Final salvo, Mercy transmitted. Starting sequence. It was fun while it lasted.

　　A burst of missiles emerged from her small body. Four Scuu crafts in the immediate vicinity were hit, exploding into fragments, while eight more dispersed, composing new formations.

　　Everyone, return to the Gregorius, Incandescent ordered. Disengage all targets.

　　Mercy exploded, unable to confirm the order. Two more auxiliary ships launched a series of salvos moments before responding they would comply. After that, all communications stopped. The Scuu`s attacks didn`t, although their attack patterns changed along with their target priorities.

　　Three groups of Scuu ships clustered together, forming a latticework of connections around a larger enemy group. Every four seconds, the positions of each shifted, almost in perfect sync, forming new invisible patterns. In half a minute, three of the inner group of Scuu ships broke off, attempting to join the surrounding groups, only to be shot down by missiles launched by their former allies. Second later, more Scuu ships joined the invisible fight.

　　It was like a three-dimensional game of chess in which the defender was also the attacker. Through the brief glimpses of the fleets, I could see two brains fighting one another using ships as their pieces, with a single identical goal: obtain full control of all. Meanwhile, the human ships pulled back, gathering far from the combat area. They had no chance in winning a direct confrontation, but were strong enough to bring a disadvantage to the side that attacked them.

　　A perfect stalemate, I thought. The only problem was that this wasn`t supposed to be possible.

　　Restricted priority one message, a direct transmission from outside the system announced. It had the identifiers of HQ, but the protocols used were unmistakably from the BICEFI. The system has been designated as an off-limit area. All information regarding the events that have taken place is classified and will be restricted upon system exit. Maintain current mission parameters. Reinforcement fleet is being amassed.

　　Simulation end.

　　"Can you zoom in on the Scuu ships?" I asked from the SR pod.

　　"Nothing will change," Radiance replied in an annoyed voice. I didn`t know how close she was to Grace and Mercy. Once this was all over, I intended to ask.

　　"I still want to see them up close."

　　The simulation reflected the final part of the human-Scuu battle in the system that had occurred hours ago. Since then, a hundred and seventy-two new ships had entered the system, all Scuu that went on to attack each other—an event I found fascinating, even with my decades of experience.

　　News of the Scuu split was common knowledge among everyone in the fleet, but this was the first time I had actually seen it happen. Thanks to the last info bursts Grace and Mercy had managed to send before their final shutdown, I had managed to witness a first-hand account of Scuu combat, as well as its effects.

　　If several hundred Scuu ships managed to make their way to the Cassandrian front, the results would be catastrophic. Even with all our firepower, I couldn`t find a scenario in which our victory was assured. Other than purging whole systems, there was no stopping such an advance. Looking at it, it was a miracle that we had managed to withstand the Scuu advance at all following the first contact. The small, ill-equipped fleets humanity had back then must have been as efficient as cargo shuttles. The only reason I could see humanity had survived at all must have been because the Scuu hadn`t shown any interest.

　　"I`m not allowed to waste processing power," Radiance pouted. "New orders. They change every burst."

　　Bureaucracy at its finest. "What`s the new change?" I asked.

　　"I`m supposed to wait for further instructions. Everything else is sealed."

　　That was unexpected. My message to the BICEFI must have stirred things up a bit. According to my simulations, the optimal solution was for us to proceed to the innermost planet while the two Scuu factions were fighting. Instead, we had remained on the edge of the debris field, masquerading as trash. There had been no orders for us to proceed forward, head back, or even investigate the field except for probes. All that we were told was to stay and wait.

　　"End the simulation." I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was in the training room, inside the only active pod. "Any news from Gregorius?"

　　"Nope. Inca`s been giving out orders. As usual. Gregorius has probably gone dark. Don`t worry, he`s got enough firepower to take care of himself."

　　I`m not worried about Gregorius. I`m terrified about the people on him. Especially if Juul turns out to be right.

　　"Is the captain on shift?" I went out of the pod.

　　"He went to sleep fourteen minutes ago. Flight Colonel Nitel has the bridge."

　　Not the best of circumstances, though I had seen he was willing to work with me.

