BattleTech: Combat Evolved - Definitive Edition

by IX404

We all know the tale. The SLDF under Aleksandr Kerensky's command leaves the Inner Sphere forever, before evolving into the Clans following Operation KLONDIKE. What if this was not the case? What if the entire Exodus fleet suffered a misjump that propelled them into another universe, one where Humanity will reclaim an ancient inheritance? This is the story of that possibility.

5. A Meeting Of Worlds

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo/BattleTech crossover redux.

Thank you for your wonderful feedback and support. I deeply appreciate it.

Now this is going to be one of the shorter chapters in this crossover redux. My new beta-reader made some suggestions on how to help the story flow better, resulting in a shorter than usual chapter. That being said, I believe all of you will deeply appreciate this chapter, and I hope it exceeds your expectations.

Either way, I appreciate your feedback, and I hope you'll continue to support the story going forward.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, WizKids, Piranha Games Inc., etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to its original composers and/or artists.

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UNSC Dawn Under Heaven

L4 Langrange Point, Madrigal

December 10th, 2785, 0830 Hrs (August 15th, 2525, 0830 Hrs)

Admiral Castenada stepped out of her quarters in her dress uniform. This is it, she thought. We're about to meet a civilization that we, until just a few hours ago, didn't know existed.

Her XO, Vice Admiral James McLeer, stood outside her quarters. "How you holding up, ma'am?" he asked as he pushed himself off the wall.

"Fine," Castenada said. "About as fine as can be from a couple hours ago."

McLeer frowned. Castenada's usual dry humor and wit were not present, which worried him. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Castenada said. "I'm just… processing what happened an hour ago.

McLeer shrugged. "I understand. Way I heard things, we had an Innie attack that was blasted apart by these newcomers."

"That's about the size of it. Their ships are slow, but they're powerful as hell. They used lasers, McLeer, and what appeared to be plasma weapons to tear apart the Freedom Fighter. While I'm not surprised by how quickly the Freedom Fighter was disabled, given the odds, I am worried by what this could mean for us if things go south."

McLeer patted Castenada on the back. "Don't worry. We just need to be cautious. Anything else is on their part."

"Let's hope so, Vice Admiral. I'd rather not find out the hard way. Still, for all we know, they could be real peace lovers."

McLeer snorted, happy that Castenada's dry humor hadn't completely faded. "Shall I inform the Sevastapol of your imminent arrival?"

"Yes," Castenada said. "You've got the ship until my return. Let us hope that this meeting of the minds goes well." McLeer saluted, then marched to the bridge. He's a good Vice Admiral. Certainly has the guts to be a good Admiral too.

She directed her gaze at the two ODST's that served as her body guards. "You two, with me!" Both ODSTs nodded and followed her. Using her CNI, she asked Charlemagne to send three more to come with her. Time to head to the hangar, she thought…

Inside the hangar, personnel were busy conducting maintenance on the numerous vehicles inside. Castenada's CNI directed her to one of the Pelicans, outlined in green. She saw a pilot in his flight suit. "Ma'am! This here's your bird!" he shouted.

"Thank you", she said as she drew closer. "What's your name?"

"Jerry Jones, ma'am," the pilot said.

Castenada nodded, "Good. Charlemagne, you ready?"

"Yes ma'am", Charlemagne responded through her COM piece.

"Good. Let's go!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Jerry exclaimed. The ODSTs marched into the troop bay. Once settled, Jerry keyed the dropship's COM. "Dawn Under Heaven Flight Ops, this is Bravo 4-8-1. Pre-flight checks complete. Requesting permission to launch."

"Bravo 4-8-1, Flight Ops," came the response. "Flight path confirmed. You are go for launch. Good luck."

"Flight Ops, Bravo 4-8-1. Confirmed. Cleared for launch. heading out.". The Pelican drifted out of the hangar bay, past the atmospheric shielding holding the air back. Within seconds, it was on its way to Sevastapol, its Longsword escort flight in tow around it.

Castenada moved towards the unoccupied co-pilot seat. "How long until we reach the Sevastapol?" She asked as she sat down.

"Ten mikes," Jerry answered.

