I. Landfall

[Althaea] Damn, it really is getting hot out here. I can’t imagine how much worse it is for vampires. And are you sure we couldn’t have parked closer to their settlement? [Synthia] Oh, come on, we’re not that far. You know, Vulcan used to have a more temperate atmosphere, but the host star doesn’t produce nearly as much UV radiation as Earth’s, so the vampires were able to settle here safely. [Althaea] And now the Angels are trying to wipe them out? Why? I don’t get it. [Synthia] *sigh* Well, having been one of them at one point and still a member of their species, I’m not entirely surprised. They probably view vampires as an inherently blasphemous group of people. Not even our species are truly immortal, even if we might as well be compared to most other life forms. [Althaea] If that’s the case, we’ve got a real mess on our hands, huh? I mean, this is genocide. Even if we manage to save all of the vampires, we still have to contend with the fact that the most powerful beings in the universe clearly aren’t even pretending to be neutral anymore. [Synthia] I know… And by intervening, we’re absolutely going to have a target on our backs. They’re gonna be especially pissed off when they realize I’m working against them again. I’m not letting them cut my wings off a second time, though. [Althaea] I’ll fight each of them myself before I let that happen again. [Synthia] I know you would, darling. [Althaea] So what are we gonna do? [Synthia] First, let’s just assess the situation and see what these people need. After that… I don’t know, honestly. The Angels are still widely respected by most of the galaxy and getting folks on our side won’t be easy. [Althaea] But they’re literally trying to kill an entire population of people… [Synthia] I know, dear, I know. But you saw how many people supported The Authority despite being an outright dictator. [Althaea] And the Angels at least have a veneer of being righteous. This isn’t going to be easy, is it? [Synthia] No. No it will not. One step at a time, though. We’re about to meet the last survivors of Old Earth. You ready?