It was a regular training day for Captain Royal Guard in Boötes, he was searching for the Desta Kann in the depths of the system. While he was issuing orders in the command deck of the Anger of Apollo, a Battlecruiser that was offered to him by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, due to his efforts in the Great Terran/Federation war, one of his Pilots suddenly turned and shouted:

- Sir we are getting energy readings that mean an entry jump gate into our system!

- That is weird, we didn't receive any reports of any ship coming to our system from Sol, and nobody can come to train in Boötes when we are patrolling planets and checking the defences everybody knows that.

 - So who can it be......- Royal Guard wondered - well it is clearly a breaking of our treaty with every race, Gunners!

 - Yes Sir!

 - Prepare the Superheavy Laser and the Fusion Torpedoes and point them to the jump gate, and get me the Engine Room on screen

 - At Your Command Sir

 The Chief Engineer appeared with a confused face, since it was abnormal such a fuss with a regular patrol.

 - Is everything ok sir? What is going on?

 - We have an unidentified unauthorized vessel entering Boötes, I need all shields ready and operational!

 - Aye Sir

 - Pilot, get us near that entry point I want to know exactly who is entering our system, communications send a message to Councillor Aragon we need to warn Sol of what is going on

 -Yes Sir!

 As soon as we arrived to the entry point we had our ship ready to battle, but something was odd, if it was a cruiser ready for battle the ion readings would be going through the roof, but instead we where getting very few ion readings, which meant that either it was a wrecked ship, or a severely damaged one. And our predictions were right it was a Plexxan Paladin, Severely damaged even if it had came from Vega, it was truly a miracle for it to arrived in one piece to Boötes, immediately we began the safety protocols for this kind of situation, we checked the ship for life signs and sent a welcoming message, which was quickly answered, it was Commander Mole and he was truly scared:

 - Greetings Commander, in name of the Boötes Patrol Fleet we welcome you to Boötes, please allow us to escort you to the nearest repair yard and starport so that you can repair your ship, and give your men some rest, on the way could you perhaps tell me what happened?.

 - Praise the Republic, thank you for the help, we are in true need of help - he screamed with a truly scared face - we are being chased by a Nexus fleet, and we are looking for asylum until some reinforcements come or until...

 Before Commander Mole could finish his sentence, the Nexus Fleet appeared with the Nexus leader Marc in its command.

 - Sir we have a message from Commander Marc!

 - Put him on screen two - Marc and Royal Guard were long time friends, and this procedure was totally out of the Nexus way, they were known for their ruthlessness and anger in battle situations - Hello Marc my good friend how can I assist you?

- Royal, according to my sensors you are harbouring a Fed pilot, I must ask you to step aside my friend.

While Marc was speaking, Royal Guard signalled his pilot to move the ship to some specific coordinates the pilot after realizing where the coordinates where leading addressed his Commander in a confused tone:

- Sir, the coordinates you gave me will lead us directly...

And right before the pilot could finish his sentence Royal addressed Marc to not raise any type of suspicions.

- Marc my good friend , give me a few minutes to check some details with the Imperial Palace, I ask just a few minutes and some patience ok?

Marc nodded but his face showed he wouldn't wait long before taking matters to his own hands.

- Thank you my good friend, Royal Guard, out.

After switching off the communications screen Royal immediately started issuing orders

- Pilot, get us to those coordinates I signalled

- But Sir, those coordinates will put us directly between the Nexus fleet and Commander Mole's ship.

- Guys, all of you listen to me - no noise was heard when Royal proffered these words - I am putting the Anger of Apollo on the line until reinforcements arrive from Sol, so if any of you wants to leave now please do so, I am not forcing nobody to stand by for my actions and be punished for them, BUT HELL, I AM NOT LEAVING A WOUNDED ALLY IN ONE OF OUR SYSTEMS AT THE MERCY OF A FLEET THAT WANTS TO KILL HIM!.

The words of Royal Guard echoed through every room, every single corner of the Battlecruiser, and no Terran, Plexxan, Slah4ke, Nexus, or Brood that were part of the crew dared to say a word, until the Head of Security, a huge Slah4ke with a bionic arm and a patch in his left eye, stood up and started screaming some words in his native language that nobody understood except for the Slah4ke on board, but one could only assume that he said that he was going to stick with the Captain, because all the Slah4ke left the command deck and were re-assuming their positions. And amazingly every single crewman went back to his position, and the last one, Royal Guard's personal bodyguard said:

- We would never abandon you Sir, you are the finest Captain we ever had. We rather die under your command rather than any other.

