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Chapter Six

The Colonial Alliance Sol System IHN HPC-1341932

September 14, 2550 CE

In the last three weeks, the Empire gathered supplies and manpower for the push into Sol as well as gathering intelligence about the Alliance's capabilities by any means. That included capturing the Alliance ambassador on Great Home during the occupation, an action that caused the Alliance to send a strike force to Procyon. That strike force was turned away quickly with severe losses, and the fighting gave the Empire a chance to observe protocols and weaponry of those ships. From the remains were also some parts of the various computer mainframes. The few parts that were salvageable only helped the Empire.

As the day of the invasion drew near, the Empire had gathered together a fleet of over two hundred warships and several more Army and Marine transports. The fleet of Tesgno interceptors and all other materiel were destroyed by the remains of the Caliphate's Army and the Procyon Defense Force as the Empire closed on the airbases and other depots on Great Home and New Home. This left the Empire without any interceptors that were in flyable condition. The Omniwatch ones needed repairs and maintenance which left them currently unflyable and the prototype was sent back to the Empire for analysis.

That left Azuk in an interesting position. After a simulation course, he was placed into the pilot's seat of one of the Empire's heavy patrol corvettes. With a crew of only four, the corvette is small, but its weaponry is rather considerable for its size. Their mission would be, with support from Omniwatch interceptors, to move ahead of the fleet and destroy early warning outposts. It would of course give warning anyway, but the intelligence they had showed the platforms as lightly armed. Given the danger posed to the fleet, any risk of damage had to be minimized. A corvette therefore was an acceptable loss compared to a dreadnought.

Omniwatch cooperated with the Empire to provide recent maps of the Sol system and its government outposts, so for once they wouldn't be going into the system blind. However, from the path of approach - the Empire would take out the Alliance early warning outposts at Jupiter and then proceeding to Mars for what is expected to be the real battle - it didn't leave much to be blind on. There was a chance they could hide the fleet for the most part before arrival at Mars.

Simply put, the battle was going to be decided by whoever could deal the first blow to the main fleet. Depending on when they fired, it could be either side. Azuk feared that it would be the Alliance first, and likely with interceptor strike groups. If those got close enough to launch their torpedoes, the capital ships stood no chance. If he and the other pilots could take on an Imperial strike force with only a few interceptors while with Omniwatch, dozens of Alliance interceptors would make short work of them.

As the Trimalchio came out of hyperspace, Azuk disengaged the corvette's FTL lock. As they are too small to carry a warp core, the corvette had to jump with the Trimalchio on the underside. Their clamp was little more than a simple magnetic lock, but it served its purpose well enough. As soon as it was loose, Azuk pushed the throttle forward to begin to speed down and away from the dreadnought. They had their orders on arrival, and that meant going straight for one of the early warning stations over Jupiter. The main one, according to intelligence was over Europa and was controlled by a command center on the surface. The mission would be a strike at the platform and then a strike on the command center.

"Tulrikvah, what's the ETA?" The ship's commander asked. Being such a small vessel, the commander of the ship was merely a lieutenant commander. That meant that, should that commander be killed, Azuk was in command. It was also fitting since he was the pilot.

"It'll be a few hours." Azuk said after he put the corvette on the plotted course, having had to deviate to avoid the arriving fleet. He did notice that there were no Omniwatch interceptors with him, as stated in the briefing.

"Good. Gunners, be ready to fire when we arrive." The commander said, unnecessarily.

Again due to the small size of the ship, there is only the commander, two gunners, and a pilot. The gunners are also meant to fill an engineering role in the event that there are damages. All crew must wear their flight suits and helmets to protect against sudden exposure to vacuum. With the size of the ship, Azuk knew all too well that it wouldn't take much for it to be destroyed. He did after all destroy several of them while he flew for Omniwatch with almost no effort.

The flight to Jupiter was done on the ship's sublight engines and took several hours before Azuk slowed down to get into an orbit toward Europa. The corvette, despite being larger than an interceptor, didn't seem to have nearly the same fuel efficiency. He had to make careful maneuvers to ensure that they could actually complete the mission and still make it back to the fleet. Of course, they could also skim Jupiter for more fuel if it became dire, but Azuk was hoping to not have to do that as he had never done it before.

