by Aer-ki Jyr
“I stopped transmitting when the last of the guards were taken out,” Paul said, turning around to face his friend.
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
Paul sighed. “With Duke Corrington here, I’m not really necessary anymore. He’s handled annexations before. So yeah, I think we’re done. Thanks for sticking around.”
“We’re not finished yet, so I couldn’t leave. This invasion has distracted from the purpose we came here.”
“Life has a way of doing that,” Paul agreed. “I was starting to decompress, but then a need arose.”
“Did you learn anything from that moment, or from what followed?”
“I can’t let go of my duty. I can’t make this impersonal. I just can’t, Cal-com. I am taking responsibility for the galaxy. I’m not sure when that started, but it’s stuck. I don’t feel right abandoning that, even if my actions end up the same…for I know they won’t be. I won’t stretch quite as much without that responsibility…and that means someone will suffer or die because I didn’t go far enough.”
“How do you maintain your clarity and fitness if you are inclined to overextend?”
“I don’t know. I guess that’s my next challenge to tackle. Do you have a suggestion?”
“A perspective change. If your responsibility to the galaxy remains fixed, perhaps viewing it from another angle will provide clarity. I believe I know where we need to travel to next.”
“But you’re not going to tell me?”
“Not the reason why, but you’ll know the destination once I choose it. Shall we go now?”
Paul looked around. “Nothing else to do here. I can hand the baton to Corrington on the way out. You lead, I follow.”
“That, I think, is another perspective change that you need,” Cal-com said as he turned and began to walk out with Paul trailing him a couple steps.
“You’re probably right about that,” he admitted, telekinetically pulling the doors closed behind him, only to have one swing back open due to the busted latch.
6
February 28, 154930
Kio Nutarri Nebula (Unexplored Frontier)
Neofan Temple #1
Count Meerkan stood on top of a building in the only Star Force city within the massive landscape of this Temple. It was here to monitor the Neofan as they continued to build more and more infrastructure on the surface and much more beneath it. The city being here was a condition of the Grand Bargain that had been struck between the two empires, so that Star Force could monitor the Neofan’s compliance with other tenants…and to date they had done so, as far as the Count could determine.
There were no slave races here, nor any other races save for Neofan and those within the Star Force city. Meerkan was a Bsidd Tridas, originally bred to be a warrior while smaller variants were tasked with maintenance, support, and administrative duties, but the individual born into the body did not always match the biology, and Meerkan had risen to the attention of a Bsidd Maverick, who had then redirected him into an Administrative path.
Meerkan was good at hand to hand combat…or in his case mandible to hand combat…but he had a unique knack for organization, and more importantly, vision of what could be rather than of what already was. Vision of what was, was called ‘awareness,’ while being able to see potential advancements and perils was known as ‘vision’ when used in this context. Monarchs had to have both in ample amounts, and once his skills had begun to show as an Administrator he was quickly plucked out of their ranks and taken to Earth to meet with the Director of Star Force.
After one conversation…and mental review, for the Director was telepathic…he was minted a Monarch with the rank of Baron and assigned to a planet of his own to oversee. 392 years later he was reassigned to another larger one, then three more over the course of 10,304 years before being promoted to Count and given a system of his own to run.
He’d been a Count ever since, even when others more junior to him were promoted to Marquis…though that wasn’t surprising. One had to pass through the Clans to become a Duke, and there were only a limited number of them. But when he’d been assigned to this post he’d had his second personal conversation with Davis, in which he told Meerkan he would never rise above the rank of Count.
At first the Bsidd had not liked what he was being told, but as the Director went on to explain his strengths and weaknesses, he also explained his proclivities. Meerkan was good about dealing with what was local, but the larger his domain became the less responsive he was to it. The Director had told him that a different skillset was required to manage systems with ample communications lag between them, as well as a drought of information. Meerkan was best suited for local environments where he could access information quickly, fully, and get feedback within hours, if not minutes.
The Director went on to explain more, all of which defined him better than he had previously understood, and when he was finished the Director summed up the situation as being a perfect fit for Meerkan at the Count rank, not because he hadn’t improved his skills, but because his skills needed to continue to develop in this pocket of the empire. Not every Monarch would one day become a Lord, and they didn’t need to be. Without the lower ranking Monarchs the Lords couldn’t do their job. It was a team effort, and they were not redundant. They had to work on different aspects of the empire, as did the Director.
So Meerkan was meant to be a Count permanently, and due to his developing skills and fit for the ‘local’ environment, the Director was assigning him to one of the three ‘embassy’ posts within the Neofan temples. He’d act as Monarch over the Star Force city being built there, as well as being the main conduit between the Neofan leadership and Star Force, for the head of House Atriark resided here, and it was him who Meerkan was waiting for on the rooftop after his arrival in the Star Force city had been recently announced.
