Chapter 4:

ShipMaster Dorfo was listening to the Terran transmission, constantly repeating. It was annoying, but the more times he heard it, the more it frightened him. At least the Terrans were blocking the Fusar comms; that made him a bit relaxed. At least he didn't have to hear or see the ugly things. But when the translator on the ship malfunctioned, he heard the Terran message in their language, in their voice. It made all his hairs stand up. He was getting far too anxious; he wished someone would just blow them up already. Then, he heard a different voice. This was not an automated message; this was a Terran.

"Fusar fleet, this is High Admiral Mihajlovich of the Terran Dominion. Turn around now and leave this space. There will not be any further warning."

They were addressing the Fusar. They seem to be ignoring us for now.

Another Terran voice could be heard; the channel was still open.

"Mihajlovich, are you mad? We can't just…"

"Quiet, Adams."

What is wrong with these Terrans? At that moment, the Fusar commander spoke.

"We are sorry, Terrans. We had no intention of nearing your border. We just want that cargo vessel, and we will leave."

Well, looks like the Fusar can be diplomatic. What now?

Before Dorfo could think about what to do, the Terran spoke.

"Fine, gunnie…"

The Terran voice spoke, and in that moment, the huge cannon-like object on the Terran monstrosity lit up and created a flash of fire. By the gods, that was a cannon.

I looked at the sensors where the Fusar fleet now used to be. The readings showed that the entire fleet was practically gone. There were three Fusar ships still intact, attempting to flee. There were at least five more heavily damaged and unable to move but still showed lifesigns. At that moment, a voice was heard from one of the Terran vessels.

"Taking care of the stragglers."

At that moment, a Terran craft practically vanished and in an instant reappeared in the middle of the three remaining Fusar craft. That was an FTL jump, without preparation or charging; they were just there.

I looked in horror as the last Fusar craft attempted to flee. I had no love for the Fusar, but these Terrans, did they even hear of the word mercy? One of the Fusar craft disappeared from the sensors, then the second and the third. In an instant, they were just gone. The Terran voice that was heard just moments before could be heard again.

"Mopping up…"

What does that mean? And then I understood. The Terrans were blasting the rest of the damaged Fusar vessels that had any lifesigns; this was an extermination.

"Clear."

The voice spoke again, and then moments later, it reappeared in its previous position, like it had never left.

Then the voice that was obviously coming from the Terran command vessel spoke.

"Well done."

Well done, and we were next…

Chapter 5:

Mihajlovich looked at the comms officer who immediately cut the connection,

A displeased Adams spoke out.

“Are you going to relinquish command now Mihajlovich, are you done, are you going to”

“No”

Mihajlovich cut him off.

“You have been in charge of this fleet for six years, six long years. Have you ever wondered why the crew of this ship, or should I say this entire fleet, does not respect you?”

Adams was thinking of an answer, but Mihajlovich continued.

"You have been here for six years of peace, as a stand-in. You did nothing to earn their respect. This is the Death Fleet, the exterminators. The medical records are sealed, but I know for a fact that forty percent of the fleet has PTSD. You saw the traumatized crew members going to the sickbay. What did you think? That they are going there because of a slight headache? You were not here, Adams. YOU WERE NOT HERE!"

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Mihajlovich decided to let out his emotions.

"What did you think? I know what you think. That we are a bunch of cold murderers, without empathy, without remorse. We are monsters, and you in your mind, I'm sure, think that you are here to keep the monsters at bay. But you are wrong. I gave more than thirty years of my life to this fleet, twenty of those years leading it. You didn't witness the suicides, finding members of your crew hanging in their quarters, the slit wrists. You didn't witness your third in command, your friend, someone you consider family, blowing their brains out next to you, right on this bridge, in that chair you're sitting right now. You were not the one who was sent to kill civilians, women, and children, glassing planets. You were not ordered to commit xenocide. I was. This crew was. I've been here. I pressed the button that killed ten billion people, not you, ME!"

"This crew respects me. I was the one sending letters to parents, that is if there were any to begin with. You did not read the reports. I know you earned your rank, but not in this fleet, not for these soldiers. You think that the blockers helped? You think you can pump your crew full of drugs, turn them into killing machines, send them out to murder, and you think they will return to normal from the mission?"

