Krile was bent over herself on her small apartment’s dingy couch. It's been a week since the wars ended and five days since the weeds started clawing at her door. Every day they come to her door and coo at her about how they just want to help her. She knew it was all bullshit, they were trying to lure her out to either enslave her or process her into food. Deep breaths, she reminded herself, panicking won't help her at all. The warm steel in her hand caught her attention again, her wife’s old pistol. She had left it with her when she left for the navy at the beginning of the war. The thought of her returning kept Krile from spiraling these long years, but she hasn't heard from her in over a month now, her wife is either dead or a rebel that she’ll never see again which meant Krile was running low on reasons to keep going on, especially with the invaders at the gate.

A series of knocks at her front door startled her back upright, she glanced over at the clock and sighed. They were nauseatingly punctual.

“Hello, Mrs. Krile Feydeau” The voice beyond her door called out in a sickeningly sweet tone “This is our fifth attempt to contact you, our records indicate that you haven't left your domicile in several weeks and due to our concern for your health I will be forcefully entering your home to ensure your safety! Please stay away from the door”

Vines snaked their way into the crack beneath the door, bending the hinges as the appendages forced their way through. The vines snaked up and started groping around Kriles' side of the door. It took her a moment of staring at the act to realize that the creature was feeling around for the locks of which it found the first and turned it open, causing it to try opening the door again only to be locked still, eliciting what Krile could only interpret as a pouting noise coming from the creature.

The noise also shook her back to attention, what was she doing just waiting for it to come in?? She ran over to the dining table and flipped it on its side, scattering its clutter onto the floor. She rested her elbows on the side of the table and leveled the gun at the door. She had read the articles, and she knew her gun couldn't harm the creature, but keeping it in her hand and pointing in the direction of the door calmed her down enough to keep thinking and not spiraling into even more panic. The vines caught the knob for the second lock and turned it. The Affini tried to open the door once more and was rewarded with a few inches of success until the chain lock stopped it from opening any further.

“Your home has so many antique locks little flo-” It cut itself off when it noticed the gun pointed at it “Oh you really need to put that down little one, you might hurt yourself!”

Forgetting the care it put into not damaging the door it forced the last lock open, pulling the chain from the doorframe it finally flowed into the apartment. Now that Krile could finally see it she was a bit stunned. The bits of bark and vines that made up its humanoid section were covered in an array of pink and purple blooming flowers, as if it was wearing them like clothes. Its face was made up of hard plant materials but portrayed a softness to its complexion that Krile couldn't quite place. The closer the vines were to its humanoid core the more buds and flowers they themselves had on them. None of the Affini she saw on the Accord broadcasts were ever this pretty. She shook her head, they’re just sending the pretty ones to do the talking, that’s all it was.

“Stay back!” Krile shouted, “Don’t come closer!” She aimed the gun up at the Affini’s simulated face.

The Affini gave a comforting smile and took a step back. “Let's start with introductions, my name is Acicularis Jova, second Bloom She/Her. I’m your caseworker here for a wellness check. I’m not here to hurt you little one, just to make sure that you are well” She looked around at the apartment, seeing the piling bags of garbage near the door she had just broken into, piles of clothes, dishes, and other messes strewn about. “It looks like you’re having a hard time taking care of yourself and I would love to help you with that, I just need you to put away your gun so that I can be sure that you won't get hurt by it.”

The thought of her living conditions and what caused it pulled her away again, making her thoughts spiral. These weeds couldn't help but destroy us for their own personal gain. “You took everything from me!” Krile shouted, surprised by her own volume. “You couldn't be satisfied, you took my wife and now you want to take me!” Her hands were shaking and tears were clouding her vision.