The Bsidd stood there waiting alone, for neither leader wanted any form of ceremony. They had periodic contact with each other when necessary, and neither one of them had any interests other than conducting business.
Soon a barge appeared in the sky just beyond the city shield perimeter, and it was not stopped. It passed through the atmospheric dome that was filtering out some of the native allergens from the air but still allowed large objects through up until there was a security issue, then it would become a solid defense shield as soon as the correct button was pushed in the command center.
But that wasn’t needed today, and the barge flew straight across the city over top the highest of the smooth towers until it slowed and descended next to Meerkan, with only a single Neofan aboard. Reignor Plausious had elected to pilot the craft himself rather than bring another with him, let alone a security detail. He had no need to, even if Star Force was not trustworthy. The Neofan had enough power here to wipe out the Star Force city with ease if they wanted, and Plausious no doubt had enough Essence skill in his single body to defend himself against whatever Meerkan could order thrown at him.
So neither of them made any symbolic gestures, knowing the situation both were in and opting to treat each other with informed respect and meeting alone, with the Reignor stepping off the floating barge and still standing taller than the Bsidd, who typically towered over most members of Star Force, but here he was definitely the smaller…though neither of the two individuals acted as if it mattered. Without Star Force House Atriark was doomed, and without the permission of House Atriark for the Star Force city to exist in this Temple, it would be eradicated with little effort by the mostly apathetic Neofan, who seemed to think scruples were a quaint idea formulated by the naïve who did not have the knowledge or will to do what the situation required.
“Count,” the Reignor said in English as he walked up to him and looked down from his crown-like head ornamentation as his wings flexed slightly behind his body. “I have news from Yenoiv.”
“Trouble?” Meerkan asked, knowing that was the name of the Neofan’s new galaxy that they were trying to colonize as their
original one of Utovi was still in the process of falling, and now completely abandoned by House Atriark.
“On the contrary. The Hadarak have ceased the bulk of their reinforcements and returned to normal, periodic probing for weaknesses that they do in all of our owned galaxies. They seem to have accepted our ownership of Yenoiv…yet they never do. They are redirecting the bulk of their reinforcements elsewhere. I do not know the purpose of this, nor the destination. It will take another century or two before our scouts report back, but there is a small chance those reinforcements could be coming here, though I personally doubt this. Never the less, I wanted to give you fair warning.”
“Where do you believe they are going?”
“Somewhere of greater need. The Bond of Resistance does not include all who fight the Hadarak, and Hadarak territory extends beyond our holdings in some areas. Star Force, despite your many successes, is not more powerful than the Neofan. So the Hadarak would not pull their forces away from us in order to assault you. They respond to the greater threats first and leave their secondary forces to deal with the lesser ones. They have always engaged in such warfare in an attempt to avoid letting powerful enemies grow stronger over time. I believe they are moving against someone more powerful than us, but I have no indications of them going after the Denogi or Veloqueen, nor of them arriving in any of our monitored galaxies close to here, though our inventory is not complete until all the scouts report, but I doubt they will find the destination.”
“Could they be attacking one of the smaller galaxies?”
“I do not know,” Plausious admitted, “and that concerns me. The Hadarak are creatures of habit, but they do adapt, and when their behavior changes from norms it is a sign of great warning. They do not give up, as far as I have been able to determine, in any of their campaigns. I do not believe they have the intelligence to do so. It is most likely a primary urge to conquer, or perhaps as a proactive means of self-defense. They will not stop unless stopped by others. So this redirect of reinforcements either means a lack of them to send, which cannot be true, or a higher priority target.”
“Are there any indications that the reinforcements coming into this galaxy have lessened?”
“Not at present. Our Deep Core scouts would have reported it by now if it was coinciding with what happened in Yenoiv, though even the Hadarak have to deal with communications delays. Regardless, it is something that needs to be monitored. How close are you to launching your invasion?”
“Not close enough. We are not going to chance losing by going too soon, and building sufficient warships and support industry does not occur quickly. The Grand Border is holding, though pressure on it has increased considerably.”
“How so?”
“Selective raids attempting to point overload system defenses. I am also told they are employing new weaponry to weaken shields and catching many systems off guard. We have suffered some heavy losses, but no system has been fully compromised. The pressure on the border has not lessened. Are you sure those reinforcements are not coming here?”
“Not at present. It is the future that I am uncertain of. Now that Yenoiv is more or less stable, my race will being the slow work of removing the Hadarak that already reside in it while we continue to reinforce the defenses surrounding the Gateways. Our holdings will also begin to increase in number as we expand to more systems in the Rim and bring in additional survivors from our old galaxy. My House has been barred from doing so, and our standing had now decreased with the success of House Mutavi. Their position as leadership will be cemented with this victory, so long as they can manage the removal of the Hadarak. That is a lesser challenge than attaining the Gateways, so I do not think they will fail in it.”
“What does that mean for House Atriark?”
