"Dani! You in here?" I heard my bunk-mate yell. "Yeah! Gimme a second to finish this up!" I yell as I try to finish the turret repair. "No can do. Drop your wrenches, I'm pulling you out now." The insistence of her voice, and her hand already on my ankle, I drop the wrench and cross my arms as she slides me out from the bottom of the turret ring before her sentence is finished. "They have been calling you to the bridge non-stop for the last five minutes. I figured you might be in here. The captain sounds pissed, you better run." "That fracking seargent get me kicked out already?" "Run, and find out." She shoves me through the door, worry in her voice. Still in my greasy coveralls, I step onto the eerily silent bridge. Admiral Seaver is standing there, looking pale, like he just received a death-notice. "Private Danielle Tauron reporting, as ordered." I saluted. Captain Canner hands me a sheet of paper, three wax seals adorn the bottom of it, the real ones, not the thick stickers the ship captains use. "You have orders. I will have your things shipped to you, you are to get off my boat as fast as your legs can carry you." He says, and I start running toward the transport deck. I recognized the three seals, no respectable 'Naught wouldn't. The yellow wax of the royal family, an old fashioned axe head resting in it. Orders from the king himself. The second seal in the grey wax of the admiralty, the eight-pointed nautical star of the Admiral of the Fleets, the only admiral allowed to speak informally with the King, and the third seal, the seal everyone is told to fear seeing on anything. The blue wax of the Rainbow Fleet, the six overlapping ovals representing the Quantum computers they use. I step on one of the transports, immediately followed by Admiral Seaver. I didn't look back, so his presence surprised me. He had two suit bags over his shoulder, and he started shouting orders to leave immediately while closing the door himself. He didn't wait for platform crew to do it, or even hint that he wanted me to do it. "Did you read the whole of those orders before you started running?" He asked after double checking the door seal, while breathing heavy, and winded from the run. "No admiral, I've been in so much trouble lately that when the captain said to get off his ship, I just ran." "Well you aren't in trouble now, but I will be, if I don't get you to Air-Dock Sierra in an hour." At his comment, I looked down at the paperwork in front of me. It's a transfer out of the Sixth fleet, to Phoenix Fleet. "Sir, I've never heard of Phoenix fleet." He stopped moving. "Joseph was right." He said shaking his head. "Those stupid fracking idiots! I told them to make sure everyone knew." He seemed to jump out of his thoughts in a hurry. "You are out of uniform." I looked down, and realized I was still in my work uniform, but everything was right, I even double checked my collar where the faded fabric became vibrant, the spots my corporal insignia rested until a week ago. "Sir, my uniform is correct." I say, he shakes his head, and hands me one of the suit bags. "I had the size verified by the ship's computer on my way to get you. This is your new uniform." I take the bag from him, and he shoves me into the only female restroom on transport ships. I hear the door click behind me, and him tell me to not come out, until I am clean, and in this new uniform. I look in the mirror, and realize for the first time how much grease I had on me. My face was covered, my skin was barely visible under it. Even ships this small have a laundry, I stripped to my small clothes, and threw everything in the chute, laid my small clothes on the suit-bag, and took a shower. Letting the black and green greases fall from where they had been caked on. I felt the jump engine spooling through the floor, and had the evaporator dry my hair. I pulled it back into a bun, put my small clothes back on, opened the bag, and froze. It felt like the room had lowered in temperature. I don't know how long I stood there starting at the cloth in the bag. The white, silver trimmed, ship-captain's uniform had my name sewn onto it, so this wasn't a mistake. I pulled the shoulders out of the bag, instead of the gold number six on my old uniform, a red bird emblazoned the shoulders. Sky-blue epaulettes bearing the rank of a ship captain rested there. Not vice-captain, not executive officer; Captain. I had already threw my old clothes down the chute, so this was the only thing I had to wear. I quickly put it on, every seam tailored to me. It wasn't skin-tight, but it was fitted better than my old corporal uniform was. I stepped out of the restroom, feeling decidedly uncomfortable in white; not to mention the captain insignia on my shoulders. The tailoring left no doubt that I was a woman, but subdued it enough to not get stared at by leachers. I stepped