“Wife…” Acicularis repeated, she rolled the word over in her mouth a few times before her eyes went wide. “Dirt and Roots! How did I not think to check-” She looked back at Krile with a terribly sympathetic expression, her green eyes scattered blue across the surface. “Your wife was in the Cosmic Navy, yes?” She pulled a tablet from her…stomach? She tapped a few times at it “Juno Feydeau? Aboard the Mother of Invention? That was one of the ships that disobeyed the surrender order, but don't worry little flower! I just confirmed her status as your Pinnate, we're going to get her back to you as soon as possible!”

One of the many weights on Kriles' shoulders was lifted. “She's alive?” She shakes her head vigorously “No, no! Why would you bring her back? What kind of galactic empire annexes a species just to make their lives better? You’re lying! And I won't let you take me!” As quick as she can Krile pushes the barrel under her chin and squeezes the trigger. She feels a vine whip after her and tries to knock the gun away before the firing pin connects with the bullet, simultaneously deafening her and filling her vision with white.

The next moment Krile is conscious her vision is black, and the wind was hitting her face, which struck her as odd. Kur is supposed to be underground, why does the underworld have wind? She tries to move and notices that she can’t, she's being held, carried, and that eased her mind, explaining away the wind, Namtar is bringing her to face Ereshkigal, she hopes that she will be proud of her bravery. She can hear Namtar saying something, but her head is too jumbled to make sense of it. She let herself drift back into unconsciousness.

“Dirt and roots and shit and fuck!” Acicularis swore to herself as she bounded down the street mostly unfurled into vines to move as quickly as possible. Her first charge as a wellness worker and she tries to self-terminate. The Terran weapon hadn’t hit her brain, she had prevented that, but the metal it threw gouged at her charge’s face, maybe even hit her eye, she hadn't stopped to check. The nearest xenovet was nearby and she was almost there. The doors to the xenoveterinary clinic slid open just in time for her form to not bend them inward with her speed.

“Emergency!” She almost screamed at the human nurses at the front desk who had already been startled by her sudden appearance. She parted some of the vines that were protectively in front of her charge while keeping on the one that was applying pressure to the wound, revealing the wound across her face that stained her vines with blood and is now slowly pooling Kriles crimson essence on the floor of the hospital. Another Affini burst from the hallway leading back into the clinic with a stretcher that Acicularis gently laid Krile down on. Once the Affini started taking her back Acicularis instinctually followed only to be stopped by one of the human nurses.

“I apologize ma’am but we don’t have viewing space available for you at the moment. Please wait here in the lobby and the veterinarian will let you know when you can come see your pet.”

Acicularis huffed and wanted to barge through anyways, but this was a small clinic. This whole district was considered historically and culturally significant so the efforts of moving everyone out into more structurally sound habitats was terribly slow. The new city planning council had settled for making sure that the buildings are stable enough to not fall over while the moving process slowly makes progress. An aggravating slowdown for a city on a major faultline. She found a seat and with nothing better to do opened up her tablet. Maybe she could help calm her charge down if she got more concrete information on where her pinnate was.

Hipatia Morne stared through the window as the transport she was on went from approaching Earth as a pale blue dot on their horizon to breaking through the atmosphere. Allowing her to see the vast oceans that covered the homeworld of her species’s new charges. She had been enamored by the humans since she first heard about them. Their fighting spirit, while ultimately futile, inspired her with how passionately these mammals must feel. She had been honored with being on the xenolinguistics team during first contact. She looked down at her tablet which had buzzed with a notification. She swiped away from her primer on human history and found her conversation with a dear friend who had landed with the original occupation team.

[Princette]: Are You On Terra Yet??????????

[RossettaThorn]: Almost, should be landing shortly

[Princette]: When you land can we talk? I really need some advice.

[RossettaThorn]: Of course, what’s going on?

[RossettaThorn sent file: landingLocation.tps]

[Princette]: I had my first case today and it went really wrong. My reviewer said I did everything right and it was just an unfortunate incident. But I need to do better, I need to help this human, she really needs it.

[RossettaThorn]: I’ll be happy to help but, I work in societal domestication, not individual. I’m not sure how much my studies will help

[Princette]: I don’t need your studies, I just need you.

