Callisas Star System

The Empire of Callisas

Callisas-3

"You really need to stop doing this Admiral." The voice was amused as a silent staff member poured a cup of coffee and began to mix in cream and sugar. "Running back to us like a child to their parent's skirts."

"I can try Your Majesty." The Admiral said politely, "I cannot offer any promises."

The monarch of The Empire of Callisas snorted in amusement and came to sit back down on the couch across from the Admiral. They took the coffee gratefully and sipped. "Do you want anything?"

"A glass of water will do fine."

The monarch nodded to the man, he diligently poured a glass of water and handed it to the Admiral with a small bow. He looked back at the monarch and they made a waving motion to dismiss him.

The Admiral sipped politely on her water while the monarch savored their coffee. She didn't have much to say at the moment, she knew they had been surprised when the Admiral had shown up on their doorstep with a damaged ship and already dressed in the purple uniform of the Callisas Navy. Even now sitting here in this dark purple uniform with white stripes on the sleeves signifying her Admiral's rank, hair up in a tight braided bun, she looked liked she might of belonged in their navy. It was all just a cover of course. Callisas had been very.... supportive of her. They were the ones she trusted, as hard as that was to earn. They didn't openly claim her, but this empire was one of the ones she knew she could trust to repair her ship and not tell anyone.

"Now." They said, leaning back. "I know the yards told you it'd be about 3-4 weeks to repair the damage."

"That's an initial estimate. They may be overconfident, there's a lot more damage than you might first think." Admiral replied.

"Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you need, though I suspect you will draw some ire to us because of that whole business at the asteroid base." They mused. "I'm not trying to rush you out the door, it's just much easier to deny you are here when your ship isn't being repaired in our yards."

"Only logical of you." She replied as she studied the fine sitting room in which they rested while the monarch took another long drink and think session.

After a couple minutes of silence the coffee was finished and mug placed down on the coffee table. "Well in the mean time you are here, I want to put you to some busy work, if you don't mind. I can have the treasurer get the usual pay to you."

"I'll take half this time considering the work your yard is about to put into my ship." Admiral cut in and they looked surprised but quickly nodded.

"Yes of course." They paused to gather their thoughts, undoubtedly caught very off-guard by the offer of a cheaper price for her work.

It amused her.

Finally they recovered enough to speak. "I don't need much from you, I want you check over our newest students in the Naval College, and maybe tour our newer designs. Just to hear an opinion on them."

"The half price isn't to give me half a job." Admiral pointed out.

"Its not." The monarch said, tossing a bit of a glare at her. "You came suddenly so I am using you as we need. I cannot generate more work for you." The Admiral actually gave a snort of amusement and the monarch's glare relaxed. "Anything special for this stay?"

"I do want to have dinner with Captain Fitzkeller when he is free."

"I believe you can handle that. I don't control the navy's schedule and he is his own person." They said as they stood.

The Admiral took the hint. Her visit with them was over. Time to get to work. "Yes Your Majesty." She stood, crispy saluting in Callisas fashion, a flat right hand over the heart, then bowed to the leader. She turned sharply and walked out of the room.

They watched as the Admiral left, worry suddenly filling their face as they opened up a hologram and spike. "Double the guards on the Yard and contact the Yard Handler. I do not have a good feeling about Novu Sol staying away."

"So, I was able to get myself a new Gazt-class cruiser, though the Navy warns me I'm probably going to stay here a while." Captain Francis Fitzkeller said as the waiters removed the first course of dishes from the table, another pouring wine to refill his glass.

The Admiral nodded, pleased with the news. Gazt-class cruisers were powerful and heavy hitters for their size, smaller than her battlecruiser but mounting some of the most powerful launchers one could cram into a small cruiser, meaning the missiles she slung around where extremely dangerous for the ship they were being fired from. She wouldn't of cared to tango with one without the element of surprise. They had a massive flaw in that they couldn't really be deployed out on their own, far from home, the fuel stores and other amenities had been cut into drastically to make the launchers viable.

"A nice move for your career." She said, "It's good to see my recommendations for your advancement we're taken seriously."

"I do like to think we can trust your judgement Admiral." Francis said, sipping his wine. "You taught pretty much our entire Navy."

The Admiral nodded, Francis was probably her favorite of all the people she had ever had to teach. He listened, had learned fast, and knew when to fold his cards if necessary. He was the rising star of the Callisas Navy, and she could see him becoming a great leader when he had more experience and age to smooth the jagged edges of youth down.

