The Admiral recalled all active missions, dispersing them into the nearby uninhabited systems. Until some conclusion to this intelligence had been found, until he knew what the hell was going on, he wasn’t sending them anywhere. Intel went searching, looking for what they had missed. Those Intec that had chosen to betray their people and enjoy a wealthy retirement on Earth were suddenly and forcibly reminded of the terms and conditions, mostly by the heavily-armed and suited Intel enforcers. They had questions, so many, many questions.

The meeting had a grim air as Tay, Sullivan and the Admiral went back over their records. He had ordered a deeper analysis of their previous engagements, to see how far this went. Tay was feeling personally upset that her people had missed this for so long, but she finally had an answer for the Admiral.

‘Sir, we estimate that about five percent of the ships we have encountered were produced by this shipyard. Most were trapped in your first offensive and were destroyed. Statistically, that tells us that they were a professional force, since the pirate’s surrender as soon as they know they are outmatched. If I had to hazard a guess, they weren’t expecting us and got caught, now they have pulled back and reformed somewhere, leaving the occupied planets and the pirates for us to find and crush. This must be a well-established strategy, given that none of our prisoners have mentioned it. They might not even know about it.’

The Admiral stood, regarding the maps in front of him. ‘So somewhere out there is the Intec backbone. They have a plan B, and they are used to using it. The galactic council assured us that they have no form of central government, no fleet coordination, or structure. They were wrong, or they deliberately misled us. Either way, we need a different approach. If they have a government then we need to be talking to them. Our war goals were against a ragged coalition of thieves, not a centralized power with a coherent government. I’m informing the XCC that this is their territory. In the meantime, we need to capture one of these professional Intec ships and learn about their chain-of-command.’

Roaden was rudely awakened and pushed quickly back to the Interrogators room, still blurry from sleep. The Intec was standing, leaning on his desk, with his mask askew. ‘ What are your people doing? All your forces have withdrawn. Why? Where are they going? Your life depends on your answers.’

That woke him up. Humans might have no sense of smell, but he could certainly smell the panic in the air. He sat down carefully, unwilling to add to the tension. ‘Intec, you would have to show me the new information before I could hazard a guess, not to mention that that sounds like good news for you. Also, and I mean this sincerely, fuck you.’ At that, he fell silent, waiting to see what this had changed for him. If the fleet had vanished, it was down to new information. Nothing else would have stopped the Admiral. What had Tay found out that would send the HOF out into the dark? He worked through the problem, looking for what he had missed. Then he realized that it was in front of him. Pirates didn’t have a disciplined navy, they didn’t have Marines. His guards were definitely trained and this ship was no pirate. This was Intec Fleet, a thing they had been told didn’t exist. He stayed silent, recalling differences in ships, thinking back to the ones that had told him nothing. The ones that had fought to the death. He realized what Tay had found.

His Interrogator was obviously reacting to something that was interfering with his plans. Roaden decided to see how far he could push this. He made some huge assumptions and went for it. ‘Intec, we have different rules when dealing with pirates. I assume they finally contacted your central government and are discussing your surrender. That’s how we normally behave, anyway. If the Admiral has pulled back, I guess you have similar orders. You are Intec Fleet, after all.’

The Intec hissed, seeming to implode. It sat down and regained its composure. ‘This changes nothing. We will not surrender. Your fleet is simply hiding from us, hiding out in the darkness. You have no idea of what you face, what we can do.’

Roaden leaned forward, ‘Intec, you already know that’s not true. You said it yourself. All I can suggest is that you tell me what you want, tell me how this ends. We are not conquerors or pirates. You have enslaved humans, you have attempted to attack us ever since we reached space. That must end, not just for us, but for everyone. What would it take to bring you to peace?’

It was Captain Sullivan that found them, a system that was just too good. The patrols were too accurate, the ships too clean and too ready. They were professionals, and that created a problem. They were excellent on Comms silence, he was getting nothing useful at all. Then he spotted the weakness - they had to put up with all the other Intec idiots flying thorough their space, while they were always trying to be invisible, always hiding. ‘Sir, I can get our people in there. What do you want me to do? I have every comms ID these guys have ever heard of. I could put us on the doorstep. How close and how many are really the only questions.’

The Human ships silently moved around the system, all wearing the faces of the defeated Intec ships. Unchallenged and unnoticed, they waited for the Admiral’s command.

Admiral Williams had called in the entire fleet. He had thought about a few silent approaches, but that defeated the purpose. This needed to be loud, this was not going to be subtle. Four thousand ships against, at best, two hundred enemies. The Admiral was going to make a point. He sent the planet an ultimatum, waited for a few minutes while Bork made the tea and then sent in his ships. This time they had been briefed that they were facing professional ships and were to behave accordingly. The Marines were similarly warned.

From every direction, the humans arrived, discarding their disguises and with all the Intel Tay and Sullivan could provide. The HOF had divided the system into slices, each with designated targets and priorities. The Admiral watched as all the theory, all the hidden practice and the Intel went to work together. Multiple squadrons intertwined into a firestorm, shattering the surprised Intec forces. Marines began launching their boarding parties into the fight, descending with the wrath of freemen onto the slavers.

