LOCATION: XIN PRIME

SYSTEM: XIN PRIME

DATE: 2403

Grand Commander Thesska rubbed his cybernetic fingers against the curved blade in his hands. The aptly named claw was a weapon of a true warrior, earned through personal combat against an alien or through ritual combat against a rival. Any Shican worth their lineage had one, or they were no one.

Thesska had no rivals. At least not any longer. Their blood had whetted his blade long ago. He looked up at the mewling fool strapped to the obedience board. "I'm disappointed in you, Commander Sivarra, but not surprised. Did you think that my ship being the first through the gate was somehow happenstance?"

Sivarra couldn't answer. Thesska's claw had already removed his tongue and ears. Then again, Thesska wasn't looking to hear more excuses.

"You had such a simple job, and more than enough forces to see it through. Instead of fortifying this system and making it nearly impossible to assail, you sent these cloned humans off to fall into a trap, losing over half of them. Their ships are nothing when compared to Shican technology, but they should have been more than enough to squash the fleet that they reported."

Thesska drew the claw down Sivarra's breast, earning a gurgling squeal of pain from the commander. "You have no right to complain, Sivarra. I told you what would happen if you failed. I said I would hunt you down like an animal. What happens when you catch that animal? You skin it, of course," Thesska answered his own question.

He yanked the blade down and over, spilling the still living Sivarra's guts over the floor, his feet, and clothes. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the aroma of fear and pain washing through the Commander as he slowly died. Before that happened, he reached into the man's chest and yanked out the heart with his mechanically enhanced strength and devoured the organ.

It wasn't often that Thesska got to bask in his people's more animalistic tendencies, and he wasn't about to waste the opportunity.

The wet slap of booted feet through blood drew him back to the present. "What is it?"

"The technologues have compiled that report you asked for."

"And?" Thesska asked, setting the blood-covered blade back on the table.

"You were correct, Grand Commander. The ship's composition that launched the nuclear weapons matched the ships that were attempting to destroy our gate."

Thesska turned to his subordinate and smiled, blood dripping from his face. He saw longing in his subordinate's cybernetic eyes as he gazed at the carnage. A quick show of teeth and a nearly silent hiss drew the man's attention back to him. "Control your urges, you will get to indulge in due time, now that we know where this fleet originated from. These humans may lead us to our true target even quicker than I had hoped. Maybe Sivarra's blunder had a silver lining after all, too bad he was too incompetent to keep alive. Speaking of incompetence, what about the sensor operator who failed to detect the ship that launched the atomic weapons?"

"They were too narrow in their focus and missed the vessel's approach."

Thesska's smile fell away. "Are you defending their actions?"

"No, Grand Commander, only stating a fact so future operators may learn from that mistake. The sensor operator's line has been purged from the Empire and all records."

"As it should be," Thesska growled in approval. "Gather the undamaged human ships and send them ahead of us to clear the way. We might as well find some use for them."

When the Sub Commander didn't immediately leave to carry out his orders, Thesska hissed in annoyance. "What is it?"

"The humans are not listening to our commands. It appears that Commander Sivarra bred them to be loyal only to his clan instead of the Empire."

Thesska picked up the claw and whirled around, decapitating the already dead Sivarra with the blade. The act did little to stem his annoyance.

"Was the disgraced commander able to start Shican cloning and ship production?" Thesska asked.

"His cloning efforts have been successful, but limited in scope so far. He did not have the required industry to create more Shican vessels, however."

"Perhaps you will get to indulge in the old ways sooner rather than later. Dispose of Sivarra's failed pet projects and replace as many of the crews with loyal Shican clones as quickly as possible. Once that's done, I don't wish to hear from you until general repairs have been completed on the Emperor's blessed vessels. We don't know how many ships the humans have to throw at us, so we need them all to be ready to fight. Be quick about it, we have a quarry to run down."

