After forcibly rescuing First Officer Kelly and Second Officer Bortus, the Orville remained in orbit around the planet called Tianshe for the next twenty-odd days, nearly a month. They went nowhere, simply observing from close range as the human nations on the planet changed.
After all, Annie had caused quite a commotion. Although she hadn't directly caused any casualties, the damage she'd done to the planet's equipment—especially its communications gear, such as satellites—had been immense. The planet had suffered truly staggering losses.
But even so, the people of Tianshe had no way to protest or try to retaliate against the Orville.
Because after Annie's rampage, especially after she had brazenly launched an "EMP" attack, a long-standing opposition movement—one that had always been supported by certain sympathizers—took advantage of the chaos in the Tianshe government. Made up entirely of the "Kiliacs" who had been persecuted for countless years, the revolutionary army brazenly declared an uprising and quickly seized several cities.
Soon after, war broke out on the planet's surface.
As a result, Tianshe's stubborn government had even less time to concern itself with the Orville, allowing the ship to remain in orbit in full view of everyone as its crew watched events unfold.
Meanwhile, Ed and the others naturally had to endure repeated reprimands and interrogations from senior officials at Planetary Union Command. Ed, as captain, bore the greatest and most frequent pressure over issues like his "failure to control" a certain troublesome little girl, "poor command," and "inadequate response."
Fortunately, although he received the most scolding and had another demerit added to his record, the matter ultimately came to nothing. The Planetary Union's senior officials seemed to know that Ed wasn't really to blame and understood who the real instigator was. So after the scolding and demerit were duly handed