When Tasha returns to the crew section of Dark Horse after prepping Melchior and talking to Horus, she first spots Hakeber, Liza and Katherine in the galley, all bent over their datapads. Katie is still wearing her scary jumpsuit, and Hakeber is in casual dress that is clearly not from Abaddon - it must be the clothing that Liza picked up earlier. The Lapi is also dressed in a rather non-descript but professional looking style.

Tasha remains in her armor, making this the longest stretch of armored work since the early days of the JEF. The difference between then and now is one of rank and position, such that between her ownership of the ship, her discussions with the very alien that uplifted the Vartans so long ago, and her semi-faux position as interspecies diplomat and negotiator she's started to feel more than a little authoritative. Like a general in full uniform inspecting her troops and overseeing functions. She isn't sure what to think of the feeling save that it's there.

With that in mind she walks in, doing her best best to sneka up in the distracted women and lean over Katherine's shoulder. "You all look very distracted," she observes, hands behind her back and folded together, brows arching. "Was it a mistake to hand out all these datapads?"

"Blame Hakeber," Katie says after bristling her fur slightly in surprise. "She's got us doing research on the Vartans."

"Oh?" Asks Tasha, ears perking up. "I was doing some research too, with Horus. We're getting along a lot better. I think I cheered him up." Katherine feels a weight on her shoulder as the hybrid hunkers down behind her, resting her head on her shoulder to look at the pad.

"They aren't strictly military," Hakeber reports. "They've done a lot of planet breaking. That is.. getting habitable planets ready for colonization. And most habitable planets have First Ones ruins on them. The Erinyes command ship has a museum of artifacts on it."

Tasha nods her head, shifting Katherine as she does. "Lacci said their clas specialized in strategy and tactics and it seemed to feature a lot of non-combatants. They're allied to Clan Sulimak through marriage. Horus is disappointed with the state of Vartan society, by the way." She reads a few lines, but the text is arranged for Karnor eyes and a little too hard on the eyes. She squints. "Anything else? Getting on okay? Getting along?"

"Me? I can fit in anywhere that has alcoholic beverages," Hakeber claims and wags her tail. "But I wasn't really prepared to get so much attention. But.. this is the important thing.." She turns her pad so Tasha can see it after bringing up an image. It's of a sculpture made of some sort of black material. It's labeled as 'The Flame' from some world called Praxafallopus and attributed to a First Ones race dubbed the Stonecutters. And while the rising stone tendrils do seem to follow a flame-like pattern, the image that it brings to mind for Tasha is how Katha-Hem looked in her conversation with it, and the material itself looks like something from that shared environment as well.

"It's nice that the Dark beings have their own statuary. If it's one thing godlike beings really seem to enjoy, it's stonemasonry and architecture." Tasha does cock her head to the side, though, pursing her lips in thought as she gives the image increasing scrutiny. "I think you're thinking that I think that's where one of them is and I think you think I'll know that and tell you we should investigate further. It might be a birth site location, maybe one of the asteroids. The material looks very familiar, very similiar to what I was shown. Just finding a birth point might be worth it by itself, we could learn something, actually finding one, well ... We'd better be ready."

"Assuming it was created on Praxa.. you know, I'm just going to call it 'Praxa'," Hakeber says. "The full name sounds like a female reproductive disorder. Anyway, that thing is on the Erinyes ship, the Eye of Providence. There must be a curator with more knowledge of it, I'm hoping."

"I'll just tell Lacci that in addition to being a Khattan mezzode dedicated to interspecies cooperation, dueling, and Expedition-era research I am also very interested in old tentacle rocks." Tasha makes a show of rubbing her cheek, feeling out the plan. "Hake, would you like to come with me and see it? It's one thing for me to say I have a certain agenda but another thing to show I actually work with all you Terragens peoples. It'll also make me look less suspicious if I don't seem like I strange and conflicting agendas."

