Allana, capital city of the Eleani Sovereignty

Premier's Office

June 16th, 2176 A.D.

Ambassador Nimto listened to the final part of the holo message from Vice President Laurent of the Republic, his eyes flicking between the holo screen, the premier, and Supreme Admiral Horto of the Eleani Navy.

The message ended, and the premier nervously puffed out her cheeks twice before leaning forward to toggle the screen off. "Well, there it is. This is the message we received from Vice President Laurent. What do you think?"

Nimto quickly glanced at the admiral before looking back at the premier as he nervously toyed with his ambassadorial sash. "Do you really need to ask me what I think, Liala? Obviously, we need to help them."

The premier tilted her head in agreement before looking at the admiral. "Admiral Horto, I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter." The admiral sat up straighter, something Nimto did not think was even possible for the extremely rigid and proper military officer to do.

Just looking at the stiff bearing of the admiral was giving Nimto a lower backache, and he could see the branches swaying in the admiral's eyes as he thought of all possible outcomes. The admiral's eyes flicked over to Nimto for the merest instant before focusing back on the premier.

"They are calling for aid, and we should answer, Premier. The question is, how many ships and spacers can we contribute without drastically weakening ourselves? The location of the star system is all the way to the other side of Insectoid space, and we do not have the logistical capability or experience to support a large fleet on such a journey, not yet."

The admiral puffed out his cheeks several times before continuing.

"This is going to be very difficult to do, Premier. We are being asked to trust the promise of safe passage by the Hive Mother, and our spacers are being asked to help deal with a massive fleet of thousands of unknown ships.

How do we know they are not aggressive? How do we know this isn't a trap by the Insectoids? Our spacers will be far from their forests, and we will not be able to help them if things go wrong. We should help the Republic, but we need to be wise about it. We cannot afford to send too many ships, not when we know what is coming."

The premier stared at the admiral with calculating eyes for a long moment before tilting her head in agreement. "You are correct, Admiral Horto. How many ships would you recommend we send to help our cousin-kin?"

The admiral shot another glance at Nimto before answering the question. "No more than one hundred warships, premier." Nimto angrily puffed out his cheeks before abruptly standing up and glaring at the admiral, not believing the paltry number he had just heard.

"Have you been eating too much fermented zinta before you came here, Supreme Admiral? How could you possibly think our cousin-kin would not be insulted by such a disrespectful contribution after all they have done for us!?"

"Sit back down, Nimto!" The premier yelled loudly as she got out of her own seat and glowered at him. Nimto ignored her as he stared into the admiral's eyes in a direct challenge, which the normally reserved admiral instinctively responded to by banging on his chest with his fists before leaping out of his seat.

Nimto banged on his own chest and hooted mockingly, calling the admiral out on his bluff. The premier screeched with fury as she slammed both her fists down on the desktop before leaping clear over it and placing herself directly between them.

"Stop it, NOW!"

Nimto stopped banging on his chest but continued to challenge the admiral by staring into his eyes as he sneered at him. "You call yourself a supreme admiral, yet you dare disrespect our cousin-kin with such a pathetic offering of ships?

No wonder our spacers mock you in their cups. You are a relic from the corrupt and cowardly Commonwealth command structure, and it is long past time for you to retire so a real leader who isn't afraid to fight can take your place!"

The premier gasped in shock at what he said, and Nimto felt a glimmer of regret as he saw the admiral's eyes become filled with not anger, but shame and sorrow. The admiral was an elder, and his advanced years became even more evident as his eyes grew haunted with terrible memories.

"You were not there with us, Ambassador." Admiral Horto finally replied, speaking barely above a whisper as if afraid to let the memories hear his words lest they reawaken. "I know my spacers mock me and call me Admiral Afraid-to-Fight, but they were not there either; they do not know what it was like."

The admiral paused and stared at them both vacantly for a long moment, making Nimto feel even more terrible for disrespecting the elder admiral as he spoke again in a wavering voice filled with loss and trauma.

"When they came, we thought we could fight them. We were so sure of our training and our technology, and we were fighting to protect the Commonwealth from unjustified aggression, a noble cause for any spacer to embrace.

At first, we held the advantage, and we cheered as we won the first battles against them, their cruisers falling apart as we smashed them with our new beam weapons and torpedoes. We had learned from past skirmishes and refined our weapons and tactics, and it was working as we destroyed five cruisers for every one of ours.