Tay was only half-watching the battle. She had repurposed the carrier to repair the HOD ships, waiting for them to pitch up beside her, before running triage. Some of the Intec ships were dragged in by the Marines and allowed to empty their prisoners, before being pushed out of the ship for later. Her people were run ragged, but she had to admire the change in Olly since it turned out he could curse like a Marine and shout as if he had just been dragged out of the slums. She would have questions later. Bork was running the logistics, now aided by a devoted following of clerks as they kept the whole enterprise running. Ammo, meds, repair equipment, it flowed through his hands swiftly. She had heard that some quartermasters were weeping quietly in their offices.

Roaden waited in his cell, aware that something had changed. His last interrogation had ended in silence, as the Intec wrestled with whatever was going on. Then the door opened, a single guard without the usual firearms simply asked, ‘Sir, can you come with me, we have news for you.’ Then he stood aside and waited for Roaden to precede him. This time there was no dank office, instead, he was brought to the bridge, or at least it looked like a bridge to him. His Interrogator was waiting with another Intec, apparently reading information from a console. The masks then regarded him. ‘Human, it is time for a history lesson. It is still undecided if you will live, but we need you to understand.’ They walked towards an office, as Roaden sneaked a look at every system he could glimpse.

‘This is our past. Observe.’ Huge beasts moved across a savanna, obviously thousands of years ago by the dates. These beasts were beyond attack, to big for any predator to risk. A single species successfully latched onto these land-mountains, then it began defending it from the competition. It became symbiotic, rather than parasitic. They grew large on the resources available, many never leaving the back of the great creature. His interrogator interrupted, ‘That, human, is a Tec. Our hosts, our beginning. For generations we grew with them, leading them safely through the ages, through changes in climate, flood, and fire. At the end of their lives, we generated a new generation from their beloved flesh.’ He turned to the human, ‘Until something changed. A new species, a biped from the trees, armed itself with sharp stones, set traps for the Tec. It was a massacre. Many of our people died with them, but others changed. They sized the spears, they learned to hide in the long grass. Our war had begun.’

Roaden was fascinated, it was the most original species he had seen, at least for ones reaching space. The last line stopped him cold. ‘War? With who? It seems like a normal enough competition to me.’ Both masks hissed at him. ‘Human, you live on a deathworld. Everything you meet is trying to kill you, all the time. We are not hunters, we had no need of such habits. Until the spears appeared, then we learned. The Tec serve as more than a host, we are deeply intertwined with their brain, to the point that they serve as libraries, Comms, and tribe. We are defined by our host and they are defined by us.’

Roaden was getting the gist of it, he hoped, ‘So they became living villages, supporting each other in return for resources and defense. Cool’

His remark was received in silence. His interrogator finally asked, ‘Do I understand you? You appreciate this development?’ Roaden was surprised. He didn’t think the Intec really cared for his opinions, ‘Sure, it’s very clever. I mean, we domesticated a bunch of species, a couple that has traveled the stars with us. Not sure we could fit one of your Tec on board though. Might give it a try, I mean if that would help.’ The silence resumed for a moment.

‘Human, we never sought the destruction of the species that learned about weapons or traps, we simply learned how to defeat them when they threatened the Tec. Then this happened.’ The images were obviously much more recent. A ship landing, a first contact. Except it was with the tool-users, the hunters. Time passed and a city grew, and in an orgy of ignorance, the Tec were hunted. Those magnificent creatures became trophies, the ‘parasites’ ignored, wiped out quickly with industrialized weapons. The Tec, guarded by the remaining Intec stayed out of range, learning the arts of guerilla warfare. Soon they were forgotten, then celebrated as some left-over part of history, a thing of fairy-tales and reserves.

‘We were trapped, our Tec treated like animals, our people like dirt. We decided to fight. All of us, including the Tec. They mourned their loss, they hated being trapped and murdered. With nothing but the weapons we had made from the forests, we attacked the city. We sought out the Aliens that had fed them such machines and we destroyed them. The last of the Tec, we took the city and the ships. We killed them all, save for the few we required to explain their machines. They sent more against us, still, we had learned and we defeated them. They accused us of murder, genocide, and theft. We tried to seek peace, but no peace was offered so we fought. We learned machines, we learned the pitiless war that is life in this galaxy.’

Roaden recalled the, mostly, peaceful beginning offered to humanity. These guys hadn’t stood a chance. ‘Well, I can speak for you. If this is true, then humanity will stand with you. Surrender on terms, give up your piracy and return the slaves and I’m sure we can get you a second chance.’

One of the masks let out a snort, ‘You think so? Right now your Williams is killing our fleet, with only a moment’s notice. He has thousands of ships and soldiers attacking as we speak. Our bravest are dying today, against humans that pretended to be Intec refugees until they opened fire. You are such heroes. You are like the rest, and it will not be forgotten.’

Roaden took a moment. ‘Intec, can you contact the human fleet?’ The Intecs nodded. ‘I need to call someone. Your lives depend on it. I need to contact my captain. You need to talk to Tay.’