A cold morning

The flash of Sola’s main gun was followed a moment later by the blossom of explosions ripping through the enemy carrier. Dustin didn’t know - or particularly care - if that was a dedicated carrier craft or just one with a few added fighters the way the Solar Ascent was. What mattered was the detonation of the enemy ship’s reactor sent a wave of burning plasma scything through the enemy fliers, the host wiping out a number of it’s spawn before the blast died away. Sola’s own fighters had already been performing valiantly - the instant Sammie had given the order, ten tiny darts of light had started spinning and weaving through the battle, successfully keeping the enemy’s tiniest ships at bay.

Now, with the carrier removed, those fighters that were left were far easier prey for Sola’s fangs. It seemed to Dustin as if the destruction of their mothership had somehow slowed or otherwise damaged the smaller craft - they seemed sluggish, less manoeuvrable now. Certainly, Naera seemed to think so; Sola’s point defence went from missing the vessels completely to creating a bubble of **** around the Earth flagship for any of the tiny craft foolish enough to come into range of the plant-woman’s weaponry.

Elsewhere, the battle was not as one sided; Prd’r’s vessel was putting up a strong showing, but Dustin could see traces of leaking atmosphere from where the enemy weapons had punctured her hull. The remains of the Yuran fleet were also battered - but they were not going down easily. As he tried to track the damage to the other human craft, he saw a lance of flame jump from one of the hostiles into the heart of what looked like a Yuran pleasure yacht - all open windows and wide spaces. Sola’s sensors indicated that the reactor room had been hit - yet somehow the felines managed to drive their craft far enough forward that when the explosion from their reactor core collapsing incinerated the vessel, the blast blew a hole in the side of another enemy.

**** rained forth from the smaller human craft; they were science vessels, and compared to Sola they were lightly armoured and armed. However, they were also human craft, built with all the paranoia that Dustin’s species could manage. While the shields Rye had perfected were still only present on the Solar Ascent (another reason Dustin had Sammie throw his craft into the centre of the battle, to draw fire) the sleek darts revealed that what guns they did have were far closer to Sola’s main weapon.

In comparison to the cones and arcs of fire that Yril’k was extending into the void, each gesture of her arms sending tongues of flame across hostile hulls, the other human ships only had a half dozen or so of the lesser weapons at most. They did all have spinal lances however, and the fire from those - weaker than Sola’s as they might be - was still more than enough to punch deep into the hulls of the hostile fleet. It came at a price; less range, weaker armour and no shields meant that where Sola couldn’t draw the enemies attention the human fleet was cut, and cut deep.

Emely’s voice was cold as she relayed fleet information to the rest of them. “The Appalachia has lost secondary guns. The Poirot reports a hit to life support. The Athena took a direct hit to the weave core and has lost jump capabilities.” The reports rolled in - each one settling heavily on Dustin’s heart. He had called them here, ordered them into this fight - each of those deaths would weigh on him, he knew. The fact that every man, woman or fifth-gendered alien on board those ships had signed up for a proctor’s mission in the knowledge that it would involve hunting for a potential danger to civilization didn’t make the losses of life he was witnessing any easier.

His rage at the shadows besieging the Yurans was colder now, tempered in battle, a blade which he wielded with harsh efficiency against their foes. Sola weaved and dived, throwing herself in the path of enemy vessels; having made the initial blow and taken out the carrier, her shields meant that she was more effective as a tank than using her own main gun. Whenever the weapon was charged and an opportunity presented itself however, Dustin was quick to fire, enemy craft collapsing in on themselves as the beam punched through important systems.

It felt like a year. It contained enough action to fill a month. It was a day no-one present would ever forget. In total it lasted for less than twenty minutes, from the first lance of Sola’s main beam to the sudden rippling distortion of space around the enemy craft that were still fighting. Dustin had been waiting for that moment. “Meli, TRACE!” he yelled, his voice cutting across the din of the bridge during battle. His science officer was already there, their two minds alike in thought at that instant. As the wave of gravitational distortion from the enemy fleet washed over Yuran and human craft alike, she glanced up at him and nodded just once. They had tracked the enemy’s escape jump.

Sometime later, Prd’r’s head was in her hands as she sat on the soft blanket Trea’k had provided for her on the observation deck. Emely sat beside her, one arm gently rubbing the soft fur of the woman’s back comfortingly. Dustin could not begin to understand what his fellow ambassador was feeling. In the aftermath of the attack, Sola had switched from a weapon of war into a medical institution almost immediately. Her medbay was the largest in the fleet, her doctor the best in the system; Bleu even now was coordinating efforts across dozens of vessels. She’d asked permission for the use of a sleep suppressant for her entire staff; it wasn’t healthy in the long term, but Dustin had nodded it through for the next day or two until things stabilized in the space above the Yuran’s one remaining homeworld.

As the feline ambassador had explained to him a moment ago, the system was a mess. While the bulk of the Yuran society (including enough of a chunk of it’s governance to maintain order) was on their second planet, almost the entire symbiotic Gvort population had been wiped out. Only a handful remained - the smallest of those slow moving giants, mostly children who had been visiting the Yuran world as part of their education. “Little more than a school trip” Prd’r had described the survivors; while the species wasn’t totally extinct, it would require a miracle of genetics to keep them around long term. And that wasn’t the only issue.

