“Wingspan, this is Talon Squad, come in!” shouted Reclan. She’d been trying for a few minutes now as the ATUC sped back through the uneven terrain of Gateway towards the site of the massive Astralbian attack.

“It’s no good!” she shouted.

“Hopefully they’re just busy dealing with all this,” said Vanbrook.

No one answered, not wanting to say what they were thinking. The rest of the drive was dominated by a tense silence, with Raivyn pushing the ATUC to its limits. When the Wingspan came into view, Talon Squad breathed a collective sigh of relief. The ship was smoking in several places but hadn't been made into a crater of twisted blue metal.

Captain Hunt ran to greet them as they pulled the ATUC into the hangar. "Talon Squad! Good to see you alive. Comms are fried, some kind of interference or feedback generated when the ripmed comms blew is messing with the whole system. Even the Halberd and personal comms are on the fritz."

"What's the plan?" asked Raivyn.

Hunt’s face soured. "We're leaving. Falling back to Avonia. There's no way the Wingspan can survive a second volley of that magnitude, and it fared better than most of the other ships. Even so, our battle shields are depleted and our travel shields are compromised. But that's not our immediate problem.

"We need you to help gather survivors, particularly from the lake village. We've got no more than fifteen minutes before the next volley, and the plan is to jump away and let our shields recharge out in the aether a few light years out."

Raivyn turned the ATUC around and headed for the village. Chreep stood on the dock surveying the damage.

"We need to leave immediately," said Raivyn.

"Then go!" said Chreep.

"No, you misunderstand, we want to take the villagers with us," said Raivyn.

Chreep's antennae moved erratically. "We will not leave. Maybe your tribes run from their homes. We do not."

Raivyn nodded. "So be it. We hope to be back some day, and pray you will be here when we return."

Chreep nodded and turned to go back to the village. Shortly thereafter Talon Squad made it back into the Wingspan and climbed the tower stairs to the auditorium for take off.

The fleet rose from the surface and flew away from the Astralbians, hoping to avoid a second blast. The Mayblin, the only of the Aethercrate ships to survive, docked onto the Wingspan, its ripmed system destroyed. Just as the Wingspan was ready to jump, a hail of red beams fired through the fleet. Another Wabuluban ship was destroyed, but most of the beams missed, given the extreme range.

Leaving the burning wreckage of the Wabuluban ship behind, the fleet made the jump towards Avonia.

***

Darvik woke up with an aching head. The cold morning light that shone in through his cabin's window was unwelcome. The celebration following the duel had been intense, and Darvik was happy to lose himself in it.

He stood up and dressed himself, walking outside with no clear idea of where he was heading. A familiar face stopped him in his tracks. It was Cevla. He hadn't seen her since he'd left her in Hoon-Kra's care. She looked dazed and unkempt, nothing like the hardened mercenary he'd assassinated Trar-Brak with.

"Cevla?" he asked hesitantly.

She turned and looked at him, her eyes glazed. "That was just a small one. But it took so much."

"Huh?" asked Darvik stupidly.

"Do you really want to know, killer?" she replied, looking cold and distant. "You have no love for the beasts, and more than you know for your fellow folk. We're lost in a sea of blood, though. Never wanted to drown. But the tentacles drag me under. Can you resist the teeth?"

Hoon-Kra came running across the square, breathless by the time he got to them.

"Cevla is still experiencing visions from her communion with T'Lak," he exclaimed between gasps of air. "Cevla, please follow me."

"Of course," she said, almost airily. "You're the high priest. We follow you right into the maw."

He gave her a patronizing nod and led her back to the Swamp's Pride, leaving Darvik to blink into the rising sun.

***

The mood aboard the Wingspan was somber. The fleet had regrouped at the rendezvous point a few light years away from Gateway, heading towards Avonia. The Wingspan's ripmed comms were still out of commission, but they were able to patch their local comms through Baron Flubbyn's ripmed system.

Jasken sat in the bridge, sending a comm to Griffonia. Skritka picked up immediately.

"Jasken!" he exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Barely, but yes," replied Jasken. "So you have some idea of what happened?"

"It wasn't just on Gateway, Admiral," said Skritka, bowing his head in sorrow. "We received a comm from Sargent Hargen on Hruduk that an Astralbian fleet was attacking Gred. The message cut out suddenly. We haven't been able to reach our people on Avonia, Gateway, or Thioa. We assume our unmanned bases on Platnon and Glasaxia are compromised as well."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Jasken gritted his teeth. That left them with no safe harbor closer than Kirakna, and there was no way they had enough water, let alone shields, to make it that far.

"We'll have to regroup with the fleet on Kirakna, and we’ll have to find somewhere to stop along the way," he said. "Maybe we can sneak by on Glasaxia if we don't use our established base there. It'll be slow going. Not sure what we'll do from there."

"You should know, Jasken," said Skritka. "Tonight is the vote on whether to declare war on the Astralbians. There were a number of holdouts and it looked like it would be a close vote, but these events will change that. We'll be at war tonight."

"Typical politicians," snorted Jasken. "You're nearly a year late."

Skritka laughed, briefly and joylessly. "Providence shine on you, Jasken."

"On you as well," said Jasken. "We surely need it."

***

Crush's mind wandered as she watched the landscape of what Yrinla had dubbed "the Cradle world" zip by on her display screen. They had spent over a week scanning the surface looking for signs of civilization, but Crush was preoccupied with the problems the FRF had been facing, worried that this exploration was more of a distraction than a worthwhile quest. She tapped her fingers, trying to bring herself back to the current task.

"Okay," she blurted out, frustration boiling over. "Let's assume there are Astralbians living here, which we don't know for sure. What if they live underground? Or underwater? Or they're so scattered we never find them?"

