After all this time, our hero and villain finally meet, face to face.
Blue Whale King got up and looked around the obsidian throne room. Laughing Fish stood at the feet of the throne, holding a strange metal cylinder. There was nobody else in the room.
"I've heard a lot about you, Blue Whale King, AKA Horseman of War," said the humanoid Great White Shark in a genderbent Cinder Fall cosplay. "You destroyed my fleet, killed many of my best agents, stole this Subreddit's second planet, and overall been the greatest thorn in the Goddess Cinder's side since Raven Branwen and Ruby Rose."
"You flatter me," Blue replied. "It's all true, but how can I accept praise from a monster like you? Reno Wolf, Cayde T. Spade, TvTrope SuperWiki, Penguino, so many other friends and allies of mine, not to mention all those civilians in r/fnki, dead at your forces' hands. And your so-called goddess murdered ours, the Great Goddess Pyrrha Nikos, and destroyed a home I never got to know!" He pulled his plasma pistol from his belt and pointed it at Laughing Fish. "I ought to gun you down where you stand!"
The shark only laughed. "You want to talk about destroying homes? One of your previous incarnations led the war that wiped out Megalodon, the greatest shark to ever live and an ancestor of mine. My people on our shared homeworld have to settle for scavenging dead whales and steering clear of live ones, when you should be the ones bowing to us!"
It was Whale's turn to laugh. "Megalodon, your ancestor? Don't be absurd. Your species were nowhere near as closely related as people think. And if there ever was any Megalodon DNA in the Great White Shark lineage, it has been diluted to irrelevance by now." He turned the safety off on his plasma pistol.
"Maybe," said Laughing Fish. "But I still have their fighting spirit, and I will not let you destroy my new home here. If you're not the ruthless savage that my people think you are, then let's settle this like gentlemen." He pressed a button on the silver cylinder, and a glowing red blade extended from it.
"Very well," Whale replied. "Never let it be said that I have less class than my enemies. I won't shoot you apart, but I'm going to turn you into sushi!" He folded in the handle of his gun, changing it to sword mode, and turned it on. A blade of purple plasma extended to match Laughing Fish's red one. The light from the two glowing swords joined the torchlight in reflecting off the polished floor, walls, and ceiling.
"It's only sushi if it's not cooked, these plasma blades wouldn't allow that," Laughing Fish said.
"I'll let my chefs handle the technicalities, then feed you to Penguino's family!" Whale replied, and swung his glowing purple sword at Laughing Fish. It hummed as it moved through the air, and made a clashing noise as the red blade parried it.
"You're going to have me eaten?" Laughing Fish asked as he swung back. "I thought you said you had class."
Whale blocked with his sword. "You're lucky I didn't blast you to bits. I only said I had more class than you. I have no doubt you'd eat me raw yourself, no preparation at all!" He swung harder, making Laughing Fish stagger as he blocked.
"You're not wrong," the shark replied, stepping to the side and trying to strike at Whale's back. His plasma sword cut off a corner of Whale's purple cloak, but Whale ducked to avoid any bodily harm. While Whale was down, he slashed at Laughing Fish's knees, but his target jumped into the air, folding his legs up.
Whale performed an overhead stroke with even more force, but instead of blocking, Laughing Fish rolled to the side. "Face my blows like a man," Whale said. "Or are you not strong enough?"
"You're a Blue Whale," Laughing Fish replied, thrusting at Whale's heart. "That's hardly fair."
"Neither are dematerializing and rematerializing arrows," Whale said, parrying the glowing red sword. "But here we are!" He slashed at Laughing Fish's midsection. His target struggled to block the attack.
Just then, the doors to the throne room flew open with a loud bang. Blue Whale King and Laughing Fish both turned to see the source of the disturbance. Koanos and Ylissian Cordelia were there, both covered in soot and carrying various rodents on their shoulders.
"What?!" Whale exclaimed, looking at Koanos. "You're supposed to be dead. Nobody could survive that crash."
"I didn't, I got off in an escape pod," Koanos replied.
"And I evacuated before your forces destroyed the last cannon," General Cordelia said. "Thank you for noticing."
"Who are you again?" Whale asked.
"I'm General Ylissian Cordelia, the Co-Moderator of this Subreddit!"
She and Koanos pointed their guns at Whale. "You've underestimated us for the last time," said Koanos.
