Nyla was in a strange mood. While she knew she was safe with Cal, she could not help but shiver at the threat of the Jix Empress. Still, she also suspected that Cal had yet to reveal the extent of his abilities. So rather than question why he wanted the crystal, she simply fetched it when asked.

When she finally found it, she looked for everyone and found Cal and Artie on the ship. She caught the end of a conversation as she waited momentarily to enter the bridge. The door was left open, so she assumed it was not anything sensitive.

"...And the fact that they would attempt to leverage this is unacceptable!" Tannya yelled.

"I know." Cal's voice lacked emotion, only cold, "But it is a non-issue. If worse comes to worse and the Flare entity is too ingrained, I can simply fracture the collective psyche, just as I had to do with the Shen. I hope to save some of the others that the Jix have enslaved. From what Pinetil says though, they are heavily modified and restricted mentally. Whatever there is may not be enough to reconstitute their species."

"We can worry about that later, but for now, determine your action plan and get a move on. We are terminating the diplomatic channels we had open with the Jix. The Shen have stepped up to border patrol, along with the Gartians, Helfderdians, and the Kiltaxian Collective." Mr. Grenn said.

"The Kiltaxians are always eager for a good war." Cal chuckled, "Very well. I will inform you of my moves; please relay any pertinent information to me via Artie. And send the Sworb to an intercept path."

"Will do, Cal, And stay safe."

"Always am, Tannya," Cal said, terminating the comms channel. "You can come in now, Nyla." 

Nyla came inside, walking to Cal and handing him the crystal. "Everything okay?" 

"Yes, it just never surprises me anymore how much people do not understand humanity and the extent we will go to for peace." Cal took a deep breath while he examined the crystal. "Several thousand years ago, my people had several phrases that were the byproduct of a couple of global conflicts, Aptly named World War 1 and World War 2. The phrases are MAD, and Collateral Damage." 

"What do they mean?" Nyla asked, her blood running cold at the thought of a war that covered her entire world.

"MAD is an acronym. It stands for Mutually Assured Destruction. The idea was that two groups had enough firepower to destroy the world, and if one of them fired, the other would fire as well, ensuring that there would be no survivors. Collateral damage is a term that was used to discuss people who were non-combatants who were slain as a direct effect of war. Do you know how many people have to die for a species to come up with an idea like collateral damage or, even worse, acceptable losses? We have asked other races, and very few have these concepts." Cal was speaking absentmindedly as he examined the crystal.

"My people have shaped our combat skills in a crucible of war and conflict that we carried out into the stars. Anything that we could not fuck, befriend, or harvest, we fought it. We have never lost. And on top of this, we are so far ahead of other races that they refuse to believe what we tell them, dismissing it as fantasy or outright lies. But Every now and then, we get to remind people. And right now," he suddenly applied a wave of psy energy to the crystal while pulling on the halves, "it seems that Pinetil's mother wants us to show everyone what is what." 

The crystal halves separated as he finished speaking, and a hologram of Emress Axshram floated in the air. "If you are watching this, it means that the priests declared war. And hopefully, I am still alive. If I am alive, I have asked you to return my daughter. Under no circumstances can you bring her back here. I have no right to demand these things from you or your people, Cal. But I make this request not as an Empress to the Bearer of Sin but as a mother desperately seeking help from a powerful man. Do not bring my daughter back; accept that my death is inevitable; instead, please save as many of my people as you can from Ix'Grom and his madness. To my daughter, I love you, Pinetil; I hope that you can find a happy and fulfilling life out in the wider galaxy. Do not come home. Forget about me. Thank you, Cal and Nyla, for carrying this message, though you did not know. I wish you both a long and happy life." 

"No!" Pinetil said from the door of the bridge, she stormed up to Cal, "I will not leave my mother to rot! I demand that you take me home right this moment!"

"Pinetil I..." Cal started and was cut off. 

"I don't care, Cal! That is my mother. No matter what you think of my people, I love my mother and can not leave her to suffer as she wishes!"

"If you would let me finish, Pinetil," Cal said firmly, looking at Pinetil expectantly.

"Very well." She harumphed.

"Pinetil, your mother has directly threatened me and the species that humanity has deemed to be under its protection. As per my orders and the rules and regulations of the governing council, I am obliged to secure her as a potential terrorist. Normally, I would be cleared to execute her outright, but in this instance, I believe the information she could provide about other events would far outweigh any risk in keeping her around."

"At this time, Pinetil Axshram, you are under arrest and released under your own recognizance. Any effort to escape or failure to follow orders from myself or Artie, will be punished. Do you understand?" Cal looked at her, his tone deadly serious.

"I... I understand?" Pinetil said, very confused.

"Good!" Cal said with a smile, then turned to Nyla. "Nyla, as the representative of one of the threatened species and the owner of the crystal that contained the admittance of foreknowledge of the declaration of war, you are called forth by the governing council to bear witness and, if needed, to determine punishment. Will you accept this role?" 

Nyla, just as confused as Pinetil, nodded. "I will."

"Even better!" Cal said, taking a seat and gesturing for Pinetil and Nyla to take one. "Now then, shall we go and retrieve the prisoner? It would be a shame if someone or something got in our way."

Artie's voice, back to its more omnipresent form, echoed from around the room. "Yes, it would. Plotting a course to Jix homeworld."

"Good, make sure to plot a stop to pick up the Sworb," Cal said. 

"Understood," Artie said, and then the strange humming whine started building.

Before Nyla and Pinetil could grasp what was happening, the energy had built and dissipated, and Nyla felt strange. Cal smiled back at her. "You are the first of your race to experience the weightlessness of space. Welcome to space, Nyla." 

Cal undid his buckled harness and started floating. "Cal, open the observation deck if you would."

Pinetil quickly rose to follow Cal, as did Nyla, though far more clumsily as she struggled to adjust to almost swimming through the air rather than walking. Nyla's breath caught in her throat when they arrived at the observation deck. The view before her was terrifying yet beautiful. There was nothing around, no start, no planets. Only distant pinpricks of light.

Nyla's wonder was interrupted by her and Pinetil locking their eyes on a sphere that had suddenly appeared. A sense of dread that both women felt deep in their being washed over the two at the disturbingly perfect sphere. 

Pinetil finally spoke as she watched the sphere approach. "Cal, what is that?" 

Cal smiled cruelly, sending shivers down Nyla's back, "That is the Sworb."