“Even if we can bring the Gvort back as a species, it’ll be too late for my kind. The homeworld isn’t stable enough to support the population without the first planet, but more importantly we need to - gah, there isn’t a word for it in human.” Prd’r said, then swore in frustration, a hissing yowl not unlike a cat having it’s tail stepped on. Grimacing, she gestured vaguely down her body. “Without a … owner is the closest, but that isn’t right. In Feliaxian it would be something like…” Dustin winced as the cat woman’s soft voice shifted into the yelping tones of his fox girl’s native tongue. Emely tilted her head, then softly repeated the phrase, seemingly turning it over in her mouth before nodding and speaking again, the sounds somehow slightly different. “I think you meant to say it like that. There really isn’t a equal word in human. The closest is owner, you’re right, but they’d probably add a honorific to it. ‘Pet owner’ or ‘herder’ maybe?”

Prd’r shrugged before returning to staring at her hands. “You’re the language expert, not me. In any case, without a herder, we can’t reproduce properly. We need to bond to another species to survive. Juvenile Gvort aren’t capable of hosting the bond, and they age slowly. And where else in the galaxy are we going to find a species willing to adopt the millions of Yuran as pets? Even if we can share a bond-holder between many different Yuran, in many different relationships, it’s going to be impossible. We were too late. My people were just getting started and now we’re dead… I… I failed them.”

Dustin thought back to the messages he’d received after the Yuran ambassador had recorded her message to Earth - about all the humans asking for closer ties with the cat folk. As he dwelt on the matter, Prd’r’s shoulders sank even lower. “No species I know of would want to adopt a bunch of aliens as pets. Sure, aliens all get along, and as ambassadors we both know there’s plenty of interspecies intimacy out there, but bonding with another species like that - as companions, as pets? That’s not something aliens do.”

As they had been talking, Meli had been sat nearby; the Velca going over the records of the battle ready for Dustin to report the destruction of the Gvort to Earth - and the galactic council. At Prd’r’s words, she gave him a very knowing look and set her tablet down. “I would not be so sure on that point, ambassador. Isn’t that right, husband?” Dustin nodded, though his heart nearly broke at the look of hope that suddenly sprung across the face of a Yuran that he knew looked up to him as some kind of hero. Well, it was about time he lived up to that image.

“Humans…” he began, then paused to try and find the right words. “Humans are odd. Like, seriously, galactically odd.” Prd’r nodded, interrupting to say “I know, D’hust’hin. You have a high l’anl constant, and arm your research craft like the fangs of the ender of time. And you put yourselves out for others way beyond what anyone could expect - that crazy weave jump is the only reason my ship’s crew aren’t the last of our kind, doomed as… we… are…?” She trailed off, because Dustin had started nodding as she mentioned humans putting themselves out.

He had found the words to explain while she had been talking, and began “Humans pack bond. Oh, I know other species keep pets - for hunting, or for beauty and so on, but humans… we regularly consider our pets family.” He chuckled then, glancing at Emely’s soft red coat. “Some folk who couldn’t have children back home would keep pets they’d call fur babies. But it’s not just animals - humans see themselves reflected in almost anything. Hell, there’s a whole series of stories I intend to read to my kids one day - when they’re old enough - written about a cleaning robot that people bonded with. Admittedly, after they’d duct-taped a knife to it, but still.” Pulling a few files up on his tablet, he passed it over to Prd’r - offers of housing, adoption and more that had been made by humans who wanted to get to know the Yuran better. “If I let the folk back home know your species needs pet owners, I think there’s a good chance it’ll cause riots because of the number of us that will want to help. And if you can’t stay on this planet, we’ve probably got enough space around Sol to offer shelter until a suitable colony world can be found. You’re not exactly the physically largest of species after all.”

Prd’r’s reaction had been one of shock and gratitude that warmed Dustin’s soul as he waited for Emely to patch him through to Axworth at Star Command so that he could make his report a little while later. He’d more or less cleared the bridge; just him, Meli and Emely remained as the general’s face came into view. Dustin noted that the old man looked tired, and assumed that he’d been working too hard as he began to give his report. With the news of the offer he’d extended to the Yuran as the final point, he’d expected the general to be pleased about the fact that he’d found threads to trace the hostiles. What he got instead chilled him to the bone.

“Ambassador… No, Dustin.” The general’s voice was as tired sounding as he looked. “You’ve done well. But I have terrible news - and orders for you. As soon as the situation there is stable enough for the Solar Ascent to leave, you are to head by the fastest charted route to the l’Adra home system.” Meli looked up at that - the l’Adra were the species that had first discovered humanity. “What is it, sir?” Dustin asked, gesturing at her to start finding them a path. Axworth’s eyes looked broken in that moment, and Dustin dimly remembered the old man telling him once how he’d met with the l’Adran explorers that had first charted Earth. “The Yuran weren’t the only ones attacked. The idiots on the council are busily denying it; I’ll send you the details over a secure burst in a minute but the l’Adra homeworld… it’s gone, Dustin.”

End of Arc 1

Author's note: Tomorrow, there will be an epilogue chapter for arc 1, as well as a end-of-act reflection posted. After that - I'm taking a couple of days off from posting! Shock, horror, etc! I know a number of you have told me to make sure I don't burn out, so I'll be *trying* to take that advice; more on that when we resume - see tomorrow's end-of-act-reflection-post for more details on that. Enjoy tomorrow's epilogue, and then we'll be back sometime next week with Arc 2 - "Fire in the night"