The Rise of The Dominion: A Dominion War novel

by D. M. Marshall

  Around the large oval table sat the other eighteen members of the Inner Assembly. Items were raised at these hearings and should any receive a majority vote they would go on to be discussed by the entire thousand-strong Assembly. Many of the Representatives voiced their agreement with Idrid Matour.

  “Come now, Representative Matour,” replied Carver, raising his voice so he could be heard over the din. “None of us here really believe that arms dealing nonsense.”

  “Don’t we?” came a cold, harsh voice. Inwardly, Olsen groaned. He turned to look at Martilda Cutmaster, another new Representative. As the Chief Representative for the Himdel sector she wielded great power. Unfortunately for Carver she was proving to be as ruthless as the Skave themselves. Lean, with small, soulless eyes, she had an unsettling appearance that had been made worse from her disfigurements obtained during the Skave invasion. A building had collapsed with her in it. The left side of her face had been so badly injured that not even linwort could fully heal it. Though it could easily fixed by surgery and prosthetics she preferred to leave the scarring, baldness and missing ear on show.

  “I wouldn’t put anything past the Edo. I would welcome a proposal to freeze all of their assets and run a complete forensic analysis on their financials. This would be the only way to prove that they are running a smuggling operation.”

  “Prove, Representative Cutmaster? I thought we judged innocent until proven guilty? It sounds to me as you are just looking for evidence to confirm your opinion.”

  She sneered. “The Edo have always thought themselves above the law. No-one, especially not beings as powerful as the Edo, should be able to break laws and not be accountable. This must change.”

  Again, the Representatives rumbled their approval.

  “Since the Edo have left the Commonwealth I hardly think we need concern ourselves with this. The Ed-”

  “No, Premier Carver,” Cutmaster said, rudely cutting Carver off mid-sentence, “I am not talking about just in the future. I am saying they must be held accountable for their past crimes. They have acted outside of the law time and time again. Quite simply, they are criminals and we must make examples of them.”

  Carver stroked at his moustache. There was nothing he could do. He knew that next the Representatives would put forward the motions for the Edo to be investigated financially, for their previous ‘crimes’ to be investigated and then any strong cases would be taken to their conclusions. It wouldn’t be long before arrest warrants would be issued for many of the Edo. As soon as the meeting was over he would have to contact his Edo detail and let them know. No longer would the Edo just be unwelcome in the Commonwealth, they would now be outlaws, hunted throughout the galaxy.

  Chapter Two

  Grazan beauty would never cease to amaze Raichel. There was not a single person within the Waterfall Palace who was anything less than stunningly attractive. The guards, the all-male servants, the liberal dashings of the elite members of Grazan society, all of them were breathtaking. Even though Raichel herself was no Urtwarchan herself in the looks department she always felt like her imperfect features diminished their world.

  A pair of incredibly handsome guards escorted her through the Hall of Mushur and on towards the Royal Residence to meet Syrene Frost, ex-Edo, mother of Edo Neophyte Elenore Frost and the Grazan Queen. It took an Edo meditation routine to stop herself from stealing looks at their perfect faces and wondrous bodies. Raichel, you are married, she scolded herself. Behave.

  She reached out with her senses and felt Jase Ison’s presence back in their shuttle, parked in the Royal Hanger. She sent him a touch, knowing full well he would not feel it due to his total lack of Channeling ability. It was enough though just to be able to feel him and remember how much she loved him.

  Her guards took her past the dozen guards who stood at full attention outside of the long corridor to the Royal Residence. An immense sculpture covered the ceiling above them, depicting some long-forgotten battle. Its magnificence gave even the handsome guards a run for their credits. The corridor itself was lined with artwork and sculptures, wonderful examples of Grazan artistic talent and their total dedication to the perfection of the human form.

