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Chip stared at Drey understanding that those two fleets would also have the Invader’s most capable ships. “Have you confirmed your suspicions?”

“We have. The communication volume going to those two fleets is off the scale. We’ve also seen the largest fleet stop and turn back toward undisrupted space. It appears the Invasion Leader has learned his fleets are paying a huge price to kill planets.”

“Then why have you delayed in sending me in!?!”

“There has been some disagreement about whether or not we should kill him.”

“WHAT?”

“Some of us think he might persuade the others to stay away.”

“What do you think, Sir?”

Drey shrugged, “I say kill them all. However, it’s been decided that we will attack his fleet and try not to kill his ship.”

“That is not going to be easy.”

“Nothing about space warfare is ever easy. However, we believe his ship is at the center of the fleet, so we’re going to hit his fleet with a massive missile barrage and your ships will go in and take out one ship each. Do you think you can do that?”

Chip blew out a breath and shook his head in frustration, “I guess.”

“I want this done quickly. Your ships are the best we have; I want them to demonstrate to that Invader that he should not come back.”

“How long is it until they arrive at open space?”

“One day.” Drey looked over to the side, “Actually, twenty two hours and ten minutes.”

Chip smiled, “You’ve allowed them to get close to getting away to teach them a lesson.”

“I have; I want you to hit them at the very last moment.”

Chip’s display went dark and he contacted Mikki and Lilly and played the recording of his conversation with Drey. Mikki’s eyes narrowed, “How many ships are in each of those two fleets?”

“The one you’ll be hitting has a hundred and twenty thousand main battleships.”

“And the one Lilly is hitting?”

“A hundred and fifty thousand.”

Chip saw Mikki’s anger at not being given the larger target. Chip said, “I will be going in with Lilly’s Strike Force.”

Mikki’s expression immediately changed and she realized Chip was giving her a huge vote of confidence to send her in alone for the attack. She smiled and said, “How do you want to do this?”

“We are having two hundred thousand Green and Grey Civilizations’ ships fire a massive Neutron Missile barrage when they are an hour away from open space. Our Strike Fleets will follow that barrage in and each ship will destroy one ship each.”

Lilly sighed, “Sir, I’ve watched what’s been happening at the other attacks and I thought we would be used on the toughest assignments. We could have made a difference in preventing the destruction of numerous planets. This is the easiest task of all those I’ve seen.”

Chip stared at Lilly and finally nodded, “You’re right. However, we are tasked with sending a message to those that are coming to kill us. That message must be in a form they can understand and I believe this should do it. I don’t believe any other fleet can do this as well as our two. I suspect, if there is a next time, we’ll be used differently.” Chip looked at his panel, “Get with the Green and Grey Controllers and coordinate the attack timetable.”

Lilly and Mikki nodded and Chip’s display went dark. He wondered what the Invader Commander was thinking.

***

The Senior Father had watched all the reports come in and knew his family was close to being exterminated. He had turned his fleet around and wondered why he had not been attacked. His First Daughter’s mate had also not been attacked. There had to be a reason for that and he worried about what it might be. His family had killed millions of the defenders but the price was too high. He never should have entered the huge area of disrupted space around the targeted planets; but he knew he would be censured by the High Council if he didn’t. Those small Green Ships and those missiles were horrifying. Those missiles could be burned away and whatever they carried still survived to hit his fleets. More lives were lost to the shocks of the missile hits than the beams that completed the destruction of the damaged ships. His Second-in-Command had been right; he didn’t have enough information to make the attack and it was clear that this galaxy had united against him. He heard, “One hour to jump, Father.” He nodded and then all hell broke loose.

