The images had already gone out to the Multiverse. Shai'jhur would have accepted nothing else. Billions of beings watched them through thousands of media sources in awe, happiness, amazement. The triumph of the allied forces and a new Liberation Navy was at hand. And she had helped engineer it.

One entire brigade had been devoted to the task of assaulting the Volkshalle. They had stormed through the lower levels and into the great hall itself. Then with the help of their engineers, the Dilgar had climbed the maintenance scaffolding high into the dome. Intermittent fighting with the remaining Nazi defenders was filmed by the correspondents as they stormed forward through the offices of the Nazi Party itself.

Leaning into ropes and clambering up steep access stairways, they reached the top. A few dispersed Nazi troops in detachments offer resistance. They are quickly killed. The cameras carefully avoid showing a few of the wounded sliding, falling off the sides of the dome, disappearing into the sky.

They reach the top, and look at the shattered damage to the dome, at the shattered city beyond it. A combat engineering team reaches the cupola at the top of the dome. A minute's application of plasma cutters is all that is required, and a group of thirty Dilgar troopers roaring and cheering as they push.

The great bronze bird totters, and then it topples into the side of the dome. The dome holds, and it tumbles down the side, scouring the rock facing, down, down, until it reaches the lip of the dome and bounces off, crushing itself in the great carved and fit marble of the plaza. As it falls, a flagpole is hoisted in its stead, a Dilgar flag. The other flags will come later. The camera focuses on it, waving over the Volkshalle.

In two weeks of fighting, the Dilgar have taken 62,000 killed on Earth, ten percent of their forces engaged. It was the highest of any of the allied armies in proportion to those committed to action. But they don't talk about that. They cheer, and celebrate wildly, for on this day, finally, they have buried ghosts and won a triumph.

Shai'jhur watched the broadcast on her screen. She quietly ignored the cheers of her bridge-crew around her. Her eyes dimly follow each detail of the screen, committing them to her memory. They cannot deny me now. Gods, but it has to have been enough. It must have been enough!

Lines of weary soldiers formed along the Volkstrasse. Around the Rathaus, the capital's city hall, men in feldgrau were standing at attention. For Robert there was again the onslaught of shame and broken pride from enemies who had presumed themselves the pinnacle of Humanity and the superior of all other forms of life; enemies who were now vanquished.

To the south and north of the Rathaus, Coalition troops stood as well. Exhausted, but eager. They were hurting from wounds and lost comrades and ready to see the bloody business terminated. Among their number were various vehicles and war machines of the victorious powers, from Alakin urban combat cars to towering BattleMechs.

As the leader of the ground forces, Prince Victor took the lead in approaching the Rathaus. Robert joined the other commanders in following him. Halfway to the lines, General Kleist and his subordinate commanders met them. The surrender went off without a hitch, without any sign of resistance from the vanquished Reich troops. Kleist and his officers surrendered their weapons personally and their soldiers formed lines to do the same. Enemy troops scattered around the city and the entire continent were receiving orders to do the same.

Once the formalities were observed and the captive Germans led off to confinement, the commanding generals dispersed. Victor turned and looked up at the damaged dome of the Volkshalle. In the fading daylight the flags of the Coalition powers fluttered together. The Union flag of the Dilgar seemed to flutter the most proudly. "I wonder what the Drazi will have to say about that," Robert murmured. "The Dilgar just guaranteed that the Multiverse will never tolerate another genocide attempt against them."

"They earned it," Victor replied. There was a tired look on his face. "Proportionally they took the worst casualties of all of our forces."

"They have something to prove to the rest of us."

"During the Tira Crisis I was briefed on the history. It is fitting that a people who once rivaled the Nazis in atrocities shed so much of their blood in the cause of stopping more. Maybe the Germans of this universe will find inspiration in their example." Victor glanced Robert's way. "So you are an operative now?"

"Something to that effect."

"You once spoke to me of right making might. Many would say your current job is intrinsically opposed to such views."

"I'm sure they would," Robert replied. "And maybe they have a point. But President Morgan wants to keep us honest. We're not going to be Spectres or anything like that. Our purpose is to protect the Alliance while upholding its values."

"It will not be easy," Victor said. "I am familiar with how statecraft and ideals can conflict."

"If anything, the Harris Station Charter situation has reminded me of that," Robert said darkly. "We signed that charter to protect worlds from exploitation, not to promote a carving up of the Reich's empire."

"The moment this became a coalition war effort, such a carving up was inevitable," Victor remarked. "But the important thing is that we've laid the Reich low. It won't pose a threat to our existences any longer."

"We have that at least," Robert agreed.

Generalfeldmarschall Konrad von Schoenburg sat in the reserve command centre of the Planetary defences at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The city had a proud old civic tradition and had been enormously pleased to receive this installation a century ago, and had since developed a strong connection to the Luftraumwaffe. It had been German majority even when it was ruled by the "Jewish cabal" of the United States and in no small part served as the cultural capital of German North America.

Once upon a time, of course, it had also had a large African population, but unlike the primitive tribes of Africa, it had no anthropological value and had been removed centuries ago. Only Aryans lived in Milwaukee now. Not for much longer. Konrad considered himself a cultured man, and he was not overcome with fury or despair. Confirmation had come through that the entirety of OKW was dead, the primary Ministers were dead, the SS leadership was missing. As second in command of the planetary defences, the weight of the Reich had settled on von Schoenburg's shoulders.

He could see the situation clearly enough. They were going to be forced to surrender in total. The surrender of Europe already made the situation on the surface untenable. They retained considerable industrial resources on interior colonies, but the fleet had been destroyed. The SS had fled without orders and without explanation, removing his only chance to continue to defend Earth while Admiral von Platen's fleet was concentrated.

