Galactic Center
The AIF shield dropped in a blinding flash, revealing the blue-tinted hull of the Abh ships and the curving white armor of the Dolphin craft, only broken by dots of the intense blue of water. The turrets on the ships deactivated, folding close to the hulls (In the case of the Dolphin ships, they disappeared into small holes which were then covered). A message was transmitted from the flagship.
"The Federation will recognize your claim to this territory, information on it is being sent to you now. We advise you to stay away from the very center unless you have advanced radiation shielding or are biologically immune, as this was a huge antimatter manufacturing factory at one point. We wish you good luck, but considering your apparent level of technology, you probably won't need it. Bile éna, good voyage."
Just before the fleet left, a message was sent to the Triarian and Equiis Pact ships.
"This area is of no use to us, but it may be of use to these new people. Let them have it, it is clear they wish to have peaceful relations with us. I don't know what your nations will do, but the galactic center will be marked as "Supreme" territory on Federation star charts."
The ships jumped out, heading to the border of the Federation to enter Fath, at which point they would head to their respective postings.
Retsukuu
The Andal Provektkrei Av had been listening in on the messages sent by the ships, but the crew could only understand the Equestrian messages. Lahnha had only spoken to Fergus through the conveyance of thoughts and emotions, not the sounds of words. The Federation had switched to speaking Federation Interstellar (A simple language with very few grammar and spelling rules), the crew would have only understood if they had arrived at a time when the military still used English as their primary language. However, it was obvious that the magical abilities of the Equestrians had been dampened. Suddenly, a light on the bridge of the starship shorted out, and a loud crackle was heard as the room heated up intensely, only to be dissipated by the cooling systems. All eyes turned to where the light was, and saw Lahnha holding her arm out towards its former location.
"We still hold power." She said, lowering her arm. "We shall assist in this fight. Move us out into the open, launch the fighter squadron and order them to provide point defense! When we're out them, I want everyone in on the effort! Weaken her, if you have any energy left, try to kill her!"
The crew began rushing around the bridge, carrying out her orders. The ship moved out into the open, and five small craft launched out of its hangar bay. They were obviously primitive, armed only with an archaic gunpowder weapon, which would probably jam after two shots. They apparently knew this, and the fighters kept close to the main ship to provide only completely necessary point defense. Then, the magical energy of the entire crew was focused on Retsukuu. Any magic-sensitive creature in the system would be able to feel their power as they unleashed it against Retsukuu.
Elsewhere, on the bridge of the McClain, Fergus stared at the main viewscreen, which was showing an image of the newcomer vessel. Despite having lost his magical powers for the time being, he could somehow sense a single person on it. He whispered something, too quite to make out, it was the name of the one who captained this alien ship. What he saw on the viewscreen wiped away any doubts he had, the Federation style warp ring, the plasma engines, even the fighters used a chassis similar to the standard human one. He had the answers to the question of who crewed this new ship, but it was then replaced by another question: How could he have known without his magical senses?
Whatever the case, he was absolutely convinced that he was right. Everybody on the bridge turned to him, their hands already on the controls that they expected him to order them to press. They were just waiting for the world.
"Take us in, right above the newcomer vessel! Extend our shields around them and transfer all the ultrareflectives they need to have equal defenses!"
"Yes sir!" Came the unanimous reply, and only one person needed to move their hands. That was the communications officer, whom expected an order to open a channel.
The behemoth of a ship awkwardly moved above the much smaller newcomer vessel, and the blue glow of the standardized Federation plasma-laser shielding extended around the pair. Inside the shield, tiny dots of light maneuvered to cover the hull of the newcomer, and once they were all in place it looked almost exactly like an old Earth Alliance cruiser just after the shielding revolution.
"All power to shields!" Ordered Fergus. "They'll take it from here, we just have to watch and make sure they don't get harmed."
