---Launch---

---Haorken's perspective---

It has been several [hours] of sailing aboard this star ship through the evernight since it left Khawekh.

I saw the bulk of the two fleets pass by, shortly after the sky turned from blue to black.

It was hard to estimate their size with nothing around them to give them scale but, since the admiral told me that just her sailors numbered more than half my kind's entire living population, I would guess them to be large!

What was not hard to gauge, however, was their number… I've been to Wokhash. I've seen their fleet of twenty two wooden galleys (none even so long as the shuttle I'm currently aboard!) fully at anchor.

At the time, I was convinced that no fleet that existed could be larger or more formidable… The thought seems almost laughable now…

The Terrans alone brought more than twice that number with the [G]U bringing as many again, each presumably having a crew equal to the population of a respectably sized realm!

What I am still yet to behold, though, are the flagships of the [G]U fleet, the Indomitable Will, and of the Terran fleet, the Wrath, a ship which is apparently one of only 47 of her class in existence and (if this was not simply an instance of the military woman's braggadocio) those of that class being the most fearsome vessels plying the stars!

I know they are allies… I know they're here expressly to protect us since, with the [ansible]'s launch, our world's location will no longer be able to remain secret…

Still… it's difficult not to be apprehensive with so much power present so close to my world.

I would liken it to being out at sea in a dinghy and seeing a gigantic [dunkleosteus whale] swimming beneath you, knowing that the only reason you're still alive is that it has decided you aren't worth killing!

"Problem, Madam Regent?" one of the Terran attendants, clad in his ultramarine-coloured uniform, asks, batting his pair of bright yellow eyes at me.

"Apologies, [Lt Cdr] Mbatha. Was I grimacing?" I chuckle.

"Somewhat, Your Excellency." the alien boy smiles warmly "Is there anything I can do to make your journey more comfortable?"

Forcing myself to relax so as not to shame my kind with apparent cowardice, I answer "No, [Lieutenant Commander], I'm quite sufficiently comfortable… I do have some questions though?"

"Please ask and I'll do my best to answer, Madam Regent." he invites.

"Thank you, [Lieutenant Commander]… How far exactly are we travelling from my world to see the buoy be launched?"

"Not far at all, Madam Regent… Relatively speaking, of course. Around 25lightminutes. A little more than 30,000 times the diameter of your planet."

Confused, I ask "Only [25lightminutes]? But isn't the entire [galaxy] around [100,000ly] across and traversable in only around a [year] with your ships? Why is it taking so long to make such a short journey?"

The light brown skinned man bobs his head up and down before answering "You're quite right, Your Excellency. At full warp, we would have covered around 50ly in the time we've been travelling from your homeworld. However, we aren't travelling at full warp for the same reason that we haven't just placed the ansible directly in orbit around Graom-Wakhkort… one of the reasons, at least."

"And what reason is that?" I ask, not bothering to venture a guess due to my understanding that I understand nothing at all of these magics.

"Just that a warp bubble will collapse if it intersects with any area too close to a celestial body's gravity well (more precisely its 'Hill sphere'), an FTLcom field, likewise, cannot be generated from inside a gravity well so large… It's a good thing too! If that weren't the case, glassing entire planets would be as simple as attaching a warp engine to a metre wide asteroid and pointing it at the world you wished to cease existing(!) Such a low barrier would almost certainly have had some lone lunatic sterilise the entire galaxy eons ago!" chuckles the boy with unnerving calm, given the subject matter.

"I… see… and why can a [warp] not be made inside a [gravity well] exactly?" I ask.

"Ah… I'm afraid, Madam Regent, that that is a piece of information it is outside of my ability to explain. I only have a vague idea and I shouldn't like to risk misleading you by attempting to explain it, having such a shaky grasp of it myself. If you would like, I can make enquiries on your behalf to see if it might be possible to have you meet some of our astrophysicists who would be able to give you a more comprehensive explanation?"

I laugh and gesture to him "I think I shall spare myself(!) If a Starman such as yourself only has 'a shaky grasp of it', I'm sure it would go well over my head(!)"

Dipping his head in deference, the Terran boy closes his yellow eyes and acknowledges "As you prefer, Your Excellency." in a tone which, were it not for his Foreign species and my injury induced infertility, might well have me enquiring as to whether he was amenable to suiting for me(!)

"ETA; 60 seconds." comes the voice of someone not present, translated from the Terran tongue she speaks via the coin at my temple.

