Location: Near a secret Hegemony facility in the Tia-Tax'et system
Date: 193.07.21

It is not a routine survey expedition, but that's quite entirely the point.

The war raging between the Hegemony and Tri-Tachyon has filled nearby systems with the threat of opportunistic brigands and over-enthusiastic commerce raiders. Not that the distinction makes much difference, but the fact that the Galatia Academy can afford a heavy escort presents a unique opportunity: Some very old data makes certain implications that may lead to a largely intact Second Wave sporeship. Only the heavily-armed dare transit the war zone, so meddling merchants and surveyors will be discouraged from leaking the location of the search zone to a major faction (who are busy blasting each other to pieces right now, anyway).

Onboard the modified Venture-class cruiser housing the survey instruments, a junior operator centers the primary LIDAR reticle on asteroid b-473, confirms lock, then flings hot coffee over the supervising interferometric technician as a swarm of hostile warships explodes across the display.

***

The disastrous second engagement with Tri-Tachyon at the Duzakh system in which the HSS Bismar was destroyed provided the Hegemon Council with the political capital needed to press forward with sweeping emergency measures, enacting an expensive upgrade of Hegemony fleet armament and expanding the auxiliary lists with minimal complaint from the civilian governments. In a symbolic gesture, the hulk of the HSS Bismar was located, salvaged, and towed to the barren Tia-Tax'et system to be fitted with experimental weapons. It would be the spearpoint leading a thrust to strike at Tri-Tachyon's cold heart from a previously quiet front.   

Unfortunately just as the newly-christened HSS Phoenix was preparing for its proving flight, long-range sensors picked up a squadron of independent vessels surveying the Tia-Ta'xet system, sweeping the very asteroid field in which the secret Hegemony base was located. Hegemony SIGINT had long determined that all standard communication systems are infested by Tri-Tachyon backdoors, and while the Hegemony downgraded to clean protocols, it must be assumed that all Independents' systems are compromised, effectively acting as unknowing eyes and ears for the Tri-Tachyon corporation. 

The Hegemony commander feels the weight of history's judgment in his chest as he concludes the briefing, but knows what necessity demands. The Independents must be completely wiped out. No warning.

***

The academician-captain of the ISS Athena must leverage her ships' tactical maneuverability in a sudden, desperate fight for survival against a vastly superior Hegemony force.