“Before you get going, there’s just one more thing I’d like to say,” said Edwin. He looked grave. “Rumors have already reached me about your disapproval of Anna’s situation. The entire team disapproves, yes, but what I’ve heard indicates you were particularly emphatic about it.

Clatenis is a very old and very dear friend of mine. I probably know him better than anyone. So, I urge you to believe me when I say that there is nothing that he covets more than talented challengers.

Anna’s situation is not entirely unique. There have been cases of challengers of her stature under similar treatment, extremely rarely. But this is the first case I know of where she is not likely to be released from her status, not permitted to challenge the 10th Floor for a very long time.

She represents an unprecedented opportunity for Clatenis. If you even suggest letting her go, I have to conclude that you will instantly make an enemy of him and of Shumba.”

Mewi seemed angry, about to say something, but I put my hand on his shoulder. “Chillax, Mewi. Let’s just focus on getting ready for this mission, for now. Until we at least deal with our Sanctuaries, we can’t really advocate for her in any case.”

Mewi sighed deeply. “You’re right...one thing at a time.”

Less than a minute later, the caravan of five armored vehicles, Bruzigan’s at the head, arrived at the army base. For once, Bruzigan had us assemble in front of him military style, albeit “at ease” or whatever.

“As we just discussed, I will be taking overall strategic command of our fleets. We’ll coordinate through the virtual realm, and continue training to an extent there too. For now, we’ll focus on liberating as many worlds as possible from the Kinetice.

Your fleet commanders will give you details about things like the itinerary and the expansion of our fleets. Lheticus, Mewi, I’ve decided that both of you will enter the 3rd Floor at the same time. Lheticus, over the next month, when distributing your AP, focus on your Intuition. Try to get it to about 105. It’s important for the 3rd Floor. I’ll tell you more when I brief you both on it. All of you, keep up your usual training and I’ll do the same.

Our fleets are waiting in separate hangars. Federation personnel will arrive shortly to escort us to them. Before they do, there is one more thing I’d like to say.

The situation we face is unprecedented in the history of the Federation—even in the known recorded history of Area 1 itself. I’ll be frank with you. Marshal Varstithon does not believe that all six of us will survive and complete the mission.

But we are going to prove him wrong.

This is a dangerous situation, even for Extreme difficulty-capable combatants, it’s true. But here in the Tower, clearing the toughest challenges on the Floors is never a matter of strength and prowess in combat alone.

It is a matter of boldness.” He looked at me and Ril’egh when he said that. “It is a matter of the ability to improvise and quickly engineer solutions to sudden problems.” He looked at Anna and Arvallei. “It is a matter of keeping your head no matter how dire the odds you face.” He looked at Mewi.

“That is exactly what it is going to take to complete the mission we have today. In a sense, what we face is no different from an Extreme difficulty Floor mission. Every one of us here is more than capable of succeeding in this mission!”

Behind him, I could see, and Bruzigan could surely hear, our escorts arriving. “Now let’s get out there and restore peace to Area 1!”

Even Anna couldn’t help but cheer. I was beginning to think there was a reason or two this guy was a general/admiral, in spite of his informal attitude. I was still nervous, but for the moment my nervousness was down to levels where I wasn’t in danger of slipping and going crazy.

Just before we separated, I called to Mewi. “Hey,” I said, “I think that I read between the lines and you didn’t, back there. So ask yourself,” I walked over to him while speaking, got close, and lowered to a murmur, “if Edwin really doesn’t want us to do anything about Anna...why did he go out of his way to mention that there’s no way Clatenis will ever release her for the rest of her life?”

Mewi’s eyes widened for just a moment, then he forced himself back to his normal expression. “I’ll see you later,” he said, getting into the sci-fi jeep analogue, after one final hug.

I allowed my escort to get me into my jeep. Mewi’s ride and mine stayed more or less together for a few precious minutes, then as we broke off, my ride headed for a building labeled Docking Facility H.

Once we were inside, my jaw dropped. “Impressive, isn’t she sir?” said the minor officer who accompanied me in the jeep, “they told me this ship has the most changes from standard design doctrine out of all six flagships. And even then, the Heavy Strike Battlecruiser is a rare type. This one’s considered a whole new ship class. It was built ground-up, too, not just modified like the others.”

It wasn’t particularly huge, though it was a great deal bigger than the 20 fleet ships also in the hangar. What was striking about it was how it absolutely bristled with guns. Looking at it, and looking at all 20 other ships, I couldn’t tell which had more between them. “Now that’s a lot of dakka.”

“Please go on board, sir. They’re waiting on you to embark.”

“Roger that,” I said. And I’m afraid without any ado whatsoever, I boarded the ship.

----------

“Captain on the bridge!” said the man who stood up from the command chair. He wore the insignia of a Federation General. The Federation’s military was rather unlike Earth’s in that their army and navy were much more intertwined. There was a dedicated corp for combat operations on-planet, but the army’s primary duty had always been to fight the Kinetice, so their doctrine emphasized preventing them from making planetfall whenever possible.

What this meant for the here and now was that Generals commanded smaller fleets or sub-fleets, and Admirals commanded the Generals. “Uh, as you were,” I said, feeling awkward. The bridge crew immediately went back to what they were doing.

The General, a human, extended his hand. “Special Operative Lheticus, I am General Karl. I hope we can work well together, and avoid intruding on our respective areas of expertise.”

“Heh, getting right to the point, huh? I like that.” I shook the extended hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to start ordering people around or poking my nose into things I have no training on. It may shock and amaze you, but despite the usual reputation of powerful Fire mages, I am not actually, in point of fact, a reckless idiot.”

“Keep to that, and I think we’ll get along just fine,” said Karl, “you’d best get seated. We started the final launch sequence as soon as you were on board. We’ll be lifting off in about five minutes.”

At his gesture, I noticed there was a smaller chair next to the command chair, one uniquely with no sort of console or other controls. But like all the other chairs in the room, it had a way to strap into it. I did so with mild urgency. “So,” I said, carefully, “how much do you know about our mission?”

“Only that it’s an extended tour of duty fighting the Kinetice, with a few nonstandard elements such as yourself. And that no one save yourself is to attempt to open, touch, breathe on, or so much as glance at that folder in your hands.”

“I’d say that covers it nicely,” I said, “I assume there’s some way to secure this folder against such possibilities on this ship?”

“In your quarters. That’ll be our first stop once we’re underway and I can give you the full tour.”

“Yeah, speaking of. Does this ship have a name?”

“No, captain. If things go anything like close to plan, Federation citizens the Area over will come to associate this ship with yourself. It was decided that each of the members of the Alliance team would have the privilege of naming their own flagship.

“Is that so? Well, if the idea is that people who think of this ship will think of me, I think a perfect name just came to me.”

General Karl noticeably grimaced. “Is that so?”

I was suddenly nervous. I’d hate to get on their bad side just because of something like them not liking a name I picked. “I’d like to call her the Firebrand.”

Thankfully, Karl immediately relaxed, and even gave me a slight smile. “Not bad. All right, less than a minute to liftoff!”