“Ryan’s awake.” Dr Pria said to her patient’s waiting family. “You can come see him.”

 

The words had barely left her mouth before Rixie and Thyllia had surged to their feet. The former gently cupped Alex in her palm and the group followed Brinn closely as the doctor lead them through the halls of Valhalla’s medical wing.

 

“I have to warn you,” Brinn said over her shoulder, “He’s been sedated and is just starting to come around. He’s coherent… mostly. But…”

 

“He’s a little loopy?” Alex guessed.

 

“That’s… yeah. We’ll go with that.” Despite the seriousness of the situation, there was a slight tug upwards at the corner of Brinn’s mouth.

 

Seconds later they reached a door with a plaque on it that read Wk. Bpınn Πpia. Brinn pressed her access badge against the door and it unlocked with a loud click.

 

“I’ve been keeping him in my office for direct observation.” She whispered quietly as she led them inside. “One of the advantages to him being human.”

 

“Thank you.” Rixie murmured quietly, her eyes sending the unspoken understanding of the real reason she was keeping Ryan so close.

 

Brinn smiled sadly and nodded. “I’ll just leave you to talk then.” She added before quietly leaving the room.

 

Rixie looked at Thyllia and nodded towards the little hospital bed that Brinn had set up on a table by her desk.

 

Thyllia nodded wordlessly and stepped towards the bed. She tread softly, so as not to inadvertently jostle Ryan or his bed.

 

“Ry?” She said softly as she sank into the chair by the table. “Are… are you awake?”

 

Ryan stirred slightly and groaned. After a moment, his eyes blinked open and he smiled up at her. “Hey Princess…”

 

Thyllia bit her lip to keep from gasping out loud. When Ryan had turned towards her she’d seen that the right side of his face was a mess of bandages and scar tissue.

 

“It’s… it’s not permanent.” Ryan explained groggily. “Doc says I’ll be back to normal in a few weeks, you know, after some more skin grafts and regenerative therapy.

 

“Oh Ryan!” Thyllia sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I don’t care about that! I don’t like seeing you in a hospital bed!”

 

“I know you don’t.” Ryan said quietly. “I was… I was mostly reminding myself. You… you just look even more beautiful than I remember.”

 

Thyllia swallowed and wiped her eyes again. She gently placed her fingers over Ryan’s torso, making sure he didn’t feel any discomfort. “So do you.”

 

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds, before a sound from behind them reminded Thyllia that she wasn’t Ryan’s only visitor. She turned and looked over her shoulder and Rixie stepped forward to set Alex on the table by Ryan’s bed.

 

“Hi Mom.” Ryan smiled. “Hi Dad.”

 

“Ryan… we are so glad you’re okay…” Rixie whispered. “And we’re so very proud of you.”

 

“I just… did what I had to do.”

 

Alex gently ruffled his son’s hair. “Yes you did. And we’re proud of you.”

 

There came a knock and everybody turned to see Brinn standing in the doorway. “Sorry, I really hate to break this up, but I need to take Ryan for an examination.”

 

“No problem, Brinn.” Alex said, before turning back to his son. “Rest up, Two-Face. You can fight Batman another day.”

 

“Alex!” Rixie chided, although the twinkle in her eye betrayed her amusement.

 

Alex chuckled. “Sorry, maybe that wasn’t funny.”

 

Ryan laughed. “No way Pop. If you’re joking about it, I know it’ll be okay. It’s when you stop that I get worried.”

 

****

The meeting room in the joint meeting area was pristine, with water on the table, miniature flags at each chair, nameplates placed precisely. Officially, this was Imperial territory, but the Ridgemont Administration had insisted on serving as hosts. It was the least they could do, honestly.

 

“They’re ready to come in, Madam Secretary-General,” Ellanorah Sheridan said, quietly.

 

“Let them know we’re ready,” the Secretary-General said, and a minute later, four people shimmered into existence holographically. A fifth walked across the room to their side, the lone human here for the summit.