Azuk fired the retrograde thrusters as the corvette approached the planned maneuver to head for a Europa orbit. As the point approached, Azuk noticed a blip on the sensors that just appeared. He paid it no mind as he focused on getting the maneuver just right. In about a minute, he had lined up the corvette and fired the engines, setting the course for intercept with Europa. Now that he wasn't occupied until the next maneuver, Azuk looked at the blip. As far as he could tell from the little bit of information he had, it appeared to be an Alliance frigate. Azuk hoped that it wouldn't be much of an issue. He wasn't entirely sure that the corvette could take it on.

The approach to Europa was almost slower than the approach to Jupiter just because he had to make more precise moves with the ship to ensure that the fuel wasn't burned up unnecessarily and to try to minimize the profile of the ship. He knew that if the frigate moved to engage before they hit the station and the base, it would throw off this first move and if they couldn't make it fast enough, it may prompt the entire Alliance Navy to arrive over Jupiter instead of the planned attack over Mars.

At about five minutes to contact, Azuk knew that the corvette had to be detected as a hostile warship. As he adjusted the heading to bring the ship for a strike against the early warning station, he detected the burst of heat from the frigate and, with a visual check, saw it moving in their directions.

"The frigate is on the move." Azuk said, keeping it very short. He hoped the gunners would be able to handle it, but he had his doubts.

As soon as the front of the frigate pointed to the corvette, it opened fire. It was still far outside the range of the corvette's guns, but the lasers on the frigate were in a very close range. Against the unshielded corvette, the lasers ripped through the armor like it was nothing, causing Azuk's panel to light up. The laser had hit one of the engines and caused damage in the engineering section.

The commander of the ship quickly got up and moved to the back, leaving Azuk effectively in command. He knew that the corvette would be destroyed, but the most he could do was try to get the guns in range to fight back. Azuk fired the side thrusters while changing the direction of the main engines to add some unpredictability to his course in the hopes of missing. It seemed to work as the lasers from the frigate fired again and missed, if barely. Azuk changed course once again and headed in the opposite direction.

Azuk took a moment to hit the distress beacon on his controls before continuing to move erratically and close the gap with the frigate. The gunners, Azuk saw with a glance to the left and right, were already waiting to fire once they were in range. At the current speed, Azuk guessed they'd be able to fire in a few seconds, assuming they weren't hit again.

A third laser from the frigate hit the corvette, but it grazed the armor at the front of the corvette, knocking out almost a quarter Azuk's field of vision on his console as it was fed by the cameras at the front of the ship. Even with part of the vision obscured, Azuk knew they were in range to fire, and it was only confirmed as the ship shook with the rapid fire of two railguns. Being a corvette, it simply used small metal slugs that could be rapidly spit out. Against small targets it would be highly effective. Against this frigate? Azuk figured it would only be an annoyance.

The silence in Azuk's helmet was broken by the crackling of communications and then a human voice. "Imperial vessel, this is Omniwatch Flight Delta. We heard the distress signal. We'll be on top of you in a few seconds. Standby for support."

Azuk's sensors detected the five quickly approaching interceptors, and their arrival prompted the frigate to begin to maneuver away from him by heading to his port side. Taking advantage of that, Azuk made a quick turn to starboard and down to get past the frigate. He knew the interceptors could make short work of the frigate if they had the shot. The sensors picked up the frigate's point defense guns firing on the interceptors, and he saw one interceptor signal disappear, but ultimately the frigate's signal disappeared as he proceeded straight to the early warning station.

"Imperial vessel, orders from your commander." The Omniwatch pilot said. "Your communications must be down or something, but you're being recalled to the flagship. We'll handle the station and base."

"Understood. Thank you flight. You saved us there. We'll head back. Good flying." Azuk said as he turned away from the station as the interceptors passed over the corvette by about half a kilometer. Azuk set the course in for the Trimalchio and relaxed in his chair. The autopilot could handle it now.

From behind, Azuk finally heard the commander return and sit down in his chair. Azuk took a quick look over the shoulder but said nothing as he went over his console. As far as he could tell, they'd make it back in one piece probably. Even in the flight suit, where he might have survived, Azuk knew that was probably the closest he'd truly come to death. If the corvette was destroyed he knew he'd probably never have escaped the wreck alive or been rescued before the emergency air supply ran out. He just shook as the adrenaline rush wore off while the corvette flew itself. He had activated the autopilot because he didn't trust himself flying yet.