In theory, he could order the concentration and transfer command of the Reich over to Von Platen. He would not escape the surface, but that would not matter. Von Platen could contact the remaining commanders of the SS and they would acknowledge him as the Führer-or not. But regardless, they could concentrate maybe fifteen hundred ships to defend the whole rest of the Reich.

At that point, the war would grind on for another six months. The enemy would redouble their production, the innumerable allies they had found across many universes would do the same. The destruction would spread to countless additional German worlds. A few more billion Germans would die without result.

Konrad, personally, had been in the Luftraumwaffe his entire life and had been in command of planetary defence networks for most of that time. He was confident he could win acquittal in any serious trial, and if the enemy wanted to shoot him, the outcome was preordained. His own survival was immaterial, though. He was a German patriot, by definition.

Quite logically, he decided to surrender the entire Reich. Highly placed enough to see documents on the other universes, he knew they had defeated the Reich centuries before, in places where it had even existed. They had crushed the German soul and spirit up before it had a chance to spread. But here there were hundreds of billions of Germans. Scandinavians, the Low Countries - Milwaukee - and all of their children in the stars had collectively come to see themselves as German. These victorious allies could crush the Reich, but they could not change the fact that in this universe, unlike other universes, there were a hundred billion Aryans in a compact mass of settled planets, possessed of shared culture and language.

The more intact the Reich was, he felt, the harder it would be for the allies to destroy what it meant to be German. It was time to end the pointless resistance. He would endure the unendurable, and someday a Fourth Reich would rise from the ashes, in some new form better capable of surviving the Multiverse.

"Major von Kechler?" He was a good lad, a smart man of a noble family originally from Holland, capable and brave with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross around his neck. He would have to do for the one thing that actually truly mattered at the moment.

"Sir!" The young fighter pilot, assigned to the ground duty while recuperating from wounds suffered in the war, stepped forward. His handsome face was still marred by pink scar tissue.

"My daughter Mathilda lives at 1171 Seeuferstrasse." He pulled something out of his pocket. "Remove your uniform, take these keys, and go there immediately. You are to take her into the Multiverse. Anywhere! I don't care! Find a way and get her to safety."

"Sir!?" The man paled, as silence slowly began to spread in a cone around him in the command centre.

"You have your order, and that is a direct order from the ranking surviving officer in the Reich, Major. Take my daughter, and get to another universe. That is all."

"Why another universe, Sir?"

Konrad tugged on his own collar and turned toward the banks of comms. "Because in another fifteen minutes every single surviving SS man will want to kill her in revenge for what her father did. I believe we have no choice but to begin negotiations for the surrender of the Reich. She's quite the handful, Major. She'll want to stay and fight in some kind of resistance even though she's a woman. Get started, you'll need some time to get clear. Go hide up in the North woods until an opportunity presents itself."

"Sir."

With the combat over, paperwork was now the order of the day. Combat reports had to be filed, damage reports collected and signed off on, requisitions for repair material made. Given the extensive damage list Jarod and Scotty provided, Julia was certain they were due for weeks of yard work to get the Aurora back in shape. Given the ferocity of the previous few days, it was no surprise.

But before touching the paperwork, Julia had something else to do first.

As expected, the medbay was full of combat casualties. With all of the hull breaches it was not surprising. The ship was also taking overflow from more damaged vessels. Thankfully Julia didn't have to hunt for help. Nasri found her immediately and brought her through to the Standard Care Ward of the medbay.

She found Barnes in a corner bed, laying with his eyes closed. She couldn't keep the gasp from forming. His right arm ended a few inches below the armpit, the stub covered in bandaging. "Tom?"

"Hey." Barnes opened his eyes. His voice sounded weary. "So it's all over?"

"Yeah," Julia said. "It is. The German Army in Europe surrendered an hour ago. Shai'jhur and the other admirals are already discussing terms with the remaining planetary command officers. They're holed up in Milwaukee of all places…"

"Huh. I guess they like the cheese," Barnes joked.

"My God Tom, how did that…"

"Plasma welder," he said. "My arm was pinned, and I had to fix that coolant shunt."

"Christ," Julia swore. "You… you cut off…"

"Yup. Hurt like all fraking hell too," he said. "But it was lose my arm or lose the ship. Couldn't do that. The Aurora is my girl too, y'know."

"Yeah."

Barnes sighed and then let out a small moan. "I feel like I could sleep for a year."

"I think we all do." Julia smiled softly at him. "Thank you, Tom. You… you're the reason we're still here. And I'm sure Leo can save your arm."

"Maybe. He says the welder damaged the nerves and I'll need nerve regeneration therapy before I can think of anything else." Barnes shrugged. "Maybe a robot arm would be cool? I could have it fit with engineering tools or something."

Julia giggled at the mental image, but she couldn't keep the sadness out of it. On top of everything else the war had cost them, in time and lives and blood and terror and pain, it had added to it by forcing Barnes to mutilate himself. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

He nodded mutely in reply. When he spoke, it was a subject change. "Did Zack and Rob…?"

"They did," Julia assured him. "They're alive. Okay."

"Good. They're coming home then."

"Eventually, for Zack. He'll probably be back on the Citadel within a week. He's got duties there."

"Make sure he gets the Koenig back, dammit," Barnes insisted. "It's his ship. Atreiad's cool, don't get me wrong, but Koenig is Zack's ship."

"It is," Julia agreed. She started thinking of something else to say when her omnitool made an electronic tone. She tapped the blue light that appeared over the back of her left hand. "Andreys here."

"Good news," said Jarod, and his voice, weary as it was, sounded like it. "The fleet just got back. Maran won. His fleet wrecked the Reich's battle fleet. Their survivors are already in full retreat or have surrendered."

"That's great news," Julia agreed.

"He's already in talks with the Wehrmacht's planetary command bunker in Milwaukee," Jarod continued. "Warmaster Shai'jhur's confirmed they're asking for surrender terms."

