12:42, JANURARY 21, 2298 (military calendar)

SIGMA OCTANA IV, UNITED SOVEIGN UNION, DUAL BINARY SYSTEM

UEC HEAVY BATTLE CARRIER -798 "SPIRIT OF ENDURANCE"

The Spirit of Endurance appeared in geosynchronous orbit above Sigma Octana, one of the USU's last colonies. It was a neutral system, and all ships, on both sides could enter the system. Barnes looked up at the DRADIS and spotted the planet, they somehow managed to land right darn in above the planet. The ships advanced hyper-light-sensors could detect planetary bodies, and asteroid field during a jump, and recalculate it to prevent sudden destruction of a ship.

"This is the USU, of Sigma Octana Four. You have crossed our boarders without any previous warning. Identify your vessel or prepared to be boarded." That message was less than friendly. They probably had been stepping up their security, because the ESU was mauling neighboring systems, and then annexing them into their own territory. Barnes nodded to the Coms-men, and they patched him through to the coms array.

"This is Commander Johnathan Barnes. We are the UEC Heavy Battle Carrier – 798 Spirit of Endurance. We are just trying to get home. Our ship can use some repairs. Our long-range communication array was damaged by the Insurrectionist forces, and we have hull damage." Barnes held the handset to his face and waited a moment. That moment turned into a few minutes before they replied.

"Spirit of Endurance. We require you to send your I-FIN code on this channel. Use the encoded frequency." Barnes nodded and the com sent the I-FIN Code back, there was a 20 second tone that beeped in a form of calculus, only the most advanced computers could decode it. After another 30 seconds of pure silence the military of Sigma Octana's returned the call. "Spirit of Endurance we have received and confirmed your code and 20-second I-FIN. You are clear to dock." Barnes feel relieved, he wasn't sure if they would accept them. The USU was a non-aggression state, they signed the Expanse Accords, with both the UEC and the ESU, who both respected that they wished to stay neutral. If one side attacked and tried to annex it, they would fight them off, and probably nuke themselves. A bunch of pacifists as his grandfather called them, men and women who didn't want to fight for their own freedom. The ESU was a fascist state, no better than Russia during the cold war. Then again, the UEC was a totalitarian state, but they at least had basic rights, they were free, but the UEC had to have a tight grip on the colonies due to them being thousands of light years away. The USU was the last outpost of democracy, they were the last of the governments ruled by the people. They were not open to change, they were happy the way they were. They even were open to expanding their ideals to the UEC, and the ESU.

"Helm, bring us to the station."

"Aye sir."

"Keep us at combat alert: non-threat."

"Aye Sir."

"I want repairs done to our communication array, our hull, and I want to get our engines up and running."

"Got it." The Spirit of Endurance slowly moved into position inside of the cradle. It was the only automatic repair system. It scanned your ship, sent out a report to the engineers on site, and they programmed what repairs it needed. The ship lost parts of its hull armor over the past few weeks, nothing that couldn't be replaced, but it was enough to make a difference. Barnes knew that the ship had a entirely new lateral support structure, the original was blown out during the early days of the war. He would want to get a look at it, he knew the ship stem to stern, it was a living legend, and he was in command of it.

17:32 JANURARY 21, 2298 (military calendar)

DELTA OMEGA, EXPANSE SOVERGN UNION STAGING AREA

ESU FRIGATE – 9982 "Truth and Reconciliation"

Admiral Chang looked at the console onboard the Truth and Reconciliation, the newest ship in the ESU fleet. He had received a transmission from one of their long-range reconnaissance probes. It had discovered that the Spirit of Endurance was getting repairs at the cradle at Sigma Octana 5. By helping the enemy, they were now one as well. The last attack against the 3rd fleet cause them seven ships, and their lead flagships FTL Drive, which was now under repairs for commissioning in their fleet. He was happy to receive such a advanced ship, it was heavily armed, and had the newest weapons and computer systems, while the Spirit of Endurance was the least adequate ship he's ever seen, a old cargo vessel, that was cannibalized into the ship it is today, was a hundred years old, and barely could make FTL-7, it was a short range tactical vessel, and he planned on mauling it alive. Possibly, he could convince the crew to surrender, and use the vessel, but that would be futile, no UEC ship surrenders, he had to kill the crew of the Say My Name, and the crew of The Glorious, if they were willing to surrender he would have spared him their lives, he wasn't a monster. He only obeys his orders from the High Admiral.

When he received word that the Spirit of Endurance survived he had hopes that he possibly could drive the ship to mutiny against their commander, and force them to surrender it to him. He already had a plan, the fleet would surprise the Spirit at Sigma Octana, and maul her alive, the planet would have to pay.

"Hail Sigma Octana using our encrypted frequencies."

"Aye sir, why are we hailing?"

"We have some mauling to do."

"Sir we just received a intercepted message from the Spirit of Endurance, the probe worked. We have all their IFF and I-FIN Codes. We now can see all their messages."

"Play it aloud"

"Aye, Sir."

TRANSCRIPT RECEIVED UEC – 798 "SPIRIT OF ENDURANCE" COMMANDING OFFICERS LOG – BARNES, JOHNATHAN COLE

MISSION TIME ELAPSED: 3 M, 23 DAYS, 17 HOURS:41 MINUTES

"Commanding Officers log. January 31, 2298. The repairs to the Spirit of Endurance are almost complete. Within a few days, we will be able to re-engage the Hyper-Light-Drive without damaging our hull. After doing a personal examination of the lateral-support-structure, I have concluded that it is still in good shape, and there's no evidence of structural deterioration. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do for our communication array, the technology is still old subwave, so t conditions will not improve. The Sigma Octana outpost has been more than generous, allowing us to make repairs with the cradle, an old piece of early war technology for rapid repair, its gone well. ----- [Unrecognizable time elapsed 3 minutes] ------ can tell ----- numerous ------- long range tactical probes, they are watching us. Going to coordinates 23489-3240982. End log." [Time elapsed 5-7 minutes]