Two days after the Battle of the Jaleeni System

Two Republic and four Commonwealth communication drones flashed out of null space in predetermined positions within the system. They immediately started broadcasting, accelerating to their top speed as they flew along their assigned paths. The Commonwealth patrol ships in the system detected their presence when the light from their emergence reached the detection network thirty-six minutes later, and they changed their course to intercept the drones.

They sent out pulses to jam the signals of the drones, but the broadcasts were operating on a Republic frequency that pierced right through the jamming and continued traveling unimpeded as they were picked up and received by dozens of transceivers scattered throughout the system.

The patrol ships cycled through their entire catalog of jamming frequencies, and the drones continued to change frequencies in response to defeat the jamming attempts as they penetrated deeper into the system, undeterred by the efforts of the patrol ships.

The patrol ships finally triangulated the positions of the communication drones and flashed into null space, remerging on top of the drones and firing their particle weapons, destroying three of them. The three surviving drones flashed into null space and reemerged twenty seconds later, two of them flashing out into the orbital space of Nekul Prime, while the last one flashed out to within one hundred kilometers of Commonwealth Naval Headquarters.

They broadcast the signal once more, putting so much power behind the transmissions that they brute-forced their way into every receiver on the planet before the drones finally burned out their communication relays and self-destructed. The third drone, outside of Commonwealth Naval Headquarters, broadcasted the same signal, along with a tight beam laser that was directed towards the grand admiral’s offices.

The headquarters self-defense system activated, and the final drone was destroyed as multiple particle beams found their target and turned it back into its constituent atoms.

Commonwealth Naval Headquarters, Nekul System

Private office of the Grand Admiral of the Commonwealth Navy

Two solar hours after the final broadcasts of the communications drones

Grand Admiral Sarix sat in silence as he brooded in the darkness of his office, having ordered his staff out after reviewing the broadcasts and turning the lights off. He had not moved for over an hour as his mind raced, trying to come to grips with the contents of the broadcasts and the personal messages he received from his offspring in the tight beam laser.

He could not believe his eyes as he watched the results of the battle in the Jaleeni system and the final sacrifice of the Republic ships as they gave their lives to buy time for the evacuation efforts. He had personally signed the orders that sent his daughter Verixa and her fleet to the Jaleeni system and had explicitly ordered her to remain in the system and call for reinforcements if the Insectoids showed up.

The revelation that his orders had been countermanded and that her distress call went unanswered filled him with a fury that he had never felt before. I almost sent my own daughter to her death, and my son, who I thought was killed in battle by the Republic, is still alive and with his clutch sister. They are both alive only because of the Republic fleet and their actions, he thought to himself as he crushed the data tablet he was holding in his hands, feeling his palms get sliced by the shards of the broken screen as he continued to squeeze it, imagining it was the head of the traitor who almost killed his offspring.

He had known deep inside that the Commonwealth government he so loyally served since he was a mere ensign after graduating from the Naval Academy was not the same one now. It had become increasingly heavy-handed, and their actions rankled many in the rank and file of the armed forces as rumors spread about the totalitarian methods they employed to maintain control.

He had been a loyal officer for over sixty cycles, and the inherent nature of the Nekuli to serve in an honorable fashion also encouraged an unwavering loyalty to their government, which is why his species had such a large presence in the armed forces and law enforcement branches.

He had heard the rumors, and he had himself seen evidence of the change as even the armed forces, once an independent entity that answered directly to the government, found themselves under the scrutiny of the security bureau, their agents now seen everywhere as they insinuated themselves into the armed forces apparatus, openly regarding everyone with suspicion and severely damaging morale.

He had known it was wrong, but he did not say anything. After the catastrophic defeat inflicted on them by the Insectoids and the complete eradication of multiple member species, he too was consumed with preserving what was left of the Commonwealth. When the Xenxin rebelled, he viewed them as traitors and personally signed the orders that sent his son Therax to bring those troublesome ingrates to heel.

When the Commonwealth Envoy came back from Eleani space and told of how he was chased from the system by the Republic fleet, he was infuriated and drew up plans for a punitive expedition to punish the Republic for their insolence. He changed his mind when he saw the recordings of the battle when the Republic demon ships utterly overpowered his son’s fleet with ease, though his hatred for them grew when he was told that his son had fallen in battle.

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Lies. It was all lies, and he believed them and looked the other way when the government did things that only increased their grip on power instead of protecting their remaining members from the Insectoids. No more. They did not deserve his loyalty any longer. He copied the contents of the broadcasts and the evidence of the government abandonment of the Jaleeni onto a small personal data chip and stood up, ordering the lights to come back on. They turned on, and he blinked against the sudden brightness as he pressed a button on the desk, summoning his staff back into the office.