"Very good. Anything else I should know about?"

"Nothing spectacular. I was actually going to head over the Naval College and run some battle simulations to give them a tough time, but now that you are here," he trailed off suggestively.

"You want me to beat up on Midshipmen barely out of their cradles? What sort of torture do these people deserve?" The Admiral asked and Francis laughed.

"Admiral it will give them quite a shock and teach them that there are always bigger fish out there. Not to mention they'll get to meet you. The person who built our officers from the ground up."

"Putting the fear of their gods into them might do wonders for their confidence." Admiral pressed her credit chip to a small red square on the table and it lit up blue as the payment processed. "Are you headed over there now?"

"Yes, I told them I'd be around after dinner." Francis stood, brushed a few crumbs from his uniform. "You need a ride over? I have my air car outside."

The Admiral nodded, stood and followed the captain out of the restaurant as they chatted.

Francis has to wipe actual sweat from his brow as the simulation finished. He'd been pretending to be the 'flagship' of a convoy with the midshipmen controlling the escorts. He had never told the Admiral where his flag was, or what the escort was.

She had, to put it lightly, slaughtered them. He would have removed himself early from the battle but his simulated ship had been blown away in the first salvo, and it went downhill from there as the Admiral picked off each ship with the ruthless efficiency she was known for. He got up and exited the simulation room he was in, seeing the midshipmen none too happily milling around.

"What the fuck was that!?" One young man yelled at one of his fellows, a young woman who looked to be all knees and elbows and very timid in the face of his wrath. "You let that enemy defeat us so easily! I can't believe you are the one who has top marks in electronic warfare theory!"

Francis's face hardened in anger, eyes fixing on the midshipman.

He started a little as a hand rested on his shoulder. He looked down at The Admiral, she was looking at the young man with a calm expression and a dangerous glint in her eyes. She held her arms behind her back in a relaxed posture and walked forward.

The man was still yelling at his bridge mates for the simulation's outcome.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked.

He turned on her, looking down with a bit of confusion.

"What's wrong!? That simulation was rigged and my fellow 'officers'," He practically growled the word, "were utterly useless! I did everything right yet the reaction times and accuracy of the enemy was literally impossible. You were there! We got our asses kicked for no good reason other than our teachers wanting a laugh."

Francis suddenly felt his chest tighten in fear. The midshipman had thought her to be a classmate in his anger.

"So you don't believe a human could do that?" The Admiral asked, her voice almost coy, baiting.

"Of course they couldn't!" The man exploded. "No one could ever be that good, that accurate. When I tell my father about this damned..."

He stopped, confused as she brought her arms around front, revealing the admiral rank stripes on the sleeve.

"And who is your father young Midshipman?" She asked, her voice going cold and suddenly the man began to look a bit nervous.

"Gared Jaruth, 20th Earl of the Lands of Jaruth." He replied.

"Oh an Earl," The Admiral took a step closer. "Tell me, what will daddy do when you get your first ship?" She waited as the man stammered a bit, not understanding. "What will dad do when you are out in space, far from home? What will father say that will save you from an enemy salvo?" Her voice had gone savage and all the other midshipmen had taken a few steps away from her. She got right in the man's face as the temperature of her tone dropped to absolute zero. "What. Will. Daddy. Do?"

The young man continued to stammer and The Admiral gave a dismissive noise from her throat and stepped back. "Exactly. Your father won't be there to save you from an enemy salvo or the vacuum of space. No. These people, however, will be." She motioned around her to the midshipmen. "Your crew will be the ones who will be there to save you from your mistakes and fuck ups. And when you are laying on the deck, a shard of metal lodged in your stomach as you call for help. Look me in the eyes and tell me that your 'friend' that let you down just now will come and help you rather than letting you die like you deserve."

The midshipman looked pale and almost sick, his eyes darting back to the young woman he had been yelling at. She wasn't looking at him but finally looked back up into his eyes and straightened her posture, features settling into a cold neutrality. The man got his answer from that and Francis could see his hands shaking a little.

"Get out of my sight Midshipman." The Admiral said quietly and the man scurried off after a shaky salute. The other midshipmen looked like they wanted to take leave as well, but they were not dismissed. "Okay," The Admiral said her voice now normal. "We are going to review the simulation and see what you all learned from the experience. As you all may of guessed," she pulled on the sleeve of her uniform jacket. "I am The Admiral, so losing the simulation was all but guaranteed for your skill level, however that doesn't mean there is nothing to learn from it. There may come a day when your ship is matched against an enemy who is bigger, stronger, or smarter. You have to know what it feels like to lose."

