They came to no conclusions. They made no formal alliance. But by the end, they had an understanding of the scale and depth of the threat they faced—its malignant heart and its trillions of willing servants. They had an understanding of the impossibility of thwarting the Imperial project in a month or a year, and an appreciation of the fact that none of them could succeed alone. And if they had no binding plan, no promise of mutual aid, they at least recognized the possibility of something more.