[RossettaThorn]: Alright alright, see you when I land

Hipatia sighed and locked her tablet. She hadn't even started her job with the Terran Environmental Revival Committee and she was already taking on extra work. She looked out the window again, seeing the craft now approaching its final destination, a large city structure that covered the entire bay it was built on. Bridges crisscrossed the bay so much it almost obscured the water itself. She could see the progress of the rebuilding effort already creeping inward to the city center, replacing the steel and glass Terran construction with infinitely sturdier Affini materials. She made a mental note to explore the old towns before they get relocated to Stars-know-where as her craft made its final landing preparations.

The Mother of Invention was one of the flagships of the former Cosmic Navy. As a member of the Dreadnaught classification of Terran ships it featured the largest armaments Terrans could equip to their vessels. Dozens of missile pod clusters which amounted to hundreds of missiles in total, a MAC spinal cannon that could fire tungsten slugs at an appreciable percentage of the speed of light, and dozens of point defense turrets controlled by sub-sentient AI, or the crew in a pinch. It featured 2 meters of titanium armor and a series of emergency heavy chemical thrusters to allow for deathly quick evasive maneuvers, allowing it to withstand sustained return fire from most other Terran warships and in some cases even orbital cannons. It was in many ways the apotheosis of Terran military technology.

And it was absolutely useless against the Affini.

Juno floated down the corridor of the capital ship, mentally taking note of her various preparations and going over her crew’s status reports. The EVO team had returned 30 minutes ago and confirmed the missile pods and debris had been planted as planned. She flipped to the next report, the decoy team just finished their last rounds and were suited up, she hoped beyond hope that they weren't going to be needed. The hangar bay door opened for her as she floated in. A gunship was landed haphazardly in the middle of the bay as its contents were being ushered away. Exotic matter, Affini computers, atomic compilers, all headed for the OCNI and the substantial section of the ship they had claimed for themselves. She hoped that whatever we get out of it is worth it.

“Captain on deck!” One of the crewmembers unloading the ship finally noticed her presence. Everyone dropped what they were doing and gave her a crisp salute, which was always a bit silly to see in microgravity.

“At ease” The crew immediately got back to work. At least morale was still high, she thought to herself. 

She floated inside the gunship to find Sergeant Khole pushing more cargo out of the gunship for others to bring inside. She had been reluctant to send one of her few deforesters on the away mission but she couldn't argue with the results. Khole made eye contact with her and gave a much more casual salute. Her hand and lower face were covered in the burn scars that marked her occupation “Cap’n”

Juno nodded and Khole got back to work. “Intelligence already detected them, 10 minutes out.”

Khole paused and gave an almost pleading look to her commanding officer “You have what we need to retreat now?”

She nodded “With that exotic matter we’ll be jumping away, yes. The drive will be a hair slow, we’ll be in its suppression field by the time it's ready, but we have a plan.” Juno looked around at the cargo “What happened station side? They just gave it to you?”

“Yes actually, I thought it might be a fight to get back to the ship but they really did just give us what we asked. We took it, left, and ditched the false hull at the specified distance.”

“Hmm” Juno looked away. What does it mean that the resources were so easily given? Sure the technology that supposedly allowed Affini a post-scarcity lifestyle was among what they had just secured, but why hand it out so freely to the species that they had just conquered? How were they not worried about us learning their technology and using it against them? Questions for another time, she reminded herself. “Get the Deforesters ready at standard defense stations.”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” Khole followed her out of the ship

“And someone park this thing properly!” Juno shouted to the nearby crew “Can’t have it crushing anyone!”

