Luna Base-Armstrong. 1 day after Axon attack.

Jakobs had, against all odds, survived the assault on Earth. It had been a close call, they had even been forced to use valuable resources to fire the Thor kinetic accelerator system, which was now irreparable, but Humanity had survived. Their fleet was at half its original capacity, and most of their defense systems, including their nukes, had been spent defending against the Axon fleet, but they had survived. Humanity had survived.

Not all of them did though. As Jakobs, Dereck, and Janaan all poured over the incoming information, their hearts collectively sank. The death toll hadn't stopped rising since before the assault, and even now it continued to climb as city after city, town after town, was accounted for, the numbers adding to the loss. Out of 12 billion people, 3.1 billion lost their lives without ever having had the chance to fight back. Jakobs knew that overall the battle had been a victory, he knew that this should be considered a win for Humanity, and yet, in rage and pain, and grief, he threw the datapad against the wall, cracking it and startling his two aides.

"Three fucking billion dead. 3 billion. Why? Why attack us, why make us enemies? Hell, if they just wanted pheromones they can make those in labs, or hire people for it, in a thousand other ways, so why. Why all...this?" He said, pointing to the list of dead ever rising. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door as a human guard entered followed by Riza, the Krultathan Ambassador. For once, she wasn't in her hyper-fixating mood or making any unwanted advances to get him into her harem, her mood instead was appropriately somber as her ears drooped, tail held low, and eyes downcast.

"Ambassador Jakobs, you and all of Terra have my deepest condolences for your loss. It was a hefty price paid today."

"I'm not in the mood Ri-Oh...thanks," Jakobs said, expecting some sly comment about joining her harem even now because of her previous actions, but was shocked that she was respectful for once, even using his title instead of some weird pet name. He sighs, and runs a hand through his hair, revealing a new streak of grey. Jakobs, being from the Fractured states, hadn't been able to afford the medication to increase longevity until much later, and though he was only halfway through current human lifespans, he looked older than this would suggest, more like 80 years instead of the 45 he was.

"Did...Did you have a reason for coming, Ambassador Riza? If not, I'd appreciate some privacy right now."

"Officially, I am here to announce that the First Daughter of the Queen-Matriarch, Varia Zitoh, will be arriving shortly, accompanied by the Tartarus with Amelia Ryder onboard," Riza said before moving closer, moving to give Jakobs a hug, but when he stepped back, she instead settled for a paw on his shoulder. "Unofficially, I am here to check on a dear friend."

"You've known me less than a month, Riza, I'm not sure we are at "Dear friends" yet...but..thanks. I take it you took the medication?" Jakobs said gruffly but softened a bit towards the end. There was no reason to take out his emotions on Riza now, especially when she was being uncharacteristically consoling and somber.

Riza looked at the list still scrolling on the datapad, then at Dereck and Janaan, both of whom read the room and started making themselves scarce, giving the two ambassadors a bit more privacy.

"I don't think now is the time for such...urges, so I took it, this once...Anyone you know?" Riza asked inquisitively in regard to the list. Jakobs says nothing at first, before glancing at the cracked holopad, sighing, and moving to pick it up.

"A couple of friends back in spec ops. They were stationed in Sydney when the bomb went off less than a kilometer above them. At least it was painless is what I'm telling myself." He moves to his desk, picking up a picture of him and seven others from his unit, all standing in front of a tank and smiling, Jakobs towards the left and getting hit in the head by another man holding a tank shell.

"The one with the shell in his hand, that was Andrev Piertro. We called him Joker because he was always pranking us somehow or another." He says, then lets out a little laugh at a now painful memory.

"One time, he actually managed to use some chemical he called AAA to set the gunny's boots on fire. We had extra PT for weeks for that one. Still the funniest thing I've seen, Gunney running around with shoes on fire looking for water in a desert to put them out. Still, he was serious when he needed to be. I got injured during an engagement and the scrawny bastard managed to haul me all the way back to the convoy." His voice starts breaking a bit, but he tries to hold himself together for now. Riza moved a step closer, looking at the picture as he had talked, then back to him. She didn't have to be an expert in human facial expressions to see the grief on his face.

"He...He sounds like he was a good man, Jakobs. He left behind good memories for you to hold onto." Riza replied cautiously. One thing they didn't know yet was how humans acted in response to grief, and she didn't want to accidentally trigger a response instinct.

Jakob's facade broke at her words and he reached out to hold Riza as tears began to fall, dampening her fur a bit but she ignored it, reaching a paw around to hold him. She could feel the powerful muscles beneath his clothing and skin ripple and shudder with shakes of sadness. "He...was my brother... they were my family, Riza. They...I can't even bury them." He said, muffled by his face being buried into her shoulder at the moment. She wrapped her tail around him comfortingly, and held her other paw to the back of his head, letting him know it was okay to let it all out. It had frightened her at first, him suddenly grabbing onto her, but now she realized he needed this, and she would happily oblige as they stood there like this for several minutes.

Eventually, his tears dried up, and once the shuddering stopped, he hesitantly took a step back, a moment of pain on his normally stoic face before once again the mask was lowered, and grabbing a napkin, he did his best to clean off the wet splotches on her fur from his crying. He didn't say anything while he did so, but Riza thought that he was thinking about something deeply while he worked. She didn't want to interrupt the silence either and ruin this..intimate moment, with the normally closed-off ambassador either. Once he deemed he had gotten off all he could, his voice, a bit lower now and with a crackling like electricity to it, filled his office once again.

"My apologies for that unseemly display, Ambassador Riza, I lost myself for a moment, it won't happen again."

"You've nothing to apologize for Jakobs, I am just happy I was able to help," Riza replied, trying her best attempt at a smile that was, for a diplomat, terrible. Jakobs looked at her for a moment, and for a split second, she could swear his eyes got a bit brighter before he responded.

"Jack."

"I...I'm sorry?"

"Jack, it's what my friends call me. You too, now."

"Okay Jack, would you like some company while you work today?"

"I...I would appreciate that, Riza."

" Then I shall let my aides handle my work for now and stay here with you, at least until the medication wears off." They spent the rest of the evening in mostly comfortable silence, occasionally having a small chat back and forth on miscellaneous subjects, when eventually, Jack brought out a bottle of bourbon, one aged 120 years, and cracked it open, pouring a drink. He poured one for Riza as well, but since they couldn't process alcohol, he instead pulled out a different flask for her. "Tonight, we're drinking until we can't stand...Or I am at least, you cat-folk don't seem to have our equivalent to alcohol so I guess I'll be imbibing on my own." Riza chuffed at this then looked at Jack with an amused expression. "Then I shall do my best to be here for moral support."