"I'll bet Admiral Belleau's made arrangements on his end." Castenada quipped. Jerry nodded in agreement.

The COM crackled to life, a man's voice sounding upon Jerry's frequency. "Bravo 4-8-1, this is Sevastapol Flight Operations. Please proceed to Small Craft Bay 01 Bravo. An escort flight of Corsairs will guide you."

"Sevastapol Flight Operations, Bravo 4-8-1. We hear you. Escorts are on my scope, ready to receive," Jerry responded.

"Confirmed," the leader of the Longsword escort said. "Escorts on scope. RTB until further notice." The flight of Longswords spun around, then began to burn for home.

"Confirmed. Welcome to SLS Sevastapol, happy sailing", concluded Flight Ops.

Castenada watched as their escorts turned, then took up formation nearby. Odd, their turn rate is noticeable, she thought. A turning fighter would normally be too fast to observe. These fighters seemed to lazily rotate into formation around the Pelican. Seems a bit much to hide their capabilities. Paranoid bunch it seems.

Jerry closed the channel and turned to Castenada. "Got a professional bunch here ma'am"

Castenada nodded. "Sounds like it."

Another COM channel alert. Jerry tuned into it.

"Bravo 4-8-1, this is Captain Dimitri Sverdlovsk of Epsilon Wing. We'll escort you to the Sevastapol."

"Understood", Jerry answered and closed the channel. He glanced to the right to get a closer look at their escorts. "They look like Nandaos. Behave like them too"

"Personal experience?" Castenada asked.

Jerry nodded. "Yep. Flew one for a while, then went to Pelicans after a combat injury." The cockpit fell silent, with Castenada settling in for the flight, while Jerry focused on getting them safely to the Sevastapol.

Ten minutes later, their escorts began a slow right turn, with Jerry copying their actions. At the same time, Castenada caught sight of the Sevastapol. Along it's long, needle-like profile, she could see weapon emplacements. Sevastapol's got larger caliber guns most Halcyon light cruisers, she observed. The Innie frigate had little chance of surviving any encounter with it. The bright white hull seemed to glow with an intensity that threatened to hurt her eyes.

Jerry looked at a console. "Periphery scans pin the ship at 1,405 meters long. Width is estimated to be around 360 meters."

Wonder if this is one of their larger ships, Castenada thought. I would certainly bring an Epoch for showmanship if I had the chance. She wondered if the SLDF had similar considerations when choosing Sevastapol for their meeting.

The COM crackled to life again. "Sevastapol Flight Operations to Bravo 4-8-1. Please follow the red lights. Confirm?"

Inside the approaching bay, Castenada saw a series of bright red lights leading to a cordoned off area roughly halfway from the retracted doors.

"Confirmed, I see it now", Jerry responded. As he turned, Epsilon Wing peeled away and took up formation near Sevastapol. With a steady hand, Jerry guided the Pelican into the ship. Inside, they could see launch bays for fighters. As the doors behind them closed, Jerry frowned at a readout. "No atmo shields? Well, that must suck for the ground crew."

"I'll bet," Castenada agreed.

A slight adjustment to the controls had the Pelican rotate until it was aligned with the provided area. A series of magnetic clamps extended from below, latching onto the Pelican. Jerry ran one final check on the systems, then turned to Castenada. "There we go. We're docked and they've pressurized the launch bay. Time to see what the big deal is about." He frowned, then checked another instrument. "They don't have gravity from the looks of it."

"Understood," Castenada said. "Sergeant?"

"Yes, ma'am," her escort's leader, Sergeant Brendan, said. "Mag boots, people!" Mag boots clanged against the troop bay's floor. "Final checks, now!" The ODSTs dutifully obeyed, doing so like grooming apes.

Castenada put on a spare pair herself from one of the overhead seat racks. "Maybe it's just for the hangar bays," she said, hazarding a guess.

"We'll find out once we get further in ma'am", Brendan said.

"Well, we've been invited on-board, so let's go." At her order, the ODSTs stood to attention at the door. Jerry flicked a switch, and the door lowered, allowing them into the hangar bay.

