The Huáscar had done marvels on her speed run to Tira. Alert status lights indicating she was at enhanced readiness gleamed, modified ZEBRA, bare minutes from being fully buttoned-up for combat. Captain Zhengli Varma stepped out onto the bridge after offering a last set of prayers at the tiny idol rack in her sea cabin. Around her the crew reflected tension and confusion, uncertainty at the course of action their Captain had flung them on with little warning.

She was a slight woman of south China in her blood, and south India in her heritage. Her Line Medal was safely in a chest in her sea cabin, and her command had been a quiet nightmare. Her crew was still riven between pro- and anti-Sheridan factions and she herself was distrusted by both and only held the command through General Lefcourt's personal confidence. But her command was still one of the newest Warlock-class heavy destroyers in the fleet, larger than many dreadnoughts - even counting those of the Allied Systems fleets - and the fastest ship that had ever served in EarthForce.

Huáscar had more than that, too. She also now had deflector shields fitted with improved power generation systems linked to her reactors, and there was, with all the other Warlocks, the X-RAY Special, the code name for the biomechanical sensor system whose controls, buried deep in the ship, gave her a ranged accuracy to her weapons fire that had stunned Zhengli during trials. Earth couldn't have asked for a more powerful nor poised warship, but the internal relations of Earthforce remained balanced on the head of a pin.

Below them floated the spectacularly beautiful water-world of Tira. So the Dilgar found life here. Her excitement at that, the peace of her mother's soul, and frankly the peace of her own, warred with memories. There was her time as the night-shift second in command on Babylon 5, her brief interview with Jha'dur, bemused and baiting a member of the house of Varma of whom she had proved not unacquainted. 'I shall make sure you and your mother get the serum so that I may hear the Dilgar tongue in my hour of triumph.' The mad, broken image of the last Dilgar.

Well, not quite the last, thank the merciful Gods. The species had not died, and for the first time Zhengli had gazed on an image of the woman who, in a desperate gesture of hope, had reached out to trust her mother in the middle of a war with no trust possible. And now here she was, with twenty million innocent civilians on the planet below. Forty ships in front of her, more coming, and only her proud destroyer.

Around her were twenty Brakiri ships, eighteen Hyach, and five Hurr. The wreckage of two Hyach ships remained, also, to provide testament to the Dilgar having offered resistance before they retreated. And all of them were tracking the Huáscar with a suspicion in stark contrast to their status as allies.

"The Brakiri have hailed us," WO1 Baeraz reported from comms. "They're demanding to know the purpose of our presence in a Brakiri system."

Zhengli snorted incredulously. That was impressive even for the Brakiri. "We're a hundred light years from Brakiri space, and they haven't filed a formal claim with the ISA territorial board. Tell them that."

"Yes Sir…" A moment. "They want to speak to you directly."

"I'll handle that." She glanced to the comms section. "Patch me in to the Brakiri."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

"Brakiri Commander, this is Captain Zhengli Varma of the Earth Alliance Ship Huáscar. I would know your intentions."

"Captain Varma, we are conducting security operations on the surface of the planet we have claimed. These security operations are consistent with the ISA charter to maintain galactic peace." It was telling that the Brakiri commander refused to give his name.

Zhengli decided that if they were going to play games, so would she. "The planet appears to have a pre-existing native intelligence, Brakiri commander. Your claim to this system is not recognized, and your operations have an offensive character to them. Surely you will not mind if an Earthforce ship observes your operations more closely?"

She waited for an uncomfortably long period of time for a response, before turning to her crew; "Take us into high orbit, set Condition Two."

The first jump took the longest to set up. Using data from Cat and his access to the active fleet positioning logs, Jarod found an Alakin warbird on internal patrol in their native universe, A7R6, that had the right position for the first jump. The four Alliance ships present made their jumps in sequence, each bringing some of the Dilgar ships with them. The Aurora took charge of ensuring Shai'jhur's flagship made the transition.

In Science Lab 2 Cat immediately brought up a holo-starmap to display the last leg of their planned course. "See if there are any ships in the vicinity of Phi Trajanus," she said aloud.

"What about Beta Durani?" Jarod asked.