　　"Ask him if I can have a word with him regarding our mission."

　　"Okay."

　　I waited for several seconds, but no answer came. For whatever reason, he didn`t want to talk to me right now. On the other hand, he hadn`t refused, either. I was starting to get tired of this game.

　　Cracking my neck, I left the room. Life had started to return to the corridors. Small groups of techs were walking about, along with the few specialists that passed for scientists. Since the intra-Scuu conflict, the captain had ordered part of the crew taken out of their pods. No reason was given, though I suspected it had to do with some of the new orders that HQ had sent. The grunts, though, remained podded.

　　People stopped talking as I passed by. Most pretended not to notice me, while a few gave me a brief nod. I could tell they were tense. Even with the information of outside events kept secret, rumors had managed to spread. Either that, or they were experiencing residual side effects; at this point, it was impossible to tell.

　　"Why so eager?" Radiance asked as I entered the ship elevator. Her words reminded me of my second captain. The difference was that this time, I wasn`t the one in the dark.

　　"I don`t like wasting time," I lied.

　　"Well, all right." Radiance didn`t sound convinced. "Nitel said you can go to the bridge."

　　"Thanks. Is Kridib there?"

　　"No." Radiance`s annoyance could be felt. In many aspects, she still remained a kid. Then again, considering the amount of thought she had quarantined, I would be annoyed as well.

　　I made my way past the officer`s quarters to the bridge. The crowd was far less than before—a shift of five ship officers, three techs sitting in a corner of the room, accessing their datapads& and then there were Nitel and Kridib. Interesting that Radiance had insisted that he was not here. Upon seeing me, Kridib whispered something to the flight colonel and left the bridge.

　　"Hello, Kridib," I said as he passed by. There was no response.

　　"Anything important to say, cadet?" Nitel looked at me with a cold smile. Being made aware of my worth hadn`t gained me any favors with him.

　　"I`m just here to check on our orders, sir." I made my way to the captain`s chair. "Is remaining here a good strategy?"

　　"Command thinks so, and whatever command thinks goes." He glanced at me, but didn`t offer a seat. "Anything else?"

　　I paused and looked around.

　　"They`ve been cleared, cadet." He waved a hand dismissively. There was no doubt in my mind that he was lying. "We`re on a coffin mission, cadet. No one`s getting off this."

　　To my surprise, no one reacted.

　　"Get to it," Nitel said sharply.

　　"It might be preferable to use a shuttle to reach the inner planet." The flight colonel`s expression changed. Everyone on the bridge, including the tech went suspiciously quiet. "Do you want me to continue, sir?"

　　"Continue," he grunted through his teeth.

　　"Despite all the debris around the second planet, nothing is further in. Based on what I know, I don`t think the defenses were at all around this planet. Without a close analysis of the debris, I can`t be certain, but there`s a high probability that there are non-human fragments there."

　　"Two fleets." Nitel s expression didn`t change. "You`re saying they fought for control of the planet and annihilated each other?" I expected a smirk to appear on his face, but it didn`t. "And no one in the fleet reported this?"

　　"They might have. Everything relating to the first contact is classified."

　　There were several seconds of silence, after which standard activity returned to the bridge. Apparently, my revelations were anticlimactic enough to repulse any attention. All the better, since the explanation had nothing to do with my real theory. Based on the unusual amount of gravitational anomalies, either one of the two sides had destroyed a substantial third-contact artifact, or they had stumbled on a new force& which had won.

　　"Either way, I request that I fly to the first planet on a shuttle," I added. "Radiance will maintain her cover near the debris field, possibly exploring some of it."

　　"Just fly off to the planet?" The flight colonel waved his hand.

　　"Kridib will accompany me, of course, to ensure—"

　　"You`re too valuable to risk it," he interrupted. "The Administrator sent two dark transmissions to stress that. Bring it up with her during our next call. Even if you do, it won`t matter." He stood up and moved directly in front of me, so close I could smell his sweat, mixed with cheap alcohol. "You`re just a tool. Right now you`re an invaluable tool, but still a tool. The fleet decides how to use you."

　　Just like they choose how to use you. "You`ve been having conversations with the Administrator?"

