The Glass Fleet

They were an unnerving bunch of weirdos — that had been Aetna's first impression of them. The 1st Elite Cadet Squadron certainly did not fail to make an impression...

Especially since they were all wearing what appeared to be military-issue EVA (extravehicular activity) suits.

These were combat spacesuits designed for combat in the hard vacuum of space and were capable of withstanding severe punishment. They were intimidating, heavily-armored battlesuits used mainly by special forces operatives... and not by starship officers.

It didn't make any sense... As their title implied, starship officers commanded starships; they were certainly not ground forces or special commandos.

Officers weren't actually expected to shoot or physically fight enemies — their job was commanding other people to do that for them.

But that wasn't even the strangest thing about them.

What really creeped out Aetna was that they were all still wearing their helmets even though they had already entered the ship. Alarm bells rang inside Aetna's head.

There was nothing more suspicious than someone hiding their identity. It naturally implied that they possessed something dangerous enough to get themselves and possibly other people in trouble, too...

When everyone was finally seated, the meeting began. Yunfeer introduced himself and then pulled a slideshow of the proposed training exercise that both cadet squadrons would be a part of in the coming weeks.

"Because of your excellent test scores and the personal recommendation of the Lord Admiral, Imperial High Command has allowed you the privilege to be testers of a new prototype warship," said Yunfeer.

A holographic projected a somewhat small and sleek warship model, outfitted with what seemed to be an enormous antimatter drive at its core. It was an elegant-looking beauty, but it seemed closer to a civilian ship in design than a military one to Aetna.

Yunfeer pointed at the hologram and said, "This is the prototype you'll be testing — a crossbreed between a deep-space exploration ship and an Interceptor-class warship."

The prototype had a total crew capacity of fifty-five people, but it had also been designed to operate with a skeleton crew of fifteen people. And although the ship had been fitted with an oversized antimatter drive, it actually used less antimatter fuel than ships of its size.

It was smaller and therefore had a smaller weapons capacity, so it had been outfitted with more powerful energy cannons and railguns to compensate.

That would have presented problems on other ships. Still, the reduced energy capacity and the increased output of the unique antimatter drive it was equipped with made it possible for the ship to use the weapons properly.

Aetna was mildly impressed — whoever had designed the ship had created a miniature beast of a warship. Still, its defenses weren't that great, so it'd only take a couple of good potshots from a bigger ship to destroy its plasma shields.

And once the warship's plasma shields failed, it'd only take a single shot from a heavy railgun or energy cannon to blow it to hell. Even normal auto-turrets could do the job once the shields were down, turning the warship into a hunk of swiss cheese if they weren't careful enough.

The armor plating wasn't thick enough to handle the brunt of a real fight. That was the painful cost of its reduced energy load and high maneuverability.

It scared Aetna once he realized what they were making them test — a goddamned glass cannon. This was a warship made for madmen who wanted to play with their lives.

'A deathtrap for cowards and amateurs; a vicious weapon for the fearless and veterans...'

The damn warship violated every single design rule created, and then some yet Imperial High Command had still approved it. It represented a radical shift in High Command's approach to war. It likely meant that something huge was about to happen.

And that scared Aetna shitless, enough for him to visibly sweat in terror...

"You will all be participating in simulated wargames, culminating in an actual live training skirmish once we think you're ready. Henceforth, both squadrons will be merged to form the 1st Combat Test Squadron," said Yunfeer before he paused for a moment and added, "The squadron itself will be split up into five groups. Each group will be lead by one of the Lord Admiral's Elite Cadets."

A heavy silence filled the Observatory when Yunfeer finished his explanation. The twenty-five cadets felt a certain feeling of indignity though none of them dared to voice out their objections.

Everyone in Joyeuse Squadron had been together for nearly eight months, so they had developed a feeling of camaraderie. Hell, that feeling of companionship even resembled that of a 'family,' in an odd sort of way.

So, to have five strangers be allowed to command them and, by extension, be responsible for their lives was a little too much for them to accept.

But there was nothing they could do about it now. The only thing they could do was keep their heads down and keep their apprehension hidden within their chests.

"Your specific assignments have already been completed. By 0900 hours tomorrow, you will all be participating in your first wargame simulation, followed by an in-depth analysis of your simulation results."

Commander Telam spoke up and said, "Today's objective, though, is simply for all of you to acquaint yourselves with your new captains. To that end, we've reserved a couple of rooms for you to socialize and get to know one another..."

