Act 2 Epilogue - By the light of Sol

The meeting was so large that Dustin had opted to hold it not in his ready room but in the wide space of the observation deck. He’d normally not do so - putting one of the ship’s recreation spaces off limits to his crew didn’t sit right with him - but given the circumstances he felt it appropriate. The fact that the crew were largely working shifts, with those that had free time using it to catch a shuttle flight down to the planet below or across to one of the orbitals to visit with friends and family had certainly helped in that regard.

With the majority of the crew out of the way, Earth hung like a painting through the massive windows as Rye finished adjusting the monitors into a position where those communicating via a remote link would be able to see and speak clearly to the others present. The entire senior staff were there, obviously, as well as most of their seconds-in-command. Some, like Naera were there for their relationship to Dustin more than any input on the proceedings, while others who were not part of the command structure - Defia and Aricia - were there at Dustin’s request.

Emely sat off to one side, idly feeding Mallow titbits from a covered bowl while the others gathered; Axworth and Re’x were flying up along with their entourage alongside Veil’k and Linne, despite the fact that both the Vex’ess Overqueen and Rabyth Artificer-General would be joining the call via the remote link. Meanwhile Admiral Nakano came across in a starfighter, arriving in the meeting room still wearing her pilot’s jumpsuit, much to Sammie’s approval.

With the final screen set in place, Rye nodded to Emely who handed the bowl and Mallow-feeding duties over to Naera before tapping her tablet rapidly to connect a series of secure calls through to their closest allies. One by one the screens flickered - first Flass, then the Overqueen, and then finally Liselia, Empress of the Feliax appeared and offered their greetings. With everyone gathered, Dustin coughed and stepped forward.

“Alright, everyone… I know we’ll need to have more formal meetings after this - it was only hours ago that we successfully defended Earth from the Durathisian invasion fleet, so I have no illusions that we’re in a position to fully plan anything right now. But, we have a victory - and a sizable one, on the back of a successful mission against the Fractals.” Dustin paused, glancing around the room before adding “…in both fights, we lost good people. But we are still here, the Lemth are still here - so the question is, what do we do now. Where do we go next?”

The group exchanged glances, before Liselia languidly waved one hand and spoke. “It’s obvious, I’d hope. We do what we must to keep the galaxy safe. That is the reason the council was originally formed, if I recall my history lessons correctly.”

Flass nodded, shifting forward on the viewscreen. “Linne, you doing alright on Earth?” Before the Rabyth woman could answer, he carried on, adding “good, good. Well, as Liselia says, we carry on as we’ve always done. Although I rather think the council needs a bit of a rethink. We’re not going to get anywhere with the clowns that aren’t choosing sides, and anyone allied to the Durathisians are hardly likely to join us. So, some form of new alliance council is needed.”

At that point, Axworth interrupted. “That’s a good point, Artificer-General, but I feel what the ambassador was actually asking was what he should be doing at the present time. Given everything that’s gone on recently, I’m sure your representatives and Re’x here will be able to hammer out some form of accord that Earth can sign up to. While we’re dealing with that, Nakano and I have a bit of a war to fight; even if we leave out the Durathisians - which I have no intention of doing after they attacked Earth - the Fractals are still out there.”

Pausing, the General frowned before glancing around the room. “What we really need is more allies. And more scouting. Dustin, I suspect the best thing for you to be doing at the current time is to return to your original mission. Go out, meet new aliens, convince them Earth is friendly and to join our side in this galactic conflict that the Durathisians have kicked off. And of course do a bit of nosing around after those blasted Fractals if you get the chance, see if you can find how our two foes got connected.”

Dustin nodded. “That makes sense. Even with our fleet, if the Durathisians can muster the full power of the council against us we’ll struggle to make any headway.” Drumming his fingers on his thigh, he glanced around his crew. “Meli, would you mind taking the lead on planning our next flight then? Rye can give you an ETA on when we’ll be good to fly again after the repairs are done… it’ll be just like old times, huh?”

His wife smiled at him, ears flickering into quiet contentment as she nodded. “As you wish, husband. Emely, would you mind assisting me with fine-tuning the plan? You have a better grasp of where the various powers stand on things than I do currently.”

With his lovers busily arranging their evening to better plan Sola’s onward journey, Dustin returned his attention to the gathered dignitaries. “So, while I’m off finding us new allies, what's the plan for everyone else?”

