R-plus 00:32:43.12

It took a while, but eventually contact was made with the rest of the task force. Now, feeling moderately more in control, Emilia Sterling surveyed the holoprojections that displayed the rest of her sisters, rapidly stitched together into a conference call by the talents of the various ships' comm officers.

"... a Dyson sphere," Therèse Sterling muttered. She shook her helmeted head, still in awe of the situation. "I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I'd ever see one in my lifetime. And I'm immortal."

"You think you're awed? You should see Louie over here," Maia Sterling rejoined. "He's still oscillating between overwhelmed catatonia and blissful rapture at the sight of it."

Xeralia Sterling laughed. "Sounds about right. My own officers are looking pretty impressed. Some of them were around back when the Bodolza Fleet's Fulbtzs-Berrentzs was still around, and this dwarfs even that. By several orders of magnitude."

Emilia chuckled. "Well, be that as it may - how are you all doing? We got pretty shook up over here, some of the heavy machinery and bulk cargo broke free in storage, but nobody was killed, thank God. Lots of bruised body parts, though, and some broken limbs. Komilia? You and the rest of the Crusaders?"

"I think we avoided the worst of it by breaking formation when we did," Komilia Sterling replied. "Even so, I've ridden all-axis gyroscopic test platforms that were gentler." She grimaced. "Karl got flung about halfway to the Kuiper Belt, Carole was tossed down the Z axis for twice that, and Hugh got flipped TOWARD the sphere; they're having to go full-burner to get back to us in a sane amount of time."

Emilia nodded. "Maia? Miranda? You and Mars Division?"

This time, Miranda Sterling spoke up. "Pretty much the same state you folks are in; some busted equipment, people tossed about, and bruised egos. It'll take us a while to get back to minimum operational spec - Richard estimates about thirty minutes for the personnel, Tessa and Gron are giving us an hour and a half beyond that to make sure everything critical to repair is being taken care of. If necessary, we'll be able to move again in about forty-five, but it'll be slow going."

"Therèse?"

"I am so damn glad I went and improved the shield generators the last time we were laid up in repairs; I caromed off some micrometeors that had been stirred up, but didn't take major damage." She checked her displays. "Sensors are online; I'm already tracking orbit changes in the Kuiper Belt objects, reacting to the local gravity change. Things are going to be, if you'll pardon the term, rocky until they all settle into new orbits. I pity anybody trying to hyper past Zeta Cygni as well; it must be a god-awful mess in hyperspace right now."

Emilia looked over at her adopted sister's image. "Xeralia? You and your battlegroup?"

"Well, we've lost five-sixths of the probe network entirely - probably crushed by tidal forces or impacted on the sphere. Most of my ships are all right, if tossed about and no longer pointing toward where Zeta Cygni should be." Xeralia sighed, running a hand through her scarlet curls. "Thirty to forty of my ships had drive failures during the end stages of the event; we don't have solid reports, but I doubt they'll be going anywhere for a while."

Emilia nodded. "Standard contract?"

Xeralia nodded back. "I'll have my accountants talk with your accountants, and we'll see what they can work out."

"Good enough." Emilia smiled slightly, then turned in her chair to regard Mylene. "And your guys, guitar girl?"

"The Flarefire was secure when things hit, and my band and crew were strapped in. I can't say the same for my drummer's drum set, though." She sighed. "Luckily, it's tough - some of the other stuff in our rehearsal room, not so much."

"Owch. I've seen that set recently. I'm amazed a Horizon's bulkheads could take the impact," Therèse commented.

"If we hadn't bothered to reinforce the rehearsal room walls a decade ago, they wouldn't have."

"Gah."

Komilia spoke up again. "Well. Be that as it may... has anybody heard anything from the arriving ships yet?"

"Not yet on this end," Maia reported. "Then again, we're still getting our marbles back in the bag. Kyoko's had to reroute to some of our secondary transmitter arrays just to reach you guys."

Xeralia added. "We've been broadcasting Zentraedi Alliance hails over the standard comm channels; nothing yet. I've gone ahead and retasked about half the remaining probes to start studying the ships in orbit, to identify them and see how they're doing."

"How do they look?" asked Emilia.

Xeralia's image turned, addressed somebody off-screen in Zentranese, and got a deep, guttural reply. Emilia could hear her comm officer and sensor tech reacting to, and accepting, the newly offered data, which rapidly was added to the master holotank display and mirrored to the other ships.

