As the Ailian captain contemplated her future, she found her thoughts slowly drifting to her recent past. Just hours earlier, she had gathered the things she needed to take with her and had bid goodbye to her family. All of them, most of all her father, Arn, had begged her not to go, but of course she had no choice even if she had wanted to stay. She knew that she had to go fight to stop her mother, and to save her sister and Jack, as well as the Empress. Her personal honor could never have withstood the cowardice of remaining behind while others had gone to battle.
-You will be careful?- her father had implored her, when he finally realized that there was no talking Aria out of it. The whole family had been gathered in the main living room of their quarters in the governess' residence, saying their goodbyes to their matriarch. -Do not do anything foolish. I want you home for good when this is all over.-
-I will be as careful as I can, father,- Aria promised him. She had hugged her father, and he had hugged back tighter than she could ever remember. For his sake she held back the tears. He had done enough crying for the both of them. When she leaned back from him, his ears were laid low and he had a slump to his shoulders. She turned to her siblings, all of whom were trying to put on a brave face. Her sister Raya, the youngest at fourteen, was crying quietly. Aria said goodbye to each of her sisters and brothers, until she came to the twins, Ana and Sana. Both of them twenty years old, Sana was the elder, having been born some minutes prior to her sister. Aria placed both of her hands on Sana's shoulders, her dye-blackened fur contrasting starkly with the bright orange of her sister's. -Sana, if I do not return, and if Sami does not either, you must be the head of the family. Are you prepared for that responsibility?-
Sana's golden eyes had widened considerably, and she had looked to the rest of her family. -I...I...- She saw all of them looking back at her, and when she turned back to Aria, her expression had set. Though she swallowed hard, she gave her a tight nod. -I will be ready, sister. But you will return. You always have.-
Coming back to the present, Aria was surprised to find a tear soaking into the fur on her cheeks. She hoped desperately to be able to see her family again, and the sooner the better. But before she could do that, she needed to free her homeworld and see her mate to safety.
-Don't let the enemy see you cry, Captain.-
Aria managed not to jump as she heard the voice beside her, although the fur on her tail did bristle somewhat. She looked to her right, where she saw Admiral Jin Te'rou standing. She had not heard him come up, but now the red-furred male was looking out the same window as she. The admiral was clad immaculately in what had to have been his best dress uniform, of deep blue trimmed with red, and bearing all of the awards he had won over his career. Surely he would change into something less formal once they were underway, but for now Te'rou would wish to present as authoritative an image as he could to his soldiers.
-Our emotions are not always a weakness, Admiral,- Aria said. -I have learned that lesson, many times over. They can be our greatest strength.- She crossed her arms over her chest, and her expression turned defiant. She had never liked Te'rou much, though she respected him and the position he held.
To her surprise, the Chief Admiral seemed to consider her words seriously. -Perhaps so,- he said after a few minutes. -Certainly our emotions can
give
us the strength that we need, when we are most in need of it.- He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. -Are the Royal Guards prepared for battle, Captain?-
-We are ready,- Aria said, and she felt pride swell in her heart at the thought of her soldiers. Though the security forces of Arbaros would be adequate enough to protect Governess Amani and the rest of the diplomats who would remain behind, that duty still technically fell to the Royal Guards. She had given each of the Ailians under her command the opportunity to stay and take that duty. None of them had accepted, all of them preferring to accompany their captain into battle.
