Chapter 23:
Aleks was unable to hide his grin, nor was Greg, who looked very excited.
Nor was the sensor officer, who was pulling logs out of the station's systems. She was able to hack in with no real resistance. For a so-called advanced race, their firewall was practically nonexistent. She understood what the Admiral was looking for, so she only pulled data that seemed relevant: logs and reports from the past few hours. She looked up at the admiral who was facing the xeno ambassador. The xeno looked confused and a bit frightened, but the expression on the Admiral's face was sheer amusement.
"Something you would like to tell me, Ambassador?"
Garden Ren felt like he had just walked into a trap. He was looking directly at Mihajlovich who was towering above him, his sharp white teeth shining. Ren collected himself and finally spoke.
"Admiral, I'm afraid I do not understand what you mean."
Mihajlovich turned to the sensor officer.
"Report," he demanded, and the sensor officer gave her report.
"Sir, I was able to collect data from the Strunin station: logs, manifests, and reports. It seems that around two hours ago, a report came in that a surprise attack was mounted against the Strunin Collective. These reports were confirmed, and the Fusar Imperium was part of the invasion with five other races. It is unclear who those races are, but all ships with combat capabilities were ordered to prepare for battle. I managed to pull the exact coordinates, and the exact distance from our current location to the discovered coordinates is approximately seventy-two light-years, which is the border of the Strunin Collective and the Fusar Imperium. I was unable to find any reports on the size of the invasion fleet, but considering that all combat-capable craft in the surrounding systems were ordered to battle, I assume that the invasion fleet is fairly large. Also, all non-combatants were advised to move deep into Strunin Territory. But that is everything significant that I managed to find."
Mihajlovich gave a nod to the sensor officer and turned to the now almost shaking ambassador.
"Is there something you would like to tell me?"
Mihajlovich asked, looking down and leering into the slightly side-facing eyes of the old Strunin. He was trying to hold on to his own integrity, but he couldn't hide the expression of fear on his face.
"I-I don't know what you mean, Admiral," he said with a shaking voice. Mihajlovich narrowed his eyes, his smile now gone, his jaw clenched. Dorfos brought his sidearm. The Terrans didn't question him about it, and no one tried to disarm him. He wanted to reach for it in a desperate attempt to protect himself and his other companions, but he was too afraid to move. There were tears in Rara’s eyes; her head was bent down, looking at her data pad, but it was a blank stare, of someone too frightened of what might happen next. Then Mihajlovich straightened, took a step back, and spoke.
"Alright, if you won't tell me, I will tell you what I believe. You are facing some large unified invasion. Your Collective found out about the invasion, so you and the other members of that phrase you call a council got together and formed a defensive agreement to try and prepare. You were most likely on your way to a conference, probably to organize some type of defense strategy. I know you were traveling incognito; we pulled the logs off your ship. No one knew you were aboard except for Dorfos here, and even he was oblivious to the reason. But your plan seemed to go sideways. The Fusari seemed to be part of this invasion and were sending advanced parties to your systems, most likely to prevent your plans. I am speculating, of course, but I believe they knew you were on the Luxury and also knew why. So they wanted to eliminate you, get rid of you before you had time to reach your destination. But things didn't go as planned for you, or for them. That is why they followed you into no man's land and even tried to negotiate with us. They must have had very strict orders. They decided to take the risk, but it didn't end well for them. But it's not going well for you either. See, if I didn't sense that something was off, I may have just turned you into space dust. But when you contacted us, you did it because you decided to take a risk, a risk of somehow getting us to participate in your war. You were not aware that the Fusar raiders were an advanced party. I think it didn't even come to mind. But you wanted us to bring you here in the hope of establishing contact with your leaders and attempting to exploit us by dragging us into your upcoming war. You weren't expecting this system to be empty or that the invasion was just about to start. But you wanted to get us on your side, attempted to exploit us to at least soften up the enemy. Let me make another guess: you hoped that you could somehow get the full Terran Armada to fight for you, and hopefully, in the process, we would die out and you could get rid of your enemy and my people. But you miscalculated. I knew all along what you were trying to do."
He sighed and continued.
"Now let me tell you something. Terrans will not be exploited, not by any means. But you see, we are not easily fooled, and we damn sure won't die for your cause. But we will exploit you and your council. We may participate in your war, but you will have to listen to us and follow our orders if you wish to survive. You took a risk by reaching out to us, but you may learn to regret it very quickly. From now on, you will do as we say if you want to survive. You do not have the slightest idea of who you tried to manipulate, but you will soon find out. Do you understand?"
Mihajlovich asked as Garden Ren stood in shock, unable to give a reply. The Yoranian woman gave up on looking at her data pad and was now staring at the floor. Only Dorfo seemed to keep his composure, as if he was expecting something like this to happen. The counselor held his mouth open, as if trying to speak, while Mihajlovich had a look of disgust on his face. Losing his patience, he started speaking in a sharp voice.
"We got rid of your kind on Terra a long time ago!"
He said, with venom in his voice. Ren finally managed to speak up.
"My, my kind, what do you mean?"
Mihajlovich, now full of anger and resentment, looked down into the old Strunin's eyes and spoke.
"People like you, politicians, so-called diplomats, those of you who sit in comfy chairs and play with the lives of those you deem below you. But in essence, you are weak. Without the power you were born into, you are nothing. Terran society has no room for the likes of you. We have something we call the system; we have a hierarchy, but it is based on an individual's capabilities and achievements. Without them, we are nothing. Every Terran is born equal to another
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
; it's very simple. Everyone earns their place and contributes because we have no other choice. After our third global conflict and nuclear Armageddon caused by weak individuals like you, we almost drove ourselves to extinction. Do you know why we practically wiped out the Tor?"