"Well.. that depends," Hakeber says. "I mean, the best chance to see it in person is if the Silent-Ones lose the war game. Then the Vartans have to throw a party for them.. which would be on the command ship, since it would have the nicest, largest public spaces."

Tasha frowns a little at this. "I'm not misjudging the contest just to get on the ship, Hake-bear. They asked for my honorable service and that's what they'll get. I'd only violate that if I felt there was serious danger or need that far outweighed the loss of trust."

"You aren't judging the contest at all as far as who wins," Hakeber points out. "You're doing the style judging. Both groups only have a few aces, and they'll be the ones going against one another to try and score style points. But, from the looks of it, the Vartans will win anyway. Historically they've come out on top, if only barely, against the Silent-Ones. It comes down to tactics and that there are three Vartans per Titan verses two Silent-Ones."

"Well, it will go however it goes. I'll judge and then we can see. Even if the Silent-Ones win, I can probably still talk Lacci in to letting me on board since her family will probably want to meet her possible new employer. I can just ask my assistants be allowed to come with me, you can say you heard about the museum, and we can talk our way to it." Tasha rolls her head from side to side, jarring Katherine a little doing it. "If I can convince Horus, I can convince a starship full of Vartans."

"Vartans tend to be suspicious though," Hakeber notes. "It's a side effect of not being a god. We might get in as a group if the Vartans win, too, since all of the Galactics have a military presence here for now. That means they may feel obligated to invite groups from the observers as well. Plus all of our snazzy new uniforms should be ready by then too! Even if the Silent-Ones win though, you might by able to get onto Providence by dint of allegedly being part of a Khattan Trade House."

"I've been told I am very Khattans." Tasha lifts her muzzle, haughty. "It kind of disturbs me, actually." And then she drops her muzzle and rolls her shoulders. "But we'll just have to get used to that! I'll have to get used to that. And if that doesn't work, I may still be able to arrange it personally to meet Lacci's family and superiors."

"Oh.. you need to check if you're being followed too," Katherine pipes up. "The Houses spy on each other all the time. So any House agents on Caltrop will have heard about you by now and will be on watch to try and figure out who you belong to. I'm still trying to work up a way to use that though."

"Oh I expected that," Tasha insists, waggling her fingers towards Hakeber. "I might be watched by other major and minor powers, too. I wouldn't be surprised if other Terragens spies were monitoring me, along with members from other governments and even smaller and sector powers. The, uh, AI had been fighting off investigations since the Dark Horse was brought to this system and the appearance of old-genetics Karnors probably got of a lot of attention, too. I'm mainly worried about House Khomen, but there may be other hostile Houses -- and other Houses that could be our allies. Once they catch wind of an opportunity they might reveal themselves, especially if they think we need them and they can offer from a position of strength."

"You should spend more time with the Seeders," Katie suggests. "They have ambitious plans, and while it sounds like they're seeking independent backing, they've either already got the backing of at least one House or must be actively networking for more. You also need to get their Starseed data, according to Gabriel. So if you have to volunteer Dark Horse in order too.. keep that option on the table."

"Already considered." Tasha pushes off, standing and giving Katherine her shoulder back. She walks around and has a seat herself, practically melting back in to the seat, tongue out. She lays there a moment and then says, "I have a contact among the Khattans there as well as a Belter woman who may know others. I do want to help the Seeders -- I like them and their interetss coincide with ours -- so offering to help isn't a problem at all. Well, at least for the rest, we do still need an income or it's going to be me eating MREs on an empty ship."

Liza is the one that speaks up now. "Dr. Sen has arranged for a transfer of a large number of 'stars' to us as part of turning over her mummy to the Terragens. Apparently 'stars' are some sort of untraceable physical currency."

Tasha looks over and nods, but blinks at the mention of 'stars', "They sound like Silent-Ones money," she remarks, head tilting. "But, why do we need money to pay off a Terragens warship? Or is it complicated and she didn't tell me?"

