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  Again, she paused and looked around. “But all of you know some of why I have invited you all here. All of you have accepted for your own reasons: some believed what I’ve told you, others saw the opportunity that this summit would provide for your people, and others still simply didn’t want to be left out. And now I must as of you one more thing: to listen.

  She looked to Tomas. “Emperor, if you would please join me.”

  Tomas took a deep breath and stood up, walking over to the podium. He joined Levisomaerni and looked around at the hundreds of people. For a moment, he even felt a tad bit intimidated. If someone would’ve told him all those centuries ago on Earth, when he had just found the Union ship, that this was where he would have ended up, he would’ve laughed in their face. His life had taken such a strange path, one that he could’ve never anticipated.

  “Greetings—I am Tomas Klein. I am here today as the voice of my people and of my allies,” Tomas said, nodding at the area where his allies sat, “the Shara Daim, the Erasi, and the Krashinar.

  “Some of you know of us, have interacted with us, and others know only the rumors of the Rimward Alliance. You may have heard many things about us, some undoubtedly true, others taken out of context, and some wrong. I am here so that you may see for yourselves, and decide on your own whether my words hold merit.

  “Matriarch Levisomaerni and I have gathered you all here today to tell you of a great danger to all of us, a danger to our galaxy. Many of you have had dealings with the black ships in the past, and many of you have heard rumors about them. They have been striking fear into the hearts of the inhabitants of the galaxy for a long time… And I am here to tell you that they are not the greatest threat to the people of the galaxy. The greatest threat is the thing that they are keeping contained.”

  The arena erupted then, with hundreds of voices all mingling together to create an almost unintelligible roar. Tomas was able to discern a few things, however: some called out for proof, others called him a liar. Tomas raised a hand, Levisomaerni flapped her wings, and the arena quieted down.

  “I do not expect you to believe me on my word alone. I have brought proof.” Tomas used the device the Suvri had given him and played the recordings. Three holo-windows flashed above him, one playing the recording of the meeting between the Enlightened and the People, another a great space battle between the Enlightened’s ships and the People’s World-ships and their uplifted races, and, finally, the last one showed a planetside battle, monstrous forms fighting against several different races.

  Again the arena erupted, and again they had to be calmed down.

  “What you are seeing here are the Enlightened, and fighting them were the People—the first intelligent race in our galaxy. All of you will receive these recordings as well as all the information that we have on them as soon as this meeting comes to a close, so that you may study it all for yourselves before the next meeting. For now, allow me to tell you who the Enlightened are, and why we should be afraid of them.”

  Tomas took a deep breath and started telling them all the history of their galaxy. It took him a better part of an hour to get the entire story out, and at the end of it the arena was silent.

  “I know,” Tomas said slowly, “that this is a lot for many of you. Learning of your origins is a hard thing. But I also know that many of you knew some of this already. You have seen the patterns in the races of the galaxy, you have tested your own genetics and found things that you could not explain, and some of you are even old enough to remember them. Some of you have found their remnants. I implore those of you who have this knowledge, who have kept it a secret and used it as an edge for your own advancement—it is time for you to reveal what you know, to speak to those who have no such experience and confirm my words, because the Enlightened are the greatest threat to us all… And without a truly united galaxy, we will not be able to stop them.”

  * * *

  Two days later, Tomas sat in the same seat and waited nervously for the second meeting to begin. Many of the star-nations had reached out to him during the waiting period, and he had spoken with all of them. He didn’t know how many he had managed to convince, but he was sure that he had convinced some, at least. Not all of them were interested in the Enlightened; some just wanted to speak about other, less important things, in Tomas’s eyes. They wanted to know about the Sovereigns, wanted to exchange technology, establish trade and such—and Tomas had entertained th0se requests as well, but made it clear that without their help against the Enlightened there would be no trade or exchange. He had dealt with such people before, and while he would much rather every nation in the galaxy joined of their own will and for the right reasons, he was not above simply buying their help. He knew that they would need it.

  Levisomaerni landed next to him and folded her wings as she took a seat.

  “Anything?” Tomas asked.

  Levisomaerni flared her nostrils. “Not much good. We have convinced some, and Gavesh and Hijako have brought a few to our side. Not many. Most are waiting to see which way the other core powers will swing.”

  “We have the Suvri and the Afar Group on our side,” Tomas said.

  “Not enough. They are influential and will bring some to our side, but we need more. Benos and Tuete are against us. The Tuete are isolationists and they just don’t care, while the Benos will not want to put their people in jeopardy without a clear threat. And in their minds, even if the Enlightened exist, they are not an imminent threat.”

  “The Josanti League?” Tomas asked hopefully.

  “Andar tried, but… The Great Council is too arrogant. They can’t imagine anything being a threat to the Josanti League. I doubt that they will endorse this.”

  Tomas grimaced, but nodded. Finally the arena had filled up, and Levisomaerni flew over to the podium.

  “Greetings again,” she started. “I hope that all of you have had the chance to look over the data we sent, as well as to consult with your allies and neighbors. If any of you have anything to say, now is the time. We will open the floor for discussion.”

