Captain Sullivan was quite happy with himself. It had been his idea to pull the engineer from the Noctema, and it was paying off nicely. What had begun with that wreck from Oz was now becoming a process. He took care of the prisoners, she took care of the ships and together they were disentangling the web of alliances, feuds and territory that made up the Intec pirate nation. He and the Admiral had planned to spend a couple of days around the target, but it had now dragged on for two weeks, with the value of the Intel growing everyday. The Admiral had already dispatched several task forces out to study the next targets. Now it was time to talk to the Captains again. He called Tay and asked her to join him in the conference room.

Tay was, yet again, up to her eyeballs in work. She was so tired that she had actually used that expression to Bork. That was ten minutes of her life that she would never get back. ‘Alright people, I have to go fill in the fleet on our findings and correct your homework. I expect you bright and early for class tomorrow, and don’t forget to write your essays on ‘What I Did On My Holidays, While Also Dismantling An Evil Empire.’

Three of her team grinned and clocked off. Bork went back to his quarters and began writing.

The conference room was, for once, pretty quiet. Tay knew that meant nothing, except that Intel briefings tended to be classified. Every ship's Captain in the Fleet was watching, and any one of them could ask questions. Happily, answering them was Sullivans problem, mostly. Ship Captains were more interested in the next Slaver they got to crush, rather than the ones already being parted out for scrap. Captain Sullivan began the presentation, with a small nod from the Admiral and one of his network techs confirming all was ready.

‘Fleet, Welcome to our latest Intel briefing. Terms and conditions apply. Firstly, congratulations on your work. From your prizes, we have mapped much of the Intec network. I have to say, given how little our more developed neighbours worry about them, it is far more extensive than we thought. As you may well have noticed, nothing is attempting to enter or leave our main target anymore. Perhaps someone got out a warning, perhaps we got spotted. It doesn’t matter. We already have a list of new targets, some of which you are scouting already. I am sending you weapons specifications, ship types, crew and command structures, as well as all our Intell on those space stations and the slave complexes on the planet. The Admiral will be speaking to you directly after this briefing, regarding our invasion. Are there any questions?’

As usual, some of the captains asked questions, mostly to hear their own voices, as far as Tay could see. Only the knowledge that the Admiral was waiting to speak kept it brief. Tay simply stayed seated, hoping no-one asked her to leave. Technically, her clearance didn’t cover Admiral briefings, but he had added it to her Intel briefing, so it was a toss up. Not that it was any secret what was about to happen next.

The focus moved to the Admiral, sitting quietly at the head of the table. He had held his peace while Intel had mapped the enemy, mostly because he had been unaware of the scale of the battle they faced. This was a feudal system in space, with all the cruelties and complexity that implied. But today was the first true strike against it, and he welcomed it. Today these marauding thieves would face a real enemy. Him.

‘Captains, Commanders. I have issued your Ship orders. You have six hours to confirm your readiness or remain in the reserve. In twelve hours we begin Operation Proportional Response. Intel will be updated as and when it arrives. Go to work, people. Tomorrow we rescue every slave they hold, kill every ship they have stolen and render justice for the thousands that have suffered under their cruelty. Tomorrow the Galaxy will truly learn what it is to be human.’

Every Captain assumed that they were expected, every Marine knew that there would be no surprise. This was mankind's first open war in space, aside from a few quiet ‘police actions’, and the odd insurrection. Nevertheless, the Fleet felt ready. Tradition and training, combined with the finest engineering that humanity could build, borrow or steal was moving in a polished dance. One hundred and fifty squadrons, each a collection of the finest ships that their Captains could design, moved swiftly to the attack.

Tay watched the deployment, wondering what it must be like, to be sitting in the dark, knowing that this was on the way. That the night you had stolen and pillaged for generations was now full of knives, and that they were coming, that you didn’t even remember your sin, but now it was here, coming out of the blackness and looking for vengeance. She decided she didn’t want to know.

Ship time could pass slowly, slipping between shifts in the dark of space. Not today, as twelve hours passed in a blink. Tay and her crew had grabbed some rest, ready for a very long day. Instead of working on the Intel, they had all taken positions for battle. Tay was in sensors, ready to repair or deploy the net as needed. Roaden was manning the Engineering console, checklisting the systems. Olly and Oskar were guarding engines and systems power. Bork was staring out the window, excluded from human military action by his exchange status.

Tay was no tactician, but she got a front row seat for the attack and it looked, well, awesome. Squadrons arrived in the target system on their own flight plan, a twisting torus of ships. Many of the Intec ships had assembled at the edge of the system, ready to flee as soon as the human fleet engaged the planet. It didn’t work. A heavy screen of squadrons fell on them from all directions, destroying them in what was, in space terms, a knife-fight. She deployed the rescue dones out to collect up the prisoners, estimating a forty-percent survival rate among the enemy. The fleet hadn’t lost a ship, although she had a few running for repair. Their Engineers were tied to the Flagship, so Roaden would call her if she was needed.