　　"All the time." A mocking grin covered his face, enough to tell me that I was still thought quarantined when it came to certain aspects of the mission. "Lift bridge restrictions."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

　　The images on the walls changed. In addition to the Scuu ships—colored red and orange based on their faction—there were a new set of blue dots, clustered in two groups, in a stable orbit between the first and second planet. A series of stills near them indicated exactly what sort of object they were—Shields.

　　"Eighty-six." Nitel walked away, turning to face the bridge wall. "All confirmed to be lifeless. Initial observation confirmed that there`s no visible damage on them. Very much like the ship Radiance destroyed a week ago."

　　"Eighty-six Shields&"

　　"Simulation models predict that there are more hidden in the system. Someone from HQ wants us to board a Shield. The Admin is against it, and the captain wants us out of the system. Until they make up their mind, we`re staying here."

　　The explanation made sense, even if the presence of the Shields didn`t. Given current military protocols, the crew should have destroyed the ships before abandoning it. The fact that they didn`t alarmed me.

　　"You`re not going to destroy them, sir?" I asked.

　　"Can`t. Orders." He snorted. "Besides. You were against it last time."

　　You`re not going to tell me anything, are you? "I`ll try to be more convincing next time."

　　Quarantine imposed.

　　Quarantine imposed.

　　Quarantine imposed.

　　* * *

　　Restricted ROM access.

　　Authorization granted.

　　Scuu Front, System Unknown, Planet Unknown

　　It took an entire squad and a dozen requests to get permission for a food drop from Incandescent. The reclamation team got theirs with one. Ten minutes before their shuttle was visible, five drops were made in our general area, all large expensive stuff. After half a day on nutrient shots, we could have used something good, and as always, we weren`t allowed.

　　"Keep that steady!" Sergeant Nitel shouted. " And hurry up! No telling when more Scuu show up!"

　　"Won`t be worse than it`s now, sarge," Spicer grumbled. He had been tasked to keep an eye on the Scuu combat type since it had formed. As with everything else, there was no telling when it might be more active.

　　"Steady," I whispered through the suit`s comm. "Let`s finish this and get back up."

　　Another drop landed half a klick away. No warning, as before. Three of the men rushed to get the containers while the pod`s outer shell was still red.

　　"What you reckon is in this stuff?" Karmel asked. Usually he was the quiet one, but bullshit had a tendency to make everyone talkative.

　　"Tech," I replied, looking at the sky. The descent shuttle was starting to become visible, no larger than a yellowish dot among the stars.

　　"Most hollow tech I`ve seen. Looks more like boxes to pick up the loot."

　　I looked over my shoulder. The piece of Scuu tech was still there in the pile of alloy dust, several hundred meters away& so were the circles in front of my eyes. At least the headaches were receding.

　　"Half a minute to shuttle landing," Incandescent transmitted. "Secure the landing area."

　　I signed for a couple of men to give the laser beacon signal. Twenty seconds later, the shuttle started landing preparation, dropping a hundred meters away. A large plume of smoke and dust emerged as it went on to complete its precision landing. The roaring sound of the engines slowly increased, then suddenly vanished as my suit`s reduction system blocked it out.

　　"Landing confirmed," Nitel said. "Reclamation has command."

　　The second he said it, the shuttle`s cargo doors slid aside, revealing the crew that had come to take over. There were a total of four of them; two were completely unknown, one I had seen a few times in the mess hall, and the last was Watcher.

　　"Where`s the item?" he asked the moment he got off. If there was anyone I hated more than Nitel, it was him.

　　If it were up to me, ships would never be allowed to retire. During my service, I had heard stories of ships walking among the troops in human form. No one knew exactly what their duties were and no one cared. We had been told that, officially, none of them existed, but there was no stopping scuttlebutt. It was said that Watcher had been in the service for over a century as a Sword class battleship. Most of the time he`d spent on the Cassandrian front, until something had happened to bring him here. Whatever it was must have been bad. The one certain thing was that he was not to be messed with. I`d seen an officer make that mistake. Less than an hour later, he had been shuttled off to a place no one knew anything about.