 

There were quick handshakes for the media, and a brief statement by the two leaders, before the cameras and questioners were ushered out of the room. There would be a press conference later today; for now, there was business to attend to.

 

“Again, welcome to Earth, Madam Floor Leader,” Elaine Ridgemont said, settling in at the seat in the center of her side. “I hope you had a safe journey.”

 

“We did, thank you, Madam Secretary-General. And again, I want to thank your and Ambassador Martin for your kind words of condolence to the Emperor at the visitation. Emperor Tiernan asked me to convey to you his personal appreciation.”

 

“They were not mere diplomatic niceties, Madam Floor Leader,” Ridgemont said. “Prince Antero and his fellow soldiers saved over 100,000 people from a horrible fate. He will always be remembered by humanity as a great hero and a great friend.”

 

Loona nodded, and said, “Before we begin, Ambassador Bass wanted to share a personal note.”

 

Eyrn nodded to Loona; technically, she was the lowest-ranking official in the room, but Loona had her sitting directly on her right. “Thank you, Madam Floor Leader,” Eyrn said. “I just wanted to announce to you that this summit will be my last official duty as Ambassador to Earth. I…if things had been different,” she said, and found she was stumbling over her text. She shook he head; there shouldn’t be tears anymore, damn it. She had a duty.

 

She was rather surprised when Elaine Ridgemont rose, and walked around the table. The Secretary-General knelt down beside her, and embraced her, tight.

 

“Ambassador,” the Secretary said, “I wish, more than you know, that things had been different. Prince Antero is not the only friend that Earth lost at Tau Ceti. I am so very, very sorry.”

 

“Thank you,” Eyrn said. “I just…I know, this is not professional….”

 

“Eyrn,” Elaine said. “Your husband died to save us. I wouldn’t have been offended if you’d stayed home. And Navarcho Bass, and Dr Freeman, and the hundreds of other Imperial officers and civilians who died to save Tau Ceti, and Earth…if professionalism requires us not to cry when we remember them, then professionalism isn’t worth a damn.”

 

“So say we all,” Tatenda Marechera said.

 

“So,” the Secretary-General said, rising, and walking back to her side, “Ambassador, we will miss you; you represented your people’s interests well. And Ambassador Martin asked me to remind you, should you choose to retire…you are still a dual citizen. And Earth is always your home, as much as the Empire. If you and your family want to come back, to visit or to stay…we would be honoured to have you, not as a guest, but as a fellow Terran.”

 

“Thank you,” Eyrn said, wiping her eyes. “That means…that means so very much.”

 

“It is not nearly enough,” Elaine said. “Now, we should get to business. First things first, I have a proposed amendment to the status of Titan Station,” she said, hitting a button. “We will be pushing to have all of the Sol Earth system declared our territory, but regardless of that negotiation, we propose that Titan Station be permanently recognized as a joint base, that both the Empire and Earth be granted permanent access, and that this status can only be rescinded by mutual agreement.”

 

The Minister of State blinked. “That is…actually more generous than we expected. We do not have to go that far – if you’re willing to agree to some guidelines….”

 

“It’s not so much for you, but for us,” Batari Iman said. “It was the Secretary-General’s idea. We wanted to ensure that, should our government, say, make a foolish mistake and try to push the Titans out of our system…well, we want to bind our own hands. There are grave threats out there. We stand together against them. We do not wish to forget that.”

 

“That is a generous offer,” said Pane Segdi, the Minister of Defense. “And as long as you’re willing to give the military free access to it….”

 

“You’ll have free transit to that station, whether it’s an enclave or not,” Esmée Xyander said. “We’ll detail exact wording in a separate Status of Forces Agreement, but we’re generally going to be amenable to whatever fits your best practices.”

 

“Excellent,” Loona said. “Now, the next issue is Tau Ceti…we were discussing making it a joint colony before….”