  Raichel couldn't help but think of her own failings again. Even with high heeled boots she was still well short of the average height for a Grazan female. Jase often told her how he loved how petite she was but at the moment that didn’t seem to matter. She felt like the Grazans were judging her. How could this short, ugly woman be an all-powerful Edo Mushur? Raichel tried to remember that Edo must be above such things as personal appearance but with all this breath-taking beauty around her it was impossible not to feel pangs of jealousy and feelings of inadequacy. She smiled slightly. Of course, imposing these feelings on the visitors to the Palace was the exact intent. If even an Edo Mushur could be made to feel awed then who knew how much influence their wondrous physical form had had on Grazan political encounters over the millennia. Very clever.

  At the end of the lavish corridor she was ushered into the Royal Home, with her two guards taking station just inside the entrance. To say that the Royal Home was luxurious would be akin to remarking how a Dreadnaught was quite big. It was hard to imagine anywhere could be as exquisitely designed and fashioned. Every individual vase or painting or piece of furniture looked priceless yet somehow it all fit perfectly together, as though each item had been designed specifically for its place within the Home. Perhaps they had.

  Raichel and Syrene Frost embraced warmly. Then, smiling broadly at each other they held the other at arm's length to have a good look. Syrene Frost’s blond was beautifully styled, with various jewels and tiny pieces of jewelry fashioned into it so that it sparkled with every movement of her head. Her blue eyes still flashed with her famous intensity.

  “Raichel, we really have to do something about those robes,” Syrene Frost mocked gently. Having been an Edo herself Syrene Frost had once worn very similar robes.

  “I was about to say the same to you. How long did it take for your aides to squeeze you into all of that?” Syrene Frost laughed. Her multilayered dress shone and glistened in many different metallic shades and whilst bulky in places in other it clung tightly to her body, revealing more than it kept hidden.

  “Less time than you think but more time than I’d like.” She took Raichel’s hand and banged it against one of the bulky parts, a shoulder pad. There was a distinct sounding clunk.

  “Oh,” said Raichel, “armored?”

  “Sure is - and nothing less than Minax. One can’t be too careful.”

  Syrene Frost looked at Raichel, locking eyes. “Elenore needs you.”

  “Needs me?” exclaimed Raichel, confused. “Why? She has the entire resources of the Grazan Combine at her disposal. I have little in comparison. What could I offer that she doesn’t already have?”

  “Two things,” said Syrene Frost, still looking deadly serious. “You are strong with the Astrals. Far stronger than me. They favor you greatly. You have no Neophyte and Elenore, if she is to be a full Edo, needs a Mushur. I have been selfish in keeping her here, stunting her growth as an Edo”

  “I have been assigned to lead a new Edo mission,” began Raichel.

  “I know.”

  “You know? How?” Raichel was shocked. How could she know about something so secret? Were the Grazans monitoring the Edo’s base on Sobal Gailian? Would they really do that?

  Syrene Frost smiled maternally. “Don’t worry so, Raichel. There is no mole. I have had a vision. It was vague but I saw you and Elenore battling against the likes of which I’ve never seen. We must have faith in the Astrals.” Syrene Frost laid her hand on Raichel’s arm. “Elenore will be safe with a Mushur, and for every day that she is with you she will grow stronger. Please?”

  It was too much for Raichel, the galaxy’s newest Edo Mushur. Here was the Queen of the Grazan Combine asking her to take Elenore as her Neophyte, to school her until she ascends to the rank of Edo Askari, and to protect her f
rom all enemies, even on a quest where Syrene Frost knew that Elenore would battle some terrible foe. How could she refuse?

  Raichel began to kneel but Syrene Frost stopped her and instead knelt before Raichel. “It is just you and I here Raichel. We are friends for life, ever since our Edo Ascension days. It is I who must bow down to you. This will be a debt I can never repay.”

  Syrene Frost looked so solemn that Raichel couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, stop it, you.” Raichel lifted her back to her feet and hugged her. “I know you wouldn’t ask without having considered this fully. I’m honored to do this for you and Elenore. She is already becoming a wonderful young woman and a prodigious Channeling. I will protect her and train her and do everything in my power to help her fulfill her potential.”

  Syrene Frost gifted Raichel with a beautiful smile, full of warmth and appreciation. Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you.”