***

Chip activated the general frequency and waited until Salud announced everyone was on the channel. “I want to make sure all of you understand what your assignment is during the coming two engagements. You will only attack one Invader ship. I repeat; only one ship. You will also stay away from the center of the Invader formation. If anyone violates these restrictions, they will be court-marshaled. Get in, get out. Only hit the ships on the edges of the target fleet and I’ll be reviewing the video afterwards.” Chip looked at his chronometer, “The missile barrage will begin in fifteen minutes. Admirals Lambert and Martin, please jump your Strike Fleets to their attack coordinates and make me proud.”

***

Chip jumped in next to Lilly’s ship and watched her hundred thousand ships form up into four equally sized groups. Chip pressed his communicator and heard Lilly say, “We’re attacking from all sides of the Invader’s formation to avoid having to go too far into their ranks.”

Chip nodded and watched the four groups organize faster than he expected. These pilots were good. “Lilly, I need you to provide me a list of pilots to form the nucleus of a new Strike Fleet.”

Lilly didn’t like hearing that, “How many are you going to need?”

“I’ll need three thousand from your ranks and an equal number from Mikki’s.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Lilly, don’t even think about sending anyone but your best; this new fleet needs as much experience as possible. They have to get up to speed quickly.”

“Who’s going to command it?”

“I’m actually forming two fleets and Bang will command the first and I need a suggestion from you and Mikki as to who will command the second.”

“Keep your eye on Max and Claire during the coming action, Sir. I think you’ll find them impressive.”

“Send me their transponder codes.” Chip looked at his board and saw the two codes, “Salud, track these two pilots during the attack.”

“I’ve locked one of my sensors on each of them.”

Chip saw the giant Invader Fleet rushing toward the edge of disrupted space and then the hundred thousand Thetas disappeared.

***

The Senior Father stared at his display as a massive wave of missiles bore in on his fleet at an incredible speed. The fleet barely had time to fire their beams at the incoming wave and it didn’t come close to stopping them. The Neutron Warheads continued into the ranks of the escaping Invader Fleet and tens of thousands of ships were rocked violently out of formation. The giant wave of missiles was immediately followed by thousands of small Green Ships that had proven to be so deadly in the other attacks. In less than three minutes, two thirds of the Invader fleet was killed. The fifty thousand that finally crossed into open space and jumped away knew they could have been killed but were allowed to leave.

The Senior Father watched the destruction of his fleet and fully expected to die. When his ship entered open space and jumped away he wondered why he had been allowed to survive. After a few moments of reflection, he knew the answer. They expect me to convince the others to stay away, he thought. He shook his head and knew that suggestion would be ignored by the High Council. He left the bridge and went to his personal quarters and wept for the loss of his family. He stayed there until his ship arrived at the location of his transports. There he waited to be summoned by the Council. He no longer cared if he lived or died.

***

Mikki watched the attack on the other Invader fleet with the same results as the first one. She knew her ships were superior to the Invader’s battleships and, where the numbers were even, the Invaders would lose every time. However, the next time the numbers were not going to be anywhere close to even. She hated allowing the core of the Invader Fleet to escape but she followed her orders. She watched the destruction of thousands of Invader Battleships and wondered what the Alliance’s leaders were going to do to survive the next invasion. She watched the Invader survivors jump away and sent a copy of the attack to Admiral Robinson and Euclid. She was sure Moe had already sent it where it needed to be seen but followed standard Fleet Protocols.

“Admiral, I’m having the fleet reform and, with your permission, I’d like to send them out to the planets that were attacked and see if we’re needed to help clean up.”

“Stand by, Bang.” Mikki sent a message to Chip and he approved Bang’s suggestion. Mikki noticed that Lilly was also sending her ships out. Thank goodness for Bang; he made her job so much easier. She really depended on him.

***

The Survivors of the invasion limped home and of the nearly billion ships that had left to attack the large galaxy, only thirty million made it back. The family’s Grandfather appeared on the Father’s display and his shock was evident, “This is just not possible.”

The Father stared at him for a long moment and then said, “I’ve done my best to warn you about what could happen by going into that galaxy without proper intelligence. That Green Ship the council called harmless killed millions of my ships. My family is decimated and we don’t have enough numbers remaining to have a seat on the council. WHY DIDN’T YOU LISTEN!!”