"Oh. You could have just said so, Liza." Tasha tuts Liza-wards, then insists, "Liza, please rub my ears. I had to argue with a god and I think I'm becoming Khattan somehow. It's very rough, and Katie also didn't pet me at all."

"You weren't laying your head in my lap," Katie counters, as Liza does get up and then sits in Tasha's lap so she can reach her ears without having to worry about wings and differences in height.

This results in Tasha's head laying on Liza's shoulder instead. She closes her eyes. "Mmmmm. If being Khattan is havign shiny clothes, shiny ships, and this I thinkI can get used to it -- don't tell Horus I said that." She lifts a finger, warningly. "It's his fault anyway. He'd agree. Now, what else have you found? Anything about hiring Clan members away from Clans?"

"Depends on the Clan," Hakeber notes. "Erinyes does hire out, since it's not strictly military. It's part of the world breaking business. If you find a world that could be colonized, you can hire scouts from Erinyes for a basic survey and analysis. If it's viable.. well, there are a lot of complicated contracts involved, but it could earn you a small percentage of their fee if they get contracted to do the pre-colonization breaking for it."

"Oh, Karnors can be hired out to anyone too, so long as a Human signs off on it," Katie notes. "Terragens are hired for all sorts of stuff. Same goes for the other Galactics. If it's civilian in nature, nobody cares about who gets hired."

"That helps a lot," Tasha notes, eyes cracking open. "At least we don't have to deal with the Abaddonian way of doing things, and we do have a powerful and tiny Human to do our signing off for us. Or Jonas, who is a much less powerful but much taller Human. I'll try to recruit Lacci to work with Gabriel on the bridge, provide us with strategic and tactical, insight in to Vartan culture, and other things. Is there anyone else you feel we need?"

"Too soon to tell without having a specific mission," Katherine says, leaning back and stretching her arms in a very distracting way. "Dr. Knight and Dr. Sen have a lot of potential contacts. According to Kaa, he's the one that arranged the supply runs to the rebels at Encante."

Tasha eyes roll from Hakeber until she's very clearly watching Katherine. She then picks Liza up, adjusts her to sit beside her, and turns so that she can watch the other woman more fully while not sacrificing the importants of having her ears rubbed. "Jonas always seemed to have a mystery about him. I didn't push too much at the time, sicne we really did need medical personnel, but he does seem to know a lot of people. Maybe it's just from being a doctor, and maybe he won't tell me because he might still think I'm some sort of Titanian, but as long as it's not a danger to the ship I'm inclined to leave him be." She props her head on her hand. Katie is very shiny. "How do you like Kaa and Moka?"

"Moka seems very smart and level headed," Katie says. "Kaa immediately invited me to swim with him."

This makes Tasha grin widely. "Ha! Of course he did." her ears swivel forward and she shifts her laying head to a more investigative pose, leaning in a little. "Did you?"

"I've warmed up to them," Hakeber replies. "The Pans and Belters will take some time. I'm used to Humans looking.. like Humans. Not hairy dwarf versions with hands for feet and skinny giants.. that also have prehensile toes, apparently."

"I didn't bring a swimsuit, and I could tell he was the type that probably preferred it that way," Katie notes. "I know when I'm being propositioned. First time from someone that didn't have hands though."

"Humans are a very strange species," Tasha agrees, noddling slowly if somewhat distractedly. "I still can't quite believe they made Karnors. or Phins, or Pans, or how they don't get cold all the time. They were always so harmless seeming back on Rephidim. Except the Captain Astromancer. He was not harmless. At. All." Her head shakes; definitely not harmless.

After hearing Katie response, Tasha cackles a laugh. "I've heard half the species is like that. Smartasses too. I met a lot of them on Encante. Well, Kaa is okay. I'm not sure I'd swim wth him -- I think he'd brag and it'd be harder to be his boss -- but I think he's probably a decent person. Moka clearly is, which is why she outranks. I am curious, but I have my man. Anyway!" She waggles her fingers. "Thank you for your hard work and coming out to space with me."