 

“We’re happy to agree to that, Madam Floor Leader, but we want to make sure there are rules in place to protect the current colonists there,” Tatenda said. “The United Nations would like to handle this as a Trust Territory. The African Union has agreed to be the administering entity for the colony. Our goal would be to get them to a point where they are capable of self-determination. At that point, they would have the opportunity for full independence, to become a member state of the United Nations, a part of the Empire…whatever their people wanted to do.”

 

“We’re not going to necessarily be sending a lot more colonists, at least not in the short term,” said Ammer Smit. “The Empire is going to be building teaching facilities in every province. We’re no longer planning to relocate human nationals to Freeman Colony before they are allowed to become citizens. If Earth wanted to send its own colonists there, the Empire would have no objection.”

 

Elaine nodded. “I saw that, Minister Smit. And I agree, that’s wise. Still, 1.5 million humans live there now, and more may wish to go there of their own free will. Part of the reason I asked First Minister Marechera’s nation to serve as the administering entity is that they have a history of having been colonised by people who were more interested in treasure than the welfare of the peoples already living on the land. Earth has no interest in making those mistakes again. The people living there now grew up in the Empire – yes, as pets, but still, they have a culture that is unique, and different from any on Earth. Some of the workers who go there may choose to stay, but we want to make sure that Tau Ceti Colony – or Freeman Colony, you say?”

 

“They just communicated it,” Eyrn said. “The UNHCR has been working with them to form a temporary government – they made it their first order of business.”

 

“A very appropriate name,” Ridgemont said. “Freeman Colony should chart its own path. We’ll welcome them, if they decide that path lies with Earth – but we’re not going to force them to do anything.”

 

“That is precisely what I was hoping you’d say,” Ammer said. “The Empire has asked Avalon Province to take Freeman Colony as part of our provincial territory; we’ve asked that they be given distinct status, and that Avalonian administration be limited in similar ways to what you’ve proposed. We’ll be happy to iron out any details, but generally, I believe that we both agree on the future of the colony. And we will support it whether it becomes a part of Earth or a part of the Empire, and if they want independence…well, they should get to choose that, if they want.”

 

“Excellent. Now, to the biggest issue,” Loona said. “Madam Secretary-General, the Acolytes belong to Earth. I could, I suppose, go digging in the Avalonian Guard’s archives once they are formally folded into the Imperial Military….”

 

“Madam Floor Leader,” Ammer Smit said, “I can assure you, if we had this information, we would have passed it on.”

 

“I tend to believe you, Rep. Smit, but it could still potentially be reverse-engineered. That said, under Imperial Law…this was designed for JEADI, which was de jure Earth’s program. There are ways we could take it without compensation, of course – but that requires us to revisit issues that frankly, we do not want to waste time on. We feel it best for both sides if your government and ours agree to share this technology, the better to use it against our common enemy.”

 

Ridgemont gave Loona a Cheshire cat smile. “We would be interested in sharing this technology, but we would like some compensation for it.”

 

“Minister Berisen, you have the list?” Loona said.

 

“Yes, I do. Madam Secretary-General, in exchange for your sharing this technology, we are prepared to cede the following star systems to your control…and let me just…okay, these should be your correct designations. First, and obviously, all of Sol Earth not currently under your control. Also 40 Eridani, 53 Ursa Major, 61 Cygnus, 61 Virginis, Alpha Centauri, Gliese 832, Groombridge 1618, Kapetyn’s Star, Lacaille 8760, Wolf 1061, Wolf 359, and π³ Orionis, as well as all star systems in a region bounded by those systems, with a territorial corridor cut through to Azatlia and DX Cancri.”

 

Ridgemont’s smile disappeared. “Admiral Xú?”

 

“Madam Secretary-General,” Xú said, “there isn’t a star system we’d ask for that isn’t on that list. That’s…you don’t have to go that far, honestly.”

 

“Oh, but we do,” Berisen said. “The Insectoids wanted to destroy all of humanity. They wanted to do that because they see a bright future for you – and for us, if we’re smart enough to work with you. You are safer if you are able to…what’s the metaphor you told me, Ammer?”