out of the bathroom just as the sound of energized docking clamps vibrated the exterior door. "We have ten minutes, Captain." Admiral Seaver said. Confirming that this wasn't a dream. My mouth moved, but no words came out. I had so many questions, I had no idea where to begin. He handed my orders sheet back to me as deck-crew in space suits opened the door in front of us. "Admiral, Captain, you were expected five minutes ago. Your deadline is nine minutes from now." The crewman said while out of the way. The admiral wasn't kidding about his deadline to get me somewhere, even the deck crew here knew about it. After a six minute power-walk through the Maintenance Space Station called Air-Dock Sierra, a door opened in front of me, revealing a beautiful ship with a red bird on the side that looked like it had been painted with a frozen fire. The rest of the ship was a high gloss black, the flat black word Phoenix on the side made it look decidedly exotic. "Keep moving Captain." Admiral Seaver said, I had stopped moving when I saw the ship, We stepped onto the ship's open airlock, and I heard a chime ring, as well as a voice say "timer stopped, one minute, nine seconds remaining. Congratulations Admiral, you keep your rank." He exhales sharply, and steps off the ship. "Captain. Good luck. We will meet again in two weeks." He says, and runs off the work platform. An admiral running is usually a very bad sign. A girl that looks to be about eleven walks up to me, while laughing at the running admiral. She looks me in the eyes, and somehow I know she wants me to follow her, and she walks past me onto the ship. The girl walks up to a woman with platinum white hair, and yellow eyes. A woman I recognize easily. The black and silver epaulettes confirm her as Rebecca Cavenaugh. I glance at the girl and realize it's the girl the media is only calling Heather, the other survivor. The older man they are talking to seems to be in a light mood. And he glances at me. His violet eyes mark him as one of noble lineage, at his first word I realize who he is. "Danielle Tauron. Please, join us." I immediately put my hands behind my back, and walk toward him. Once there, I kneel to my king, to which he laughs. "Stand up. A captain kneels to no one aboard their own vessel, not even me." He says to me. I look around, and this is definitely a hangar. I am not qualified to be a carrier captain, I just left a destroyer that was half the size of this, and I have never seen a bridge before. "Joseph, she is here." Rebecca says to an ear-piece. "Alright, I'll tell her." "Joseph said you are to rest aboard the station for the rest of the night, you can explore the ship if you want, but starting at nine in the morning, he is going to be running you through simulations for the next two weeks." "Who is Joseph? Admiral Seaver seemed afraid of him." I ask. "You'll meet him in the morning." Heather said. "Dannielle, if you do well over the next three weeks, I will give you this assignment permanently. The Rainbow Corps even recommended you for this, so do us all proud." The King said, and he went to walk behind me, when he got next to me he stopped, and looked straight at me. "By the way, you are currently the first female carrier captain, and second female captain, in the history of the kingdom, even if it's just a scout carrier. In addition, this ship is scheduled to be my daughter's private Yacht in five weeks time. I look forward to what you can show us." The glint in the man's violet eyes are something that I never thought I would see in our monarch. The reality of what he just told me sunk in. The Rainbow corps, not the fleet. The select group of the ten oldest quantum computers in the kingdom, recommended me, a private, to be the first ever female carrier captain. I looked at Rebecca. "What did he mean by 'the next three weeks'?" Rebecca assumed a formal stance, one only used when speaking with your own captain. "Captain Tauron, this ship is to be battle tested in a mock battle in the Altari asteroid belt. The battle will commence in two weeks, and is scheduled to last seven days. Only two life signs are to be present aboard the Phoenix during this exercise. Yourself, and Her Majesty, Princess Bridgette Westinghouse." "Who is this war game against?" "Sixth Battle-group." She seems hesitant at the question, like I should already know. "Which ships?" She seems nervous now, I tried to ignore the fact that I just transferred from my, now, enemies. "Captain Tauron, this breifing was supposed to be given to you a month ago, every member of Sixth was supposed to know no later than three weeks ago. Phoenix is to go against Sixth-Battlegroup for warfare viability testing. Captain, the warfare test is you against the battlegroup's four carrier wings, a total of three hundred ships." "Whose insane idea was that?" I asked. "Joseph's. Once