"I might have to experiment then," Hakeber claims. "I should learn how to swim anyway."

Liza notes, "You've been in your armor now for quite some time, Tasha. You should take some time out of it before you have to pilot your Titan in the morning."

"I'm sure Moka can help and keep Kaa in line. If he's too much of a problem for you-- any of you," Tasha swings her gaze across the other women, " ... Let me know and I'll talk to him. I think he knows when to stop, and how to get along, though. He's really a big clown, which is part of why I hired him. He's good for morale. Usually." She then drops her head and glances back to Liza again, staring at her a moment before nodding slowly. "You're right, where would I be without you? Don't answer that. Um. Right, I think it might be permanently stuck to my skin by now."

"Do you need us to help peel it off then?" Liza asks matter-of-factly, while Hakeber and Katie both grin.

"Yes," Tasha declares loudly and without hesitation. She reaches for Katherine, but pauses at the mention of the jumpsuit. Her expression shifts through a few emotions, namely surprise, wide-eyed realization, ear flicking uncertainty and then ear canted acceptance. "I haven't," she admits, still reaching but feeling like she somehow trapped herself.

"You've already had one makeover," Katie purrs. Hakeber is also getting up. "I want to see this jumpsuit. Should I get one too?" she asks.

"We haven't seen the 'upstairs' yet either, you owe us a tour," Katie claims. "It should be done now, right?"

This requires Tasha also get up, loathe as she is to do so. She hauls herself up and then begins walking, but then pauses. "The redecorating?" Her brow scrunches, she bites her lip, and thinks. "I only provided a basic overview and then everyone supplied their needs and preferences. Most of the upstairs was for Gabriel and I, with the lounge area, but we still had spare rooms. I remodeled my area -- I really don't need much space -- for all the new people, but the AI may ahve made more alterations than I know about." She then begins walking again, waving the otehrs along and looking up as she asks, "Ship? Did you finish the remodeling, and did you devitae a lot from the original plan to meet requirements?"

"Renovations have been completed within requirements," the Niss responds. "Secondary modifications are pending, once initial work is confirmed as completed."

"You heard the ship, lets go find an elevator. They should be in the same place." And so Tasha leads the others in to the ship and from the forward elevator up to the owner's deck, or at least what had been the owner's deck.

The elevator arrives at what is clearly a rectangular hallway, with large sliding-hatch style doors fore and aft, one smaller door port and starboard, and the elevator shaft in the center of the hallway between them. "Well this looks familiar at least," Tasha observes, leaning left, then right, and finally walking around the elevator aft to spot the last pair of hatches. It's all fairly bland, with bare walls and no decoration. "Well, to the aft is the owner's area proper, or was. Port and starboard are the rooms assigned to Yue and Hakeber. They're not huge, but you do get a room all to yourself. The location gives you a place to work and central elevator access, and you won't be bothered if you don't want to be. You're close to my quarters too, if you need me."

Tasha then gestures to the fore. "The fore contains the ships' lounge central with two rooms to each side. Katie, you can have either room, or you can have a room with me in the owner's area. I thought you might want lounge access in case you wanted to entertain."

"A lounge.. with Katie as the lounge singer?" Hakeber asks with a grin. "Is there a piano?"

"There could be," Tasha answers with a grin. "Katie doesn't have to perform, of course, but I thought ahead and thought you might like to. This way you have easy access to the central elevator, your own quarters, and a place to change for the lounge." There's tail wagging; she is pleased with her own foresight. "Originally I planned for the opposite side room to be Mr. I's and Miss N's, but since they won't be coming with us it'll remain open for now."

