by Aer-ki Jyr
“That is not going to happen now. The other races will not sacrifice the Rim to accomplish this. Already recall orders have been sent out, and at least some of the fleets will respond. You no longer have the strength to defeat Star Force quickly and efficiently, and if you continue to push that war you will leave us so weak the Zak’de’ron will have an easy time ending us.”
“What recall order?”
“The one I sent,” Mak’to’ran said. “I lead the V’kit’no’sat, and I ordered a recall to defend our borders. We will see how many respond.”
The Primearch half turned, looking like he was going to attack the impudent Era’tran, but eventually held back for reasons even he was not sure of. “That is not your decision to make.”
“It is. You have wasted time, ships, lives, and what little good will we have with Star Force on this invasion, and it has resulted in others taking advantage of our weakness. I will tolerate it no longer, and in truth I never should have in the first place, but I was trying not to start another civil war. Now, with our territory under attack, there is little desire to ignore it in favor of pursuing Star Force, who has not invaded our territory. You have lost the argument amongst the masses, and we will be divided no longer. The invasion is over.”
“If you want a civil war, you have just guaranteed one. The Era’tran will be culled.”
“You are welcome to try,” Mak’to’ran invited, but a strong telepathic surge from the J’gar stopped any further comments like a slap to the face.
“No. Changes must occur, but we will not destroy what little chance we have of survival by fighting each other. Mak’to’ran leads the empire, in fact beyond mere title now that he controls Itaru. If the fleets recall on his order, then we will know the full extent of his power. I assume many will, and even the Zak’de’ron could not win against the combined might of all the V’kit’no’sat races. The same will be true of the J’gar and Oso’lon, even if we allied together. You know this, Primearch, or have you become delusional?”
“We cannot permit this heresy,” he said, almost pleading with the one individual in the empire that he deemed his peer.
“And we will not. At least privately.”
“You appear to have a suggestion,” Mak’to’ran observed. “Make it.”
“You have suspended the Elder Council. Do you intend to permanently delete it?”
“Possibly. It was never intended to function as the leadership of the empire. The Zak’de’ron always held that role and the Elder Council assisted them. With that void, it has not been functioning as designed.”
“True,” the Didact admitted. “We have tried to fill that void, but have only partially succeeded,” he said, referring to the J’gar and Oso’lon. “What do you plan to do about that problem?”
“Solve it. Until then, I will hold personal control and deal with the immediate threat of the Rim races, many of which we did not even know existed. Our knowledge of the Rim is lacking. We should have done a full survey long ago, but we were forbidden to do so. I imagine the Zak’de’ron had their own charts that they did not share with us, but we must fill in that void and know who is really out there…after we defend our territory.”
“You believe the Zak’de’ron are located there?”
“Possibly, but I’m more concerned about others. We had no idea there were this many powerful races beyond our borders. We have been caught off guard by our lack of reconnaissance.”
“Would you agree with that?” the J’gar asked the Primearch.
“Yes,” he said simply, sensing some grand plan and waiting for the J’gar to lay it out.
“We cannot conquer the Rim,” the Didact confirmed the obvious. “The galaxy is too large and we have overextended ourselves already. Our supply lines are too long because we have been seeking ideal worlds rather than augmenting lesser ones. We have had this luxury because we were largely uncontested, but it leaves us very vulnerable to the Zak’de’ron. Should they collapse the Urrtren we will be so spread out and isolated we will be easy to conquer.”
“I believe they did that intentionally,” Mak’to’ran added, “to insure that we could not betray them, and that all races were reliant on the empire and not their own territories.”
“I concur. If we do not continue to operate as an empire, we are lost…but we cannot continue to operate as an empire. You have gone too far. I would have you killed if you were not holding our fate in your hands. But since that is not an option, we must seek another path forward.”
“I have done what is necessary, and what the two of you failed to do. I have no regrets,” the Era’tran said firmly.
“And that is why there can be no reconciliation between us. The triad that we attempted to revive must be abandoned. It broke long ago, and we need to acknowledge that fact rather than deny it and pretend functionality where there is none.”
“Yet we must remain together,” the Primearch said, not entirely following the logic strand. “How do you suggest we rectify this?”
“By splitting apart,” the Didact said bluntly. “I have no use fighting Hadarak when we will not survive the Zak’de’ron. Despite the Harthur and your commendable intelligence gathered on our sworn enemy, we are nowhere close to defeating them. It is an impossible task that has kept us together, bound in duty, but it is irrelevant if we are going to be destroyed prior to any hope of success. I have no wish to lose another J’gar ship to such useless fighting.”
Mak’to’ran flashed his Saroto’kanse’vam at the J’gar’s utter treason. The red of his claws glowed deeply, casting pale shadows in the dim chamber as he stood his ground and glared just as intently at the J’gar.
“You abandon all that we are…while forgetting that if we do not hold the line the Hadarak will creep outwards and other worlds, safe worlds, will be destroyed. There are consequences if we do not do our duty. Consequences that you cannot dissipate with obstinance.”
“And yet, can we hold the line and fight the Zak’de’ron at the same time?”