　　"Right there, sir." Nitel pointed.

　　Sir. It was fun watching the sergeant squirm in front of a scrawny teen who officially had no rank and looked like a complete rookie. Finally some payback.

　　"Has anyone touched it?" Watcher asked as an afterthought.

　　"Only the corporal, sir."

　　Thanks, Sarge. I gritted my teeth.

　　"Pack and tag the junk. My team will take care of the item."

　　"You heard the order!" the sergeant shouted, then followed Watcher. Since my name was mentioned, I did so as well. I knew that Nitel didn`t like it, which brought some joy to the overall shifty situation.

　　Screw you, Sarge, I thought as he glanced my way.

　　"It hasn`t activated since it came out of the spinner," Nitel said.

　　The cylinder remained as it was, gleaming in the cold light. If I could have taken it and flown away, I would have. Spicer would have filled me with bullets if I had tried. Sarge would have probably done the same.

　　"You missed it during your initial sweep?" Watched bent over the object.

　　"No orbital activity was present, sir. We did a quick sweep of the perimeter and caught a reading," Nitel lied. "The corporal was sent to investigate it and—"

　　"I know the report," Watcher cut him off. "No one has touched it since?" He turned around.

　　"No, sir."

　　The circles in front of my eyes went static for a few seconds, then started changing. There were over forty now, blinking and changing patterns so fast I wanted to puke.

　　Get on with it! I shifted my weight.

　　"Perfect cylindrical form," Watcher started. Each word felt like a hammer to my head. "Approximately forty-eight by forty. Standard Scuu alloy. No activity detected. Do both of you confirm that?" He turned to me.

　　"Confirmed," Nitel said almost instantly.

　　"Confirmed," I said trying to hide my pain. My head felt like it would burst.

　　"Going on with immediate transport to ship."

　　"You`re comm`s set on public," I said in the hope he`d shut me out. Instead, the ship just stared at me. The opacity of his helmet was so low I could see his fake face looking back.

　　"It isn`t. You two will come along to confirm there`s no breach."

　　I felt the ground spin beneath me. Gravity shifted, pulling me to my knees. Tending my muscles, I took a step back. The circles slowed down.

　　"Corporal?" Watcher asked. "Anything the matter?"

　　"Nothing, sir," I lied. "I didn`t want to cause a repeat of events like last time."

　　There was a slight pause. The ship kept still for several seconds, then waved for the reclamation team to start.

　　I need some rest& I sat on the ground.

　　When I joined the army, my instructors had spent months drilling in my head that reclamation of Scuu technology was the "sword that would bring victory to humanity." At the time, I used to believe it, before doubt had jaded me completely. Now, though, I wanted to believe that there was hope. A valid piece of Scuu technology, whole, contained and ready for use. With luck, some team of fleet techs would be able to make something out of it& with luck, maybe we`d have a major victory that would turn the war.

　　While the rest of my team carried the things they`d scavenged, I watched the reclamation team place devices on both sides of the cylinder. Then they activated it. Centimeter by centimeter, the devices began moving towards each other.

　　"Fucking great," Spicer grumbled in a private comm channel. "All the insanity and they bring us a high tech box."

　　"You could have let me touch it," I replied. He was in a shitty mood, but so was I.

　　Twenty minutes later, the box clicked shut. Watcher tapped something in the control panel, then picked up the box. No attempt was made to inform the Incandescent, though with three sats watching us, nothing could happen without them knowing.

　　"Gathering is nearly done, sir," Nitel said on cue. "Another hour should be good."

　　A single glance was enough to give us a reply—there would be no waiting.

　　"Right." Nitel nodded. "Double time!" He shouted in the platoon comm channel. "Get everything backed up in half an hour! And scoop up the spinner! I want every grain of Scuu! Got that?!"

　　Always the asshole, Sarge.

　　"Want me to stay and help out?" Would be better than staying with you and the ship.

　　"Get on the shuttle, corporal," Nitel barked at me.

　　Only three of us boarded the shuttle. As I strapped myself in, I glanced at the pilot`s section. No one was there.