Cat checked and shook her head. "No, that aspect would bring us too far off our course. Our last jump could carry us into Tal-kona'sha space."

"Good point. I'll let you know the coordinates for our next jump."

Upon Jarod's reply finishing, Cat noticed the young red-haired Dilgar had sat aside a pad on which she had been working calculations by hand and was staring in open admiration at the holo-table displaying the starmap. "You don't have holographics?" she asked.

"Never to this level of sophistication," Tra'dur replied. There was a simple wonder in her voice. "The technology of your ship is incredible, more than you can realize. I have dreamed of working with equipment such as this."

"Well, you can right now," Cat said. She tapped a key to highlight a block of stars around their target. "We need to ensure that our last jump puts us somewhere in there. That means we have to be in one of these systems on our next jump." Another tap of the key brought up another block of slightly larger size.

Tra'dur examined the map. "I would avoid this star." She pointed to a particularly ominous Wolf-Rayet exotic. "The gamma ray pulses it gives off could penetrate shielding inside of one lightyear."

"Hrm…" Cat double-checked the records and nodded. "You're right. Let me mark that off." The boxes shifted slightly. "But now it's carrying us too far in the Y plane. So we need to adjust like so…" The box shrunk yet again. Cat frowned at that. "This is going to be tricky." She keyed the comm line to Jarod again. "Jarod, on our last jump, we'll need to send one ship ahead first to anchor the others. The arrival zone is too small to risk a free jump scattering the group."

"I read you."

Again Cat looked to Tra'dur, and when she did, she couldn't help but stare at the calculations she'd been writing. Her eyes widened. Tra'dur had been double-checking the computer computations by hand, an act that of all the people Cat knew… Only Cat could do. And despite the situation, the millions of lives riding on this, Tra'dur entranced with the opportunity to be where she was. "You don't have any labs like this back on Rohric, do you?"

"No. It would be an extravagance even if we had access to the full range of your technology." There was a sadness in Tra'dur's voice. "That was my first lesson as a child: Unauthorized emissions were a grave risk. A radio wave from the surface when we were hiding from a passing scout could be the end of our species. I first learned physics and calculus by lantern-light in a classroom built into a cave. The old government led us into this hell and the price was paid by the children too young to be responsible for it."

"Well, maybe not any more?" Cat ventured. She stepped up beside the Dilgar. The species was not as overtly feline as the Caitians or the Rr'timm, but there was still the look of a graceful cat to Tra'dur. One staring longingly at the door of its cage. "Maybe things can be different for you now."

"Perhaps." There was the faintest flicker of hope in Tra'dur's expression. "It would be nice if we could move beyond the blood in our past. Mother… Mother has been doing her best."

"Your Mother?"

"Warmaster Shai'jhur is indeed my mother, and the only parent I've ever known. I am the second of six."

Cat's face became pensive. "I know what that's like. My papa died when I was still very little, so I don't remember him." Something occurred to her a moment later. "So your father is why you're 'Tra'dur' and not 'Tra'jhur'?"

Tra'dur looked up wryly. "Well, that was the clan name of the gene-donor my mother used. A very distant relative of Jha'dur, but I hope you don't hold that against me. When I was young mother taught me that the principles of universal rights outlawed punishment of relatives for the crimes of another…" She stared at the wall and swallowed. "Doesn't that rather apply to all of us, right now?"

"Yeah," Cat answered. "It does."

On the Aurora bridge Jarod finished examining the fleet logs. What he found caused him to grin. "Well, that's luck," he said.

"Commander?" Julia looked at him.

"I found the next ship in our chain," he said. "Our next jump is S4W8. There's a refugee convoy moving toward Phosako space under convoy."

"Do the Phosako ships have jump anchors?" Meridina asked.

"No. But the allied ships with them do. The Eagle is with the convoy."

"Arik's son's ship?" Julia nodded. "That'll do just fine. Put him on so he knows we're coming, and why."

"He's answering our hail now."

The image of a bronze-skinned man with a closely-trimmed beard appeared on the holo-viewscreen. His uniform was unique, modeled after the Alliance uniform but with a silver torch as rank insignia on the collar to mark him a Commander in the New Liberty Defense Force. "Captain Andreys. It is a pleasure," Yonatan said in an accent of some refinement. Julia recalled his mother spoke English the same way. "What can I do for you?"