"We've confirmed that they are the Kridanik Fleet - or part of it, anyway. As you can see, here's a Nupe, almost certainly Lord Breetai's flagship, the Minmay Marauder - she's in WDF livery, blue and white, and the vessels in closest formation match our records of his personal fleet escort." The micronized Vice Admiral indicated them on the main holotank with a set of controls on her own bridge. "We're still taking stock of the situation, but it looks like a sixth of the fleet is missing. We still don't know why. They might be inside the sphere. Out of those that we can see, about a fifth - maybe a fourth - look to be damaged in some fashion. Some of the probes are close enough to make out what look to be Reflex core blowouts, though how they could have survived that, I have no idea."

Therèse spoke up. "Could have been overloads from the fold effect. If it was rocky for us out here, on the receiving end, I shudder to think what things were like inside the fleet."

Miranda consulted with some people beyond her own display screen; the sisters could see Maia reacting to whatever Miranda was saying. Finally, the green-haired woman returned her attention to her siblings. "If your techs can start forwarding the probe scans to Louie, we can get him started on running the numbers."

Xeralia nodded. "All right. Thanks, Miranda."

"No problem."

R-plus 00:46:21.33

"Ma'am? I'm picking up a transmission from the Kridanik Fleet!"

Emilia's head jerked up. She'd been studying a report on the Frank Lloyd Wright's physical status on a data pad, getting a handle on how much would need to be repaired; but this new development took much higher priority. "On screen!"

There was a burst of audio static, and then a portion of the main viewscreen partitioned off to reveal a communications window. Unfortunately, the image was of static snow; overlaying the snow were the words "TRANSMISSION ERROR: AUDIO SIGNAL ONLY."

But Emilia didn't need a video image to hear what was being said. She gave a quick glance to her comm officer, who nodded back, boosted the signal, and then paged the rest of the Sterlings' comm officers to put them back on the line.

"-nyone who can hear us: This is the Kridanik Fleet of the Zentraedi Alliance, Admiral Breetai Kridanik commanding. We are in need of assistance and repair. We have power outages and wounded among the ships of our fleet. Please respond!" The voice was female, with the familiar harmonic undertones of a full-size Zentraedi, but also speaking Standard (albeit with a Meltranese accent).

Emilia watched with unveiled amusement as she could see her sisters react over the holo-conference windows. There was concern, of course - damaged ships and wounded personnel were always serious issues - but the mere fact that there were Zentraedi still alive out there, as well as Lord Breetai, and by extension quite possibly their parents, was a galvanizing realization.

Smiling, Emilia got out of her captain's chair. "Attention ships of the Kridanik Fleet - This is Captain Emilia Sterling, commander of the Cianbro Corporation starship Frank Lloyd Wright, serving as mission lead for the Southern Cross Crusaders, the WDF Mars Division's Voronda Elendil, and Meltrandi Battlegroup Quevillon. We are prepared to render assistance for your wounded and your ships." She took a deep breath, and with a wider smile, announced. "On behalf of those here assembled, I'd like to say: Welcome home."

The sisters could hear an exclamation of relief from the other side of the voice-only channel, then rustling sounds - probably the Meltrandi on the other side centering herself. "Thank you, Frank Lloyd Wright. I'll forward your welcome to Admiral Kridanik personally." There was then a moment's pause. "Wait a second. Did you say Captain Emilia Sterling?" The voice sounded shocked, surprised, and a little bit awed as well.

Emilia blinked, looking puzzled. "Why yes. Yes I did. Emilia Miria Sterling, formerly of the Wedge Defense Force, currently of the Cianbro Corporation."

"Ah - I - I'll get Lord Breetai immediately!" Before anybody could reply to that, the signal was briefly put on hold.

"(what the hell was that all about?)" muttered Maia.

"(Don't look at me, I'm as clueless as you are,)" replied Therèse.

"(Is it me, or did that Meltrandi officer sound... familiar?)" added Miranda.

Xeralia shrugged from her end of the conference call. "(I'm not sure... it feels like a memory I might have had once, like something out of a dream...)" She shook her head.

Before anybody else could reply, a new voice, deep and powerful, echoed across the commline. "Emilia Miria Sterling. Daughters of Miria Fallyna Sterling and Maximilian Sterling. This is Admiral Breetai Kridanik of the Kridanik Fleet. We thank you, both for your welcome and your offers of assistance."