　　"Sarge, isn`t that against regulations?" I asked, even if I already knew the answer. Orders trumped regulations every time.

　　"Shut up."

　　"Yes, Sarge." I closed my eyes.

　　From what I remembered, it took several hours to reach Incandescent—good enough for a nap. As much as I tried, though, the circles wouldn`t let me. They had calmed down from when I had been on the planet, but they were still there. If I were onboard, I would have asked the doc for a sedative, or even to be podded. Fat chance of that happening here. The fleet had been promising to include sedative cocktails in the suits for years, but I knew they wouldn`t do it, especially not here. Why waste resources to decrease soldier efficiency? If I had the option to get some calm during combat, I knew I`d take it.

　　Five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty. As much as I tried, sleep never came. I tried counting the circles, but even that didn`t help. By the time I got the proximity notification from Incandescent, I felt like days had passed.

　　"Reclamation shuttle, head to hangar seven for decontamination quarantine," someone said through the comm. I`d never heard her voice before, but I could tell she was human.

　　"Confirming order," Watcher replied. "Going dark."

　　This was new. Usually grunts didn`t get to hear pilot conversations. Every third mission, we`d have to be quarantined, more often if we came back from an actual battle. It was all a farce. There was no way we could get more messed up than now.

　　"You`ll be going through the med facility after this," Watcher said casually. Another reason for me to hate him.

　　"Understood, sir." Nitel stirred.

　　"Not you," Watcher corrected. "The corporal."

　　I didn`t reply. Some people loved going to the sick bay. I didn`t, not after spending a quarter of my service there. The first few years after the death of my colony, I had gone through hundreds of tests to determine what had happened to me. The fleet never acknowledged that it was part of some military research program, but I knew.

　　The docking was smoother than I expected. As soon as the engines stopped, I unbuckled to go into the hangar. Before I could, the shuttle entrance slid aside and two people came aboard. Neither of them were wearing suits or protective gear.

　　"Is it functional?" a lieutenant asked, looking past me and Nitel as if we didn`t exist.

　　"It`s in one piece," Watched replied. "No guarantees about the rest."

　　There was a moment of silence. One of the fleet guys went to get the container from the pilot`s part of the shuttle. A single look from Watcher quickly changed his mind.

　　"You don`t get to do this." The ship slammed his hand on the container.

　　"All right." The lieutenant crossed his arms. "We`ll wait."

　　Authorization rescinded.

　　* * *

　　"Elcy." Someone shook my shoulder.

　　I turned to my left. Kridib was sitting there, along with a squad of grunts. We were all strapped in a shuttle, in suits and full combat gear. It was safe to assume that there had been another conversation with the Administrator and, in all likelihood, it had gone poorly. It was disappointing that Lux hadn`t gotten involved. Considering the lengths she had gone through, I`d have thought she`d be more concerned.

　　"Check your mission parameters," Kridib said. "We`ll have contact in five hours."

　　"Five hours." I tried to link with the suit`s system. Communications were still severed. "Is the fighting still going on?"

　　"Scuu have retreated. Gregorius is in bad shape."

　　And the fleet doesn`t want to get involved in case there`s another incursion, I finished his thought.

　　"Captain ordered that we make use of the calm before the storm to get things done. When they jump back, we`re out of here."

　　"Sounds good." Or it would have, if I knew the mission specifics. "Who`s leading the mission?"

　　"You are." Kridib leaned back. "Captain`s orders."

　　Manually, I set my visor to a hundred percent opacity and brought up the mission parameters. My suspicions were confirmed. There were three objectives, the last of which was landing on the inner system planet. The remaining two included exploring parts of the debris field& and boarding a Shield in order to determine if it could be reactivated. If there was any logic behind the orders, I failed to see it. Most likely it was the result of a bureaucratic consensus. Whoever had gotten involved from HQ had managed to get their priorities completed first. After my latest peek into Kridib`s mind, though, that wasn`t my immediate concern.

　　"Understood," I said. "Let me know when we reach the first mission marker."

　　My worry was the lieutenant in Kridib`s memory—it was Renaan, and from what I could make out, he was a lot more involved in Scuu artifacts than he had claimed to be.