"For Earth?"

"No," Jarod replied. "For the entire Reich."

Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 16 July 2643. Captain Julia Andreys recording.

It's over. I almost can't believe it.

We've been at war with the Nazis for two years. Since it started we've faced fight after fight with them. Even when we were off on other missions the war was always there in the background. Always there to remind us that at any time we might get pulled back in.

And now it's all over. Earth is ours. The remaining leadership is preparing to surrender the entire empre to the Coalition. All of the sights from the fall of Germania - the Dilgar on top of the Volkshalle, the Alliance and Aururian troops meeting at the Alexanderplatz, the Federated Commonwealth BattleMechs stomping through the park in Tiergarten - they're all being broadcast across S4W8 as we speak. We're already getting reports of worlds rising up in revolt. Of Gauleiters begging Coalition commanders to take over to protect German minorities on some of the planets. After all of this fighting… it's like we finally hit them hard enough that the entire Reich is just… falling apart.

It's come at a cost. The Aurora has suffered severe damage to several systems. We nearly lost the ship. We survived only because Tom sacrificed his arm to save the ship. And between the battle at the Citadel and the battle for Earth, we've taken over a hundred casualties to the crew and the fighter wing. Everyone is worn down to the point that the entire crew feels like it's about to collapse in place.

But I can't complain. It could be so worse for us. So much worse.

Julia waited quietly at the transporter station for the return of the others. Meridina, Lucy, and Talara were the only ones to materialize. Julia was immediately struck not just by their exhaustion, but by the looks they had. Talara especially seemed worn down to a nub emotionally.

She went to ask about the others, but Meridina sensed her questions and preempted her. "Robert is remaining to coordinate the surrender negotiations with Admiral Maran and Prince Victor. Zachary is seeing to his unit. Tra'dur is remaining to assist King in examination of the technical intelligence we recovered."

"Oh." Julia couldn't keep the disappointment from her face. "I…"

"It's fine," Lucy said. She smiled weakly. "You wanted to see us all come back at once. It'll make us surviving it real."

"You got me," Julia confessed. She focused her attention on Talara. "Ensign Talara, are you okay?"

"No, Captain, I am not," Talara said, her voice quivering. "So much death and pain and loss… so much of it, I can't…"

"It's okay." Lucy put a hand on her student's shoulder. "Come on, you need some rest."

Julia sighed and shook her head. "Some of the junior officer quartering took damage from enemy fire. We've had to seal off some of the sections."

"She can stay in my quarters if she needs to," Lucy said. "Do you need anything else?"

"No. You're dismissed."

Lucy nodded at that. With Talara present, and the transporter operator, Julia would want to maintain at least some formality. She quietly guided her suffering protègè out.

"It was very hard on her," Meridina said. "She is quite sensitive."

"It was bad, then?"

"That city was already a place of great darkness. The deaths suffered there only make it worse." Meridina visibly shivered. "I can feel it even now…"

"Do you need some time off?" Julia asked. "I'll understand if you do…"

"We all do, Captain," Meridina said. "For now, I will seek out Commander Locarno and learn from him what must be done."

"And I need to talk to Zack." Julia clearly wasn't enjoying that thought. "There's something I have to tell him."

Meridina sensed what it was. "Swenya's Light, he actually…?"

Julia nodded. "And he saved the ship."

"Yes, it is best if you inform Zachary. So it is not a terrible surprise."

The Enterprise was better off than the Aurora, Robert could see. Her shields had nearly fallen during the thick of the fighting, but she came out with little in the way of hull and system damage, and things were already returning to normal on the ship.

The invitation to come aboard brought him up to the bridge and on to the ready room. There he found Picard sitting at his desk, a cup of Earl Grey in his hand, with Admiral Ross on the monitor. "I feel fortunate that we never signed the Harris Station Charter," Ross was saying. "The territorial disputes are already beginning."

"That's to be expected when you have a large coalition of states that include empires," Picard observed drolly. He noticed Robert's presence and nodded. Robert remained quiet to let the conversation continue. "I can't imagine a man of Admiral Maran's reputation is enjoying the experience."

"He isn't. And there's little he can do about the issue, this is a matter for the diplomats. But the need to put the occupation plans into practice is forcing him to deal with the complaints on top of getting ready for the final surrender ceremony." Robert couldn't see Ross from the angle of the screen, but he imagined Ross looked way momentarily. "They're ready to resume another meeting. I'll inform you if anything important develops. Ross out."

Once Ross was gone, Picard looked up. "Welcome aboard, Robert," he said. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, Jean-Luc." Robert took one of them. He looked around the room. Gone were the fish that Picard once kept on the last Enterprise, but several of his mementoes were visible. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised that this may turn into a carving contest."

"History shows that disparate coalitions rarely survive the wars they were formed to fight," observed Picard. "Once the threat of a common enemy is gone it is easy for the victors to turn their energies against one another."

"It's been a subject that's come up before. That we had to amend the Harris Station Charter at all…" Robert shook his head. "Before I came up General Lenarov and General Victus were already arguing about one planet on the Turian list. Drachenfeldt apparently has a significant Bulgarian population that wasn't reported, so the Slavic Union is insisting that the planet be re-assigned to them. Victus doesn't have authority to negotiate the matter so they just yelled at each other for a bit before Victor asked them to stop."

Picard sighed at the news. "They will race toward the world, I suspect."

"It's in the Anti-Spinward, so maybe. Or maybe the diplomats will make a deal." Robert shook his head. "I never liked that the Charter was amended. We're supposed to be liberating these people. The Turians are more interested in expanding their territory. And they're not the only ones…"

"The important part will be to keep all of the partners from deciding that rearmament of the German population is favorable. That would inevitably escalate the situation."

"Nobody's talking about that right now, but I suppose it might one day happen." Robert's voice made it clear he wasn't happy with the thought.

