13:45 Four Seasons Bayfront

“Yes, I’ll continue to hold,” John said to the person that briefly reconnected the line but then put him right back on hold, “Fucking useless.”

While John was muttering to himself the mood in the reception hall remained tense. The parents, as is their right, were worried about the danger their newly commissioned Naval officers would be running into. Kevin, Nathan, and Andern were tired of it and enjoying drinks on the deck, though they too were quieter than they had been.

Everyone was trying to process why the Alliance had attacked them. The system they chose was lightly guarded and populated. In fact, most people that resided there weren’t even Confederate citizens. Most hailed from the Mercantilist Union. The station was also their design and build.

Eight and a half minutes later the man on the other end of the call got back to John, “Many apologies Lieutenant. Ship out dates for First and Second fleets remain unchanged. There are new orders though that you may not leave the state though.”

John sighed, “Understood. Am I correct to presume we’ll receive additional messages confirming what you’ve told me?”

“Yes, as you can imagine we’re a bit swamped. The recent grads aren’t high on the contact list. I’d expect written confirmation or updates to your orders by this evening.”

The man on the other end of the call hung up. John swore and threw the phone out through the open doors. A faint splash could be heard moments later. Giggling was then coming from behind him.

“You know that was the hotel’s phone right?” Alice was grinning.

“Confined to Annapolis. No change in our orders yet,” John was angry.

“Shit, there go our plans,” Alice said as John walked to the terminal on the wall.

He began canceling their trip immediately. Thankfully the private jet and resorts were willing to refund most of their money. The fuel deposit for the jet was forfeit though. Annoying as that was John couldn’t come up with a good excuse, that he didn’t feel dirty arguing, to get that money back.

Alice walked back and talked with her parents. The guys outside were walking inside because rain showers were moving through the area. They walked over to John who had a holographic map of the Alliance attack on the Piscium system playing.

“What’s got your eye?” Nathan asked.

“Shhh!” John brought his pointer finger to his mouth to shush them.

John was engrossed in the playback. Kevin leaned in and watched the Confederate counterattack, then how it quickly changed into a fighting retreat. Brian pointed at a couple of frigates as they dove into the enemy escort vessels and absolutely hammered the enemy fleet.

“Jesus, whoever commanded that was a fucking genius. That was literally perfect,” John was leaning back in a chair as the battle continued to replay itself.

“One enemy battlecruiser is dead, another is effectively useless. Two-thirds of their support shits are dead. Damn,” Kristin said as she walked over.

“It's too bad the Seventh Fleet didn’t jump in immediately. They had two wings that would’ve easily been able to take the station back,” John said as he took a drink.

“Where were you guys going?” Andern asked.

“We were going to stay at a villa on the Mediterranean. Did you guys see how the fleet shifted there?” John immediately switched the subject back to the replay, “All of the ships rapidly altered their attitude and switched to target the battlecruiser.”

“That’s one way to overwhelm kinetic shielding,” Thomas said.

Kevin grunted, “It wasn’t like they were throwing enough shit at the wall either. They were shooting exactly where the core is. After they fired three rounds, they switched their attitudes and began attacking the smaller escort vessels.”

John was drinking in the sheer genius and audacity of the counterattack. It was literally brilliant. Yes, they bled badly too, but the local defense force punched well above their weight. He began searching for the officers that were in command of the vessels, but that information was all redacted, even for the destroyed ships.

“Interesting,” John said, “Troop information is fully redacted. I need to know who the captain of this fleet was.”

Kristin looked confused, “Why would they do that?”

“The Alliance doesn't treat POWs kindly,” Jessica shook her head, “Most escape pods are used for target practice or they are sent to forced labor camps.”

“That’s why there’s a penal colony in the Wolf system from the last war. The Confederate policy was to exchange any POWs, but once the Alliance started killing our people their POWs became permanent ‘citizens’ of that moon,” John said, “Special forces were sent in to recover any POWs the Alliance was holding. My understanding, though I was never able to confirm it, was that they were given blanket orders to do anything and everything to recover as many as they could.”