  The first to speak was a strange, wrinkly turtle-like alien from a nation on the other side of the galaxy that Tomas had never heard about—Nishiar.

  “We only wish to make the waters clearer. You are proposing a military alliance against these Enlightened?”

  “That is correct,” Levisomaerni said.

  “Who, if we are to believe your proof, would be extremely dangerous.”

  “It would be more dangerous if we ignored them.”

  The Nishiar representative huffed and took a seat again. And so it went: representatives spoke their concerns, asked questions, and then sat back down. The questions ranged from who would be in charge of any such alliance, to how many ships they would need to commit, to asking for the contact information for the people that made the “proof.” There were a lot of people that had even suggested sending an envoy through the containment to attempt to negotiate with the Enlightened. Tomas wasn’t opposed to negotiating, and they did have one Enlightened near them. He wouldn’t tell them that, of course, but he wondered if they should try to speak with him.

  Then finally the questions ended, and Levisomaerni spoke again of the reasons why she believed the alliance was the best option—and then another representative asked for a chance to speak. Levisomaerni gave him the floor, and a large avian who looked like a cross between a roc and a condor, only with bright orange feathers and manipulators at the ends of her wings, flew down from her perch and landed near Levisomaerni. The Tar’ferat representative hopped to the middle and then turned her predatory head around the arena.

  “I am Urvu’ri, the Head of the Tar’ferat flight. Many of you know of me, know my nation. We have always strived to be a stabilizing force in the galaxy. It is true, in the last several centuries, that we have turned more to ourselves, and the core. But we have never forgotten the galaxy, and our duty to safeguard all in it.”

  The Tar’ferat representative turned he
r head and locked eyes with Tomas.

  “And as such, I have decided that we should speak freely with our extended flight mates around the galaxy. My people have long ago found remnants of an older civilization. Remnants of the People.” The arena was suddenly filled with murmuring, but Urvu’ri didn’t stop. “We knew of them, and we knew some of their history. Enough that we can say that what the Rimward Alliance speaks is the truth.”

  Tomas suddenly felt a spark of hope. The Tar’ferat were one of the top core powers, and if they backed them, with the other core powers already on his side… It would be enough.

  “We agree that something has to be done about these Enlightened. And while we know that any alliance on such scale would be a very hard thing to accomplish, we are in agreement—”

  Before she could finish speaking, red lights started shining around the arena, and loud sounds started blasting out. Everyone was immediately on their feet, and then a voice spoke out over the speakers.

  “Attention, everyone, the system is under attack. I repeat, the system is under attack. Proceed to your compounds immediately.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Year 713 of the Empire — Suvri territory — Summit system — Sovereign Remembrance

  Fleet Master Johanna Stern sat in the command chair of her Sovereign, and read through her reports. There wasn’t much to do while on shift aside from that. The Suvri had proven very adept hosts, and their guard fleet was keeping everything in order, even though there were far more alien ships in the system than there were Suvri. Then again, Johanna had been made aware that the Suvri were masters of stealth tech, so she wouldn’t be surprised if there was another force just as big somewhere in the system. That’s what she would have done.

  Her reading was interrupted, however, by an alert sounding. It was quickly silenced and Johanna turned toward the sensor officer.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Ships have just entered the system, Fleet Master.”

  Johanna nodded—there had been many ships coming and going from the system. Mostly couriers and such. “Do we have any idea to whom they belong?” The crew had started keeping track of all visiting ships from the other nations, timing their arrivals for the analysts to go over later. They could probably tell how far away they had more forces or some other such information.

  “We aren’t close enough to tell just yet, but there are more ships dropping out every second, Fleet Master.”

  That got her attention, and she leaned forward in her chair. “How many?”

  “Twenty thousand and counting… No, thirty… The rate of ships appearing is increasing. Fifty, one hundred—”

  “Put it on the holo,” Johanna ordered and sent a message for her second to get to the bridge. “All hands, red alert! Send messages to our allies. I want them all ready.” The four fleets were already in a defensive wall formation, with the Krashinar on top, the Empire at the bottom, and the Shara Daim and the Erasi taking the sides.

  “We are getting a system-wide alert message from Suvri Command!” the communications officer reported.

  “Put it through!”

  “Attention—this is Commander Tajik of the Suvri Defense Fleet. The incoming force is hostile. I repeat, the newly arrived force is hostile. All fleets that are willing to help, contact me on the following channel and acknowledge your willingness. All fleets not willing to fight, move to the following coordinates.” Johanna didn’t know how anyone wouldn’t be willing to fight, but as she watched the holo, she saw some starting to move away.

  “Get on that channel and let them know that we and our allies will fight.” There was no doubt in Johanna’s mind that the others would fight. She just needed to know who it was that had attacked them. Was it some race that didn’t agree with the summit, someone who had a grudge against another nation?

  “Any comms from the planet?” Johanna asked.

  “No, Fleet Master, the Suvri have established military protocols. No communications from the ground other than from their Command.”