His subordinate flattened his ears in supplication, but Thesska saw the slight quiver of anticipation from the man. He was overeager to spill blood. As long as he didn't fly into a blind rage like so many of the lower caste did when combat was upon them, then he could let loose as much as he wanted.

"I will carry out your will, Grand Commander."

Thesska waved the subordinate off. He needed to speak with his brother, the Emperor, and get that fat, bloated politician to activate the rest of the armada. How his brother had become so indolent and soft was beyond him. Their original bloodline progenitor and the first Emperor would have been appalled to see what the high court had become. Perhaps it was time for a new bloodline to take over the Empire's reins. It wouldn't be the first time. Once Thesska captured the technology from those aliens who had destroyed the three gates, he would have the political power he needed to challenge his brother.

His cybernetics dampened the thrill of anticipation, but he still lifted his lips slightly to expose his teeth at the thought.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

***

LOCATION: EMPTY SPACE

SYSTEM: LESS THAN A JUMP FROM XIN PRIME

A cheer erupted aboard Vanguard as soon as Vitor reported the success of the mission. It had taken time to receive the news because the fleet was on a communication blackout until they arrived at their current location, a space between stars, where it should be safe enough to use the comm mode. If the Shican did detect their transmission, it would take hours in FTL to reach their current location. They would not be sticking around that long.

He kept a smile on his face, but he knew that was only the opening move in this war. There were still hundreds of Xin ships to deal with, and the twenty-five Shican vessels that had come through the Xin's gate. A number that nearly equaled the forces that came through the STO hypergates before they were destroyed. Even though the Seahorse carriers had sacrificed themselves, none of the Shican's dreadnoughts had been damaged enough to disable them. At most, it would slow them down.

Those ships were going to be a nightmare to take down for anything smaller than a cruiser. And even then, it was going to take multiple cruisers on the level of Vanguard to make that happen. Production was ramping up across the entire Union, and Alex had massively boosted output when he returned, but large ships took time to produce. There wasn't really any way around that. If they hadn't taken so many losses fighting through the Xin forces, they might have slowed the Shican down enough to buy that time, but they no longer had that luxury.

Not everything was gloom and doom, however. Vitor could see a path to victory, a costly one, mind you, but a victory nonetheless. That was assuming those twenty-five ships were the only forces the Shican had. He didn't think they were.

He packaged up all the combat data and forwarded it to Alex. Hopefully, he could pull another miracle off, because they were going to need one.

The fleet loitered at the rendezvous spot for another hour, waiting for Captain Voss to arrive. Once she did, there was no ceremony or celebration. The remains of the fleet grouped up and jumped. They needed to hightail it back to the Union border before they got stuck between two angry Xin fleets and a Shican taskforce that was arguably more powerful than both combined.

***

LOCATION: EDEN'S END

SYSTEM: UNOKANE

DATE: 2403

Alexander, Theo, and Lucas were gathered in a conference room, going over the report that Krieger had forwarded.

Alexander had already read through the document six times, but he waited for the other two to go over it and set their tablets down before speaking.

Lucas was the first to finish, and Alexander could see his hands shaking slightly. The man put on a smile, despite his inner turmoil, and placed his hands together on the table to wait quietly.

Theo finished shortly after. "Xin had well over a thousand ships? I knew rumors hinted at the possibility, but I thought it was all bullshit."

"Not anymore," Lucas chuckled uncomfortably, before clearing his throat and apologizing. "Sorry, that was inappropriate. I'm a bit shaken up by what I read, and I tend to blurt out whatever's on my mind when I'm stressed."

Theo didn't comment on that, and Alexander certainly wasn't going to fault Lucas for how he managed his anxiety.

Theo continued as if nothing had happened. "The losses amongst the Union fleets were considerable. BSE's fleet lost all of our automated ships, but none of our manned vessels, so that's a silver lining."

