Re-Creator of Universes - Book 4 of Re-Forge

Morf

CT Far's flagship, 'Morfineater,' moved into a stationary orbit directly above the Capital of Morf. Ct Far went through the ritual homecoming arrival ceremony with a sad heart. He had that terrible feeling of ultimate failure that comes with the expectation of a hostile reception on Morf.

With non-humorous feelings, CT Far thought: "It is not every day that a Supreme Commander leads a hundred thousand warships into a battle with an advantage of a hundred to one and returns with just one ship."

"Losing in such a spectacular fashion will follow me to my grave, which may not be too far away. I have bought shame and embarrassment to my beloved Dhia. These feelings are not what those in the Morfin military are accustomed too."

This was all Ct Far could think about on the short hop down to the spaceport but even so, he was pleased to see the familiar face of his secretary as she bowed and opened his limo door, and quickly closing it before climbing in from the other side to sit facing him.

He hr remained silent, and the lack of noise in the limousine was like a scream for attention. At last, his secretary could not stand the silence and said: "Consort-Partner, may I be blunt?"

Ct Far's gills were fully deflated, and he made a 'whatever' motion to her.

The secretary said: "Thank you, Sire. I know it is not all about me and my feelings, but I'm getting angry that my Empress is in pain again over your attempts to save her. Everyone supports you and understands that you have no choice, but those in your close circle are suffering as much as the families of the soldiers who died out there."

"The Empress is devastated at the 'huge' loss of Morfin lives. She was fast to spread the replay of events at the Battle of the Binary that you sent from the border to all her worlds so they would see for themselves what we are up against."

"We all saw the battle play out, and the entire Empire is terrified of one small alien female. You know I would like nothing better than to say, 'Commander, listen to your partner, let her die for her people...' but like you, I could never do that."

"Finally, I understand why our Empress gave you absolute equality. You will never let another harm your empress. You are the one who will never back down or surrender while your heart is beating."

"I stand with you Consort-Partner. Before the enemy come for you, and then the Empress, they will have to kill me and another billion just like me. I am honoured to be in your service."

The secretary said: "Before I return to silence, I have one question about the humans."

Ct Far nodded again, and the Secretary asked: "Do you really think the humans can advance from sub-light technology to Hyperlight technology and be on our frontier in three or four cycles?"

Ct Far nodded and said: "I never imagined seeing such a fast recovery from a Hyperlight attack that should have destroyed their entire species. They regrouped with machine precision in seconds after our most devastating combat weapons killed a few thousand individual humans."

"The humans caught us in a pincer and killed more than fifty million soldiers, and a hundred thousand warships in retribution. They crushed our fleet into glowing balls of super refined metals in less than one of their hours... I don't understand why I'm still alive."

The secretary said: "I understand that it must feel like Morfineater excrement to be living inside your skin right now, but there is one very distraught empress waiting for you in the palace apartment complex. She is not angry at you but is devastated that your depression will get the better of you."

"Your behaviour and your commitment to your empress even gained the respect of the female human who reduced our fleet to glowing balls of metal."

"Please, commander, puff up your gills for your lovely partner. She needs to see that hero side of you now."