"If Your Excellency would like a good view of the Wrath and the Indomitable Will as we arrive, might I suggest we move to the front window?" smiles the [Lieutenant Commander].

"Please lead the way, Mbatha." I agree, getting up and gesturing in what I believe to be our direction of travel.

The boy walks on and I follow behind, feeling somewhat as if I'm wading through mud from the squashy globules my feet are buried inside.

We pass 33 or so Vrakhand and several times that many Twigg as we traverse the length of the shuttle.

He brings me to an unoccupied space at the front window and gestures directly ahead, explaining "That's where we should see them when we get close enough. We will be boarding the Wrath which should give us a good view of the buoy being unloaded from the Indomitable Will."

I keep my eyes trained on the patch of sky he indicated for the next few moments.

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For a few [seconds], I'm unsure if I'm truly seeing anything or if it's simply my imagination.

Then, very quickly, I become sure that I was in fact seeing something.

Rapidly drawing close are two absolutely enormous shapes, looming out of the darkness.

On my right is a sleek, elegant, beautiful ship that glitters like a jewel.

On my left, however, is an absolutely brutally designed monster!

It's dark enough that it was camouflaged several more seconds than its counterpart and every patch of its hull utterly forested with the death wands that the Terrans war with (only gigantic).

Never have I seen a more hostilely made craft or fortress!

There's not really any mistaking it but, just to be sure, I ask "That's the Indomitable Will on the right and the Wrath on the left, [Lieutenant Commander]?"

"Indeed, Your Excellency." confirms the boy with a soft manner that entirely belies the fact that he is of the same kind as the ones who designed and created such a monstrous weapon of war!

I keep expecting us to arrive, yet, as we decelerate through space towards them, the two ships just keep growing larger!

Finally, in the manner of a minnow swimming between two [dunkleosteus whales], our shuttle comes between the two leviathans.

Making for an opening in the side of the Wrath, we are swallowed up.

We come down on the floor of a gargantuan room, well lit and with hundreds of smaller craft stacked up in neat rows against its walls.

A ramp is deployed in front of me and the window retracts away overhead.

"If you'll follow me to the viewing gallery, Your Excellency?" invites the yellow eyed boy, politely.

I walk forward, through the terrifyingly cavernous space contained inside the warship, behind the Terran attending me.

I hear the *pwuck*ing of a few hundred squashy shoes following after me.

He leads us to a corridor and down a maze of paths.

The ceilings are low enough that I could reach up and touch them without stilting my legs at all and, while the span between the walls is comfortably wide enough for me to pass through, it would be impossible for my kind to walk two abreast here.

I suppose it makes sense. This is a Terran warship so its passageways would naturally be a little cramped by Vrakhand standards.

After a few [minutes] of allowing myself to be led by Mbatha, I exit the claustrophobic corridor and enter into a wide, high ceilinged room with more Vrakhand than I've ever seen gathered in one place and more Twigg and Terrans than I've ever seen full stop!

"Madam Regent!" shouts a kindly woman's voice from above me.

I look up to see Ambassador Yeshe smiling down at me from a half floor, halfway between the floor and the ceiling.

"Please come up here!" she invites "The admiral and I would be delighted to have you with us for the launch! Oh! You as well please, Councillor Mek!" directing us to the bottom of the stairs, guarded by armed Terrans.

The guards look as if they are about to bar Mbatha's entry, as well as Mbatha himself looking as if he is about to break away, when I place my hand on his shoulder and firmly state "I would like to bring the [Lieutenant Commander] with me if permissible."

The man and woman blocking the way share the briefest of querying looks with eachother before they both decide to stand out of the way.

"Thank you." I acknowledge as Mbatha and I begin to climb the stairs up to where Yeshe has just invited me.

I hear the sound of what must be Councillor Mek following behind me, helping himself along with his staff, as well as the steady *thump**thump* of another Terran's boots on the ground alongside him.

We come out at the level of the mezzanine floor and I see Ambassador Yeshe, Ambassador Ong, Admiral Ledwaba and Vice Admiral Friedman.

"Madam Regent! Councillor Mek!" booms the boisterous little navywoman "So glad you could make it!"

"I'm just as glad to be here, Admiral." I return, honestly.

"Same." answers the aged Twigg man.