"It is," Alexander agreed, "but I fear the wall of remembrance will run out of space at this rate. Can you contact the Jarls and work with them to deploy pseudo-computronics modules aboard their ships? At least that way, each ship they lose will mean fewer lives lost."

"I can try again, Alex, but some of the Jarls are being stubborn and refusing to work with BSE. It seems stupid given the current war, but these are the remnants of Jarl Isbjorn's supporters, according to the Lokis. I believe I can get them on board, but it's going to require a large bribe, and maybe some promises of continued kickbacks down the line. It seems Isbjorn made them all sorts of promises, and they're quite pissed that you stuck your nose in and helped Katalynn."

Alexander gave Theo a disgusted look. "No. If those fools are too stupid to see the bigger picture and what's at stake here, that's on them. There has to be a better way."

"I assumed you might say that," Theo said casually. "I do have another alternative."

"I'm not fighting them for their title, either," Alexander clarified in case that's what Theo had in mind.

"Nor would I ask you to. That being said, there are people on their home worlds who would gladly challenge those Jarls. All we need to do is back them once they win."

"You seem awfully certain that they will. You aren't planning anything underhanded, are you? The last thing we need is for the other Union worlds to say we shifted the fight one way. Also, what if those fleets vanish like Isbjorn's did?"

Theo shook his head. "I'm not planning on interceding in the match. This plan wasn't even my idea. The reason I'm so certain also ties into your second question. Multiple captains have reached out to me from among the two Jarls, causing the most trouble. It seems access to a comm node has given them freedom to act behind their Jarl's back. I can't imagine those Jarls are too happy with their captains' newfound freedom, but the comm node is simply too much of a tactical advantage not to have. Anyway, these captains have expressed concerns about their leadership, or lack thereof."

Alexander quirked his avatar's eyebrow. "Why haven't they acted already? As far as I know, there are no stipulations to calling out a challenge to a Jarl."

Theo smiled. "Some have, but they failed. The captains I spoke with are a bit more politically savvy. They know that their position would be shaky unless backed up by someone with more power. That's where you come in."

"Me?" Alexander asked in surprise.

"You may not realize this yet, Alex, but you went from being a practical outsider to one of the most influential and powerful Jarls in the entire Union. Your backing of Katalynn and Jarl Ylva Bergson has essentially cut off most legitimate challenges to their control."

"They did that themselves by helping take down Harlow."

"Sure, for a time, but people are quick to forget when other problems are presented. Both Katalynn and Ylva returned with crippled fleets, and there were a lot of upset people who lost loved ones during that battle. The Asgardians like to claim they live to fight, but they're as human as anyone else. Some people hold a grudge. The smart ones look at the bigger picture, and see you, hovering behind them, and they know better than to act on that."

"And the dumb ones?" Alexander asked.

Theo shrugged. "If you get a chance, ask them how many challenges they had after returning."

"I thought you said those stopped?"

"I said most of the smart ones stopped. Char and Jarl Bergson don't have anything to worry about from the dumb ones."

Alexander sighed. "What do I need to do?"

"Not much. The four captains in question will be arriving shortly to have some upgrades done to their ships. If you give the nod of approval, I will offer them the same deal that we are offering their current Jarl. Nothing more, nothing less. We load the gear up on a Fishbone and send it back with them. That will be our declaration of intent. I believe two of the Jarls will realize the meaning behind it and either accept our terms or step down in a symbolic duel. The other two probably won't, but that's not a problem. Since the duel to claim the seat of the Jarl is rarely ever lethal, even if our captains lose, they can spread word of what's going on. A weak Jarl, especially one who refuses to accept an offer to improve their ships and production methods ahead of a war with the Shican, won't last long. Someone will eventually win against them."

"First, let me say that I find the whole idea of supporting a coup to be extremely distasteful. That being said, the Shican have proven that they aren't going to give up. We can't afford to be fractured or waste even a single advantage because someone has a grudge against me. You have my approval to move forward with the offer."

Theo nodded.