As if to punctuate Castenada's words, eight soldiers approached her from the ship's interior. Purposeful heavy steps characteristic of mag boots echoed throughout the bay, along with other personnel that shuffled in. They wore one-piece jackets with strapped armor and wielded weapons similar to those reported used on the Freedom Fighter. Her thoughts drifted to how the ODST Sergeant must've felt about that. Infantry lasers. Bet my Marines will howl at Brendan for any details.

The SLDF soldiers took up formation around the ramp. With trained practice, they brought their weapons up into a parade rest. A tall, lanky man with light, brown-gray hair and green eyes revealed himself. He wore an white overcoat with gold piping that extended to his knees. Purple pants, ostentatious, definitely high ranking, Castenada noted. "Permission to come aboard?" she asked ritualistically.

The man smiled. "Permission granted. Welcome aboard the SLS Sevastapol, Admiral Castenada. I'm Admiral Thomas Belleau of the SLDF. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

"The honor is all mine." Castenada said. She turned to her ODSTs. "Two of you will stay with the Pelican. The rest, with me."

"Connor, McKinley, you'll keep Jerry company," Brendan said. "Try not to get too comfy." The ODSTs nodded, then took up position at the Pelican.

"Good," Castenada said. She returned her gaze to Belleau. "I hope that isn't inconvenient for you?"

Belleau smiled. "Not at all. I have a conference room ready. If you'd follow me please."

"Lead the way," Castenada said. Belleau turned , along with four of the eight parading soldiers, and traveled deeper into the ship, Castenada and her escort following close behind. "Quite a large bay."

"One of them, yes. McKenna-class battleships typically have two."

"I see," Castenada said. "When we landed, we noticed that there wasn't gravity in the bay"

"Yes. We have specialized Grav Decks used for spin gravity. I assume you have gravity control systems?" Belleau seemed to ask almost eagerly.

Belleau asked eagerly. Might be the idea of gravity control systems is an appealing one. Castenada nodded. "Yes we do. Our predecessors found it necessary to develop it for efficient system travel."

"So it would seem. You must have an extensive trade network if such was a necessity for you."

"Quite", Castenada replied simply, avoiding the bait. As they moved through the ship, Castenada made passing glances. She could smell the faint odor of antiseptics and disinfectants, Recently scrubbed, she pondered, as they passed crew-mates along the way. They came to an elevator. Once inside, and moving, Castenada felt her stomach lurch. The ODSTs didn't react, either not feeling discomfort at all, or hiding it under a professional demeanor.

They came to a stop in roughly three minutes. Elevator doors opening to reveal the corridor beyond. They stepped out and continued through the ship. "Your ship looks well maintained," Castenada said.

"Thank you," Belleau said. "We care for our ships out of both necessity and pride. If you take care of a good ship, she'll take good care of you."

They came to a gray, framed door, two SLDF soldiers breaking off from the group to form up at it. Conference Room. Authorized Personnel Only, Castenada observed from the headboard. The door opened to reveal a large table with twelve chairs around it. A central holographic projector displayed a map of the immediate area around Sevastapol. Technicians were on standby at the table and along the walls. Once inside, Belleau motioned to a nearby chair. "Please, sit down."

Direct and courteous, Castenada thought. So far, so good. At his direction, she sat in one of the seats.

With Castenada's escorts at the wall and the Admiral herself seated, Belleau sat down and cleared his throat. "I take it you have many questions as to our intentions and where we come from, yes?"

"You bet," Castenada said. "For one thing, I've never heard of 'Star League Defense Force' before. Are you an independent cell of Humanity from the Domus Diaspora?"

Belleau frowned. "I don't believe I'm familiar with the term. Could you elucidate on that please?"

Castenada also frowned. Their data package corroborates so far, she thought. Let's see if it holds. "Very well. The Domus Diaspora was a wave of human colonization from around two centuries ago. We sent out a lot of ships to new worlds for settlement. Lost some along the way."

"And assuming you kept meticulous records of where these colony ships landed, I suppose it wouldn't be too egregious to consider us being descendants of one or more of those endeavors."

Castenada nodded. "Yes. Which is why I'm a bit confused as to why we've never heard of your 'SLDF' before."

"Well I can say that we're not a long lost colony of humans coming home. I assume that you read through the First Contact package we sent?"

