[b]Lunar Station[/b]
The [i]Försvarere av Humanity[/i] docked with the station as well, the crew was surprised that the alien vessel's docking port had been compatible. Fergus two others exited the craft, heading to provide security for the meeting. There had been reports of other craft being sighted, and he wanted to make sure the Council and diplomats could be evacuated if there was any trouble.

Floating through the air with his robes flowing behind him, a councilman met the diplomats at their docking port.

"Welcome to Lunar Habitation Orbital 001, this is where the Council meets, Earth is too dangerous now. I'll take you to the meeting room. Only the habitation area of this station is on a gravity ring, so it'll be microgravity the whole time. Since you seem to have been spacefaring for so long, I assume you're used to it. If for any reason it irritates your species, just pick up a space sickness pill from a shop. They've been ordered to give them away for free to non-humans."

A man wearing a bulletproof vest floated up as well, a coilgun assault rifle strapped to his back. A small LED screen displayed the number of shots left, as well as the temperature of the barrel. Apparently, Terran weapons had heating problems. Strangely, he also has a sheathed sword. Such a weapon would be completely worthless against even Terran technology, so he was probably carrying it for ceremonial reasons. It would certainly make sense, the Terran species seemed to be at least somewhat violent.

"I am Constable Florentin, head of station security. Due to the... side effects of your arrival, I am escorting you for your entire stay here. If you see anyone wearing one of these symbols, please notify any security officer."

He gently threw a datapad of sorts towards the captain's hands. It was displaying numerous symbols, most of them had some kind of weapon in them. Some swords, others coilguns, but there was always a weapon, as well as a seemingly harmless symbol that didn't make any sense to aliens.

"Anyone who bears these symbols will try to kill you and others, do not hesitate to attack them if there is no security officer nearby. I hope it will not come to that, but I have to inform you of the dangers. Now, we can get on with this. Please follow Councilman Chinwe to the meeting room, we can discuss the treaty there."

[b]Sol, Saturn[/b]
As the meeting continued on the Mandalorian vessel, the sensors officer onboard the Battlecruiser [i]Mjolnir[/i] suddenly cried out.

"Captain! Ladar shows an object a few light seconds away, it has changed direction multiple times! It has to be artificial!"

"Another one of their ships?" The captain responded, a calm caution in his voice.

"No, the ladar silhouette doesn't show any kind of design resemblance... no way, two alien cultures? What the hell? Is everyone else in the universe just really, really bored?"

"Dammit! Rotate the ship, bring that vessel into the sights of our main cannon!"

The giant battlecruiser turned with surprising speed, but at the expense of vast amounts of mono-propellant. The spinal electromagnetic cannon turned to face the unidentified vessel, a sight that would be quite intimidating to any Terran. After the Battle of Mars, mandatory adjustments were made to the projectiles so as to give them a coating of argon plasma. This allowed them to impact and damage shields instead of glancing off them, as well as increased effectiveness against armor. A message was transmitted on all frequencies towards the unidentified craft, the soft words accompanied by the gigantic stick that was the electromagnetic cannon.

"This is Captain Fridtjof of the United Terran Federation battlecruiser [i]Mjolnir[/i], your visual silhouette does not match any Terran or Iscandarian designs, identify yourselves immediately. If you refuse to comply, your status will be defaulted to hostile and the main cannon of this vessel will open fire! That weapon fires a twenty-inch, argon plasma coated slug at some of the highest velocities the Star Forces have ever seen. Feel lucky that I did not simply obliterate your vessel immediately after detecting it!"

[b]Pluto, Sol System[/b]
"Brace!"

There was no atmosphere, as the dwarf planet was going through it's cold season But as the shells came down from orbit, the vac-suited soldiers could still hear the impact as the ground trembled at the awesome power of a battlecruiser's main cannon. The alien troops were killed almost instantly, their lifeless corpses being blasted into orbit due to the world's weak gravity. 

"Shit! Shit shit shit shit!" Cried one of the soldiers over his radio, frantically meddling with his coilgun's acceleration mechanism in a panicked manner. "Dammit, the third coil is broken! I'm going in!"

Before the commander could say anything, the soldier leapt out of cover and reached for a ceramic tube of sorts, which was hanging in a holster on his belt. He was killed immediately, the ceramic tube flying off onto a ballistic trajectory along with his body. Another shell came down, happening to hit the body head on, completely shredding it. A grotesque spray of blood and flesh was all that remained of the soldier, and a similar fate befell the alien invaders.

