After returning from the Sanctum, Nomad was stationed at Saiyara for repairs. Eve granted the crew an indefinite leave, without announcing a specific duration. She herself spent most of her time with Mira, her family, and baby Saph.
All Alliance fleets withdrew from the Dark Galaxy. Eve had nothing to tell the Committee except a stern warning: "It is not for any of us, the Alliance or the Thelarians, to go poking sticks to a sleeping demon."
Eve warned them to stay away from the Dark Galaxy. She spoke of an ancient force, the Swarm, a darkness that could strike at any time; if not in this century, then the next, or the one after that.
"The Committee is on its own to decide the course for future generations. Whether it's this one or those to come, the inevitable will arrive... the Alliance must prepare for the worst."
IC Alliance forces established a perimeter along the outer rims of the Dark Galaxy. Surrounding galaxies had turned into constant war zones as the Thelarians tried to expand outward and the Alliance pushed back.
Eve gradually withdrew from diplomacy and political affairs. The revelations of the Prometheans had left a heavy imprint on her existence; on her very purpose. She now served the Alliance solely in her capacity as Space Commander.
Mira never asked about her encounter with the Sanctum; she knew Eve would speak when the time was right. Yet she sensed the change, the weariness and deepening sadness, and always stayed close, quietly supportive.
Eve visited Mother Cetra many times. They held long discussions about the Prometheans' revelations. Mother Cetra, as always, remained calm; her words had a way of steadying her restless mind.
Nomad's missions continued. The universe was full of threats beyond the Thelarians and the Syndicate.
Factions, rogue organizations, criminal empires, and mafias exploiting the fractures within the Alliance. Robots, mechs, creatures, hives… and politics.
The last was least of Eve's concerns, yet political disputes constantly disrupted the fragile peace across galaxies.
Eve focused on threats close to Andromeda. Chief among them was Sable, who repeatedly sabotaged Eve's missions. Sable knew Andromeda was Eve's aching nerve.
The outflux of Swarms from the Dark Galaxy had nearly ceased. Civilizations were safer now from the creatures that once teleported unannounced caused destruction. Most of the large monoliths had been destroyed, and the smaller ones were being located and eliminated.
The remaining monoliths were either destroyed or stolen — their power exploited by whoever could seize them. Hunting and dismantling them became Nomad's top priority.
The following decades brought countless conflicts and wars, against the Syndicate, the Thelarian forces, and new factions emerging from nowhere. Eve continued to defend her home galaxy through every thick and thin.
Mira grew old and eventually gave her soul to the stars. Sappherine took her place. Another generation of mortal friends passed, the cycle of time sweeping away all those she had loved, replacing them with new faces in the Eve Squad and across Nomad's crew.
Eve endured it all, anchored to a single purpose... one day the ancient force would return, and she must be there to defend the universe. She was the Prime. Everything else... time, friends, stars... simply passed by. Cotravellers.
The generational turnover of her human connections was never easy. She still carried memories of the first Mira, and now she had lost another, the closest one. Every time she looked at Saph, the memories returned. She had to live with them.
More than once, she had thought of ending it; taking a ship and crashing into a star. But the thought of her friends, of Sappherine's face, always pulled her back. Her feelings, memories, and the vastness of it all kept her going.
Eve was grateful to have a home to return to... her beacon. Andromeda.