But there were so many of them, and we had to follow orders and fall back even as they continued swarming us. We knew the Core Worlds Fleet was coming back from the coreward frontier to reinforce us, and so we withdrew, confident that we would be able to quickly reclaim whatever territory the Insectoids took when we rendezvoused with the fleet."

The admiral looked directly into Nimto's eyes and pointed a trembling finger at him, seeming to be accusing him as the voice of a broken spirit emerged from the admiral's mouth.

"And as we withdrew over dozens of light cycles, the ones we left behind pleaded for us to come back, accusing us of abandoning them as the first Hive ships began appearing in their skies. The millions and billions who cried out for us to come back and save them were soon silenced wherever the Hive ships appeared, and though their voices were now silent, their pleas still echoed in our souls and our ears, never letting us forget that we left them to die.

What little of us that remained of the periphery forces finally rendezvoused with the Core Worlds Fleet, and we did go back, but it was too late for the ones we left behind; they were all dead, and though it was too late to save them, it was not too late to avenge them and save the others of the periphery."

The admiral's hand fell back down, and he was no longer looking at Nimto but through him, his unfocused eyes seeing nothing as the elder continued to recount that terrible time.

"We were now over thirty-five hundred ships of the line, and we fought with wild abandon against the Insectoids, the echoes of those who pleaded for us to save them ringing in our hearts and ears and fueling our rage. The Insectoids received reinforcements too, and six thousand cruisers swarmed us, fighting us with new tactics and weapons as if they were a completely different enemy than the ones we were fighting before. We still thought we could win, but we were wrong.

We fled like cowards when we finally had enough and could fight no more; only some eight hundred ships made it out of that terrible slaughter before we retreated again. The self-defense fleets of the membership finally came, and now we numbered over two thousand again, and we forced ourselves to go back and fight them for the third time. This time there would be no retreat, we promised each other as we threw ourselves at the enemy again.

This time, they could not stand against our rage, and we drove them back for many light cycles, destroying over three thousand cruisers. We fought as if we were already dead, because if we didn't win, all we ever knew and loved would be lost forever.

With the echoes of the murdered billions ringing in our hearts and the names of our fallen comrades on our lips, the Insectoids fell like ripe zinta fruit before our onslaught, and we almost pushed the Insectoids all the way back into their own territory when the Hive ships came to do battle for the first time."

Admiral Horto stopped speaking and raised his hands to his ears, covering them as he began to murmur quietly to himself. "No, no. Not now!" He lowered his head and kept his hands over his ears as he stared at the marble tile beneath his feet. He stopped murmuring to himself and spoke louder again, still looking down as if Nimto and the premier no longer existed.

"Within two solar hours, we had lost another thousand ships for only one Hive ship and an additional three hundred cruisers destroyed, and they finally broke us. The government thinks we would have fought them again at the Core Worlds, but I know what we would have really done. We would have fled from the enemy and abandoned everyone else to save ourselves; we had seen too much death by then."

The admiral gasped loudly before looking back up at both Nimto and Liala in surprise, as if seeing them for the first time since he started speaking. "I still hear them, you know. The echoes have never left me." He whispered to them, sending another chill down Nimto's spine as the admiral straightened himself back up and pulled down his uniform jacket to remove the bunching.

Nimto stared at the admiral with pity, realizing that the elder would have to be removed from his command because of what had just happened, and it was his fault for causing this to come to light. Admiral Horto stared at them both for a moment before speaking again in a surprisingly normal voice.

"Over two hundred thousand Commonwealth spacers died under my command during those battles. They died following my orders, and I owe it to our spacers under my command now to try to protect them as best I can. Let them mock me in their cups if they wish; they do not know what it was truly like, and they will not be laughing anymore after tasting real combat for the first time."

The admiral turned towards Liala and banged his right fist on his chest in salute and then stared at Nimto without any emotion for a few uncomfortable solar seconds before turning on his heels and walking towards the exit without being dismissed.

They watched the admiral leave in silence, the soles of his highly polished shoes clicking sharply against the marble tiles as he crossed the threshold and into the outside corridor before disappearing out of view.

Only when the sound of his footsteps no longer reached them did the premier finally turn to face him, seething with anger. "Nimto, what you just did was unacceptable! He is an elder and supreme admiral, and to speak to him in such a way is a disgrace. How dare you!"

