Hera did indeed know the spot. The four of them were the last to leave the driftwood constructed bar set on the glimmering sandy shoreline. The moonlight shattered against the low waves in a crystalline pattern that made it a perfect setting for drunken commiserations. Jackie and Hera had conspired to buy a couple of bottles of the good stuff from the bar just before closing, whilst Jacob and Patrick had disappeared for a few moments before dragging the buzzed crew out to the beach to reveal a massive pile of driftwood already ablaze with other logs and stones set up about it. The group settled down to stare at the bonfire and crack the first of the bottles open.
Cory stared at the roaring flames for a small eternity, smiling his thanks at the offered cup of liquor before taking a sip. “We have our winter celebrations, but I’m unfamiliar with this tradition.” He said finally.
“Well, none of us are sober enough to go anywhere. So, we don’t. We sit, drink, sing, laugh. The usual.” Patrick chuckled as he poured a drink for Camorra and himself. Cory raised an eyebrow as Cammy promptly curled up under his arm. They were reclining in the sand with a bar cushion at their back. Patrick caught his gaze and laughed, “Strategically Transferred Equipment to an Alternate Location.” Was all he said, which triggered a coughing laugh as Jacob snarfed into his drink.
“Better?” Jackie settled down next to him on the log, breaking him from his observations.
“Getting there,” Cory said. Taking a pull from his cup, “I didn’t pin you for… this. You were so… professional… when we first met.”
“Ha! Work hard, play harder.” Jackie smiled, “Common, Let’s just enjoy tonight. Tomorrow is its own problem.” She finished.
“song! song!” Cammy chanted looking up at Patrick. “Red has a wonderful voice.”
“Oh, does he, now.” Jacob chuckled before giving a quick smirk to Hera, “Alright ‘Red’ let's hear it” he taunted.
“Fuck, Ok. Here goes, but I’m gonna need a beat. A simple one, follow me.” He began to thump his fist on the log next to him. Jacob immediately bore a fearsome grin as he recognized what Patrick was doing, and joined in, pounding the log he was sitting on in time. Soon the Delmar women slowly joined, each finding something to keep time with.
“Of all the tree’s that grow so fair…” Jacob began to sing as he recited the lyrics of a song born of the second coming of the seamen’s from earths early twentieth century. Camorra tried not to giggle as Patrick transfixed the rest of the group with the first verse… the fire seemed to crackle in time as group kept time. At one point Patrick noticed Jacobs expression and nodded to him just before Jacob added his deep baritone in harmony for the chorus...
The look on Hera’s face was priceless as Jake belted out “Oak and Ash and Thorn good sirs, All on a Midsummers Morn” in time and on key with Patrick before Patrick’s tenor fell silent as Jacob flawlessly blended into the second verse. The two alternated for through the song, coming together for the Chorus each time before finally falling silent.
“OK, When the fuck were you going to tell me you sang.” Hera glared at Jacob, with a grin ruining her valiant attempt at a scolding. “And what was that. I’ve never heard it.”
“It’s a song hundreds of years old. All of us who choose a life at sea tend to have a soft spot for them. It kind of transferred over the Human space navies. Well done, Red.” Jacob raised his glass before draining it. He had just finished when a haunting sound echoed out from next to Cory as he noticed Jackie sitting bolt straight, staring at the hot core of the fire.
“The King and her men… stole the Queen… from her Bed.” Her haunting alto brought Cory’s main on end as she finished the verse, and they were off again.
By the time they cracked the second bottle, Hera had shared some Delmar traditional songs of the void, and it was the humans turn to learn verse and chorus.
The group slowly settled in for the night, the boys had thrown on more wood and now everyone was tracing shapes in the embers with their imagination as the songs were long forgotten, “Celest isn’t coming back is she.” It was Hera, she was immediately wrapped up in an embrace from Jacob. she tore herself away from the fire to look at Cory, “I’m sorry. I heard from a friend in the yards. I would like to be there when you find her resting place.”