Picard took another sip of tea. "Well, it seems things have rather changed for both of us."

"You have a new Enterprise," Robert noted. "And I'm not a captain anymore."

"How do you feel about that?"

"I… don't know," Robert admitted. "I've mostly gotten used to it now, but there are still times I catch myself thinking about taking command." He shifted in the chair. "So much for my potential, I suppose."

"They won't give you another vessel?"

"No. Maran's made it clear that the Admiralty won't let me captain another ship," Robert said. He shook his head. "The damned thing is… I'm not sure I feel angry about it."

That drew Picard's attention immediately. "Oh? I admit I would be rather unhappy should Starfleet forbid me another command."

"I don't doubt it. And Julia would probably resign right there." Robert rested his elbow on the desk. "But I… I don't feel that way. I think I understand why they've done it, and it's entirely on my end. The fact I've often left my ship to accomplish other missions. Julia even warned me about taking to the field too often."

"That was her role, among many."

"And I still went. Every time. Because I felt it necessary."

"I imagine this has to do with this… metaphysical power you've discovered within yourself?" Picard asked.

"Oh, I'd say so." Robert thought again to that moment in the TARDIS. "'Your life will end.'"

"Pardon?"

"It's what it said to me. The Doctor's TARDIS. It said my life would end if I did what I did to save the Aurora," Robert explained. "I thought it meant I was going to die. But that wasn't it."

"You believe it meant your life as a starship captain," Picard observed.

"I do. And that's how things have gone for me," said Robert.

"And now you're… something of a secret operative?"

"Not so secret. The Paladins aren't black ops agents, we're… I suppose we're the troubleshooters," said Robert. "I suppose you can say we're a cross between the Citadel Council's Spectres and the Aururian Empress' Imperial Marshals."

"That will not be easy," Picard warned. "The kinds of operations you might be called upon to complete…"

"...they might not be on behalf of very good people, I know," Robert said. "That's why Morgan asked me and some of the others. He wants people who won't decide the job lets them solve every problem with a gun. I'll happily avoid such myself." Robert glanced toward Picard. "Are you disappointed?"

"Hrm?"

"You once told me that good starship captains were rare enough that they had to be encouraged. Now, after everything, I'm walking away from it."

"Perhaps in name, you are, but I suspect that as a Paladin, you will find yourself in situations not dissimilar to what you would experience as a starship captain," Picard observed. "Diplomacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, tactics… the stakes will be just as high as well."

"They already have been," Robert said, thinking of the campaign against Saren and Sovereign.

"Then in the end, I do not consider my efforts to encourage you wasted, Robert. Whether or not you are in the captain's chair or not." Picard set his cup down. "Now, since it has been some time, I would like to extend an open invitation to you and your comrades. Since Mister Worf's assignment to Deep Space Nine and the general disinterest of his successors, I'm afraid the weekly poker game has never been the same."

To that Robert laughed. "I'll extend the offer as soon as I get back."

Admiral Heinrich Rudolf von Platen was commander of the 4th Antispinward Grenzland Fleet, responsible for patrolling the inner frontiers of the Reich. He heard the orders from headquarters to stand down and commence a cease-fire in preparation for surrender. He heard the reports of the fall of Earth.

"Admiral, the fleet transmission is live," Kapitan-zur-Raum Mattias Erlaucher approached and tossed the more relaxed salute of the space-forces.

"Thank you, Kapitan." Heinrich sank back into the command chair of his flagbridge. Truth be told, thinking about his family on Earth, he couldn't really compose himself enough to appear in a visual before the fleet.

But he could compose himself will enough to say what he was going to next. First, though, there were a few formalities. "Mattias, have we dealt with the Gestapo men?"

"Yes, Sir. It's been arranged. The Naval Infantry are with us, and we've secured their quarters."

"That will be enough, then." Admiral von Platen had been competent, but he had also seen the bravery of countless aliens on the frontier. His commands had not been marked by any particular atrocities, though the very nature of the Reich meant that, certainly, the allies could find something to try him on, simply because near the borders there were always unpleasant tasks.

But he was not, and never had, been motivated by any love for the Party and the SS. Indeed, he believed he blamed them quite justly for the way they had lost the war. He could clearly see how both also motivated their enemies to incredible feats against them. And knowing what he did about the strategic situation, he had the smallest bit of hope that this story had not yet reached its final chapter.

He seized that hope, formed it together, held onto it, and began to speak. "Comrades, sailors, Germans. You doubtless have heard the reports from the capital of the Reich, our Earth, and I must, bluntly, confirm them. Earth has fallen to the enemy. The Reich has fallen to the enemy."

"This is due to no fault of yourselves, comrades. You had the best fleet, a fleet much better than theirs, stronger and more capable in every respect. It is however a maxim of the study of warfare that those with strategic mobility have the true advantage. Interuniversal drive protected the centres of power of the enemy, while allowing them to attack us at will from many unexpected directions and deep behind our own lines."

"With the surrender of the Reich, the hatred of our enemies will necessarily fade. They will be at each other's throats within two years, mark my words now, men! They are a hundred races and nations, combined only because of ancient legends and propaganda written by those who in other universes defeated the great German nation, ground us down and destroyed our spirit!"

"Today, I offer you something plain and simple: Hope. The hope that comes only by choosing the hard course, by enduring the unendurable. I ask you to stay loyal to me, comrades. No more Reich, no more NSDAP. No more Führer! No more women and precious little wine! Just comrades, and the strong decks still under our feet!"

"I will never again fight for a Reich, I will never again obey the orders of the SS men, the NSDAP men! The party is dead, wasted, it has failed the German nation. What I promise you is the black flag of the freikorps! They will call us pirates and hang us if they catch us, but comrades, while we fight, our nation will know hope like it did in the dark days when Napoleon occupied all of our lands, or when the communist traitors fought to seize the Reich! Give me swords around a black flag, comrades! We have eight hundred ships, and if they are mostly light, that means they are handy. We will head coreward, and hide in broken and distorted regions of space."