"Help me stop a genocide in progress, Commander Shaham."

Immediately Yonatan's expression darkened. His own people had come perilously close to experiencing such an end, if not for the intervention of the Aurora. "Tell me how."

"We're going to use you as a jump anchor," Julia said. "Once we're done with that, if you can detach yourself from that convoy we'd be glad to have you. If not, you've still contributed."

Yonatan seemed to consider it. "Allow me to communicate with the Phosako squadron commander. I will signal you when we have come to a stop and you can safely jump in."

"Thank you, Commander."

Yonatan disappeared from the screen. After he was gone Julia looked to her left, where Tom Barnes was sitting at the Engineering station against the wall. Cat's science station was astern of him and currently manned by Lieutenant al-Rashad. "Status on the jump drive?"

"It's already showing strain," he answered. "You've got maybe two jumps before we'll need to take the entire system down for a comprehensive repair."

Which would take days, Julia knew from experience. "So we make these next jumps count."

"The Eagle is signalling. They're ready to receive our jump."

"Signal the warning to the others and jump when ready." Julia felt impatience gnaw at her. They were running out of time. The Drazi would be arriving at Tira any time now. And the only thing between them and genocide would be a single ship.

It had only been about thirty minutes after the conversation with the Brakiri commander ended before her sensor tech operating the long range scans jerked up. "We've got them, Sir."

Lieutenant Carstairs stepped over, leaning down. "What is it, Johnny."

"Sixty-two repeat six two signatures approaching from the outer system gate. Consistent with the energy emissions of a mixed group of Drazi Sunhawks Mark-One and Mark-Two."

"All right. Captain." He turned to Zhengli's side. Major Foster the XO was in the secondary CIC since they were already running at Condition Two. "We've got the Drazi force coming from the outer system… They have overwhelming strength, how are we going to talk them out of opening fire on the surface?"

Zhengli took a breath. "I'd say the Brakiri mercs being on the surface would do that, but let's not kid ourselves. Neither the Brakiri or the Drazi care about hirelings. Patch me through again to the Brakiri Commander."

"Aye-aye, Sir!"

Zhengli watched the broadcast indicator light up blue, taking a breath. "This is Captain Varma. Brakiri Commander, do you accept responsibility for the command of the Drazi forces entering the system?"

"Absolutely not! They are here of their own volition, Captain Varma! But certainly they are concerned about the existence of a Dilgar state and will take measures to remedy that situation."

"If the Brakiri, Hyach and Hurr ships in the system open fire on the surface of the planet, I shall open fire upon you," Zhengli replied bluntly. "The surface of this planet is under the protection of Earthforce. We will not permit genocide, and it would be a manifest violation of our earlier terms for you to join in any kind of Drazi attack on the system, is that understood?"

"These are the Dilgar, Captain Varma! If they had possessed sufficient technology, they would have been worse than the Shadows!"

"You already have troops on the surface, Brakiri commander. I will add that any massacres of civilians by them will meet the same response. I don't care that they're Dilgar. They're sapient beings and they've been sitting here doing nothing to you. Any act of genocide will be interrupted by our maximum effort. And in fact, if you withdraw your troops from the surface, I shall also regard that as a preparation for genocide and take appropriate measures."

"You have nothing to be concerned about," the sneering voice came back. "We are merely containing the situation until a final solution can be arranged. You have no right to command me to end an occupation, or to maintain one."

"I might choose different words than those for the meeting with the ISA," Zhengli replied drolly. "President Sheridan probably won't like hearing about a final solution. Huáscar out." She made a cutting motion across her neck.

"Drazi ships are still on an inbound vector for the planet. They have weapons charged, Sir."

Zhengli nodded. "Get me their commander, Officer Baeraz."

"Aye-aye, Sir… Drazi commander responding to hail."

"Drazi Commander, this is Captain Zhengli Varma of the Earth Alliance Ship Huáscar. The surface of the planet Tira which we are currently orbiting is under the protection of Earthforce. We are currently dealing with a situation in which the Brakiri have already landed mercenaries and you may be assured that I will not permit you to land troops or open fire upon the surface."

