Abducting a Human's Mate is a Bad Idea (3/3) Work in Progress (Patreon)

“I, Michael Peers, a Lunarian citizen of sound body, mind, and spirit, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of our great Union. To commit myself, my heart, my very soul, to the defense of this great nation, and the ideals it stands for. To push back against the dark and to bring light to those lightless. To fight, battle, and wage war against the foes who would dare to infringe on the universal declaration of all sapient life. From the depths of the marianas, to the edge of Andromeda, for as long as I draw breath.”

Something happened to me a little while back that brought me to this point today. As I swear myself into service as a commissioned junior officer in the ranks of the storied and esteemed Earth-Luna Union’s armed forces.

I never wanted to join the military, I’d done my conscription service during my late teens, and I understood the life just wasn’t suited for what I had planned. My sights were set for the diplomatic corps, and my first assignment was in a new, barely explored galaxy called the Viltranis galaxy. There, a vibrant community of aliens existed in tandem, having all ascended to an intra-galactic state of development in roughly the same time. A truly rare circumstance, when the rest of the galaxies were either cold, dark, and full of ruins, or were inhabited by just a scant few powers coexisting or forever locked in cold or hot conflicts. The Earth-Luna Union, and by extension, humanity, was the former of these categories. The milky way having been dark and desolate, devoid of even ruins as we claimed the stars as our own. We had our growing pains, sure, wars here, battles there, but eventually after we found out that we were truly alone (or so we thought at the time), we simply picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and swore a truce with one another.

There was no use in arguing, in fighting, in pushing back and forth imaginary borders when we were effectively the only ones. The stars were our dominion, unchallenged… why should we be our own challengers? Our own foes?

It was our destiny to live amongst the stars, and so we did just that. And when we finally found the aliens we so sought after… a new era began, one that I’m incredibly proud to be a part of.

But I digress.

My decision to join the diplomatic corps early on led me to a stint at one of the Viltranis’ galaxy’s many esteemed educational institutions. There, I met a certain alien, charming, eccentric, but also quite a massive ‘dork’ as many would say. He was… a deeply thoughtful person, willing to bridge the gap, willing to talk, to listen, to discuss, to fill me in on the gaps in this galaxy like no other. He didn’t take my ignorance for granted, and I didn’t take his help for granted either. Our studious friendship grew to closer friendship, and after months and years together in the dorms of this alien world, we eventually grew close enough to call each other partners. And not in the business sense.

Together, we studied, learned, shared thoughts and insights, but we also cooked, cleaned, gamed, and just…enjoyed one another’s company. There was a strange sense of warmth, a calming reprieve from what felt like an overwhelming world whenever I was with him. Because whenever he was near, I felt as if all would be right with the world. Like the stars above would burn forever, and the deep seeded astro political issues that lay just beyond the cusp of this one world, would somehow sort itself out. It felt as if reality had no bearing in our own little corner of reality, and that was true…

Until it wasn’t.

Because one day, unprompted and without any warning, they attacked.

And on that day, I lost my anchor to the world I once knew. I lost a part of my soul that had kept me safe from the world. I lost my everything, and not a single damned thing could replace it…

So that’s why I’m here. Why after the military academy, university, and OCS, I stand here 3 years later. Ready to enter the fight. Ready to enter the war. Ready to save the only one who mattered. And ready to do anything that was necessary to accomplish it.