-  Thank you my good friend, thank you. Ok guys let's move it I want this Battlecruiser between that Paladin and that fleet a.s.a.p.!

- Yes Sir! - They all shouted with confidence and pride totally unaware of what fate had prepared for them.

In the command deck of the USS Firestorm one of the pilots addressed Marc with a dazzled and confused face:

- Sir, the Anger of Apollo is moving, it is positioning directly between us and the Plexxan Paladin.

- What?!?! - Marc shouted with an angry face.

- Uh Sir... - the Pilot said reluctantly.

- What now? You better give me some good news because I am not really in the mood right now!! - As Marc said this the Pilot's face went snow white, pale as death.

- Sir, Holios is activating its shields, they are protecting the Plexxan Paladin, and if it gets under the protection of the Terran Shields we won't be able to shoot a single cannon on it!

- How is this possible! What is happening here?!?!

- Sir, Captain Royal Guard is contacting us.

- Put him on the main Screen. Royal you better have a good explanation for this!

- Sorry Marc, we are friends, and you are the leader of a great ally to my race, but I am not allowing this on a Terran system, not while I am on patrol.

Marc's gunner suddenly shouted:

- Sir, our sensors show huge energy concentrations on the outer perimeter of the Anger of Apollo!

- What? That can only mean one thing...

- Exactly Marc -Royal said interrupting him with a confident face - that Paladin is under my custody, if you want to get it, you must come through me.

While Royal was saying this, John A. Howard showed up in the middle of this conversation and addressed Royal directly threatening him:

- Royal, stand down or I will report you to the Terran Council.

And Marc added:

- So this is the Terrans position on this war? Because if it is I have no problem changing my diplomatic boards concerning the Terrans!

Royal slowly sat down on his chair, and addressed the two influent Kolari:

- John you can report me to the Council, I will be more than happy to present my report to them, and Marc this is not the Terrans position, this is MY position, and according to Terran rules, it clearly states "Always help an ally when this is in true need of it, well I already asked you to take care of your differences outside of Boötes! I am just following my orders and respecting the Terran ideals!

After this statement there was a brief moment of silence and then to conclude John said a suspicious face:

- We will see!

Then the screens went dead, no more words were to be said, it was time for actions. After that brief moment of peace the alarm sounded, their worst fears were true:

- Sir, our sensors are showing a large amount of energy gathering on the cannons of Commander Marc's ship, and their shields are up!

- Ok, everyone, prepare for battle, PROTECT THAT PALADIN AT ALL COSTS, Gunner!

- Yes Sir.

- Arm the Torpedoes, load the Fusion Cannon, and prepare to fire the Superheavy Laser on my Command.

- Yes Sir!

- Engineering.

- Yes Captain!

- I want all energy focused on the shields, we must hold long enough for the Paladin to reach safety

- Aye Captain - As soon as the Chief Engineer switched of his monitors he turned onto the other crewmen and shouted with an angry voice - MOVE IT YOU MAGGOTS!! I WANT THE SHIELDS FULLY POWERED IN 10 SECONDS OR YOU WILL GET TO KNOW A SIDE OF ME THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!

In the middle of all of this ruckus the small Kolari that was the Communications officer called Royal to his station and said that a message from the Imperial Palace was incoming, Royal smiled and praised the heavens, everything sounded perfect until...

- Sir, Holios is switching off its shields!

- What?!?! Who gave that command what is happening here?!

- I did.

It was Councillor Aragon's voice, coming directly from the main screen.

- Aragon what the hell is going on, why did you order Holios to abort my command? We have a...

- I know, hyper out of Boötes and set course to Sol immediately, this is direct order from the Emperor, I am sorry mate.

Suddenly a dark grin came upon Royal, and he slowly moved towards his chair, nobody had ever seen him like that, they had been with him in really hard moments, moments when all was lost. Everyone was expecting their Captain's orders.

- "Sir, what are our orders? - The young pilot asked.

After a small moment of reflection Royal raised his head and addressed the young pilot who had made the question:

- "Hyper out, set course to Sol immediately, I will be in my room, wake me up when we arrive.