“I’m sure they have a few reasons to want to get you,” Kevin was still staring at the battle replay.

John nodded.

“Woah, what?” Alice asked.

“I don’t believe they’ve connected the dots, but I’ve done some pretty nasty things in Alliance territory. I’d be tortured for information, then killed or disposed of,” John laughed, “Jokes on them though, their mind probes won’t work on me.”

“Now?” Brian asked.

“Nah, never would’ve before. Even if they drugged me up something fierce they couldn’t get in. That’s the fascinating thing about the subconscious. Whatever defenses you have they are still there, regardless of what’s physically happening to you.”

Their tablets all buzzed at the same time. John surmised, correctly, that their official orders had come in. The officer he spoke to was a damned liar, for the others. John and Alice were scheduled to ship out at 07:00 next Saturday.

“What the fuck?” Andern exclaimed.

“You guys shipping out early too?” Jessica said, “I’m heading out on Tuesday evening.”

“Wednesday, sooner than expected,” Andern answered, “Looks like the chip is heading to Eighth Fleet eventually.”

“Friday evening here,” Theresa said.

“Saturday at early o’clock,” Thomas was smiling, “At least I get a week off.”

Brian was holding back tears, “What time is it?”

John looked at his watch, “14:40, why?”

“I have to get back to the academy. I need to get on a bus at 16:00.”

Everyone was stunned. Recent events through a wrench in everyone’s plans. Instead of saying goodbye all at once, it was going to be one by one. Reality hadn’t set in yet, but now, it was making itself felt.

John looked at Brian in disbelief, “Holy shit. Alice, is the black car service still available?”

“Calling them right now,” Alice stood up and began talking on her phone.

John stood up and walked over to Brian, “I feel like saying it sucks seeing you go isn’t enough but…”

“Here we are,” Brian stood up and gave John a hug then shook his hand, “It’s been a pleasure, give ‘em hell out there.”

“You know it,” John grinned, “Stay safe, and best of luck in the future.”

Alice walked back to the group, “There’ll be a car to take you back in three minutes. So sorry to see you go, Brian.”

One by one the group said their goodbyes to Brian. Unfortunately, time was not on his side, and only eight minutes later he was going. Thomas went back to the academy with him but came back later that afternoon to hang out with everyone else. The festivities had largely died out though. The grad party everyone thought they’d have was a raucous one, but no one really wanted to go crazy.

Wednesday. 08:00 Cafeteria

John was sitting across from a very tired-looking Andern. He was wondering whether or not his best friend would realize this was their last meal together for the foreseeable future. Nathan and Kevin then sat next to the boys as Theresa sat across from Alice and Kristin.

Nathan was the one that drew that conclusion, “Holy shit, this is the last meal isn’t it?”

“What?” Andern looked up surprised.

“Honey, your obviousness is shocking at times,” Kristin set her fork down and shook her head.

“It’s pretty normal. And yes, this is our last meal together. If you want to get particular it was that lunch on Saturday. But y’all are shipping out in a few hours,” John said with a smirk as he drank some orange juice, “We’re heading up to relax on station for a couple of days before we head out.”

“Nathan, you owe me ten credits,” Kevin was laughing to himself.

“How are you this dumb?” Nathan threw a credit chit across the table.

“Dude, those are my eggs!” Kevin quickly picked the chit out of his eggs and wiped it down.

“Damn…” Andern looked at the table slowly.

“Who knows what’ll happen in the future,” John said sorrowfully, “But it’s doubtful our fleets are going to see much action in this conflict.

“John, help me understand something that really doesn’t make any sense,” Theresa said as she leaned onto the table, “The Alliance declared war on us, yet we have done the same. Why?”

“This is all just a hunch, but I don’t think the civilian government wants a war, they are ok with calling this the Piscium conflict for now,” John shrugged.

“What aren’t you saying?” Kristin said directly.

“I don’t think we wanted that system in the first place,” John ate a piece of bacon.

“That’s insane. Why would we want to give any system up?” Alice interjected.

“Kevin, you want to take a go at this?” John smirked.

