8 months post arrival

"BREACH! GO GO GO!"

"CLEAR!"

"CLEAR!"

Pavle watched as the marine squads performed a standard building clearing exercise. These exercises were being conducted to provide more training for the volunteers that would join the marines on missions.

"I take it everything is going well Pavle?"

Turning his head, Pavle saw Ceren enter the viewing room. A small smile on her face.

"I would say so. The newer members are still slow, but that will be fixed given time." he said, turning back to the monitors as a new group entered.

"Any that may require Rift training?" Ceren asked.

"Not at the moment."

As Ceren sat at one of the nearby chairs, Pavle's mind began to wander. While the volunteers would help, they would be nowhere near good enough.

"Captain, I would like to request that I can join on higher-risk missions. While the volunteers will do well, I want to be able to help."

"That's fine Pavle, just make sure you get back in one piece."

Pavle nodded in affirmation.


Summer's vision slowly returned to her. Her eyes beginning to open. The first thing she was able to see was a blinding light above her.

"Summer, your awake." she heard Zuhura say to her right.

Turning her head, Summer's vision had finally recovered enough to see Zuhura clearly. And Zuhura's face was full of concern.

"Zuhura, I'm in medical aren't I?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Yes, you took a slug back on the planet Summer. It, it wasn't good."

"But I made it, right?"

"Yes, but. Just. Look at your left arm." Zuhura said, her voice falling.

Filling with concern, and some fear, Summer finally looked at her left arm.

Only to see nothing there.

'W-what. What happened to my arm?" Summer asked, her voice shaky.

Zuhura looked at her, eyes filled with compassion.

"I had to amputate. You got hit by a SP round Summer. If you just had a shield, I would have been able to regenerate your arm. But your Aura. Your Aura slowed the round down just enough that some Flonite got left in the wound."

"You couldn't just remove it?"

"I don't have the equipment to do so. The only choices I had were to amputate or leave you with a completely useless left arm."

Summer understood that reasoning. But losing her arm still felt worse.

"Is there anything you can do t-"

"I already ordered a prosthetic from the manufacturing bay. By tomorrow you'll have a mark-892 multi-purpose arm. It's as close to the real thing as we can get."

Summer slowly gained a small smile, she was glad that Zuhura was at least able to get her a prosthetic arm. Even if it wouldn't be close to the real thing.

"Well, at least I'll have an arm. It'll be one hell of a story to tell my kids."

Zuhura just smiled.


1 year post arrival

"Impact on target, 1 enemy vessel DIS sir."

"Good, are the ground teams finished?"

"Yes sir, all teams are RTB now."

Ceren smiled. Another 3 Red Star bases and 2 Destroyers gone. The past 2 months had been massively successful. 12 Red Star bases destroyed, 6 more Destroyers killed and 1 cruiser heavily damaged.

"Nav, once the ground teams are back get us jumped. RS reinforcements are going to arrive soon."

"Roger that sir."


Summer flexed her arm again. Even 2 months after she lost it, she could still feel her old arm. Phantom pain, she knew what was happening. But despite the occasional instances of pain, her new arm was amazing.

The arm, built from Tri-tanium alloys was stupidly durable. She literally had an arm made from the same materials that TANK armor was made from. It wasn't as durable as tank armor though.

"Summer, you awake there?" Nona asked. "You've been staring into space for about 5 minutes now."

"Sorry, my mind was wandering." Summer answered.

"Alright. You ready for this mission?"

Summer recalled the briefing. Thorn squadron was going to be providing CAS for ground teams attacking a RS base. Intel assumed that it was an armory or repair station of some kind, which made it a major target.

"Thorn, finish your pre-flight checks. We are launching in 5."


"Diamond to Thorn, we have hostile MGs located in grid 225, they have us pinned. Need CAS."

"Copy Diamond, Thorn inbound for CAS."

Summer's E-77 banked hard to the left, her hands flying over the controls to switch to bombs.

"Hostile BRA 215, Angels 20 hot."

"Thorn 5 and 6, intercept that target."

"Roger."

"Copy."

As Thorn 5 and 6 pulled off to engage the enemy contact, Summer and the rest of Thorn began their attack. One volley of 2000 pound bombs later the RS MG's were destroyed.