 

“You don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket.”

 

“Right. Love that. So direct. You don’t want to keep all your eggs in Earth’s basket. And that’s not all. Not only are you safer, but these are systems that we can’t really develop. They’re super-mu worlds. We can’t colonize them. Yes, there are minerals there, I suppose, but there are minerals everywhere. The technology you’ve developed could allow us to eliminate the Insectoid threat, once and for all. That’s worth a few star systems, especially if they’re going to friends who can use them.”

 

Ridgemont nodded. “I almost feel silly asking for one more thing – as it was originally our main goal, along with Sol and perhaps one system…but we would also ask for one more thing, though we might be willing to pay for it, given everything you’re offering.”

 

“Depends on what it is,” Loona said.

 

“The thing is,” Ridgemont said, “we need space in this solar system. Not for us…not with this generous offer. But….”

 

She looked over at Ambassador Bass, and smiled. “You see, not all Terrans are human. Ambassador Bass isn’t. Her children aren’t. General Martínez has a son who isn’t. Dr Freeman, Mr Archer-Mavoy…there are a number of people who can and should claim Terran ancestry and citizenship, who should be able to live in this star system. We don’t have room on Earth – not much, anyhow. But Mars…we understand it’s well within the ability of your people to terraform it.”

 

Loona smiled, just a bit. “You’re asking us to terraform Mars…to allow Titans and Titan-Human hybrids to live on it?”

 

“It would remain under the administration of the United Nations,” Tatenda said. “But yes. César Martínez is my godson, you know. And Admiral Xú’s godson as well.”

 

“Which is neither here nor there,” Xú chuckled. “The point is that he shouldn’t have to move to Azatlia or Tau Ceti someday just because he isn’t our size. He may be Titan-sized…but that doesn’t make him any less of a citizen of Earth. We know, it’s not cheap….”

 

“I am delighted,” Pane Segdi said, “to support this. Mars…its gravity is about 112% Archavia – which is well within reasonable range. You’d feel it, but you’d get used to it over time.  But otherwise, it’s simple. Basically, it’s Selanan. Now, it wouldn’t be overnight. It would take about 15 Imperial years to get a breathable atmosphere, and probably 30-35 before it was complete….”

 

“A century or two. That’s fine,” Elaine said. “People can live there while it’s being changed, right?”

 

“We encourage it,” Segdi said. “And since you’ve already agreed to construct Acolyte wings for our fleet…we’ll consider this a small payment for that.”

 

“I should tell you,” said Ridgemont, “that we don’t have all of the process that was used to build the Acolytes. We have most of it, along with the equation Dr Freeman and Dr Chandrasekhar independently discovered – but Dr Freeman kept some aspects of development private, due to his fears that this could be misused.”

 

“The good news,” Loona said, with a smile, “is that Dr Abaforad has already begun to work on reverse-engineering it. Which might have proven diplomatically embarrassing, had we been forced to push this….”

 

“It might have,” Ridgemont said, “but we assumed you would have been. We would be. You’ll have our blessing – I just ask that we both have access to that research – and that we both look for ways to defend against this. If we can discover this, others can too.”

 

“I fully agree,” Pane Segdi said. “We are allies now. The Empire and Earth have a mutual interest in working together.”

 

“Indeed,” Xylander said. “Admiral Xú, have Admiral Chandrasekhar transmit her research at her earliest convenience.”

 

“She is on Titan Station at the moment. I believe it best if she hand-deliver it to the Joint Commander Empire.”

 

“I’ll let Centurium Belfsec know to expect her,” Segdi said.

 

Loona broke out into a wide grin. “Well! We have the outlines of our agreement done already, and we’re not even an hour in! I wish I could replace the House with us.”

 

“Not before I take us to replace the General Assembly,” Elaine said. “Unfortunately, though, we’ve got the outlines done.”

 

“Oh, gorram, you’re right,” Loona said with a chuckle. “That’s the easy part. We’ve got all the details to work out.”