"No!" said Laughing Fish. "Lower your weapons. I'm dealing with this one."
"But-" Cordelia protested, but Laughing Fish cut her off.
"That is an order."
Koanos and Cordelia could only watch as Laughing Fish and Blue Whale King continued their duel.
In r/ArkosForever, things are going far more poorly.
The 27 capital ship Anti-Arkos Alliance Starfleet advanced, bombarding the secondary shield that the fighters of the Arkos Air Force were generating. Each barrage destroyed a handful of fighters, making the shield correspondingly weaker. Out of 75 fighters from the start, only 54 remained.
"We can't hold out much longer," said Squadron Commander Futtle Scish. "At this rate, our secondary shield will fail at any moment."
"Whale will be here soon," said the other Squadron Commander, Gastly Taipan. "We just need to give him a little more time. Hang in there!"
Meanwhile, Melanie Antiqua of Reading Rainbow had returned the troops from r/fnki back to r/ArkosForever, and was now free, along the crew of her troop transport, to attack the enemy fleet.
"Hey! You cut that out!" shouted Captain Slip Snap over the radio, as Melanie's ship bombarded his White Knight cruiser.
"No way," replied Jenny Doombringer, Melanie's sister in law and weapons officer.
"Why I'll-" Slip Snap started to reply, but a superior cut him off.
"Don't let her get to you," said General Torrasque of White Knight. "Anger is a weapon only to one's opponent."
"Shows what you know," Slip Snap muttered. "Aim all weapons at that annoying ship!"
His gunners ceased firing on the planet, and focused on the Reading Rainbow transport.
"Yarg, ROLL!" Melanie ordered, as she saw the increased barrage headed their way.
"I see it," Pilot Yarg Ama Frag replied, spinning the steering wheel faster than a top. Her cat ear flicking intensified as the ship did a barrel roll, dodging most of the enemy fire. A few shots hit the shields, but Yarg didn't wait for more. She flew the ship in increasingly complicated patterns, turning their ship's field of view into a kaleidoscope for those who didn't have her trained eyesight.
"Captain Slip Snap," said Inquisitor Rade Blunner of White Knight, "It's not worth it. Leave them alone and return to bombarding the enemy shield."
Slip Snap ignored the order, continuing to attack the fast and nimble Reading Rainbow ship.
"Just leave him," said Strategist Generic Usernaym of Lancaster. "We can finish this ourselves."
"We're ready," said Admiral Venom Ahab of Lancaster.
"Agreed," said Captain Paulternative , also of Lancaster.
"Our batteries are ready," said President McDouggal of Milk & Cereal.
"Very well," said Rade Blunner. "All vessels, fire a barrage of maximum firepower at the planet on my mark. Three, two, one, NOW!"
The death rays hit first, destroying another eight fighters. The remainder scattered, most of them evading the missiles and flak, but four of them were not so lucky. 42 fighters remained, and the secondary shield was gone.
"Sorry, Wingnut," said GT. "We held out as long as we could."
"The only one who should be sorry is Whale," Governor Wingnut replied. "Try to lure the enemy ships within range of my cannons."
"Will do," Futtle Scish replied. "But first, Melanie Antiqua needs help. Let's take out that White Knight cruiser over there."
"On it," said GT, and all the fighters flew towards Slip Snap's ship.
"Please hurry," Melanie said, "we can't take much more of this."
"I think I might throw up," said Jenny Doombringer, struggling to fire the guns at the enemy ship while hers was jerking and spinning like a drunk dragonfly.
"You'd better not, I just barely had the floors cleaned," Melanie snapped back.
"We're almost there," said Futtle, as the fighters neared attack range.
Moments later, all 42 fighters flew low over the cruiser, shooting and bombing all weapon emplacements.
"Their shields are already down," said GT.
"There's a lot of us," Futtle replied. "Let's finish this."
"I'll take my fighters to target the engines," said GT. "You destroy the bridge, and be prepared to fly like hell."
"With pleasure," said Futtle.
"What the f-" Slip Snap never finished that sentence, as a missile smashed through the windows and exploded within a meter of him. Meanwhile, GT's fighters shot up the engines. Seconds later, all the fighters accelerated away as the cruiser went up in flames.
"Thank you," said Melanie.
"I feel better now," said Jenny. "One less White Knight ship in the sky makes me a little less sick."