"Yes. If what you say is true, you're situation is quite unheard of," Castenada said.

"Very well." Belleau stated, fiddling with the controls. The hologram of 23 Librae faded out as a new one took its place.

Castenada inspected it. Looks like a star map, she thought. Her eyes fell onto a familiar dot. "Is that…?"

"Yes," Belleau confirmed. "That is Terra." He stood, gesturing with his hands. "The Star League-in-Exile is the government that I serve, while the SLDF is its military branch. As for our history, allow me to cover the basics. Our expansion began following the invention of the Kearny-Fuchida Drive, our primary means of FTL flight, nearly seven hundred years ago."

As Belleau narrated, accompanying footage and maps corroborated his words; the first KF drive test, the border expansions and contractions of the Terran Alliance as the Great Houses formed, followed by the formation of the Star League. The accompanying borders stabilized to cover an area 1,100 light years wide, if the legend was accurate.

This is worrying, Castenada thought, her eyes focused on the 3-D map. She hoped their story held up all the way to the present. Having a faction potentially hundreds of times larger than the UEG in size and population would ring alarm bells across the UNSC. She frowned, noting the frequency at which the borders changed. "I take it this wasn't always peaceful."

"It wasn't," Belleau confirmed. "Our history is built upon conflict, both justified and petty." He noted Castenada's deepening frown. "We're hoping to change that"

She smiled sympathetically in response. He's honest, and direct. She thought back to the battle a few hours before. I just hope ONI doesn't antagonize them. She scowled at the thought. Then another question popped in her head. "How did you end up here, if you're truly from another universe?"

Belleau chuckled wryly. "We suffered a massive misjump that sent us into the Iota Horologii System, a few dozen light years from what we believe is your Terra, here." He pointed a a lone star on the map just over fifty five light years from Earth. "We settled the system and began exploring nearby ones for signs of life."

Castenada looked at the map. From what she could recall, Iota Horologii was a star system pre-UEG goverments had looked at before. We dismissed it because it wasn't close to any stable Slipspace routes. Apparently, we were wrong. "Are you willing to share a copy of your historical records for analysis, as we work towards setting up a formal first contact meeting?"

Belleau paused, turned to the side, then nodded. "We are." He turned to one of the notable technicians in the room. "Make a copy of this", he ordered, gesturing to the hologram.

"Yes sir!" the young woman dutifully replied, then set to work.

Belleau turned his gaze back to Castenada. "Would I be safe to assume that you will share the same on your end?"

In response, Admiral Castenada turned towards one of her escorts, who then produced a datapad, handing it to her as she spoke, "It contains public information on who we are, along with our general history", she said.

"Download complete sir", informed the technician, handing Belleau a noteputer.

"Here you go," he said, handing the noteputer to Castenada as he stood.

"Thank you," Castenada said as she too stood. "You'll have a response from us in around two months time. We'll broadcast it from the station in system. Until then, you may stay here as long as you feel is comfortable, then leave a ship here to catch the signal, or drop by a few times until then. Is that sufficient?"

Belleau paused, noting the rather large amount of time the Admiral expected to get a response. Slow FTL or slow government, he ruefully thought, assuming their seat of governance is at Terra. He brought up a holo of 23 Librae. "It is, Admiral, thank you. We'll lay here for two weeks to recharge our drives. Once done, we'll make the jump back home. We'll leave one of our smaller ships to act as a line of communication until then", he responded.

That made Castenada think. Possible FTL COMs? She filed the thought away for further exploration.

Castenada and Belleau shared a strong handshake. "I'll put in a good word for you with my superiors at HIGHCOM. If all goes well, you'll have a time and place to meet with our representatives and leaders. It's the least I could do for your assistance in dealing with the rouge ships earlier."

"Good," Belleau said, equally glad. "I'll inform my superiors too and be ready to meet your diplomats by then. I look forward to meeting you again, Admiral."

She smiled. "As do I. Until then, have a splendid time. If you need any further clarification, you may relay it to our station. It'll trickle up to me quicker than any ship."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you once again for your time." Belleau concluded.