It took another hour before the corvette arrived at the Trimalchio. It had entered orbit around Jupiter with most of the other capital ships of the Empire's fleet, cutting the trip by several hours. As they drew closer, the short range communications activated, allowing the commander to bring the ship into one of the hangar bays. Several craft were apparently already launched, leaving a bay open for the corvette.

The autopilot and remote control from the dreadnought brought the corvette into the bay and carefully set it down on the deck for the technicians to make field repairs to the ship to attempt to restore it to some level of functionality. Until the corvette was back to at least relatively full integrity, the gunners, commander, and Azuk were ordered to disembark and wait for updates or further orders in the pilot's lounge.

Not about to waste any time, Azuk was first to leave the corvette. He quickly descended the ramp the deck crew had pushed into place and, already knowing where the lounge was from testing the interceptors, made a quick path for the lounge. He didn't want to set foot on another one of those corvettes, but he suspected he wouldn't have a choice in the near future. As he stepped into the lounge, the red alert klaxons went off and the lights dimmed slightly as red emergency lights blared.

Moments after the klaxon sounded, the shipwide intercom crackled as the voice of the Captain came over. "We have made contact with the enemy forces. Combat will commence shortly. All non-essential crew are ordered to make their way in an orderly fashion to the nearest saferoom."

The few pilots in the lounge didn't move from their seats. Azuk had to guess that 'non-essential' were likely the support staff such as requisitions, cleaning staff, and probably food staff. "So what do we even do then?" Azuk asked, getting the attention of a couple of the pilots.

"For now, sit and wait. The deck officer would send orders down to us if there was anything." One of the pilots said before going back to whatever card game he seemed to be playing with the other pilot across from him.

Azuk sat down in a chair at the far side of the room from the doors, removed his helmet, and looked up at the screen directly across from him. It normally received newsfeeds from the Empire, but now it had changed to the red alert border with alternating view screens from several external ship cameras. Nothing could really be seen, Azuk noticed, except in the one that showed the front of the ship and part of Jupiter. In that he could make out the flashes of laser fire between the dreadnought and the Alliance ships. One particularly bright burst of light caught his attention, followed by a second one.

Moments after, the entire dreadnought shook violently, throwing Azuk to the floor. The lights in the lounge flickered and then finally died, along with all other electronics. Shortly after the first shaking, the whole ship rocked again and, as power failed in the gravity plating, the inertia of the impact threw Azuk back into a wall. After a few moments as the movement became managable, very dim red lights came online to give at least some light to the room. Azuk pushed himself off the floor and looked around at the other pilots. They seemed to be fine and were standing up. Azuk turned his attention to his helmet on the floor and, even in the dim light, he picked it up to look it over. As far as he saw, it seemed to be perfectly intact. Despite only having an emergency air supply, Azuk figured he'd have to use it soon. If the ship was hit, much of it had to be depressurized.

Knowing the Alliance dreadnoughts, Azuk figured it had to be the spinal guns hitting the dreadnought. One would surely cripple the ship, but the two that seemed to hit? The dreadnought had to be evacuating. "Where are the pods?" Azuk asked as he sealed the helmet on the suit's collar ring. "We need to get off this ship."

"We can just take the corvette out Tulrikvah." One of the corvette gunners said.

Azuk didn't, and wouldn't, consider that as an option. If the corvette can't make a jump, it was useless. If the dreadnought was crippled like this already the rest of the battle wasn't going to go any better. A thought passed through his mind of the admiral being on the ship, but ultimately he decided that it wasn't his problem. If some fortune smiled on them, perhaps they'd make it out alive. Until then Azuk had to get out on his own.

As he tuned through the communications channels, he finally caught something that came through clear. He at least recognized the voice; Captain Trovato. "This is the Trimalchio emergency band. All hands on board that are receiving this are to escape the ship by any means. We have been struck by two large kinetic rounds. The dreadnought is dead. There's a fracture in the hull at about the midpoint. We expect the ship to break apart within the hour as we descend toward the gas giant."