"When our enemies have turned on themselves to fight over the spoils, we will return and liberate our nation and our families, comrades! The German nation will not perish as long as it has a fleet in the stars. All ships prepare for warp trajectories. We will set our course beyond the frontiers of the Reich, and pray to Njoror for fortune in our travels. No surrender, though it makes us pirates. Comrades, long live the Free German Nation! Come with me to fight another day under a black freikorps banner!"

Among the ships that prevailed in the Sol System, the Starship Thunder Child proved the most fit for her current mission: command a squadron of ships for a reconnaissance-in-force of Himmlerwelt, the garden planet gifted centuries before to the SS and the seat of their power off of Earth. He was to either secure their surrender now that the Reich was collapsing or report on the extent of their defenses for a later assault, all while ensuring the safety of his still-damaged starship.

Seated in his command chair at the center of the bridge, Captain Phillip Wallace listened patiently as his Navigation Officer, Lieutenant Harold Wells, counted down to their arrival in orbit. His first officer was an Alakin female, Commander Taham Tolu, a bronze-feathered blue-skinned member of one of the minority nationalities of the Alakin species.

At the science station sat a young woman, Lieutenant Emilia Alessandria, with a porcelain complexion and raven-dark hair. She spoke with a pronounced Italian accent. "Still nothing new on sensors in the system, Captain. All we are reading is the space station and the lunar orbit shipyard."

His reply came in a faint Scots burr. "The damage to the sensors, could it be affecting your scans?"

"No sir," she replied. "The starbird Yatan and the Starship Aguinaldo both confirm our readings."

Both ships - a Layama-class Dorei starbird and a Nehru-class star cruiser - had been reinforcements to Earth after the battle so there was no prospect of combat damage to undermine their readings.

"Bringing us out of warp in three, two, one…"

With a flash of Cherenkov radiation and wayward tachyons, the Thunder Child dropped her warp field and decelerated to Newtonian Law-regulated sublight speeds, as did the ships accompanying her. Ahead of them Himmerwelt glistened in the light of her life-giving star. A toroidal space station hung in nearby orbit. Cities were visible as gray circles on the planet's surface.

"Put me on," Wallace instructed his Ops officer, Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Kirov. Upon receiving confirmation that the channel was open, he began speaking. "This is Captain Phillip Wallace of the United Alliance of Systems, commanding the Alliance Starship Thunder Child, to the planetary authorities of the planet called Himmler's World. On behalf of the Alliance and its allies, we call upon you to accept the surrender of your government and end…"

Before he could finish, a bright light flashed on the bridge holo-viewer. As the light died, more lights flashed, and soon it became apparent that the space station in orbit had been detonated, and in such a way as to drive the fragments to slam into the planet.

He had no time to request his officers report on this when there were sudden visible flashes on the planet's surface. "My God," murmured Lieutenant Alessandria. "They're… they're setting off atomic devices all across the planet! I'm picking up high levels of radioactive elements being thrown into the atmosphere by the detonations! Life signs across the planet are falling!"

"By the Maker," Commander Tolu gasped.

"Bloody bastards," Wallace said, his expression grim. "Bloody narcissist Nazis. They're killing themselves and making sure nobody else can use their planet when they're gone." He looked to Operations. "Raise the Kentan. Admiral Maran needs to know about this."

High above the ruined capital of the fallen Nazi state her handful of surviving leaders prepared to signal her defeat to a galaxy that, just two years prior, believed the Reich unstoppable. It had been, they might flatter themselves to believe, right up until the moment many universes had converged upon them with technology they had not foreseen to smash their fleets from a dozen directions at once, with waves of reinforcements as yet more powers joined the fight against them. But flattery did not and would not change the end.

The surrender would be received by the Reich's conquerors aboard one of the many star-faring vessels they brought to the task. The initial expectation had been that the Gersallian flagship Kentan would host the ceremony, or the Allied Systems' newest dreadnought, the Unity.

Admiral Maran had another candidate in mind, as it turned out. A candidate he considered the most fitting given her history.

Battle damage had been cleared in the hours before the assembled personages arrived on the hanger deck of the Starship Aurora. Dress uniforms dominated among the assembled, some more ostentatious than others depending upon the traditions and regulations governing the wearer. A great table was set into the middle of the hanger with the articles of surrender laid upon it.

Not far from the table, forward and to port from its location, the command crew of the Aurora stood in a group, all in the dress whites of the Alliance Stellar Navy save Major Anders, who wore the dress blues of the Alliance Marines. Commander Shepard and her team from the Normandy, as well as Joker, Pressley, and Chakwas, stood to one side of the Aurora crew, wearing formal uniforms in the case of those in the Systems Alliance military and formal suits (or something of the like) for those who were technically civilians. On the other side stood the command crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise; the command officers of the Alliance vessel of the same name were nearby as well. Warmaster Shai'jhur's officers stood almost opposite of them astern.

Shai'jhur herself stood among the seniormost officers of the Coalition. They remained assembled at the port side of the table, facing the surviving Nazi commanders to the starboard side. Generalfeldmarschall von Schoenburg was joined by other officers of the Luftraumwaffe, the Reich's aerospace fightercraft service, and a surviving deputy minister from the cultural and education ministry. They were all that remained of the central government. Teams had already found the bodies of the former OKW and the Reich Ministers, scattered about their offices and command posts in the center of Germania. Like Sauckel, they'd died without obvious use of poison or physical damage, leading to many presuming suicide.

Many, that was, except Robert and some of the others, who had a more viable suspect in mind.

