They Answered The Call

Eleani System, 2173 A.D.

It has been eight solar months since the Battle of Eleania, and I can barely recognize my own home. After the battle ended, tens of thousands of our civilian ships streamed out of our world and their hiding places deep in the system to help the Republic fleet search for survivors among the wreckage and bring their wounded to our medical centers.

What remained of our contingent that was detached from the Commonwealth fleet arrived a day after the battle, limping into the system and in no shape to fight after their prior combat against the Insectoids in Commonwealth space. They received a hero’s welcome, and the Republic fleet, seeing the sad state that they were in and their willingness to confront the Insectoid fleet alone, rendered them honors.

The Republic fleet lined up on both sides of the assigned course for tens of thousands of kilometers, displaying their battle colors and firing training rounds in salute as the pitiful remnants of our defense forces passed through them and headed towards our world. This heartfelt gesture from the victorious Republic fleet was deeply appreciated by our people and the crews of the returning ships.

A week after the battle, a large convoy of hundreds of freighters arrived from Republic space, bringing much-needed supplies to restock and refit their ships. There was another smaller convoy of massive fabricator ships that also arrived, and within two solar months, they already had three Republic shipyards built in orbit around our planet.

The fabricator ships worked nonstop, supplied by a continuous stream of ore that was extracted from our two asteroid belts by automated mining drone ships. They refined the ore and fabricated the components that would construct the shipyards and, later on, the defense systems the Republic constructed to fortify our system.

The damaged ships that could still enter null space headed back to Republic space for repair and refit, while the more heavily damaged ones remained in the system, effecting what repairs they could until the shipyards came online. When I commented on how impressed I was that they could build three military shipyards in such a short time, sirefather laughed before explaining to me that this was nothing.

He told me that the Republic had over two hundred such shipyards in their space, rendering me speechless. I asked him why they would have so many when they haven’t fought a conflict in over 100 cycles, and he remarked, “The humans have a saying. If you want peace, prepare for war.”

I couldn’t fathom the vast war machine they had at their disposal, especially compared to the Commonwealth, which used to be almost four times as large as the Republic and only had twenty shipyards dedicated to building warships.

This was the first time I had a concept of just how little I really knew about the people who saved us. After they finished constructing their shipyards, they also built two more military shipyards to Eleani specifications so that we could build our own warships since we could not count on using the Commonwealth shipyards anymore.

This caused considerable turmoil within the government and our people, as we were one of the first periphery members and have been in the Commonwealth for almost two hundred cycles. There were numerous debates, and a majority of the population could not seem to come to terms with leaving the Commonwealth despite the betrayal.

The final act that forever cut our ties with the Commonwealth happened three lunar months after the battle. An official Commonwealth government envoy arrived at the Eleani system and had the gall to tell us we were overdue on our taxes and threatened to sanction us for allowing a foreign military to establish a presence in our system.

Our government dithered, seeming unwilling to end our membership despite their betrayal and leaving us to face the Insectoids on our own. It was Admiral Thompson who decided the issue for us when our government requested that he intervene.

The Admiral, after conferring with the Republic government, sent a message to the Commonwealth envoy. The message was just two words: “Get Bent," and Republic task forces surrounded the Commonwealth ships with weapons charged and locked.

They escorted the Commonwealth ships under protest to the outer system and told them that any further violations of Eleani territorial space would be an act of war. The envoy threatened dire repercussions for both the Republic and Eleania before their ships flashed into null space.

After they left, the admiral wrote a short letter to the Eleani people that was disseminated by our government. In the letter, he explained his actions and the reasons for them.

My friends,

I wish to explain to you why I removed the Commonwealth Envoy from your space. After almost two hundred years of loyalty to the Commonwealth government, they showed their true nature when you needed them the most.

You answered their request for more ships, stripping your home world of the defense fleet that was guarding you, and sent them to the core worlds to do your part. When the insectoids changed course and you were faced with extinction, they callously declined your pleas for aid.

For almost two centuries, your government faithfully paid the taxes that were levied upon you and followed the laws that were crafted on the Commonwealth capital over a thousand light years away. You fulfilled your duty as Commonwealth citizens, and when the time came for the government to fulfill its end of the bargain, they failed to uphold their promise of protection and fidelity.

They have proven to be unworthy of your loyalty, and they do not deserve citizens such as you. The Commonwealth has lost all rights to govern you, and we will vigorously defend your newfound independence until the time you no longer require us to do so.

Admiral Karl Thompson.

After the letter circulated among the population, our reluctance to break away from the Commonwealth disappeared now that we knew the Republic would stand by us for as long as we needed them too. The following two solar months were a whirlwind of activity as hundreds of thousands of humans landed on Eleania to help integrate Republic systems and technology into our own to streamline our cooperative efforts.

Republic and Eleani scientists were scouring the wreckage of the insectoid ships, trying to glean insights into their technology and ships to prepare for the coming battles and develop better armor and more effective weapons systems. Sirefather returned to his old post to serve as Ambassador to the Republic as our government started negotiations to determine what type of relationship we would have with the Republic going forward.

A large percentage of our executive council and the population wanted to join the Republic, but surprisingly, it was the humans themselves who quietly rejected this proposal, stating that we should know what it is to be truly free and stand on our own two feet before making that decision.

President Lopez made her first official visit for the memorial service held on the sixth lunar month anniversary of the battle. I always marveled at the variety of sizes, shapes, and colors the humans displayed, but I was not expecting her size when I saw her walking down the ramp to greet our leadership.