"Trovato, this is Tulrikvah. I think I am the only one down here with the emergency band." Azuk said after the Captain was done speaking. "Where should I move to?"

It took a moment of silence before there was finally a response. "Good to hear you Tulrikvah. Move to the port hangar bay. We have shuttles ready to move survivors to the troopships. They're being evacuated out of the system."

"So that's it? We're leaving?" Azuk asked as he headed for the exit to the lounge. The emergency power seemed to still supply some power to the gravity plating. Once that was gone though things would get interesting.

"There's been no word from the admirals. The fleet's losing cohesion from what I saw on the battlemaps." Trovato said. "Just get to me and we'll get out of here."

Azuk ran the map of the ship in his mind. If he simply had to cross the ship, the hallway right outside the lounge would cut across. Assuming there was no damage it was a straight shot to the other hangar. Of course he knew there would be bulkheads down to try to keep as much of the ship pressurized as possible.

"Alright. I'll head that way." Azuk said as he pressed the button to force open the lounge doors. He turned back to the few pilots in the lounge. "Captain Trovato has a shuttle off the ship. It's on the other side of the ship. Let's get moving."

"I'm waiting for my orders. You can go if you're a coward." One of the pilots said.

Azuk just shrugged and stepped out of the lounge into the small corridor. To the left, the corvette's magnetic lock appeared to have failed as it had slammed into the wall and blocked the entry into the starboard hangar. That left only one option. Azuk took a few bounding steps up the corridor thanks to the low power in the gravity plates. As expected though after only a few steps, he ran into the first bulkhead - quite literally.

With a loud thud of metal colliding with metal, Azuk let out a grunt as he slammed into the bulkhead. Once he slid down to the plating Azuk shook his head and took a step back. The bulkhead showed the pressure and temperature levels of the other side. Given it had zeros for the other side, he had to assume it was vacuum on the other side.

"I hit a block." Azuk said. "Bulkhead is down. Is there any way to get around it? Or through it. There must be an override right?"

"There is. Find something you can pry it with. When there's vacuum exposure, the bulkheads close. When power is lost they stay in place but the locks are released. They can be forced open." Trovato said.

Azuk looked around for a moment. "Where am I-"

"Emergency cabinet. There's usually at least one every few hundred feet." Trovato said. "Emergency air tanks, sometimes an emergency suit, and usually some sort of pry bar just in case you had to get through. Do note that once you open it you will be going through vacuum and depressurizing more of the ship."

"What's the pressure in the port side hangar?" Azuk asked.

"We're in vacuum here. I guess it won't matter if you have to break through to us, but if there are other people trying to escape opening the bulkheads could endanger them." Trovato said before sighing. "People were at battlestations though. I don't think you'll run into anyone down here."

"Noted." Azuk said as he walked back down the hall carefully, looking for anything on the walls that could indicate one of the cabinets.

As he was about to pass one, he caught a glimpse of the slightly reflective lettering. In the red lighting it was easy to miss. Azuk stopped himself and pulled the cabinet open. As the captain had said, there were several suits, several oxygen tanks, and then a toolbox. He pulled open the toolbox and sifted through it. Through the gloves of the suit he couldn't quite tell what he was grabbing but he did feel what seemed to be a bar. As he pulled it out, in the low light he could make out the shape. It seemed to be what he needed.

"Power may go out soon. Your suit has a helmet light right?" Trovato asked, catching Azuk off guard and startling him.

"I have no idea." Azuk said after laughing to himself for getting scared at that. He felt around the helmet, finally locating a switch on the right side of the helmet. He pushed it up and an almost blinding light turned on to illuminate the cabinet. The bright white light was far brighter than the dim red lighting. If power was out elsewhere it'd be a necessity. "Yeah, I've got a light."

"Good. How about the bar?" Trovato asked.

"Got that too. I'm back to heading for you." Azuk said as he turned and moved to the bulkhead again. "Just in case, what do I do if the bulkhead still has power?"

"In the corners there are hydraulics exposed. Pull the red latch on each of them. It's the emergency release. It'll release the pressure and make it so it can be opened." Trovato said.

"Noted." Azuk said as he looked over the bulkhead. In the middle he noticed the slot where, presumably, the prybar would go. He jabbed the bar into the slot and tried to move it to no avail. The door fought him. "Red latches?" Azuk asked again to make sure.

