Frontline

by Z H Brown

  All this information whirled through the young captain’s mind. Everything she knew about the Flame came from what she had been taught in school and during courses covering the Imperium during basic training (along with a hundred times as much rumor, speculation and propaganda); the truth was, the Empire didn’t know much about the Flame, as most Imperium POWs could only reveal what they had been taught by the Imperium itself, and they had never captured anyone or taken a defector that was high enough to reveal more. Ansaria had no idea how deeply Imperial spies had infiltrated the Goldies, and even Xandarius, now that he possessed the Flame himself, seemed at best uninterested in running thorough tests on the power source. Still, what the prince said was easy for her to believe, after hearing the Golden Emperor speak, and her esteem for Gamesh-Gil rose; clearly, he was observant, as well as wise enough to see that his best option was rejecting the Flame completely.

  Ansaria expected Xandarius to offer a rebuttal, a rebuke to the prince’s warning; this was Xandarius of Xenlong, the Great, the Conqueror, the Unifier; he who had freed his people from generations of oppression, and had brought peace and progress to countless worlds. If anyone had proved capable of wielding incredible power responsibly, it was himself (recent events being outside the norm.) Instead, he ignored the warning and asked the question that was of greatest interest to him:

  “And how do you intend to deal with these elements since you will be returning with this objective unfulfilled?”

  The prince sighed heavily. “And there we have the issue that has kept me awake through most of this trip; I am hoping that by securing a proper alliance with you, my supporters will have a victory to show for my young reign, thus ensuring that only the most desperate or mad will act without serious reprisals. Which actually brings me to you, Prince Eberius…”

  Ansaria imagined that Eberius was listening with the same rapt attention she was. He was sitting somewhat casually in his seat, with one hand cupping his covered chin. At being addressed, he sat up straight, and brought both arms on to the rests.

  “Me, Prince Gamesh?”

  “Yes; your Ebon Empire is the χ factor in this. As an independent power that participated in the battle of your own volition, and agreeing to attend this meeting, means that you too are seeking long-term cooperation. I am hoping that your inclusion will introduce a neutral counterbalance to Xenlong in any official alliance.”

  “Counterbalance?” questioned Xandarius, his voice calm, but dangerously low.

  “Begging your forgiveness again, Your Majesty, but a third party with no allegiance to either of us provides the perfect impartial partner to weigh in on any disagreements between the Empire and the Imperium. This also means that you would be unlikely to side with Xenlong in a sudden attack, which would increase the confidence of my military leaders that peace is not a defeat, and that we would not be leaving ourselves open to a surprise assault without having aid to call upon.”

  Ansaria admired Gamesh-Gil’s honesty: laying out his feelings and political machinations to what was still-technically an enemy head-of-state and one that by his own admission is a complete mystery took courage, as well as hope that peace and cooperation were possible. Knowing what she did about Eberius’ people, she was eager to hear his response.

  Eberius once again cupped his chin and silently considered the prince’s explanation before replying.

  “Before any talk of future alliances, including a mutual-defense pact of the type you describe, Prince Gamesh, I must be honest about a number of things: firstly, my own home lies many weeks from here, meaning that we can only somewhat be called a ‘regional’ power. We were dispatched here due to possessing advanced forewarning of the beast’s coming, and capitalized on the efforts of both your people and Xandarius’ to deal a decisive blow to the creature. Second, this not-insignificant distance means that I cannot commit to this -” he cast around for the right word “- Triperium Alliance until I have brought the details of it to my father, the king…that is, if I agree to the terms as well myself. And lastly…” here he paused. Ansaria wondered what was holding him back, until she noticed that he wasn’t looking at Prince Gamesh at the moment.

  He was looking at her.

  “…I cannot say that I am completely impartial when it comes to the Xenlongian Empire. Me and some of my crew had an encounter before the Star Eater’s arrival, and worked together to survive a dangerous situation. I have found their soldiers to be quite capable, honorable, and… endearing.”

