close? Cloak's still good for quite a few hours, and we're fast enough." To his surprise, however, Elyse shook her head, still focused on the main viewscreen.

"We don't know squat of what's happening here. I don't want to end up shooting at the wrong ship and becoming a criminal or something."

"Preeeetty sure the big ships are bad guys," said Harper, even as his well-trained eyes followed the still evading shuttle. Unfortunately for the white ship, its dodging and weaving worked only so much, and soon more and more red bolts begun striking the vessel. "I mean, good guys don't bomb a shuttle with two cruisers."

Yet again any reply was killed when suddenly, the shuttle began launching small pods towards the moon's surface, four in total, before jumping out of the system. And to their shock, the two larger vessels shifted their fire from the escaped shuttle to the descending pods, quickly destroying two of them and catching a third just as it began entering the moon's orbit. The final pod, however, miraculously managed to remain unscathed, and quickly began descending towards the green satellite.

"… I have their landing trajectory," spoke up Harper, a projected line appearing over the pod and ahead of it. "Your orders, boss?"

A second later, Elyse was at the door, helmet already on her head. "Everybody to the hangar. We're getting some answers right the fuck now."

-O-

RUGOSA MOON – IN-ATMOSPHERE, EN ROUTE TO EXPECTED ESCAPE POD'S CRASH SITE

Five minutes later, their black-and-yellow Crow dropship was streaking through the air after a successful jump into atmosphere. Luckily, it seemed the two warships had not detected the approach of the cloaked Hippolyta or their FTL jump onto the moon, either from distraction or because they couldn't pick up jump drives. The Draconis-class dropship had relocated itself to the other side of the moon, ready to move towards them at any sign of danger. Aboard the Crow, the Paladin Unit ran final checks on their equipment and weapons. All of them wore the Mk. 3 Pilot Booster Rig, the latest iteration of the equipment issued to combat-certified Pilots.

Whereas before they were limited to once tactical ability, these had miniaturized some of the tech and made them carry a standard set: A Grapple unit, a rack of Pulse Blades with recharge capability, and the standard booster units. The rest of their gear was tailored to their specific loadouts:

Elyse wore the Phase Shift rig, and held in her hands a Havoc energy rifle, with a Mozambique holstered on her hip. Jacob, a T.E.C. kit with a G2A5 battle rifle and RE-45 auto pistol.

Natalia made the final adjustments to her A-Wall deployer, her Alternator SMG and Devotion LMG already prepped and ready. Beside her, the Cloak-equipped ADAM and Gardner held a Triple Take and Sentinel sniper rifles respectively at the ready, with a Mk. 6 Smart Pistol on ADAM's chest holster and a B3 Wingman Elite on Harper's hip.

Finally, there was Harper, with his Active Radar Pulse unit, Mastiff shotgun and P2016 semi-auto pistol, and Wolfe, who wore a Holo-Pilot rig and hefted a "Sidewinder" Micro Rocket Launcher and a Volt energy SMG on the back of his waist.

To complete the ensemble, folded into small, compact forms were four Spectre units, armed with R-301 carbines.

For the sake of stealth, they were not carrying dedicated Anti-Titan weaponry, nor were they planning on dropping Titans, but the Hippolyta was ready to jump in and deploy them with one radio signal. Nevertheless, a seven-team Pilot unit this heavily armed would be more than enough to take on most challenges that the IMC could throw at them. Hopefully, it would be enough for whatever freaky stuff they encountered here.

Wolfe piloted the Crow just short of the massive coral trees that dotted the landscape, the mineral forest stretching as far as the eye could see, while the digital marker projected in his HUD ticked down in distance. "Almost there, commander. Gonna land the dropship away from the crash site just to be safe."

"Do your thing, Wolfe," replied Elyse as she locked the Havoc's power cell in place before turning to the rest of the team. "Alright everybody, listen up. We don't know what to expect at that crash site, so keep those fingers off the trigger. Fire if we get shot at, hope they don't have vaporizing guns or some freaky stuff like that so we can start shooting back."

"Yes ma'am!"