"Gabriel sleeps with me," Tasha tells Hakeber, but then leans over to peer at her friend with mock suspicion. "But that is an interesting question, Miss Hake Bear. Still," and then she's straight again, waving aft, "I thought he might need his own space, so I mived my quarters to the hangar overlook to the starboard side and Gabriel gets the port hangar overlook. That, was originally our meeting room, but we always used the mess or the bridge, and it was too nice to waste on being unused. By the way," her hand shifts, pointing starboard-aft, "Liza's quarters are next to mine in the owner's area, against the starboard wall. The bath is next to that to the fore, and that's all of the starboard side of the owner's area. The other side has one empty room that Katie could take, and the Artifact Bay."

"Yes, just like I said. Yue gets the room opposite of Hakeber's, right off of this hall. I had this arrangement planned for a long time, but it's even better now that Hake and Yue get along so well." Tasha begins walking, headingin to the lounge. The doors slide open and reveal a fairly standard lounge setup with a stage set against the fore wall, bar against the port wall, and bare wall to starboard. "The blank wall is used for display purposes. I was thinking of giving the whole upper floor a nice wood-and-metal look, like the nicer areas of Abaddon, but also adding Galactic ammenities like wall displays on that wall and on the ceiling. The sliding hatches could be replaced with regular doors with brass fixtures. You know what I mean, Katie."

"Not going with the Titanian hunting lodge look then?" Liza asks as she looks around. "But.. I don't think you can have a big fireplace. Where would the smoke go?"

Hakeber rubs the side of her head at the mention of her and Yue 'getting along so well' before turning her attention to the lounge space.

"The magical ship would eat it somehow, but fireplaces on a ship make me nervous. I did grow up on a ship made of wood and there's nothing scarier than fire." The hybrid shakes her head, she thinks every airship crewman has had one or more moments of panic when they awoke thinking they smelled something burning. "But you can see the lounge is very basic right now. Katie, if you want, you can decide the decorations and look. You'll probably do a much better job than I will. Also, decide on which room you want." She then waves people to follow, heading aft.

They pass in to the owner's area proper, which actually does have decoration, if fairly minimalist. The area appears to be made up of a large central open space with doors ringing the walls and one more elevator center aft. There's the peculiar green crystalline spike center, clearly extending from the ship's core, which is ringed by a sunken seat area with stairs up and down, clearly intended for comfort. A small kitchen occupies the fore-starboard side corner, but otherwise the area is sparse. Each door is labeled: Aldara, Owner's Cabin; Gabriel T. Akkers, Captain; Liza, Owner's Assistant, Artifact Bay, with one room left blank. "Decorating wasn't high priority," she apologies.

"We can always do more shopping to fix that," Katie suggests. Liza shakes her head though.

"Uhhh, maybe later." Tasha waves everyone back towards the elevator, where she stops and hopes she escaped yet another threat to the ship's budget. Maybe she should hire an purser? An accountant? "And that's everything. Your quarters aren't any different, all bare except for bedding and other necessities. You can order any wall to display -- I usually have all of my walls displaying the sky, gears, or the stars outside. The lounge and owner's area usually displays the stars, too."

"Anything that's not classified or restricted," Tasha explains, giving Hakeber the mock-suspicion look again. Her friends really are a special kind of dangerous. "The rooms have locks too. They can also all communicate with the ship, act as consolesf or work, and reach any other part of the ship. Really you could operate the ship from any wall, if you had the access."

"So, hypothetically, could I get a view of the Silent-One's bath that Aaron got stuck in?" Hakeber asks.

Tasha squints. "Only if we had that monitored somehow. There needs to be data transfer, recording and such, Hake. And no, don't ask the ship to attempt to access their internal sensor networks. It probably can, but that would be very risky." She looks to Katie in "what am I supposed to do with he" askance, but then remembers Katie has her own dangerous plans that inlude her, and instead looks to Liza.

"The communication gear you ordered included a spray that turns your eyes into displays and cameras," Liza points out. "Send him back after using that."

Tasha reaches up and rubs her own head. "Okay, okay, tour is over. Here I am worried about pan-Galactic politics, the fate of the Vartan race and extra-universal horrors and you want me to spy on naked Silent-ones." She sucks in a deep breath, then turns and heads right for the elevator. "We do have libraries of entertainments and you can get them from the station."

