Narrator:Meanwhile, near the galactic core, aboard the Fleetmind habitat Prime Directive. . .
Petey's Adjutant:U.N.S. Ambassador Breya Andreyasn is here, Milord.
Petey:Hello, Ambassador.
Breya:I'm here to lodge a protest. I'll let you read it yourself. The formal document uses some of the strongest words you can write in Galstandard West without violating grammatical checksum.
Petey:Ah, hyperbole. Thank you, I've read it.
Breya:Presiding Secretary Tofotti Mancala is not amused with the way you meddle in the affairs of Sovereign States.
Petey:With a name like "Tofotti" you'd think he'd have developed a more robust sense of humor.
Breya:This is serious, Petey. Are you trying to start a pan-galactic war?
Petey:Of course not. We just finished one. Do you have any idea how many people died as a result of the Teraport Wars?
Breya:I. . . No, i don't.
Petey:Well I do.
Petey:Your teraport ignited conflicts that had smoldered peacefully for millennia, and then your coalition fleet poured liquid oxygen over the whole mess.
And yet. . . If it hadn't been for those wars, the entire galaxy would have been destroyed by an ageless enemy. We came this close to the biggest extinction event ever.
Breya:So. . . What's your point?
Petey:I've re-read your formal protest sixty-one thousand, eight hundred and sixteen times, and I'm afraid I need to ask you the same question.
