Insectoid Hive Ship, anchored in a nebula 987 light-years from Earth.

The queen marveled at the new concepts flooding her mind as she continued to use her claws to convey her thoughts to the animal construct that sat on the floor in front of her, patiently waiting as she made claw movements and correcting her when she made errors by showing her the proper gestures and movements.

She was still intrigued by the concept of names, and she tried to understand the need for them. Her sisters had no need for a name; the thoughts of the queens each had their own easily identifiable uniqueness that was apparent. She had a flash of insight and realized that the animals, incapable of sharing thoughts, would need to identify themselves to others and to themselves in their minds. Having no name would be like being a worker drone, just one of many.

The animal construct also told her that it was not an animal but a machine with its own thoughts. She could not grasp the concept of a machine with its own thoughts. How did the animals gift life and thought to a machine? Such an act defied the natural order of things, and she was terrified of the implications of her species fighting animals capable of gifting life to inanimate things.

It was signaling to her, and she concentrated as she watched its claws make its thoughts known to her. It was telling her that she needed to bring the ship to the animals so that it could make the animals on the ship better. She felt a momentary surge of fear, sure that the animals would kill her as soon as she entered their space.

The being insisted, and she picked up on the emotion behind its claw movements. It cared for the animal in the suit, calling it a friend, and it wanted to save the animal’s life. It stood up and walked over the wall of the cavern, pointing one of its claws at it. A burning hole appeared in the wall where the claw was pointed, and it moved around until a square shape emerged. The animal construct took out the cut piece from the wall and returned to its position in front of the queen, still standing.

It made more movements with a single claw, and she saw the smoke emanating from the piece as it moved the claw around. It turned the piece toward her, and she saw small shapes on it. She got up from her dais and went to the animal construct to get a better view of the new shapes it had put on the piece. She signaled with her claws, asking what they were. The construct signaled back, saying it was thoughts.

She was confused. The construct pointed at the shapes and then made claw movements, indicating friends. It pointed at the shapes again and signed friend again. She felt the ancient Hive mother within wanting to share her thoughts, and she opened her mind to them.

Understanding dawned on the queen as the Hive mother within helped her get the concept of the shapes. They were another way to share thoughts. Excitement swelled within her, and she made claw movements toward the animal construct, telling it to show her more.

CWS Ancestor's Glory-Flagship of the Commonwealth Liberation Navy

In orbit around Jaleenia, five days after the battle

Therax and his clutch sister stood in the shuttle bay along with the entire surviving crew of the Ancestor’s Glory, waiting for the honor guard to begin the ceremony. They were assembled in a square formation, and in the center was a large ossuary chest that contained microscopic human remains and pieces of ships that were painstakingly extracted from the wreckage of the Republic ships by Commonwealth and Jaleeni vessels after the battle.

What remains of the humans that could be found were reverently collected and stored in the sickbay morgues until their burial wishes could be carried out according to their last wills and testaments. Microscopic samples were taken on Therax’s order, and he had the samples and pieces of every Republic ship that weren’t annihilated by core overloads collected and stored in the traditional ossuary chest used by the Nekuli.

The honor guard assumed their final positions, and they slowly marched as the ossuary chest moved with them, maintaining its position as the anti-grav unit inside the chest suspended it exactly 1.7 meters above the ground. The procession moved until they were in the middle of the shuttle bay, and the honor guard formation changed position, forming two lines separated by two meters of space on either side of the chest, and they pulled out their ceremonial Kal’tesh swords, crossing the long blades across their chests.

The first crewmember walked down the pathway created by the honor guard and stopped in front of the chest, bowing her head for a few moments. She then took off her necklace, pulling it over her head and placing it on the ground in front of the ossuary chest before returning to her position. The second crewmember went to the chest, and he removed his pistol from his hip, placing it in front of it and returning to his position.

The third crewmember left a hand-carved memento that he had made and placed it in front of the chest. The fourth removed his rank insignia and placed it in the small pile that was forming. One after another, crewmembers went and left a gift for the honored dead, the pile growing rapidly in size. Almost an hour later, the last of the crew had left their gifts, and only Therax and his clutch sister were left.