"Aerials! Full burst, go right towards them and keep your bayonets up!"

The aerial soldiers knew that it was a suicide mission, but they would never disobey the orders of their commander. He had cried over dead soldiers before, they knew he wouldn't send them to die without a plan... or knowing that they would all meet the same fate.

The squad thrusted towards the sky, plumes of monopropellant marking their takeoff. Their jetbacks burned for a few short seconds on the RCS, then a rocket engine activated, pushing them towards the alien troops. A spray of bullets from their coilguns took down a few of them before the troops were shot dead, but inertia sided with humanity, and the aerial soldiers slammed into the alien troops with bayonets raised. A few of them were taken down, the last stand of the aerial troops taking place after death.

Everyone knew that the bodies of those brave soldiers wouldn't be recovered, but seeing proof was never easy. Another shell came down from orbit, right down on the aliens. The horrifying spray of blood and flesh was shown to the soldiers once again, just another mental scar in the many that they had earned that day. This time though, it didn't just float into orbit. Frozen drops of blood-human blood- were sprayed on the troops, melting for a second due to friction of their helmets. To their horror, it just refroze again, bits of skin mixed in with the crimson liquid of human life. A few shot themselves right there, some due to complete insanity, others because they didn't want to live with the memory. Regardless, all it did was create more sprays of frozen blood in the human ranks. Luckily, it didn't have sufficient velocity to melt, instead landing at their feet as a hellish snow, inspiring horror in the ranks. 

"We should have never left Terra!" Yelled the commander in tears, his white suite forever stained with the crimson hue of human blood. At that point, all of his troops knew that they had no chance. The commander had lost hope, their commander, the person that memorized the names of the dead and promised that he would one day give a speech for them in the light of Centauri.

The soldiers of the squad laid down their coilguns, knowing they were beaten. To their surprise, the tech was lit with the blue glow of argon plasma. Looking at it's source, they found the commander's plasma saber. His face, barely visible through the frozen blood and flesh on his helmet, displayed a broken smile.

"WE WILL NOT GIVE UP!" He yelled "WE FIGHT THEM! WE FIGHT THEM TO THE LAST MAN, AND THEN SOME! FOR TERRA!"

"FOR TERRA!" Came the unanimous cry from the troops, and they too activated their plasma sabers.

Leaping up into the air, they moved forwards so fast that only a few were hit. They landed in the middle of the enemy formation, and began swinging their plasma sabers indiscriminately, chopping the enemy troops in half. Some tried to block with their own melee weapons, but the plasma sabers cut straight through them. The humans fought with an almost insane passion, despite knowing perfectly that they would all die there. As their numbers dwindled and it came down to the last two men, they grouped together side by side, swinging their sabers with the hope that the other might possibly survive. Somewhere deep down, they felt something they had suppressed for so long, something they wished they had dug up sooner.

It was at that exact moment of revelation that an alien chopped into the vacuum suit of one of the last two survivors, and oxygen began to hiss out. Time almost stopped, and the commander kicked the alien before driving his saber right through it's head. Kneeling down beside his dying comrade, their eyes met through the blood and flesh on their helmets. They had the same look, as if they finally knew peace. Holding his comrade in his arms, the commander made his last promise to one of those under his command.

"Whatever comes next, the terrorists were wrong." He said, as the aliens closed in on them "We will be welcome."

After finishing his sentence, a shell came down from orbit. Both of them accepted their fate, and let themselves be shredded and crushed by their own weapon. Nether had ever believed in anything in particular, but they somehow felt safe, as if there really was something that came next. But all anyone else could see was two men with a relationship forged in the fire of battle, and ended in the fire of battle. Just before his death, a single through rushed through the head of the commander as he looked up at the sky for the last time. A single shining star was the focus of his eternal, millisecond-long gaze. He somehow knew it was the system he had always dreamed of, Centauri.

[i]I was always in the light of Centauri.[/i]

Then everything was gone, and all anyone else could see was blood freezing two masses of ripped flesh together, as if it was their natural state. That mass of blood and flesh was launched into orbit by the impact, to forever drift through the void of space. It was what both of them had wished for.