"That's right." Trovato said.

Azuk quickly reached up to the top latches and pulled them down. With a hiss the pressure in the door released as the hydraulic fluid was drained. Once all of the latches were pulled and the hissing stopped, Azuk went back to the prybar. With almost no force the bulkhead split apart in the center and Azuk was able to get a hand in to move one to the right side. He set the prybar into a slot on his suit, dropping it through the loop with the curved part at the top catching the loop.

It didn't quite hit him at first, but as he pulled it open he heard the hissing of air which quickly turned into a gust. By the time the bulkhead was most of the way open and Azuk removed his grip, he was thrown into the large corridor against the bulkhead on the other side with force. The rear of his suit absorbed most of the impact, but he was still left out of breath and groaning on the bulkhead.

"Oh right. Might want to activate your magnetic boots if you have them." Trovato said. "That rush of air can kill you. You didn't open it yet right?" Just to prove a point Azuk opened his communications and let out a groan at the comment. "I guess I should have mentioned that earlier."

"Yeah." Azuk said with some effort as he slid down to the deck.

Once he was able to move again, he stood up shakily from the position on the floor. His helmet's visor had a crack in it despite not taking a direct hit. On its HUD though he saw the oxygen supply had activated automatically. The timer showed that he had about thirty minutes of air. He only hoped that that would be enough to make it to the other side. As he stood up and looked at the bulkhead that he slammed into, he saw the same slot and that the other side of the bulkhead was vacuum as well.

Taking a guess he pressed a button on the bulkhead panel to open it. With the pressure equal on both sides, by which it meant there was none, the bulkhead glowed green and opened. Slowly Azuk walked through the center and down the small corridor again. He could see another bulkhead even further down that would go to the port side main corridor. If he could get moving he'd be on the shuttle in a matter of minutes.

"What's your status?" Trovato asked just as the visor crack expanded slightly.

"Not good. My helmet may not survive." Azuk said as he started to pick up the pace again, this time spurred on by the fact his helmet was about to break.

"Where is the damage?" Trovato asked.

"The visor. I guess it cracked on impact." Azuk said. "It might hold but I need to get moving. Can you come up the auxiliary corridor and meet me I guess at the port side main corridor."

"I can do that." Trovato said. "Probably help get you through too if I can break through the bulkheads. Alright, just keep moving. I'll meet you there. If you start leaking though, don't hold your breath."

"I've done vacuum training, thank you." Azuk said as he went back to taking the bounding steps of earlier. The long way down to the other side gave him all the space he needed to come to a reasonable stop and not slam into that bulkhead as well.

"Alright, alright." Trovato said. "I'm getting to the corridor now. Where are you?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can get the bulkhead on my side open. What's the pressure look like?" Azuk asked as he started to slow down his steps.

"The corridor is pressurized." Trovato said. "The bulkhead only opened to let me through and it immediately shut again."

Azuk almost didn't notice as the power went out until the red lights faded and he didn't come back down from a step. At the speed he still had he bounced lightly off the ceiling and went straight for the other bulkhead. With time to react he put his arms in front and stopped the impact from being more than a simple thud against the bulkhead.

"I guess that was you." Trovato said. "I'll pop the bulkhead."

It took a moment for Azuk to register that. "Wait don't do-"

The bulkhead opened just a bit and he caught the glimpse of one of the battlesuits, but he was quickly propelled away as the bulkhead opened further. He sped up as the pressurized corridor flooded into the vacuum. With only the vacuum exposed corridor behind him, he knew the air would just keep coming. As he flew down the hallway, he was able to turn around to see the other bulkhead approaching.

"I guess that was you." Trovato quipped as she stepped into the corridor and, with a burst of blue flame, shot down the corridor with her suit's thrusters.

Azuk covered his helmet as he slammed into the bulkhead. In the moment of impact he heard and then felt his arm hit the visor. There was a cracking sound and then he felt the rush of air. The glass shards came back and stabbed him in the face but that didn't matter much. As if by training he immediately let all air out of his lungs so that they wouldn't burst. As the legs made impact he felt shooting pain as the suit absorbed only some of the force and his legs took the rest. He was sure something else broke, but he couldn't scream with no air in a vacuum.