They came in one by one a few seconds later, with carefully guarded expressions, though he had served with them long enough to tell that they were just as incensed by the irrefutable evidence of the abandonment of billions of Jaleeni and the failure to send reinforcements to his daughter’s fleet when she rightfully stayed to defend the Jaleeni evacuation.

The last one in had closed the door and was just taking his seat when the door was opened, and two Ominians entered without knocking. They wore the uniforms of the Security Bureau, and they walked over to his desk imperiously while staring at his staff with barely veiled suspicion. He glanced at their rank pips and saw that they were both high-level agents attached to the Premier’s office, and he suppressed the urge to scream at them for their serious breach of decorum.

The higher-ranking one addressed him first, his voice dripping with derision. “Grand Admiral, why have you not instituted a communications blackout and locked down headquarters?”

Sarix eyed the one who had addressed him for a few seconds, not bothering to hide the contempt he now felt for the government in his eyes before answering. “There is no need; the communications drones did such a thorough job disseminating the broadcasts that I doubt that there is a single person in this system that has not seen the contents yet. It is an exercise in futility at this point. Everyone now knows that the government has failed to do its duty and abandoned Jaleenia and commander Verixa’s fleet.”

Both agents shared a look before the senior one spoke again. “I see that our reports on the death of commodore Therax were incorrect, and that he is in the Jaleeni system as well. It appears being a traitor is a familial trait that runs strong in your bloodline, Grand Admiral.”

The senior agent had barely finished uttering his sentence when Sarix leapt up and grabbed him by the throat, easily lifting him off his feet. The other agent fumbled for the pistol at his hip as Sarix was grabbing his superior by the throat, but he was unprepared for the sudden violence, and Ominians are not known for their physical abilities. He was too slow, and his neck was broken from behind by Sub-Commander Davix, his aide for almost ten cycles. The Ominian dropped, his head limply hanging at an odd angle as he lay on the floor.

The senior agent hanging by the throat in Sarix’s right hand was kicking and struggling, trying to pry the hand that was slowly extinguishing the life from him as his violet skin turned a deep shade of blue-black and his eyes started bulging in their sockets. He was moving his mouth, but no words were coming out of it as his lungs had no air.

Sarix stared into the agent’s eyes, seeing his lifeforce fade away as the agent stopped struggling and went limp. He squeezed a little harder, feeling the trachea crunching in his hand before he tossed the dead agent away effortlessly, the body slamming into the wall four feet away and crumpling onto the floor.

Sarix looked at his staff, seeing in their eyes that they agreed with his actions. He was now on the cusp of a critical inflection point, and he needed to ensure that he made the right decision. He spoke to them slowly, enunciating his words so that they clearly understood what he was about to say.

“I am going to issue orders for the seizure of every ship in this system and the detention of every Commonwealth government and security official as well. I am openly rebelling against this government that is no longer worthy of my loyalty. Any of you who do not wish to be part of this may step outside and exit my offices; you will not be judged for doing so, and your honor will remain intact.” None of his staff made a move to leave, and they all stood straight at attention and saluted him.

He then proceeded to stand in front of each one, return their salutes, and ask the same question to each one. “Are you with me? Each one replied yes, their voices filled with conviction and purpose for the first time in over a year since the mauling they received at the hands of the Insectoids and the long, ignominious retreat of the fleet to the Core Worlds.

They are warriors with a purpose again, he thought to himself as he saw their bearings change now that they were once again engaged in a just cause as they armed themselves from the weapons closet in the wall of his office. Two of the staff members were already on their communications relays, talking to trusted Nekuli commanders and informing them of their actions.

Sarix made calls of his own, and almost thirty minutes later, he had the support of over twenty of the highest ranking naval and ground forces commanders in the Nekuli system. He then made a call to the Chancellor of Nekul Prime, the leader of his entire species. The Chancellor had seen the broadcast, and he was seething at the cowardly actions of the Commonwealth government and promised his full support for the rebellion.

He ended the call and grabbed his pistol from the weapons closet, wrapping the harness around his waist as he stepped in front of a mirror and looked at himself. His face was different, and he realized that his eyes had fire in them once more. He bared his fangs in true happiness at himself before heading out of his offices and entering the main concourse of the Commonwealth Naval Headquarters station.

There were already thousands of warriors there, assembled in neat formations and waiting for his orders, while in the distance he could see manacled government officials and disarmed Security Bureau agents being led to the detention cells. He felt overwhelmed with emotions as he took in the scene and thought about the events to come.

He thought of his son and daughter in the Jaleeni system, all alone with a half-destroyed fleet, bravely defending the innocent civilians that were evacuating the system. He thought of the courageous human warriors who gave their lives, defeating two fleets of Insectoids intent on eradicating another species. These humans did not owe anything to the Jaleeni, but they still went and fought for them because it was the right thing to do.

Hold on a little while longer, my children. You are no longer alone; your father is coming to help you.