Triumph Day

Prologue: The Fall

"....And so, this is why it is absolutely imperative that we unite to prevent the brutal expansion of the GUS into Verhom-Monstrate Diarchy space!" "Well done, Sir, that's certainly an improvement on last time!" Gallhom triumphantly slapped his tail on the ground and released a puff of spores from his gills   that spread throughout the room, before being neutralised  by anti contagion nanites. Vakk, his clerk, looked on with satisfaction, knowing that her superior would have a not insignificant chance of getting a fair deal to protect them from the expansionist practices of the Glorious Union State.

The year was 2128 CE in human time and the VMD (Verhom-Monstrate Diarchy) was under threat of catastrophic invasion  from the Glorious Unity State (or GUS) because the GUS had become convinced that the only way to insure peace among the stars was to control them, and those who did not submit would be subjugated by force. The aquatic Venar and and the small human states close to the GUS's border had already been subjugated by the mighty forces of the GUS Army crushing all opposition beneath their unstoppable war machine like a wooden fence under a bulldozer. The VMD was perilously close to the GUS border, and were large enough to be the obvious priority target for the GUS's imperialist ambitions. 

Knowing that any attempt by the regional powers to face off the mighty GUS Army on the battlefield was doomed to failure, the VMD  and several other nations bordering the GUS were negotiating a defensive treaty with the Federal Star Authority in return for a free trade agreement that would remove all trade barriers between the threatened worlds and FSA. the Stellar Glory  contained the delegates to the negotiations of the VMD and several smaller  nations who had banded together with the VMD for protection. Gallhom Kyss was a negotiator who had been chosen to present  the VMD's defence interests  at the conference, and had been rehearsing his speech to Vakk Garya, his Monstrate spin doctor. 

When Gallhom looked at Vakk, he saw a moth like creature perched on a spherical seat, with arms terminating in hand, a trait that was uncommon in insectoids and  red lines around the edges of his wings, which fluttered on occasion, lifting Vakk ever so slightly above her perch before he landed back on after a few seconds. Vakk was a natural bureaucrat and like a large proportion of her species was capable of plowing through the paperwork that  swamped the Monstrate government, due to high cognition rates than most other species. this likely developed along with their primary method of communication, telepathy. Gallhom was fond of Vakk but he found her boring and unadventurous, and he hoped to persuade her to get out more and live a little more.

When Vakk looked at Gallhom, she saw a seven foot tall bipedal lizard with dark green scales , who was now pacing around, likely deep in thought about his speech, with a tail that swished around as he walked. Every now and then a small puff of spores  shot from his nostrils while on his thick,scaled neck a pair of gills stood dormant in readiness submersion. All Verhom and Monstrate were infected with a fungal symbiote that made their bodies work at maximum efficiency in return for nourishment by the host. Vakk had originally been  cold towards him but now regarded him as a friend, although she found his tendency to be theatrical somewhat annoying.

"So, are you ready for this, Vakk?" inquired Gallhom " I suppose so Gallhom, and the speech was good, but please try to rein in your theatrics." Gallhom sighed. " Like the bit where I shout "This cannot continue!" and slam my fist on the table?" Vakk winced at the thought, but ever dutiful, replied with "Sir, the idea's sound, but if you overdo the drama then the other negotiators at the conference won't take you seriously" Vakk was about to respond when  a communicator on the wall behind him beeped loudly and repeatedly. Gallhom strode towards it and the panel sprang into life, and an image materialised  on it.

"This is the captain speaking," said a Verhom with reddish scales, who both Vakk and Gallhom immediately recognised as Verania, the captain of the ship. The pair could hear an undertone of dread in the  captain's voice, although she was managing to keep herself under control  well enough to deliver the message. "I have just received a message from headquarters. The GUS have invaded two days ago and we only just broke through the comm jammers. They are within hours of the capital. Our only chance is to reach an agreement with the FSA, or we're done for! Divert  power to engines! We need to get there as fast as possible! There's not a moment to-" 

The captain was cut off by a loud warning from the computer:"Alert! Hostile D-Bridge signature detected!" A mile behind the ship, space twisted itself into a funnel-like vortex. At centre of the vortex, space dissolved into a chaotic mass of energy and a large metal object surrounded by a blueish force field shot out of the vortex. The vortex collapsed behind the object and the shield dissipated, revealing a blunt and unattractive starship  that was undeniably a GUS battlecruiser.

Vakk and Gallhom dashed through the door, intent on getting to safety as fast as possible