"Excellent! Now, after the launch, we'll travel back to orbit which will give us a good few hours to give you guys the tour. Lots to show you, lots of people for you to meet, lots for us to discuss! I especially think it would be good for you, Regent Haorken, to meet the humanitarians we've brought with us! All trained up in Vrakhand caesareans! For now though, would you both like to come and take a seat with me and we'll watch the show?" she grins.

"Please, Admiral." I answer.

"Sounds good." says Mek.

"Cool!" beams the admiral.

She leads us over to a magic swivel chair with a Vrakhand sized hassock on one side and a Twigg sized highchair on the other.

[Lieutenant Commander] Mbatha holds back at some distance to the arranged seats. I decide not to further risk the appearance of impropriety by inviting him closer.

I bring my underside down to seat myself on the luxurious cushion.

Mek climbs up to sit on the high chair, bringing his eyelevel to match mine in a way which is too perfect to be coincidence.

The admiral sits herself down between us, wincing slightly as she does.

"Are you alright, Admiral?" I ask in a tone of neutral curiosity, wishing to be polite but not wanting to risk undermining her womanhood if it turns out that she did not wish to display her pain the way she just did.

"Nothing to worry about." she grins with ease, her eyes (at exactly the same height as mine and Mek's) turning to meet my gaze "Just a very minor injury I got last night. Nothing I need a regen session for!"

I briefly think I catch sight of Vice Admiral Friedman giving an amused smirk over her shoulder, in two of my auxiliary eyes, but he turns away so fast that I can't be certain I wasn't imagining it.

"As you say, Admiral." I accept.

"Alright then! Are we all ready?"

"Yep!" says the old Twigg.

"Indeed." I answer.

"Cool!" says the Terran woman, leaning toward me over the right arm of her seat and pressing a button on it. Her amplified voice booms throughout the viewing gallery "Attention all personnel and guests: The release of Graom-Wakhkort's ansible is about to be requested. Please direct your attention through the window to witness this historic moment!"

The milling crowd of Vrakhand and Twigg below us begin to mass towards the gigantic windowed wall, looking out at the other capital ship.

Once the admiral appears satisfied that everyone's attention is directed where it should be, she presses another button on her chair's arm.

Her voice is not amplified as she says "Clear to launch, Commodore Yakchutt?"

"Ready whenever you say the word, Admiral Ledwaba." answers the deep voice of the scaled navyman I remember from the contact mission.

Manically baring her chalk-white teeth, the admiral exhorts "Make it so!"

The Indomitable Will performs a very slight manoeuvre to our relative down (even though I know there's no such thing as 'down' out in [space]) before slowly listing away.

It leaves behind a complicated sphere of metal that seemed to remain in place as the other ship moved away around it.

The admiral once again leans down to her seat arm and orders "Back us away to a distance of 2lightseconds but keep the ship rotated so the activation will be visible from down here in the viewing gallery. Inform me when all craft are clear and we can activate."

"Aye, Ma'am." answers the subordinate she just gave that command. Around [50 seconds] pass before "All craft clear, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Helmswoman." acknowledges the admiral before, over her shoulder, inviting "Vice Admiral, would you please bring the button for Regent Haorken and Councillor Mek?"

The tall, pale skinned Terran man appears in front of the three of us, holding a panel with a single large red button on it.

"The ambassadors would like the two of you to both press the button to give your system FTLcoms together if that's alright?" explains the admiral, looking forward at her [husband] holding the button for us.

"We push that button and the Twigg can talk to the Twigg on Citadel and the Vrakhand can talk to the Vrakhand on Citadel?" clarifies the old man.

"Exactly." nods the Terran.

In unison, Mek hops down from his seat and I get up from mine.

We walk forward to where the vice admiral holds the button halfway between the levels of our respective hands.

The Twigg reaches up and I reach down.

I look down at the old man and ask "On count of three?"

"Count of three." he agrees.

I suppress my nerves and begin counting "One… two… three!"

The small man's hand and mine both press downward.

I look past the vice admiral to where the [ansible] was and spend [2 seconds] terrified into thinking that nothing has happened and that it must be defective.

Then, all at once, every Terran in the room is highlighted by a rectangle of light appearing somewhere on their person.

Another [2 seconds] and I see a brilliant burst of blue light from the point where the ansible disappeared.

I turn back to face the admiral in her swivelling throne chair.

Her face is illuminated by the light of her [holo] [screen] as she says "Congratulations! Graom-Wakhkort now has access to the entire galactic communications system!"

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