"This is Tar'koth of the Drazi Freehold. I do not care about your claim of protection, Captain Varma. There are Dilgar on the surface of that planet, in number, representing a fleet which fled into hyperspace when our old League friends helped us beat them. They are a danger to the entire galaxy unless they are removed," he chuckled, "no, to the entire Multiverse! We have come to remove them."

"I will not permit you to end the lives of twenty million innocents, not in uniforms or under arms, Tar'koth. The Earth Alliance did not permit the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to conduct genocide against the Dilgar during the Dilgar War, and we sure as hell won't let you do it now against a prostrate colony of twenty million survivors of Omelos."

"Join us as allies, or stand against us, Captain Varma. You have no other choice. The Dilgar were living in Hell, we will send these Dilgar there, and they will be very welcome there where all the rest of the Dilgar are waiting for them. No matter what you say about genocide, you let us finish the Dilgar at the end of the war. Just in a convenient way that made you all feel better."

"Are you saying, Tar'koth, that your government knew about Omelos' sun?"

The Drazi laughed. "Are you saying that your government didn't?"

Zhengli's brown skin had paled as far as it could, and in her officers they all knew that was a sign of rage. "This is your last warning. Break off your approach course and remain in the outer system. The terms have not changed. Tira is under the protection of Earthforce."

"We are your allies!" Tar'koth began to rage, laughing mockingly. "You would not dare!"

Varma made another cutting motion to the neck to order the channel closed. "Lieutenant Carstairs, confirm readiness conditions."

"Captain we are holding Condition Two and the ship is set Modified ZEBRA throughout."

Zhengli stared as the first wave of Sunhawks became to move toward Tira in direct contravention of her ultimatum, feeling her pulse briefly overwhelming her brain, before a strange kind of calm settled down upon her. Twenty million civilians on the surface, that's what matters. "Shields up. Sound General Quarters."

Lieutenant Carstairs as the Officer of the Watch had the duty of repeating the orders. He tensed, glanced to Zhengli, and then ahead. But his stentorian voice cut the bridge. "Aye Captain! Tactical, activate deflector shields! Bosun!"

"Bosun's Mate, Aye Sir." He didn't even hesitate.

"Sound General Quarters!"

"Aye sir!" The Bosun's mate took his whistle and activated the 1MC. As the ancient, clarion notes cut across the circuit an Earthforce ship was going to stations in earnest for one of the first times with artificial gravity, and the current protocol had reverted to USN wet-navy traditions since the zero-gravity action protocol had become useless. The noise was unmistakable and instantly commanding.

"General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battlestations! The direction of travel is up and forward to starboard, down and aft to port! General Quarters! General Quarters!"

"Shields show nominal at full power, Sir," Lieutenant Syung confirmed.

"Well, we're going to find out how well they work," Zhengli said quietly, then spoke loudly enough to be heard "Excellent, thanks to our Confederation friends we're going to give quite a surprise to the Drazi." She spun to her command chair, clapping herself into it and securing the straps. "Target the lead Drazi group!"

"Fire Control, target the lead Drazi squadron!"

"Time plus one minute, Captain! All power systems at combat diversion, reactors have military power available."

"Range to the Drazi squadron?" Zhengli glanced to Lieutenant Syung.

"One hundred five kiloklicks and closing, Sir. Time to firing range is one minute and counting." Syung's fingers danced over his consoles as he guaranteed the flow of data to central fire control.

Zhengli didn't want to distract him again. "Lieutenant Carstairs, sing out when we have the range." She activated the channel to the CAG. "Major Larsen, launch the alert squadrons."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

She activated the open channel to the Drazi flagship again. "Drazi commander, this is Captain Varma of the Huáscar. Laugh all you want, but as I said, humanity will not permit even our allies to commit genocide. We will open fire at the time of my choosing and convenience if you do not immediately break off from approach to the planet. This is your final warning: You are instructed and commanded to break off!"

"Eat vacuum, human! The Freehold can afford the reparations for a single human cruiser if it means we have ended the threat of the Dilgar once and for all!"