"What like those seedy back-room sorts of places?" Hakeber asks nervously. "I'm not that desperate! I can.. uh.. lure Aaron away from Yue.. right?"

"Nooo." Though Tasha doesn't clarify if she means Aaron from Yue or back alleys. She turns from the elevator and walks over to a nearby wall. "Ship, this wall, entertainments library, erotic content, Silent-Ones library entry uhh ... Knights of the Shining Lotus, part two, twenty-three minutes in, mute volume."

What gets displayed is a kind of fantasy. There are Silent-Ones, and had there not been other walls nearby it might have seemed like a door opened up on a certain type of paradise. There are steamy baths in modern Silent-Ones city setting, high up, and there are a great many men in them. The scene focuses on three men, all naked and visibly so, clearly conversing. "There, uh, dialogue. And fighting. And, um, Titans. I was curious."

The two Karnors and Lapi watch raptly, until Liza breaks the spell by pointing out, "They're just naked men in masks talking. I don't think that is 'erotic'. They aren't kissing or wrestling at all."

Katie and Hakeber blink, and look to Liza. "What sort of places do you hang out at?" Hakeber has to ask.

"That, uh, that happens in about ... " Tasha leans in, touches the screen and checks the play time, then glances up, " ... five minutes fifty-two seconds. The kissing, um, Prince Star's-Light and his guardian Shield-of-Fort--" She pauses at the exchanges between the other women, then blinks and straightens. "U-um, right, Liza, how could you even know such things. I, um ... Hey should we be going?"

Tasha looks between the video, to Katie, to hakeber and then to Liza and back. "Oh." Her grin is very lopsided, and a little overwhelmed.

Platform 73, Outpost Caltrop
This docking platform has been commandeered by the Silent-Ones, as evidenced by the feline-formed Space Superiority Titans stationed at either end of it. The platform has a full view of the Megatitan battleship and a few of the smaller support vessels that are normally docked to its back.

As promised, two unarmed support Titans came to collect Melchior in the morning, after Tasha managed to get him onto the platform next to the John Carter. The two Titans then carried the Gryphon to the observation point, the Vartan one holding the left arm and the Silent-Ones machine holding the right.

Being escorted isn't a new piloting experience for Tasha, but being escorted through space to a major sports event certainly is. If her armor had made her feel increasingly official, being an actual judge being escorted to her judging area makes her feel it in spades. She isn't quite sure when she transitioned from field operative doing things on her own, by herself or with a small team, dirty and tired to being clean, shiny, and active in politics and PR work but the change was sudden and recent. It has a very different taste, one she is still savoring, and she's more than a little self-concious as she's brought out despite the layers or armor that hide her from view. To the outside she may as well be a giant robot only, if not for the knowledge the robot contains a pilot.

"I have received a transmission that the event will begin in 300 seconds," Melchior notes. "How do you wish to monitor the action?"

"I want you to be aware of the action as a whole, but I'm supposed to focus on the elite pilots, so I'll need them up where I can see them as well as an overall view of the battlefield areas they occupy. If you feel any combatant that's /not/ an ace but is doing very well, or being very /clever/, please notify me and add that to the display too. Let me know of any emergency situations or changes in activity outside the game that I should be notified of. Um." Tasha runs her hand through her hair, glad no one is watching her actual person and just her machine. It lets her fret in seclusion, which helps her focus. "Elevate depth as needed so I can keep up, don't wait for my input, but don't wear me out either. This isn't a battle or a think session. Oh, and we'll keep a running list of important plays and actions, so we can review them at the end and not have to make /immediate/ judgements if we don't need to or can't because there's too much going on. I don't want to miss anything. I want to do this /rig

Lots of displays appear to Tasha, mostly of a tactical variety as Melchior identifies and 'tags' the players. There are only a dozen Titans on each side, all standing in formation on their respective carrier's launch area. But keeping track of a dozen dogfights.. or worse, long-range battles.. would tax anyone. Finally, the Titans that seem to have extra decoration are displayed, assuming those with 'nose art' are the Aces. Tasha can already feel her head buzzing as she's moved to the next depth layer - normally the one for controlling the Titan as if it were her own body, but in this case making it possible to monitor multiple inputs by changing her perception of time.

