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THE JOURNEY TO THE edge of Phelb space did not take the Vandorian Fleet very long. Because of our much more powerful engines, the carriers simply picked up smaller Phelb ships and allowed them to dock inside their cavernous hangars, and then we all jumped as one fleet. It occurred to me only afterwards that this was the first time in history that Phelb and Vandorian ships had ever met with nonviolent intentions.
When we arrived at the suggested coordinates, a small colony on a planetoid on the down star side of the system, we were shocked to find the planetoid not only destroyed but also a large Gilbaglian task force.
Just as the Phelbs had stated.
“Don’t let them undock and engage sensor jamming.” Mallory said quickly as soon as we exited subspace. “We don’t want them to see the Phelb ships in the carriers.”
I stared at the display in front of me, then looked at Mallory. “Why did the Phelb leaders keep fighting us if this was happening?” I asked.
“I can only assume that Wrathe is telling the truth about the old people of their culture keeping up the fight against us.” She whispered back.
“If that’s true, did I inadvertently bring peace to our peoples just by killing everyone?”
“Stranger things have happened in this galaxy.” She winked at me.
“Admiral, we are being hailed.” An operator called from behind us.
“Put them up on the main display.” Mallory turned and faced it, looking calm and confident.
“Good day, noble ally!” The Gilbaglian on the screen boomed at us. He had dark blue feathers on his head, and the normal beak was stunted, replaced at its curved end with a metallic replacement. “We did not expect to see you out this far.”
“Just hunting,” Mallory replied calmly, noting the fact that the Gilbaglian ships were trying to scan our fleet discreetly. “What are you looking for, Captain?”
He chuckled. “Sorry about that, Commander Ruiz, it’s just standard protocol.”
“It’s Admiral Valentine now,” She replied, putting her hands behind her back. I didn’t notice at first. “And how shall I address you, sir?”
They stared at each other for a long moment and then I caught the motion behind her back. Three fingers. Two. One.
“Brace for impact!” I shouted. The shields snapped on at the same moment and Eternity staggered under the massive impact from seven of the closest Gilbaglian ships.
Mallory hardly seemed to notice. “Target reactors, fore and aft and release missile safety interlocks.” She strode across the bridge and then looked up at the display.
“Why, Captain?”
“You humans are filth.” He snapped back.
“There are six hundred of us.” She replied calmly. “There are twelve of you. Disengage or you will be destroyed.”
“I think you’re mistaken, human, we count less than one hundred of your ships.” He sneered at her and I stared, not speaking, analyzing the avian and how best to kill his species. We had trained with them in the past but only had limited contact. This may be my best chance to get a good look at one before I fought them on the ground.
“Look again.” Mallory said, a hard edge coming to her voice.
Phelb ships spilled out of the hangars and engaged their engines, rocketing forward towards the Gilbaglian task force. Small frigates, destroyers, small battleships and even refueling and rearmament vessels joined the fray and opened fire on the Gilbaglians.
“Weapons free.” Mallory said, turning away from the screen.
The big cannons on the bow of Eternity spat their massive projectiles across space at hyper speed and crashed into their shields a moment later. Unlike Phelb ships, the Gilbaglian heavy cruiser barely shuddered, then opened fire in kind. The Vandorian fleet spread out across space to create a less target rich environment. Phelb ships opened fire and the big dreadnoughts stood off, firing salvo after salvo of hellfire into the Gilbaglian formation.
The heavy cruiser began to break up under the barrage and the remaining ships turned and began to accelerate to jump velocity. Gilbaglian drives used some sort of quantum technology that opened a wormhole in the local space and projected the far end at only a few thousand light years, whereas Human ships simply bent space-time around them to emerge a few hours later, thousands of light years away.
“Disengage.” Mallory called. “They are running.”
Five more projectiles spat from Eternity and ten from Shockwave. The trailing Gilbaglian ship, a carrier, ripped itself apart as the shells tore through it from stern to bow. Tumbling pieces of debris shot out at high velocity, impacting on the shields of the Eternity.
“It was all true.” I said, my eyes glued to the forward viewports. “The Phelbs weren’t lying. That’s why we beat them so easily, they were getting hit from two sides at once.” I felt...not bad, but just, irritated that my war with the Phelbs had all been a diversion.
“We’re being hailed, Admiral.” The operator said, her voice had a quaver in it.
“Put them on.” Mallory said, rock solid and calm.
It was Wrathe. “Admiral, Colonel. We hope that this shows that we have negotiated in good faith and we...”