Zhengli's face clouded as the comm line clicked off. "If it is to be our fate to be a second Persephone, I can think of few nobler fates." she muttered, half to herself - thinking of the cruiser whose loss, attempting to defend refugee shipping over Tirrith, had irrecoverably started Earth on the path to the Dilgar War.

The Bosun's mate sounded over the 1MC: "Time plus two minutes."

"We have the range," Carstairs spoke softly.

Zhengli nodded once.

"Material Condition ZEBRA is set throughout the ship. All hands at General Quarters, Sir! Time is two minutes, nine seconds."

The words crossed her lips without another moment of hesitation. "Lieutenant Syung, you are fire free."

The two massive particle beam mounts fixed forward on the Huáscar opened fire in unison, each at a different target. They were identical to the mounts on an Aegis defense platform, and the result was immediate and dramatic. One of the targeted Sunhawks was cut in two, and the second one exploded as the beam coursed through its engineering section. A lead salvo of twelve missiles was already heading toward the Drazi as the phased plasma cannon and railgun turrets which could bear bracketed and hammered a third Sunhawk with terrible fury.

The Drazi had not responded to the attack. Zhengli truly had shocked them, they had honestly led themselves to think that she wouldn't open fire. And they had been wrong. As the third targeted Sunhawk exploded from massed fire, the missiles began their final approaches, and the brief moment of the Drazi standing passively by as they were cut to pieces was lost.

Curving into evasive patterns and accelerating, the Drazi broke from the planet, and instead, angled to englobe her while minimizing their exposure to the particle cannon. As her fighters moved in to engage their Drazi counterparts (and there the odds were much better, 36 against 60), all of the surviving Drazi ships came in straight for her. Huáscar's particle cannon caught two more of them as they manoeuvred anyway, and as her shields lit up from stem to stern with the massed fire of more than fifty Drazi warships and held, for a moment, just a moment, Zhengli thought she might get out of this alive.

...If someone came in the next five minutes or so.

The impromptu task force that Julia assembled during their jumps cruised along at warp in formation. The Aurora was in the lead with the Magaratha, as Jarod had re-labeled the tactical for brevity with the Dilgar name. The Shenzhou was in formation with the other Dilgar cruisers. The Koenig and Heerman were now joined by the Eagle, cruising along at warp beside them, while the pentacon of Dilgar lighter ships now numbered with a pair of light Alakin warbirds - painted in gold and browns as by Alakin style - and a cruiser-sized Dorei Unama-class starbird, a ship of bright purple and green and blue. Rounding out the ad hoc group was a Gl'mulli orb ship from the same convoy the Eagle had withdrawn from.

All things said, this ad hoc group was not as potent as a full task force from the Alliance would have been, but depending on the conditions at Tira, Julia hoped it would be enough to get the Drazi to back down.

"We're approaching Tira," Locarno said.

"Anything on sensors?"

Cat was back at her station. "I'm picking up multiple contacts. Profiles match Hyach, Brakiri, Hurr and Drazi ships… and one matching the profile of an Earthforce dreadnought, Warlock-class."

"How many Drazi?" Julia asked.

"Fifty-two… no, make that fifty-one."

This let them know what they could expect when they dropped out of warp twenty seconds later. Julia watched the screen as it resolved on the battle raging before their improvised squadron of Alliance and Dilgar ships. Before them was a Warlock class destroyer, her deflector shields failing as they came in. She now stood, wreathed in the massive ring of hundreds of simultaneous explosions as her interceptor grid worked to keep her covered, as the hammer-blows of heavy hits tore into her armor. Julia watched the ship shudder from stem to stern and knew they were just in time.

"That's the Huáscar, Zhengli's ship," Kaveri's voice came from the Magaratha. "And she doesn't have long, Captain Andreys."

"Agreed. Jarod, put me on with them. When he nodded Julia spoke up. "This is Captain Julia Andreys of the Alliance Starship Aurora. Drazi commander, cease-firing on the Huáscar immediately and withdraw from planetary orbit, or I will be forced to open fire. You have ten seconds to cease firing."

