Epilogue. Part 2. Speech for the fleet
A huge fleet gathered at a single point, awaiting orders. However, there were almost a third fewer ships than just a short time ago, and the recently neat hulls of the dreadnoughts, cruisers, and destroyers were now crisscrossed with cracks and holes, and in some cases entire sections were missing. Repairs were in full swing, as the participants in the recent battle did not yet know that they had won. They did not realize even when space changed colors; on the contrary, many fingers trembled on the triggers.
At one point, the flagship emerged from warp. It looked terrible: the hull was melted in many places, but the multi-layered armor had done its job and saved the ship’s interior and crew. However, there was a lot of damage visible to the naked eye that affected the ship’s important systems: the engine nozzles were bent, and a third of them were clearly out of order. The main weapon, capable of piercing a planet’s crust, was torn apart, and one of the ship’s compartments resembled a sieve, with dozens of holes the size of a small frigate, slowly being mended by repair modules, at least from the outside. It was not apparent, but the damage to the ship was much more extensive than it appeared, and half the crew was eagerly trying to repair countless breakages in each of the sectors of the vessel.
The Emperor and Bartle exchanged glances, and the leader of Jericho yielded to his colleague, as the more public figure, the right to begin their speech. Only one of the many scenarios assumed that the soldiers would ever hear these words, since in the majority of the calculated outcomes, either the flagship or the fleet would not survive. And so, under the frenzied flickering of space visible even from the farthest ship, the Emperor began his speech:
“We are victorious! I congratulate you on your triumph in this battle. Our united fleet prevented the Aliens from coming to the aid of our enemies, the Precursors themselves. Because of this, the allied forces of Ellydium in the Nith system, supported by the UMC mercenaries, were able to accomplish their mission and slightly damage the Precursor flagship’s defense systems. This proved sufficient to render them vulnerable to their own weapons, which were supposed to protect their temporary resting place. Right now, the former masters of the Galaxy are on the receiving end of what they once did to dozens of intelligent species. Bartle and I believe that our fleet deserves to know the truth about the battle. Our enemies were the creators of the Biones and biomorphs. The Liu virus and many other horrors that tormented and still terrify the Galaxy are the work of their twisted minds.”
The founder of the Fringe and the creator of Jericho continued: “Many years ago, there were two nations that we now call the Precursors. One of them found a way to merge several minds together, while the other considered this sacrilegious. Both peoples explored the Galaxy, each creating a tool to suit themselves: one created the Crystallids, the other the Biones. At some point, they created the Signal to find other civilizations in the Galaxy and offer them an alliance, or at least to learn about potential enemies in advance. And one day, someone responded. Responded to their diplomacy with an attack. The Precursors suffered losses and could not bear the insult, so they turned their tools into weapons and won both the battle and the war. But they did not stop there. The Signal became a beacon that lured civilizations that believed its message, like sheep to slaughter. Judging by what we have found, the Precursors wiped out at least fifty-seven intelligent civilizations from the Galaxy. However, the two Precursor nations then became enemies and, for reasons unknown to us, fell into decline. The Biones rebelled against their masters, but the Crystallids remained loyal. We don’t know how, but the Precursors found themselves on the brink of destruction. The Crystallids built a refuge for both nations outside our world, where the Precursors were to hide and prepare their forces for a return to the Galaxy. But the creators of the Biones damaged the refuge of the other nation, contaminating it with what we now know as the Liu virus, and their brothers, unaware of this treachery, did not have time to fight back. The traitors were able to hide in a refuge carefully guarded by the Crystallids and the Leviathan, a Bione on the Crystallids’ leash. They did not know that the backup key to their refuge had been preserved. And we took advantage of it, throwing them out of the place where they had been gathering their strength. We avenged the countless civilizations that our enemies had destroyed, tearing the Precursors from their invulnerable refuge and ending our enemy’s existence with their own weapons. And now, my brothers and sisters, I will tell you why the Fringe became Jericho. As soon as my oracles and I learned what happened in the Galaxy because of the Precursors, we changed our goal somewhat. Our new secret mission was not only to find the creators of the Signal, but also to prevent them from destroying humanity. And Jericho succeeded in this endeavor.”
When each of the rulers of the Galaxy finished their first short speech, they gave the order for the fleets to undergo routine repairs before leaving the sector in a few weeks.