Commander Greesch has returned to the Broken Dawn fleet with cheers as the voice from the wall has informed them of his meeting with Lady Void. The ship crews didn't take long to get comfortable but before that Commander Greesch orders an enmassed funeral for those who lost their lives.
All soldiers of the Broken Dawn fleet prepare the bodies for their burial rites. Bodies that were mangled from battle or recovered from the frozen vacuum of space were given medical aid to ensure they could be looked upon one at last time. Commander Greesch retires to his cabin as Quae joins him to provide spiritual aid.
"Quae, How many lives were lost during our siege?"
"22,000 lives have joined the cosmic winds."
"Nearly half of our total forces. 5 different races from dozens of different clans all rely on my voice and actions. If we had the full fleet, that many lives wouldn't have been taken." Commander Greesch sits as his stress and exhaustion finally take its toll. Quae comes over and wraps her arms around his neck.
"The lives of us war races can be counted on one's finger but losing our objective or our commander would have been worse than death. Those who died did so with honor and pride in their hearts. You can repay their lives by giving them a final goodbye." Quae says sweetly to encourage him out of his distraught mood.
"You know I don't enjoy hearing war races in presence." He responds quite cold.
Quae clings his tighter even wrapping a couple of her legs around him.
"Remember the defense of Vera. We stood against the United Clan Federation. 3 Dwarf clans sent an army of 2,000,000 infantry with thousands of vehicles, weapons, artillery, and golems. We were 450,000 and were ordered to hold a mountain temple. Remember how it looked seeing a wall of stone moving towards us, yet you were more concerned about naming your new fleet."
"Yes I do, I never knew that Dwarves had such insults about us Elves. I'm still recovering from their words." This made the two have a small laugh.
"We were ready for death but you stood at the front door eagerly waiting for it. We all thought that this shiny sun elf would get us all killed in the first minutes. You happily proved us wrong by standing your ground even when the dwarves broke our front lines and you refused to move those lines. We ran to rally our next line but you stood there surrounded on all sides cutting down anyone who dared to even look at you. I fondly remember that look you gave us while we cowered in fear against the dwarf horde."
"Yeah, it annoyed me that you all were letting me do all the work." Quae releases her hug and stands up Greesch. She walks in front of him and drops her swords to the ground.
"Your eyes weren't filled with rage or bloodlust but instead kindness and sorrow. You hated taking lives even if they were the enemy. I saw you fall and I couldn't see you in the horde of dwarves. My heart ached with a pain I have never felt. I rushed to your side because I refused to accept your death. Before I knew it I was already spearheading a counter-attack."
"A dwarf got lucky and hit my ankle making me fall. I was able to fight him eye to eye."
Quae begins slightly shaking her lower half making her armor fall onto the ground. She reveals a smooth red sheen.
"I saw you fighting on your knees as you refused to move. I stood by your side covering your exposed back with mine. We held our ground making the dwarves retreat. They cursed every fiber of your being and named you stone legs. We held the temple and the dwarves could never again break our lines. We held while they were being pushed back by our reinforcements. You fell onto the ground exhausted and so did all of us. You lifted your broken sword and roared our name! Broken Dawn!"
"Catchy name isn't it." Quae begins removing her greaves and chest armor becoming bare before him.
"You won my heart and from that day on I swore to never abandon you and to always stand beside you no matter the cost. We the Broken Dawn fleet, one of the 7 branches of the Jade Empire shall walk with our backs towards our gods and follow you into the deepest of Abyss."
Greesch wraps his arms around Quae letting her warm bare body rest on him. "You are all fools for following an idiot such as me but I wouldn't ask for anyone else to follow me into battle." Commander Greesch takes Quae's hand and gives a kiss on her open palm. A mating ritual for those on her planet. Quae is eager to begin as her body shakes but Greesch walks away from her. Quae tries to reach out for him but recoils back.
"Even after all this time, you still refuse to accept me after all we've been through but you're still scared of a couple of names. Even now as you walk away, you still have my heart." Quae starts picking up her armor to redress herself then she hears the ship locking mechanism activate.
Vines start growing before Greesch as the door is now locked from inside and outside. Greesch walks back towards Quae as she drops her armor seeing Greesch stern face.
"Lt Quae!" He roars at the top of his lungs
"Yes Sir!" She stiffens her whole body and places her fist on her bare chest to salute.
"I have received your papers for vacation and I approve of them. Being the highest military officer here I shall also begin my vacation as well. As temporary citizens of the Silver Star, we are not obligated to follow Empire rules and regulations!"
Quae is still saluting as her brain is trying to catch up with what's going on, until Greesch wraps his arm around her back and holds her head to deliver a kiss that's been waiting for years.
"May I take the lead princess?"
"Of course, your highness."
In the corner of the room a small machine with a red-eye is observing quite closely.
[Interesting.]
Void has sneaked small machines onto all Broken Dawn ships to observe the crew and spy on their technologies. She is taking detailed notes for future references as the two begin embracing each other.