“You will..” Cory said somberly, if a bit drunkenly. It still hurt to think about, but the companionship helped temper his pain, “She’s one last voyage to embark…”
“Olyvia…” Hera realized, as Cory nodded slowly, “She would like that.”
More logs were thrown on the fire and the group spent the night. Jacob and Hera were obviously in the late stages of courting as they curled up close to one another near the fire, and Cory looked down in surprise as Jackie tucked herself up next to him and rested a head on his chest.
By morning, the Fire was but embers, and headache’s from the previous evening’s libations roared their own hot fury. Cory didn’t care, not really. It had been completely worth it.
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“Commander, Ambassador. 5 minutes...” Philip looked between the two images on his screens as Silu and Gwen stirred in their respective cabins.
“The’re early.” Gwen stated slowly, reaching for her coffee maker to hit the start button on the pre prepped human grade go juice.
“Admiral Grarzia transmitted his codes just 20 minutes ago. He did not go into detail.” Philip said quickly. “Promenade Sector 4 should be a good show.”
Silu, Ami, Gwen, and Philip made it to the indicated sector’s view-ports just as a massive breach into real space ripped open with its customary violence. This one was massive, indicative of a large group of ships in close formation exiting slip-space together.
“How many ships did you say Mac is bringing back with him?” Ami asked, eyes wide as dinner plates at the massive blue and white maw that opened before them.
“I didn’t” Gwen grinned a very human grin, unable to restrain her nature as vessels began pouring out of the event horizon between slip space and real space.
“Void take us…” Silu breathed as he lost count. “It’s… it’s.. and armada…”
“Just one?” Philip’s expression matched the ambassador’s as even more ships poured in. before the rift closed. He pulled out a remote transmitter tied into the main command centers communications array. “Welcome back Admiral, you do know how to make an entrance.” He keyed up before releasing the transmit button.
*Admiral Grarzia reporting in. Permission to make for Orbit, we have a few vessels in need of refit* Mac’s voice filtered in over the hand held.
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Silu gave Philip a look, and the Tall Sudanese man laughed before handing the Com to his commanding officer, “Mac, How many is a few, so I can inform the Shipyards.”
“We made it without losing a vessel, I have three hundred eighty Warships ready for refit and full crews.”
Ami made a rather loud noise of complete shock and Silu just stood dumbfounded as the Parade of Void born Human Power stately passed by the view window as they made for the Delmar Homeworld. Gwen noticed Philip raise a hand to his mouth as his shoulders heaved in suppressed laughter.
Silu looked at Gwen with complete stunned silence…. Finding his voice after almost a full minute, “you can’t be serious… What of your own home system.”
“These are our outgoing obsolete designs… I assure you, Sol is well protected. We needed to be able to protect your people across the galaxy…” Gwen stated seriously before waving a hand to the cascade of promised wrath as it glided past Port Royal. “Now we have it. Humanity doesn’t have the manpower to use all of these vessels, and won't for a long time. but You, Your people. You will be able to secure half the galaxy for generations before they become outdated in this part of space.”
“Gods… you’re serious.” Silu said quietly. Before being taken about the shoulders and turned to face Gwen as she bore her ice blue eyes into him.
“You brought my boy back to me. You opened up the galaxy to my people who were being strangled to death in their own system. We are a supergravity species, you call us an Apex species… We do not forget what you have done for Humanity itself. This… is Thank you.”
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Mac settled Concord down onto the runway of his Delmar home with a gentle chirp of tire rubber. His familiar touch had her spinning on one main wheel as she came to rest perfectly in one side of the hanger just as a different roaring whine rose from the canopy as a larger shuttle came hovering down the runway to nestle itself into the open space next to Concord. Lyrain, Bry, and Tris and the newborn piled out of the shuttle along with Nicole before it took off once-more and departed back to the hospital ship. The family headed back to the house. They were just dropping off their luggage when a second shuttle landed with Gwen, Frie, and Frie’s little one inside as they headed to the house. Warm greetings were heard all around as the family settled in. Drinks were passed down as it was well past dark, and no one was going anywhere tonight.