She went first, and he saw that she left her most prized possession, a leather-bound parchment copy of the Nekuli holy book that was over three hundred years old and was gifted to her by their father’s father before his passing. His eyes watered at the gift of her most cherished possession to the dead, and he flicked his head slightly at his sister as she resumed her place next to him. It was his turn, and he walked slowly towards the chest.

His grief overwhelmed him as he got closer to the chest, and he felt the warm water of his eyes spilling onto his snout folds before they dropped, hitting the floor. In his hands was an object wrapped in Nekuli spider silk, and he reached the large pile of gifts. He gingerly unwrapped the silk from the object and glanced at it, hearing the low gasps of shock from the honor guards as they saw what it was.

It was a hand-carved figurine made from the rarest mineral of his home world, a balriixan geode that glimmered with an ethereal green hue as the light of the shuttle bay hit it and passed through the almost translucent crystalline structure. There were less than a hundred balriixan geodes ever found, as it takes millions of years for them to make the journey from deep in the mantle to the upper crust, where they are discovered.

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It had been passed down in his family from father to firstborn son for generations, and it was utterly priceless. The figurine depicted the first ancestor passing the holy book to his son, who was kneeling before him, head bowed, with arms outstretched to receive it. It symbolized the first ancestor passing on the truth to his son, and it was the most prized possession of Therax’s clan, which had guardianship of the relic from the time when his ancestors ruled as kings and queens long ago.

He folded the spider silk into a square and placed the relic on top of the silk in front of the pile of gifts before pressing a button on the base that created a small electromagnetic field around it, protecting it. He bowed his head and prayed.

Clan-leader, I am sorry I could not find any trace of your physical essence on the battlefield, though I truly believe that your spirit remains, watching over those you have selflessly sacrificed yourself to save. I can feel you here and all around us. I miss you already, clan leader, and I am jealous of the ancestors who now count you among their honored ranks.

Therax finished his prayer, and the honor guard fell back around the ossuary chest, and they marched into a waiting shuttle, the chest hovering and gliding silently in the middle of them.

Two hours later, they were on the surface of Jaleenia, on the banks of the main river that cut through the now-abandoned capital city. There was an eerie silence that gave truth to the emptiness inhabiting the ghost city, and Therax and his clutch sister silently took the ossuary chest in between the flaming torches that lined the path to the riverbank and walked into the slowly moving water up to their waists, holding the chest between them.

Behind them, a large assembly of Jaleeni government officials, along with the Chief Minister and his family, started mournfully howling. The Chief Minister started first, lifting his head towards the two moons in the dusky sky, and his family joined in, harmonizing.

The rest of the officials added their mourning howls, and Therax felt a deep chill inside of his soul and the hair raising on the nape of his neck as the howls were bounced off the walls of the surrounding buildings that towered into the sky. It seemed as if the deserted city itself was lamenting the passing of the brave souls as it magnified and threw the echoes outward.

Therax looked at Verixa, and she flicked her head. They both released their grips on the chest, and it floated on the surface, being carried away with the current. They watched as the slow-moving water took the chest with it, and Therax felt the wind grow stronger as it blew in a westerly direction, pushing the chest towards the other side of the river. Soon, the chest had reached the opposite riverbank, and Therax smiled as the warm water of his eyes flowed freely. The ancestors had found them worthy and guided their souls across the river.

They were now in paradise.

RSS Indomitable, Independence-Class Carrier

Docked at Republic Naval Headquarters, Earth Orbit

Captain Ruggeri stood outside the admiral’s quarters, dreading the coming confrontation. He took a deep breath and tapped the door signal icon. There was no answer after he slowly counted out ten seconds, and he pressed it again. This time he counted to twenty; still no answer.

He sighed in frustration and knocked on the door loudly. He waited for a few moments and was about to start knocking again when the door slid open, revealing the bloodshot eyes of Admiral Thompson glaring at him from the dark interior.

“What do you want, Captain?” He demanded, emphasizing the rank in a sneering manner. He was wearing an open robe with a white, stained civvies shirt and boxers. The smell coming from him slammed into Captain Ruggeri, and he almost gagged from the stench.

