The Black

The Bridge of Tranquility fell totally silent for a full minute after the hail was terminated and the Massive Ship winked from existence.

“Was that...” Mac began.

“A Tetrarchy ship…. No one has seen one in a millennium.” Lyri spoke barely above a whisper.

“Save all the sensor data, I want to send everything we have back to Sol in the next transmission.” Admiral Gwen snapped everyone out of their stupor.

“Admiral, the Head of the Confederation Council is requesting to meet.” Came a voice from Coms.

“Ask for coordinates, and tell him we will be there in two hours,” the Admiral turned to Clint, “You have the fleet, Commodore. Deploy us defensively into high orbit stay between the planet and the systems beacon.”

“Yes Admiral.” Clint snapped off a salute.

“Captain, I’m having a car sent to your airstrip to take you to the council meeting. I want you and the lead of 303 wings as escorts down to the surface. I have some information I need to pick up from my planet-side quarters before I meet with the council.”

“Aye Ma’am” Mac spun on his heels with Lyrian close behind.

An hour later, The Admiral turned Ambassador touched down and Gwen quickly retrieved a packet from her room.

The Car was waiting for her on the balcony pad next to Vito.

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Two days later Ivar was returning to the Grarzia airfield to pick up his Ranger to return it to the Wing’s hanger. His ranger had taken some damage but was not leaking any critical fluids. She had a few scars on her wings from laser fire burning off some of the armor, and his vertical stabilizer has 4 separate holes. He was just finishing his walk around as he heard thunder crackling on a clear morning sky. He raised an eyebrow at the familiar sonic booms of re-entry, but these were closer. Another set of booms shook the hanger and Ivar walked out of the hanger to look down the runway. Three Fighters of a make he had never seen before roared overhead just below the speed of sound. They traveled the length of the Runway at treetop level before soaring out over the water and reversing course for landing.

“Ah, I was hoping you would be here for this.” Ivar jumped at the utterly infernally silent approach of Mackenzie as he finally spoke from where he was leaned up against the hanger door behind Ivar.

“Fuck Mac, I’m not going to get used to your Apex slinkin’ ass creepin' up on me. Who are they?”

“The Volunteer Interceptor Pratrol and Extrasolar Reaction Squadron. They worked way too hard to be ‘VIPER squadron’. They are split into 3 flights of three with one bird in reserve for whichever mission needs a little extra kick.” Mac explained. He pulled out a square box with a long antenna that Ivar realized was a portable radio of some kind

“VIPER 1-1, VIPER 1-1, This is COBRA 224. Runway 23 is clear at your discretion. Welcome to Delmar.” Mac spoke into the transmitter and released the button on the side.

*Maldito infierno (Fuckin Hell). Speak of the legend, himself. This your Casa?* Came the return call over the radio.

“Chika, That you? I thought you would be on a beach in the south of Italy by now!” Mac laughed at the very confused Expression on Ivar’s face.

*Airlines weren’t hiring, not enough people left to make it worth it… I wasn’t gonna sit my ass in a desk the rest of my Career. Viper 1-1 flight of three short final 23. See you in 5 Cobra 224* the voice over the radio answered.

Three Raptor II’s swept down toward the approach end of the runway and landed as one. Raptor II’s were a Pre GSW design that proved that very little was new in the world of single-seat fighter design. Everything forward of the wing root could be a carbon copy of the Venerable Raptor of the early twenty first century. That’s where the similarities ended. For 1 the Raptor II’s were roughly 50 meters longer, and they had no rudder and elevator combination. They had a Long thin forward-swept wing with a retractable Cannard for interstellar flight. They carried their ordinance internally like a TALON but were not designed to work outside of a carrier. They had a much smaller fusion core and only had a single Primary Drive for thrust. Their twin vertical stabilizers for yaw control in atmosphere folded into the wings during Space flight and for storage. They were long, lean, and dangerous, and Ivar gave a small whistle as they taxi’d up to the hanger and shut down.

“Chika?” he asked Mac.

“Captain Martina Aquilar formerly of the Terran Super Carrier Enterprise SVF-6 fighter wing. We spent quite a bit of time in the same piece of Black together. TALONS operated as fleet screening fighters, and Enterprise was in my charge for many a mission.” Mac explained as the three pilots climbed out of their steeds and did a quick walk around before walking towards Mac and Ivar.

Ivar was not quite familiar with Human Naming conventions and took a massive double take as the Curves in the lead pilots G suit registered. His eyes widened as Captain Aquilar pulled off her helmet and shook out her shoulder-length raven black hair.

“Cabron! Your survival instincts are trash! Come here.” She bellowed her challenge, and Ivar took a step back as the two collided in a big embrace before she let go of Mac and gave his shoulder a slap, “How the fuck am I supposed to pass your ass if you go and find AN ENTIRE MOTHA-FUCKIN GALAXY for humanity to fight.” She dodged a playful swipe from Mac and then Gave Ivar a smile followed by a wink, “He’s cute. Tall too.”

