Chapter 7:

Mihajlovich had a grim expression on his face; he was in deep thought. So, a Strunin Representative was on that ship. His calculating mind was thinking of what might be the reason for him wanting to make direct contact. He was interrupted by a loud laugh to his right; it was Greg, trying to contain his laughter and failing.

Mihajlovich turned and raised an eyebrow; even Adams looked at Admiral Grayback with his eyebrow raised, well, it was more of a squint.

"Garden, really? This guy's name is Garden. Does he have flowers growing out of his ass? His farts might smell like roses. I thought that was an expression, might be true for this guy," Gregory spoke in a joking manner, unable to stop laughing. At this point, the whole bridge crew was trying not to laugh. The mood on the bridge had been serious for the last six years. Gregory was completely professional, including the entire crew of the Titan. But with Mihajlovich back, the mood seemed to have changed. At least Gregory started being, well, Gregory. He liked to make others laugh and always tried to keep the mood on the ship and the fleet positive as much as he could. Considering what their mission was, or well used to be, trying to keep spirits up was the job of a leader, and for Greg and Aleks both, bad humor was always a good distraction. Gregory was not by any means stupid; you don't just become an Admiral for being friends with one. Greg was a fine leader, and this was the perfect time to make a joke. And regardless, the guy's name is Garden, even Adams was trying to hide a smile. Then Mihajlovich scowled at him and with a look of complete seriousness said,

"So… You want to plant your seed in him, Greg?"

The whole bridge burst out in laughter. It had been years for most of the crew, but having their leaders here making pointless banter gave off a feeling of familiarity, like they were breathing new life into the crew. Adams was hunched in his chair while holding his face with his palm.

"I'm under the command of lunatics, great."

He wanted to be irritated, but being honest with himself, that was kind of funny.

Then Mihajlovich addressed the crew.

"Okay, everyone, let's get back to business. Keep it together. Gregory, Adams, I need input on the course of action. It seems this Garden Ren is some kind of Strunin dignitary and wants to establish communication with the Dominion. Those Fusar are out of the way; usually, we would tell them to just leave, but I don't actually think they can, with the damage to that transporter. I assume that they can't leave the way they came. I told them to jump out, but maybe they can't, since the warp drive on that transporter is completely shot. I am interested in their synchronization technology in FTL. We can't just blast them without a real valid reason, and if we did, that might cause a huge issue for us in the near future. We can't follow the regular Xeno protocol. Taking everything into account, we may actually need to communicate, and they are still broadcasting that distress signal. So, gentlemen, what do you suggest?"

So, Mihajlovich is thinking rationally it seems, so that means he ordered the destruction of that fleet with seemingly clear intentions. I need to be careful around him; it seems he had a facade up for the last six years. He is far more dangerous than I assumed. I should follow orders for now. Adams was trying to think about what to say, but Gregory spoke first.

"I suggest we make contact. We don't want an incident or to take any action that might endanger our people. If we take violent action, they might trace it back, and it would be plain murder, and you know my thoughts on that."

Mihajlovich nodded.

"Sir, may I?" Adams asked.

"Yes, Adams, I asked for your input. You don't need permission to speak; it's your job to share insight. You can do that freely."

Adams was surprised by this, but he could maybe salvage this whole situation.

"Sir, I suggest we send a message to the Despotate and ask for a course of action. I don't think it is wise to take further action without the proper approval."

Mihajlovich raised an eyebrow.

"Adams, that would take two days, as you are no doubt aware, and we have three Admirals here. This is no longer a high-risk situation, or at least we are not facing a fleet, but we still need to take action now. They are still broadcasting a distress signal and waiting on a response. I need a resolution now."

Greg spoke,

"I still suggest diplomacy; let's see what they want. We can politely refuse and move on. If they need aid, we can provide some if it doesn't affect our security."

"Right, I agree. Adams, what about you?"

"I, ah, yes, I agree. We can at least attempt to get rid of them as soon as possible. We will need a delegation it seems."

Mihajlovich nodded and then turned to look at the comms officer who opened a channel.

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Chapter 8:

While Dorfo was panicking on the inside and trying to look composed on the outside, Garden was calmly standing and waiting, as if he knew the Terrans would respond. Minutes had already passed with nothing but silence. The Yoranian secretary was casually tapping on her data pad. The clicking of her reptilian nails on the data pad was starting to irritate Dorfo. While he was struggling to stay calm and not snap at the woman, the comms opened, and the Terran voice spoke,

"Greetings and well met, Ambassador Garden Ren. The honor is ours. Your vessel still seems to be in a state of distress. We would gladly provide aid if possible and make this contact official. We hope you will accept our offer. We can assemble a team of engineers and medical personnel and join you on your ship if you would kindly extend us the invitation."

Dorfo's eyes grew wide.

"Thank you, High Admiral. You seem to be a fine diplomat,"

Now the old man was speaking out of his ass,Dorfo thought sarcastically.

"We gladly accept your offer of aid and extend an invitation to you and your entourage. Please join me on our ship at your convenience. I will be waiting."

"Thank you, Ambassador. We will join you shortly."

Dorfo was at a loss. This turn of events was nothing he expected. The Terrans and diplomacy? These were the people who literally exterminated the Tor. He didn't want them anywhere near his ship, but there was nothing he could say or do. To defy the old councilor would be practically a death sentence. If not physical, it would at least be career suicide. He looked at Garden with bewildered eyes, waiting for any reaction. The old man turned to his secretary, who was now typing even faster on her data pad, using two of her fingers.