  Ansaria was exerting all her will on keeping her face from blushing too much. She knew it was impossible to stop it completely, but she was doing her damnedest to focus on anything but the prince or his words. As such, she wasn’t sure if Gamesh had noticed that the prince of the Ebon Empire had been looking at one of the Xenlongian Emperor’s guards before answering. If he did, he did not bring it up.

  “I see…still, this does not completely invalidate what I said: if you, your father, and your people support these actions, then we have the perfect shift in the political landscape to ensure a future and permanent peace.”

  “An endeavor I support, Prince Gamesh, though I cannot accurately say how my king will react to your call for the Ebon Empire to serve as a bulwark against the Xenlongian Empire.”

  The Imperium prince looked chagrined at his counterpart’s words: clearly, he had not intended for his words to come off like that.

  “That’s not the term I would use…you would serve as a mediator between two powers that have many years of history and bad blood between them, and could use an outside perspective to help find a solution to our current problems and prevent new ones from developing.”

  Eberius contemplated Gamesh-Gil’s words before raising his hands in uncertainty.

  “As I said, your lordship, a noble goal, but one that carries with it the potential for much chaos, and as such one that I cannot fully endorse without further input.”

  Unease had crept back into the room; the previous hopeful energy had been replaced with a tension born of those all seeking concessions but not hearing what they had been expecting to hear. The feeling lingered, growing more palpable by the second, and Ansaria knew, somewhere deep inside, that something was about to happen that would turn her world upside down all over again. But even after everything she had been through lately, nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

  Xandarius, who had been strangely quiet during all of this, suddenly lowered his hands, which he had kept intertwined before him during the discussions, and stood up.

  “It is clear that I was correct to call this meeting, though not for the reasons that I initially thought: I called you both here to discuss forming a permanent alliance against any future attackers or invaders on the scale of the Star Eater, but what I find instead is a prince who can barely keep his kingdom together, and beseeches an isolationist outsider for military aid in the very presence of the one he so desperately claims to want peace with, while the other cannot even promise to a partnership despite all the evidence showing that his people couldn’t stand on their own even if they had the choice,” his eyes blazed bright, and his fiery aura flared to life like a freshly-fed flame. Ansaria could only watch in stunned disbelief, an iron fist gripping her heart while inside she began to plead with every higher power that she could think of that this wasn’t happening.

  “But now it seems that I must remove the choice: I, Xandarius, Conqueror and Unifier of Xenlong, Founder of the Xenlongian Empire and Bearer of the Golden Flame, henceforth conscript both the Golden Imperium of Infinite Starlite and the Ebon Empire, and all of their weapons, troops and resources, into a common defense force to ensure the survival of our galaxy, and both forces must acknowledge me as overlord of their respective territories.

  “You have two days to prepare to swear fealty to me, or you will be…replaced by a successor of my choice.”

  And with that, the burning lord of Xenlong swept from the room, leaving twenty stunned individuals in shock and d
isbelief.

  Chapter XXXVIII

  Ultimatum

  Father, I cannot believe what I just witnessed. Despite being invited under the pretense of diplomacy and peace, Xandarius has declared his intention to conscript both our people and the Starlite Imperium into a standing army in preparation for a POSSIBLE invasion by another threat on the Star Eater’s scale; he accused the young Golden ruler of formulating a pact against him, while accusing us of cowardice and inaction. I do not know if it is the Flame beginning to affect the emperor’s mind as Prince Gamesh of the Imperium said, or if he truly does not believe that our three empires can come together despite what we were previously able to accomplish. The idea of giving into his deluded demands is utterly unthinkable, and yet I truly fear what he will do in retaliation; not just against me or my crew, but against you, our family, our people...or Ansaria.

  --From the private log of Prince Eberius, Fourth of His Name, Crown Prince of the Ebon Empire.

  The stunned silence carried on for a few, long moments before somebody reacted. Guard Captain Fornost shook himself as though throwing off a chill, before marching purposefully after his monarch. After a quick glance at Eberius, Ansaria followed after him, her squad trailing in her wake.