“Down Chika, you would probably break him in half. You never change.” Mac laughed, “How many more you got comin’.”.

“The rest of the Squadron; we got a shuttle following the rest down. I wanted to come check over the strip first. Not bad for a single approach with an early decision point.”

“It will have to do for now. The Delmar like their jungle, I barely got them to clear enough for this.” Mac chuckled just as a few more booms echoed through the trees and more Human Fighters began their strange landing process. Ivar was torn between watching the fighters land and watching ‘Captain Martina’ finish waving in the rest of the fighters. She caught him staring and pointedly looked him up and down with a playful lower lip bite.

“Be careful with that one.” Ivar jumped as Mac had somehow snuck directly up behind his left shoulder, “She’s not one to trifle with. I haven’t seen the man yet to tame that Latina. Humans don’t have a Claiming, some have a very different view of Intimacy than the Delmar.” Mac clamped him on the shoulder., “Now! Get your bird in the air! Don’t you dare be late for the Meet and greet party.”

Ivar nodded and boarded his own Ranger. He initiated Hover taxi mode and crept his bird out of the hanger. He noticed Captain Martina watching his Ranger leave and gave a quick Salute he had seen Mac use on occasion before sealing the cockpit and roaring for home.

“Are all Delmar that Gorgeous?” Mac turned from watching Ivar depart as Martina stepped up beside him.

“Be careful Chika, these people are very different from us. They don’t have flings, at all. Try not to flirt too much till you get the Cultural briefing. Compreder?”

“I read ya. I’ll keep the international incidents to a minimum.” Her Feral Grin Made Mac bark a laugh.

“Oh boy, fair enough. Let’s get…” Mac was interrupted by Lyri walking around the corner of the hangar to investigate all the commotion. He waved her over.

Martina raised an eyebrow in surprise as a drop-dead gorgeous Delmar woman bounded over to Mac before he scooped her up with a spin and planted a deep kiss on her. She nipped his chin with her cat like fangs before he set her down. ‘holy fuck, she’s gorgeous’

“Hey love, meet an old friend. Captain Martina ‘Chika’ Aquilar. She’s commanding the Fighter Squadron on Tranquility. We’ve lost count on who has saved who a long time ago” Mac indicated to Martina.

“I thought you said to take things easy here on the intimacy side?” Martina gently teased.

“Ha, well Martina Aquilar; Meet Lyrian ‘Fizz’ Mackenzie Grarzia. My bride.” Mac’s grin only widened as the shock nearly flattened Martina.

“Well, shit!” Martina said, finally switching to Galactic common, “I... uh... congrats... uh Congratulations” She stumbled through the unmastered language before Lyri smiled and saved her.

“Thank you Captain, I appreciate the well wishes.” Lyri responded in perfect English.

“Oh thank fuck! I don’t do well with Languages outside of Spanish and Murican.” Martina gasped in relief. Lyrian chuckled.

The shuttle they were waiting on set down and the fighter Squadron plus two boarded for the flight to the hall.

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Ambassador Gwen turned and raised an eyebrow as The Hall’s great doors opened and a clamoring of Delmar and Human Fighter pilots tumbled in laughing and Haranguing ‘I guess some things are truly universal’ she thought as she turned back to her conversation with Druvid and Darclemus.

“I’ve looked over your sensor data. I still can’t believe that your ships were capable of piercing the Tetrarchy Shields with their sensors.” Druvid continued their previous conversation, “The readings during its… departure… are interesting, to say the least.”

“Indeed, the fact that The Tetrarchy ship did not use a beacon point will be a subject of great investigation for both our people’s scientific minds. For now, I wish to discuss what we have brought with us. I’m aware that I was painting with broad strokes during my meeting with the council, but I wish to get specific with a more, discrete audience.” She smiled, but there was very little humor in her expression.

“You believe there to be an infiltration of the Confederation council?” Druvid was more than slightly offended.

“Chancellor, we still don’t know how the inquisitorial Fleet knew that you were attacked. Until we know where they got their information, I trust few. Both of you have earned that trust.” She took a breath, “ Frankly, we got lucky. Sol had the reports, but we had no true confirmation of the status of our technology vs that of the rest of the Galactic Unity. It's one of the reasons we put an Eros in every expeditionary fleet. The Eros Class warships are, well, overkill for almost anything out here but a planet-born defensive network.” She took a sip as the two men pondered her words.

“I find it concerning. I have seen the disclosed Power Generation numbers from your ships… Quite Frankly, I would not have believed them without the Battle recordings from both firing events of Hathcock. Anyway, what details are you wishing to bring forth.” Darclemus mentioned.

