Eve stood at Nomad's main operations room. Holograms flickered, projecting across the polished deck. Eve stood before the projections, amazed, angry.
Mira, standing nearby, watched Eve. "They're spreading, Commander. Millions across three sectors. They believe your hybrid nature grants them… divine insight."
"Divine insight?" Eve's voice was a whisper, laced with a rare tremor of disgust. " My purpose was never to be a myth."
Mira stepped forward, sensing Eve's turmoil. "They are lost, Commander. But not necessarily hostile. They are a reflection of a galaxy desperate for hope, however misguided."
She turned to Mira, her second-in-command. "We initiate a galactic-wide broadcast. It is true people want hope, but this also seems politically driven."
The children of Eve broadcast was channelled from a couple of Andromedan planets that also wanted to crown Eve as their Queen just like Saiyara.
But Saiyara was a different story. Saiyara gave her home, when she had none. She loved Saiyara, because it was a human world that cherished its guests, and for that, Eve held it dearest.
"I can't accept more crowns Mira."
Mira saw Eve's eyes wanting a perspective, suggestions. Just anything.
"How can I not understand them? Ten years I saw you floating behind a glass wall. And yet eight years more till I finally found you."
She continued.
"Commander, even if this is crafted, some planets out are in desperate need of protection and revival. Show them love, show them support but reject their crown. I hate the political gist in it, this overwhelming public pressure, it's almost as if they're holding you hostage."
Mira paused, her gaze turning serious. "There's also the political fallout between the Andromeda Security Council and the Intergalactic Committee… they are feeling their influence wane in the face of Nomad's rising popularity. Politics at the IC is notoriously treacherous, but at this scale, even the ASC's staunchest supporters could begin to waver."
Mira had already been fielding numerous concerned calls from other commanders. While many held Eve in high esteem, the collective sense of losing too much power to a single individual, was breeding disquiet and fueling rumors that threatened the very integrity of galactic law and chain of command.
"What do you propose?" Eve held her nose bridge.
"An immediate delegation is a must. Their eyes are always looking up, hoping one day Nomad will land. You must go visit these planets."
Mira's gaze held hers, unwavering, "Some of these planets are human worlds. Visit them first. Then the alien worlds. They simply need to see you as their friend."
Eve had left her crown at Saiyara for precise reasons, not to be confined by titles. Saiyara loved Eve, not for what she could do, or what she had already done for them. They loved Eve for being Eve.
Even Mira too had secret sentiments. To Mira, Eve will always be her Queen before anything, but she hides it from Eve cause Eve also needs family and a friend.
Mira was resolute; she would not allow the treacherous currents of power games to impede Eve from her truest calling: protecting others. Mira would constantly monitor the high command, leveraging every favor to quell any nascent conspiracy against Eve, safeguarding not just her Commander, but the ideals they both stood for.