The Second Book of the Alienbutt Saga. The Rise of Mr Fluffy. Part 93.

Killashandra's face drained of colour at what she had been told. “Then all is lost,” she said in a near whisper.
“It gets worse. Snoodgrass has been assassinated, the Ick are leaderless and with no navy there is no empire. You saw what happened to our forces back there, if a hundred ships escaped, that's all.” Captain Noble sighed. “The war is over and we lost.”
“It’s worse than that, both the Ick and the Federation Navies have been wiped out. Whoever controls those droids now controls the universe,” Killashandra pointed out.
“Any word on Fo’c’sle survivors yet? Captain Noble asked.
“Kali and Cyborgpirate are confirmed lost, with the entire Fo’c’sle not here with us. We don’t know about Grommit yet and the bounty hunter forces she was leading. We’ve had contact from half a dozen bounty hunters that managed to get clear,” Killashandra said, putting her head in her hands. “We’re done for. It’s time to run and hide, as whoever controls that droid army is sure to send them looking for survivors.”

General Jee sat in his office. He had managed to gather together a core of Federation ships and they had fought their way clear of the battle, their own droids’ units swarming over them. Battles raged within their ships as droids tried to overthrow the human crews. The losses they had taken had been terrible and he now travelled with less than fifty battle cruisers, many of which were damaged and under-crewed. News was patchy as communication was badly interrupted, but they were picking up messages. Many planets across the Federation reported droid attacks, while there were rumours that the Federation Capital planet had been totally destroyed.
There was a knock at the door and his security officer walked in and passed over a vid-screen. “The information on the state of the ships we have with us; transferring crew to the least damaged ships, we will have thirty at full complement and another seven still at fighting capability, although we are without any fighter ships.”
Jee shook his head. “How the hell did the Ick do this? And why betray their allies? It makes no sense.”
“I don't believe it was the Ick, sir, we had probes out tracking the Ick fleet. Just before the droids turned on us, the Ick fleet changed course and speed. Our best intelligence from the final probe to pick them up reports them heading straight into an area of dead space,” the security officer said nervously.
Jee sat back shocked, his mind reeling. “I want a new heading. Set course for the final confirmed co-ordinates of the Ick fleet. If this is true, then both the Federation and Ick have been destroyed, and there must be a third player. Have all the remaining assassins dispatched, we need information, and they are now our eyes and ears. We need to find out who is behind this as they are bound to continue the hunt for any survivors. Order the moving of crew, I just want space-worthy ships, as if we end up in another fight we can't look after any weak links. We set off to our new destination in thirty minutes, so get people moving. And see if you can make contact with the Ick command or any bounty hunters. We need a peace deal and to start working together, or at least pool what we do know.”
“What of the people in the Inner Systems, General? We are getting reports of genocide by the droids,” the security officer asked, avoiding looking at the general.
“Does it look like we can do anything?” General Jee said angrily. “We just got our ass handed to us on a plate by someone we didn’t even know about. The planets will have to defend themselves the best they can.”

To be continued.
All images are mine.