Once everyone was loaded, the trip to the Alliance Territories began. Because of the longer distance, they had to make two hops, but the first one brought them in range of a Reaver vessel that was travelling the other direction, headed for the planet that no longer existed.
[Absolution, this is the scout vessel Domaria. What is the status of the Commanders of the Terminus Trading Company?] The vessel asked.
Felicity was the one to respond. [Both Commanders are aboard the World Ships. You can let Command know that there were no heavy casualties this time, and the civilian population is intact. We have a large Alliance contingent with us currently, as they are repairing their vessels from the side effects of the interaction with the phenomenon on that planet.
We are currently headed for Alliance Territory, unless we are urgently needed elsewhere.] She informed the ship's Captain.
[I suggest that you return to Rae 5. They will need the additional repair forces, as they suffered a massive attack and are still rebuilding the space stations. The loss of life was minimal, due to compartemantalized design, but the first wave of attacks was brutal.]
[Please send us an update. Communications on the planet were scrambled, and we have had no updates since the battle started.] Felicity requested.
There was a lot to catch up on, and though they were within range of the best orbital scans, they didn't have the ability or the time to keep up with what was going on in the hundreds of Galaxies around them.
Max and Nico read through the messages with growing horror, seeing the devastation that an all out assault by the Great Enemy had caused their Galaxy. He was so close, but ultimately, he hadn't even known that anything was happening because he had been caught up in the Myceloid God's game.
There was nothing that could be done about that now, he wasn't the god of time to reset events to before the battle, but they could still help with the cleanup.
[Commander, are we updating our course?] Sylvie asked.
[Do it. We will take this scout ship back home and see what we can do to help out.] Max agreed.
Sylvie forwarded the information to Felicity, and the AI immediately opened a portal back to Rae 5.
[You can lead the way. We will first scan to ensure there is enough room for two World Ships at the arrival point.] Felicity informed the scouts.
That was all the consolation that they needed, and the scouts returned home, much to the confusion of traffic control, who had sent them off on a mission only hours earlier.
[World Ships Absolution and Creeping Darkness requesting permission to enter orbit.] Felicity broadcast as they entered the system.
[Permission denied. Orbital locations are full. Please proceed to this designated location to await a long-term assignment.] Traffic control replied.
It wasn't that they didn't recognize the vessel, but with all the construction and the military staging for the battles around the Galaxy, there really wasn't anywhere to put them right now that wouldn't interfere with safe distance measures or orbital descent paths.
With all the excitement, even trips to the surface had been severely curtailed in order to prevent lasting atmospheric damage. The Reavers needed all the Terraforming Arrays that they could get, so constantly entering and leaving the atmosphere was an annoyance that wasted resources they needed in the recovery effort.
Max held up five fingers as the transmission ended, and the avatar of Sylvie gave him a strange look. He lowered them one by one, and just as the last finger was going down, another message came in.
[Reaver Command to Terminus Trading Company, inquiring about the status of Subcommander Nico.]
Max laughed and patted Sylvie on the head. "Nico's mom is here on that planet, and she is always concerned about the crazy situations that her daughter gets into."
The AI processed that for a hundred milliseconds, and then smiled. "I believe that is a good thing. Having someone to be concerned about you helps keep you grounded and encourages thoughts of the greater good of humanity. Do you have parents, Commander?"
Max shook his head. "No, my parents were killed in an attack by rebels on my home planet."
Sylvie didn't need to know all the details, just knowing that there weren't more parents for her to keep in contact with would be enough.
"Understood. My condolences on your loss."
The next few minutes were spent getting a headcount of the Alliance soldiers on the vessel, and making arrangements to get everyone moved to the correct world ship in order to get their crews properly distributed again. The Alliance vessels had all been pulled from different worlds, different battles, and even from planetary reserve fleets, while the few other Reaver vessels that had joined the battle were all between missions at the time of their relocation.
Abduction might be a better word for it, but Max knew that wasn't how the Myceloid God intended it. To them, this was more of an invitation for a play date, an extended version of community games night that had greatly upset its kinfolk.
Hopefully, it came out the victor in whatever squabble it had after they left. It was one of the few reliable Gods that Max had heard of, and losing its support would cause more issues than Max was willing to deal with in the long term.
The relocation of the troops that were on the ship was only the start of the messages that Max was going to have to deal with that day. The smaller Reaver Companies that had been on the defence force for the Rae 5 system had lost a lot, often everything, when their ships were destroyed. They were currently boarding with others, but the space stations were in bad shape as well, and Max had two whole World Ships, one with no overcrowding, and one with no people.
It was the perfect opportunity for them to start over while they tried to assemble the funds to recover. The Reavers would replace their ships, but they couldn't replace the lost personnel or the other belongings that had created the power base for the Trading Companies.
Joining a World Ship while trying to get a spot in line for a new vessel would also allow them to reform a crew out of other groups who had lost too many people to remain as a functional force, but it would also give them an opportunity to try to score points with the Terminus Commanders, and possibly slide in under their umbrella so that they would have priority access to resources the next time there was a disaster.
It wasn't easy being an independent, even in peace time. Perhaps once things were better, they could pay off any debts they had and go it alone again. At least, that was the dream of a lot of the survivors. The only issue with it was that their leaders were gone, and there was no clear path of inheritance unless certain surviving crew members were named as successors. Being employed by the Reaver Company didn't automatically give you the right to inherit their 'insurance policy' funds when the Company was disbanded for lack of leaders.
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