"Good effect on target Thorn, thanks for the support."


"Sir! New contact, Cruiser class!" the sensor officer shouted.

Ceren looked at the display screen, a contact had indeed arrived. It was a medium cruiser. Most likely a Halberd class.

"Weapons, target that vessel. I want bays 1-60 fired, MK 430's, 10 round burst per bay."

"Roger sir, firing missiles."

"Incoming missiles, PD's online and firing."

The Pathfinder shook, some missiles making it through the PD screen.

"Damage report." Ceren shouted out, her ears ringing somewhat.

"Strain at 2% sir, shields are holding!"

"Enemy Cruiser has lost shielding!"

"Weapons! Get some 900s on that ship NOW!"

"Firing!"

A few seconds later Ceren watched the Cruiser break apart on the tactical screen, her mouth twisting into a smile. One more Cruiser gone.


"INCOMING FIRE!"

"JENSON IS HIT, I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!"

"ROOF, LEFT BUILDING!"

"COVER ME!"

Reidun ducked behind a large rock, barely dodging a spray of MG fire. This was not going well at all. The Red Stars had fortified this base to hell and back, they had Carl damned TANKS. Worse, air support was tied up with enemy fighters.

"KOLT! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE WITH AT NOW!"

"ROGER!"

Reidun quickly shot out from cover, the E-1T launcher on his back being pulled to his hands. He needed to get up there and take out that tank.

"KOLT! OVER HERE!"

Reidun slid into cover behind his squad leader. Standing over the little cover he had, Reidun prepped the launcher to fire.

He quickly spotted the tank, the targeting system locking onto it in less than a second. Then, he heard a beep.

And Reidun pulled the trigger.

The missile shot out of the launch tube, hanging in the air for a split second before accelerating. The missile dived down to the ground, skimming the surface before reaching the tank. When it reached its target, the missile shot upwards, then slammed back down onto the tank from above.

"Damn good shot Kolt. That's one less enemy tank."

Reidun smiled.

For about 2 seconds before he heard someone scream something that terrified him.

"MECH! LANCER CLASS! FUCKING RUN!"


Power online. Primary systems activated.

Reactor active, 100% integrity.

Secondary systems online. AI core activating.

Linking weapon systems to AI core...complete.

Shielding systems...online.

Tertiary power online.

Beginning synchronization...complete.

Activating sensor arrays...complete.

Visual systems...online.

All systems online.

Combat ready.


Reidun was cowering behind a wall. His body was shaking, he couldn't stop it. There was a Carl dammed LANCER outside.

"God dammit. How the hell are we going to get rid of that damn thing." he heard someone mutter.

"Sarge will figure it out, he fought the things during the Orion war."

"Yeah, but back then he had access to a lot more than we do now."

"What the hell are we going to d-"

Whatever the man was going to say was cut off by a thundering crack, and the rush of wind knocking everyone over.

When Reidun stood up and looked outside he saw their savior.

"Holy shit, it's a Scarlet." someone muttered.


For a single second both mechs stared at one another. Then they moved.

In less than a second the Scarlet shot forward, 30mm auto-cannon firing. The rounds shattering against the Lancer's shields.

The Lancer spun, its left arm bringing an auto-cannon to bear, returning the fire at the Scarlet.

Hostile Lancer identified as F model.

The Scarlet spun, its body moving not like a machine, but like an athlete. The second burst of fire from the Lancer missed.

A second later the Lancer slammed a fist into the Scarlet's head, the blow being stopped by it's shields. The Scarlet responded in kind, the Lancer being pushed back.

Both mechs stopped the attack, and began circling each other. The 40-foot tall Scarlet staring down the 35-foot tall Lancer. Both had re-attached their auto-cannons to their holsters. It was a fist fight now.

The Lancer moved first, a titanium beam in its left hand swinging out, only for the Scarlet to dodge. A second later the Scarlet was hit by the second beam the Lancer held and stumbled backwards.

With that hit the Lancer pushed the attack, both beams being used as clubs. But the Scarlet dodged the attack, and responded by ramming it's left fist into the Lancer's chest, staggering it. Taking advantage of the opening, the Scarlet's right hand shot out and ripped the beam in the Lancer's left hand out of its grasp.