"Thank you for your hosting, it was enlightening." Castenada affirmed. As she walked out, she smiled. Not a bad day, overall. Got to meet someone new and get things done. Only time will tell if all goes well on our end of things. She pushed the thought of mind, then left for the hangar bay.

When Castenada got back to the pelican, she found Jerry talking with the SLDF personnel. Sounds like a classic wise ass sort of debate, she thought.

"It looks like a phone that's been cut in half!" one of them said.

Some things seem to transcend time and space, she thought as she rolled her eyes.

"Your fighters are so small my dropship here could haul them" Jerry smugly supplied.

"They're supposed to be small, genius! How else can they maneuver or move fast? Look at this bus!" another of the crew supplied boastfully, hands gesturing at the Pelican.

"Admiral on deck", Brendan declared, all personnel automatically rising to salute.

Catenada withheld a chuckle at the SLDF personnel's mimicry, noting their drills' effectiveness. "At ease, we're leaving."

"Yes ma'am", Jerry replied. "See you guys around."

"You too," the hangar crew said.

"So, how'd it go ma'am?" Jerry asked as they sailed out of Sevastapol's hangar bay and back towards Dawn Under Heaven.

"Well," Castenada replied. "Admiral Belleau's agreed to speak to his superiors. We have two months to update HIGHCOM and formulate a response. They'll be waiting till then."

"I'd say that's a win any day of the week. Kicked some Innie ass and made new friends. Quite the record, ma'am."

"I'll get behind that," Castenada agreed. "That being said, it's up to the senate and HIGHCOM to decide what happens from here on out."

. . .

While Castenada and Jerry were on their way back to the Dawn Under Heaven, Admiral Belleau watched them go.

Vice Admiral Morley came up to him. "Sounds like it went well."

"It did," Belleau said. "Castenada seemed to believe us. Could you open a line to SLDF HIGHCOM?"

"Understood." Morley turned towards the Comms Officer. "Set up a comm link back to Soell IV immediately!."

"Yes sir," the Comms Officer said. She pressed a series of buttons, then checked a readout. "HPG link is online," she said.

Belleau nodded. "Very good. Send the protector my report, and request an audience."

"Yes sir." The Comms Officer typed back a short, concise message, then sent the report off using the required codes. A minute later, she had a reply. "They're ready to speak with you, sir."

"Good." Belleau sat in his command chair and awaited the message.

A text message appeared on the built-in screen. "SitRep?" it asked.

Belleau quickly typed in a response. "Made successful First Contact with local Human faction through its military, identified as United Nations Space Command." He uploaded his full report for review

It didn't take long for a response to come back. "Message received. Is that all?"

Belleau typed a reply, attached another file, then sent it off. "Negative. Scout division was engaged by rouge ships at 0730 Hrs. UNSC identified rouge ships as 'Insurrectionists'. No friendly casualties. All rouge forces eliminated and/or captured."

"Understood. Possible Outer Reaches scenario?"

"Affirmative," Belleau typed in.

"Understood. Anything else?"

"Yes. Was able to engage with UNSC representative," Belleau sent back. "Diplomatic invitation from UEG expected within 2 months. Destroyer William Adams will remain in system to receive it until ordered otherwise."

"Understood. Current situation?"

Belleau typed back a response. "Will recharge drives and jump back home. ETA: 36 hours. Further orders?"

"To be dispersed on arrival. Kerensky out." The message winked out and the screen went black.

Belleau looked at Morley. "Vice Admiral, deploy solar sails for drive recharge procedures. Once done, we'll go home."

Morley smiled. "Yes sir."

. . .

While Sevastapol and its fleet began recharge operations, Kerensky and Torrance read through Belleau's report. Upon finishing, Torrance sighed. "Well, this just got complicated."

"Indeed," Kerensky agreed. "We confirmed that we're not the only existing human civilization. We will need to choose our representative carefully if we want to engage on comparable terms with the UEG.."

"That much we can agree on." Torrance shifted to his computer. "I'll see if one of the less egotistical nobles are willing to represent us." He pulled up some files and paged through them. "Jared Townley might do. Very popular with the civilians and he gets results."

Kerensky nodded. "My subordinates have good things to say about him too. Any other choices?"

