Commander Elena Vasquez pressed her palm against the cold transparisteel viewport, watching the final evacuation pods streak away from Kepler Station like dying stars against the void. The massive research facility, humanity's most advanced outpost in the Kepler-442 system, groaned around her as its structural integrity fields flickered under the relentless bombardment from the Hegemony fleet.
"Commander, we need to go. Now." Lieutenant Marcus Chen's voice carried the urgency of a man who had seen too many stations fall in the past six months. The young tactical officer stood at the command console, his fingers dancing across holographic displays that showed the approaching enemy vessels in stark, unforgiving detail.