With an approving nod, she turned back towards the cockpit, just in time to see Wolfe arch the dropship up then dive into a small clearing amidst the coral. Had it been any other pilot, she would have had doubts of them managing the feat.

For Wolfe, it was as simple as sliding the Crow onto the clearing and reversing once they were centimeters from hitting the massive coral tree and rock formation right in front, and easing the dropship onto the ground as if it was a feather.

With a hiss, the Crow's bay door opened and lowered gently onto the ground, allowing the seven Pilots to file out quickly and orderly from the ship. Each one swept the area with their respective weapons, and once it was confirmed that the area was indeed clear, the Paladins relaxed, if only slightly. Jacob pressed a few buttons on the control unit on his wrist, and with a confirmation sound, the Spectres unfolded themselves and drew their weapons, quickly forming a perimeter around their landed Crow.

Dropship landed and hidden, security forces deployed, no signs of any hostiles.

Good. The mission could proceed.

"Crash site's one klick to the west, commander. We're clear to go," said the T.E.C. Pilot as he peered through the scope of his battle rifle.

"Good. Paladins, move out," muttered Elyse as low as she could into the comm link, and as one they began filing into the rock forest and away from the Crow. ADAM and Gardner quickly used their grappling hooks and hoisted themselves up into the coral above them, stealthily hoisting themselves onto the dead aquatic flora and vaulting from coral to coral, always shadowing the other five Pilots below them.

Like ghosts, the seven moved towards their intended goal, mindful of possible ambush points or for possible pursuers that might have detected their movements from out of sight. Suddenly, not long after they had moved out, a deafening hum began echoing all around, forcing the Pilots to stop and scan their surroundings once more. "Commander, aerial vehicle on approach vector. Unlikely to have discovered us, headed east-northeast," called out ADAM from above, his head turned away from the squad and towards the skies. And indeed, moments after the simulacrum called it out, a large H-shaped ship flew over the group, its engines rattling the corals around them and even toppling a few loose formations before disappearing from view into a clearer part of the surface to land on.

Elyse watched the passing aircraft with some dread, wondering what exactly could be inside of it, before signaling the rest of the squad to keep on moving, this time with added urgency to their step.

"Approaching the crash site, ma'am," called out Wolfe from beside her, Volt leveled to the horizon line and wrist computer propped against the SMG in his line-of-sight. With a nod, the commander signaled the squad to rush forward, the five Pilots on the ground breaking into a coordinated sprint while the two above used their grappling hooks to boost themselves forward silently. Once they sprinted up a small hill just ahead of them, the coral tree line ended abruptly, giving way instead to a massive clearing, with a few ground-level mineral plants doting the open area. And indeed, right in the middle of the clearing and at the end of a long trail of displaced earth lay a large cylindrical pod, its hatch open and smoke wafting from the damaged hull.

And surrounding the pod were four figures. Highly likely its passengers.

The squad quickly threw themselves prone, with Elyse, Jacob and Harper withdrawing a pair of binoculars from their suits to watch their target, while above ADAM and Gardner laid at the edge of the last coral trees to peer at them through the scope of their snipers.

Three of the contacts were humanoid in shape, roughly the same height and build and clad in a full body white armor, covered in red highlights and patches with full helmets concealing their faces. One was armed with a long rifle and had two pistols holstered, another carried what seemed to be a carbine, and the third one hefted a dangerous looking minigun. The fourth figure, however…

"… Holy shit that a green midget?" muttered Jacob, earning himself a quick whack on the helmet from Natalia. And yet, crude as it was, the description indeed fit the appearance of the little alien standing amidst the three soldiers.

The figure was diminutive, around the size of a small child, but the many wrinkles on its forehead and the grey hair at the back of its head hinted at an advanced age. It was draped in a white robe atop an orange shirt and brown pants, grasping a small walking stick in one of its three-finger, claw-like hand.

"Well, at least we can confirm one alien," said Natalia, lowering her binoculars to stare at Elyse.

"Mhm. Looks like they're part of some armed force too. An army of some kind maybe, or a PMC."

"Think they got some secret mission here?" asked Harper aloud, his Mastiff laying across from him as he continued to peer through his binoculars.