- "But Sir...

- "JUST DO WHAT I SAID DAMMIT!

The young pilot was truly scared with the shout of Royal, but everybody who knew him, was aware that he was a really calm person, and that he only screamed to release some of his anger. He slowly walked to his chambers, wondering why was that happening, why would the Emperor issue a command in a situation that could easily be handled by a councillor, what had happened? As soon as he arrived to his room he laid his eyes upon the brilliant flashes that were a result of the destruction of the Paladin, after observing that, he sat on his desk and switched on his communicator:

- "Computer, connect me with the Imperial Palace

- "One moment please."

- "The best way of knowing what is going on is going straight to the root of the problem."

- "Hello Fleet Commander Royal Guard, can I direct you to someone in particular or do you want me to schedule a meeting with one of the Councillors?"

- "Get me Councillor Aragon please."

- "Very well, I will need your voice code and I.D. please"

- "Boötes Patrol Fleet Commander Royal Guard, Praetorian Rank, Code Praetorius Maximus."

- "Give me a moment while I establish the connection."

- "Please make it quick."

In the meanwhile Royal sent a message to phantomGODess to meet him in Utopia, for some Terran Fleet matters, and then waited for the connection to be ready. After 5 minutes Aragon showed up on his screen:

- "Hello my good friend"

- "Hello Aragon, I was wondering mate, what is going on, why was I ordered to leave Boötes?"      

- "I knew you were going to ask that my good friend, we will talk about that as soon as you arrive."

- "But..."

- "Sorry mate, you know how a Councillor's life is, meet me here when you arrive in Sol, Aragon, Out."

- "Damn!" - Said Royal while throwing an angry punch upon his desk - "Why don't they tell me what the hell is going on. Looks like I will have to wait until we get to Sol to find out". Slowly the large ship moved in the great void of space, the house of all the stars, and greatest battlefield of them all, it was said that the best place for a person to think was space itself, due to its quietness. 3 days passed, and when the Terran clock showed exactly 3:15 AM, Royal's room received a communication from the command deck:

- "Good morning Sir, we will be arriving Sol shortly, E.T.A thirty minutes"

- "Very well, as soon as we enter Sol's gravity well set course for Utopia, I want this ship refuelled and I want you and the rest of the crew to go and see your families."

- "As you command Sir."

Royal slowly got up from his bed, and quickly switched his night clothes for his usual Terran Fleet uniform, but his uniform wasn't like the other officers uniform, it was a black uniform containing an armour in the torso area, it also had a blue cape made of silk, but the most beautiful part of that uniform was definitely the Terran logo made of Gold that had came from the mines of Sirius. After dressing himself he went straight to the command deck, and on the way he greeted every single crewman he saw, "Good morning" he would say with a smile on his face and a firm handshake. On the command deck, as soon as he entered all his men got up and saluted him:

- "Good morning Sir!"

- "Good morning my friends, how far are we from Utopia?"

- "Approximately ten minutes away"

- "Very well, Communications connect us with the Utopia Command Center"

- "As you wish Captain"

- "This is the Starbase Utopia, welcome Commander Royal Guard, how can we assist you?"

- "I wish that my ship is fully overhauled, those damn Egarans can give a good fight."

- "Very well Commander, as soon as you are docked and all the paperwork is properly signed we will take care of your ship, please station your ship on dock Eight."

- "Appreciated, Royal Guard, out. Guys you heard the man right? After the ship is docked go see your families, they all must miss you..."

- "Thank you Sir!"

After Royal ended his speech, his bodyguard went to him with a worried look on his face and addressed his commander:

- "Sir is anything wrong?"

- "I don't know my friend, I don't know, something odd is going on in the Imperial Palace, everybody seems afraid of something, maybe we have spent to much time in Boötes ..."

- "Ah, don't worry sir, it's probably just some aristocracy problem, you know politicians, you have been one yourself. Remember the days back in Algol? When you were the Praetorian Guard General, you were always busy with paperwork, and political issues, if it wasn't for Captain Mimelord to help you in the Guild and Lord Maxibon in Council matters you couldn't even sleep! And I remember your daily worried face"

- "Yeah you are probably right Lieutenant, thank you"

- "Just glad I could help Commander."

During that conversation among the two friends, the ship slowly moved towards Utopia, and with the stream of time, they arrived.