The Coalition leadership was assembled around Admiral Maran. General Threek stood nearby, but the figures flanking Maran were Prince Victor, Khan Natasha Kerensky, and Warmaster Shai'jhur, as the highest ranking leaders. As Heads of State and Commanders-in-Chief (or near-equivalent to such in Natasha's case) they technically outranked Maran, but as he was personally representing President Morgan and had been the architect of the victory, they did not object.

One officer gave them a head's up to let them know that the comm systems were live, broadcasting them across the Multiverse. A great hush filled the room. Maran and the representatives of the Coalition states stepped forward, as did the Reich officers representing what was left of their central government.

Maran quietly invited the Nazis to examine the articles of surrender. They did so perfunctorily, fighting to restrain their emotions, save for von Schoenburg who seemed to have taken everything in stride. A few visibly failed. Robert, Meridina, Lucy, and Talara could all sense the shame and guilt these men shared, a feeling of despair and hopelessness, that they had failed their nation and that their lives were over. Many knew full well they would be bound for the dock to stand trial for the many atrocities and war crimes committed by the Reich. These men were convinced they were destined for a one way trip to an airlock or gallows, with a hope that maybe the Coalition would be merciful and send them to the firing squad instead. A few were convinced they had done nothing the Alliance would find illegal, but most of those still felt they would be executed anyway, believing what the Alliance said about fair trials was to be nothing more than a charlatan's propaganda to cover victor's vengeance (much as the Nazis themselves had often employed).

More than that, everything they believed in was being swept away. A foe they could not have imagined a few short years ago had crushed the nation they'd been raised to serve. All of their certainties were gone. They had been evil certainties, yes, and all of the peoples who had suffered or might have suffered from them were rightfully glad to see them destroyed. But that meant little to the doomed men signing away everything they ever believed in, and their emotions were just as real as the happiness in those that might have become their victims. Robert didn't know if he could, much less should, feel sympathy for their broken spirits.

Once the Nazi generals and officials had signed the articles of surrender, the Coalition representatives took their turn. One by one the officers stopped and signed: Admiral Ross, Warmaster Shai'jhur, Prince Victor, General Marrisa Morgan of the Free Worlds League, Mandrissa Huang of the Capellan Confederation, Fleet-Master Dartanrilam of the Gy'toran Interstellar Forces, Fleet Commander Telnarro of the Phosako, General Lenarov of the Slavic Union, General Franklin of Earthforce…

Maran waited until all of the allied commanders had signed before stepping forward and signing for the Alliance. Once he had affixed his signature in the flowing calligraphy of High Gersallian, he placed the pen squarely on the paper and took a step back. Again silence reigned across the hanger deck, an anticipatory silence. There was a weariness in Maran's spirit that Robert and some of the others could sense. While Gersallian physiology might not have lent itself to graying his dark hair from stress, it was clear there had been a price to pay for his burdens in the war.

Despite that weariness, he began to speak, his Gersallian lilt subdued and his words clear. "The war is over. The Nazi Regime is no more. For the first time in centuries, this galaxy, this universe, may know peace."

"It has been a long and bloody struggle to bring us to this point. Over the last five centuries many brave beings have lain down their lives to end the darkness planted centuries ago by the madness of Hitler and his followers. Some did so gratified by the thought their deaths would bring victory. For many others, there was no such hope, only a refusal to submit to that darkness."

Julia couldn't help but notice the pained look on the face of Ariel Shaham. So many of his people had died over the centuries in just that manner, in a cause that seemed hopeless. He and the last survivors of S4W8's Jews had nearly joined them.

"It would be a simple thing to believe that with the destruction of the Nazi State the darkness will be expunged," Maran continued. "If only it were so. The darkness, for all the destruction and pain the Nazis wrought from it, is not unique to them. Any beings, any people, can succumb to darkness, through pain or fear or anger. None of us are immune from this. And nothing can bring a being to darkness like the experience of war."

Maran gave everyone a moment to consider his words. Robert felt he may be considering his own as well, picking carefully what he said to bring his point home. "In war, we were resolute," he finally said, his voice strong and clear. "When defeated, we stood defiant. Now that we have achieved victory, we must show magnanimity. If we are to keep the peace, we must sustain goodwill. Otherwise, our own darkness may claim us in turn."

Again he went silent. Robert knew Maran had no gifts, no telepathy or life force powers, to tell him what others were thinking of his remarks. But he seemed to recognize that the reactions were varied. Some were in agreement, some seemed bored, and there were those who inwardly seethed in irritation, even fury, at what they saw as a moralistic lecturing.

Regardless Maran continued. "Today, our weapons may be silent, but our struggle is not over. It has only changed. The long years of darkness have tainted the worlds that our peoples are now responsible for. Nations that have long known the boot of oppression upon their necks must remember what it means to be free. The lies the Nazis used to control them must be visibly stripped away from their eyes, lest the hatreds the enemy spread among them bring further suffering. Just as well, the German nation itself must be reformed, it must be cleansed of the toxin the Nazi State poisoned it with, so that the German people of this universe will join with us in the Light."

"That is the charge we all face. And no matter our differences, we must never let our own anger and fear turn us from that charge. For our beloved dead, we must hold true to the cause of the Light of Life, and with justice and fairness, we can banish the Nazi darkness from this galaxy for good." After one final moment of consideration, Maran nodded once. "Thank you, that is all."

From that point the ceremony continued to its conclusion. The Nazi officials would be taken to their confinement on the Unity until a secure location elsewhere could be arranged. The rest of the assembled eventually dispersed. Some would return to their ships or to the planet below, and some would take up Julia's offer for a reception in Conference Room 2 being catered by Hargert.

The broadcast of the surrender went out on all bands, subspace and interuniversal and on specialized tachyon transmissions, ensuring that within the next few days every corner of the Reich would be aware of it. And while some Nazi leaders in the other worlds might momentarily resist, or try to negotiate further, it was clear to all that there was no turning back.