"It's the least we could do, Lord Breetai," Emilia replied. "That was one hell of an entrance you made!"

Breetai uttered a deep, booming laugh. "I look forward to hearing your accounts of it! But first, to more important matters."

Emilia held her breath. By doing so, she allowed Komilia to speak up. "Lord Breetai, this is Komilia Sterling. Our parents - are they... ?"

The sound of Breetai's amusement was palpable. "You may be assured, Komilia Fallyna, that Miria Fallyna and Maximilian are very much alive, and looking forward to seeing their daughters again."

Emilia let out the breath she was holding, and started to quietly laugh. Behind her, Mylene let out a little squeak of utter delight (or was it Guvava who was squeaking? Who could tell, and who cared?) and pumped her fist in the air. On the conference screens, Emilia could see expressions of relief and joy from her siblings. In particular, it appeared that Komilia had muted her helmet pickups to laugh (or possibly cry, Emilia couldn't tell with Komilia's helmet visor in place) outright. Since nobody else seemed in a state to make a coherent response, Emilia took the lead again.

"And you can reassure them that their daughters are looking forward to seeing them in turn." She smiled, though she doubted Breetai could see it. "Speaking of which, shall we make arrangements for a long-awaited reunion?"

"Indeed we shall. I shall have our navigators forward course waypoints to your own helmsmen, and then we can get underway together."

Emilia blinked, looking puzzled. "You don't want us to rendezvous aboard your flagship?"

Breetai's voice held a measure of near-smugness. "I believe you will find the location we have chosen to be much more suitable."

"Suit yourself, Admiral Kridanik." Emilia shrugged. "We'll see you there, and I'll get the crews over here moving to assist at the same time."

"Thank you, Frank Lloyd Wright. Minmay Marauder out." There was a beep, and the voice-only window winked out.

"Well now!" Emilia exclaimed. "Shall we take Lord Breetai up on his offer?"

"Do you really have to ask? DUH!" Maia rejoined with a smirk.

Emilia clapped her hands together with a grin. "Right! Carruthers, forward the navigational data to the Crusaders and the Voronda Elendil. Mercer, take the Wright in, and make arrangements between the Kridanik Fleet and Battlegroup Quevillon for initiating repairs. Mylene, warm up the Flarefire!"

Mylene grinned, already heading for the bridge doors. "Already on it, Emi!"

Emilia smiled at her adopted sibling. "Xeralia, need a lift? I'm sure Mylene's got some room on her ship - "

Xeralia smiled back. "I do believe I'll take you up on that offer, Emilia. I should be over there in ten minutes."

"Right!" She then turned her attentions to Maia and Miranda. "I assume you two will make your own way over?"

Miranda grinned. "I think we can manage. We'll meet you on the flight over."

Maia nodded. "See you groundside, sisters. Voronda Elendil out!"

R-plus 01:45:01.24

Once again, the Southern Cross Crusaders were flying escort for the Flarefire, but this time, there were some key differences. One of them was the fact that Mylene's ship was carrying both Emilia and Xeralia, along with some of Emilia's officers and Xeralia's adjutant (who had undergone a rather hasty micronization at the last moment). Another was the fact that Maia and Miranda's Shadow Legios was flying in formation above the Flarefire, not bothering to activate its Shadow systems, carrying some extra passengers in the Beta's cargo bay.

Also, they were following a Zentraedi dropship, which presumably held Admiral Breetai Kridanik... and their parents.

Komilia Sterling, having taken point as Crusader One, found herself confronting a mix of emotions, despite herself and the occasion. She was happy, nay, overjoyed that her parents were safe and sound and back in her life; but by the same token, she (and the rest of her siblings) had lived through difficult times these past eight decades. She didn't like to dwell on the negatives in her life - that led too easily to brooding angst, and she liked to believe she was above all that - but the changes they all had been through had toughened them in ways that wouldn't have been fathomable back in the WDF's golden days. Hell, even Mylene, of all people, went around day-to-day openly armed! How would their parents react to something like that?

Of course, her father had been one of the WDF founders, taking his place on the galactic stage amid the turmoil of Earth's first contact; and her mother - gods, did anybody, even she, know how old she was? - was a veteran of more military campaigns than there were days in the Standard calendar year. So perhaps she was fretting a little more than was warranted in this situation.