Joseph requested you, the Rainbow Fleet, then the Squadron, and finally the Rainbow Corps backed his recommendation within minutes, reviewing every one of your actions. You will meet him in the Morning. He is adamant that it won't be until then. It is dinner time, so feel free to get something to eat, and relax. Everything will come easier in the morning. The rest of the day is the only chance for relaxation you will have for the next three weeks, take it." I nodded, deciding to tour a portion of the ship. The smell of new plastics obvious everywhere, these fighters that looked so much like the ones the carriers currently used, but I could tell something was different about them. I served as a turret gunner on a destroyer, but I was originally trained as a pilot. I sat down in one that had an open cockpit. The dual controls felt unusual, but somehow right. With it powered off, I wouldn't know for sure, but it was already obvious the fighters I learned how to fly wouldn't compare to this fleet. I got out and found a map, and studied it long enough to figure out how to get to the bridge. When I stepped into the room, I was dumbfounded with what I saw. Instead of massive glass windows that were so common, huge screens were at the front of the room. I sat down in the captain's chair, and looked at the back of the helmsman's chair. A thick, etched brass plaque hung there, the first line made me realize the ship I was on. And explained Rebecca and Heather. "An officer's first responsibility must always be the safety and security of the crew. This is the cost of a captain's disregard of this intrinsic truth:" it then went on to list five hundred ninety eight people, each followed by either the emblem for killed in action, or missing in action, declared deceased. "Phoenix is Scout Carrier X0-1." I realized. I left the ship immediately, and went to the station's dining hall. The blazing Phoenix emblems on my shoulders made me feel awkward, more so than the captain's Eagles on my shoulders; having realized the significance of the phrase 'Born of Fire.' The dining hall refused to let me pay for the food, and I sat down to eat. Rebecca and Heather joined me. "I see you went to the bridge." Rebecca said. I bobbed my head as I bit into a piece of fried chicken. "I'm glad the plaque is there. Maybe, just maybe, the next captain will take it to heart." "I already have." "That was a scary day." Heather said, looking at her plate. "Joseph said I'm not allowed to talk to anyone but Rebecca about it." Rebecca seemed to be surprised and happy to hear the girl say this, and handed the girl a piece of chicken from her plate. It was devoured quickly. I went to hand her a piece of mine, and it was refused. "She hasn't accepted food from anyone but me since she woke up." Rebecca confirms. "I can't prove it, but I think someone got to her." There is a happiness in her voice that I remember my mom always had when speaking of dad. "It must be someone special." I said, which she affirmed, her yellow eyes receiving a tinge of red in the inner ring, proof of her Alterian heritage. "You're Alterian?" I try to confirm "How did you know?" "It's easy. Alterians gain a red ring in their Iris when they think or talk about a potential life-partner. You have one." She panicked like she didn't even know. A mirror seemed to appear in her hand quickly. Her spirit seemed to plummet when she confirmed it for herself. "I'm going to bed." She said, getting up leaving her food behind. "Don't forget, you're sharing with me!" Heather called to the leaving uniform. She slid the food over, and contently ate everything there. "Why is it a bad thing that she found someone? It's wonderful." I try to probe the girl. "It's because it's the one person she knows she can't have to herself, and will always be in danger. Combine that to the fact that she will probably die before doing anything about it." "Pretty mature comment from an eleven year old." "I'm seventeen, and don't tell her what was said, or we will both regret it." I offered food to her again, and again she refused, I didn't push it. I asked about quarters, and was put in a massive suite with a glass window overlooking Phoenix. The people, and robots, still going over everything for the ship. I took the blazer off, and sat down on the ugly green and purple paisley couch. The black ship sitting in the pale blue dock made its surroundings more noticeable. And from this distance, the massive Bird on the side looked minuscule. I sat there studying the lines of the ship, not seeing a carrier in the traditional sense, but getting the feeling that it was a predator, ready for the hunt. At first glance it looks angular, but there were no hard edges to be seen, like the gloss black curved edges were some type of camouflage in and of themselves. The Air-Dock work lights looking like