The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three)

by T. R. Harris

  The rest of the night was spent in celebration; music, mirth and intoxicants, and a spirit of hope and transition that had never been felt before to such a degree. The people – now the people of the planet Juir – were happier than they had ever been. An era in their existence as a race was drawing to a close, with a bright new future about to begin. For the billions of Juireans, each held their own vision of what wonderful new future lay ahead. At this point, all the blood that had been spilled to reach this moment in time was an acceptable price to pay for the emotions they were feeling.

  The Juireans knew The Others must have been watching them throughout the Unification Wars, as well as the preparations for the Proclamation Ceremony. They knew, down to the depths of their souls, that the aliens would also have been preparing for their own arrival. And so they waited that night, with every Juirean across the planet knowing it was just a matter of time before The Others would soon drop out of orbit and descend to the Kacoran Plain…

  But as daybreak came, and still no arrival, the most-weary among the revelers began to disperse and head for their homes. By mid-day, the crowd of several million was down to a few thousand, including a completely humiliated and furious Malor the Great.

  Where were the aliens? Why had they not come? Was it simply a miscalculation on his part as to when they would be arriving, and that in a day or so, The Others could descend from orbit and welcome his planet into the Alliance?

  Whatever the reason, the moment never came.

  Within a few weeks, there was such a terrible backlash over the entire Proclamation Ceremony and the Unification Wars that Malor feared for his ability to maintain control over the angry masses. Several opposing groups began to make noise concerning his effectiveness as a leader, and that maybe it was his role as leader that was keeping the aliens away. The growing discontent and rebellious nature of the people of Juir could not be tolerated, not if he was to retain his position.

  And so Malor lashed out with his still-considerable military force, battle-trained from the seven-year Unification Wars, to squelch any pockets of rebellion. The following three years were brutal, as Malor consolidated a power base he never imagined he would have to. As anger and hatred grew in Malor’s heart, he saw the vision of his future quickly slipping away. He would not be The Immortal Juirean, the greatest of the great, with statues and other monuments built in his honor. Instead, he would be the Beast, the Juirean who killed millions of people – and for what?

  And now he had to wage war against his own people again, just to maintain his throne. Every waking day was a constant reminder of his betrayal by the Klin.

  It was during his struggle to retain power that Malor began a massive propaganda campaign to direct as much of the pent-up anger and resentment among the populace away from him, and toward The Others. Through a constant barrage of messaging, Malor told the people that it was The Others who deserved their scorn, especially the Klin. It was they, and not Malor, who should be held responsible for this insult to their entire world. As he explained, so many millions of Juireans had died, and all for a promise from the Klin that never came true. It was the Klin who were responsible for this debacle, not Malor.

  Eventually, the message began to take hold, and the people of Juir soon acquired a seething, almost insane hatred for the Klin, a feeling that would last for thousands of years.

  Within four years of the debacle that was the Proclamation Ceremony, Juirean scientists had managed to reverse-engineer the technology from the original space probe sent by the Klin, and built the first practical interplanetary spacecraft of their own. The first of these craft lifted skyward, heading for the nearest of the Alliance planets, a trip that would take 17 months. However, the trip was never completed.

  Seeing now that the Juireans would not be denied access to space, the Alliance eventually made direct contact with the Juirean spacecraft, and then sent a diplomatic mission to Juir herself.

  Malor had long ago anticipated this event, and had developed a plan for such an eventuality. He would embrace these emissaries, rather than lash out at them with anger. He would welcome them and gain their trust.

  Even though the Juirean race as a whole still seethed with hatred for the aliens, Malor was able to rein in the populace, at least to a point where somewhat normal relations could be developed with the Alliance.

  Unknown to both the Juireans and the aliens, Malor had bigger plans.

  Juir was granted limited membership in the Alliance, and as such, was only allowed to purchase certain technologies from the other Members and trade in selected commodities. Yet unknown to the other Members, nearly every off-world mission by the Juireans consisted of around 80-percent spies to diplomats. As the Juireans traveled among their neighboring worlds, and mingled with the natives, they were spiriting away scientific secrets, technologies, demographic information and other sensitive data of all kinds. Their agents infiltrated the highest and most-secure levels of the Alliance, and returned their findings and treasures to a centralized clearinghouse that involved nearly the entire planet of Juir.

  In the reasoning of Malor and the rest of the Juireans, the Alliance may deny them the official status of full Membership, but the Juireans were not about to be denied what they felt was rightfully theirs, even if they had to steal it.

  Malor was approaching 176 standard years of age, and nearing the end of his strength and usefulness, when the time finally arrived when he could put in motion his ultimate plan to exact revenge against the Alliance – and the Klin in particular.

