Ikiryo: After an...exciting...trip to Akhet and a few days of genuine relaxation and learning people are on a ship back to Mid-Childa...
Cinder Cadence: Cinder is trying to work on feeling out how her fire works.
Ikiryo: The lessons from Yvenne, Anai and Dufort are all starting to mesh nicely...she's feeling more in tune with it than she has in a long time...
Cinder Cadence: She feels like she almost has something...
Ikiryo: And then a pop up appears in her vision. Breaking News.
Cinder Cadence: She opens the feed, nervously
Ikiryo: It's a report from Hyperion...an attack by the Round Table.
Cinder Cadence: Cinder tries to stop panicking before pulling up specifics.
Ikiryo: A dome has been destroyed. They got through the orbital defences with cloaking systems and bombarded one out of existence...
Cinder Cadence: Cinder throws up.
Ikiryo: So far, there is only one confirmed causality...Dr Asclepius, creator of Athena. The media is theorizing this was a terror attack designed to shatter morale by assassinating such a prominent hero of the world by attacking the private dome where the sick inventor has been staying since he took ill...
Cinder Cadence: Cinder does manage to not break down crying but she isn't feeling great.
Ikiryo: A public statement is being made by Athena in one of her bodies...and part way through, the god-like AI that runs Hyperion...starts crying and needs to be taken off by Strategos Pluton...
Cinder Cadence: She does start to feel overwhelmed at that...
Ikiryo: Navarchos Enesidaone, the head of the Hyperion Navy takes over the talk as Athena needs to be shown out...talking about how these monsters will be hunted down and destroyed without mercy. How they have declared war on Hyperion this way and Hyperion is more than willing to respond in kind.
Cinder Cadence: That makes sense for them to say.
Ikiryo: ...and then things get worrying as he mentions that the Round Table have shown mercy to TSAB forces, the heirs to Belka, when they've encountered each other...but have murdered a helpless old man when they encounter Hyperion. The Round Table are clearly working for Belkan objectives once again.
Cinder Cadence: Cinder frowns, deeply.
Ikiryo: Hyperion fought Belka once...this time, they will win and show just as much mercy to them as they showed to Hyperion!
Cinder Cadence: Cinder frowns deeper, waiting to see how this will manifest as policy.
Ikiryo: Enesidaone announces the production of two new dreadnaughts. These ones designed for orbital bombardment. When the Round Table's base is found, they will wipe it off the map.
Cinder Cadence: Well hopefully they'll never be used.  Cinder is incredibly uncomfortable with weapons like that.
Ikiryo: And finally, until Athena recovers, the Military will be forced to step into a leadership role as this is now a full war situation and Athena's mental state shows she's not in any place right now to make the needed decisions.
Cinder Cadence: That's.  Bad.
Ikiryo: The press conference ends.
Cinder Cadence: Cinder curls in on herself, shaking.