"You have brought the Dilgar warships to us to be destroyed, Captain Andreys, and for that I will thank you. Break off now, this is our business!" Drazi ships started manoeuvring away from the Huáscar, but not away from the battle and planet. They were vectoring toward Julia's squadron, and Warmaster Shai'jhur's pentacons in particular.

It was as simple as that. The Huáscar could be destroyed at any moment, and it was clear the Drazi were coming on for them. There was no time to talk. "Tactical, lock weapons. Commander Meridina, signal the squadron to open fire."

The two responded immediately. Within seconds the forward pulse plasma cannons of the Aurora were thundering their sapphire fury at the nearest, largest Drazi Sunhawk. The Darglan weapons were more than a match for the Drazi ship and blew it apart. Solar torpedoes from the Aurora's bow launchers acquired another Sunhawk, which broke in half from the resulting destruction. More plasma fire from the Aurora, this in the form of beams from the emitter banks, carved flaming gashes and wounds into the Drazi ships. The Shenzhou, not to be outdone, busied itself with scattering a squadron of Sunhawks coming in on an attack run against the Huáscar.

The light starships - and the Mongoose fighters from both Alliance cruisers - dove ahead of the ships to break up Drazi formations. Working together the Koenig and Heerman crippled a Sunhawk. The plasma cannons on the Dorei starbird blazed bolts of brilliant purple energy into one Drazi ship and then another. The Alakin opened up with their weapons in support of the Dorei ship when it came under fire from three Sunhawks. One of those ships took a spread of torpedoes from the Eagle, which moved on to attack a Sunhawk still menacing the failing shields of the Huáscar. When a Sunhawk menaced the Eagle from behind, its engines were blasted into debris by the Gl'mulli orb ship.

The Alliance ships opening fire did not startle the Drazi into inaction, however. With several of them cursing the fickle nature of Humans, they returned fire with full vigor. The lessons learned in engaging the Huáscar were now employed against the Aurora. Concentration of fire was the order. The Drazi pressed the attack with the full might of their numbers. They seemed bound and determined to fulfill the mission of genocide.

The Aurora shuddered from a hit to the shields. "Shields still holding at sixty percent," said Jarod.

"Forty-two enemy contacts still intact. Forty-one now."

"Captain, on your command we are ready to engage," Shai'jhur said.

"Not yet." Julia had a feeling that once the Dilgar opened fire, nothing would stop the shooting until one side or the other was completely annihilated. She checked the tactical map beside Meridina's seat. "Helm, bearing zero two eight mark zero zero three. All ships, follow."

The movement was confirmed and the various ships followed. The Drazi kept their attack up for the entire time, taking further damage and loss and inflicting very little of the latter in the process.

"Shields still holding at fifty-three percent," Jarod said after a wing of Sunhawks broke away from an attack run. Angel carved one of them up with a barrage from the port-side plasma emitters. "The warbird Yreep reports shield failure… they're taking direct hull damage."

"We're on it," Apley said over the tactical commline. The Koenig moved to torpedo the Sunhawks harassing the wounded Alakin ship. At the same time one of the Dilgar Ochlavati positioned itself to shield the Alakins from further damage. Their shields held, barely, against the attack.

The change in position was complete. The Drazi, now reduced to nearly half of their original force, were falling back to regroup. Julia's maneuver put her ships - and the Huáscar - into position to thwart any attempt to bombard the city on Tira. "Attention Drazi ships. I am asking you to cease fire. There's no need for this bloodshed."

"There is every need!" an aggrieved Drazi commander shouted. "The Dilgar must be destroyed before they can regain their strength! And we will not let you or anyone else stand in the way!"

"Is this what you want? If you continue to engage my ships, you could end up provoking a war with the Allied Systems. Do you think the rest of the InterStellar Alliance is going to let you do that?"

"They suffered from the Dilgar too. They will not suffer them to live."

"Then why haven't they joined you in attacking my ships?" Julia asked. "Why aren't they helping you?"

There was no answer to that. Indeed, for a time there was nothing. Not until they could just make out what sounded like a strike of scaled flesh against scaled flesh and a body slumping to the floor.