She was shorter than most humans I had seen and small-framed, but her presence and sense of purpose made her seem like she was larger than everyone else. I learned later that she served twenty years as a Pathfinder, one of the most lethal operators in the Republic military.

For the ceremony, the large number of killed and missing made it impossible to hold a traditional reading of the names. Instead, our government asked for permission to honor them in the Eleani way, and the humans agreed. In the central square of our capital, there were over half a million Eleani citizens and hundreds of thousands of humans, while in the surrounding districts, there were millions more citizens.

It was the largest gathering in the history of our planet, and we could see on the holo wave screens that the same thing was happening all over the world in every major city, town, and village.

The ceremony started, and the loudest silence I ever heard enveloped me. Slowly, by the thousands, small holographic globes of light rose and hovered above the crowd. The lights got larger and transformed into the shapes of the heads and upper torsos of the humans they represented, displaying their names, ages, and the ships they served on.

After a few moments, they returned to being globes of light and started ascending towards the sky until they sped up and burst into spears of light that shot into space, as if joining the heavens themselves. Another batch of thousands of globes arose, and then another. This continued until the last lights joined the heavens and all 167,538 dead and missing had made their journey.

The emotional undercurrent was so strong that you could feel it in the air as the millions of attendees grieved and the human and Eleani delegations openly wept.

The next day, President Lopez addressed the Executive Council and laid forth her vision. She called for the creation of a military exchange program to integrate our forces and train the Eleani in what she called the “Republic Way” by posting Eleani ship crews on human vessels. She also called for the creation of the first class of Eleani cadets who will travel to the Republic and undergo their training program.

She requested for the Executive Council to adopt a wartime posture and reconfigure their economy, declaring the Battle of Eleania only the first of many battles to come. She then showed the council recent intelligence from stealth spy drones that had infiltrated Insectoid space, showing thousands upon thousands of ships in various stages of construction on several worlds.

The spy drones also showed the Insectoids still had ships patrolling their space that were equivalent to twice the size of the fleet that invaded the Commonwealth.

She waited until the council absorbed the information and then started speaking. “We lost over 1,000 ships and 1,500 fighters, but we cannot afford to wait. The Republic does not start wars, but we do finish them.” She paused, looking around the council with a penetrating gaze.

She continued speaking. “We do not believe in the concept of a defensive war once engaged with the enemy. The Commonwealth did, and look where that got them. We believe in striking hard and fast, and we will always move forward. The only way to win is to drive into the heart of the enemy and destroy their ability to make war.”

Finished with what she had to say, she put away her papers and opened the floor for questions. None came. She then dropped a bombshell into the chamber. “Before you deliberate, I have one good piece of news." She looked around the chamber again, a small smile creeping onto her face before continuing to speak.

"There is a Xenxin delegation on its way to Eleania, and it should arrive in two days. The Xenxin ended their membership with the Commonwealth when they found out you were abandoned and seized control of all Commonwealth military vessels within their territory. They are bringing those ships with them and are also coming to form an alliance and to sign a mutual defense pact with the Republic and the Eleani sovereignty.”

There were loud hoots of approval from the council interspersed with laughter, as the Xenxin were well known to be an unruly member and a constant source of exasperation to the Commonwealth government.

President Lopez left the chamber, and as the council deliberated, sirefather took me outside for fresh air. “You will reach the age of decision in two lunar months and go from a youngling to growing your first gray hairs that mark a manling. Do you know what you are to do?” he asked, looking at me earnestly.

I had already made my decision, but I put on a good show of thinking about it before I answered. I looked him in the eyes and puffed out my chest, banging it twice with my fists. “I want to join the cadet class and fight for our world.” As I felt the words leave me, I deflated a little, feeling the weight of what I just said hit me and pull down my momentary courage.

Sirefather beamed at me with pride and hugged me, whispering into my ear, “You are the greatest gift a sirefather could ever ask for. I am proud of you.” He let me go and turned away, tears falling down his face. “Please do not tell birthmother yet. I will break the news to her when the time is right.”

We walked back into the chamber together, having passed through that moment when a sirefather loses a youngling but gains a manling.

Two lunar months later, I am now on a Republic cruiser, waiting with the rest of my cadet class to flash out. I am looking at a holographic overlay of my home system, and I find myself in awe. I went from being convinced that we were all going to die to looking at my home system and feeling bad for the Insectoids if they ever came back.

There are hundreds of warships patrolling the system, while hundreds more are patrolling interstellar space within two hundred light-years. Dozens of massive forts defend the system, and there are thousands of defense satellites and millions of what the humans call mosquito mines, because they just come out of nowhere and bite you.

As I watch the flash-out countdown get closer to zero, I think back to this morning and see my birthmother wringing her hands in apprehension, afraid that her youngling is going to come back blood-lusted. I see my sirefather looking at me with pride and gifting me his pilot wings. I look at all the frightened Eleani cadets around me who are thinking the same thoughts as I am.

Out of nowhere, a crazed human in uniform comes running at us, with bulging veins on his forehead and his eyes looking like they want to pop out of his skull. He is screaming at us and we flinch as his spittle sprays across our faces, not understanding what is happening and wondering if this is what a human who has lost his mind looks like.

He hits his forehead, seeming to remember something, and activates the translator device hanging off his harness. Suddenly, his words hit us like hammers as the translator kicked in.

“I am your drill instructor, and you have five goddamn seconds to get to your berths before I rip your monkey heads off your necks and use your esophagus as a fucking urinal! Move! Move! Move!” We scattered and ran for our lives, not knowing where the hell we were supposed to go.