“We are the primary challenger for leadership within our race, and because of this we will be marginalized further. They do not like the majority of our population residing here, beyond their commands, and those of us in Yenoiv are little more than guests. We are effectively exiled until House Mutavi fails and replacements are needed.”
“Do you consider your residing here to be a mistake in hindsight?”
“Not at all. Our House is secure and mostly intact. Only House Mutavi can say the same. The other Houses were forced to leave a great deal of people behind, and though there is an opportunity to bring more out every year, many do not survive long enough to make the journey…for they must continue to fight to hold the systems that are falling, or the Hadarak will sweep across the galaxy with such speed that they will conquer the galaxy before the Pafdreng can finish its work and return to the intergalactic void. Many in our fellow Houses are fighting and dying to give others a chance to escape.”
“I thought you previously said servant races were being moved to Yenoiv?”
“They are, on the orders of House Mutavi. They are electing to take the most valued of servants over fellow Neofan. It is their decision to make, but it is insulting to our Houses to be valued less than a servant race.”
“How did you get all your people out then?”
“We had permission to use other routes, the other Houses did not. They would rather die than be exiled.”
“Is that wise?”
“It is their choice. I am pleased we were able to come to a bargain that gave us a sanctioned option, even if our effective status is exile. The difference is we hold legitimacy that can be plied in a future power vacuum.”
“That is still your long term hope?”
“What other objective would you recommend?”
“You said there are still Neofan surviving in Utovi?”
“For the time being, yes. You would have us rescue them?”
“Why would you not wish to?”
“They are of other Houses. We do not have permission to bring them here.”
“Good men don’t need permission to do what is right.”
“Your philosophy of the lightside does not hold sway within our race. If we disobey the ruling House we will cease to be Neofan.”
“Will you?” Meerkan challenged. “Perhaps the Neofan that embrace the lightside would be strongest of all?”
“Normally I would dismiss such a notion as nonsense, but your ability to fight the Hadarak with…less than we possess gives you some credence. You have spoken of this before. Do you have something new to add?”
“House Mutavi cannot monitor your actions in this galaxy, so why not operate outside their rules if it means preserving more Neofan lives?”
“Sadly, our Houses are not without traitors. I could not be completely sure that word of our deceit would not reach back to them. If it did, we would be exiled at best, and those of my House within Yenoiv would be executed.”
“And that is why your civilization is darkside.”
“It is our way.”
“Yet you survive mostly because of our way, enhanced by your knowledge and counsel,” Meerkan added in fairness.
“I see no endgame that is certain for our advantage. Am I missing some aspect?”
“We cannot use the intergalactic network. But the Neofan can, and if I understand you correctly there are many within Utovi that could flee it by other routes but are choosing not to because they have nowhere to go. What if we arranged for them to come here independent of your agreement with us?”
“To what advantage would that be for you? These other Houses are not as inclined as House Atriark is to abide by your rules. They would be more trouble than they are worth when you are poised to launch an impossible invasion. You must devote all your resources to this rather than concerning yourself with the plight of those in another galaxy.”
“We like to help those in need, and my empire began from a group of exiles with a death mark on them. So you could say we have a certain sympathy with those who have been abandoned.”
“You seek to rescue those who are far superior to you. You cannot annex them as you have others. We have a mutually beneficial alliance, neither a
re subservient to the other. This is the only way we can interact without you being part of the Bond of Resistance. What arrangement do you think you could strike with outcasts and renegades?”
“The question is what arrangement could you strike with them for your benefit, and how could we be of help so it is also in our and their benefit?”
“You see an opportunity concurrent with your altruism?”
“We can multitask,” the Bsidd said pithily.
“And that is why I have some respect for you. You are practical despite your inclinations,” the Reignor said, looking skyward as he thought. “The only path that I see that would be beneficial is if we intentionally abandon the ruling House and those loyal to it and attempt to restart the Neofan here under our leadership. That was a possibility if House Mutavi failed to secure Yenoiv, but now that they have that path would be suicide. Once they established themselves, they would hunt us down and wage war against our new dominion. I would rather die than fight a civil war. And exiles know their roll…which is to disappear and cause no disruption to our civilization. In turn we ignore them. This is unspoken but tradition.”
“Cannot those who are ignored still be rescued?”
“Not by us.”
“And what of your servants? Or perhaps other races in your galaxy that did not serve you?”
“There were none that did not. We fully dominated our galaxy, unlike yours.”
“Are there no independents?”
“Why would we allow that?”
“Was it worth it to you to conquer them all? Resource wise?”
“In other galaxies, no. In our home galaxy, it is absolutely necessary. We cannot share such a dominion.”
“Is that going to be a problem here?”
“If we were responsible for this galaxy’s defense it would be necessary, but since you are providing the defense for us, it would be illogical for us to challenge your possession of the galaxy. For possession and dominance are not always the same thing.”