The Grandfather hung his head. All the clues were there and he had refused to believe what he was seeing. He looked at his panel, “We have been summoned to meet with the council.”

“Where do I send my surviving ships?”

“I don’t know; I suspect we’re about to find out.”

The Father watched the display grow dark as his Daughter rushed in on the bridge and wrapped herself around him. He felt her embrace and he was glad he had not allowed her to go. She was expecting a child and he had ordered her to command the transports. She sighed, “What is going to happen to us?”

“I don’t know, Child.”

***

The Leader of the High Council was outraged at what had happened in the attack but was also very happy that the Grandfather, who was now his most powerful opponent for being sent to that galaxy alone, had lost his seat on the council. He knew the Grandfather would seek retribution against him if he still had a place on the Council. He and his surviving ships would have to be eliminated to prevent them becoming a threat. He would soon be executed for his massive failure and could no longer threaten his position. He entered the Council Chamber and said, “You will come forward with your Senior Father.” The Grandfather and his oldest Son stood and moved into the center of the large room. “You have failed abysmally in your attack and are now stripped of your position on the High Council. You and the pitiful remnants of your family will be executed for your failure.” The Leader turned to the members of the Council and said, “All in favor, please rise.”

“Before we take a vote on this, I request to speak.”

The Leader turned and saw the Senior Father who led the first attacks against the huge galaxy standing.

“I have requested a vote.”

A Senior Grandfather said, “I want to hear what he has to say before I vote on this.”

The Leader saw many in the room nod and knew he’d lose the vote if he called for it. “Speak and don’t waste our time.”

The Senior Father’s Grandfather was surprised at his request to address the Council. He wondered what he was doing.

“I am going to exercise my right as the ranking Senior Father in my family and adopt all the survivors of the invasion into my personal family.”

His Grandfather was shocked along with all the other members of the Council. He leaned over and whispered, “What are you doing!?!”

The Father looked at his Grandfather, “The right thing.”

The Leader was furious. By adopting the survivors of the failed invasion, they would not be executed. The request was inviolate and had not been used in more than a hundred thousand years.

***

The Father and Grandfather of the defeated Family looked at the Senior Father that had adopted their family. The Father saw his savior staring at him and he nodded. He was one that he could follow. His Grandfather went over to the two and lowered his head, “I am not deserving of this blessing.” He looked at the Grandfather, “I will submit myself to be executed for my earlier actions against you in the Council. Your family is an example for all of us. Forgiveness is so rare in our culture. I am truly sorry for what I did.”

The Grandfather listened to his former rival and decided that his Son had made a good decision. Those survivors would be invaluable in preparing for another invasion. He looked at his Son and gave a slight nod. Their brief exchange was interrupted by their Leader yelling, “You will weaken your family by adopting these weaklings. I ask you to reconsider.”

The Family’s Grandfather stood and said, “They fought bravely and deserve a home. We will accept them into our family with full rights.”

The members of the Council saw the Leader’s rage. He glared at the two defeated leaders standing in the center of the chamber and yelled, “Get out of here. Your presence is offensive.”

The two turned with their heads down and the adopting Father stood and left with them. The Leader didn’t know it, but his power had been diminished by his behavior. Everyone in the room had viewed the recordings of the failed invasion and knew that none of them would have survived if it had been them sent to invade.

The Leader turned back to the Council and snarled, “We will recess for a day to consider what to do next against that troublesome galaxy.” He stormed out of the room, leaving the Councilors to discuss his behavior.

***

The Senior Father looked at the former High Councilor, “I will accept you into my family but I think you should know that your presence will cause some difficulty.”

“I am aware of that possibility and I will not allow it to happen.”

“How will you prevent it?”

“I will perform the Kum Shara this evening.” He turned to his Son, “I request you assist me.”