“We have an unmanned freighter, It was sent on a delay at the last minute. It contains a significant amount of Technology that we are offering for our end of the deal…. Including slip drives We think may be capable of being installed on Delmar ships.” She held up her hand to preempt the shocked comments of the two men, “We did not mention this in the official negotiations because we do not know if this will work. We took your Fusion Generator information at face value, and we believe that we have designed something that will only just get you into slip space with your power requirements. We have some requests though. We do not want these installed on any Freighters… This tech will revolutionize Space travel in this part of the galaxy. It CANNOT fall into the hands of the Unity… This, Humanity cannot allow; at least not yet. What we propose in exchange for slipdrive technology is a Joint Human, Delmar response fleet. We want to work together to build a series of hybrid fleets that will eventually be capable of responding to any Confederation or Human Freighter anywhere between Sol and the Far side of the Unity.” Ambassador Qwen explained.

“Human freighters?” Druvid said nervously. “You plan to bring human freighters to this side of the galaxy?”

“Yes, and No. We currently have untold worlds and systems that Humanity needs to explore, clear for threats, make treaties with, or avoid between Sol and Delmar space. Human Freighters are being built with Slip-drive technology only. That will be needed to traverse the vast distances required quickly during our early exploration. We wish to make Delmar the Hub, a conversion point, where Human Freighters can make their transfer point to Delmar Freight to go to the rest of the galaxy. You are our buffer, even our most basic freighters could change the balance of power between Sol and The Unity, if they were to be captured. What I am proposing is this. Human-flagged Freighters will operate between Delmar and Sol, and Delmar Freighters will operate as they have.”

“I noticed you mentioned, ‘Delmar flagged’ and ‘Human Flagged’. Are you offering what I think you are offering? Darclemus had set his drink down now.

“Yes. It is my hope, that in the coming years and Decades of our Alliance, that Both Human and Delmar serve and even command ship under each Flag. Humanity needs to learn about the greater galaxy; to gain real-world experience. Delmar Needs free of Unity control, free of the UGN’s abuse of power. Humanity has the experience to do that. My plan is to Succeed in Gaining Delmar Independence with as little bloodshed as possible. I may fail, but that is my goal.” She nodded solemnly.

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“… and so here I am, covered in Jaru Soda, with my whole family pointing at me with Mac laughing his ass off. and thus, I became ‘Fizz’.” Lyrian finished to howling applause. The entire Terran Fighter squadron, the Old Salts that had chosen to Sit this season out, and the Survivors from Home Wing and 303 Wing had invaded a three-table area, pushing them together and were currently telling drinking stories.

“So! Chika.. You’re next!!” Lyrian was a bit buzzed, but not slurring yet

“Oh you bitch!” Martina laughed before draining the rest of her Delmar Beer of some Autumn flavor of theirs, “I think I hold the record for the quickest given call sign here.”

Mac just started laughing, before drowning it in tug from his own beer bottle, “Oh gawd, but you gave such a great effort!” he didn’t quite dodge Martina’s hook to his ribs, “OOF!!”

“So, I decided that first impressions were the best, so I walked into the training building on my first day of indoctrination…. Dressed to the nines. Silky black dress, hair done, nails done, professionally done makeup… I got put down HARD in basic, but the day one name stuck as my DI dubbed me ‘Chika’ and well, here I am!” She laughed as Ivar pointedly took a loooong swig at the mental image.

“I remember Di Rios. That crazy fucker never did know when to quit.” Clint stepped into an open seat, flipping it around to straddle it and lean on its back rest. “He turned into a Dam good Commander….”

“He was… “Mac stated somberly, “He was my First C.O. He lost his Wizzo on Clint and I’s fist mission. He couldn’t handle the trauma from being linked to Buzz when he died…”

Clint nodded, digging in his backpack, “A toast then!” he slammed a bottle that Mac and Lyrian were familiar with.. an unopened bottle of Jeremiah Weed.

A quick explanation and shot glasses were circled around, each commander of each squadron naming their fallen before Mac lit the First glass watching the flame spread.

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“FOX 2!!!” came the roar of the rowdy table across the room as Icario chuckled into his drink. Humans and Delmar were mingled all around the Hall, The Party would go long into the night. The Human Warship Crews were being Ferried down in shifts so that they could all participate. Ambassador Gwen’s fleet continued to hold vigil over Delmar as the Confederation defense forces licked their wounds. Icario’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft familiar voice at his side.

Tili laid a hand softly on his arm, “How are Tristen and Silu…”

“Tristen will make it fine. His new arm is almost done growing. His eye is unrecoverable. There is too much thermal damage to the brain side of the optical nerve. There is simply not enough to work off of for the nanites.” Icario patted her hand.

“And Silu?” She whispered.

“Not good, the organs he needs take time to grow… He is barely hanging on… it's in the Void's hands until his replacements finish growing.” Icario whispered back.

“I’m sorry, You two went through everything together... I will pray for him” She gave him a nuzzle on his neck.

“At this point, I’m willing to join you in the old ways. He needs everything he can get.” Icario nodded.