"Still six left," said Yarg. "I'll take us to strafe the next one."
"Here we go again," Melanie said, as Jenny cheered and shouted a war cry.
Meanwhile, the rest of the AAA fleet was bombarding r/ArkosForever's primary shield. It held up so far, but would start to weaken soon.
"Just get them a little closer," said Wingnut. The enemy fleet continued approaching, pursuing Futtle's squadron, while GT's strafed the enemy capital ships.
"When will they be in range?" Futtle Scish asked.
"They already are," Wingnut replied, "but I want them closer so they can't retreat as easily. Otherwise, they could sit and attack us from just outside our effective range."
"Any time would be good," said Gastly Taipan. They were close enough that the planet filled their entire field of view if they looked down. "Just don't hit us."
"Get out of the way, then," said Wingnut. "Firing now!"
Dozens of ground based anti-orbital cannons fired, subjecting the AAA fleet to a hail of bombs.
"Oh shit," said Captain Paulternative, whose ship was closest to the planet. "We'd better head up." The ground fire was already blowing holes in his ship.
"Hurry," said Generic.
As the fleet climbed to a higher orbit, a missile struck Paulternative's ship's right engine. The back half of the vessel exploded, while the front fell in a trail of flames. Most of it incinerated when it hit the shield, but some pieces fell to the surface as meteors.
"RIP," said Admiral Venom Ahab.
"That gives me an idea," said Rade Blunner, as the fleet continued its retreat. Before it could get out of range, the cannons destroyed three more ships: One each from Dragonslayer and White Knight, and the sole representative of Silent Knight.
"Great job," said Futtle. "That should buy us more time."
"Let's head for the most damaged enemy target," said GT. For some reason, though, the enemy fleet was gathering around the burned-out wreck of Slip Snap's ship.
The AAA had an idea. An awful idea. They had a terrible, awful idea. Meanwhile, in r/CinderDidNothingWrong, more gather to watch the duel.
Laughing Fish and Blue Whale King continued swinging at each other with their glowing plasma swords, occasionally melting a gash in the floor or wall.
"Getting tired yet?" Whale asked, pushing his opponent to his knees.
"I can do this all day," the shark replied, pushing himself back up.
Hoesack walked in, carrying a platter of tacos, but dropped them in shock at the sight. While he stood there, frozen, another man walked in, drew his pistol, and fired at Whale.
Blue held up his sword and deflected the bolt of plasma. It bounced off the plasma blade and hit the ceiling, knocking loose a shower of black glassy shards.
"Lieutenant Max Astraia, stand down," Laughing Fish ordered.
"What the hell is going on?!" the confused soldier asked, keeping his weapon raised. More troops entered the room from various doors, some carrying more rodents.
"All of you, stay back and hold your fire," said Laughing Fish, parrying another swing from Blue. "I'm handling this."
"Why?" Astraia asked.
"Yeah, why?" the Chipmunk added. "We have him surrounded. That tub of blubber wouldn't stand a chance."
"Hey!" Whale protested, blocking a strike from Laughing Fish. "I have nearly twice as much muscle as blubber."
"I'm sure the boss has his reasons," said the Porcupine, leader of the Various Rodents collective.
"I'll tell you my reasons," said Laughing Fish. "Him being alive down here is the only thing preventing the Arkos Starfleet from vaporizing us all right now. The moment he dies, they open fire. I just need to wear him out, then we have a bargaining chip."
Blue Whale King only laughed. "So THAT'S why you brought me down here? You fool. This body is expendable. It's only 22 years old, so I haven't gotten too attached. I haven't had a body die of old age since before the whaling era. I'm used to it, I can do it again."
"What?" Laughing Fish gasped. He lowered his sword in shock, but Whale didn't strike. He just kept talking.
"That's right, I've been reincarnating since the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, and have been the King of not just Blue Whales, but all their Cetacean ancestors, for 50 million years. It wasn't just my ancestor who defeated the last Megalodon King 3.6 million years ago. That was ME. I'm more than willing to sacrifice this body to put an end to this spawning pool of evil. My spirit will live on and seek out a new host. Your agents broke into my teleport control room for nothing."
He pulled out his communicator, about to signal the Arkos Starfleet to proceed with the glassing, but two more people walked into the room and interrupted him.
