The transition from what he was to what he had become hadn’t been quick, but unnoticeably slow. Over the years his attitudes had changed, his irascibility a telling feature of his political stance and his belligerence a factor that none dared to challenge. Had the Empire’s own wars with the Old Races alone been responsible for his newfound weariness and cynicism? Or was the Black Guardians’ failure to safeguard the Frontier the final straw that shattered his trust and love for anything inhuman?
Whatever the cause of his changed temperament, it didn’t come off as natural. The Senators could sense it. They had done for five years now. He had changed, but with such subtlety that over the years they hadn’t noticed until it was too late. At the juncture of the new campaign against the Vorlans, one it seemed the Empire would lose without his critical judgement, the Senate had granted their all-powerful leader with emergency powers to safeguard his office until the war was over. It had barely begun even now, some feared, and what they had done to the integrity of the Empire’s government scared those few who dared to realise it even more than the threat of the Phantoms or the Old Races put together. Never before had they been scared to voice their opinions, never before had he commanded such elected dread.
“Faithful members of the Senate,” the Lord Governor announced, stretching out his arms in a false embrace of security and comfort. “It saddens me to hear the fate of Pheia, our lost colony. The Guardians promised us protection. They guaranteed us safety for three decades, but they lied to us. We were barely safe for one.” His smile was unnervingly sadistic, but even now there was the faintest glimmer of his former reassuring resolve.
He held a hand close to where his heart supposedly was in an expression of a feeling that he didn’t really have anymore. “Whatever the Lion chose to tell us was false. The legions abandoned us, my friends. Yes, they did” he seemed to confirm with himself. “Their war is no longer beyond us, but before us”.
If anybody had the opinion or an urge to disagree, it was instantly quashed by the knowledge of what he would do to suppress them. They all know the horror stories of Senators falling ‘ill’ and being whisked away to hospital never to be seen again. None of them had a wish to die for the sake of being the only one brave enough to stand against his madness.
“We entrusted our worlds to them and the blame is all of ours. We gave them free reign to do what they like. We even let them convince us to withdraw our fleets to our home sector, Meridian. Yet where has that left us now? Our outer colonies are defenceless and the Guardians will not save them!”
He could feel the energy of the room mix around him. Some Senators opposed him vehemently, though only privately, but most of those nearest to him were falling prey to his charm and the truths he spoke. He was right, the legions had failed to keep their promises and shield them from a war they claimed was too horrific for the humans to face.
“Pray, answer me if you can, what will the Guardians do with the worlds they had us abandon? Have we simply allowed the greatest force we have encountered since the Age of Colonisation to sweep away our defences under false pretences? Perhaps it is possible that they are our allies, maybe I am wrong to cast them out, but what is to be done if they cannot defend us?
This Deian War, this nightmare they forbade us to enter, is but a trial of our strength. Do we not grow in fear as children? Do we not learn to face what scares us and destroy it? We have forged an Empire out of the hearts of our dead foes and now we shy away from the monsters who would undo everything we bled to create?
It is time to ask the question that must be asked, to enact the edict that must be given!” the Governor announced, looking into as many eyes as he could.
He leant forward, as if to give more weight to his words. “If the Guardians cannot defend us, should we listen to them and stay away until the enemy is at our doorstep? No, my friends, we should not wait until it is too late”. He revelled in the expressions of the Senators around him. Some reviled him. Others were in awe of his bravery to stand up and choose to fight the Phantoms instead of hiding.
“The time for the Empire to fight the Deian War has come” he announced and there were fools enough to applaud him.
###
About the Author:
Thomas Trehearn is a young, creative author living in London, England. He has a degree in Psychology, but has chosen to go into retail management - crazy, huh? He has been working on this book series for over five years. He is terribly excited to at last unleash it on the public!
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The Deian War: Vermillion's Apostles Page 41