"I hate to say it, but they recognized this conflict was inevitable even before the Phage War was over. As soon as the old Senate blamed the Asianic Union's illegal colonization program for the Phage finding us, a cabal within the AU and the Warsaw Alliance began working to subvert our systems and politicians," Pike said with a yawn. "Sorry. I've been up for three days now.

"Anyway, while this cabal worked to build backdoors into what would become the United Terran Federation, our own efforts to do the same were both pitiful and too late to be effective. A full-on war with another alien species within the span of half a decade didn't help us, either. So here we are…being sold out from within by people who won't recognize what they've done until Alliance warships are in orbit over New Sierra."

"Thanks for the pep talk," Jackson groused. "Keep me in the loop. If we can secure Exeter, and the Mickeys can be activated soon, we can give a little ground and still come out on top. I'd prefer to do it without having to dig out an entrenched Alliance occupation force and risk civilians, but I won't stop fighting until either they're gone or I am."

"That's what Marcum will want to hear. To be honest, he'll probably try to bully Barrett into taking him to Exeter Base," Pike said. Jackson chuckled dutifully and, for some reason, the mention of his old ship jogged his memory.

"Do you have the ability to do a trace on all Bluebird transmissions coming from my taskforce?" he asked.

"Sure." Pike shrugged. "It might take me a bit since I'm assuming you want it done under the radar. It'll have to be CIS Internal Security that pulls the records. If you want the message bodies, it'll be even longer. What's this about?"

"Just a hunch I've been having, but I'd like to narrow it down before I go off on a pointless tangent," Jackson said. His inner ear told him the main drive had just been shut down, which meant Ellsworth was in the final stages of docking the Saber. "I've got to get back to the bridge. We're hip deep in it right now, and whether I have to destroy this base or not will rely on my Marines retaking it."

"Grim," Pike said, his usual lopsided smirk gone as he realized the ethical and practical implications of what Jackson suggested.

Very," Jackson agreed. "Good luck."

"You too, my friend," Pike said before killing the channel.

There was a loud klaxon that blasted three times right before a mild bump shuddered through the ship to let him know the Saber had successfully docked. He brought up the internal security system on his private terminal and selected the camera feed for the main starboard boarding hatch. From there, he could watch the Marines disembark, their movements impressively efficient as they staged up in the large antechamber and down through the corridors.

Despite them rarely having fought in real combat during the previous wars, he was always impressed by the professionalism and grit of the Marines who served aboard Federation ships. They could be a pain in the ass and cause trouble aboard when they didn't have something to focus on, but when there was a job to do, there was no messing about.