  By this time, the Alliance had grown beyond the Cluster, and now controlled nearly 40 worlds in the surrounding area, mainly as the result of the Klin invention of the gravity drive and faster-than-light travel. Although the Alliance traded with these other worlds, they always retained control within the Cluster itself and the core worlds within, with the accepted name of the planetary union changing to the Seven World Common Alliance – even though Juir was still not a full-fledged, voting Member. This slight, evident to all the other worlds in the union, humiliated the Juireans to even a higher level than before.

  Yet Malor saw the threads of his plan coming together…

  At the time, the Alliance was finding that their lack of any substantial military force was allowing the other planets in the Union to do pretty much as they pleased, including running roughshod over the rules set forth by the Klin and the other full Members. The Oanneans, one of the original Members of the Alliance, were growing ever more impatient with the Klin and their lack of decisiveness when it came to raising an army, or at least a proficient police force, for the growing Union.

  For a number of years, the Oanneans had formed an effective voting bloc against the Klin, dividing the six voting Members of the Alliance into a three-to-three stalemate on most major issues. As part of his plan, Malor began to petition the Klin for full Membership, promising them that if the Juireans were granted full voting rights, they would side with the Klin, giving them control over the Council four to three.

  He was also able to convince them that eventually the Oanneans would make a move against the Klin leadership of the Alliance. An alliance between the Klin and the Juireans would not only stop the Oanneans, but the military prowess of the Juireans could provide the security throughout the Alliance and the Union that was so sorely needed.

  However, unbeknownst to the Klin, Malor was also petitioning the Oanneans with exactly the same promise of breaking the voting deadlock.

  Malor’s plan worked, and the Juireans were granted Full Membership by a vote of four to two.

  Now the next part of his plan could be implemented…

  The Juirean Security Force was expanded and dispersed throughout the Union, taking up positions at all the vital trade and power centers in the region, and especially on Klinmon, the homeworld of the Klin. Malor had convinced the powers there that if ever the Oanneans attacked, it would be against Klinmon itself, and therefore the bulk of the Juirean forces should be stationed ther
e.

  The plan worked perfectly, and within a year of being granted Full Membership, Malor was ready.

  The annihilation of the Klin race took less than seven days. With a brutality borne of decades of resentment and humiliation, the Juirean forces secured every planetary population center and power facility within a matter of hours.

  And then The Reckoning began.

  For so many years, the animosity toward the Klin had simmered at such a high level that now the entire Juirean race was out for revenge against them. To the Juireans, the Klin did not deserve to survive, not after the mass killing they had caused the Juireans to commit against their own race during the Unification Wars. Not until every last Klin was exterminated would they feel fully vindicated.

  And so the Juireans killed, killed every Klin they could find. Of course they couldn’t kill them all, since the Klin population was now spread out on many of the worlds of the Alliance, plus ships in transit. The Juireans knew this, but the billions they did kill helped to satiate their bloodlust.

  As for the remaining Klin, they effectively disappeared, running for cover and hiding wherever they could. After The Reckoning, not a single Klin was ever seen again, at least not for another four thousand years.

  On his death bed, Malor the Great, the architect of The Reckoning, had finally achieved his own level of vindication. It had been a long and bloody journey, but his place in the annals of history of the Juirean race was secure.

  Now all the Juirean people had to do was learn how to rule an ever-growing Alliance of planets.

  The Juireans were now the most powerful force in the Alliance, and soon set about consolidating their power among the other six worlds, plus all the other members of the Union.

  The Klin gravity drive had been perfected 20 standard years before, and the Alliance was spreading faster than even the Juireans could control. Counterfeit technology was rampant, and every planet with a nuclear reactor was building gravity drives and attempting to start their own mini-empires.

  In this environment, the Juireans found themselves contending with various other races from outside the Cluster. Some just wanted to be left alone, while others sought to supplant the Juireans as leaders of the Alliance. The wars that were fought were numerous and bloody, but eventually the Juireans prevailed, and brought a relative peace to the Union and the surrounding region.

  And then the malaise years began.

  Throughout the subsequent four hundred years, Juir went through a succession of leaders, with none ever approaching the stature or vision of a Malor. More often than not, coups within the Juirean ranks themselves proved more deadly and destructive than any of the wars fought against the rebel Union planets. The Juireans seemed more concerned with their own internal politics and prosperity, rather than that of the Union. There was discontent within the Alliance, and some saw the beginning of the end of Juirean domination within the Cluster and beyond.

  It’s often at times like these that a true visionary arises to excite and unite a population. That Juirean was Arolus Ra Un, a charismatic leader who arose out of the ranks of politics, rather than the military. He had studied Juirean society intimately, and knew his race could not survive much longer constantly fighting among themselves, and the past four hundred years, that was essentially all they had done.

  Arolus looked back at an earlier time in Juirean history, to the time when his people had first joined the Alliance. The Juirean people had been unified, and spiritually they were as one against the other races in the galaxy. Arolus sought to rekindle that nationalist spirit in the Juirean people.

  His plan was simple: He would pit the Juirean people against all the other races in the galaxy, forcing them to unite as a single race, and for a singular purpose.