  They found Xandarius not far outside the room, his back to the door and his gaze looking out a nearby viewport that showed mostly stars with a hint of the planet below them. The Emperor was the first to speak.

  “Activate.”

  A familiar light overwhelmed Ansaria, and when it faded, the low light and brown colors of the Salfar craft had been replaced by the bright light and metallic gray of the Throneship’s teleportation chamber. As soon as they were cleared, Xandarius marched for the doors. Fornost hurrying after him, and Ansaria could hear him trying to engage the Emperor, only to be continuously brushed off. The pair crossed the chamber and exited the room without so much as a backward look at Ansaria’s squad, leaving them, uncertain, on the platform.

  Rumor spread through the ship quickly; Fornost’s clear displeasure with his Emperor, and the ruler’s uncharacteristically cold response was enough to get tongues (organic and synthetic) wagging. It didn’t take long for word about what had occurred at the meeting, including the ultimatum, to become known as well, and by the time Ansaria and the others ventured into the mess for something to settle their uncertain stomachs, it was all anyone was talking about.

  A low buzz permeated the eating area as groups debated back and forth about the issue. “Has the Emperor roasted his last punta fruit in that new fire of his?” Ansaria overheard one fierce looking Klendathu insectoid warrior saying. “We’ve been swapping star systems with the Imperium for nearly forty years, and His Obviously Wise Lordship thinks that we can suddenly bring the whole Golden Empire to heel at the drop of a shed carapace? Does he think we’ve been slacking off all these years of fighting?”

  “But he’s right: we’ve got to prepare for a threat of that size again, or next time we won’t have the slight advantages that saved us. We need every weapon we can get to stop these beasts, and we need a capable leader at the head of it all, and can anyone here look his fellow soldiers in the eye and not call His Majesty a capable leader?” This rebuttal came from a Xenlongian a little older than Ansaria. He was surrounded by other Xenlongians, along with a few Simians and Packmembers.

  “Capable leaders don’t go around demanding subjugation from adversaries that they haven’t been able to decisively defeat in forty years, or from outsiders that show up to save us at the last moment,” said the same insect soldier.

  This was clearly too much for the young soldier. He leapt to his feet with a clatter of the trays and utensils on the table, but the ruckus attracted the attention of someone sitting at the table behind the hothead.

  “You must have read my mind, Tion: I was just about to ask one of you to hand me one of your seasoning dispensers.”

  The speaker was a cephalopod from Still Point bearing a major’s insignia. His once-vibrant pink skin had faded with age to a pinkish-white. Scars were viable on most of his exposed tentacles, one of which was stirring a large bowl of some kind of fishy stew.

  The corporal looked like he was about to say something that would likely get him assigned to latrine duty all the way back to Xenlong, but instead silently retrieved the spice and handed it to the superior officer before sitting back down. With the show over, Ansaria and the others went to retrieve their own food.

  The mess was full today, but the captain spotted a small group getting up from a table and leaving some open seats. They made their way to the table and took their places, before registering the others sitting with them. Sitting across from Ansaria was the large, crustacean Craw’naw she had seen at the award ceremony; around it was a pink skinned Hadlien (the same ilk as Lieutenant Goreman) with a red visor over one eye; a leafy crewmember like Admiral Lanta but with silvery-green leaves and coal-black blooms; a hulking Metaltron warbot with a permanent, intimidating grimace, and a couple of Xenlongians.

  “C-captain Dormus, ma’am! Welcome! Private Ish’aaa, reporting!” the voice of the white-and-purple shelled soldier had a bubbly distortion but was distinctly female. She snapped a salute that smacked her massive claw into one eyestalk; as she rubbed the bruised appendage gently, she fixed her remaining eye on those around her. “Well? What are the rest of you waiting for? Superior officer present!”

  Most of those around her gave salutes of varying seriousness and enthusiasm, none of which Ansaria took personally, and she returned the gesture with a rue smile.

  “I noticed you two didn’t salute,” said Ish’aaa, looking at the Xenlongians at the end of the table.