And so, it commenced without further ado...

Six people sat in silence as they gazed at their own beverages. For the last eight minutes, not a person in the room had spoken a single word. In fact, it had gotten so quiet that Aetna had actually heard the sound of his own heart beating a couple of times.

Suffice to say, it was pretty hard to strike up a conversation with someone in full-body combat armor.

It didn't help that some of the more uncooperative cadets had been assigned to this particular team...

Savar Langdur — A boulder in human form with the soul of a dry textbook. Made of protein, old-school machismo, and a die-hard love of the Empire, Savar was a straight-edge that followed the rules to the letter, often to the point of troubling his fellow cadets.

Aetna didn't like him much. It didn't help that Savar was a pain in his ass that hated his guts.

Lynnette Gallenford — A smart cookie who loved to play with her prey in simulated wargames. A habitual gambler and a colorful jokester. If there were credits to be earned or a secret party to be had, then it was likely Lynnette's idea.

Aetna liked her a little bit since she had helped him out in the past, but he hated how she often disregarded the concept of personal space.

Gafon Huntington — The son of a wealthy family, though he was not of noble blood. Loved to speak about his homeworld and the beautiful women that were waiting for him back home. He was clearly homesick, which begged the question: Why did he enlist at all? It wasn't like he needed the status boost of being in the military to get ahead in life...

Aetna didn't like him much, but he could tolerate him to an extent. Still, Gafon was too materialistic and flirty for Aetna's taste.

Saoe Neberafon — Never spoke casually or without a proper reason. Apparently hailed from an Old World family that still practiced the ancient customs of its original peoples. Something that was called... Buhdo? Boshudo? Bishudo? He couldn't remember.

Aetna liked her a little bit, if only because she had never bothered him since they had known each other.

And then there was Aetna himself and their new, mysterious captain, who would be leading them from now on for the foreseeable future. All in all, it was an odd combination of cadets that didn't really blend that well together, to put it politely...

They were getting nowhere. At least, until someone finally spoke up for everyone else and got the ball rolling.

Naturally, it was Aetna himself since he cared the least about leaving a bad impression with their new captain.

"So, are we all in agreement that we're being sent to our deaths?" said Aetna as he pulled a liquor flask out of his coat and poured its contents into his drink. Whiskey was Aetna's favorite medicine to shitty problems, and right now, he needed some of it in his life.

"What makes you think that?" replied Lynnette with a curious expression. She would rather humor Aetna's question than sit around in silence for another second.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Aetna as he passed his flask to Lynnette and continued, "The first reason is pretty damn obvious — these ships are meant to be for veterans with a lot of combat experience. They punch hard, but they're made of goddamn glass. The plasma shields on these ships are strong, but once they fail, we're pretty much dead."

The crew of these new warships would need a strong understanding of combat theory and real combat experience to use these warships to their full potential without outright dying. And that couldn't be expected out of cadets who had not even completed their training yet.

"It doesn't make sense for cadets to test prototypes either, no matter how outstanding they are. If the research and development team that created these ships wants real data, they need the opinions and data from actual veterans who have been in real battle. Not untested greenhorns like us who have never even left the simulation room..."

"Do you always have to be a skeptic, Mad Count? You're overthinking things, as per usual," said Gafon as he grabbed the flask from Lynnette and added, "We're not expendable pawns they can get rid of so easily now that we have an Elite Cadet leading us. High Command considers them more important than the ships they're assigned to, for heaven's sake!"

It was a bit demeaning to think of their new captain like that, but what Gafon said was true. High Command would never endanger their Elite Cadets under any circumstances.

"Your lack of faith in our superiors is disturbing, Erandeusi," said Savar with a frown on his face. "It's that same lack of trust and disrespect for the chain of command that will doom you and those around you to a dishonorable death someday."

Aetna sighed. They were hopeless idiots. Not that Aetna was surprised by their stupidity.

"Okay, then let's think about it on a simpler level. We're part of a test fleet that will test out a new type of warship, yes? Can we agree on that?" said Aetna.

The room went silent. No one dissented. 'So far, so good,' thought Aetna.

"What do you think is the most important job for a test fleet?" asked Aetna.

For the first time, Saoe spoke up and said, "To accomplish whatever is asked of us. There is no need to investigate the orders that we have been given, Aetna. We do what is asked of us and nothing more. Anything else would be treason to the Empire and the Imperial Forces."