glinting stars reflecting off of it. An alarm pulled me out of my thoughts. Without realizing it, I had fallen asleep sitting on the couch. It flashed eleven AM, I was supposed to meet this mysterious Joseph at nine. "Frack!" I jumped up, throwing the jacket over my shoulders as I went out the door. Arriving at the airlock I first stepped onto the ship at a mere nine minutes later. A paper envelope with my name on it was stuck to the wall. It was a series of directions, naming bulkheads and hatches that needed to be crossed through. They led me to an octagon room, and something that looked like a cockpit sat in the floor. I sat down in it. "Oh! You're early!" A male voice says. A man in his twenties walks from behind me. "Maybe I shouldn't have messed with your alarm clock. Anyway, since you're here, I'm Joseph. Your ship's Intelligence. But for the next two weeks, I will not obey a single order you give me. Instead, you will be training in this room." "What to you mean you won't Obey?" "I'll get to that. Anyway. You need to be trained some. You already know how to spot deficiencies, I'm going to train you to spot them faster, and with better accuracy. Everything we do for the next two weeks will be training against your previous unit. Which will be your final exam for my training. During that timeframe, I will not improvise or be creative in any way, unless you order it to be so. These two weeks, your mine. Then, we find out how you did, by me carrying out your every order, even if it gets me, and the princess, killed." He looks down at me for a few seconds. "Welcome aboard. Let's get started, we have three hundred ships worth of tactics to burn through in two weeks." The man then went into how each and every captain had specific patterns they followed, and how they favored one side of their ship over the other, most of the time illogically, or in extreme cases, to the detriment of the equipment on board. One of the carriers, The Avatar, was the size of a mega-city, with one side of the ship covered in thick armor, but the captain preferred keeping the enemy on the non-armored side, so the fighters would arrive within their range a few seconds faster. The first day I was only allowed a five minute break every two hours, and food was brought to me, I ate while getting lectured on my old battlegroup's tactics. The second day, he had me control a single fighter against the carriers. Teaching me how to find their weak points, and how to exploit them, the two weeks went by in a hurry doing the same thing for each ship. I did manage to find out at the end of the first week, he was having my alarm go off at six instead of at eight; so I was getting there faster. I realized quickly why he was doing it, and never said anything about it. The day came to leave air-dock, and my VIP payload came aboard. When I started giving orders from the room I had been training in, Joseph smiled. We pulled into the asteroid belt we were going to be using for this. I knew we were in for a heavy fight. My first order though, was to release Joseph's self-imposed restrictions. "Joseph." "Yes, Captain." "No matter the orders I give over the duration of this mission, your priority is our VIP, and your own safety. Do as you see fit to ensure her safety. In the event I am captured, release all imposed shackles, and take command yourself." "Aye-aye, Captain." He said, and I saw my old destroyer in the view windows. "Let's go to work, Phoenix. I want one fighter wing on that destroyer. Take out its turrets first, then hit the bridge." In a matter of seconds, I saw the wing of fighters controlled by the ship's A.I. Leave the ship, the red paint we were using splashed on the destroyer. The blue rounds their battlegroup was using were splattering all over nearby asteroids. No fighters lost. The destroyers and battle cruiser escort ships, as well as the cruisers the sixth used for scouting were all taken out within the first eight hours. Effectively making the the remaining forty ships blind. The four carriers, the four command ships, eight Marauders, and the rest of the complement of battleships. Part of the rules of this particular exercise was that once they were struck on the bridge, they were not allowed to remain in the area, they had to report to Air-Dock Sierra. Sixteen hours in, the carrier captain with the heavily armored Avatar carrier passed by where we were hiding behind an asteroid. "Joseph, now." I gave the order for him to fire his turrets. The red paint splattering covering everything that was the bridge. Not a single fighter took off from either of us. There still wasn't a single splatter of blue paint on our hull. The asteroids, however, were covered. Thirty-nine ships remaining. At the end of the first 20 hours, Admiral Seaver's command ship, the carrier Leviathan, and two Marauders were all that were left.