"The blockers work, but you think the crew didn't remember what they had done, that they just forgot the blood on their hands? They felt everything, every pull of the trigger, every life taken, every face whose eyes they closed forever. You think it was easy? You think we all just casually continued with our lives? No, we did not. Do you know when I started taking blockers, Adams? Eight years ago. I was sober during the entire time, during my full service to this fleet and Terra. I had never taken a single pill. I was aware of all of it, since the lives we took meant something. I was there for my crime, my sin. After the war ended, I couldn't take it anymore. You fought in battles. I ORDERED THE SLAUGHTER OF CIVILIANS! With the hope of convincing these soldiers that their hands were somehow clean. You can't begin to understand. These brave men and women owe me nothing, but they know me. Even if I am no longer half the man I once was, they would still follow me into the pits of hell, because I earned their respect. I bled with them, I cried with them, I mourned with them. They are the only family I know. I am the only father some of them ever knew. I earned my seat, you didn't, not in this fleet. So do me a damn favor. I never asked you for one, but I'll ask one now. Take your seat, please shut up, and follow my orders."

Then he screamed.

"IS THAT CLEAR?"

A shudder ran through Adams. For the first time since he was assigned to the fleet, he never felt it before, but he felt it now. He had a moment of clarity. Mihajlovich could kill him here and now, and none of the crew would move a muscle. He was not their Admiral, Mihajlovich was. So he composed himself and took a deep breath, then he saluted.

"Understood… sir."

Chapter 6:

Dorfo’s heart was racing after what he had just witnessed. There was nothing that could calm him down. He was waiting for the Terrans to act. His two escorts asked if they should take any action. It had been quite a while since the Fusar fleet had been eliminated by the Terrans. They had cut comms after destroying the Fusar fleet and hadn't made a move since. Dorfo understood why the escorts wanted to take action. He was also well aware that there was no action they could take. Powering up the engines would ensure their death. It was suicide, and he understood that the escorts just wanted the same agony that Dorfo felt himself to end. Yet, he told them to stand by and waited, most likely for death, but he didn't dare contact the Terrans. What would that achieve? They could block comms; their ships obviously had that capability. So even if he tried to communicate, it would ensure their death. His grim train of thought was interrupted when the former councilor's secretary walked onto the bridge.

No one guarded the door, and it was stuck open. Even if it wasn't, Dorfo liked it open. Now he really wished it was closed. The Yoranian woman looked at him with her dark green reptilian eyes and spoke.

"His Excellency would like to extend a call of diplomacy to The Terran Dominion."

She said in her rather loud, vibrating voice. The way she said it made it sound more like "a matter of fact" rather than a request. What was the old man even thinking? The Yor were related to the Tor, not that they had much in common except for being reptilian, but to Dorfo, they may as well have been the same. Before he could give his "polite" response, the old councilor showed up behind her and spoke.

"ShipMaster Dorfo Gin, thank you for accepting my request."

Dorfo didn't accept anything, but he couldn't say no. But he couldn't even really just contact the Terrans either. It was just a bad idea.

"ShipMaster, I would like to act as a contact representative of the Strunin people since I have surmised that this situation is very delicate and requires diplomacy."

"Sure it does," Dorfo thought. "The Terran fleet will hold a banquet in his honor." He was a wise Strunin after all,head of the great house of Ren, but it seemed he has also lost all sense of reason. What should I say now?

"Your Excellency, welcome to my humble bridge. It is an honor having you on our vessel and choosing our services. I would gladly accept this generous proposal on behalf of me and my crew."

Dorfo was about to say that the communication line was severed and contact was impossible when the Terrans initiated contact to our craft. Well, he wasn't expecting that.

"Strunin vessel, this is High Admiral Mihajlovich Aleksandar of the TW Titan. You appear to have made an FTL jump to the edge of our border. Analyzing the damage of your craft, we have concluded that this was not your intended destination. Furthermore, we see the two fighting craft next to you made a synchronized FTL jump with your craft. We weren't aware that full synchronization was possible in the FTL field, but nonetheless, we would ask you to please jump this system. We see that the other two craft we assume are your escorts have functional FTL drives, so they can sync with your ship and make the jump out of this system. You are free to leave. Thank you. Mihajlovich out."

Before I had the chance to inform the Terrans that this action is not possible because all three FTL engines need to be active for synchronization, the old councilor started speaking to my complete horror…

"High Admiral Mihajlovich Aleksandar, this is ClanHead Garden Ren of the great house of Ren. I ask you to grant me the honor of being the representative for all the Strunin people in this contact. This is a great day. The Strunin Collective and the Terran Dominion have achieved communication."

What the, has he gone mad?

Did he not hear a word the Terran said? I am sure he realized by now what happened to the Fusar fleet. I bet the Terrans find this amusing and are about to turn us into space dust. They were asking us to leave. We could have stayed alive, and now…