'Oh, for the love of...! They're all fucking hopeless! I'm going to die for sure!!'

"It's that exact line of thought that led to some of the most horrifying atrocities in human history! You have personal responsibility and moral obligation to make sure never to carry out an unethical order that would violate another human being's rights or your moral compass! And don't you EVER forget that!" said Aetna in a furious voice.

Aetna's patience had, unfortunately, run its course. He had no intention of playing nice with them after hearing their responses.

"This is why I knew it'd be hopeless trying to get you guys to see the truth! You're all too busy kissing the Empire's feet, looking for a promotion, to see that they're using you," said Aetna with a disdainful expression on his face. "Pathetic bastards..."

Everyone glared at Aetna as if he were a nutjob, befitting his "Mad Count" monicker. Even though his rant had held a great deal of truth, the way he had harshly berated them all had struck a bad chord with them.

"Your concerns are well-founded," replied an artificial voice. "I, too, have my suspicions about this strange arrangement made by the Lord Admiral and High Command."

To everyone's surprise, the Elite Cadet had spoken their thoughts on the matter. Even more shocking was that the Elite Cadet had even agreed with Aetna.

It had caught everyone off guard, even Aetna himself. He wasn't happy about that, though.

"But I've been provided information that you do not have, Count Kolinto, and can guarantee to you that I will not put us in any real danger. Not any life-threatening danger, anyway. Still, there is always the possibility of an accident happening in any real training exercise. Nevertheless, you have my word on this matter — I will look after the safety of my crew," said the Elite Cadet.

Aetna burst into hysterical laughter when he heard that. It took him a while before he was finally able to restrain his laughter and said, "Your word?! You want us to take the word of a stranger — whose face we don't even know?!"

The Elite Cadet calmly responded, "I understand your concern, but my circumstances are... unique. Our identities are too important to be revealed, not because we would be in danger, but because anyone related or affiliated to us would be in danger. Make no mistake— we wear these suits to protect our families and friends, not ourselves."

There were several powerful groups and individuals who would stand to gain from the instability caused by the death of an Elite Cadet. And there were plenty of malicious plots that could arise from using the Elite Cadet's friends and family as a means to that end...

It was a convincing explanation for just about everyone in the room, but it was still not enough for Aetna. He refused to place trust in a stranger just because they made an emotional appeal about their selflessness.

Emotions, powerful emotions, were a chemical weakness that blinded people to obvious truths. They always misguided people from connecting the dots and coming to the correct conclusion.

That was why Aetna would not accept that explanation at face value. Many questions could easily debunk or at least punch a couple of gaping holes into the Elite Cadet's explanation.

Knowing that an Elite Cadet's identity could be used to target their friends and family to get to them, why had they not been relocated somewhere secure? Or perhaps, given them new identities to better hide them? What about erasing the identities of the Elite Cadets themselves? Declaring them dead would also work in hiding the identities of the Elite Cadets...

Was the Empire's Internal Security Bureau so lacking that it could not identify and subdue any possible groups that would commit these potential crimes before they happened? What was the point of the excessive funding they received every year if they couldn't at least manage that?

Aetna had already thought up nine different methods to ensure the safety and the Elite Cadets and anyone related to them in a single minute.

"You can play everyone else like an idiot, but I can see through your bullshit," said Aetna, unimpressed. "And unlike these stupid bootlickers, I won't hesitate in spacing you out of an airlock if you ever decide to mess with me. Even if it gets me on the Lord Admiral or High Command's shitlist for life."

Royally pissing off the Empire wasn't on Aetna's to-do list, but getting pushed around by some high-and-mighty Elite Cadet wasn't on his list either. So rather than set a precedent today by keeping his mouth shut, he'd throw his glove down and challenge the bastard.

Though he couldn't see the Elite Cadet's expression, Aetna knew that he had elicited some reaction from the fellow because...

The Elite Cadet leaned over closer to Aetna and calmly said, "That's fine by me. You're more than welcome to do that if you ever find concrete evidence of my treason against my crew or the Empire. But until then, I expect you to obey and carry out my orders properly. And more importantly, I expect you to respect my position as Commander whether you like it or not."

Aetna was about to make a retort, but he was stopped in his tracks when the Elite Cadet abruptly said, "And if you would do me a favor, my dear Vice-Commander, please feel free to call me... Narivan. I'm looking forward to working with you from now on..."