"His agents didn't break into your teleport control room," said Strike. "We did."
It was Blue Whale King's turn to lower his blade in shock. "What? Why? How could you do this?!"
"Because you may be willing to throw your own current life away," said Vaniellis, "but you wouldn't dare get your friends killed too. Not on purpose, at least."
"Not if you still have any decency left," said Strike. "And I know you do. You're not yourself right now. I know you better than that."
"You don't know a thing about me, Strike," said Whale, looking Strike in the eye. Strike stepped back, as he saw the eye of a being older than the world any of them knew. It was an alien look, from an ancient being who'd seen mountain ranges rise and fall, seas fill and evaporate, and whole orders of species vanish and evolve. An entity carrying the knowledge and burdens of millions of years, who'd done both great and terrible things, and whose true nature everyone else in the room had only scratched the surface of.
"Well I know ONE thing," said Vaniellis. "Strike is right. Nothing good will come of this. We need you back home."
"Indeed, nothing good comes of rotten places like this. My species would not exist if I hadn't done what needed to be done when predators threatened our ancestral forms. The raptorial Sperm Whales, Brygmophyseter, Zygophyseter, Acrophyseter, and Livyatan, the giant sharks Megalodon and the other species in Carcharocles, they all hunted and killed my people, and at unsustainable rates.
"I tried being nice. I tried peace treaties. I tried avoiding confrontation, and nonviolent self-defense. But when I gave an inch, they took a mile. Every time, it became us or them. They would eat us all, unless we out-evolved and wiped them out. So we did. The fossil record is littered with the bones of those who tried to consume my people and my hard work, and all those records stop. If they didn't there would be no Blue Whales, or any whales for that matter.
"But that wasn't even the worst part. Not by far. Strike, that first day in r/fnki, when I said that finding Arkos destroyed was the third worst thing I've ever seen, you asked me what the top two were. The second one was, I watched over 90% of my people agonizingly slaughtered and turned to margarine and soap. Just when we had almost secured our dominance of the seas, you damned humans came and nearly wiped us out. I tried to fight back, I sank a few whaling ships, but it was never enough. We almost faced extinction in only a century, thanks to you tiny walking apes. Can you imagine anything more disheartening or humiliating?"
Everyone else in the room was still and silent. Nobody knew what to expect as Whale poured out his darkest history.
"But that was only the second worst thing I've experienced. The very worst happened in a past that your species doesn't even remember, because it's locked in a previous version of history. Strike, you asked me what my most traumatic loss was, that I mentioned when we first met. That loss was in a war far worse than anything anyone here remembers. During the final year of the Last Great Time War."
I thought that was just a legend. But we can't forget about r/ArkosForever.
The AAA Starfleet had grabbed the scorched floating wreck of Slip Snap's ship with their tractor beams, and were hauling it toward the planet at increasing velocity.
"What are they doing?" Wingnut asked.
"Oh no," said Gastly Taipan. "Not this again."
"I see it," said Futtle Scish. "Everybody, stop that ship!"
All the fighters attacked the tractor beam emplacements on the remaining 22 enemy capital ships, but with only 42 fighters, it wasn't enough. They were picking up speed.
"What's going on?" Wingnut asked.
"They're using that dead ship as a projectile," said Futtle. "They're going to ram it into the planet!"
"I'll concentrate all cannon fire on the ones pushing it most," said Wingnut. "You keep doing what you're doing, but don't get hit."
The AAA fleet was in range once again. The cannons destroyed two more White Knight ships, but it wasn't enough. The formation opened fire, creating a brief gap in the shields, just above the largest cannon. It was enough. They shoved their projectile through the opening with tractor beams at full power, launching it at breakneck speed.
"I did my duty, for king and country!" Wingnut shouted, as he fired the cannon at higher than the maximum recommended speed. It was not enough. The half-melted but still fast projective slammed into the ground next to the cannon, vanishing in a flash of light. The planet shook as the explosion tore through the ground and the cannon, sending rubble flying into the fiery air. When the debris settled, there was only a crater, and dust raining down over the capitol several miles away. Wingnut was gone.
"Well, fuck," said Futtle.
At r/CinderDidNothingWrong
"In previous timelines, I wasn't alone. There was a Blue Whale Queen. She was my partner through the millennia. But in the final year of the Time War, reality was coming apart at the seams. We had to do something. So she went off with the War Doctor to join the New Temporal Alliance, while I stayed home to help our people avoid whalers. She won several battles, but the last one went horribly wrong.