"Or else you never know when to fold." Francis finished the phrase for The Admiral and motioned down the hall. "Let's go and see what we all can learn from this experience." He turned and walked with The Admiral at his side down the hall, the slightly dazed midshipmen followed behind.

Callisas Star System

The Empire of Callisas

Their Majesty's Ship Jatz

The Admiral never cared to teach the really young ones. The officers fresh out of grade school, smart but unseasoned in the ways of the world. She was glad to get away after having to put up with trying to lecture them on the ways of naval combat.

She had traveled up to Francis's ship with him, Their Majesty's Ship Jatz, and liked what she saw. The crew was crisp and professional, the ship itself clean and well made. She was pleased to see that Francis was doing as well as he said.

At the moment, the Jatz was on a small patrol of the Callisas Star System, in company with two other ships, one a destroyer on its work-up trials out of one of the builders yard, and a patrol craft on a training run. She stood at the back of the bridge, watching with quiet satisfaction. She might like to command her ship alone, but seeing a crew working professionally was still an enjoyable pastime as it showed her how much her efforts to teach this navy has paid off.

The Admiral kept an eye on Francis as he moved calmly around the bridge, speaking with each station in turn before he returned to his command chair to study the data collected there.

"Your crew looks professional Captain." She said.

Francis looked up at her and nodded. "They have shaped up well." He replied simply, though The Admiral did notice a few of the crew straightened at the praise. She was going to say something else when a wailing alarm made most of the bridge startle.

She saw the tactical station going to work so she stayed silent, walking up behind Francis as the data was transferred to his screen.

A group of ships, around 30 strong, sat within what was practically spitting distance of the Jatz. As she watched the sensors picked out 5 merchants and 2 passenger liners in the center being guarded by what must be an impromptu fleet of warships. It was bordering on an invasion force it was so large.

"Admiral, what are those ships?" Francis pointed into the hologram at the largest warships with tentitive identifications at battlecruisers but no class names like the rest of this formation.

The Admiral frowned, studying the shape and what little bits of details the sensors could pick up. She almost wished she was on her own ship so she had full control over the information. She would have to make due for now. "They don't look familiar." She said. "The readings coming off the shields are stronger than my own at peak performance. The shape is bit more streamlined and," she paused to trap a holographic copy of one of the ships and scale it up as large as she could, practically submerging the bridge in the representation of the ship, "I can't see any weapon ports. This is a new ship class, one that just got let out of the testing yards."

"Battlecruiser?" Francis asked, waving a hand to dismiss the large hologram.

"What does tactical think?" The Admiral knew she was usually the expert on Novu Sol ships, but Francis was going over the heads of his officers to ask her and that wasn't healthy. He was better than this.

Francis nodded and turned to the tactical station, the officer there looked a little nervous but began to speak once he had his captain's attention.

"Captain, this looks to be a new battlecruiser. There was only a short note in the briefing from Intelligence Office about sightings of a new ship but information has been sparse. Our sources haven't gotten a good look at any yet so this may very well be the first actual deployment of these ships."

Francis pursed his lips for a moment before turning to face communications. "Have they said anything yet?"

"To us? No." The woman tapped her display. "We've caught some messages from the merchants and liners going out, probably contacting the station for docking procedures Sir."

Francis then turned back to The Admiral. "What yard do they have your ship at?"

The Admiral gave Francis a bland look. "Captain, I'm not answering that question, you should know that."

Francis knew just to nod and turned back to the problem at hand as his little patrol changed course slightly to stay well clear of the Novu Sol ships.

Callisas Star System

The Empire of Callisas

Callisas-3

"What do think you are doing here!?" The monarch usually left diplomatic niceties up to their government. But this was too much. Novu Sol was allowed to escort their civilian traffic, sure, but two battlecruisers, ten cruisers and eleven destroyers was practically a small invasion force. Their own navy had more than enough firepower in system to wipe them out, but one did not just send this amount of metal into the capital without permission.

The man staring out at them wore the rank insignia of a Rear Admiral on the black and dark blue of Novu Sol. He had introduced himself as 'Ares Centios,' and their computer had automatically popped up what the Empire knew of the man. He was getting to promotion age, the profile pegged him at 247 and should be advancing to Vice Admiral soon. Last the IO heard of him, he was teaching at their commanding officers course on Novu Sol. So him being here was a surprise.