“Slipstream routes into and out of that system favor the Alliance. There’s basically one acceptable corridor and one that’s sketchy as fuck,” Kevin was staring down a breakfast sausage patty, “Then there’s the lack of any precious metals or use heavier metals.”

Andern was shaking his head, “That system has three asteroid belts and is rich in minerals.”

Kevin took a bite of the sausage, “That’s true, but most of it is silica, quartz, and rock. The mobile factories largely left the system since it’s really only good to make ceramite there. But here’s the thing, we have literally centuries, if not eons, worth of those very same minerals, along with the more rare stuff we use to make cores in our core systems.”

John ate another piece of bacon, “The Alliance did a shit job of choosing where they’d set up shop. This system would be a boon to them to make ceramite. But they’d still have to transport it to their shipyards for final processing.”

“The system was that much of a financial drag on our bottom line we honestly are saying fuck it and looking the other way?” Theresa looked shocked.

“The Navy is pissed that they lost ships, but the Alliance paid a heavy price for taking the system. The battlecruiser that we destroyed and the other that had its spine broken, was launched last year,” John was casually spreading jam on some toast.

“So we did more damage to them and they took an unwanted system off our hands,” Kristin said looking down at her food, “But they are the aggressor here.”

“My general hunch is the military is looking for a system along the border that we can attack and take,” John took a bite of the toast, “Tit for tat.”

“It can’t possibly be that simple,” Theresa said nervously, “Can it?”

John shook his head, “Things are going to escalate. Cooler heads won’t prevail until substantial damage is done. Meanwhile, the Union likely is going to sit back and milk both sides with trade ‘deals.’”

“This is also presuming the war goes according to how my big lug would wage war,” Alice smirked.

“Oh, I’d fight it way differently, this is just the way I think they’ll fight it.”

“Good morning, sorry I’m late. Maybe I’m going to hell, but how would you handle it?” Thomas said as he sat down with the group.

“Morning,” John said cheerfully, “I would have immediately counterattacked with Seventh Fleet assets. Redirected the rest of the fleet and local Eighth Fleet assets to reinforce the system. Fifth and Sixth Fleets would attack these shipyards then retreat.”

“Wow, you didn’t go as far as I thought you would have,” Theresa was chuckling.

“I won’t commit war crimes unless I have to,” John shrugged.

Alice sighed, “Let’s not touch on that subject at all.”

“You know I’m on your side with that Alice. I’m not sure any of us need to be unwitting accomplices.”

“How are you handling things, Thomas? And if you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool too,” John said.

“Nah it’s cool. We’ve been all friends for four years now. I kinda figured the end would come for the two of us unlike the rest of you. It still feels a bit raw but I’ll survive.”

“Breakups are never easy, but we’re all here for you,” Alice said with a smile.

“Thanks, so are you two going up with Theresa and Kevin?”

“Nope, we’re going up with Kristin and Andern. They are going up to the station tomorrow, right?” John said before finishing his last piece of toast.

“Yeah at late o’clock. We’re pretty much ready to go but we don’t want to spend any money staying on the station,” Kevin grinned at John, “Unlike a certain couple our cash reserves are finite and they won’t pay us back for the evening stay.”

John finished his glass of milk and pointed at Kevin, “I’ll have you know our cash reserves are also finite.”

“Smartass,” Kevin was laughing.

The group then got up and put their trays away and hung out near the elevators. Kevin and Theresa said their goodbyes to Kristin and Andern. John and Alice were saying theirs to Thomas and Nathan.

Then John walked over to Kevin and gave him a hug, “Thanks for everything. If I’m ever in charge of an engineering project you are one of two names I’m going to try and pull into it. It has been an honor getting to know you.”

“Thanks for everything. I mean it. I don’t think I would’ve been as successful without you around. We’ll have to catch up down the road,” Kevin shook his hand.

“Do please keep that one inline, he desperately needs that,” Theresa said pointing at John.

“Oh, I will. I hate saying goodbye,” Alice said tearing up.

“Keep in touch guys,” Nathan said as he shook John’s hand, “It’s been a blast.”

“That it has, stay safe and all that jazz. Hit it out of the park out there,” Kevin then shook Nathan’s hand.