“Jesus Christ, Karl. You smell like a fucking bar rag.”

“Go fuck yourself, Dominick. What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. I wanted to talk to you and make sure you haven’t pickled your liver beyond regeneration yet. Can I come in?” Karl sighed heavily, his breath smelling like a distillery, and then he grunted and stepped to the side to let the captain into his quarters.

Dominick walked into the dark interior and waited for his eyes to adjust before walking into the main room. The quarters were an absolute disaster, with half-eaten food and empty alcoholic containers littered all over the place. Karl brushed past him and entered the main room, throwing himself heavily into a recliner and gesturing for Dominick to take a seat on the trash-filled couch next to him.

Dominick eyed the couch dubiously before walking over to it and using an empty vodka bottle to push aside some of the crap on the couch so that he could sit. He sat down and looked at his friend, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

“Karl, you gotta snap out of this. It’s been five days since the news from the Jaleeni system, and I can’t cover for you anymore. The President herself called and asked me if she needed to send some pathfinders to root you out of your quarters and return you to duty.”

Karl eyed him and didn’t respond, reaching over to grab the half-eaten sandwich that was on the side table next to him and taking a bite out of it, chewing loudly.

“Karl, do you hear what I am saying? You are close to being charged with dereliction of duty if you don’t cut this crap out and return to duty.” Karl swallowed the food he was chewing and resumed looking at him, his bloodshot eyes rimmed with tears.

“I killed them. I killed her.” Karl whispered quietly as the tears streamed out of his eyes. “I played her last message over a hundred times, and I heard her say that she loved me and not to blame myself for her death. She knew she was going to die.” He took a deep, shuddering breath.

“I killed her, Dominick. I ordered the woman I love to her death, and I never told her how I truly felt about her.”

Dominick responded quietly, “She knew, Karl. She knew you loved her, and she also knew she had to do her duty as a Republic officer. You cannot keep blaming yourself for her death.” He felt the words sound hollow as he said them, but they were true, whether the admiral chose to believe them or not.

Karl didn’t respond, and he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the recliner as more tears streamed down his cheek. Dominick leaned over and grabbed Karl’s hand, holding it tightly. The admiral tried to pull it away, but Dominick gripped it tighter, refusing to let it go.

“I’m sorry, Karl. I’m sorry you lost her.” He whispered quietly. He felt the admiral stop trying to pull his hand away and return the grip, squeezing tightly. Karl pushed himself off the recliner, still holding his hand, and pulled him off the couch, embracing him in a tight hug and sobbing quietly.

Dominick held him for a long time as Karl let it all out, soaking his shoulder with his tears while he murmured to himself. After he was done, Karl released him from his crushing hug and chuckled in embarrassment as he wiped the moisture from his face with the bottom of the stained shirt.

“I’m sorry, Dominick; I guess I just needed to let it out with someone. I’m glad it was you.” Dominick nodded before responding. “Anytime Karl. Why don’t you shower and freshen up, and when you are ready, meet me in the conference room? There have been a lot of things going on, and we need to figure out our next steps.”

Dominick saw the first glimmer of interest appear on Karl’s face as he processed what Dominick had just said. “What things have been happening?” he asked as Dominick saw the old Karl returning. I got you now. Welcome back, you son of a bitch! Dominick thought to himself as he started heading out of the quarters.

He turned around and responded. “The Insectoids have withdrawn every single ship to their space behind their original borders, and they have even left the former Commonwealth territories they captured when they launched the invasion last year. We have also received a message.”

Karl was standing in the center of the room with his hands on his hips and a towel over his shoulder. “A message from whom?” he asked, his old command voice finally returning as he demanded an answer from Dominick.

“From a Hive ship, asking for a meeting to engage in peace talks and to form a treaty of alliance.” Dominick relished the look on Karl’s face as he turned back around and continued towards the door. He reached for the open-door icon and turned around once more, looking Karl dead in the eyes.

“Don’t you dare leave these quarters before showering and getting something to eat. You are not allowed on my bridge until you do so. Understood, Admiral?”

He turned around and exited the quarters, leaving the flabbergasted admiral behind and heading towards the bridge, smiling. The admiral was back, and so was his best friend.