 

“Well, no time like the present,” Ammer said, with a cheerful grin. “Should we break into working groups?”

 

“Let’s,” Elaine said. “And whatever sticking points we come across…let’s resolve them like friends would.”
****

Sorcha wearily opened her eyes as the low morning light found its way through the gaps in the curtains of her parents’ bedroom and shone directly on her face.

 

She’d been home for five days now. And for five days her mother had only left her bed to go to the bathroom. Sorcha had joined her for the first day. On the second her grandparents visited but her mother still was unable to leave her bed. Sorcha had gotten her to drink some water but unsurprisingly she wasn’t eating.

 

On the third day Joseph arrived at the door. Sorcha wasn’t able to say anything. She just broke down and cried in his arms, overcome with grief at the loss of her father and uncle and the fear that she was losing her mother too.

 

Sorcha wasn’t sure she would have coped without him. Joseph cooked, cleaned, bought groceries and had taken shifts watching her mother. She was in such a bad way that Sorcha was afraid to leave her alone even for a few minutes. Even more importantly he had been a rock that supported her when she needed it the most.

 

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and stretched, loosening the muscles in her back which ached from sleeping in a chair at the bottom of her mother’s bed. Sorcha did a double take when instead of the sleeping form of her mother she saw nothing but a well-made empty bed. Her mind raced for a few moments until she realised that Joseph was here. If there was something wrong, he would have woken her.

 

Feeling slightly reassured but still nervous, Sorcha slowly rose from the chair. She should have been in bed herself. It wasn’t that long ago she’d undergone major surgery and she was still quite tender. She glanced at her pad. It was early morning. She also spotted a few messages. One from her grandmother, a few from friends and some colony status updates. While she was still being kept in the loop she wasn’t sure if she would remain on as governor. Or if she’d be kept on following the new agreement.

 

As Sorcha entered the hallway she was greeted by a familiar smell. A smell that permeated her childhood.

 

The smell of breakfast meats frying.

 

She made her way to the kitchen.

 

“…and since she was already on the floor Niall decided it couldn’t be that hard. All he had to do was pull the sticky…”

 

Sorcha instinctively rolled her eyes hearing a familiar tale coming from the kitchen along with the sound of chuckling.

 

“I don’t know how you both did it.” Joseph said.  “Even with five parents of different sizes it was still a nightmare raising a mix of Titans, Humans and Hybrids.”

 

“Morning Tuppy.” Naskia said with an unsure smile. “Breakfast’s almost ready. I didn’t want to wake you until it was ready.”

 

“Tea?” Joseph asked.

 

Sorcha nodded and sat down quietly. Joseph poured her tea and her mother carried on cooking and continued with the millionth retelling of the infamous diaper changing story.  Normally Sorcha would tune out during the telling of this particular tale. She’d heard it enough times to do her the rest of her life.

 

But this time she didn’t tune it out. She listened intently, laughing and smiling, unable to tear herself away from a story that had very much come to be a symbol of her father’s love for her. And his determination.

 

As it ended, Naskia carefully sliced some crussets, placed them on bread on plates and put on just the right amount of relish onto them.

 

“Would you mind giving Sorcha and I a few minutes?” She asked Joseph as she handed him his plate.

 

“Not at all.” He said taking and giving Sorcha a small smile. He figured there’d be a conversation coming after this that he wasn’t needed for. “I’ll go eat in Sorcha’s room.”

 

“Normally I don’t let food in the bedrooms but I’ll allow it this once.” Naskia said as Joseph left.

 

Sorcha was quiet as her mother set their breakfast on the table and sat down in the chair opposite her. The brightness on her mother’s face that had been there as she told her story was gone. She now looked ashen, weary and apprehensive.

 

“I had a dream last night.” Naskia said, ignoring the plate of food in front of her. Sorcha didn’t seem to be all that interested in hers either. “Your father was in it…”

 

Sorcha just sat, looking at her with the same, tired face as her mother.