The Lancer's anti-infantry MG's began firing on the Scarlet, the rounds barely even straining the shields. Then the Lancer shot forward, trying to force an opening. They succeeded. The sudden attack caught the Scarlet off guard, and staggered them backwards.

Hostile Lancer is readying AM shot.

The Scarlet rolled out of the way of an AM railgun shell, the shell kicking up a massive cloud of dust where it hit the ground. The Scarlet responded by firing it's shoulder missiles. The missiles flew true and impacted the Lancer, forcing it backwards and straining its shields.

Then the Scarlet struck. In a display more akin to a gymnast than a mech, the Scarlet shot forwards, jumping over the rubble and slamming it's right fist through the chest of the Lancer. The Lancer's shields couldn't withstand the hit and failed, the massive fist of the Scarlet tearing through the Lancer's armor and crushing the pilot.

Without a second thought the Scarlet pulled its fist from the corpse of the enemy mech. Grabbing the auto-cannon from its holster, the Scarlet began to attack the enemy base, leaving the wreck of the Lancer laying where it died.


"Impact, 2 Destroyers DIS sir. Remaining hostile vessels are retreating."

Ceren smiled. The Pathfinder just finished it's largest fight against the Red Stars yet, 13 of the 20 enemy ships that attacked them now drifted through space as nothing but wreckage. And the Red Stars were down another cruiser now.

"Update on the ground teams." Ceren asked.

"They just finished up sir. All teams are RTB, the Longsword is picking up the Scarlet now."

"Good. Nav, do you have a jump plotted?"

"Yes sir, but it will take about 15 minutes to charge the drives."

"Make it 10, we don't have long until enemy reinforcements arrive."

"Yes sir!"


1 years 5 months post arrival

"GOD DAMMIT!" Nona screamed in frustration. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS?"

Summer was quiet. She was enjoying the drama. 'Doesn't feel good to lose everything does it Nona? Now you know how I felt when you did it to me' Summer thought to herself.

Joord, the Xenovian that was sitting at the table with them, flashed what could only be described as a shit-eating grin. "I have a business degree you know? It's your fault for challenging me to Monopoly, Nona. You know how that ends."

Nona just screamed, quieter now, in rage and frustration. "I know. I just want to beat you ONCE. Just ONCE! Is that too much to ask?"

"If you want to beat me, get better at the game first. Quite the skill issue if I do say so myself."

Summer couldn't contain her laughter anymore and broke out laughing. And she kept laughing as Nona stormed out of the room in a rage.

Joord couldn't stop laughing either.


"Summer. It's good to see you again, how's your arm?" Zuhura said as she entered the room.

"Good to see you too Zuhura. And my arm has been fine, thanks for asking." Summer responded.

Zuhura sat down next to Summer. This was nice for Summer. Zuhura was the first friend she made on the Pathfinder, and Zuhura was always there for her. Not just as a doctor, but also as a friend.

"Zuhura, I have a question for you." Summer asked, her voice low.

"Go ahead Summer."

"I.. Your my best friend on this ship. I can almost call you family. I have to ask, do you mind me introducing you to my daughters as a member of my family?"

Zuhura momentarily paused. Her mind doing a soft reboot as she processed what was said. Once her mind was done, she spoke. "I don't mind at all. But do you think they will accept it?"

"I hope so. If their anything like me they will."

Summer and Zuhura could only smile at one another. They were one step away from being family, if they weren't already.


Pavle heard the door behind him open. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Ceren entering the room.

"What do you need Ceren?"

"I just wanted to talk Pavle. It's been a while since we just talked."

Pavle turned around in his seat to face Ceren. She was right. It had been almost 1 and a half years since they last talked like this. He was looking forward to it. "What did you want to talk about?"

Ceren gave a small smile. "I.. I wanted to talk about, everything."

"Ah. Are you still struggling with the guilt?"

Ceren looked Pavle in the eyes. "No. I got over that. Mostly. I wanted to talk about how you have been."

"I've been, fine. It's difficult. I don't know what to do some days. I try to keep myself busy with finding Remnant, but I hardly have any progress."

"I trust you Pavle. And I know you trust me. If you ever need help with something, just ask."

Pavle smiled. "Thank you, Ceren. I'll remember your offer."