Nimto averted his eyes, deeply ashamed of himself for creating the circumstances that forced the elder admiral to relive those terrible memories. "You are right, Liala, and I'll apologize to Admiral Horto. I did not mean to make him have to go through all that again; I just wanted him to see that he was not the right one to lead our spacers when the Balrikans come."

The premier puffed out her cheeks twice, still angry at him as she pointed to his seat. "Sit down, Nimto." He immediately complied, knowing better than to piss her off further when she was like this, and he sat back down, watching her stalk back over to behind her desk.

After she took her own seat, the premier gave him a baleful glance for several solar seconds before nervously wringing her hands together. "After what just happened, I think it is obvious Supreme Admiral Horto is unfit for command. We cannot have someone who is afraid to fight and send spacers to their deaths if need be, no matter how justified it is considering what he has been through. What are your thoughts on what just happened, Nimto?"

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Nimto looked away from her and stared at the wall, feeling incredibly guilty. He had not intended to expose the elder admiral in such a way; all he wanted was for the admiral to see he was being too cautious. Now, Liala was asking him if she should remove the admiral, which made it far worse. Because of him, Horto was going to be forced into retirement.

Nimto finally looked back over at Liala and tilted his head, reluctantly agreeing with her. Regret passed through her eyes, and she picked up one of the many datapads on the desk and tapped on it several times before the holo screen reactivated, displaying four lower-ranked admirals with their service records listed next to them.

Nimto personally knew two of them, having served with them many cycles ago when he was a planetary defense pilot in the Commonwealth Navy. The other two he knew only in passing, but he knew of their leadership abilities and command styles from his long tenure as ambassador.

The premier finished going over the short biographies of the four admirals and finally looked back over at him before sliding the datapad across the desktop. "Since you helped create this situation, you are going to stay here and help me decide who should be the next supreme admiral."

Nimto groaned inwardly and kept his face perfectly neutral as he tilted his head before leaning forward to pick up the datapad. It was going to take hours to do this, as political allegiances, clan affiliations, and social standing would need to be carefully considered.

Liala would have to be extremely careful in her choice, or she would risk upending the fragile coalition government and creating a shit-flinging disaster in the Senate House. Horto had been a safe choice since he was respected for his elder status and his long years of service and experience, as well as having the rare aura of being considered politically neutral by all the senators.

"Liala, it is going to take many hours to do this; what of the Republic's request? Vice President Laurent made it very clear time was of the essence, to use his own words."

The premier gave him a decidedly unfriendly scowl before sliding over another datapad. "This is the Naval Asset Readiness Summary the admiral had provided me before this meeting. I am not going to pretend I have a good grasp on the status of our forces and expeditionary capabilities, but I know how to count, and I do know that only sending a hundred warships would be a grave insult to our cousin-kin."

Nimto tilted his head in agreement as he picked up the datapad and quickly scanned the report for the number of available warships that could be immediately deployed as Liala continued. "Vice President Davix has generously offered to release one of the Commonwealth Navy's Class-1 Transport Carriers for our use, which I was going to tell the admiral before the shit-flinging started.

The transport is military rated and has a four hundred berth capacity, which would solve our logistics issue. I'm assuming, though, that we would still be responsible for supplying the required natural nenchite and argonium tanks for fuel. Hopefully the Xenxin will do the right thing and replace the natural nenchite we will be using at cost."

"They will." Nimto said, still looking down at the report as he eyed the number of available ships. There were 1,047 warships in the Eleani Fleet, and 347 cruisers, destroyers, and frigates were listed as available for deployment within sixteen solar hours of receiving activation orders.

"You seem quite sure of that, Nimto." Liala stated dubiously, her tone causing him to finally look up at her. "I am quite sure, Liala. If anyone is going to help the Republic in any way they can, it will be the Xenxin, and they will have no problem replacing whatever we use to get there; I can guarantee that. They will probably try to cheat us to make a little extra profit, but I will not let them."

Liala still looked unconvinced, but she tilted her head before pointing at the datapad in his hand. "How many available ships does it say we can send?" He looked back down to confirm the number before answering.

"347 ships within sixteen solar hours of sending the activation orders. That would be 67 cruisers, 114 destroyers, and 166 frigates. If we send them all, that will leave thirty-three open berths for the automated supply and factory ships from the sustainment fleet the Republic graciously left behind when they withdrew last year."

"Do you think it is enough to send, Nimto? How much longer to get more ships ready for departure?" He puffed out his cheeks twice before answering the question. "We will be sending our entire rapid reaction force; it is enough, Liala. As for the other ships, what takes the longest is getting the crews recalled and onboard.