"They definitely wanted to land on the moon," replied Gardner. "And weren't afraid of being left here. I say we observe and follow, try to find out anything possible about them."

"Agreed," said Elyse, lowering her own binoculars just as the small alien and the soldiers began moving into the coral forests in the direction opposite of where the Paladin Unit was hidden. "Tail them. Keep your distance, and keep yourselves hidden."

And as soon as the four figures disappeared into the coral tree line, the seven Pilots took off after them, grasping their weapons tightly for some manner of comfort.

Though Elyse could not shake this unnerving feeling that somehow, they had already been found…

-O-

Just a few minutes later, Elyse and her squad found themselves crouched behind some large boulders or still above in the trees, watching the three soldiers kneel beside the green alien just short of a natural trench, with the troopers holding their weapons at the ready and pointed at something far in the tree line. "ADAM, Gardner, anything from up there?" whispered the commander at their two snipers.

"Definitely. Something's approaching from the same direction they're facing… A lot of somethings," replied the human sniper, his Sentinel already braced and at the ready. Beside him, ADAM kept his Triple Take readied and propped on a small bipod, the simulacrum's sensors synchronized with his Oracle TD Gunsight.

"Confirmed. Contacts approaching, several possible infantry types, three heavy armor vehicles."

Not a second later, the space ahead of the crash survivors was made alight by heavy artillery, large red bolts of energy crashing against the ground and several of the coral trees blocking the way. The ground shook with the heavy fire directed at the four, a cloud of dust rising to block the sight of the encroaching force, but still the white soldiers and small alien remained where they were, unworried of the bombardment directed at them.

"Damn, that's a lot of firepower aimed at just four targets," shouted Wolfe, his voice almost fully drowned by the cacophony of blasts echoing all around. "Either those guys really hate these four, or they're that dangerous!"

"Sure hope it's the former, honestly," yelled back Natalia as she readied her Devotion LMG. "Cause then we might have a chance to talk!"

"Well then let's make sure they're alive for it! Gardner, ADAM! Shut those things up!"

"On it, commander!"/"Affirmative."

As one, the human and simulacrum aimed their snipers through the thick smoke cloud and holes now on the coral trees, their scopes easily marking the skeletal robots riding on the open canopy of the three hover tanks encroaching on their position.

In one second, they had marked their targets.

Two seconds, their shots had been calculated by the on-board computers of their suits.

On the third, they let fly their shots.

The lightning-like crackle of the Triple Take and Sentinel energy-directed sniper rifles were drowned out by the roar of the laser cannons fired by the tanks. It only made it easier to conceal the snipers' attack.

And so, without warning, the three droids had their heads shot off in quick succession, their inert bodies falling into the inside of the tanks just as the cannon fire stopped, the robot infantry surrounding the armored support staring in confusion around themselves in search for the new attackers. The white soldiers, meanwhile, stared baffled at the sight of the armored convoy halting their assault, and began scanning their surroundings as well. To her satisfaction, Elyse saw that neither group had looked in their direction, and was about to order her squad to relocate to another point.

That is, until her eyes met with the little alien's, the green creature staring directly at her with an amused smile. And indeed, the little one quickly grasped the attention of his soldiers and motioned for them to pull back, the four figures quickly breaking into a controlled sprint. The alien then turned back towards Elyse, still with an amused smirk, and motioned towards the direction the four had taken off towards.

Jacob was the first to react.

"… So commander… What do we do?"

The expected question. The answer?

"What else, Jacob? We follow."

"God fucking dammit…"

~O~

Technically speaking, these author notes will make it 7k words, but I'll count because I'm a cheater c:

But aye, here we go, second chapter done! I'm gonna regret posting this so late, it's 3am and I probably won't sleep well/enough at all… But it is done. Chapter 2 is finished!

Once again, I'd like to give a massive thank you to everyone who followed and commented on this back on SpaceBattles, and for putting up with the wait for it!

For what I'll work on next… I'm feeling pretty cheery actually. Know what that means?

A "Charge the Heavens" chapter! But for real, I really do feel like writing another chapter for that story. Call it a mood.

For now, LandMaster out.