  Sat within his personal chambers on the Hellfire Mark-IV Battleship, the Redeemer, on his return to the Dominion, Riccard Brams mulled over his actions. Without question he needed assistance, whoever or whatever was working against him was winning. But were the Edo the correct allies to choose? His stomach had been tied in knots ever since leaving the Double Down. If it was the right thing to do then why did he feel so terrible, so guilty?

  Danica Prilission, his chief personal secretary entered, bringing him a stack of datasheets, full, no doubt, of reports across the Dominion and further beyond, things she thought he should know about. She was one of only a handful of people who knew about his bargain with the Edo. Riccard nodded his thanks as she placed the flimsies on the table besides him.

  “Sit with me a while,” he said. Danica smiled briefly and sat opposite him, her posture erect and attentive. Human, she was a highly desirable woman, beautiful in a powerful way. Her features were bold and her physique even more so. Had circumstances been different Brams could have easily seen a future with her, but right now he could not have any distractions. His personal life would have to go on waiting.

  “Tell me I’ve done the right thing, Danica,” he said. “Tell me that it was a necessary evil to combat a greater one.” Even to Riccard’s own ears, he sounded plaintive.

  “You have done what you needed to do, Riccard. I know that Ison and his wife are your friends and that you have a great deal of respect for the Edo. I also know that if there had been a better option you would have taken it. Letting the Dominion fall into the wrong hands, when you are so close to bringing it true freedom would be the greater of two evils.”

  Riccard nodded savagely, “I know. But to use the Edo as pawns is betraying them. It doesn’t matter if the pretext for their real purpose is genuine. They knew, Danica. They knew I was keeping something from them. I almost wish they had listened to their concern and not agreed to help.”

  Danica reached out and grasped his knee and looked him carefully in his eyes. “No, you don’t. You are a good man, Riccard, hence why you are so upset, but this had to happen.”

  Brams sagged in his chair. “Yes, it did. When they learn of their real use I will lose Jase and Raichel as friends, and I will lose the goodwill of the Edo, possibly turning them into our enemy. For the benefit of the billions of citizens in the Dominion, I can accept these things. But the deaths of many Edo, so deceitfully? Never.”

  “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe even less than nothing.” Jake Bulver slumped in his pilot’s seat, defeated.

  “Oh, come on Jake,” said Kaliko Savina, standing beside his seat in the cockpit of the Wanton Affection, Douglu Anker’s favorite ship. Douglu had insisted they borrow the amply sized and heavily armed privateer class ship. She shoved against his shoulder with her hip. “If you can’t feel her then at the very least we can rule out this star system.”

  Jake Bulver, Edo Askari of some note, nodded but it was obvious to Kaliko that her words had little impact. “It feels like she is getting away from us, Kaliko. The longer we search for her, the less likely it seems that we’ll track her down.” Kaliko didn’t know what else to say that she hadn’t already said so she just put her hand on his shoulder and left it there as she gazed out through the expansive viewport.

  After a while Jake looked around at her and smiled his thanks. He sat up a little more. “I think that if we are going to find Thea then we need to change tactic.”

  Finally, thought Kaliko. Jake had been struggling to think rationally ever since they began the hunt for Thea Leilani, the Skave Mogui who had attempted to infiltrate the Edo, the woman had fallen for and the woman who had broken his heart when she had betrayed him. His fleeting sensations of Leilani being near had come just often enough (suspiciously so, Kaliko had thought since the beginning) to keep him from giving up the chase. Until, at last, now.

  “Me too,” she said. “I think we need to start to using help. Hire investigators, track down leads, that sort of thing.”

  Jake nodded, but looked upset. “We really need to find and stop her, Kaliko.”

  “We will,” she replied and leant down to give him a hug, made awkward by him sitting in the pilot’s seat. She didn’t mind one bit. She had enjoyed not finding Thea maybe a little too much and was secretly happy that it had meant more alone time with Jake. He was such an easy person to like, so considerate, thoughtful and funny. And so very handsome and favored by the Astrals. His prominent cheek dimples and cleft chin did strange things to her stomach.