  Johanna nodded in respect; that was very smart. It prevented frightened politicians from giving out orders to their fleets, and allowed Suvri forces to establish at least some type of chain of command. Who knew what those on the ground would order their fleets to do, if they could?

  She glanced at the holo and saw the number reach close to fifteen hundred thousand ships. That’s just insane. No one could get that many ships here unnoticed.

  “Fleet Master! The hostile fleet had entered the skim!”

  “Their target?”

  “They are headed for the defense fleet, Fleet Master!”

  Johanna frowned. That would put them in the middle of the sphere made by the other fleets. Sure, not all of them were going to fight, but it would get the hostile force surrounded. That was not a smart move, unless they didn’t care for losses and were after the planet and the people on it. The fifty thousand ships in the defense force wouldn’t be able to hold them off, not if they were of equivalent tech, but even if they weren’t it would only take one ship to get by for them to kill everyone attending the summit.

  The hostile force left the skim and entered the range to attack the Suvri force. They were now close enough for them to get a good scan of them. Johanna’s eyes widened when their computers recognized them. The designs were different and bigger, but these were clearly the black machine ships. What are they doing here? And why are they attacking?

  It didn’t matter right then, and Johanna started issuing orders.

  “Send out to all ships in our fleets to load skim missiles,” Johanna ordered. “And get a courier out to the Nomad Fleet, let them know what has happened.” Johanna debated sending a message as well, but through hyperspace it would take at least two hours for it to arrive. But there was a trans-lane here that led close to their position, and it was a only an hour’s travel time. After the courier passed through, their message should reach the Nomad Fleet in minutes from there. The Nomad Fleet was in a system barely five light years away, just on the border of Suvri space. The core was much more densely populated by star systems, which was now a blessing. It would take the Nomad Fleet at least two hours through hyperspace to get here.

  “Fleet Master, Suvri Command has informed us that any fleets wanting to join the fight are to act independently and aid their forces as able,” the communication officer reported.

  Johanna grimaced; she knew that there was no other way. None of them have ever fought together, nor did they have anything like chains of command among some of the different nations. Working independently was the only way. She saw several fleets open fire with their own skim missiles, firing at the back formation of the black ships.

  She got the confirmations from her forces that they were ready. “Fire skim-missiles!” Johanna ordered, and a moment later skim-missiles launched at the hostile ships, alongside the Krashinar’s unique weaponry.

  “Send to all ships: We are going to close the range. Sovereign-class ships forward, the rest behind in support.” Johanna knew that it was probably futile, that they had no chance. The machine fleets outnumbered them three to one if every fleet in the system fought, and she doubted that they would. Their warships were advanced, on par with those of the Empire.

  Even so, she still gave out the order. “All ships, enter skim.”

  * * *

  “What the hell is going on?” Tomas asked as they were escorted through the chaos by their guards, and got back to their compound.

  One of his staff members was holding a comm unit and was speaking quickly, then he turned to Tomas and answered. “A hostile force has attacked the system, sir. It’s the machine ships, sir.”

  Tomas was for once struck speechless. Why would they attack? He walked over to the holo that they had brought from one of their ships and had plugged into the Suvri systems, and he saw the system displayed there—and the number of enemy ships.

  “How did they get here without us noticing?” Kane asked. “There is no way th
at a force that large could avoid notice, not here in the core.”

  Tomas shook his head. “They can use the access points. They must’ve passed through one near here and then just made a short jump to this system.”

  “This force is too large for us to stop. Not even if all ships in the system fight,” The Old Scar commented.

  “Perhaps not, but—” Kane started.

  “—by now Fleet Master Johanna would’ve— ” Vaana continued.

  “—sent a message to our father.”

  “The Nomad Fleet might be enough—”

  “—to turn the tide,” Kane finished.

  “Should we survive that long,” Vaana added.

  “Perhaps, but Adrian is hours away. I do not know if this system can hold for that long.”

  “We will hold,” Vorash said, gritting his teeth. “These…machines have never fought against Sovereigns, and if the rest of the fleets here see them in combat, they will be emboldened.”

  “There is nothing for us to do but wait, and hope that Adrian gets here fast enough,” Tomas said reluctantly. He never liked relying on others, but now he had no choice.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Year 712 of the Empire — the Nomad Fleet

  Adrian sat in his throne in the heart of Moirai. His mind was connected deeply to Moirai as the two of them conversed; or, rather, Adrian spoke and Moirai complained.

  “HOW LONG?” she grumbled, again.

  Adrian took a deep breath. “Until we meet the Enlightened,” he sent to her. Adrian knew that she didn’t really understand everything that he spoke, that she more ascertained meaning from the combination of words and emotions that Adrian sent to her. She was smart, very smart, just not in the same way a human was. She had her own thoughts, her own way of thinking, and some things were just incomprehensible to her. In many ways, Moirai reminded him of Sora and Akash, the two woilions he had saved. That was most probably connected, as Moirai had gotten most of her attributes from him, and Adrian had always cared deeply for the two wolions. He might’ve imprinted some of his memories of them on her.