"I'll go through the whole gamut and pick out the best of the best." Torrance stood from his desk. "I'm also going to go."

Kerensky arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I don't know if you've chosen any successors in the event you are killed."

"I have, Kerensky. That being said, I wonder if you've chosen one for your position."

Kerensky nodded. "In the event I'm killed or detained, Aaron DeChavilier will be my immediate successor. That being said, do you wish for me to go with you?"

"Yes." Torrance sat back down in his seat. "We have two months. We need to determine what our plan of action will be."

"Admirals Belleau and Strauss will accompany our party. One WarShip with standard DropShip escort. A heavy division fleet will be our safety net a few systems away. We don't want to provoke a hostile response. We'll be onboard the McKenna's Pride for this."

Torrance nodded. "Good choice. If we wish to get to whatever world they choose in a timely manner, we'll need to jump in close. Any suggestions as to where?"

"No need, we can spare the time, or board one of their ships instead if the performance of those encountered so far is standard among them," Kerensky advanced to the holotable and pulled up a map of Terra III and it's moon. "We'll use L3 to avoid surprising them. If they have a moon, it will likely be settled. No need to look like invaders. We'll send one of our Bug-Eyes to spot us suitable coordinates."

"I like it. It'll make us look good. What if they chose another planet though?"

"Then we'll adjust our strategy accordingly," Kerensky said. "We still have nav-records that date back to the current year the UEG is in. We can perform accurate jumps even with that info."

Torrance smiled. "Very well."

"Very much so. Once we arrive, we'll leave most of the talking to Townley and any others you chose, yourself included." Kerensky turned off the holo-table. "If all goes well, we'll secure a pact with the UEG, and grow from there."

"Agreed," Torrance said.

"Thank you Torrance," Kerensky said as he glanced at his watch. "I must tend to my sons. Let's hope our luck holds" He concluded.

Both men went their separate ways, each determined to ensure that the SLiE would survive this positive turn of events.

. . .

Several hours later, Aleksandr approached his new home on Soell III. He opened the door to find Nicholas sitting by the fireplace. The young man looked like he was in a state of shock, his gaze firmly affixed onto the flames.

Aleksandr frowned. This isn't good, he thought. Nicolas hasn't done that before. He walked over and sat down next to him. "Nicholas?"

The man jumped, then turned to face his father. "Oh. I… um." He hastily cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I… I didn't see you come in."

"You didn't seem to hear me either, but that is forgivable. We've all been through a lot lately." Aleksandr then frowned. "You seem to be… disturbed. Is something wrong?"

Nicholas turned his gaze back to the fire. "I've… had to come to terms with myself," he said at last. "I finished my therapy session today."

"Is Dr. Jung doing well?"

Nicholas nodded. "Yes. He and I've been busy with my therapy. It's because of that, though, that I've… well… I've had to confront a hard truth about myself."

Nicholas turned towards Aleksandr. To the latter's surprise, he looked terrified. "I found out the real reason behind my actions. I wanted to be loved. I wanted to be shown admiration for making the hard decisions that no one else would make. I wanted the gratification that comes with people choosing to trust me no matter what comes next. In short, I wanted to be loved, but in my myopic and broken thought process, I chose the quickest path, which was a very shitty path." He slumped. "Some man I turned out to be. I resisted Stefan Amaris' rule, only to find out that I'm just like him."

Aleksandr felt a pang of sympathy. That's why Nicholas is so shocked, he thought. He thinks he's the worst the Star League has to offer. Nicholas was at the lowest point of his life.

He shifted closer to his son. "That's true, but something else is also true?

Nicholas appraised him. "Yes?"

"I nearly fell into the same pitfall, during the coup. I had two main options once it ended. I could've used my fleet to conquer or burn away the bickering Houses and run the Hegemony myself for a while, possibly leaving behind billions of people as collateral. Or I could play along, side with one of the Houses and use my fleet as their hammer to avoid another ceaseless war and impose their will instead."

"You were caught in a Morton's Fork," Nicholas surmised.

Aleksandr nodded. "Yes, that I was, which is why I am forever grateful to Aaron for his suggestion, even though he made it initially in jest."

"What was it?" Nicholas asked, intrigued.