-Then the fleets will do everything in their power to get you to the battle,- Te'rou said. He was quiet for some time, and just when Aria thought he was going to leave and tend to whatever duties he had left to do, he began to speak again. -It seems like years since I last saw the homeworld. Did you hear the story of how I made it away from Lirna, Captain?-
Blinking, Aria shook her head, her ears pricking forward in curiosity. -No, Admiral,- she confessed. -I have heard stories of the battle from soldiers who were there, but not how you escaped.-
-It was an intense battle,- the admiral explained. -Probably...no, definitely the most difficult situation I have ever been in since I joined the Navy.- He clasped his hands behind his back, his fingers squeezing tightly around each other. -We weren't expecting it at all. When the Outer Colony fleets emerged from hyperspace, we lost nearly ten percent of our forces in the first ten minutes, before we were able to regroup and make a counterattack.- He looked back over his left shoulder, and nodded towards the elevated platform of the command center of the bridge. -I was just back there, in my command chair, directing the fleets at the same time I was commanding my own flagship. My captain, Admiral Grelen...she was conducting an inspection aboard our sister ship, the
Neran'la
, you see, so I had to flex some of those muscles that I rarely get to use.- He grinned tightly for a moment, but that quickly faded. -After a few hours, my ship had taken heavy damage. I think Selena...Admiral Kris, that is...I think she very personally wanted to ensure my destruction. She never liked me very much. I think she thought that she deserved to be Chief Admiral more than I did, and she resented me for getting the top job. Or maybe I'm just stroking my own ego. In any case, my ship was getting hammered, and I could see that the battle was already lost. I gave the order for the fleets to withdraw, but I didn't expect I would survive.-
-I can imagine,- Aria said. -I saw how badly this ship was damaged when you finally arrived at Arbaros. I was surprised it was still holding together.-
Admiral Te'rou nodded. -Indeed.- His ears laid back, and his black eyes grew distant as he stared out of the window at the black space pinpricked with stars. -We were nearly done for. The rebel ships were moving in for the kill, and I was ready to go down fighting. But then, out of nowhere, the
Neran'la
charged into the fray. Admiral Grelen, she...- He stopped, and Aria could have sworn she had heard a catch in the older Ailian's voice. But when Te'rou began talking again, it was gone. -She told me to stop wasting time and get away. She put the
Neran'la
in between my ship and the rebels and she screened us, buying the minutes we needed to make emergency repairs and jump to hyperspace. The very last thing I saw before we made it out was her ship breaking in two and exploding. She and her crew gave their lives so that my crew and I could live to fight another day.-
Aria wasn't sure what to say to that. Thousands of Ailians had died in the battle for Lirna, all of whom had been under Admiral Te'rou's command, but this seemed to affect him more than any of it. -She did her duty. Her honor demanded that she give her life for her people. She performed as admirably as any of us hope to.-
-Yes,- Te'rou agreed. He nodded somberly. He looked at Aria, and his voice regained the roughness it had possessed seconds before. -Admiral Grelen was a very good friend to me for many years, Captain. She was a good deal older than me, in fact, and she taught me a lot of what I know about naval combat. It pains me greatly to think I'll never have the pleasure of sitting on the bridge and chatting with her again.- The admiral turned his gaze back to the ships and stars beyond the bridge window. -You say that our emotions are our strength, Captain? Well, I think that when it comes time to fight, I'll be thinking of Chara. Perhaps some of her strength will find its way to me.- He glanced sidelong at Aria. -What about you, Captain? What will you think of to give you strength? Your sister, I suppose.-
-I will,- Aria said. She tightened her grip on her arms over her chest, and she bit her lip. -But more than that, I will be thinking of my mate. I will be thinking of Jack.- She waved her tail as she thought of her human lover. For the past few days, she had been unable to think of much else. The last time they had spent together seemed a distant memory already. Whenever she had gone to sleep, whenever she had been able to bring herself to even consider sleep, the bed felt empty without his smaller form beside hers. In the relatively few months that they had known each other, the extent to which they had each come to feel dependent on the other was astounding. Aria felt like a piece of herself was missing, and it caused her almost physical pain.