“Yeah,” I waved a hand. “We believe you, alright?” It wasn’t that far to stretch. We couldn’t figure out why and how the Phelb Fleet had been isolated at Earth. We knew they were waiting for us to a point, but for them to just have no support and be cut off from Falsun was beyond what I had imagined. They had pulled their fleet deeper into their territory to protect themselves.
“Who am I negotiating with?” I found myself asking. I turned to Lieutenant Grace. “Go and find Stevins and get him up here.”
“Yes sir.” She replied and jogged off towards the elevator at the back of the bridge.
“I’m sorry?” Wrathe asked me. “Were you addressing me, sir?”
“Destota.” I replied. Enough with formalities. “I need to know who I am negotiating with.”
“Well I...” He looked around. “I suppose that would be me, sir...uh, Destota.”
“How many men do you have left?” I asked. “Fighting men. Marauders. Whatever.”
“Our standing army is only about half a million right now...there are less than ten thousand Marauders left after they encountered you.”
I tried my best to hide a smirk. “Understood.” I turned around and looked at the Councilors. We had them present with us for this reason, as there were only five left, three constituted the majority. Moore gave me a thumbs up and a grin. I turned to Mallory. “May I take over your communication system for a moment, my love?”
She nodded. We were both uneasy, but I was not stupid enough to think that the Phelbs could slow the Gilbaglians down. We needed them, and they needed us more than I wanted to admit. “Please open a system-wide broadcast for Colonel Valentine.” She said.
There was a moment, a pop of static, and I inhaled. “People of Vandor,” My speech would also be relayed to Vandor when the signal lag caught up. “We find ourselves in the Falsun system, the capital of their Empire.” I hesitated and licked my lips. “We have contacted their new Pope and their new leadership caste. As you all know, the Night stalkers and the fleet launched a combined operation to destroy the Phelb Empire from the galaxy some months ago after we left Novela. I am proud to announce that as of today at,” I checked the clock on the bridge display. “16:07, I have accepted the terms of the Phelb Empire’s surrender.” A thunderous roar came through the comm channel from every Vandorian in the fleet, every soldier, every civilian staffer. I smiled slightly, Wrathe was standing next to Venlent on the channel. “The terms,” I said, speaking louder to reach above the noise. “Are simple. We have ceased hostilities in the face of a new, shared enemy.” Mallory held out a tablet with a single message on the screen. I read it quickly: ‘The Phelbs are tuned into our live feed and broadcast.’ I nodded to her and continued. “We have learned during our conversations here that the Gilbaglians, supposed allies of the Vandorian people, are in fact, the enemies of our creators, the Cetoplin. We, as a race, are a cosmic accident. Our planet was seeded with a highly advanced viral compound billions of years ago, and those virus particles mixed with single-cell organisms in Earth’s oceans, and eventually evolved into humanity.” I hesitated. “I am proud of our species, even with the massive war that erupted on five separate occasions between Phelbs and Vandorians, we have finally found ourselves in a position of peace, and we are taking advantage of this to form a lasting peace between our peoples. I must believe that there is room in the vastness of this galaxy for peoples of science and peoples of faith. We absolutely must band together against the Gilbaglian threat. They are an ancient and powerful race of beings, and they were powerful enough to eradicate our creators from this galaxy. We will not follow the example of the Cetoplin. We will not find ourselves exterminated on a desolate planet.” I turned and looked directly at Wrathe and Venlent. “We must set aside the past. It will not be easy at first, but we must ensure a future for humanity. It is now that I will ask my opposite, the Pope of the Phelb Empire, will you adhere to this agreement so that we may move forward with life and become a stronger people?”
He bowed his head deeply. “As my first act of Pope, my people, I have been informed of several things which the Vandorians find offensive in our culture. To make our ceasefire stronger and lasting, I hereby order all slaves immediately released, and I am also issuing a full pardon to Peter Stevins, who has served bravely with the Vandorian Night stalkers.”
I raised my eyebrows high enough that I felt my hairline tickle them. I spun around and glanced at Peter, who stood slack jawed.
“The people of the Phelb Empire,” Davon Wrathe Junior, the Pope of Phelb said, stepping closer as I had. “Request the aid and assistance of the Vandorian people.”
“The Vandorian people answer your call.” Mallory shocked me by saying, stepping forward. “We will assist you.”
I stared at her for a long moment, and there was a moment of total silence. Even the Eternity, the huge, powerful carrier built to destroy Phelbs, seemed to hold its breath for a long moment.
Then another cheer shattered the silence and stunned me even further into inaction. I couldn’t believe everyone on Vandor, everyone that had battled the Phelbs, the very thing I was trained for since I was a teenager, everything I had been taught to hate and fear, the war that Vandor had waited for six millennia, was over.
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