"Has father already told you about the ship I came in contact with?" Bernard asked as he followed behind Gerard.
"He's only told us what you've said so far. I'm given orders to assist you if necessary." Gerard replied.
"Other than what I told you. I found something else that's of similar interest." Bernard added before handing Gerard a tablet.
"We've had one of these in our hands this whole time? How did you find this?" Gerard asked before looking up to Bernard.
"I have my ways." Bernard smiled before walking ahead.
Gerard thought for a moment, he realized that Bernard has been obsessed with the bedtime stories their father used to tell them. For the stories to be real, now it was certainly intriguing. Gerard knows that Bernard's piloting skills are far better than the three of them. He's been envious of Bernard ever since they were children. Despite him learning how to pilot earlier, Bernard quickly surpassed him and continued to become better. It was only a matter of a few years for Bernard to even defeat their eldest brother, Arthur, in a mock battle and with an older machine that Bernard customized himself. No, Gerard wasn't envious of Bernard. His instincts were telling him to be careful around Bernard or else he would get swallowed up by Bernard's insatiable hunger for power.
"Commander, are you feeling unwell? You've been staring at the tablet for a while now." Lucy stated in a worried tone.
"I'm fine. It's just Bernard..." Gerard mumbled.
"The captain? Is there something wrong with him?" Lucy asked.
"Nothing, it's nothing. Forget I said anything." Gerard added before catching up with Bernard.
"I can't believe these two are actually brothers." Lucy mumbled and giggled before following behind.
As they headed towards the hangar, the alarms began sounding. A voice suddenly announced that several alliance fighters have been spotted and are headed towards the inspection line. Gerard ordered Bernard to launch the Catalyst and support his unit.
"All hands on deck!" Victor exclaimed as he entered the bridge.
"The captain has entered the bridge. All hands to primary stations." A voice announced inside the Catalyst.
"Give me a display on the monitor of the enemy fighters. Viktor, launch your squadron as soon as we exit the dock." Bernard ordered.
"Displaying on the main monitors now." One of the crew men stated.
A grin flashed on Bernard's face as he saw the silhouette of Asterion. It looked a little different but he was sure of it. He also spotted the red Orion that he fought a few months ago by the asteroid belt.
"Prepare the North Star, and tell Viktor that it's them." Bernard ordered before heading out the bridge.
Gerard's flagship was the first to exit the dock and headed towards the approaching enemy squadron. The Catalyst shortly followed behind with Viktor's squadron escorting it.
"Bernard, take care of that old ship. I'll have my units surround them." Gerard ordered.
"Dear brother, we have the numbers so it would be best to overwhelm them. Especially with that red Orion being in their formation." Bernard replied as he wore his helmet.
"I want to see how good you've become. Engage that black ship and I'll take care of the rest." Gerard ordered once more before ending the transmission.
"You always read my mind." Bernard mumbled before chuckling and starting up the monitors on his ship.
The Alliance ships maintained their tight formation so Gerard formed a pincer formation with his fleet and began a short barrage before deploying six XM-3 squadrons. Bernard lead a separate squadron from Viktor, they're tasked to flank around the enemies as they enter the pincer.
"We'll cut through them. Kjēl, move to your position. Everyone else, maintain your formation." Veronica ordered.
"I'm in position. Increasing weapons output, charging particles." Kjēl replied.
"Aim for the ship that's second to the left from the middle. Veronica, we'll take care of the fighters. Fire at will." Brook ordered as well.
The XM-3 squadrons began engaging and both sides traded fire. Viktor's squadron began attacking their left wing from behind while Bernard's engaged the right wing. Gerard launched in his custom XM-3 and locked his sights on the red Orion.
"You should still be outside of the XM-3's effective range but mine is special. I'll pick you all off from here." Gerard said to himself as he adjusted the zoom on his monitor.
"Releasing charged particles." Kjēl stated as she squeezed the trigger.
Gerard's monitor was suddenly flooded with a bright light as Asterion fired a high density charged particle beam. Bernard and the others were stunned for a moment as the beam hit one of the large ships in the formation and destroyed half of its hull. Kjēl grinned as their squadron flew past the XenoMarsian fleet.
"What the hell was that?" Gerard exclaimed.
"I don't know, it didn't have that weapon when I fought it last time. So that's why it looked different this time." Bernard replied before gritting his teeth.
"Regroup and pursue them!" Gerard ordered.
"Sir, they're heading for the docks!" Viktor exclaimed.
"We have received an S.O.S. signal from the nearby mining colony. They've been attacked by a civilian transport escorted by Alliance fighters." Lucy announced over the open transmission.
"Tsk. Viktor, inform the Catalyst that we'll help evacuate the crew of the mining colony. Retreat for now." Bernard ordered.
"Damn it!" Gerard shouted before slamming his fist on one of the monitors.
"My particle storage tanks are empty. I won't be able to use my weapons until they're replenished." Kjēl stated.
"Move to the rally point. We'll take care of the rest from here on out." Brook ordered.
"I'll be going on ahead then." Kjēl replied before peeling off the formation.
Without any particles left in her storage tanks, Asterion can only move using her thrusters. Charles predicted this so he asked Damien to give Kjēl a safe path to be picked up by the White Whale. Kjēl monitored her radar as she approached the rendezvous point.
"Seems like I'm pretty early for the pick-up." Kjēl said to herself.
As Kjēl opened the visor of her helmet Asterion suddenly shook from the impact of a projectile hitting it. Kjēl braced herself before checking her radar but nothing appeared. Asterion got hit again but this time an object appeared on radar.
"I found you now!" Kjēl exclaimed as she steered Asterion.
"I need to get closer. That thing's armor is a real bother." Gerard said in his head as he squeezed the trigger.
Asterion got hit on its wing but the projectile was deflected. Kjēl quickly recovered her aim and squeezed the trigger but a warning appeared on one of the monitors. She still doesn't have enough particles in her storage tanks to fire Asterion's weapons.
"Damn it, I forgot to reduce the output!" Kjēl exclaimed as she altered the weapon's output.
"You're mine now!" Gerard shouted as he fired another projectile with the rail gun.
The projectile hit one of the armor plates on Asterion and knocked it off. This forced Kjēl's aim to move off-center as she fired a beam. Gerard evaded but the beam was able to hit the side of his ship and he was forced to retreat.
"That pesky one was able to damage Asterion. Tsk." Kjēl mumbled as she spots the White Whale in the distance.