  “You don’t out-rank us, so we don’t have to do anything you say,” said one of the two, who never took his eyes off his meal as he talked.

  Ansaria decided to step in before things escalated.

  “No need to cite regs here, Private Ish’aaa; the chow hall’s no place for formalities…along with not spewing half-chewed food out of your mouth as you talk.”

  This got a laugh out of everyone else, but not the other two. She decided to leave it at that and tuck into her own food which was rapidly getting cold and congealing.

  She didn’t get more than a few bites in before Private Ish’aaa spoke up.

  “Captain Dormus, ma’am, may I ask you something?”

  For a split second, she worried that this would be about something she had heard concerning her and Eberius…the rumor mill of an Imperial ship worked faster than its FTL drive. She finished the bite she was working on and took a drink to ensure that nothing in her voice gave her away before replying.

  “Fire away, private.”

  “You’ve spent some time with His Majesty, you’ve spoken with him privately…so tell me: why does he suddenly think he can make two sovereign governments submit to him within two solar cycles?”

  Ansaria considered her answer extremely carefully, painfully aware that many around her were listening to their conversation, whether openly or eavesdropping while pretending to carry on other conversations.

  “His Excellency believes that the newly discovered threat of creatures on the scale of the Star Eater necessitates a…restructuring of the local power system. He believes that the three interstellar factions that fought together against the extragalactic beast should join together into a permanent fighting force in order to insure that we are prepared for any future attacks. As for why he thinks he should be in charge rather than forming a proper coalition…well…I suppose it’s because-”

  “It’s because He is the greatest leader in known space; the leader of the greatest civilization and the most powerful military in this part of the galaxy, a warrior who wields a power unlike any Xenlongian ever has before, and a ruler who is not afraid to join the battlefield Himself no matter what the odds…rather than sending some prince to fight a nightmare like that.”

  “The only reason he possesses the power that he does now is because the Golden Emperor
was present at the battle…and died fighting the monster,” said Alvara, her voice carrying a forceful edge to it.

  The Xenlongian sneered. “And the only thing he ever did with that power was lose…first against Xandarius, then against the Star Eater,” he stood up with his tray and gestured to his female companion who had a single strip of ebony hair going down the center of her skull. “Come on; let’s find some more reasonable company to eat with.”

  As they walked away, Ansaria looked down at her food, her appetite suddenly gone. She had no idea why Xandarius had suddenly made this baffling decision; all she knew was that she was tired of hearing speculation and rumor. She was going to get answers.

  And she was going to get them straight from the source.

  Ansaria stood outside of Xandarius’ sanctum, the sealed doors flanked by a pair of Xenlongian Royal Guards that towered over the captain.

  “His Majesty is currently taking council with Colonel Fornost,” said the guard on the left-hand side. “We shall announce your presence once the colonel has departed.”

  Ansaria nodded, and started to pace the hall, walking away from the door, then back towards it. Hours of guard duty had taught her how to wait with statuesque stillness for long periods at a time, but the inquiries within her burned like her own Golden Flame and prevented any such motionlessness.

  As the minutes dragged on, her mind temporarily turned to the conversation going on inside the room beyond. It was clear that the whole affair had thrown the Guard Captain through a loop, and he seemed dead-set on getting the Emperor to change his mind. The two had been friends and comrades for centuries, and there were dozens of anecdotes and stories amongst the guard of Arnor providing a compelling enough counterpoint to sway the monarch even after he had declared a matter closed.

  Ansaria only hoped this would be one such time.

  The waiting went on for so long that Ansaria actually burned away some of her excesses energy and had come to a stop. As the waiting continued and Ansaria was beginning to wonder just how long the two had been sequestered, the doors slid apart and Colonel Fornost came stomping out, his lance locked in an angry grip, brushing past Ansaria without so much as a glance in her direction. When the Colonel exited the long hallway, Ansaria turned back to the doors, which had closed once more. The guard on the right-hand side was holding one hand to the side of his helmet before lowering it.