Te'rou eyed her carefully for a while. -The human...yes...- He appeared pensive. -Captain...There has been something I have been wanting to say to you for some time, now.- The Chief Admiral seemed to be struggling with his words. -I suppose the easiest way to put it is that I was wrong about you.-
This time Aria had no success in hiding her surprise. -Admiral?-
-I've been thinking on it for the better part of the last month,- the male Ailian said. He turned so that he was fully facing Aria. -You're a rather remarkable person, Captain Me'lia. I, along with a number of others, did my best to get you convicted as a traitor, and executed, I might add. I couldn't understand how the Empress could have supported you, considering what you had done.- In Aria's opinion, he looked as though he still couldn't fully understand it. -But I've been impressed by you. You were a war hero even before all you've done these past months, and you were charged with turning your back on your people. You were subjected to some of the harshest scrutiny and criticism that anyone can experience. Anyone with an ounce of logic in their head would have said you'd join your mother at the drop of a hat, especially with all that we put you through, but you kept your loyalty to the Ascendancy through it all.- He looked down at the deck underneath his feet. -We tried to strip your honor from you, but I think you might have more of it than the whole of the Ascendancy combined. I know that much now, no matter what I think of your personal life. So I must apologize for the way you were treated, Aria.-
Aria realized that her mouth was open, and her tail was hanging limply down behind her. Of all the things that the admiral could have said to her, she would not have expected that to be what she was going to hear today. He clearly had to work hard to admit what he'd just admitted to her, and not many officers in the Ascendancy would openly admit to being wrong, especially to a subordinate. Most of all, she never would have thought that Te'rou would ever have been one to change his mind about something like that. He had always been the stickler for the rules, the one to know every last detail of military regulations, and to enforce them to the letter. Now he was saying that he considered her an honorable Ailian, and it almost didn't matter that he had basically said he still didn't approve of her being with Jack.
Closing her mouth, the Royal Guard captain looked back out the window. A patrol ship was flying lazily past, one that looked precisely like what she had flown with the fleet. Following it was a squad of Nuretan fighters mingled with some Ailian interceptors, as they swirled around each other in a dance to practice space combat maneuvers. Beyond them were the myriad ships of the allied flotilla. Hundreds of vessels and thousands of people, drawn from all edges of the Ascendancy and the Empire, working together now towards one goal.
-Your apology is not necessary, Admiral,- Aria said. She turned to look at Admiral Te'rou again, and she dropped her hands to waist level. -You have always been a believer in doing what is expected of you. And if you go by a strict following of military law, I quite honestly did violate regulations very severely. You did not allow the opinions of your Empress to dissuade you from what you believed to be the correct course of action. There is great honor in that devotion to your duty.-
For a moment the admiral looked as though he was going to disagree with her, but then he slowly allowed a smile to spread across his face. With one final glance out the observation window, he stiffened to attention and offered a salute to Aria, which was returned immediately. Likely they would never go out of their way to socialize with one another, but there was a new respect between the two of them.
-Good luck, Captain. We'll be getting underway shortly. Be sure all preparations are made for your deployment.-
******
As best as Jack and Brooke could tell, three days had gone by since Jack had woken up in the cellars of the royal palace. During that time they had received little in the way of contact from the outside world apart from their guards. Every six hours or so they had been brought food and water, nothing fancy but enough so that they had an adequate amount to share between the two of them. The guards always entered the room in pairs, and although they would leave the door open while they delivered the food, Jack never saw a good opportunity to make a break for it. The guards were always human, and they were always masked and armed, wearing red uniforms with nothing in the way of identifying patches or insignia. Several times he tried to engage them in conversation, if only to try to get some kind of clue as to who they might have been. They never responded, never said one word to either Jack or Brooke, and they always locked the door securely behind them.
“Hey, come on!” Jack shouted, as the door closed and locked for the tenth time. He slammed a fist against the heavy wooden door, which didn't accomplish anything except for making his hand sore. He cupped a hand around his mouth and yelled through the wire mesh covering the window. “Look, asshole, I just wanna know why I'm here!” As had been the case every other time, he heard no response apart from his own voice echoing in the hall outside. Sighing in frustration, Jack turned away from the door and walked over to where Brooke was sitting against the wall. He sat down heavily beside her, eyeing the food and water that had been brought to them this time. He wasn't that hungry, but he reached over and pulled it close to them so the young girl could eat if she wanted.