The bulkhead vibrated under an impact and Azuk felt himself be pulled up. He was able to see, slightly, the battlesuit. Nothing was said as the thrusters fired again and Azuk was pulled. He weakly turned his head to look up and saw he was flying through the corridor he just went the other way down. His vision started to darken as the thruster cut out and he was thrown over a shoulder. Trovato ran toward what he assumed was the shuttle as they entered the hangar. Shortly after they were inside, Trovato hit a button to close the ramp and then reached for a mask just above Azuk's head. Before anything happened though Azuk felt himself slip away.

Unknown Location

When Azuk finally came to, he let out a gasp of air and the breathed in again normally. As he looked around he found himself in bed in what looked like a hospital room. He glanced down to see that he was still in his suit, but other than his head he was effectively immobilized.

"Lieutenant Tulrikvah, good to see you're awake." A Navy officer said.

"Where am I?" Azuk asked through a raspy voice.

"This is the IATV Liberator. You're in the infirmary. We've stabilized your condition and done what we could for you." The officer said.

"Where are we then?" Azuk asked.

The officer marked something down on his datapad. "We're currently about halfway to the Empire. When we arrive you'll be transferred to one of the hospitals wherever we arrive. You've broken both legs, your right arm, several ribs were broken, and you had short term oxygen deprivation and the scans show light brain damage."

Azuk just closed his eyes and shook his head, taking particular care as he noticed that as he did so his head started to hurt until he set his head back into a resting position. "What happened to the fleet?" He finally asked.

"We lost." The officer said. "Our capital ships were destroyed with almost all hands on board killed. Our escort ships were largely disabled but some made it to the RV point. The picket ships were massacred. The troopships never made contact and we were gone before anyone knew we were there. In all, only a dozen warships made it to the RV along with the troopships. Heads are going to roll, that's for sure."

Azuk let that sink in. He knew Sol was going to be a defeat but the magnitude of such a loss was incredible. The Empire was supposed to be this massive entity that could take on anything and win, or so everything he saw suggested. And yet when faced against lower tech ships, they were utterly destroyed.

"What happened to Captain Trovato?" Azuk asked.

"She's fine. Want to have her sent in when she's available? I believe she's giving a debriefing to a few other crew members that escaped." The officer said.

"No. I just didn't want to wake up and find out she was dead. How long until we get to the Empire?" Azuk asked. This was he knew was more important.

"We're estimating arrival at Haroma within the next ten hours. You'll be transferred to a surface medical center and we figure you'll be up and moving by the time you will be debriefed." The officer said. "For now, get some sleep. You'll be home soon."

Azuk nodded and closed his eyes as he laid back into the bed. He definitely needed the sleep to deal with whatever was coming. Sol was lost and the fleet took a massive hit. He was a foreigner coming to a new nation where he may have earned his citizenship if they uphold the contract he signed. Despite the bad and the injuries, he may actually have a future after all. That was good enough to get him to get back to sleep.

The Greater Haromian Empire Haroma System, Haroma III Gracaria-Nordavic

Origins 13 4997 ISY (1 Isaiah)

"Where are we going?" Azuk asked.

Having just been released from the hospital after three weeks of treatment plus a full suite of new medical boosters, Azuk was made to put on the Navy dress uniform he was provided and then was ushered into a car by Captain Trovato. The two sat at the back of the black vehicle, and Azuk couldn't help but enjoy the luxury within. Of course he still wondered why he was in here. The uniforms were strange enough, but it was the lack of answers to his endless questions that truly bothered him.

"It's a surprise. Simply put I got you an invitation to a short meeting." Trovato said.

"Captain, I don't much care for surprises." Azuk said.

That got a chuckle from Trovato. "We're done with the military pretty soon I think. Just call me Luca would you? And I think you'll like this surprise."

The car made a right turn onto a short driveway in front of some gates, coming to a stop. He couldn't hear what the driver was saying through the divider between the front and back, but Azuk could still see ornate red and white uniforms just outside. He had a guess what was going on but he chose to pay it little mind. Within a minute they were moving again after the gates opened.