 

“You know I’m not really religious or believe in an afterlife or anything but I swear it was him. It was just so…so real. Everything he said. It was him.” Naskia spoke nervously, she was worried she sounded stupid.

 

“What did he say?” Sorcha asked earnestly.

 

Naskia smiled slightly, feeling reassured that her daughter hadn’t laughed at her or screamed at her.

 

“He gave me a sound telling off. Told me I shouldn’t be lying in bed, wasting away while you looked on it bits. He told me I was your mother and no matter how much I had lost I had to carry on. For you.”  Naskia said sounding just a little ashamed. “And then he hugged me and I woke up.”

 

Naskia looked at her daughter who was sitting quietly, staring at her with tears flowing down her cheeks. She stood and walked around the side of the table and clutched her daughter’s head to her breast.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me.” She said. “You’ve been through so much and I…I…”

 

“It’s ok Mum.” Sorcha sniffed and held her mother’s hand. “Daddy was your whole world. And uncle Aerti was as much a hero to you as he was to me. I’m just glad you’re back.”

 

“Can you forgive me?” She asked.

 

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Sorcha replied and held her mother tightly.

 

The held each other for a while, their breakfast going cold before finally separating. Naskia returned to her chair and cut into her breakfast. She was starved having not had a proper meal in days and couldn’t put off eating any longer.

 

“That man is a credit to his family.” Naskia said as she ate. “He’s either been at your side or mine.”

 

Sorcha smiled. “He is, isn’t he? I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”

 

Naskia’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

 

“The person who did this to me.” Sorcha gestured to her stab wound “He killed them. Saved me and Alesia.”

 

Naskia blinked back a few tears that were threatening to come and then pushed her chair back and returned to the hob.

 

“Still hungry?” Sorcha asked.

 

“No. But after hearing that there is no way I am going to let that boy have breakfast in my house without pancakes.”
****

The joint press conference had gone well. The two leaders had amicably laid out the broad details of the agreement to the assembled Terran and Imperial journalists. Details were needed and sharp questions had been asked from both sections of the press pack.

 

Some Human journalists from the more hawkish news outlets were vehemently against sharing the acolyte technology with the Titans. They wanted it to be used solely for the betterment of Humanity – but most were in agreement with their Secretary-General that it would be a long time before Earth was in a position that it could defend itself. It was a small price to pay to ensure the safety of ten billion people.

 

And with more than a dozen systems being ceded to Earth, it looked like Humanity could one day have an Empire of its own.

 

But Humans weren’t the only species in the room with reservations. The Hive ship had been defeated and the Insectoids had been driven back inside their space. Many news outlets were arguing that the war was over. Many were arguing that the Empire should seize Earth and the Acolyte technology before Earth became a threat. Loona knew neither argument was a realistic, but she needed to address them head on, win the support of all the peoples of this wounded Empire in order to secure its future.

 

“I’d like to address my fellow citizens of the Titan Empire.” Loona said, looking up to the main camera in front of her. “Specifically I’d like to address the Titans. Not the Ler or the Dunnermac or the Avartle, but the Titans alone.”

 

“Why just us?” She asked, looked down at the floor and gripped the podium tightly. There were hard truths that needed to be spoken. But people don’t want to hear hard truths. And even Floor Leaders riding atop the crest of a wave of victory popularity can find themselves out in the cold for simply being honest. “We have ruled this Empire for millennia. We have expanded and explored. We have built and we have learnt. We have made good friends and some enemies. We have even been conquerors.”

 

“Seven hundred years ago, we fought a war with the Insectoids. A war so devastating it resulted in the loss of an entire world and all the lives on it. It traumatized us. As an Empire and as a people. So much so that we stopped expanding and exploring. We became fearful and paranoid. We dug in, built walls and even conquered those who didn’t pose a risk to us, just to feel a little bit stronger.” Loona spoke without notes. There were no notes for this.