All the other ships have only minimal crews, and it will take at least several solar days to issue the recall orders and get the crew complements back up to the mandated minimum of 96%. I think we can send what we have immediately available and be proud of our contribution."

Liala tilted her head in agreement and stabbed a finger down on the comm panel of the desk. "Computer, connect me to Supreme Admiral Horto." The comm panel beeped, and Nimto looked back down at the datapad, still feeling guilty about exposing the admiral and wondering if what they were sending was enough after everything their cousin-kin had done for them.

Korr'ila, Capital City of Xenxia Prime

Prime Minister's office

The three Xenxin watched the prerecorded message they received from Vice President Laurent in complete silence as the human's voice filled the darkened office.

We need help if you can give it, Prime Minister Karlik. I know this is very sudden, but any ships you can spare will be greatly appreciated. Time is of the essence, and it is critical that this fleet gets to the star system with the unknown refugees as soon as possible.

We need to get them out of Insectoid territory and guide them back here before the Balrikans potentially track them there, or a misunderstanding occurs between them and the Insectoids.

Requests have already been sent to the Ma'lit Domain, the Eleani Sovereignty, the Non-Aligned Powers, The Kilthek Dominion, and the Neo-Commonwealth. You are the last ones we are asking because we know in our hearts that you will be the first to answer and send your ships.

We are forever bonded by the blood and the deeds of our people who have fought and died for each other, and we have never forgotten the wisdom and knowledge you gifted us after the rescue of your younglings by our people.

We are more than just friends and allies; we are united as one in all the ways that truly matter, and we cannot fathom doing this without the Xenxin at our side.

These are the coordinates where our ships will be waiting, and there is no need to bring supply ships with you. Our Sustainment Fleet will be there, and they have been outfitted with our fastest null space engines to ensure they can keep up with the fleet.

Just send the warships you can that have the best chance of rendezvousing with our ships in the allotted time. The Republic thanks you for always being our steadfast friends and allies, and we eagerly await the arrival of your ships.

Vice President Laurent faded away, and the holo screen switched to displaying the menacing sky hawk emblem of the Republic as the dim lighting began to brighten again.

Deputy Minister Jalik leaned forward and removed the message crystal, and the three Xenxin all shared a look before Prime Minister Karlik hacked his throat. "Our allies need our help, and we will do our duty to them. War Chief, how many ships can we send to them in the allotted time?"

War Chief Tawik looked down at the data tablet in his hands and swiped several times before pinching with his fingers right above the tablet. A small ball of holographic light appeared, and it remained ensconced within the pinched fingertips as he brought his hand up and flicked it into the air in front of them.

The small ball expanded onto a large, suspended holo screen filled with Xenxin script and numerals overlayed on a map of Xenxin space as the war chief answered the question. "Our first-line units are fully operational and forward deployed along the borders; that is 417 warships that can be sent immediately. I am adding their icons and classes on the screen now."

Sixteen green icons appeared on the screen, scattered along the roughly trefoil-shaped outline of the Xenxin borders. Beneath the map, a list appeared showing the total number and ship classes of the combined task forces.

4 - Ilthrenex Class Dreadnoughts

16 - Surnakar Class Battleships

63 - Urrenzik Class Heavy Cruisers

106 - Khaltheris Class Cruisers

142 - Dravlek Class Destroyers

86 - Zath'ik Class Missile Frigates

Prime Minister Karlik's eyes quickly took in the listed information before turning to face his second, Deputy Minister Jalik. The deputy minister double flicked his ears, indicating he agreed with immediately deploying all available warships to help their human allies.

He bared his fangs in thanks before looking at the war chief, who also double-flicked his ears in agreement. After baring his fangs in thanks to the war chief, he looked back at the map. "How long will it take to activate the reserves and recall the second-line crews to secure the borders, War Chief?"

"Twenty to twenty-three solar hours from issuance of the orders, Prime Minister."

Karlik looked back at the suspended holo screen for several solar seconds, not happy with leaving the borders undefended for so many solar hours. He also did not want to fail their hairless littermates in their time of need, and he felt the pressure of the decision pressing down on him.

"Issue the orders to send all available frontline ships to the coordinates provided by the vice president. War Chief, I want the reserve ships activated and the second-line crews on the borders and already patrolling within sixteen solar hours."