This makes the launch and initial sortie seem slow, even though the distances involved would do that anyway. Almost immediately, both teams launch missiles that are hard to keep track of.

Tasha settles back and folds her arms, studying what is displayed in her mind. She hadn't expect the combat to flare up at such distances, even if laser weapons were deployed she isn't sure if small vehicles like Titans could carry sufficent power and space for long range beam exchanges, and the rules may not allow for it anyway. The use of missiles isn't a surprise if lasers and other beam sniping was left aside, being one of the other long range options along side rail guns (which couldn't be used due to their deadliness and risk to the station and vessels) and other such matter flinging technologies. Missiles, she suspects, are fine for their controlability and the potential to evade and defeat them using skill, though she wonders how well those might serve against real military missiles.

Within moments the battle-space is full of chaos. Half of the missiles launch their own missiles which target the enemy missiles. There are blooms of radar-fouling chaff, metal nets and what are probably mines as well. And ghosts. It even takes Melchior some time to determine which of combatants are real and which are projections - the Silent-Ones seem to favor decoys to fool the senses of Vartan munitions. By the time the missile and anti-missile volleys have filled the volume with obstacles (that someone is surely going to clean up afterwards) the Titans have accelerated to attack speeds, closing in on one another as they get into cannon range.

Tasha has to wince at the sudden overwhelming density of information and phantoms. It feels like half the objects she focuses on are fakes, vanishing only for her view to shift to another and another. Her mind jumps through perspectives and targets as the battlefield assessment is sorted out, making for a bewildering experience for a being easily drawn by flashes and movement. She's grateful when the missile barrage passes and targets sort themselves out, with CQB (relatively speaking) on the horizon. She does at least learn a great deal about how Titan combat could and probably should be initiated, tucking the information away should she need it later.

So far no points to award, with the hybrid thinking missiles to be very practical but probably also very by-the-book. Wars may be won by discipline, refined tactics and sound strategies, by practicality and hard numbers, but she's not hear to judge that. No, she looks for the standout, the clever, the innovative and even the flashy.

As the Titans engage one another, actual tactics start to emerge. For the most part, the Silent-Ones rely on speed, making maneuvers that would cause other species to black out. The Vartans counter with having a better grasp of three-dimensional movement and power conservation. Being slower gives them better maneuverability, which they use along with ablative shields to defend themselves. The three-pilot system shows its versatility here, since one can maneuver, another attack and the third defend. It isn't clear how the Silent-Ones pilots are divided, or how they communicate in combat for that matter. What is also apparent is the nobody doubles up on an opponent at first. But then Titans begin to drop out, 'destroyed' or 'disabled' by weapons fire, which appears to consist largely of brightly colored paint, with each color unique to each Titan.

A vague pattern of assigning points emerges for Tasha. The first thought is to award by volume of victories alone, which she makes a note of, but there are more options that come to mind that feel more rewarding and interesting to her. Fending off multiple opponents for extended periods, even if it results in eventual defeat. Another idea is to award for complex manuvers, to group and single combat exceptional action, and to particularly effective attacks. She even thinks to award some for dishonorable but effective strategies, feeling cunning must be a virtue in battle. She's glad each side chose to only sortie a doven pilots, as she'd have had to bias towards the side with inferior numbers unless their equipment seemed that much superior.