 

“Behind those walls we built, we grew arrogant and complacent. Told ourselves that we were the most intelligent, the strongest, most sophisticated species in all the galaxy. No one could touch us. No one would dare.” She said. “And it remained that way until just a few days ago.”

 

“Our victory at Tau Ceti didn’t come from being the strongest, or even the most advanced species in the galaxy. It didn’t come from being the smartest or the bravest. Our victory came from sheer luck.” Loona said. There was no going back now. And the mumbling coming from the Titan press pack let her know that she was walking a very fine line now.

 

“At Tau Ceti I witnessed some of the bravest, most selfless acts I have ever seen. Thousands of men and women from five different species fighting together to save millions, likely billions of innocent people from a foe so powerful it wielded more firepower and had more soldiers than all the Imperial forces combined.” Loona spoke solemnly. “Navarchos Bass, sacrificing his ship and his life was not enough. Sacrificing the entire Imperial fleet WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH!” Loona forced out each of the last five words and tapped the podium with each.

 

She paused, letting that fact percolate through the minds of the people across the Empire watching this.

 

“It took a Human, not of the Empire, but adopted into it.  Someone who was considered by us to be nothing more than a pet for most of his life to bring the knowledge needed to win that fight. He designed the ships that defended the colony on Tau Ceti and then defended our ships in orbit. It was my friend, Dr Niall Freeman, a man from Earth, who used his knowledge to unleash the most devastating explosion the galaxy has ever seen and win that fight.”

 

“Niall Freeman could not have done it alone. Aerti Bass could not have done it alone.” Loona spoke and stared out over the now silent press pack.

 

“We have to face the truth. We are not the strongest, we are not the most advanced and we are not the protectors of the galaxy anymore. This Empire is no longer great. It is tired and it old and it is afraid. We have a choice, right here, right now. We can proclaim victory and enforce another peace and go back behind our walls for another seven hundred years. Or we can face the hard truths. The truth that we have been stagnant too long. We have been complacent for too long and if we continue down this road then our Empire will be overtaken and it will fade from history.” Loona said and took a deep breath. “Niall Freeman could not have delivered the killing blow to the Hive ship himself. He needed his brother, Aertimus Bass, to carry him into battle. Working as one, a Titan and a Human, were unstoppable.”

 

“Niall Freeman and Aertimus Bass were brothers, not by blood, but it didn’t matter. They were brothers all the same. All of us; Titans, Humans, Ler, Dunnermac and Avartle shouldn’t just be equals we should be brothers above all else.”

 

 

“Working together, all of Humanity and all of the Empire, we can achieve anything. We can forever put an end to the Insectoid threat. We can explore the galaxy. Make great new discoveries. Enhance each other’s lives and put our peoples, all of our peoples on a path to a new era of peace and prosperity. On the path to greatness! On the path to new, better Empire!”

 

There was a rousing applause which Loona noted came more from the Human side of the room than the Imperial. It was a start and it gave her hope.

 

“It will not be easy. There will be a cost. But we must face down the Insectoid threat. We must push into their space and remove their capacity to threaten any world ever again. We have always been afraid to engage them directly. Their numbers have been too great. But we’ve seen what can be done with Humans and the Empire fighting side by side. Twelve Human ships scored more kills on the Insectoids than the entire of Gama Fleet’s fighter wings. Secretary-General Ridgemont is willing to put these ships on every ship in the Imperial fleet.” She spoke excitedly and Elaine Ridgemont nodded her support.

 

“My friends, now is the time to act! While the enemy is on the retreat. While we have the advantage of people willing to fight together and have technology they cannot defend against. We cannot leave this enemy, who turns Titan against Titan and friend against friend, who manipulates and will wait for centuries, out there for our ancestors to deal with. They would look back and curse our cowardice.”

 

She stopped and stared down at the camera. “Earth is willing. Our soldiers are willing. I am willing. Are you?”

 

 

—————————————————————————————————–

Author’s note: Thanks to DX and JS for their contributions to this chapter.