War Chief Tawik bristled at that, his hackles rising as he flashed his fangs. "That will not be feasible, Prime Minister. Twenty solar hours is the fastest possible time, as unlikely as it is. Just because you wish it so does not mean it can be done."

Karlik snarled at the defiance of the war chief and bolted up out of the chair, his claws already extended as he swiped the empty air in front of him in a threatening display. Tawik leapt out of his chair and bluff charged the prime minister, stopping just out of striking range as he responded with his own swipes of the air so the prime minister could see how sharp his claws were.

Karlik leapt forward instead of continuing to bluff, catching Tawik by surprise. The two of them battled each other for dominance as the deputy minister carefully monitored them to ensure the proper forms were observed by both combatants.

The prime minister quickly gained the upper hand, and War Chief Tawik ceased struggling and submitted, not resisting as the prime minister mounted him from behind and bit him on the loose skin folds behind his neck to solidify his dominance.

Tawik exhaled deeply and allowed his body to go completely limp, and the prime minister let go of the back of the war chief's neck before dismounting. The war chief stayed on the ground and didn't move as Karlik squatted and sprayed his anal glands on the floor, careful not to let any of it get on the war chief.

The unique scent of the prime minister's anal glands quickly filled the room, overpowering all other scents, and Karlik did the stiff-legged victory walk back over to his seat and sat down, still breathing heavily from the exertion and the battle chemicals flooding his body.

After waiting the appropriate time as demanded by Xenxin custom, Tawik slowly got up off the floor and slinked back to his own seat, studiously avoiding looking in the prime minister's direction.

Only after he had been seated and the appropriate interval had passed did Karlik finally address the war chief again. "Sixteen solar hours, War Chief."

Tawik looked directly at Prime Minister Karlik and bobbed his head twice in acquiescence before responding to the order. "Sixteen solar hours, Prime Minister. I will obey." Karlik bared his fangs in thanks before retracting his claws and leaning forward to toggle the climate control panel on the desktop.

The humming sound of the air recyclers filled the office, and War Chief Tawik and Deputy Minister Jalik both stood up and respectfully bobbed their heads twice before departing as the air currents began to take away the scent of Karlik's dominance.

Karlik waited until they had both departed and the door slid shut before leaning back forward and accessing the communication network. He entered the required codes to connect to the nearest Ma'lit null space relay, wincing as he calculated the enormous expense charges that would be incurred.

He toggled another control as he waited, and the automated cleaning droids emerged from hidden alcoves in the wall. After scanning the walls and the floors, the three cleaning droids headed right for where he and the war chief had been fighting and started their cleaning cycle to remove the fur and the glandular fluid from the floor.

The null space relay connected and displayed the cost for connecting to Eleania, making him wince again as he reluctantly accepted the charges. The government coffers were overflowing, but the Xenxin tendency towards frugality was a well-known trait of their species.

After he connected the relay to the central bank so it could withdraw the funds, he trilled to himself in amusement as he remembered President Lopez telling him to stop being "a cheap bastard" while trying to renegotiate a favorable refined nenchite rate for the Neo-Commonwealth three lunar months ago.

If it were any other species speaking to him like that, he would have disemboweled them for such disrespect, but he loved his humans like no other, especially President Lopez. She reminded him of his departed mate, her no-nonsense approach and her proclivity for laughing at his bluff charges and threat displays endearing him to the president of the humans.

As he waited for the null space relay to connect him to the Eleania, he eyed the holo screen map again. He will offer to help the Eleani replace whatever refined and synthetic nenchite they will be using to help their human allies.

He pulled up the Nenchite Market Exchange program and looked at the current, real-time prices of natural and synthetic nenchite products. He accessed the program and increased the prices by five percent of the current cost and saved an image of the new prices after he made the changes.

He will offer to replace the Eleani nenchite expenditures at cost and show them the image he took. They will not know he manipulated the current price by five percent, and if they did not know, then no harm was being done.

Hopefully, Ambassador Nimto will not be with the premier when the relay is connected, or he will be forced to remove the very fair five percent increase, since the ambassador always seemed to have a way of knowing when the Xenxin were trying to cheat them.

The call connected, and he kept his face neutral as he saw both the premier and, unfortunately, the ambassador appearing on the small holo screen above the desk. He saw the suspicion in Ambassador Nimto's eyes, and he immediately knew his attempt to trick them was going to end in failure.

Well, there goes the five percent profit I added, he thought sadly to himself as he bared his fangs in greeting.

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