"Rara, what is an ambassador?"

What in the…

Chapter 9:

Adams's eyebrows were now raised; he didn't expect that type of interaction. This may actually be the perfect course of action. If he could convince Mihajlovich that he should lead the boarding party—a diplomatic mission—he might be able to get rid of the Strunin quickly and retake full control. Before he made the suggestion, Mihajlovich opened a comm link to all ships.

"This is your Admiral; listen up. These Xenos have extended an invitation to us as an act of diplomacy. I have decided to take them up on the offer. Everyone, stand by. As for the crew on the Titan, assemble a small team of engineers—experts, please. We may get a chance to look at their FTL drive and maybe find out how they synchronize their jumps. Also, I need a small team of medics—make it two, actually. I don't think we could do much, but let's look presentable. Also, five members of the security team—actually, scratch that—five legionnaires. I want Sergeant Paul, Bibek, Abdul Rahman, Sazbo, and Chen in the cargo bay in fifteen. Don't be late."

The green check marks showed up on the screen of the command chair; all the personnel were confirming they understood their orders. Adams was about to speak out when Mihajlovich spoke again with official orders.

"Admiral Grayback, you are heading out with me to the Strunin ship. Adams, you have the bridge. Usui, fill in for Admiral Grayback; the third chair stays empty for now."

Adams finally spoke, "Sir, you're not intending on going to this meeting, are you? You can't leave the ship."

"Adams, I was unable to leave the ship because of medical reasons. Since I have been cleared for duty and am now in charge of this fleet, I will be heading out to meet this Garden Ren. I am the highest-ranking officer here—actually, I am one of the four high Admirals in the entire Dominion. There is no one else that can take on this role, so please follow your orders."

"Sir, you don't possibly intend to greet them in track pants and a t-shirt, and, uh, looking a little, um, unpresentable."

Mihajlovich looked him directly in the eyes. "You think these Xenos know how a High Admiral's uniform looks, or how we generally look?"

"I suppose not."

"Then do your duty."

Ever since Mihajlovich took over, Adams was unable to think clearly. First, there was anger, then frustration, and now, he was just confused.

He nodded and decided to let it go. He hoped that Mihajlovich would be reasonable enough not to do something stupid, though it seemed that he knew exactly what he was doing.

Mihajlovich turned to Greg. "Let's go, Admiral. We are taking the lift to the lower level and straight to the cargo bay. A ship should be ready by now."

They stepped out of the bridge, leaving Adams to his thoughts.

As they were walking to the lift, Gregory spoke. "Aleks, you have that look. What have you figured out?"

They entered the lift to take them to the lower levels.

"I have a hunch, but I'm not sure yet. Let's meet up with these Strunin first and see what they really want. They seem like opportunists, but I'm not completely sure about their motives yet."

"You think this Garden guy wants something, besides aid?"

"You know he does, Magilla. I think you figured out a few scenarios."

They exited the lift and started walking to the hangar bay.

"I don't have anything concrete yet either, but I do agree with you. Mr. 'tree up the ass' is an old dog. He sounds like one of those politicians from the old days. He has his own motives."

They were reaching the hangar bay doors that were open, waiting for their arrival.

"That's an understatement, but let's go down and get a read on him. I want to be sure."

Gregory nodded as they entered the hangar bay.

A small expedition craft was waiting for them, ready for lift-off. This was the main hangar bay. When he gave the order for everyone to meet him there, everyone knew he meant the main hangar bay, since he didn't mention a designated number. The Titan was the largest ship in the Dominion. It was designated as a “War Ship,” but it was a multi-purpose vessel. It was a craft carrier, a ground troop carrier, a large assault vessel, and a world killer—the main purpose of the large cannon on top of the ship. It was also the command ship of the entire fleet.

The requested personnel were assembled next to the craft: the five requested legionnaires, the two medical officers, and a group of three engineers—two humans and one Ape.

They all turned and saluted, perfectly synchronized—the wildest and the most disciplined crew in the entire Navy. Sergeant Paul smiled. "It's good to have you back, sir. What are your orders?"

"Good to be back, Sarge. Now, listen up. I want you legionnaires to exit the craft first when we reach their ship. Look menacing, though you don't need instructions on how to do that."

The five legionnaires grinned, then donned their helmets.

"Medics, you two exit after them and stay in line. You won't do anything; it's just a show of faith, unless they actually ask for your assistance. Engineering team, you will wait on me and Admiral Grayback to exit after that. You will exit after us and fall in line, next to the medical team. I hope you brought tools and deep scanners, also some supplies. I doubt you can do much to salvage their FTL drive, but if you can without compromising our own tech, please do so. We want them out of here. And this goes without saying, but do everything you can to find out any details about their tech that might be useful to us, especially that FTL sync. I think their drives are a bit lacking compared to ours, but their synchronization tech may be something we can use. You are free to interact, but try not to reveal anything about, well, us in general."

They all nodded.

"Me and the Admiral here will have a chat with their Ambassador. He has some ulterior motive, and we want to find out what that is. Okay, final check, everyone ready?"

They all gave salutes, presenting their readiness.

"Good. Now, move it. We are leaving."

The assembled personnel entered the expedition craft and took their seats. Gregory and Aleks stood by the door as it closed behind them.

Then Mihajlovich addressed the pilots. "Clear for takeoff.”

They started up the engines and slowly exited the main hangar bay of the mammoth ship that was the Titan.