Komilia sighed. This line of thought was getting her nowhere. She shook her head, and returned her attentions to the task at hand.

The course that Admiral Kridanik had provided led the little formation between the much more massive starships that made up his personal escort, but even they were dwarfed by the sheer bulk of the Dyson sphere in front of them. The closer they got, the wider it appeared, until the Zentraedi ships had become mere specks behind them, and all that filled their view was the vast grey expanse spreading from horizon to horizon.

Komilia kept flying in formation, following the dropship, wondering how long they'd have to keep going in this direction. The sheer mass and breadth of the sphere were confusing her radar, so she shut it off. We'd better get to an entrance soon, Komilia thought, or this will be one of the most abbreviated flybys of all time...

As if in answer to Komilia's thought, a hairline crack appeared in the distance on the surface of the sphere. For a moment, it was barely noticeable, just a darker series of fissures in the vast dull grayness. But then they expanded, spreading apart smoothly, revealing themselves to be the edges of a hatchway the size of a continent, and allowing the inside to be finally seen in full.

Her helmet visor automatically tinted to compensate, and Komilia gasped. "... my God... it's full of light... "

R-plus 01:56:23.24

In the command cabin of the Flarefire, Emilia arched an eyebrow at her sister's words. "Well, what were you expecting, Komilia? It's a Dyson sphere, of COURSE it's full of light. It has a star inside it."

Komilia didn't respond - she was still overwhelmed by the sight before her. Instead, Mylene, who was standing next to Emilia, just tapped her on the shoulder. "Um, Emi? You better think twice about dismissing this thing."

"What do you mean - " she began to ask, but then trailed off as they passed through the gateway. " - oh wow," Emilia murmured, as she finally began to actually grasp the relative sizes involved.

The entrance, with its massive doors, was several miles in thickness. Emilia supposed the sides were that thick to help keep the sphere's atmosphere in, but until she got a second look at the other side, it'd be very hard to say for certain. Once they had passed beyond the hatchway, the inner surface of the sphere spread in all directions to the virtual horizon, fading off into unfocused blurs as the eyes lost ability to cope with the distances involved. It was evenly lit by the output of the star in the center, which only highlighted the interior's vast sameness.

Therèse's voice crackled over the shared band. "Sensor scans in progress - solar output matches that of Zeta Cygni... and, yes, yes, I can pick up ZC I and ZC II, right where they ought to be. That's our star, all right."

Emilia nodded slowly. Behind her, Xeralia worked her way into the cabin, and quietly whistled at the sight. Mylene glanced back at her adopted sister, and gave her a questioning look.

"Mylene," Xeralia answered, her voice hushed, "I can say this with utter certainty: This sphere is a wonder. The workings of the greatest ancient peoples of our galaxy could not have matched it. Not even Atlantis ever wrought anything like this."

Mylene glanced out the cabin windows. The Flarefire had passed the inner edges of the gate, and was now flying into the vast space between sphere and star.

"... I feel like I'm an ant in a salad bowl," Mylene murmured.

Xeralia considered this statement, and nodded. "Make that 'a microbe in a dish antenna', and I would be inclined to agree. Every Zentran and Meltran should bear witness to this place; here, they could understand the true meaning of relative scale." She considered her words for a moment, then leaned past Emilia and the Flarefire's pilot to tap a control on one of the navigator panels. "Crusader Eight. Mars Two. Can you detect any Zentraedi starships, aside from the dropship, in the vicinity?"

"Checking now, Flarefire," Therèse replied.

"I'm on it, sis," added Miranda Sterling, from the cockpit of the Shadow Beta.

There were a few minutes of waiting, during which the formation followed the green dropship in a long arc over the inner surface. It was impossible to get any certain directional fixes by looking at the sphere itself; one had to look at the orbit of Zeta Cygni II around its sun to have any definition of up and down or side to side. By using Zeta Cygni II's ecliptic plane as a reference, Emilia estimated that they were possibly headed in a 'north' direction, if one thought of the Dyson sphere as a giant hollow globe and the ecliptic as its equator.

"Flarefire, this is Crusader Eight. You were right, Xeralia. I've got some extremely long-range visual scans of Zentraedi ships on the inside, with Kridanik Fleet IFFs. I can't get a good reading on their status at the moment."