"Sir. We are picking up a faint signal."

"What is it?"

"Unknown as of now sir, but it's transmitting with UEC encryption."

That caught Ceren off-guard. Her mind began racing. That signal was either a trap by the Red Stars, or another UEC vessel.

"Is that signal in our path?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright. Intel, get working on zeroing in on it, once you have send the coordinates to Navigation. Until then, we keep moving on our current heading."

"Roger that sir."


1 year 7 months post arrival

Summer was on a normal CAP. The Red Stars hadn't attacked in several months, but that just meant that they were planning something. So CAP's had increased recently. No one wanted to be caught off-guard again.

"Thorn 3 to Pathfinder, I'm detecting an incoming vessel on scans. Destroyer class."

Summer's entire body tensed as she heard the report from Thorn 3. An incoming Destroyer was usually the first indication of a Red Star attack.

"Thorn, pull back to missile screen."

"Copy, moving to missile screen."


Ceren was looking at the tactical screen again. The Destroyer had yet to arrive, thankfully Thorn spotted it before it arrived. Now the Pathfinder was ready. The missile bays were prepped. Some Red Star ship was going to get blow to pieces soon.

"Weapons, lock that target the moment it enters system."

"Copy sir."

Ceren was getting excited. This was one of the few times they could ambush Red Star vessels. Any kills, no matter how small, increased their chances of survival.

"New contacts, 3 vessels, Destroyer class."

There they were. The Red Stars learned to stop sending ships out alone. That usually led to a destroyed ship.

"All contacts in system, we have them all locked."

"SIR!. Enemy vessels appear damaged!"

That gave Ceren pause. Why were they damaged? That didn't make sense.

"Do BDA. What caused that damage?"

"Damage profiles match those of MK 347's sir."

Well then. Someone was firing MK 347's. It was possible that another Red Star group fired on them. But it was also possible that a UEC vessel fired.

"ENEMY VESSEL DIS!"

"WHO FIRED?"

"NO SHOT FIRED SIR!"

Ceren's head snapped to the tactical screen. What the hell just took out that enemy ship? It sure as hell wasn't the Pathfinder.

"Contact on scans. Single Corvette, Rift class."


Missiles screamed out of their launch bays, flying across the darkness of space to destroy their targets.

Unseen by the enemy, a single Corvette floated through space, its weapons trained. The stealth systems onboard preventing the enemy ships from seeing it.

As the crew of this Corvette watched the last Destroyer die, they noticed the Battleship that was staring them down. For a moment they panicked. Then the crew realized what kind of Battleship it was. And they rejoiced.


"This is FS-229998315 to the Eminent class Battleship that is staring us down. Identify yourself or we will fire upon you."

Comms quickly responded, not wanting to start a shooting match with an ally. "This is BB-3398871831 to FS-229998315, we are a UEC warship. Do not fire on us. Transmitting authentication codes now."

For a few moments, everything was silent. No one moved at all.

"Codes authenticated. Its damn good to see a friendly face out here." The Corvette responded after almost a minute of silence. Ceren smiled.

"Same to you. D-Bay 1 is open if you need to dock."

"We will. It's been difficult and our ship needs repairs."


Ceren was in her quarters. Sitting across from her was Captain Gilad, commanding officer of the UECS You can't see me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Captain. I thought we were the only ship out here."

"So did I. But it seems that we were both mistaken. You were part of task force Alpha correct?"

"That's correct. I'm just now remembering your ship as part of the task force."

Both Captains smiled at one another. They were part of the same ill-fated task force that was sent to get rid of that Red Star battle-station.

"I see your ship finally got a name. It's a damn good one too."

"Thank you, our newest crew member named it."

Ceren and Gilad drifted off into conversation together, the two of them almost forgetting about the passage of time. The both of them were glad to finally have an ally.

Several days after the Pathfinder and the You can't see me met, both vessels were ready to jump. The You can't see me was docked in D-bay 1, the vessel still undergoing repairs. The journey to find Remnant just became a little easier.


"Nav, jump us when ready."

"Roger that sir, jumping now. Jump time: 4 days."

The crews of both vessels, happy and celebrating the arrival of comrades, were ready for whatever came next. Whatever came at them, they would withstand it.

And they would find Remnant no matter what.