  Such a shame that he was so fixated on Thea that he couldn’t notice her poorly hidden, growing feelings for him. As frustrating as it was, she completely understood how Thea had not just broken his heart but had ripped it out of his chest while it still beat. She had completely betrayed his trust in her and Jake needed to bring her to justice to compensate for his feelings of having let himself, his friends and the Edo down. It still didn’t stop her, however, from fantasizing about running her hands through his brown hair whilst in the throes of passion. She hugged him tight but his mind was elsewhere and as she let him go the comms projector unit pinged. Jake reached over, keyed the switch and his cousin’s head materialized above the dais. He brightened immediately.

  “Raichel!” he exclaimed. “So nice to see you. How are things at Sobal Gailian?’

  Her hologram smiled warmly back. “Hi Jake. Hi Kaliko. I wasn’t interrupting, was I?”

  “No?” said Jake, confused. “Interrupt what?” Kaliko shifted away slightly from Jake as Raichel smiled at them both knowingly.

  “Oh, nothing. I’m sorry to ask this since I know how much you want to find Thea but we have a pressing matter back here that I need you both on.”

  Jake leapt to his feet. “But I - we - have to stop Thea! Who knows what that… what she is up to!?” His face flushed as he fought to contain his anger. Kaliko reached out with Channeling to try and calm him but it was like sand off a Wikeel’s back, he didn’t want her affection, he wanted vengeance. His desire for revenge was taking him perilously close to the Deep, and this was another reason why she was glad they hadn’t caught up with Thea yet. She had hoped that over time he would see the error of his ways but his pain still burned bright, with his thirst for justice left unquenched.

  Raichel looked at Jake and waited for him to compose himself. Finally Jake seemed to sag and fall back into his chair. ‘Jake,’ she said, ‘remember the Edo tenets. Control your feelings or they will undo you. The damage Thea caused is not your burden alone. We were all fooled. She will receive her reckoning one day. I promise.’

  “You are right. I’m sorry Raichel. Thea will no doubt still be causing problems after we have helped you. She can wait. We’ll set course immediately.”

  Raichel positively beamed at Jake, and he blushed. “Thank you Jake, I really do need you both here as soon as you can. I feel somehow that you will be instrumental in saving many lives, Edo and non-Edo alike. Sending through coordinates now. Please, discuss this with no one and I will explain all when you get here. Safe journey.” With that, the comms projector winked out.

/>   “We do appreciate you taking the time to speak with us, Captain Collaro,” said Val Nordin. Val and the rest of Flight One (Senoch Gray, Dical Dimerchi and Ares Nilssen) were stood inside the main cargo area of the Captain’s transport shuttle. The Captain had agreed to meet with the Paladins but since he could not afford to deviate from his flight plan due to strict delivery schedules they had agreed to meet him here, on planet Essa, one of the main hyperspace nexuses between the Aneev Confederacy and Commonwealth space.

  An aging Nortahl, Collaro’s triple eyes still shone brightly.

  “An honor, Mushur Nordin. My family has a long history of supporting the Edo. It is my singular pleasure to continue that tradition. You wished to learn about the pirates who attacked us?”

  Val bowed slightly. “Please.”

  “There is not much to tell. Our small fleet of four freighters had dropped out of hyperspace and we were navigating to the next jump point when a small war fleet emerged out of hyperspace right on top of us, as if they knew exactly where we were. Then we received a transmission, ordering us to shut down our engines immediately or be destroyed.” Collaro looked at the Edo. “We needed no communications between ships to know that stopping would be the end of us so we all continued on. I was lucky, my hyperspace calculations were already complete and we were nearing our hyperspace entry point. Before we jumped, however, I saw the pirates destroy two freighters and disable the last. Our freighters were well shielded and armored but they made it look easy.” Collaro looked down, his eyes glistening with tears from recounting the story. “They never stood a chance.”

  “We are sorry for your loss, Captain,” murmured an angry looking Senoch Gray. Collaro nodded in thanks.

  Val placed his hand upon the Nortahl’s shoulder. “Can you give us all the details you have on that disabled freighter? Its cargo, crew, technical specs, everything you have?”