The war was over. The Nazis had lost. The Humanity of S4W8 was free.

Just as the surrender was transmitted across S4W8 to a stunned galaxy, it was also transmitted across a jubilant Multiverse.

The result was joyous celebration. They could be found everywhere. The majestic cities of Thessia reacted with the same enthusiasm as the new colonial settlements of the Systems Alliance; New Liberty Colony's celebration was as enthusiastic as the one in the Alliance capital of Portland, Earth L2M1. From the great cities of Gersal to the crystal cities of Minbar, each people of the Multiverse commemorated the end to a bloody interstellar war in their own fashion.

The fireworks and holo-light displays set off in celebration by the Gersallian Interdependency's government over their capital of Jantarihal could easily be seen up in the mountains outside the city, where the Great Temple of Swenya stood as it had for millennia. In the Temple itself there was a feeling and sense of great joy at the vanquishing of a foe more terrible than the most bloodthirsty Coserian Emperor or the most avaricious Jeaxian warlord.

Mastrash Ledosh watched the surrender with quiet joy, noting the presence of his greatest student and her proteges among the victors. And then he returned just as quietly to his work.

Below one hand was a guide written centuries before by a Gersallian linguistics scholar, Gartanam of the Teshmatal. It displeased Ledosh that it took him so long to find a volume of Gartanam's work, and not even in his own Order's vast library, but in the vaults of the Interdependency's Linguistics Academy.

His need for the book was under the other hand: the Life of Reshan. There, the Order's only copy of the ancient tome was open, its archaic Gersallian defying all previous attempts to translate it. The language itself predated Swenya, and the evolution of the Gersallian languages since her time had rendered much of it incomprehensible. Gartanam's work into ancient Gersallian texts made translation of this critical work a possibility.

As he read onward, Ledosh felt a chill in his being. It was one that recurred for months. A feeling that something was wrong. They were under threat. But he could never sense a specific threat, simply that uncomfortable feeling of lingering menace. He knew some of the others on the Council sensed it as well, and many elsewhere, and it was clear the Order was in a growing malaise

The traditionalists charged that it was from continued change brought on by the Multiverse, the same traditionalists who defiantly clung to their lakesh blades instead of training in the new lightsabers that Lucy Lucero taught many to make.

But Ledosh was certain it was something else. A dark force was stirring. Connected, perhaps, to the Prophecy of the Dawn.

And the key to this might yet be found in the Life of Reshan.

Thus Ledosh was not joining in the celebration of the defeat of the Nazis, but rather continuing his work. Because despite the nebulousness of the darkness he sensed, there was one thing he knew for certain. He was running out of time, and everything he cherished might be lost if he did not ensure this work was complete before the dark forces made their move.

Conference Room 2 was smaller than Room 1, sometimes called the Main Conference Room, but battle damage made the larger room unavailable. Hargert made good with what space was available, however. A feast worthy of the victory was ready for the attendees. The Aurora's officers and crew came and went - the business of running a starship continued regardless of other matters - and were joined by numerous officers of the other Coalition states.

Robert, Julia, and Zack stood in a corner together. They had the offered non-alcoholic drinks, for Zack's benefit, and watched the mingling quietly. Finally Julia lifted her glass and smiled. "To a half decade of insanity."

"It's only been five years?" Zack asked. "I feel like it's been twice that."

Robert chuckled at that. "Sometimes I feel the same way. It seems like it's been so long since I walked up to the mound that day." He took a sip. "It's something to think about, isn't it?"

"What?" Zack asked.

"It all came down to me dropping to my knees at the exact right spot," Robert said. "If I'd moved an inch to the left or right, or if I'd taken another step before I let it get to me… I'd have never triggered the Darglan transporter. We never would have found the Facility. There'd be no New Liberty, no Alliance, and the Nazi Reich would still be going strong."

"Sobering to think about." Julia's look was thoughtful. "It makes you wonder how much history can revolve around something as simple as putting your knee at the right spot."

"Yeah. Instead of trying to make a life in boring old Kansas, we're out here flying spaceships and fighting wars."

Robert sensed the pain in Zack. Images came with it. Robert had seen similar with his own eyes. "It's been a regular circus of horrors for us, ever since we entered our first North Korean labor camp," he muttered.

"Or finding Lucy in Patrick Duffy's own personal torture dungeon," Julia pointed out. "We've all seen a lot of terrible things out here."

"But at least we've done something about them…" Robert's attention was drawn to the door. "Well. Leo let him come after all."

The Conference Room 2 door swished open and admitted a hoverchair. A weary-looking Tom Barnes was seated in it, head leaning on his left arm. His dress uniform's empty right sleeve was folded and clipped into place. Nasri was pushing the chair in and Leo followed. The three walked up to join them. "It's nice that you let him come," Julia said to Leo.

"I think he might have driven the other patients in medbay crazy otherwise," Leo said, sighing as he did. He got a baleful look from Barnes at that. "As long as he doesn't exert himself, everything should be fine."

"Does eating the biggest damn slice of Hargert's cake count as exertion?" Barnes asked irritably. "Because if so, I'm fraking exerting myself."

"Tom, language," Julia scolded playfully. "There are general officers present."

"Right. Muckety-mucks." Barnes clasped his left arm over his chest, as if to fold his arms. He remembered himself after a couple of seconds. His expression became resigned.

"You'll get used to it," Leo said. "And in no time, we'll have another arm for you."

"And you'll be back to helping Scotty run Engineering," Zack promised him.

"You'd better be back too," Barnes said to him. "No more walling yourself off, Zack."

"Not going to happen," Zack promised. "Sydney's been hammering that home to me in therapy."

"Well, maybe things will return to normal around here then," Robert said, knowing full well they wouldn't.

