“How did this happen?”
“Intel was clear!”
“We should have had warning!”
“Two, three of them tops. The rest were on other worlds, guarding other fortifications.”
“We were lied to. There’s no other explanation.”
“Is this Needle’s work? Who is he working for?”
“The duke did this!”
“I told you we couldn’t count on the humans.”
“We should have known what the kzin were up to!”
Sensus rubbed his temples.
Vala sat across from him at the table. Her eyes were only sad, though as the night wore on, they hinted at a growing anger.
“Allright,” he said, and the section chiefs and colonels grew quiet. grew quiet. “We need to move forward. What do we do next?”
“We have to determine which is most sensible,” said Maya of the Cedars, “should we return to Albion right away, or should we do reconnaissance?”
“Reconnaissance of what?” asked Yonto.
“Our enemy, Yonto.” Maya was indignant and frightened. “We are here, in retread, our forces halved, because we did not have sufficient intelligence.”
“That’s for certain,” said Hikikomori Ronin, a brazen young man Sensus had promoted past a dozen others to the rank of colonel.
“Go back to the teams, you little upstart,” shouted Yonto.
Other voices rose, but they were drowned by the triune growl that came from Black Fountain.
Sensus placed his hands on the table. The wind screamed outside, hushed to a whisper by the walls of their shelter. Outside, the teams and pilots huddled in their ships, mourning those whose souls were splintered and enslaved. Sensus, despite what one might think, was grateful for his position, for he loved the teams, and they needed love now above all other things. “The teams are our children. Some of our children are dead, and the rest are grieving. Now is not the time for insults, rivalries, disagreements or any other selfish waste of what little time we have. Maya of the Cedars raises a fair point, so that will be our first matter of business.”
“The age-old question; should we stay or should we go?” said Hikikomori Ronin.
The Pinnacle Three, the primary leadership among the sentinels, sat to Sensus’s right.
“We vote for recon,” said their spokesperson, S-17 Hypatia.
Sensus nodded.
“Are we voting or discussing?” asked Yonto.
“You just squandered your one chance to speak on the matter,” Sensus replied.
Yonto’s face twisted in anger, but before he could reply, Sensus called for the next comment.
“What do we accomplish by returning to Albion now?” asked Yonto, his face turning red. Sensus gave him a warning look, but Yonto made it clear with both expression and bearing that he was not intimidated by the General’s rank.
“Safety,” said Black Fountain. “Comfort. Peace of mind. A chance to put on bandages while we wait for Red Orak to come and finish us off.”
Hikikomori Ronin looked at the ophidian and smiled. “I take it you would rather reconnoiter?”
Black Fountain stood and spread his arms. “I would rather fight!”. He sat back down. “But we would lose, and accomplish nothing. I vote recon.”
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When all had spoken, it seemed that none of them were eager to return.
We all have our reasons, Sensus thought, and none of us are sharing them. He drummed his fingers while he thought, then nodded. “Some of us should go back. We’ll need to prepare Albion for the next move. We need soldiers to replace those we lost, and we need to manufacture weapons, vehicles and equipment. Black Fountain, Hikkikomori Ronin, Vala, you will stay here and command. You'll have the lead, Vala, and report directly to me. I'll leave you teams five through nine, seventeen and twenty-six, and the surviving human units. The enemy is moving in a clear pattern, and this planet will be in line with their movements. Don't let them have it. The Pinnacle Three will choose which of their troops to commit to the effort, and which will return to bolster Albion. Understand that this defeat will shape the battles to come. We are now on the defensive. Our goal... our purpose, is to turn the tables and go on the attack. It will take time, but we will put a stop to these incursions.”
“General,” said Yonto.
“Go on.”
“For the sake of communication, I suggest we decide on a name for the country our enemy is invading from. The Verge is nothing more than a scientific phenomenon. Our warriors and soldiers will need a name for the land we are at odds with. As will the civilian population.”
Sensus didn’t have to think. “Ulro.”
Yonto nodded as if he’d been expecting him to say exactly that.
“Not dark space,” asked Vala, “or slip space, or anything more contemporary? Must we choose a name with religious connotations? Don’t we risk alienating our citizens of different faiths? How about our exo brothers and sisters?”
Black Fountain grunted. “I vote Ulro.”
“We’re not voting on this,” said Sensus. “I stand by the man who faced ridicule and contempt to warn us that our enemy had returned from that place, and he calls it Ulro. And besides, Alvia is an ancient text known on many worlds. Its tales and virtues transcend contemporary social demarcations. ”
Vala nodded. Sadness was almost gone from her eyes. “As you command, General. Thank you for being forthcoming.”
After dismissing everyone, he went to his new jumpship, piloted by S-300 Bulawayo, of the rare, disembodied breed of Sentinel. His personal guard, comprised of the first of the new special teams, was playing blackjack under the lights of the jumpship’s open loading ramp.
“General,” said Vala from behind.
He gestured towards the ship and led her to his cabin where he cast his aura. “Speak your mind, colonel.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay here, with us?”
“On the contrary, I’m sure I would. But as a member of the Council, I have cause to return to Albion.”
Vala held his gaze in silence for a moment. She had the weathered look of a woman in her waning years who had birthed many children. But she was lean and hard in the manner of a venerable warrior. Sensus found her beautiful, in a way.
“Do you really, sir?” she asked at length. “Do any of us? None of us are from there. We were all found lying in rubble or floating in the ether. The cosmos is our home, General. Maybe this battle was a wakeup call. Every last one of us wants to stay and fight, but only a few of us can, while the best of us go back to Albion to explain things in small words to humanity and their ragtag of diasporic exos.”
Sensus thought for a moment on what she said. “It’s challenging, to be sure. To live among such different people from us, constantly at odds with their fear or confusion regarding us. And they seem fragile, and behave as fragile things do. But consider this, they are the true expression of humanity. I’m no expert on our history, but I know Imogen wanted us on Albion. And whatever any of us might think of our past, I won’t abandon Albion now that we’re so close to learning its secrets. And for pity’s sake as well, I’ll stay, because the people on that ship have nowhere else to go and no one better to defend them. Earth is sagging under its own weight again, and many of the exos we’ve taken in have no homeworld anymore.”
“And how many habitable planets did Albion pass on its way here, General? I mean no disrespect, but I’m failing to see the sense of our attachment. Maybe it’s because my whole former team died to the Archeus.”
“I’m sorry, Vala. I no longer have any claim to that grief.”
“You certainly do, sir. Your former team is... who knows where? They could have been found and destroyed. At least we who lost our companions here have closure.”
“I’ll take hope over closure.”
“Well, to each their own. I’m with you sir, through thick and thin. Thank you for letting me speak.”
“Any time. Dismissed.”
She left, and Sensus felt the last bit of energy he had drained out of him. He slept deeply, though he woke troubled, and felt a sense of unease grow inside him as he watched his warriors breaking down the shelters they’d printed. He found Red Ten before leaving.
“General,” the captain said with a firm salute.
“At ease, Captain. I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Anything, General.”
“I’m giving command of the recon mission to Caldibran. I have another op for you.”
“Is it what I hope it is, General?”
“If you’re hoping for orders to find my team, then yes. It is.”
Red Ten gave him another firm salute. “Sir, yes sir.”