Only ten minutes into the battle and more than half of the combatants have been neutralized - either by battle or by running out of ammunition or fuel. Those remaining are very good at defense and maneuvering, and as a result are moving more slowly instead of strafing. They also tend to have the most dramatic maneuvers - and a few seem to either know exactly what their opponent is about to do or are deliberately 'dancing' with one another. Most of their combat seems to be trying to get into position for making shots that can't be dodged or defended. Two of the opposing pilots are even using some sort of hand-to-hand fighting system, even though it's less about causing damage than it is about changing trajectories or trying to send each other spinning.

"I feel inadequate," Tasha laments to her AI, having long suspected how things would go if she fought a real pilot -- or gods forbid an ace pilot -- without the Melchior's AI and advanced systems to back her up. But like so much, she has neither the education nor the time to match experts, having her hands full with half a dozen political struggles, divinities, and star-spanning disasters. And while she can't match their knowledge of combat, she can continue to internalize it and hope she comes away better for it.

As for points, it's clear the remaining pilots will far outstrip those who were eliminated. It's also clear their perservenece is not luck, further cementing their chance at personal scoring. With so much obvious talent she has to stop seeing the raw skill and ability and start thinking of it as a base from which to measure exception from, a difficult task when she herself isn't capable of it. Still, she does her best, aided by not having to deal with twenty-four combatants and an increasingly fewer number of fighters.

The problem with the two best aces is that they exhaust their ammunition before running out of fuel or scoring any real damage on each-other. This results in them trying to out-fly each other through the debris field, hoping to catch the other in one of the nets or other hazards. There may even be taunting gestures involved. Finally, the Vartan ace accelerates away from its Silent-Ones counterpart, only to spin around and kick off one of the inert Titans to change trajectory abruptly, thus managing to clothesline the Silent-One on the rebound.

"Well that is worth points. I'm not sure how often weaponless melee happens in a real war, but that's still clever and caught the other ace off-guard, which obviously isn't easy," Tasha observes. the event is record and a nominal score of a single point is added for now, with a possibility for more when she has the whole battle to review.

That also seems to conclude the battle. Tender craft launch to collect the Titans, and even larger craft emerge to sweep up the mess. "The Vartans have been declared the victors on number of defeats," Melchior notes. "Details on the party time and presentation of style awards will be sent to your Silent-Ones datapad."

Tasha drops from intermediate depth, a cascade of images across her vision, but only the overall battle space is shown. "Is it bad that I only found one moment that really stood out?" She taps her fingers together in a style that would resemble Mariel if she had the presence of mind to notice. "I'll have to sit down and compare the broader battle and individual combat more."

"I've transferred all of the data to your pad," Melchior says. "Did you enjoy the battle?"

Tasha thinks about that a moment, then begins to nod. Slowly at first, but soon the nod picks up. "I learned a lot, and seeing the fight was very entertaining. I'm glad I don't have to enter in to real combat myself, and maybe that's worth a lot, too? You know how I used to be, always thinking I could fight my frusteration or anger away. Or prove something. I think I'd have, uh, I'd have probably died." She shrugs her shoulders, but then drops back, eyes closing. "Their skill is really amazing, though. I bet that old Silent-One war hero on Abaddon is even better. I'd have liked to see him fight. And did you see that weird martial art? I never really thought of Titan martial arts, I just tried to win as quickly and easily as possible. And then the missiles. their ability to conserve both fuel and movement is something I'll be reviewing a lot, even later, I think."

"I am sure Dr. Sen can instruct you on martial-arts for free-fall environments," Melchior suggests. The escort Titans once again take hold of Melchior's arms, and begin to fly him back to his platform on the other side of the spire.

"You mean by seeing how she can bounce me off the hangar bay, maybe so I land in a opened crate for style points?" Tasha asks, primarily as a joke but with increasing wonder if Yue would actually do that -- she might. "But I'll ask. I don't think I'm meant for being a warrior, though. I fight because I have to, but it's not what I think I should do anymore. Seeing this helped me understand that, and the rest has helped me believe in myself and feel like I can stop proving myself. Something to think about, right Mel?" And then she looks down at the datapad at her side. "But first I have a battle to judge."