The space stations, trading hubs with mall-ninja attitude, fell silent as humanity ripped away their defenses. One or two decided to fight to the death. That was fine by the fleet. Burning debris could fall unnoticed and unmourned into the planet's atmosphere. Others faced Marine boarding parties, mostly leading to immediate surrender. Twenty hours into the attack, the fleet held the system. Only the planet itself remained unoccupied. Admiral Williams found himself debating his next move. He had no interest in triggering a massacre, nor did he want this planet for human space. In any case, the Marines would be landing in a few hours, so one way or another, this was going to be his problem. He found himself at Sensors, staring out at the fleet in action. He noticed Engineer Tay absorbed in the data and it occurred to him that she had just faced something similar. He had meant to thank her for her work, anyway. ‘Engineer Tay, how are you finding my ship? A slight change from your last posting, I imagine.’

Tay smiled briefly, ‘ Sir, not as much as you would think. Except I didn’t have the fleet, or hordes of Marines handy. You ship is a pleasure to work on, and you have given me a fine crew to work with. I cannot think of a cause I would rather fight for. In the end, it's all about justice.’

The Admiral paused, long enough that Tay wondered if she had offended him somehow, then asked, ‘Tay, I admire the solution you found on Oz. You are, I find, the only human that has liberated a slave-world before. Do you have any suggestions?’

Tay hesitated, then did what any crewman, on any ship since someone nailed some trees together, did when asked a direct question by an Admiral. She told him the truth. ‘Sir, Put someone on Comms, I can seed the planet with broadcasts to the inhabitants. Promise freedom to the slaves, justice and compassion for the criminals. They know they have lost, now you just need to give them a reason to surrender. And a tight timeline. I imagine you could get a surrender a hell of a lot faster than I did.’

The Admiral smiled, ‘ Yes, I watched the recordings. That was quite dramatic, I imagine it changed a few minds. Thank you, Tay. I may have new orders for you shortly.’

Tay was still wondering what she had done when a familiar ship was intercepted by the reserve fleet. What the hell was the Noctema doing out here? She cut into comms, ‘Captain Zac’Hary, while it’s good to see you, what the hell are you doing in a restricted war-zone?’

The Captain of the Noctema was perfectly content with his decision. He had rather enjoyed the surprise of the Humans. They were still so innocent as to believe that this space wasn’t now full of shielded ships and probes from every power in the Galaxy. They had probably blown a few up accidentally by now. He was perfectly prepared to believe that it had simply never occurred to them. Tay and Ben had taught him much about human single-mindedness. As he had expected, the Intec had been utterly defeated, something else that added to his good mood. ‘Tay, it’s good to hear from you again. I am glad you are prospering, so far from your proper job. Please inform the Admiral that I wish to speak to him privately. I am, in fact, going to remind him of a decision you chose to make about Oz.’

Once the Admiral had overcome his irritation at the unexpected, he opened a private Comm to the Noctema. ‘Captain, thank you for your help in our last encounter, but this is not the time or place for a reunion. What can I do for you, exactly?’

The Captain had chosen to take this call in his quarters. Not everything was as widely known as it could be and, right now, that suited him. ’Admiral Williams, I can’t but notice that you will shortly be taking the surrender of ...APXINTEC1. I wondered if, perhaps I could tell you of a rarely mentioned attribute of our fleet, the ones you call the ‘Library Ships’.

He stretched, his tail twisting behind him. It had been a long day for everyone.

‘We are, as my engineer may have mentioned, empowered to accept surrenders. I may not have described the exact extent of our powers. If that planet surrenders to my ship, then the Galactic Government is directly accepting their surrender, rather than, as a useful example, Earth. As such, administration and such falls to the combined governments of the galaxy, many of which will, no doubt, have citizens on such a slave-planet. You would, of course, hold military command of the system, but as, as it were, an agent of the Galactic Government. Frankly, we are around to clean up exactly this kind of mess.’

A very thoughtful Admiral joined Tay at the Comms. She had been broadcasting calls for surrender for a few hours now, and it was working. Nearly every district had agreed. The Marines would be landing on the last few holdouts about now.

‘A very clever man, your Captain. I mean, your previous Captain, on the Noctema.’ They watched the troopships begin to land. ‘You will send these orders. The planet will surrender to the Library ship. We have more important things to do.’ With a nod, he went back to planning the next strike. He had already told Captain Zac’Hary the destination. It would save time.