Before the conversation could continue further, a knot of officers in blue and gray full dress uniforms approached. It was Shai'jhur, Kaveri Varma, and her eldest daughter Tia'jhur. "Captains, Commanders, Lieutenant," Shai'jhur started. "I have some business with the lot of you," she added, a smile touching her lips.

"Warmaster Shai'jhur." Robert nodded to her. "It's good to finally speak with you outside of work."

"It is a pleasure to meet the remarkable man who made this all possible-with a lot of help from a talented cadre of friends," Shai'jhur answered. "However, I am here for a bit of business. Lieutenant Thomas James Barnes?"

"That's me," Barnes piped up. "Well, most of me now."

"About that, Lieutenant. Battlemaster?"

Kaveri stepped up and presented a small box, the older Indian woman grinning down to Barnes. Then she snapped the box open.

"Lieutenant Thomas James Barnes, on special permission of President Morgan and my personal insistence as commander of the First Support Fleet, I present your formal citation: 'Lieutenant Thomas James Barnes, Assistant Chief Engineer of the ASV Aurora. Whilst gravely wounded, trapped by debris and almost the only survivor after the explosion of enemy missiles penetrating throughout sections P and O of the primary engineering spaces, with great presence of mind and devotion to duty, took decisive action to repair a critical loss of reactor cooling, extricating himself by severing his own right arm with a plasma cutter, and being right-handed, successfully effected repairs on the heat exchangers with his left arm while in such a profoundly crippled condition, thereby saving the ship. For this meritorious conduct Lieutenant Barnes is hereby awarded by declaration of the President and the Select Defence Committee of the Senate for Personnel, the Alliance Order of Valour.'" With that, she picked the ribbon and medal up from the box Kaveri was holding, and settled it around Tom's neck.

During the whole recitation Barnes remained quiet, with increasing indication that he was stunned by what was happening. Once Shai'jhur settled the medal over his neck he looked down at it, utterly quiet. His friends assembled around him began applauding. When he finally found his voice, his reply was almost whispered. "I never thought I'd get something like this," was the candid admission.

"But you did," Zack pointed out. He put a hand on his close friend's shoulder. "You saved the Aurora. Not for the first time…" Zack thought back to the Facility, and how the Aurora would have never gotten out had Barnes not risked damage to himself inside the impulse engine housing.

Barnes looked up to Shai'jhur. "Thank you," he said.

"Oh, it's quite all right. Warmaster Jha'dur used to personally decorate such brave conduct in her crews, on the spot. If I can't behave at least as well as she did, then what the bloody hell kind of person am I? You have earned it, young man, and you will certainly go on to great things as an Engineer. You are the epitome of your profession, in what matters most. But don't let it go to your head, either, we do this so that if someone hesitates in your place in the future they have a little bit of motivation to do what's right. There can be deeds that are both the epitome of true courage and something I should like to think any engineer would do to save his ship. I don't believe one being true makes the other any less true, and so you are precisely the kind of person who should receive this reward."

It was the praise of Barnes as an engineer that brought a proud look to his face, of no surprise to his friends. Recognition of his talent as an engineer was far more important than being a hero.

"The part about it getting to your head is the important thing," Leo teased gently.

Finally the small hint of a grin came to Barnes' face. "Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to deflate my Goddamned ego if it becomes too big, Leo."

Julia couldn't stop the giggle that formed in her throat. "Now that sounds like the Tom Barnes we all know and love."

"I'm one of a kind," he answered. "And if I get one of those robot arms, it'd better be one of the cool ones. With tools built into it."

"We'll discuss that once your treatment's farther along," Leo assured him. Beside him, Zack laughed. "Now, you said something about cake? I'm normally worried about your sugar intake, but today's an exception."

"Thanks again, Warmaster," Barnes said to Shai'jhur, after which Nasri and Leo moved him onward.

A forlorn look appeared on Zack's face. Robert sensed his bittersweet feelings. "Christ, I can't stop thinking about all of those people that died down there." He looked to Shai'jhur and a thought came to him. "There were kids down there. Teenagers."

"The age limit was two years higher than it was at Third Balos," Shai'jhur replied softly. "And this time, they died so that men could be free. I remember the thirteen year olds in the crews of my Ochlavitas in those dark days very well, if I did forget them I would deserve hell I think. Some of them died doing things as heroic as Lieutenant Barnes did. Our population is very young, and so the conscription classes had to be prepared appropriately."

Kaveri reached out and put a hand on Shai'jhur's shoulder, but said nothing.

Julia and Robert gave their friend concerned looks. It was clear that a part of Zack wanted to be angry at her. Just as much, Robert sensed the very real pain in the older Dilgar. A crushing responsibility, more acute than he'd felt in Prince Victor or President Morgan, and a quiet fortitude to bear it.

Ultimately Zack's voice showed he had his anger under control. "I'm just tired of the death," he said. "We came out here to help people, to stop all of the dying. I want it over."

"It is over," Julia assured him.

For a moment, Zack felt it. The need. The want. Stronger than it'd been in months. He could see Robert knew what he was feeling, and that gave him the strength to say no to the desire.

"Well, I hope that with our acceptance of Alliance membership, I can end conscription in the Union except for the planetary defence militias that won't be deployed off our homeworlds. I understand, Commander Carrey, that things were very bad on the surface. But it is over. And, I leave you to celebrate that with your friends." She nodded quietly to Kaveri and Tia'jhur, and the group stepped away.

After a moment Robert said, "They needed this, in more ways than one." He set each hand on his friends' shoulders. "And honestly, I think we all need some time to just unwind. It's been a terrible week."

"A terrible year, in some ways," Julia said quietly. "But you're right. Whatever work we have to deal with tomorrow, today it's time to enjoy the celebration."

"Count me in," said Zack, grinning at his oldest friends.

And they did just that.