"Mars Two confirms this, Flarefire." There was a moment's pause, and Miranda continued, "Crusader Eight, check bearing zero-one-zero-mark-zero-five? I think my scanners may have just picked up an ATC beacon."

"On it, Mars Two. ... ATC beacon confirmed, it's within the range of my scanners. Crusader Flight, Flarefire, Mars One, forwarding updated waypoint and beacon data. Designating beacon as SEO-One."

"'SEO'? What could that mean?" asked Carella Sansen.

"According to the beacon's telemetry: 'Settlement Evaluation Outpost One'."

"Settlement?! You mean, they're thinking about living in this thing?" Carole Greenhouse blurted out.

"Looks that way, Three," replied Komilia. "The flight plan provided by Admiral Kridanik leads us straight to it."

R-plus 04:25:33.47

The flight to Settlement Evaluation Outpost One passed mostly in silence. Occasionally there would be a comment from one of the pilots or passengers on what they saw, but for the most part, they were absorbed in their own private thoughts.

The Dyson sphere was immense, there was no doubt about it. Most of its inner surface appeared to consist of vast latticeworks and industrial structures of unknown purpose. There were other wide gates embedded in the surface, regularly placed, vast and inscrutable, and currently closed. Every so often they would see one of the Zentraedi ships of the Kridanik Fleet, either hovering above or landed on the inner surface. The colossal warships were like green rice grains compared to the rest of the sphere. At some points, barely postage-stamp-sized in relative scale, they could see other changes in surface texture and color. They couldn't tell if they were due to different structures, different types of metals, or even if somehow rock, soil, and plant life had been seeded within the sphere.

But in a way, none of that mattered. The small convoy of ships was approaching one of those far-ahead different-colored "postage stamps". As they made their final approach, they began to detect the presence of an atmosphere clinging to the inside surface of the sphere. Their actions were automatic and professional as they prepped their ships for atmospheric insertion.

The shields of the fighters and transport glowed with friction as they followed the dropship down through the clouds. Now that they were approaching the inner surface of the Dyson sphere, it became easier to think of 'up' as toward Zeta Cygni, and 'down' toward the approaching ground. They bled off velocity and powered down the shields as they got close enough to see their destination clearly.

The saucer-shaped Zentraedi dropship slowed as they approached a developed expanse, which had been constructed atop a rough metallic plateau that spread for miles in both directions. The terrain reminded the Sterling sisters somewhat of Cybertron, if the Transformers' homeworld still had a sun and someone had slapped Wedge Park, with its green grass and brown soil, down in the middle of Polyhex. Still in formation, the fighters and transport made a circling flyby of the area while the dropship came to a halt in midair, hovering in front of a loose arrangement of bunkers and blockhouses.

"Looks like this is the place, Crusaders, Flarefire," Komilia announced as they completed the survey pass. They could see the dropship deploying its landing legs and lowering to the ground in front of the buildings.

"Boss, there's some areas staked out for landing zones. I can see the signal pylons anchored in the turf." Carella added. "Check out those scorch marks, too. They've been using this place for a while."

"So noted, Crusader Two." She studied the arrangement of pylons, made some selections on her MFD, and then paged the other ships to forward the landing data. "Flarefire, Mars One, we have a landing zone picked out, do you copy?"

"Roger, Crusader One," replied Mylene. "We're beginning the landing cycle now."

"Copy that, Crusader One," added Maia. "Once the Flarefire and Crusader Flight are down, we'll join you."

"Roger. Crusaders, go to Formation C and box the Flarefire." Komilia got acknowledgements from the rest of her squadron, and as Mylene's red Horizon transport slowed and descended to the turf, the Crusaders split into two four-man elements, performing one last circling pass over the landing site before descending on repulsors and GERWALK-mode legs.

Komilia felt her Valkyrie shiver slightly as it settled on its deployed engine-legs. She ran through the postflight check and powered down the fighter. Off in the distance, she could see the Zentraedi dropship's main hatch opening, forming a wide ramp that lowered to the ground. Zentraedi soldiers in full dress kit were exiting, standing on the edges of the landing ramp. On either side of the dropship, in front of the main (Zentraedi-scaled) buildings, was a flagpole. As she watched, two soldiers went to each flagpole; within moments, they had unfurled two flags and hoisted them aloft: the flags of the Wedge Defense Force and the Zentraedi Alliance.