John laughed, “What he said. I’ll just add that parting is such sweet sorrow.”

13:50 Armstrong Station – Confederate Naval Docking Ring Gate 3C

John and Alice were walking with Kristin and Andern as they headed to the CNS Merkava. A brand new Garcia class destroyer. When they got to the gate John immediately walked over to the window and looked at their ride.

“Hell of a nice looking ship,” John said pointing to it.

“Too bad we have to fucking work. You guys get to sit back and drink and live in luxury for the four days,” Andern said dejectedly.

“Nearly six, but who’s counting?” John grinned as he corrected his friend, “Hey, be smart which means be less of your normal self out there. You can go places.”

Andern made a pained look, “What? I am going places.”

“Ugh, god Jacob, why are you like that sometimes?” Kristin was sighing.

John walked over to Kristin and hugged her, “You joined us a little later than the others but it was good to get to know you. Give ‘em hell out there.”

Kristin smiled, “Thanks, And thanks honestly for everything over the past few years. It’s been a wild ride.”

“Except no one else almost died.”

Alice smacked John’s chest, “Which is normal for everyone except you.”

Kristin laughed. Andern then hugged John. When he let go the two shook hands. Neither of the young men was looking forward to this moment and were awkwardly trying to understand how to handle it.

“Dude, I don’t even know where to begin,” Andern said.

“Yeah, me neither,” John chuckled to himself, “Thanks for being there for me over the years. Keep in touch and all that jazz.”

“Same. And I will endeavor to be the officer that only you and Kristin seem to think I can be.”

“Don’t work too hard on the shakedown cruise though,” John smirked.

“Oh trust me, I’m doing the minimum that is expected of me.”

The boys laughed. Alice and Kristin hugged and began tearing up.

“I still hate doing this,” Alice said.

“I know, I do too. Thanks for everything. I will keep in touch with you,” Kristin was wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Knowing the big guy I have a feeling he’ll try to get you on one of his ships at some point.”

“Fair hunch,” John grinned as he leaned against the windowpane.

With their goodbyes said Kristin and Andern walked over to the boarding officer and checked in. Moments later an enlisted serviceman walked over and led them into the ship. Alice and John then walked over to the window and looked out at the new vessel.

Alice hugged John, “You know I knew this was going to happen sooner than later, but man…”

“Sucks ass doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really really does,” she squeezed him harder, “But I suppose this is just all part of the plan isn’t it?”

“Maybe not plan, but it was part of what we signed up for. Honestly having a ship full of friends would suck,” John said quietly, “Ordering someone to their death or losing someone because of an attack or mission would feel that much worse.”

“I know, but you know where I’m coming from.”

John nodded, “Yeah, we got accustomed to our fun little life. Now it’s just different. But hey, let's get checked in.”

“Lead the way my dear,” Alice let go of John and picked up her bag, and slung it across her back, “I’m looking forward to getting cleaned up. Maybe we can go shopping.”

John grinned, “I’ve got a couple of chits that I need to get rid of.”

Alice shook her head as the couple headed out of the docking ring. It was an end of an era so to speak. They and their friends were all officers now. All of them were duty-bound to embark on that next step. For good or ill, their careers were really starting now. The sky is their limit, one could wonder who’s ambition would drive them the most forward.

As difficult as it was to say goodbye, it wasn’t reasonable to expect to stay together forever and ever. And what John said was true, a crew full of friends sounds fun. For John and Kristin in particular, that would cut deeply if they ever had to make a deadly order. It was for that reason that getting the band back together was likely only being paid lip service

John was grinning as they walked to their hotel. Maybe it wasn’t just lip service. Maybe, just maybe, there was a safe way to get back some or all of them back together. That was something he’d chew on in the near future.

But for now, the couple had three days of rest and relaxation ahead of them on the station followed by a six-day trip to the planet of Manchester. It was time to enjoy things for what they were. The door to their academy days was now closed, never to reopen again. But they would always look back on the comings and goings fondly. They all achieved their goals, now it was time to reset those goals and reach for the stars.