"She was in the force assigned to capture the Mirrors of Eternity, an interdimensional portal cascade, through which one could view and access a million alternate timelines. In the middle of the battle, the Could've Been King arrived with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres. He shattered the mirrors, and in the spatio-temporal backlash, Blue Whale Queen's entire force was wiped out.
"I went as soon as I got the distress signal, but it was too late. Blue Whale Queen was hit by a thread of Anti-Time and erased from history. I swam along from mirror to mirror, trying to reach a timeline where I could rescue her, but they each shattered before I could reach them, erasing every timeline where she existed.
"I spent the rest of the War searching thousands of alternate timelines for Blue Whale Queen, but she didn't exist in any of them. Then the War Doctor used the moment and destroyed the Time Lords and all other combatants. Without them, the walls between realities sealed, and I was stuck here, alone, where Blue Whale Queen exists only in my memory."
"That's awful," said Vaniellis. "but what does that have to do with this?"
"Because," Whale said, "that war only started because the Fourth Doctor refused to prevent the creation of the Daleks when he had the chance, despite knowing that everything good had been removed from them. Don't you see?" He twirled around, arms extended, gesturing to the whole setting.
"Every time I or someone else doesn't snuff out a deadly threat completely, it comes back to bite me in catastrophic ways. Nothing good comes from allowing evil to live." He grabbed Laughing Fish by the collar and hoisted him into the air. The shark's red plasma sword fell to the ground and turned off. "What is wrong with you? How can you worship that awful demon, who has caused nothing but misery? The goddess of a disaster that destroyed what would have been my second home! Who slew the most kind hearted goddess to ever live?! How could you possibly justify anything that she did, let alone claim that she did nothing wrong?!"
"Well," said Laughing Fish, "it's not about destroying your old world or killing your goddess. It's about the strength of determination and power of ambition, of clawing your way to power from nothing. Of challenging corrupt systems and authorities. Something everyone should be able to strive for. I also mourn the death of your goddess. But Cinder Fall exemplifies the ideals of building strength and achievement. I'm sure you are familiar with that."
"And yet, you have repeatedly attacked my new home, and tried to destroy what I have worked hard to build."
"To be fair, Whale," said Vaniellis, "a lot of it wasn't unprovoked."
"They still attacked first," said Whale. "And they still worship a being of pure evil. A being who destroyed Arkos!"
"Arkos has risen again," said Strike. "We are a phoenix nation."
"And this lot will send us back to ashes." Whale hoisted Laughing Fish higher. "I cannot lose another home! I cannot lose any more loved ones! And the only way to ensure that is to destroy all these irredeemable cultists!"
"But they're not irredeemable," said Vaniellis. "Also A Pun defected, even though he knew he was as bad as the rest of them. If there was hope for him, there's hope for the rest of them."
"I've seen this rage and revenge consume people and burn out their humanity, for lack of a better word," said Strike. "There are innocent people here. Civilians, including children, who know nothing else, but they may break away one day. Do you really want to deny them that chance? Slaughter children, destroy someone else's home?"
"Whale," said Vaniellis. "We will not let r/ArkosForever fall to these people. I promise you. But right now, we need you to come home with us."
"Please," said Strike. "Don't perpetuate the cycle of hate and revenge."
Whale's grip faltered. He dropped Laughing Fish, who fell to his knees and coughed.
"Maybe you're right," Whale said, after a moment of silence. He turned off his purple plasma sword. "I've only gotten more of my friends killed in this war. Cayde and Penguino died to save me, even though I wouldn't have stayed dead if they hadn't. I got TvTrope SuperWiki's ship destroyed. Not to mention the thousands of crew on all of the ships destroyed on both sides. And now I've started an unwinnable war with the other Jaune ships, and was about to commit genocide. I'm a monster."
He sank to his knees, while Laughing Fish got up and dusted himself off.
"You're not a monster," said Vaniellis. "You're our friend. And we need you."
"We've all done terrible things," said Strike. "My girlfriend started a war that got millions killed. But, like you, she was doing what she thought was right. When she realized her mistake, she didn't give up, she did what she could to make things right. Now, her kingdom is far better off than if she had quit then."