There was a small dip on the narrow road and Azuk found themselves moved from the urban area into what seemed to be a forest. That got Azuk's attention as he tried to figure something out as he looked out the window. Despite it all though he could see nothing that would explain where they were or why.

"Who are we meeting with?" Azuk finally asked.

"A friend of mine, Isaiah. He was my commander a year back." Luca said with a bit of a dismissive wave. "Nobles are pretty friendly with each other by default. I figure you deserve a proper introduction to the Empire and Isaiah agrees."

"Nobles?" Azuk asked as he turned to face Luca.

"Yeah, my father is a duke and one of the Emperor's closer advisors." Luca said. "Allegedly I am a countess, but it seems more titular than anything with power."

The car came out of the forest and made a slight right. The road looped around a central fountain with a building on the opposite side of the direction the road came in from. As Azuk looked to the building, the car came to a stop and the same people in red and white uniforms opened the doors for the two. Luca climbed out of the left side, and Azuk on the right. As he stepped out he noticed that the guard wasn't saluting him but a glance across the car showed that the guard was saluting Luca.

She came around the back of the car quickly and walked up alongside Azuk. "So, a few things first. Don't be nervous. That's the most important part. Also wait until we're out of sight of the guards before you relax a bit." She said as they walked into the doors, held open by the guards.

"That seems counter-intuitive." Azuk said.

"You'll understand what I mean soon." Luca said.

The inside of the building - no, the palace - was simply astounding. Azuk didn't even hear the last thing Luca said as he looked around. The tall ceiling above had been decorated with several murals that wrapped around the dome. Further down the walls, gold and other precious gems made the entire room sparkle in the sunlight. It took Azuk's attention away from walking that had Luca not held out an arm to stop him he'd have walked into yet another door.

That arm brought Azuk back to the present. On the huge double doors in front of them, a golden eagle symbol had its wings spread with blue and red gems making up an inner coat of arms. Azuk didn't have time to analyze it properly before the doors parted and the guards ushered them into the next room. Like the entry room, the long hall, with columns and a glass roof, simply glittered. Statues occupied the spaces between the columns, all of them human Azuk noted, and the floors were made of an impeccably polished marble. The columns also had royal blue banners with the same coat of arms as on the door on them.

At the far end, as Azuk's staring finally settled on the end of the room, rested a raised platform with a tall, glittering throne and a single person sitting on it. As the two approached, Azuk noticed the distinct lack of guards but also the fact that the person on the throne wore nothing that would give away their status. As far as he could tell the person simply wore slacks and a sweatshirt with horizontal stripes.

"Welcome back Luca." The person finally said in a booming voice. Azuk couldn't tell if it were him yelling or the acoustics of the throne room. As he stood up he added, "And I guess this is Lieutenant Tulrikvah. Welcome to Haroma."

Getting closer Azuk figured the man was about six feet tall and clearly rather old. With longer white hair that seemed only marginally kept to at least look straight and organized and an equally white goatee that seemed out of place, the man just looked odd. It was the green eyes though that had Azuk's attention. Despite the age of the man, Azuk sensed a sort of power behind the eyes that he just couldn't place.

Azuk and Luca came to a stop at the bottom steps of the raised platform and the person took a few steps down. As he came to their level he extended a hand to Azuk. Without any hesitation Azuk took his hand and shook it. "I don't think I got your name sir."

"Isaiah." The man said. "Or, as you may better know me in the coming days," he flashed a grin, "Emperor Isaiah the Second of Haroma." Azuk's slight smile immediately faded and he stiffened up. He expected to be dealing with nobility but not the Emperor. "As I said, welcome to Haroma, Azuk. I reviewed the contract that you had signed. It's hardly legally binding due to the circumstances. The pardon was authorized, the contract... not so much."

That immediately shot down any hope Azuk had for maybe making something of himself in this part of the galaxy. He was hoping for payment and of course citizenship so he could do something. The last thing he wanted to do was end up having to go back to Sol and deal with the aftermath of that fighting. He could only imagine what was coming of that. Knowing the Terrans though, they were probably going to use it as an excuse to unify local space and prevent anything like that from happening again or something.