“No, we cannot. But until that is upon us, we must do our duty. The Zak’de’ron want the Hadarak contained, and I do not believe they will attack us in a way that releases them to undo the work they started. They must replace us, unless their vengeance supersedes the mandate that they created the V’kit’no’sat for initially.”
“It might. Why do you assume it would not?” the Primearch asked with a sneer.
“Because we are not dead yet. They have had time to rebuild. They are being patient, and patience does not beget irrational actions based on strong emotions.”
“You rely too much on the information from Star Force,” the J’gar cautioned. “The Zak’de’ron are master manipulators, and that may have come to our ears because they wished it.”
“Even if I grant you that, the situation remains the same. If we do not fight the Hadarak, we will lose many of our worlds. Even if we evacuate them, we will be diminished. Even now, a tier 3 Hadarak has encroached beyond the border and wrecked the Erol System. They are not a threat we can ignore, and had it not been for your incompetence,” he said, glaring at the Primearch, “I would not have needed to return here. Our place…all of our place…is in battle against the Hadarak. We must prepare for the Zak’de’ron, but abandoning our primary fight is not an option.”
“There you are wrong,” the Didact said regretfully. “You are so bound in duty and honor that you cannot see clearly the multiple paths forward. The J’gar will no longer fight against the Hadarak, and if needed, we will evacuate worlds in their path. If the Era’tran and your followers wish to do so, you can continue as you are, but we will waste no more resources when the Zak’de’ron lurk in the shadows ready to slash our necks.”
“And you,” the Didact said to the Primearch. “We will not support an equally wasteful war against Star Force. Both of you do not recognize the peril we are in. The Zak’de’ron will destroy us all, and when that happens none of these other issues will matter. We must survive firs
t, and leave the rest of the galaxy behind until we can reestablish our dominance. I cannot see how we do that, so it is time to stop overreaching and prepare for the enemy that we cannot tell the empire exists without also letting our enemy know we know they are out there.”
“How do we accomplish this?” the Primearch asked.
“We divide, but in a manner that doesn’t end the empire. We must fight the Zak’de’ron as a united force, but we can slowly begin to rearrange the empire. Evacuate systems that are on the Rim or near the inner Core. Colonize new worlds that are valuable, but not prime, in clusters that can reinforce each other when under attack. We must begin to set our battlefield on our terms and stop using the Zak’de’ron geography. Our strength is in the empire, but we can each have our own corner of it without breaking ties. Our economy will remain the same, but if and when the Zak’de’ron attack, they will sever the bonds between us and we will have to fight on our own.”
“Do you speak of only your race, or do you intend to pull others into this treason?” Mak’to’ran asked.
“We will not reorganize by race. Some J’gar worlds will follow you, and I will not forbid it. Privately I will write them off while consolidating my power base elsewhere. We will agree to avoid one another while you run the empire. Fight the Hadarak if you wish,” he said, looking at Mak’to’ran and then at the Primearch. “Fight Star Force if you wish. But we will not do either.”
“And what of the Rim races?” Mak’to’ran asked.
“Those we will fight as needed, but in our own systems. I am claiming dominion over the Hesphatus and Delogi regions. We will not abandon our other territory unless forced to, but there the J’gar will begin colonizing other worlds and bringing our allies with us. Quietly. Slowly. So as not to alert the Zak’de’ron or anyone else to what we are doing. You can have your empire, Mak’to’ran, but I will have mine within it and I will tolerate no interference. We will not make it public, but we three will divide the empire between us.”
“So you break ties with the Oso’lon as well,” the Primearch asked.
“Do you disagree? I see no advantage in working together. You are of the land, we are of the water. The Zak’de’ron bound us together and now they seek to destroy us. I think it best if we go our separate ways within the empire and make our final stands alone.”
“You anticipate defeat?” Mak’to’ran asked, aghast at the words he was hearing from one of the founding races of the V’kit’no’sat.
“They created the V’kit’no’sat. They know how to uncreate us.”
“It didn’t stop us from killing them the first time,” the Oso’lon differed.
“But we didn’t finish the job, and the galaxy is too large to ever make sure we did. Until we can achieve parity of technology and knowledge, all the J’gar will do is defend our own and work with Mak’to’ran’s empire for mutual advantage, but I anticipate our destruction none the less.”
“You have lost your nerve, Didact,” Mak’to’ran said angrily. “You are unfit to lead.”
“It is fortunate that you have assumed command then,” the J’gar said disrespectfully. “Recruit what worlds you want from the races, I will do the same, but my dominion will be led by the J’gar and the J’gar alone. We cannot afford any more…half measures.”
“At least we agree on that,” Mak’to’ran said, glaring at the Primearch.
“And we cannot pursue Star Force without the full might of the empire,” the Oso’lon admitted. “You have boxed me in well, Didact.”
“Most of it was your own doing.”
“Star Force will destroy us if the Zak’de’ron do not. Give them a million years and they will try, I promise you, even without their Uriti.”
“Which the Zak’de’ron now have one of their own,” the J’gar reminded him. “Have you been able to capture one for us?”
“No.”
“And you will not. Star Force guards them too closely and our searches have not discovered another hidden in the galaxy. Even with one, the Zak’de’ron claim immediate superiority over us, and you are worried about Star Force.”