Juno stepped out of the elevator and onto the bridge, dismissing the salute almost without thinking. She clutched the back of the captain's chair and looked at the nav map on the main screen, 3 minutes until we started dancing. Juno’s grip tightened. This was her first true engagement as captain. During the war she had served as the weapons officer and interpreted the former Captains’ orders liberally enough to pull retreats from the jaws of capture. Somehow she had created enough hope among the crew that when the treaty was signed and the Captain gave the order to stand down the crew mutinied and elected her captain in his place. Now the pressure was truly on her, the freedom of her crew her responsibility. She had done the noble thing and drew the local Affini ship away from the escape vector of another fleet of rebels, she just had to outsmart the weeds now, and again, and again until…No, just today, just think about now. She looked back up at the screen. 1 minute. She took her seat.

“100% burn on heading 0 0 60 2 0” Captain Feydeau gave her first order of the battle, Lieutenant Kowalski repeated the order and punched it into her terminal. Juno flicked on the intercom “Brace for heavy burn maneuvers” She got out the words just as the change in momentum punched her in the gut.

The Mother of Invention broke from its hiding spot among the asteroid belt and began burning heavy rimward. Their tail, Harvest’s Bounty, left its search pattern and turned towards its prize.

“Harvest’s Bounty on intercept course, 1 minute 49 seconds until it's within grappling range,” Kowalski said calmly.

They have faith in me, Juno thought, so I need to have faith in myself. “Detonate missile pods G and H, Stern camera on screen.” The main screen switched from the navigation map to the stern view just in time to see the two asteroids that had flanked their escape route. As Harvests Bounty approached the cluster of missiles stored in each exploded, turning the asteroids and the mothballed gunships they had landed on them into a shower of debris. Juno watched intently, almost forgetting to breathe as the ship approached the debris. In the decommissioned ships they had stored as many bio monitors as they could spare into EVO suits and left them in there after spoofing them to read as if they were implanted. The bridge collectively sighed in relief as the Affini ship slowed down and started surveying the wreckage. They no doubt quickly saw through the ruse, but there was a chance there was a Terran among the fake biomods they could steal instead of let die and that was enough for them to chase us another day.

“Reactor to 150%, let's get out of here before they change their minds.” Juno reclined into her seat, unconsciously fidgeting for a cigarette before cursing herself. 4 years without a smoke and she's still had the habit.

“Reactor redlining in 3 minutes 20 captain” Her Engineering Lieutenant informed her before Kowalski almost stumbled out of her chair.

“New Affini vessel in contact range!” The navigation screen took center stage once more. A new smaller Affini craft had just exited hyperspace off their starboard bow, the navigation screen updated with its jump suppression range, it was blocking their way out.

Juno’s blood ran cold. She had a plan for if the debris field wasn't enough, it was her job to always have a plan, she just needed to send some of her crew to their deaths to do it.

“Get the volunteers to the gunboat and prep the warhead” if her bridge officers noticed the waver in her voice they didn't acknowledge it as they disseminated the order.

“Gunboat ready Captain” Her logistics officer sounded just as wrenched

“Deploy, heading 90 0 270 0” She watched as the gunboat became a separate dot on the navigation screen. It flew in a vector as if it were trying to thread the needle between the two Affini craft. She was hoping, desperately hoping now that the Affini had in fact cracked their first trick. The biomods on the Volunteers had been ripped out of the top OCNI brass she was transporting and modified to read as regular personnel. A bluff into a double bluff, when she thought of it in those terms it seemed obvious.

It felt like a shot of pure relief hit her veins as the new Affini craft turned and chased the gunboat with an alarming speed. Within seconds it had grappled and stowed the tiny ship inside of itself. As it turned back to face the Mother of Invention a blinding flash of light erupted from the mouth of the Affini spaceship, pushing it back as the indestructibility of the vessel caused the force of the nuclear blast to erupt from the capture bay, turning it into a makeshift thruster. By the time it had counteracted the force it had been blown clear past its drive suppression range.

“Punch it!” Juno shouted, Kowalski entered the command into her terminal and cast it to the drive, the capitol ship shuddered as it rended into hyperspace.

They were safe.