Or maybe a calculated move. Highlighted as 'you need to know this now' on the hologram was his birth place, the capital city of Centurion-IV, Foundation.

The city The Admiral had flattened in the Massacre of Centurion-IV.

He was keeping a very calm collected face about himself though. Impressive for a naval officer that must hate having to be civil when he really wanted to make demands. Why else would a small fleet be here?

"I am escorting my nation's commerce and people to their destination." Centios said calmly. "You surely had heard that recently Novu Sol has suffered losses."

"That is no excuse to come barging in here like an invasion force Rear Admiral." They said coldly. "The cruisers would of warded off any pirates and still been over kill."

"Your Majesty its not pirates we were worried about. Its Desson. Did you realize that she destroyed that Asteroid station, and left nothing but dust and no survivors?"

If they hadn't heard about it from The Admiral first, they probably would of believed it. Not that they had been thrilled with the news that The Admiral had needed to kill those two cruisers that had come after her, but they expected nothing less. Of course Novu Sol was placing the blame of the destruction on her directly rather than a security measure against when Novu Sol undoubtedly came barging in and arrested everyone.

"This is the first I've heard. Do you know if any of your people were lost there?" They saw Centios eyes narrow slightly. He glanced off to the side and then back.

"Yes, we lost two cruisers doing a normal security patrol in the system."

"I am sorry for your losses." The Monarch wanted this man gone from their star system. "But that still does not excuse you bringing this much escort into my capital system. Your merchants are welcome to stay and our navy would happily escort them with our own civilian shipping, but you must leave." They made their voice firm and commanding, they refused to let Novu Sol walk all over their nation.

Centios made a small bow to his pick up. "Yes Your Majesty. We will take our leave." His tone making the order to leave seem more like a suggestion he had not needed to follow. The com link was cut with no more formalities and they glared at screen while the hologram showed the Novu Sol ships change vectors as the warships turned, leaving their civilian ships to trudge in system as they vanished from normal space.

"You were listening in the whole time?" They asked and the screen lit with the face of the head of the Intelligence Office.

"Yes Your Majesty."

"Then other than general dickishness, why send the new ships here?"

The woman frowned. "I'd say they were planned to be deployed to the Buffer Zone for patrols and exercises. If the ships had gone straight there, we probably would not have seen them for another 8 months, minimum. Instead they tacked on a few merchants and an escort and sent them here." She looked down at something and some tapping sounds produced a mess of calculations on their screen they barely could follow. "If their math was right, The Admiral should of been here only for a short time, maybe a week at best. Thus a high chance of seeing her ship out in orbit or in transit out of the system."

"She's been here over a month now." They pointed out. "Look I know I want them to be stupid, but their math shouldn't be any different than what you have."

"Your Majesty..." The woman stopped, she looked worried.

"Go ahead. If I have to pay her to calm her down about whatever you say, I will." They said firmly, the IO head took heart and continued.

"Every time The Admiral had returned here, either on summons or on her own, it's always been faster than normal. Even with our own research into better drives, longer ranges, she's setting speed records racers would envy. And our yard has had to reconstruct her hyperdrive before. It's no different than anything Novu Sol, or we, have."

"That's interesting. I wonder how she does it." They mused, rubbing their chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll ask her before she leaves. Though knowing her it's a trade secret, can you give me ideas?"

The woman shrugged. "Best guess I can think of is she had some experimental technology she is hiding, but the Yard isn't reporting anything out of place or unusual beyond the extra wires and programming for The Admiral to always be in sole control."

"As I said, I will ask when I see her next." They shook their head, watching the merchants move into orbit. They were gonna have to send The Admiral out to her ship rather than bringing it back here. While those merchants were here, they ran the risk of them seeing the battlecruiser and trying to run. If the Empire has to try to cover for The Admiral, or even just let her hunt them down, in their space then Novu Sol would gladly use the excuse to invade. They wished they could truly stand up to Novu Sol, but with a sparse population and smaller navy, their empire would not stand a chance. It's why all they could do was send a strongly worded letter to the Novu Sol President about his navy's 'intrusion'. They could see the reply already, a mistake in the orders, a commander a bit too eager to catch the murderer Desson, reprimands would be given and punishments made before they forgot and did it again when they felt like it.

Maybe one day, their nation would be strong enough to knock Novu Sol down. But not yet. For now Callisas would have to live in the shadow of the giant old star nation.