- "Sir, we have docked at Utopia."

- "Very well see you guys in one week"

Utopia was like a huge city, was full of lights and shops, all that it missed was some magnetic roads, it was constituted of three main areas: The Commerce District, where there was practically everything, from minerals to Body parts if you wanted to buy something, the Utopia Commerce District was the place to find it. The Military Area, which was where you could find all sorts of ships and where the soldiers could get together and tell their tales of space and their adventures. And the Governmental Palace, where the Ambassadors, High ranked Commanders, and Councillors could arrange meetings and rest before going either to the Imperial Palace or back to their home systems. After leaving his ship Royal signed the paperwork required for the overhaul of his ship and went straight for the launching bays, but on his way he noticed that everybody had a troubled face, which was weird since Utopia, was where the families would get together, and where the soldiers out on mission would come to get back home, looking at that scenery his suspicions raised, after arriving the launch bays he got on a Scout and went straight for the Imperial Palace. The Scout took about twenty minutes to get to the Imperial Palace area, the Imperial Palace was one of the most beautiful places in all of the Terran Empire, if not the most beautiful. It was a gigantic palace, with a massive garden around it, in the garden you could find every type of flower, from a simple Terran rose, to the rare Orchid from the desert of Proxima I, the people that lived in the town near the Imperial Palace would often take a walk around the gardens, since they were open to public it was very hard to find that garden empty. Royal was born on Earth, but lived most of his childhood in the Nest, since he had been adopted, he lived among the Hive and that made him value the presence of all his friends and fellow shipmen, because all the Hive were very close. The Scout slowly landed on its proper dock, Royal slowly left the small chamber of the ship and went straight for the Hall of Whispers, which was the main hall of the council wing, it had earned that name because when the times were desperate and the people were starting to lose faith in it's council they would go to that hall and ask for an hearing between the Council and the representatives of the people, but those who wouldn't go inside the Meeting Room they would stay in that hall wondering and whispering what would the outcome of that meeting be. Royal saw his old friend Aragon as soon as he entered the wall, as Aragon loved that Hall as well

- "Aragon " -... said Royal with a smile - "Long time no see my good friend, how I missed Sol I have practically been living in Boötes, so how are things around here?"

 - "Well, we can't talk here, come with me let's go for a walk in the gardens"

Both the Veterans made their way to the garden, and after a while Royal lost his patient and addressed Aragon in a rather angry tone:

- "Ok Aragon nobody in sight, now can you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

- "Ok Royal, well the situation is this, the Kolari have grown very powerful, and the Emperor fears that they might plan to strike us after leaving the Plexxans totally destroyed".

- "What? And we plan on staying quiet, with our oldest allies being destroyed right next to us? This is outrageous!!"

- "Well these are our orders, anyone who disobeys them is not even up for trial, it is straight to Wolf..."

- "I can't believe this...What have we become, for the first time I see our mighty Empire shiver...Well then I will go, I shall not stand down to this situation, I will move to the Federation, it costs me to leave the Empire since I have served three different emperors, watched us rise and fall alongside you my friend, but I cannot take this"

- "Are you sure you wish to do that? - Aragon's face showed that he was sad to watch one of his oldest companions leave."

- "Yes my good friend, I already summoned phantomGODess, I'll ask if she doesn't mind helping me with the transport of my ships..."

-  "I will go as well, so let's make all preparations..."

- "Ok my good friend, so I will see you around the docking bay of Utopia then, I must go see my wife, and tell her about the moving."

Both the Commander and Councillor followed different paths, Aragon went back to his chamber, and Royal made his way back to his home, to see his wife and children. Royal was married to a Plexxan women, her name was Nii, a dark haired female, with dazzling two coloured eyes a feature not very common on Plexxan females but it was a sign of pure beauty, her physical features were told to be made by the gods themselves, a very active woman, who loved a good old fight, she wanted to join the Terran Fleet alongside her husband, because all Plexxans besides being extraordinary pilots, they have the passion that the job requires, but Royal as a caring husband denied and begged for her safety for her to stay at home. Royal was also father of two children, one boy and one girl. The boy, Zack, was a light-brown haired kid, with a lot of his fathers features, namely his cunning accuracy, love for ships, and his love for his friends, his sister, Dahlia, was the a total picture of her mother, with few traces from her father, she was an extremely beautiful child, with odd habits, instead of playing with dolls like regular girls, she liked to play with starship toys, she loved to brawl with her colleagues at school, even though she knew that her father would be mad at her. As soon as he reached his house, he stopped for a moment and thought to himself, "Damn it feels good to be home...", a feeling of happiness filled his mind, and with the desire and passion to hug his wife and children again after such a long journey again made him almost run to his home. While Royal was standing still thinking about how good it felt to see his family again, his wife was sitting in the balcony watching over the children, after a moment of deep thoughts she saw an officer looking at her house, and like any woman that hasn't seen her loving husband, she immediately recognized him, "ROYAL" she shouted, and right after he heard "DADDY!!!", they all came running to him, he left his bags fell on the ground and went running for his family, they all hugged.