Mihajlovich finally letting his emotions and frustration out spoke louder and harsher.
"We did it because we could. It was the easy way, eliminate the enemy so that nothing can fight back, no need for an occupation we didn't have the forces for. It was just easier to get rid of them completely. You are looking at the man who pushed the button that ended ten billion lives with one finger."
He raised his index finger and placed it in front of the old man's eyes.
"You see this panel behind me? That's the weapons station. When we reached the firing range, the weapons officer locked on to the planet. They were sending billions of hails to us. We opened our communication to hear them. They were crying, begging us to let them live, offering themselves, begging for their young. I listened to them, to their cries, to their horror, agony, and fear. And then I walked over to this console, moved the officer's hand away, and with this finger, I pressed the button—the button that ended their lives."
The old councilor was even more shocked now, visibly trembling. The Yoranian woman was on the floor now, wetting herself. Dorfo, who was a little behind, stood motionless, staring into nothing.
"And it's because of you. When the Tor first attacked us, you did nothing. When we loomed over their homeworld, you did nothing. You didn't hear the cries and the begging; you did not care. We destroyed them because we could, because you let us. You stood silent and let them die. And now, in that head of yours, you somehow figured that you can use us to fight for you. But no, that will not happen. You will do as we tell you. Not just you and your people, but all four races you have on that council. You will inform them of this encounter, tell them that Terra bows to no one. You are free to leave. Dorfos will stay with us until the war is over; he will act as your military attache. As for you, your escorts, you can all go. Usui, escort our guests to their ships. Goodbye now, Ambassador. Remember what I told you; do not make an enemy of Terra…"
Usui nodded and picked up the Yoranian woman from the floor. She was soaked in her own urine and had lost consciousness. Usui gestured with her head to the old ambassador to move. He stammered out without saying a single word. Dorfos heard everything but was unable to move, so he just stood there staring at nothing. Mihajlovich sat down in his chair and gestured to the sensor officer with his hand. She was looking at him awaiting orders. Seeing his gesture, she nodded and turned to her station. Seconds later, Terran ships started jumping into the system. After a minute, thirty-four vessels exited slipspace. Adams looked on in shock at the now fully assembled fleet.
"You called the fleet here?" Adams asked, and Mihajlovich smiled.
"Don't worry, Adams. The whole black fleet leaving Terran space won't go unnoticed for long, and I already sent a message to the despot with a secured link. The message is encrypted, and he can make his own judgment of my actions."
Adams looked at Mihajlovich, his mind focused on his thoughts.
"When you sent that patrol ship, you weren't sending them back to continue their patrol. You sent them to inform the fleet to stand by and await your orders."
Mihajlovich simply nodded.
"I did, and now I need to address the fleet. Please excuse me, Adams."
Mihajlovich stood up and took a step forward. He was looking at the large view screen in front of the bridge that was now displaying the space in front of them. He straightened his posture and simply nodded. The communication officer knew that was her cue, and with the press of a button, the view shifted on the large screen. Now the screen was showing thirty-nine faces of the black fleet's ship captains. Various faces, genders, races, both human and ape, were now looking at their high admiral, awaiting his orders for the first time after ten long years. Mihajlovich inhaled and filled his lungs with air, ready to address his fleet.
"Brothers and sisters, it has been a long time since I have seen you all like this. We have been to hell together, and together we live with our sins. I never thought I would stand in front of you again, but I have a feeling that Terra needs us once more. We are here because of an emerging threat, one that will be on our doorstep if we do not act. I never needed to remind you of your duty; I never needed to question your loyalty. And so I stand before you now once again, asking for your service. I know it is too much to ask after everything we have seen, after all we have done, but we are the ones for whom the bells toll. I do not ask for myself; I ask for Terra. Will you follow me once again into the unending void?"
His voice was stern, his expression was like stone, but as he said those words, thirty-nine bodies arose and raised their hands in salute, and with one voice said, “Aye, Admiral.” It would be a breach if an officer spoke out of line without permission, but the captain of the Terran Destroyer ‘H. J. Marseille’ still decided to speak. She was a decorated captain; at the age of sixty-two, her bronze fur was still shining. Captain Radhair Molly was one of Mihailovich’s favorites, always going headfirst into battle with her ship and crew. It was no surprise that she would speak out of turn, but she only asked one question, unable to hide her grin.
"Are we going to war, Admiral?"
The woman asked.
"Yes, Molly, it would seem we are."
Now she was openly grinning. Some of the other captains had a serious look in their eyes, same as their admiral. Some seemed to be lost in their thoughts, a few had a smile on their face similar to Captain Redhair, but it was the Admiral's turn to speak again.
"Captains of the Black Fleet, we do not know our enemy, we are not familiar with their tactics, we are unaware of their numbers, or their power. But what we know is, they are not Terran, and they will never reach Sol, not as long as there is one Terran able to fight. So my dead-heads, once again, still your hearts and prepare for battle, spool your drives and weapons at the ready!"
As he said those words, Mihajlovich put his right foot forward and outstretched his arm, with a determined look in his eye loudly proclaimed, “Ad Terram!”
—--
End of Fleet Black, the first installment of the “Dead Terrans" series.