It was a new Drazi voice that spoke next. "This is Captain Tarinak. We acknowledge your superior tactical position, Captain Andreys, and we will halt our attacks. We request a ceasefire to recover our comrades from their ships."

"We'll be glad to assist in your efforts."

"You will do no such thing," the Drazi growled. "We remember what the Dilgar did to prisoners. We will not leave our comrades to that fate."

"The Alliance doesn't torture people, Tarinak."

"It seems you prefer to let others do the deed for you," was the sneered response. "You should leave. When the rest of our fleet arrives, the Dilgar will die. And so will anyone who stands with them." There was an audible cut to the line signifying the Drazi had cut the channel.

"I can feel the fear and rage from here," Meridina said. "They will not listen to us."

Julia watched the Drazi ships launch recovery shuttles. "Maybe the others will. Mister Jarod, hail the lead Brakiri vessel."

A moment later a Brakiri appeared on the holo-viewscreen. He had a visible cleave to his high forehead, with the bone ridges seeming to support it over his eyes. Dark brown hair swept down around the back of the Brakiri's head. "I am Captain Tabir. We monitored your conversation with the Drazi. I can assure you, Captain, that I have no intention of bombing the planet below."

Julia stopped herself from pointing out he was willing to let the Drazi do the job for him, and so he wasn't getting any credit from her. "I'm glad that the Earthforce captain and I aren't the only ones opposed to genocide."

"Our purpose here is self-defense only. Before the Shadows, the Dilgar were the greatest threat our people ever faced. We had to act once we discovered they still existed."

"I can understand investigating, certainly. Although an armed invasion was maybe a little too much?"

"We had to be sure they had no stockpiles of offensive armaments." Tabir smiled at her. "After all, under the terms of the treaty by which we spared the Dilgar at the end of the war, they were not supposed to leave their homeworld. They are in clear violation of that treaty. Our response was entirely measured and in keeping with the intentions of the InterStellar Alliance. Our occupation is legally justified."

Julia considered her options. Ordering the mercs out was likely to only cause the conflict to re-ignite, assuming the mercs didn't first "accidentally" set off the charges on the barrage gates holding the water back from the city. And while she was certain the Brakiri wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice those mercs if they were pushed into a bombardment, it would certainly be bad for future business with the like and not an option to be taken lightly, so the settlement on Tira was safer if the mercs remained where they were. "As long as your mercenaries are limiting themselves to a search for offensive armaments or mass casualty weapons, I have no objection to letting them finish their work," she said sweetly. "In fact, I'll be happy to help you. My Marines are ready to beam down and join your search."

"Your offer is greatly appreciated, but it would undoubtedly aggravate the locals further. Any sort of incident might result from this. I think it is best if we complete the search on our own."

Translation: send the Marines down and the colony burns.

"Very well," said Julia. "We'll remain in orbit until we hear from Tuzanor or Portland. If you are empowered to begin negotiations for the Brakiri, I'm told the Dilgar leader is ready to seek a permanent peace with the entire InterStellar Alliance."

"I shall consult my government. A chance to end the threat of the Dilgar forever cannot be missed, and the Brakiri Syndicracy will certainly recognize the Allied Systems' role in this awkward situation. Now, Captain, I must contact my superiors on the homeworld. Tabir out."

The moment he disappeared Julia's diplomatic smile vanished. "That sniveling ass," she grumbled. "At least the Drazi are being honest about committing genocide." After giving vent to her feelings on the matter Julia turned to Cat and asked, "What's the status of the Huáscar?"

Cat looked over her screens. "I'm reading multiple points of hull damage and systems failures. Nothing too severe, though. They can probably fix themselves up without any help."

"Regardless, they saved the day here. Mister Jarod, please hail them." Julia stood from her chair. The holo-viewscreen changed to show a woman of mostly East Asian extraction, like Li Ming-Chung, in the blue uniform of Earthforce's fleet branch. She looked to be in her mid-thirties.

"Thank you…" her eyes narrowed on Julia's uniform. She was instinctively looking for Earthforce insignia, Julia guessed, although Captain Varma quickly corrected herself and looked to Julia's collar for the four gold strips of the Captain rank. "Captain. Huáscar thanks you for your help."