Guess it's official then; they really have claimed this place as their own, Komilia mused, as she unsecured her seat harness. And they're making an event of it. Pity I wasn't able to get my old uniform...

Komilia considered that thought for a moment, and then reached down to unzip one of her flightsuit's thigh pockets. She reached inside, rummaged a little bit, and then pulled out two slim items. Komilia studied them quietly. One of them was her original WDF nametag ("K. STERLING") ... and the other was, more importantly, the flightsuit patch of VVF-261: Eight-Ball Squadron.

For the past 85 years, she had led the Southern Cross Crusaders into battle; for nearly two and a half centuries before that, she had been a member of the elite Eight-Balls. In the present day, who could say which flight she felt a closer kinship to?

And in the end, did it really matter?

Komilia quirked a slight smile, reached up to her upper chest, and removed her Crusader nametag; whatever else she might or might not be, she was a Sterling, a daughter of Max and Miria Sterling, and the time for the mask of "Libby Jenius" was past. Then, with a gesture of finality, she removed the black-encircled red-and-gold eagle of the Crusaders from above her removed nametag. She set the unit patch aside, then carefully replaced both tag and patch with those that belonged to her by right as a member of the WDF Eight-Balls. She put the Crusader nametag and patch into her thigh pocket, and closed it up.

As she popped the canopy of her Valkyrie and deployed the retractable boarding ladder, Komilia noticed that she still wore the red-and-gold eagle of the Crusaders on the shoulders of her flightsuit. She hesitated a moment, then shrugged and left them there. She was an Eight-Ball and a Crusader both. If anybody criticized her about it, she knew just where to tell them to stick it.

Komilia hauled herself up out of the cockpit and over the coaming, descending the ladder down to the ground. For a brief moment, she wondered just how the hell the ground (and everything else on top of it) was managing to stay down, given where they were; but she immediately decided to halt that line of questioning before she got a massive headache.

"So, it's official then, boss?" asked Carella Sansen, a trifle sadly. Komilia turned around, and she could see that the Southern Cross Crusaders had assembled in front of her Valkyrie, with Sparks in the lead. With surprise, she noticed they were all standing at attention, even Therèse; a rarity for the sometimes-informal group.

Komilia blinked, looked down at her replaced unit patch and nametag, and looked back up at her exec. She softly smiled. "Hey, don't look so down, Sparks. You haven't gotten rid of me that easily. I plan to fly with you guys for a long time to come." She jerked a thumb towards her shoulder, where the Crusaders' eagle still rested. "Hell, stay with me long enough, and you just might have a front-row seat for the really big show."

Carella arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Komilia's smile widened. "Really."

"Well then, Komilia..." Carella finally smiled back, and saluted Komilia. Behind her, the other Southern Cross Crusaders saluted as well. "Lead on, Lieutenant Commander. We've got your six."

Komilia saluted them back, clearly proud of her squadron, and then turned to head off towards Settlement Evaluation Outpost One. The Crusaders fell in behind her, and her sister made her way to walk at Komilia's right hand.

As the groups assembled and made their way to the dropship, Komilia could see that the rest of her siblings had much the same idea as herself. She had already noticed that Therèse had replaced her own Crusaders patch with the Wedge Defense Force diamond emblem. Emilia was clad in her best Cianbro Corporation uniform, but on the lapel of her suitjacket there glistened a tasteful WDF pin. Xeralia was wearing the full-dress uniform of a Meltrandi vice-admiral, complete with the half-cape and ceremonial blaster on her hip. Maia and Miranda were still kitted out in their flightsuits and CVR, but Komilia could see that they both had uncovered the twinned helms of Nazgûl Flight on their left shoulder pauldrons, opposite the white-trimmed black Mars Division triangle on their right shoulders.

Even Mylene had gotten in on the act - though in her case, her 'uniform' consisted of black denim jeans, boots, gunbelt, gloves, a leather WDF pilot's jacket open at the front to reveal a snug white WDF tee-shirt, and a jauntily-perched WDF officer's cap.

Miranda's eyebrows went up, taking in Mylene's new look as they ended up next to each other in the procession towards the dropship. "... is that an Eight-Ball pilot's jacket?"

"Yup. Used to be Dad's, as a matter of fact," Mylene replied.

"How in the cosmos did you get ahold of that?"

Mylene gave her older sister a wry smile. "It's amazing what you can find on eBay, dear sister." She tapped the brim of her cap and winked. Guvava, who was perched on top of the cap, cheerfully squeaked.