  - "Sorry for have been so far away for so long my love..." - he whispered to his wife before he gave her a passionate kiss.

  - "I am just glad your home safe, we missed you so much..." -... she said with a tear in her left eye.

 - "What about you kids, did you behave while daddy was gone?"

 - "Yes Daddy we did" - They said with that beautiful smile that a child bears on her face.

 - "I need to talk with you all, let's go inside"

His house was just like he remembered, the old fashioned wooden home, the fireplace with only ashes of what was a great warm flame, the children toys scattered all around the floor.

 - "Look, I have decided to move to the Federation..., they are at war at the moment, and the Empire will do nothing, I heard they are having governmental problems, and also in need of men so I stepped up."

 - "What? You made that decision without telling me anything? What about us? What about the children?"

- "Well honey, as I have planned, after the war is over, and most of the rebuilding is done, we will move to Padeen, and you know how Padeen is beautiful, and you can go home to Strahl again"

- "But what about the kids?????"

- "Well due to the war status, I do not wish you to move right away, I will move alone for now, and well let's face it, Zack is almost ready to make his own calls, and Dahlia too...they grow so fast, look at him, he is almost thirteen, as well as her..."

 - "But Royal..."- the discussion went on, until the moment when Nii finally agreed with her husband.

- "Well then my love, I have a whole week on Earth until I..".

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

- "Visitors, are you expecting someone honey?"

- "No, nor me nor the kids"

- "Weird then, let's see who it is then"

Royal opened the door, it was S117, and he had brought his family with him.

- "S117! Long time no see my brother!" - Both Royal and S117 called each other brothers because they were best friends since they were school colleagues.

- "Long time no see as well Royal, looks like your house is Bovtes now..."

- " I entirely agree with you" - Nii immediately replied

- "So funny that you both are today..."

- " Hello" - said a quiet soft voice behind S117, it was his wife Telya, they had met during a rescue mission in Sol, when the Mars Defence Grid was to be built, all Terrans were thought to be evacuated, but when the transport ships were leaving and the demolishers from all other races were getting ready to destroy the infra-structures of the planet S117 gave one last look at Polianus, the capital city of Mars, and saw one desperate soul running and screaming for help, immediately  he ordered a transportation beam to bring her aboard the Longsword, and well, it was love at first sight, that was two years ago and since then they are together.

- "Telya, well finally someone who doesn't make a joke about me working in Bovtes, and I see you brought little Fannah and the little rebel Jude eh, go on Zack and Dahlia are over there in the living room. So what do I have the pleasure of your presence in my home?"

- "Well Royal, we need to talk but can I have a drink? I am really thirsty"

- "Well sure, a good old scotch for both of us, what about you Telya can we get you something to drink?"

- "No thank you, I'll be with Nii watching the kids, we know how you pilots love to talk about space."

All of them went through Royals house main hall each following it's path, Nii and Telya alongside little Jude and Fannah, Royal and S117 made their way up through the majestic wooden stairs highly decorated with eagles on both sides into Royal Guard's office, it had a desk made of marble, lots of papers scattered through the desk, pictures of the family in the shelves, and a big bookshelf with some very known books such as: "The Invaders Attack", "Cold Revenge" written by S117 himself, "The Pirates Revenge" written by the Terran Emperor Greeny, "The Enemy Within" written by Royal's good friend John A. Howard, between many others, both friends sat down in the leather couch and Royal served some old Jack Daniels that he had stored for a while.

- "You know Royal, I heard some rumours that you were changing to the Federation, is it true?"

- ""Yes indeed..."