"We're glad to help," Julia answered. "You did the right thing to stand up against genocide. You and your crew deserve to be commended."

"It is always the duty of a Kshatriya to uphold Dharma, Captain. The Dilgar are not deserving of death. They never were." Zheng-li took a breath, and looked up with fire blazing in her eyes. "The Drazi have admitted their government was aware of the fate of Omelos' sun. They let twelve billion people die. They knew the Alliance had forbidden that as an end game of the Dilgar War, and they let it happen anyhow. No, we are not going to let then succeed. Not now that the threat is clear."

There was a sudden commotion behind her outside of the feed. "Sir, why are you bringing FMFs to the bridge, Sir?"

"Stand down, Bosun's mate, we are upholding the laws of the Earth Alliance against barratry!"

Zhengli's face lost all expression, and she turned to the side, lunging to rise and raise her PPG. The screen cut out.

The sight drew the attention of the entire bridge. "What just happened?" Julia asked.

"They cut the transmission at the source," he answered.

"Get them back," Julia demanded. "Now."

The Huáscar remained a quiet image on the Aurora bridge's holo-viewscreen, damage still visible on her dark hull, and an unknown struggle occuring aboard her.

"Someone on the vessel mentioned barratry. That is the Human term for seizing or hijacking a military vessel, I believe," Meridina observed.

"It can apply to civilian contexts, too, but in Earth Admiralty Law it specifically means gross misconduct by the Captain and senior officers," Jarod corrected.

"Gross misconduct… Anything yet, Mister Jarod?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." After another moment passed his station let off a tone. "Wait. We're getting a hail."

"On screen."

A man in an Earthforce uniform with a sandy blonde high and tight haircut and blue eyes appeared. He spoke in an English midlands accent. "This is Major Foster, Acting Commander of the EAS Huáscar. The Captain with whom you were speaking is guilty of barratry and filibustering the territory of the Brakiri Syndicracy and has been removed from command and confined to the brig. You have engaged and attacked the Drazi Freehold's fleet while they were on a peacekeeping mission, while violating Brakiri territory. You have no right to interfere in the affairs of our galaxy and I expect that you will withdraw and allow ISA member nations to handle this matter amongst themselves. You have forty-eight hours to comply."

"This isn't recognized Brakiri territory, even in the ISA," Julia retorted. "And you heard the Drazi. This isn't a peacekeeping mission, they're here to commit genocide. How can you side with them?"

"I think it will quickly become apparent that the Dilgar are a serious threat to galactic peace. The Dilgar, of course, committed genocide three times over and attempted it another eight," Foster replied. "They are the most dangerous species in existence. And the Drazi are our allies. I will, of course, execute directives from Geneva, but I am not going to allow our allies to come under attack, Captain Andreys, unless I receive explicit orders to the contrary according to my lawful chain of command. The Brakiri clearly have not being committing genocide. And I'm sure we'll find plenty of Dilgar war criminals on the surface to arrest."

"Your allies won't come under attack if they don't try to commit genocide, Major. And the last time I checked, Earth was a signatory to the InterStellar Alliance Declaration of Principles and the Geneva Accord on the Prevention of Genocide, among other laws that the Brakiri and Drazi are blatantly violating here." Julia fought to keep her voice under control. Incredulity was becoming outrage inside of her. "Whatever the crimes of the last generation of Dilgar, one planet of barely twenty million survivors is hardly a threat to galactic peace! How many Dilgar war criminals can be left after Third Balos and the battle for their home system anyway?"

"The Brakiri are not committing war crimes, Captain Andreys, and they have the surface. And I'm not concerned about the Drazi. They're our friends and we'll talk it out with them. Unlike the butcherers you are trying to defend."

"So you're holding the sins of Jha'dur and her ilk against the entire species?" Julia asked. Her next remark was delivered in a pointed tone. "That's the same logic the Minbari used to justify their war against Earth."

"I suggest you think twice before comparing us to the killers of our entire generation. The fact is that it's my duty to insure the survival of Earth, Captain. Don't stand before us." With a chilled expression on his face, the screen blinked out.

Julia returned to her seat and let out a breath, wondering if the situation could get any worse, and dreading that it most likely would.