“Gwen, we have a surprise for you.” Lyrian giggled as she handed the ambassador a Delmar Beer. “Come here.” She and Mac drew the small group up the stairs and into the baby room. “Meet your new grandson, Jason Grarzia.” Lyri whispered as she scooped up the sleeping infant with a deft hand and laid him in the arms of his great aunt.
“He’s perfect!” Gwen cood down at him, gently stroking the little mop of curls atop Jason’s little head. The little one stirred with an accompanying adorable grumble before settling in. Jason, unlike his siblings, looked physically like a Human, mostly. No tale, pinkish primary coloring on his skin. He did still have a main, as well as a bright auburn mop of hair. However, the little sleeping newcomer to the family was hiding a secret.
“He has Mac’s eyes...” Lyri whispered to Gwen with a happy smile, “You will have to see tomorrow.”
The adults settled into the furnishing’s downstairs, “So, you weren’t supposed to be here for another month, did something happen?” Gwen asked from her position ensconced in a deeply comfortable chair.
Lyrian and Mac looked at each other for a moment, “Celest.” Lyri said after a moment. “We wanted to be there for Cory, my sister, and her husband. Cory sent us a message saying that he did not believe that Celest was going to be repairable. Olyvia was very close with both our families. We came…” Lyrian paused as Mac rubbed her back.
“We didn’t want to miss the funeral.” Mac said gently, still rubbing Lyrian’s back. “How is Cory.”
“I don’t know. He has been spending a lot of time alone.” Frie admitted. “Olyvia’s death hit him hard. She wrote a letter of recommendation, a very personal one, before she died. She was going to give him Celest and retire in the next few years.”
“Shit..” mac said softly. “We were hoping to see him tonight, but he told us he was with friends… he sounded drunk.”
“Oh…” Gwen contemplated before continueing, “I guess it cant be helped. What are your plans for tomorrow?”
“We are going to head to the hospital to visit Quel and Gen, as well as give Jason and the twins a check up from the voyage.” Mac said. “After the Freighters get refit, I’m going to be very busy with building and training the new fleet. How’s Clint holding up?”
“He’s managing. He would be here, but one of his response groups found a Library of Vorath artifacts… then got ambushed. I don’t know much more. I got a message from him that he would be back tomorrow evening.” Frie’s voice was sad, she hated being this far from her Clint.
Lyrian wrapped her oldest friend up in a comforting embrace. “You, ok?” She asked gently.
“I will be, when Clint’s back.” Frie smiled up at her. “Can we Crash here tonight? I don’t feel like being alone.”
“Done.” Mac said as everyone stood. The guest rooms were kept good to go, so everyone had a place to crash for the night. Tomorrow could wait.
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USN Galveston eased elegantly through the ring of asteroids that bisected the Signus system between Delmar and Her star. Today she carried precious cargo, tucked gently in her central capital ship docking hanger. Her shields flared slightly as they repelled small bits of jagged space debris before her prow poked through the other edge of the ring of drifting rocks. She gave a slight shudder as her drives flickered and quieted. Galveston’s forward observation deck housed a small but intimate gathering. The Grarzia family, including Quel leaning heavily on a cane with a nurse nearby, was present in full. Cory, Mack, Clint, Patrick, Camorra, Hera, and Jacob were all immaculate in their respective dress uniforms. Lyrian wore a traditional full-length dress in deep blue with a simple tribal symbol over one shoulder. There were no speeches, no commentary, no stories. Only Cory stood in front of the Group, “We say goodbye today, Not only to the Vessel that helped make our people strong for generations, but to the men and women who died to defend her. These souls gave their final breath, so that many could stand here today to bear witness. Her captain always wished to be buried within the star of her home planet, consumed by the light that brought life to her home world. Today, The Celestial Traveler will aid her and those that died with her, on their final voyage…” Cory paused a long moment before turning to Galveston’s Captain, and simply nodded once.