It was not a long walk to the dropship's landing area. As the pilots, officers, and band members, led by the Sterling sisters, approached the boarding ramp, they sized up the people who were waiting for them.

Admiral Breetai Kridanik was easiest to spot, of course; the mighty Zentraedi warlord and staunch ally of the Wedge Defense Force towered over everyone there, even his own Zentraedi and Meltrandi officers, the armor and crystal lens of his bionic optic cowl glinting in the sunlight. He was clad in his customary dress uniform, arms at parade rest behind his back. Breetai's blue-tinged features smiled down at the approaching group, and his remaining original eye studied them all with clear approval. Behind him, his officers stood at attention, watching the smaller humanoids and staying back enough so they wouldn't squash any of them by accident.

One in particular, a tall Meltrandi in a purple officer's coat, with the amazonian looks that tended to mark those of their warrior elite, was studying the new arrivals - especially the Sterling siblings in the lead - with a mix of intent interest and... uncertainty? Hesitation? Possibly even nervousness?

Emilia raised her eyebrows, studying the unfamiliar Meltrandi officer, and then tapped Xeralia on the shoulder. "(Xera? Strange things are afoot down at the Circle-K,)" she murmured into her sibling's ear.

"Mm?" Xeralia shifted her attention slightly, and then studied the Meltrandi in question. She directed a sidelong glance at Miranda, her green hair braided as it trailed down her back, and looked then back at the much larger woman. She had the exact same hair color as Miranda. And for that matter, the same blue eyes, and the way her hair was styled reminded both Xeralia and Emilia strongly of their father...

"(Well now. Well, well, well...)" A fey smile graced Xeralia's lips. "(looks like this is going to be more than a reunion.)"

They drew closer, and now were able to focus on the smaller humanoids that had assembled at the base of the ramp. They were a mix of officers and technicians (none of whom they recognized), clad either in the livery of the Zentraedi Alliance or the Wedge Defense Force, and they were led at the front by the grinning visage of Baron Wolfgang Amadaeus von Fahrvergnügen himself!?

"(What the hell? I thought he was dead!)" Maia blurted out, unabashedly staring at the sight of the WDF's founder and supreme leader. Clad in his black plate armor and fur-lined cape, sword at his side, he looked just the same as he had back during the Golden Age of the Wedge Defense Force.

"(Damn... well that explains why the bounty hunters never found Wolfgang,)" Miranda replied. "(I get the feeling a lot of WDF die-hards are going to want to talk to him.)"

"(To welcome him back, or to chew him out?)"

"(Probably both, knowing some of them.)"

But for all the byplay going on behind her, Komilia's expression was level and intent. Truth be told, she had hardly registered the presence of the various Zentraedi, and she barely spared a passing glance at von Fahrvergnügen. Her total being was focused solely on the couple standing nearby, both of them clad in WDF dress uniforms. She strode purposefully towards the man with blue hair and aviator's glasses, and the woman with long green hair who held his hand, who had likewise been studying the crowd.

Their eyes widened as they took in the sight of Komilia and her siblings, and the woman let out a little sound of surprise and relief. Her green eyes shone as she let go of the man's hand, stepping forward even as the man smiled and moved forward as well. The three of them ended up speaking at once:

"Komilia, daughter, I..."

"Oh God, Komilia, we've missed you..."

"Mom... Dad... I... i...."

Unable to say anything more than that, Komilia broke formation with the rest of her sisters, took two rapid steps forward, and hugged her father tight and close, clinging to him as if he was the sole anchor to reality. The unshed tears of the past eighty years finally broke out from their confinement, and she unashamedly cried as she was embraced by her father and mother.

In that moment, she was no longer Libby Jenius, founder and leader of the mercenary Southern Cross Crusaders.

Nor was she Komilia "Miss Liberty" Sterling, long-time member of the Wedge Defense Force's elite Eight-Ball Squadron.

Nor was she even Komilia Dana Sterling, the eldest of the children of Maximilian Sterling and Miria Fallyna Sterling, guardian of her younger siblings.

She was just Komilia, their daughter, safe and loved within her parents' arms.

And that was all that mattered.

"Reunion, Part 4: Revelation" - An Exile Mini-Story by Philip Jeremy Moyer
Reunion Mini-Serial Plotted by Philip J. Moyer
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