  In a stroke of either genius, or the ultimate gamble, Arolus nearly bankrupted the Alliance and the Juirean government to build an incredible fleet of warships, over 10,000 in total. When complete, this massive juggernaut fanned out in all directions from Juir, with the sole purpose of expanding the Juirean Empire. In Arolus’ plan, The Mass, as it was called, would conquer untold number of worlds, either through force, intimidation or attrition, and as their empire grew, the Juireans would begin to experience an almost religious superiority over the other races in the galaxy, and an overwhelming pride in their own distinct heritage.

  After so many years of fighting amongst themselves, this would be what it took to shake the Juirean people from their malaise, and to stop the killing within their own kind. Domination would be their sole purpose for existence.

  It was an incredible gamble, yet one which changed the galaxy forever.

  The Mass launched with as much pomp and ceremony as the Proclamation Ceremony, yet with starkly different results. As success followed success, the once empty coffers of the Juirean and Alliance treasuries began to fill with credits exacted from the hundreds, then thousands, of conquered worlds. This added wealth brought the ability to build more ships capable of bringing even more worlds under the domination of the Juireans.

  The Juirean Empire grew beyond imagination, and became the first trans-galaxy Empire to ever exist. The Juireans were now the ultimate power in the known universe.

  At the time of this death, Arolus Ra Un was celebrated for the success of The Mass, and for bringing pride back to the Juirean race. He soon took his place right alongside the glory of Malor the Great, as the two greatest Juireans to have ever lived.

  But like most things in life, Arolus’ plan produced some unintended consequences…

  During the 500 years that The Mass acquired more and more territory, the day-to-day task of governing over 6,000 worlds began to take its toll on the Juireans.

  Since the purpose behind The Mass had been to instill pride and power in the Juirean race, they saw fit never to delegate too much of their authority to the natives of the conquered planets. Therefore, each of these conquered worlds required thousands, if not tens of thousands of Juirean administrators to govern, and all backed up by a massive military juggernaut requiring millions of additional native Juireans to man.

  Out of sheer necessity, Juirean females began to be segregated from societal responsibilities and dedicated exclusively to the act of procreation. Traditional mating pairs were eliminated, replaced with government-run training facilities whose sole purpose was to get fresh Juirean officials out into the field as soon as possible.

  In addition, the security involved in tightly controlling such a vast number of worlds was proving to be an impossible task. Even though the Juireans controlled the technology, along with the largest military force in the galaxy, wars still broke out, which called for even more native Juireans to be called into action.

  As the centuries passed, it was obvious that the system was on the verge of collapse.

  And then the most remarkable thing happened.

  The Juireans retreated.

  Almost overnight, they abandoned their most-distant outposts on thousands of planets and pulled back to the core worlds of the initial Mass, a coalition of some 240 worlds, including the massive production facilities near the Core.

  The effect on the Empire was immediate and dramatic. Planet after planet soon began to fall back to their pre-contact levels, with many reverting to an almost iron-age existence. While some planets still retained a fair amount of scientific expertise, the Juireans had never fully divulged all the tricks of the trade. Eventually, as engineered systems began to fail and refined materials run out, even the most sophisticated of these worlds began to suffer from the absence of the Juireans.

  For several hundred years after the retreat, many of the planetary systems began to engage in bloody wars, either as a consequence of the quest for Juirean technology and raw materials, or as a result of colonial ambitions now set free by the absence of the Juireans. No less than a dozen tiny stellar ‘empires’ sprang up, each trying to emulate the success of the Juireans. Some of these neophyte coalitions actually managed to bring about a certain degree
of peace and prosperity to their regions. However, most did not. And when the envious neighboring worlds began to invade the territories of these more-successful unions, even bloodier wars began to explode throughout the galaxy.

  It’s often been debated whether or not the Juireans had this result in mind when they retreated. During the time of The Mass, many worlds grumbled about the Juireans, some even to the point of outright revolt. However, none of these revolts resulted in any real change in the geopolitical arrangement of the galaxy. But now, without the stabilizing influence of the Juireans, many of these same revolting worlds began to cry out for a return to the ‘good old days’ when the Juireans ran the show.

  If the Juireans did indeed plan for such an outcome, it was an act of genius, as well as incredible foresight.

  The Juireans remained sequestered from the bulk of the galaxy for four hundred years, before they eventually ventured back out, and when they did, they came with a completely different approach to governing.

  Since the Juireans now realized that ruling something the size of a galaxy by a single race was impractical, they decided to allow local worlds, and coalitions of worlds, to join them in a mutually-beneficial alliance, such as the original Seven World Common Alliance had been designed to do. In return for their allegiance, as well as a tribute paid to the Juireans, each of these worlds would be allowed to purchase the superior technology of the Juireans and to trade within the Juirean alliance. These worlds would also be able to retain as much autonomy over their own affairs as they wished, as long as it did not interfere with the operations of the Juireans.