"However, it will be fulfilled as written." Isaiah continued. "That's why you're here after all. Non-citizens are barred from the palace without exceptional cause. Citizens still need cause, but I believe a small meal counts. Come, this way." Isaiah said as he took a step to the left and walked past the columns. Behind the columns was a single door that, had Azuk not noticed the handle, would have blended rather seamlessly with the wall.

Azuk just followed Luca into the room since she knew the place better and he wanted to at least appear to be halfway professional while he was here. Rushing around behind the Emperor wasn't a great way to at least look the part. He was sure there were some sorts of special rules about nobility and commoners or something too.

Behind the door was a simple, if rather modern, lounge and bar. It could seat maybe 15 people at most in a couple booths. The table in the center already had three chairs and Isaiah pointed to it. Able to take a hint, both Luca and Azuk sat down as Isaiah stood at another table and flipped through a few folders on that table.

"So, as you have no official records in the Empire I have taken the liberty of having new ones drafted for you lieutenant." Isaiah said as he turned around and laid a folder on the table in front of Azuk. "Immigration papers, a signed and approved copy of your contract, bank information, lease information, and a few other things."

"Lease and bank information?" Azuk asked as he opened the folder.

"Due to your service, I modified the contract slightly." Isaiah said as he sat down. "Payment has been upped to sixty thousand for each week of service and tax free, including this hospital time. I also secured you an apartment here in the city for the next six months, renewable of course if you want to keep it. People are hesitant to lease to people with no background. Likewise there's a bank account with the money already in it. Your citizen's ID is in the folder in one of the side pockets, as are the bank chips. So what are your plans?"

"I have no idea." Azuk said as he looked through everything before finally coming to the bank information. Just over one million Imperial Credits. He wasn't even sure yet if that was truly a lot of money. "I'm a pilot. What even would be available?"

"There are some racing opportunities out there, but I'm not a career advisor." Isaiah said with a small laugh. "That's everything you need though to start your new life in the Empire. Once again, welcome. Thank you for your service in Sol, even if it ended extremely poorly."

"Speaking of that sir, what is going to happen about that?" Azuk asked.

"Well, that's why Luca is here. All officers involved in the operation are being discharged." Isaiah said.

"What?" Luca said rather than asked, more in disbelief than anything else.

"Unfortunately the magnitude of the defeat was warranted the dismissal of everyone involved. I know you weren't directly in charge of the operations, but you were there." Isaiah said. "It's an honorable discharge, so it's not a punishment, but unfortunately your career is at an end. I wanted to tell you personally so it won't be a surprise when this happens tomorrow."

"And you're not stopping this?" Luca asked.

"I can't. It was my decision." Isaiah said without any real emotion in it. "I have a personal package for you though. A few bonuses for the long service from one friend to another. We'll discuss it later though."

"How bad was the defeat, if I can ask?" Azuk said after noticing that Luca seemed like she was stifling anger and an outburst and wanting to quickly change the subject.

"Two hundred thousand dead, at least and hundreds of ships lost. It's the worst defeat we've had in centuries." Isaiah said. "But we know where we failed and we will be recovering in the near future. The deaths were in vain but I had believed we had victory at hand. I was wrong."

"So what now?" Azuk asked.

"Well, we're all here. Care for something to eat? I am sure the cooks could use the distraction." Isaiah said. "Afterward I suppose we go our separate ways."

"No, I think I'll be leaving now." Luca said as she stood up.

"Ah, very well." Isaiah said, standing up as well. "I hope you won't hold this against me. It was unfortunately necessary in the short term."

Seeing everyone else stand up, and knowing Luca was probably his ride out, Azuk stood up. "Thank you for everything." Azuk said. "I guess if she's leaving I have to leave."

"Of course. If you need anything, my card is in the folder. Call me if something comes up. I might be able to help you." Isaiah said.

Luca had already left, and Azuk didn't notice until the door into the throne room had slammed behind her. Azuk just nodded and left the lounge quickly with his folder in hand.

Despite having to get a ride to his new home and new life with a rightfully angry wolf, Azuk knew that this was the new beginning that he truly wanted. A new land, a new life, and a considerable amount of money to his name. As he thought about it, the idea of racing was sounding increasingly enticing. He'd have to look into that when he got to the apartment and got settled in. At the very least he had no intention to ever going back to flying anything in space. If he could keep it on the ground he'd be perfectly happy.