“Who have never attacked us in anything but self-defense,” Mak’to’ran piled on.
“We create rules, then you both recklessly abandon them. Neither of you are fit to lead the empire,” the Primearch said, turning to the J’gar with utter hatred that had not been there previously. “You are right, we can no longer coexist in this triad. The Oso’lon will also create our own strongholds. Mak’to’ran, you can have the empire in large and keep up pretenses for the sake of morale, but we are done with you.”
“If both of you are going to abandon our duty, our very identity, then so be it. But I will take on any of your worlds that do not agree with you, and you will not hinder their involvement. This must be agreed or we will have a civil war.”
“We will vie with you for control,” the J’gar promised, “but only through influence. We will not fight, for we cannot and hold any chance of survival against the Zak’de’ron.”
“Agreed,” the Primearch said. “If any Oso’lon wish to fight the Hadarak, they are yours. I will quietly exile them from the loyal, for I will not tolerate dissent any longer. The Oso’lon will be purged, and I care not if you take our trash and use it for your own purposes…so long as you agree to the same with the Era’tran, for I don’t imagine they all follow your lead so willingly.”
“If you wish to have our trash, you are welcome to it,” Mak’to’ran snipped. “So long as they know what it is they are actually doing. I will not permit subterfuge.”
“None will be needed. Especially when the Zak’de’ron come for us and the true power bases within the empire are revealed. We will survive when you do not.”
“Then you agree to let Star Force go?”
“We are fools to do so, but without a combined effort the Oso’lon would be gutted, and I intend to be the last race standing if we are to eventually fall.”
“And the current invasion?”
“We will let you handle the retreat and take the blame for it as we send fleets to protect the Rim,” the Didact offered/demanded. “Beyond that, the J’gar will set our own future.”
“And we will do the same. May your rule be long and glorious, Mak’to’ran, so we have time to grow while you gut yourself on the Hadarak. I will enjoy hearing the news of when the Zak’de’ron destroy you.”
“So this is what the great and powerful J’gar and Oso’lon have become? Cowards, bitter with resentment and loss of purpose. Very well. We will walk down this tangent path, but Itaru remains mine.”
“It is the heart of the empire to which I no longer hold an allegiance,” the Didact stated disinterestedly. “I no longer care to claim it…or other shared systems.”
“The empire is officially dead, though we must keep up pretenses for the sake of buying time,” the Primearch agreed. “You may have the corpse of it.”
“Then I will waste no more time with either of you. Leave this system and take your followers with you. I will take on the responsibility that you are both shirking,” Mak’to’ran said, spinning around and plodding off out of sight.
“You were wise to suggest this path,” the Primearch said to the Didact after he’d left. “It maximizes our chances of survival and lets the pretender play to our benefit.”
“We are not united in this,” the Didact stated. “I am as displeased with you as I am with him. Now that we no longer have the Zak’de’ron’s legacy to hold together, I suggest we amicably go our separate ways. We have always been incompatible, and I see no reason for further interaction.”
“Agreed,” the Primearch said, summarily walking away while happily turning his back on the J’gar. Their races had been at odds for perpetuity, and despite the massive losses this fracture would result in, he was glad to finally be free of their shackles. The Oso’lon would rule unfettered from now on…at least until the Zak’de’ron returned to avenge themselves against their betrayers.
6
December 13, 4914
Flying Monkey System (V’kit’no’sat-captured territory)
Finley
Tre’sti had watched the few reports coming in to the warzone over the past months, seeing that the situation was getting dire for the empire. They were under assault all around the Rim border with no sizeable defense fleets available to rush to those systems’ aid…until the order from Mak’to’ran arrived. On his authority, which technically he didn’t have, he was ordering all fleets in the Star Force warzone to stop offensive assaults, abandon all worlds they couldn’t defend against the Uriti, and hold those they could while the bulk of their forces were told to move with all speed to defend the empire’s border worlds.
Word also came through about the takeover in Itaru, and surprising as that was, Tre’sti truly didn’t care. What Mak’to’ran had to do to deal with the Oso’lon and the J’gar was his problem, but as long as he appeared to be in control and calling for a defense of the empire, Tre’sti wasn’t going to argue the point.
Before a counter-order could come through from Virokor or the other I’rar’et commanders, Tre’sti began pulling in all I’rar’et fleets and their Zen’zat troops that he could to Flying Monkey as he assembled a massive convoy in preparation to leave and head for the nearest I’rar’et system under attack. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be Veernum, for it was on the other side of the galaxy, but as long as Mak’to’ran wasn’t giving specific orders about where to go, Tre’sti was not going to bother defending the systems held by other races. He was going straight to the Bearadan System where the I’rar’et held two out of the six planets.
Bearadan was approximately 5 months away from their current position, though had the fleets not been all the way out in the middle of nowhere, reinforcements could have arrived within days, or weeks at the most. They were so out of position it was painfully obvious that the V’kit’no’sat had made a huge mistake in devoting so many military resources to this single invasion…and to his credit, Mak’to’ran had warned this would be a bad idea.