"We need to save r/ArkosForever from the Anti-Arkos Alliance," said Vaniellis. "And we need to hurry."
"Cayde and Penguino didn't give up on you," said Strike. "So neither will we, and neither should you."
Laughing Fish held a hand out. "It looks like we both want to save our homes," he said. "So I have a deal for you. If you agree not to glass us, I won't authorize any attacks on r/ArkosForever ever again. And if any of my people attack you anyway, I won't retaliate when you blow them out of the sky."
"Very well," Blue Whale King said, and took the hand. Laughing Fish pulled Whale to his feet. "I'll renounce the title of Horseman of War and leave in peace."
"Thank you," said Laughing Fish, and shook Whale's hand. "In another life, perhaps I could have called you, friend."
"And I you," said Whale. "Perhaps Dimension Defender was right after all. A shame I didn't see it before." He released the hand. "I'd better get going. But just one more thing." He turned his plasma sword back on, and carved "BLUE WHALE KING WAS HERE" on the floor. "Just a little something to remember me by." He turned the sword back off.
Whale walked up to Strike and Vaniellis. "Let's go home," he said. Strike pulled out a remote and pressed a button, and all three of them beamed back up to Whale's flagship, the Pyrrhic, as Laughing Fish waved goodbye.
"He'll be back," said Koanos.
"Perhaps," said Laughing Fish, "but probably not in the way you think."
"Fuck," said the Chipmunk. "This is not what I was hoping for at all."
In r/ArkosForever, reinforcements arrive.
50 fighters dropped out of hyperspace, and a new voice came over the radio. "This is Madman Lava of r/BlueWhaleKingDNW, here to deliver the two new squ- HOLY FUCK, what is going on here?!"
"It appears to be a battle, sir," said Carsales Guy, the other Squadron Commander.
"Then we'd better do our part," said Lava. "Fighters, CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"
"Right behind you," said Carsales. The 50 fighters flew at the AAA Fleet, guns blazing and missiles launching.
"Thank Rosa," said Futtle Scish.
"I told you we just needed to hold out just a little longer," said Gastly Taipan.
"Whale's still not here, though," said Melanie.
"Any moment now," said GT.
"Relax, we'll take care of this," said Carsales. The Lancaster ship they were attacking was already taking damage.
"There's another object coming out of hyperspace," said Yarg.
"Is it Whale's fleet?" Futtle asked.
"That's enough," said a new voice. "This is Ezreal XXIV of the RWBY Sector Mod Council. All of you will cease and desist, or we will use the Banhammer. This behavior is disgraceful."
The colossal Mod Dreadnought moved in between the AAA Fleet and r/ArkosForever.
"Aw, but we only just arrived," said Carsales Guy.
"How anticlimactic," said Rade Blunner.
"Our verdict stands," said Ezreal. "This has gone on too long."
Then, the Arkos Starfleet finally arrived. 20 ships, although many were damaged.
"Inquisitor Rade Blunner," said Blue Whale King. "I'm here."
"At last," said Rade. "Our battle will be legendary!"
"No," said Ezreal and Whale simultaneously.
"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused," said Whale. "Please, let's stop."
"So you agree to end this," said Ezreal. "Good. It's gotten way out of hand. If we hadn't been busy preparing for Ship Wars 4, we would never have let it start in the first place."
"Thank you," said Strike.
"Very well," said Rade. "It seems we have no choice. I guess the Anti-Arkos Alliance is disbanded. Let's go home."
"Wait," said Whale. "Before you go, my new Co-Moderators and I want to make you an offer. In order to bury the hatchet, Arkos would like to join your alliance."
There were many gasps over the radio. The former AAA members chatted on their private channel, before Rade called on the public frequency again.
"Come meet with us in one week," he said. "We still need to talk this over among ourselves. But whatever we decide, the Whale War is finally over."
"Good," said Ezreal. "Our work here is done."
"This is bullshit," Jenny Doombringer muttered.
"Melanie," said Whale, "thank you very much for your support. I owe you."
"It was my pleasure," Melanie Antiqua replied. "I'll see you at the contest."
With that, the Mod Dreadnought, the Reading Rainbow transport, and the former Anti-Arkos Alliance Fleet jumped away into hyperspace.
Final status of the Whale War: Enforced Stalemate.
Stay tuned for the epilogue!