"That we leave the Inner Sphere, and deny the Houses our military force," Aleksandr said. By doing so, we would let the spheroids choose their own destinies, we would allow the Houses to show themselves as the monsters they are to their subjects. Let them fizzle and burn out in their pride and greed, leaving room for new entities to form, similar to the Terran Alliance of the past." His lips twitched with amusement "Minus the part where it collapsed. Sometimes the best way to protect what you love is to leave it behind, as we have done."

It took Nicholas a while to understand. "So, when faced with two equally unfavorable choices, you created a third one."

"Yes", Aleksandr said passionately. "While there are times where you really have no alternatives, you must remember that there may be one if you have the patience, calm and willingness to recognize it. Even if you fail, you'd do so knowing that you did the best you could, with less regrets.

"While you can be at times likened to Amaris, you can also be a good and noble man. It's tempting to choose the quickest and easiest path to gain power, but that also has its problems. Every decision does.

"You can be better. I know you can. You helped your mother and brother survive while I was away. You have a family that cares for you. You have the potential and conviction to do what's needed. Never let your failures define you, let them advise you instead as you learn."

Nicholas' face brightened at those words. He smiled. "Thank you, dad," he said. "I… I guess I needed to hear that from someone, and you're right. I can be a horrible monster if I accept it. As long as I strive to be above that though, to learn from my faults, I won't become another Amaris."

"That's true", came Andery's voice. He walked into the living room and sat by them. "I overheard what you two were talking about. I never knew that you were faced with such a dilemma dad."

"I was," Aleksandr nodded. "It appears that the two of you are no longer boys. You've grown up, which makes what I'm about to tell you all the more important." He leaned in closer to the two. "We've finally found other human beings in the wider galaxy."

His sons' attention snapped to him instantly. "Who are they?" Nicholas asked.

"They are a new human civilization identifying as the United Earth Government. I will tell you more about them in due time, but for now, I will say that the discovery of the UEG, and it's military branch, the UNSC, means that we in the SLiE must adapt. As such, I've decided to prepare the two of you for what you will be doing."

He looked at his sons seriously. "Nicholas, you will be receiving training in infiltration and intelligence gathering, after which, you'll become a member of the SLDF Intelligence Command, under the command of Admiral Osman von Strauss. You will be exposed to the unsavory things we must do if we are to survive in this brave new universe. My advice to you is to use your darker qualities to preserve our secrets, but to also remember to use your brighter qualities to forge lasting friendships and to remain true to our cause. Understood?"

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, dad. I know it'll expose me to my dark side more than usual, but as long as I have you, mom and Andery by my side, I won't become another Amaris."

"Very good." Aleksandr directed his gaze towards Andery. "As for you, Andery, you'll be assigned to General Terry Jones of Army Command. He and his subordinates will teach you how to manage large scale infantry, vehicle and 'Mech formations both in and outside of combat. My advice to you is to heed their words, but not to become dependent on them. The mark of an excellent leader is not only being able to command troops, but to also devise creative solutions for difficult problems. Do you understand?"

Andery nodded. "I do. I'll keep your words in mind."

"All that aside, what do you intend to do about the UEG?" Nicholas asked.

"We will negotiate with them for the time being," Aleksandr said. "We are not at war, nor do we have any desire to begin a war. Unless anything drastic happens, we will extend to them the hand of peace and friendship. If all goes well, we will secure a lasting peace with our brothers and sisters in this universe. Understood?"

"Yes, dad," both sons said.

Aleksandr smiled, then patted the two. "I know that the responsibilities the two of you have will be great. However, I believe that both of you will rise to the occasion." He glanced at the clock. "Now, I believe it is time for dinner. Given how much you've evidently improved Nicholas, a small celebration is in order."

Nicholas smiled. "You spoil me, dad. Still, I could go for a good meal right now." The trio laughed lightly.

Up on the balcony, Katyusha smiled at her husband and sons. I'm so proud of all of you, she thought. Especially you, Nicholas. You've transformed into a better man. She sighed, then looked up at the stars. It's not going to be easy, but I'm confident that the three of you will handle whatever comes your way. She smiled, then headed to her room to prepare for the outing.