Captain Harrison smiled sadly at the young man before handing him a small pad with one task programmed to it. Cory took a long shaky breath before tapping the pad once. A deep shudder resounded through the titanic Ship of the line as explosive bolts blew, releasing Celestial traveler from her moorings, before Galveston performed a preprogrammed separation burn. Thirty seconds after the maneuver, a lone sub light drive lit on Celest. It burned for exactly 5 minutes, imparting the needed trajectory to complete this final voyage. The viewing windows on the observation deck automatically tinted to dull the blinding visage before them. Galveston hove herself to, swinging her head around to watch the final voyage to its conclusion.
Both Delmar and Human’s were entombed in her Hull. Every man and woman who had sacrificed themselves in the defense that had cost them the very ship they died on. They laid in state in the ventral hold, resting together as Celest bore down on Signus itself. Cory nodded his thanks before stepping down to be replaced by a single Human with a trumpet. This part of the ceremony was intentionally human. The burglar slowly began “Taps.” As Celest disappeared from Galveston’s sensor, consigning herself to her final resting place.
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Kar dropped out of Subspace... in command of a Thermian Cruiser that was in formation with a Vorath dreadnaught and two Thermian Destroyers. They had been given the revolutionary triangulation navigational technology that allowed them to insert themselves directly over top of the Unity’s Capital Planet. There was no transmission sent, no demands made. The Vorath Dreadnaught immediately opened fire on the defensive arrays, ripping the unsuspecting defense platforms into burning wreckage as their orbits destabilized. They would do nicely as an opener.
Kar growled an order as his ship opened fire on the UGN Brig nearest him. He cared not the name. His new Vorath upgraded weapons ripped into the smaller ship as if it were made of old shed skin. The battle was over in minutes, and hundreds of landing craft sprung from the flanks of the dreadnaught. Their small specs of light flared to life as they burned toward the planet. Kar let a low aggressive snarl broil through his chest. “Launch our own landing parties.” He growled.
Across the upspin side of the Galactic arm, a massive assault was expertly timed. Thermian infiltrators had strategically destroyed or neutralized early warning systems across that part of the galaxy. Combined Vorath, and Unity task forces ripped into normal space across thousands of worlds, ripping away what defenses were there. Crushing any response fleets with ease before slamming to the planets with shock troops bloody blitz and mass genocidal executions of all weak, or resistant individuals. In the span of the next 2 days. Hundreds of trillions died, and trillions more were enslaved in the onslaught of Horrors that ambushed them from the deep black.
The Thermians wanted to be stronger, the Vorath respected it as long as it was useful. That usefulness was born in the gaining of crucial resources and footholds for the coming fleet. They had to work quickly to establish strongholds that they could hold while the main Vorath Battle Fleets traversed the twenty-year listless void between galactic arms.
It took two days for the news to reach Delmar. They had not been attacked due to the unknown they presented... No system in millions of years had repelled a Devoted’s attack, and even this new Vorath/Thermian alliance had logistical limits. It was simply more prudent to work down the galactic arm, than try to hit both sides simultaneously. Shuttles began returning from their mission as the last of the planet-side defenses were silenced. There would be no occupying force for the home-world of the Corth this day… Kar turned to watch the planet-glassing laser cannons ripped through the atmosphere of the galactic capital. This planet would not be spared, as the entire population was put to the flame from orbit.
No one knew if the Tetrarchy survived, only that the planet was rendered a dead orb of molten rock…
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Gwen sat in her Office, reading over the fragmented reports from the refugee’s that had been pouring into the sector. The UGN was giving a fight, but they were heavily outclassed, if not outnumbered. Their vastly superior number of vessels was one of the only things stemming the tide of blood from consuming the entirety of Unity space. She had seen this brand of Evil before… sometimes even in herself during humanity's brutal war in their own home system. The galaxy was falling apart, and She did not know if the resources existed to stop it. The worst part of it was… It was not up to her.
She packaged everything up in an extremely detailed data transfer and sent it to Alexander station just in time for the weekly transmission. She began closing her computer console when the screen went black before lettering began scrolling across the screen.
*Ambassador, we need to talk*