UNIFICATION AT LAST
The Red Destiny did a victory roll and turned towards the Ronin fleet. Several ships projected holograms of their crew cheering for the Commander they thought they lost. The Red Destiny then slowed and made a non-threatening drift towards the Alliance Fleet.
Mudd's flagship was disabled, but not destroyed. She listed and her contents were still spilling out from the puncture. Mudd and his command crew had certainly been killed and more would die in the fires raging through the ship.
Alexander broadcast on a private channel to the Ronins: "Deploy marines to perform rescue and suppression of the survivors. Do not allow the Alliance fleet to participate in the rescue." Then he summoned a hologram of Slyther: “ If any surviving bridge officers are encountered, kill them as discreetly as possible. What of Pete?", Alexander asked.
"I have my snakes searching." Slyther responded.
"FIND HIM.", Alexander ordered. Slyther’s always-half-smile grew imperceptively then he gave a light bow and backed into the darkness.
"Asymptote in 18 minutes," Fae reported.
"Now to secure the loyalty of the Defence fleet. I wish I could do this later, but it has to be now."
"Fae, Are there any corpses floating in space?", Alexander asked.
"Seventeen.", Said Fae.
"Let me see them." seventeen squares each an image of a corpse jumped on Alexander's console. "Tractor them with dignity to the Red Destiny."
"Dignity!?" Fae said confusedly.
"Gently," Alexander corrected himself, "Place sixteen of the corpses in two rows extending out in front of and slightly below the center line of the Red Destiny. Straighten their bodies. Take this one", he selected one of the corpses from his corpse menu, "And make his velocity approach the red destiny slowly along the center line and in between the two rows of corpses... Do not straighten his body, I like the mangled look it has. Time everything so the final body meets with me right at the base of the two rows, nearest the Red Destiny. Launch a spy drone and have it capture a holo of me."
He donned his space helmet and an automatic process began making his armor space worthy.
"How much time do I have?", Alexander asked.
"2 minutes"
"That will have to do.", Alexander ambled down a hatch on the side of the bridge, exited the forward space hatch, and floated slowly into the dark of space approaching the uneasy Alliance fleet.
He drifted solemnly towards the rows of the dead. The holo drone travelled a meter before him broadcasting to every last human that lived.
His motion came to a rest in between the first row of the dead. The seventeenth entered the scene and Alexander gently stopped its momentum by cradling the body. Alexander removed his dark-red cape, the symbol of the Ronin Commander, and wrapped it around the mangled body of the poor Alliance man. And then he steadied the bundle at his feet, in the same plane as the eight other corpses between the two rows but aligned perpendicularly. Fae subtly used her tractor beam to straighten the final body.
He spoke slowly and stoically. "I speak to all who serve in the Alliance fleet. And I ask every other human to hear my words, for it is the sacrifice of the Alliance fleet that has protected our race’s future since the Zell first attacked."
"Few soldiers escape death. It never becomes easier to endure. As noble soldiers your heart can never be numb to this experience. That is what makes you human. Humanity is amazing that way."
"The life of a single soldier is worth more than the lives of the entire Zell fleet. But soldiers are made to go in harms way, and soldiers protect what is precious to them no matter the cost."
"The life that has just left us, the life of these soldiers before me, was not given to protect what they cherished. These lives were squandered in the name of greed and arrogance. These lives were paid as tribute to serve Commander Mudd’s ambitions."
"I killed these men. I crushed because of WHO they fought for.... But I did so to protect WHAT they fought for."
"More soldiers will die today, but none more will die in vain. For we must face an enemy many times our strength, before a larger armada of an unfathomable size bears down upon us in less than a day!"
"Now I ask you to Follow me. Fight for me. Defend what these soldiers protected with their lives… They protected you. They protected humanity itself. And that WE will do. And we will do it Not by running away, skulking into ever deeper levels of hell hoping our enemy tires of pursuit. We will not only defend the precious human experience, but we will bring an end to the Zell for good!"
"You have heard my rationale and now you must choose. Defenceless, I stand before you and I ask you to join my fleet or avenge your unworthy Commander and kill me now. "
A pause followed.
Crew Holo projections began appearing in front of the Alliance fleet. Emotional clapping and approval poured out.
A communiqué from Slyther whispered in Alexander's earpiece "We have messages from the entire defence fleet. They have consented to join you." from Slyther.
"Asymptote in 15 minutes", Fae Reported. Little time remained for Alexander’s plan.
"I am deeply humbled that you have accepted me as your Commander. I will treat your trust with the honor that it has always deserved!"
"Now Let us crush the Zell and rid the universe of their evil forever! TO WAR!"
Loud cheering erupted from holo projections of both fleets.
Fae*Dra tractored Alexander and the bodies into the entry portal. The bodies lay strewn about the exit ready room in complete disarray. Alexander had to shove and kick them into place as he had no other free space to store them. Alex retrieved his red cape from the mangled corpse, put it on and resumed his position in the Bridge.
He transmitted another prepared message instructing the former Alliance fleet where to maneuver and how they were going to participate in this battle. For the most part he left the Alliance fleet in the same protective position, but he moved some Seventy-Five thousand phalanx unit and Twenty-Five thousand skirmishers to the front line.
"Stink!", Fae complained. “Eject them!” She posited.
"They won't stink for a while and that might send the wrong signal to the fleet. Sorry we have to tolerate The corpses for now.", Alexander explained.
Fae lit the boosters and the Red Destiny raced to the front planes. A ronin entourage followed.
"Now for the battle of Illus and victory against the Zell", Alex said confidently.