"For one thing, Astralbians don't live underground or underwater," answered Yrinla patiently. "They live in tree cities like that one."

Crush spun to look at the tree preistess' screen. She had zoomed in on a massive growth of wood, covered in organic windows and doors that resembled knot holes. All around the strange, living city were bright blue orbs covered in crystalline spikes, most of whom had dropped what they were doing, staring up into the sky at the flying tree that had come to visit them.

***

High Emperor Jylik looked down on the world he'd just conquered. True, it hadn't been a long or particularly glorious conquest, but it had been immensely satisfying. Seeing the baleful Blue Griffon Fleet flee in terror could only have been improved upon by seeing them destroyed outright. That would come with time.

The attack had gone equally well on the other worlds. The meager Republic presence on Thioa and Avonia has been destroyed completely, and the troublesome city of Gred along with its small contingent of Republic soldiers had been crippled. The resistance there would be quashed shortly.

Trilia walked up next to him, smiling warmly. "A fine world, my Emperor. An auspicious new beginning for the glorious Astralbian Empire."

Jylik nodded. "It is a world fit for an Emperor. But what of my Empress?"

Trilia smiled gently. "It would be best to give her–whoever is blessed with the title–her pick of worlds, after you have chosen this one for yourself."

"It's decided, then," said Jylik. "Pick carefully, Empress."

"My Lord?" asked Trilia. It was what she had worked towards, but it was so sudden. Of course, Jylik had always been impulsive. She should just be grateful it worked out in her favor.

"You may pick any world for your own, Empress Trilia," said Jylik, not even turning to glance at his newly declared bride. "As soon as you consent to take the title."

***

Vanbrook poured himself some rakka in the galley and waited for the others. The dining hall was crowded with crew from the Shepherd as well as the Mayblin, both of whom had lost a significant portion of their supplies in the attack.

Table space was slim, so Vanbrook considered taking his breakfast back to his room, but Raivyn walked up to the tea station with Reclan and poured herself some tavan blossom while Reclan grabbed some rakka, dumping enough sweetener in to cover a week's worth of the beverage for most.

"Ugh, I feel like I'm back in school," whined Reclan. "No idea where I'm supposed to sit."

"Yeah, but you're one of the cool kids now," teased Vanbrook. "You can sit wherever you like."

As they looked for a space large enough to fit all six squad mates, Kwa-Kwa spotted them and waved them over. Kwa-Kwa, Rahk, and the other scouts took up a good bit of room as well, but Vanbrook, Raivyn, and Reclan managed to squeeze in.

"You guys hear the scuttlebutt?" asked Kwa-Kwa eagerly.

"I guess not," said Vanbrook. "What's up?"

"The Astralbians down in the brig are pretty stirred up," said Kwa-Kwa. "Guess they don't like being fired on by their own precious Empire."

"Well that wasp rider we got out of their brig didn't seem too high on the Empire when we found her," said Reclan.

“Oh, one of the prisoners is a wasp rider?” asked Drixen as he and Tahlia walked up to the table. “I’d love to pick their brain, so to speak.”

“What’s this, is the honeymoon over?” asked Kwa-Kwa with a chuckle. “I thought the two of you were doing breakfast exclusively in your quarters.”

Tahlia laughed and then sighed melodramatically. “I guess I have to let him out sometimes.”

Drixen blushed and coughed into his hand. “Anyway, what’s this about the prisoners?”

“That’s about it,” said Kwa-Kwa with a shrug. “It sounds like they might be willing to spill some imperial secrets, I guess. Though the lord is more likely than the others to know anything worth telling.”

Hrake walked up, then noticed the lack of space.

“Things are a bit more crowded than usual these days,” he noted glumly. He’d been much more brooding than usual since he’d heard about the attack on Hruduk. Communications hadn’t yet been re-established.

“Ah, no worries,” said Rahk, shaking his head. “I’m just heading out, though, uh,” he compared his slim frame to the broad Hrudukite warrior, realizing the space he left would be unlikely to accommodate Hrake comfortably.

Hrake laughed. “I did not mean to complain about you fine folks. The offer is appreciated.”

“We’re all heading out, actually,” said Kwa-Kwa. “Heading down for some rifle practice on the range. Plenty of room for all.”

Doc and D’Jarric showed up just as the scouts left, and they joined the rest of Talon Squad, as well as Drixen and Tahlia.

“Guess you guys heard, we’re officially at war with the Astralbians,” said Drixen.

“What was all that with Hittania and our way out to the Cluster, then?” asked Vanbrook with a scoff.

“Ah, it’s all political,” said Tahlia dismissively.

“To an extent,” said Raivyn. “But on the other hand it means we’ll have serious back-up on the homefront and a lot more friendly guns in the aether.”

Tahlia nodded her agreement. “Fair point. It also means we don’t have to play nice in between acts of outright aggression. What about the Wabulubans? Are they ready to join in?”

“I doubt it,” said Drixen. “Their pride will be hurt but they don’t have nearly the investment in the greater Cluster area that we do and the Wabuluban Kingdom isn’t quick to jump into war. I’m sure we can count on Baron Flubbyn for aid and supplies, but I don’t see them sending an armada.”

“What about us?” asked Reclan. “Like, as in right here and now. Shields have to have had a chance to recoup at least enough to get us in orbit somewhere, right?”

Raivyn nodded. “We should get an announcement on that soon, no later than tonight.”

“What?” asked Reclan. “Where did you hear that?”

“Some of us read those memos Jasken sends out, Rec,” said Doc wryly.

The table had a good laugh at Reclan’s expense, despite the fact that only a couple of them read the memo themselves.