First, a collective sigh of relief. Then, laughter. "Welcome to Aurea, gentlemen," Wainscot said. The Vainglorious, the latest and, arguably, the finest vessel in Brentaal's fleet had arrived at its destination—not the planet Aurea, specifically, but rather its second moon; a small, brown, barren rock that was inhospitable to life and had no resources worth mining. It was, simply, an obstacle between Aurea and its better known third moon, which was a popular tourist destination (although not today, since spacecraft had been warned to stay out of the area for the duration of Brentaal's fleet exercise).

Aurea had been quite generous to loan its moon to Brentaal for the purposes of weapons testing, considering what a tremendous provocation this posed to its neighbor, Corellia, only 30 minutes away. Ultimately, the credits convinced them (that, and Corellia had recently, seemingly, declared itself sovereign over the entire Corellian Sector, something which troubled Aurea immensely and, thus, the planet was more amenable than it might otherwise be to permit a show of force on Corellia's border).

Aurea's consent did not come without conditions and promises, however. For example, Brentaal was required to present an environmental impact assessment of its actions before it could proceed; the report found no adverse effects, except a moderate discharge of particulate debris in orbit. This would pose no dangers to travel, the report insisted, and would eventually dissipate into the atmospheres of Aurea and its other moons (in fact, this would manifest itself in the form of spectacular meteor showers varying in frequency over several months). Moreover, Aurea—which was well known for its glassworks—would have a large, fresh supply of glass as a result of Brentaal's testing.

It was a quite satisfactory arrangement, for all involved.

Certainly for the Vainglorious, which had been awaiting a real assignment ever since it was purchased by Brentaal several months ago, and integrated into its fleet. Wainscot, the Commodore of Brentaal's defense fleet, was tasked with commanding the vessel and training its crew (he was not a member of the Noble Houses by birth, but rather had married into one and was, thus, qualified to serve as an officer; of course, he liked to think that his years in service to Brentaal's navy, both under the Empire and the New Republic, qualified him as well). He was not an old man by any means, but he was experienced—especially in interdiction and blockade tactics, and skirmishes with typically smaller vessels.

In this case, however, his task was much different. The Vainglorious was the largest ship he had ever commanded (although he had once served aboard a Star Destroyer, in a menial capacity). Over the last few months, it had practiced skirmishing with its sister ships over Brentaal and its various moons, and the crew had become quite proficient at navigation. Indeed, the Vainglorious—an old, but agile Brisbane-class destroyer—had proven itself impressively maneuverable. The crew had also performed target practice, although never at full power.

Until today.

This was the first formal test of the ship's formidable array of guns. It just so happened, owing to the politics of the circumstances, that it could also instigate a war with Corellia. Wainscot did not closely follow politics; he hated Corellians as much as any man, and if there was going to be a war with those arrogant bastards he'd be happy to do his part. So would the rest of the crew. But for today, the second moon of Aurea would have to suffice as a target.