The Overqueen spoke first, her eyes narrowed as she glanced to one side, presumably at a second screen. “My plan is to call my hives to war. The Durathisians are probing our borders, against an official council request I put forward personally. This is grounds for retaliation, so I propose to remind them why it is unwise to provoke a council species.” That announcement had the other aliens looking at each other nervously. Before anyone could say anything however, the insect woman raised one hand. “Rest assured, I have no intent to go beyond my borders. But any Durathisian craft that enter Vex’ess space will not be leaving again; I have already sent a message to explain this to them. We shall see how they respond.”

Flass kicked his heels up onto a low table in front of him, the motion making whatever camera was capturing him for the video call wobble for a second before the feed stabilized. “Well, that’s your prerogative. As for the Rabyth, we’re not warriors, but we are engineers. We stopped taking outside orders the instant this coup started, and as of yesterday the yards were clear of prior commissions. I’ve got hulls being put together as fast as I can, give us a month and we’ll be ready to start pumping out warships en-mass.”

All eyes turned to Re’x at that point. The Velcan ambassador’s ears shifted into mild annoyance as he set his drink down. “My government remains committed to not deploying any military ****, despite my repeated requests. We have however begun activating full integration of our observation and communications grid; we have a lot of sensor buoys deployed throughout the galaxy that are usually only used for long range observation of stellar events. Once the grid is fully online, we will be able to track fleet movements far more effectively and provide significantly more intel. The homeworld hopes to crack Durathisian communications codes shortly as well, which will allow us to listen to their fleet chatter, although this is proving difficult. We suspect due to further Fractal technology being integrated into their systems.”

Liselia leaned forward on her throne, her tails flicking behind her. “As to my people… they are problematic. The Duchies are attempting to use the ongoing situation to ferment unrest, as per usual. I am having to keep a more watchful eye than normal - however, there are many houses that lack the strength to be of great use in our internal conflict that are never the less on my side. Those, I have deployed to the same task as my dear niece and her patriarch - that is to say, scouting out allies. I will have someone send you over our current plans, Emely - I doubt you will be travelling in the same direction, but it makes sense to avoid doubling up on our efforts.”

With the important discussions settled for the time being, Dustin and the others turned their attention to the aftermath of the battle in more detail. Already, shuttles from Earth were beginning the difficult task of salvaging what they could from the battlefield - human ships to be repaired or scrapped, their crews rescued or given a decent burial, while the Durathisian ships were combed over to try and understand how their hulls repaired themselves so effectively. If the same tech could be added to the massive shield arrays on the human warships, Earth would have a near-indestructible fleet.

Promotions and medals were the order of the day. Dustin personally refused any honours. “I only did what I had to, and did so in the most equipped and best defended ship we had. There’s no bravery in that - not compared to someone like Spake, or one of the crew of a transport ship who threw themselves against the foe with nothing more than guns duct-taped to their hull,” he’d insisted when Axworth had raised the matter. With his own crew however, Dustin was far more proactive - he’d been meaning to promote a chunk of the bridge crew and several members of the other departments anyway, and took the opportunity to do so bureaucratically while the meeting was ongoing. There’d be time later for official ceremonies and so on, but actioning the promotions right now would make life a little easier for those not on his most senior staff to get clearance to travel off-ship.

Eventually, the meeting wound down. There would be others - and Dustin knew he’d need to be present for the first meeting of what they were informally calling ‘the new council’ before he left Sol space again - but for now he was in a good mood as he saw the last shuttle off with Linne and Veil’k aboard. Returning to his ready-room, he opened the door and let out a contented sigh.

After all the fighting, after all the strife and fear - this was worth coming home to. Meli and Trea’k were sat sipping tea, his wife’s hand resting on the swell of her abdomen as the pair discussed their ongoing experience of pregnancy. Emely sat nearby, biting her lip with barely concealed jealousy as she petted Mallow. Naera bustled around, setting a seemingly endless array of snacks down in front of her friends and lovers with a genuine smile on her face that made Dustin’s heart sing with delight at seeing her happy once again.

Defia meanwhile was sitting with Bleu, the pair talking as the Fractal woman carefully reshaped her hand while the medic ran a scanner over it. Sammie and Rye were hunched over a tablet, the occasional groan indicating they were watching some sports match or other, while Aricia had opted to sit with Yril’k, talking about gods only knew what. Friends, lovers, colleagues - it was a picture of domestic bliss that Dustin was all too happy to settle in the midst of, letting the warmth of companionship wash over him after the stress of meetings and the horrors of war.