Warpath (Rise of the Empire Book 4)

by Ivan Kal

  Clan Leader Brown’s face tightened. “We had to use our own resources to finish facilities for the new generation scheduled to be born in two months.”

  “Don’t play with us now Barbara, I have reviewed the data you submitted to the council and your own records, you increased the progeny in the centers by forty percent. It is your own fault, you should have followed the plan you submitted. And that it is without taking into account three defense platforms you built. You wasted precious resources on those platforms and now you are short.” Johansson said.

  “My people need to feel safe! Those platforms are necessary! And as for the progeny programs, we had to make adjustments, my peoples population is too small!” Brown said.

  “You know full well that the Second Fleet is just a day away by trans-lane. Any threat to your people would be met long before they could reach you, if any such threat even existed, and it doesn’t. Scout ships have explored the entire fifty light year range around the Empire’s borders. You need to grow your Clan’s infrastructure before you spend resources on things you don’t need!” Johansson retorted.

  “The Second Fleet? We don’t want to rely on anyone! Protection of our people should be ours alone!” Brown said, standing up and raising her voice. Clan Leader Johansson stood up to respond.

  “Enough!” The voice of the Emperor, Tomas Klein rang out. Immediately the two Clan Leaders sat back down and quieted. The Emperor turned to Clan Leader Barbara Brown, “There is no ‘your’ or ‘my’ people. There is only our people. We are all part of the Empire. You and the rest of the survivors from Earth made the choice to join the Empire, you could have taken my other offer and went your way with enough supplies to start on your own. You didn’t, you chose to join us and benefit from the Empire’s resources, which means that you need to follow the same rules as the other Clans.” He paused, all the while looking Clan Leader Brown directly in the eyes, not letting her turn away.

  Then after a bit he continued. “Sanctuary will send additional resources from our own supplies. But, if this happens again… Well, that would mean that you are not capable of guiding your Clan, and by Empire’s law a Clan Leader needs to provide for his or her people foremost, and I am sure that the Hand of the Empire will have no choice but to interfere.” Emperor said calmly.

  Clan Leader Brown glanced at Elias who was sitting on the other side of the rectangular table, across from Tomas who was sitting at its head. Elias didn’t respond, just kept his head turned in the Clan Leader Brown’s general direction. He saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes, she knew what had happened to her predecessor. Clan Leader John Reiner was the first leader of the Terran Clan, which consisted mainly out of those that the Second Fleet managed to rescue from Earth.

  Their introduction to the Empire had a lot of problems, the people that were rescued had been slaves to an alien race. In most cases they lacked education and even basic knowledge of who they really were. They spent ten years just learning about humanity. There were a few among them that were old enough to remember a time before Earth was conquered, few of those were even people that were alive when Olympus was still on Earth, as they went through life extension treatments before they lost the knowledge of how to do it in the Great War.

  Quickly those older individuals started influencing the others, essentially placing themselves in the roles of the leaders of the survivors. John Reiner decided to join the Empire even with the many different philosophies and principles between the survivors and the Empire. The Emperor had the survivors vote for their leader, and unsurprisingly John Reiner was selected.

  The Emperor then allowed them to colonize a planet. The first six months went by quietly, and then the season of increased tidal activity came. Clan Leader John Reiner had ignored the surveys and started the colony on the spot unsuitable for it. The storms and earthquakes hit them hard, and five hundred people died, with many more injured. Reiner tried to hide the fact that it was his fault by altering reports and falsifying survey data.

  The Hand was dispatched to aid in the relief and rescue, and to investigate what exactly happened. Quickly they uncovered what Reiner had done, which turned out to be much worse that simply choosing a poor place for the colony. He had used most of the resources allotted for building safe and comfortable homes for the colonists to build a luxurious ‘presidential’ building for himself and his closest supporters.

  Seeing the evidence, the highest ranking Hand agent on the planet had no choice, their duty was to protect the people. The agent in charge broadcasted the evidence to every citizen of the Empire, and then executed John Reiner on the spot. It was the first time that the Hand of the Empire truly showed the full extent of their authority in the Empire. Up until then they had been seen as something a bit more than police, they aided in starting new colonies, and they settled disputes between regular people when law keepers of a Clan were insufficient. And in that one moment, everyone realized what the Hand of the Empire truly was. They served no one, and everyone. They protected the people from those who abused their power.

  The people understood then. The Hand was the symbol of what the Empire was. They watched and protected the Empire from those who would break its most important code. Every citizen of the Empire had its protection. Clan Leader John Reiner had knowingly endangered his people, he failed them. And the Hand punished him for it.

  Finally, Barbara turned her eyes back to the Emperor. “I apologize. People of my clan are afraid. We do not want to see history repeat itself, which is why we were a bit overzealous in our efforts. Having those platforms in space gives us peace of mind.”

  Emperor nodded in understanding. “I will see about having some ships placed in your system until you are able to build your own. But, the Terran Clan needs to understand that we are not like the Earth, what you did here is exactly what politicians back there would have done. You spent your resources on one thing, neglecting things that you needed for the safety of the people, knowing that we would have granted you more than your allotted share if it meant the safety of the people. You played politics when you didn’t have to. And I will not allow the Empire to become that. If you wanted to accelerate your Clan growth, all you had to do was say so at the last council meeting.”

  Clan Leader Brown lowered her eyes. “I… I know, it won’t happen again.” She said.

  “Good. Let’s move on to the next agenda.” Emperor Tomas Klein said.

  They spent another three hours dealing with various other matters. Clan Gudólfr had achieved self-sufficiency, meaning it no longer needed help from Sanctuary and other self-sufficient systems to grow. That left only two Clans that were still reliant on outside help, Clan Kazalir and the Terran Clan. The other three self-sufficient Clans were the Nuvan Clan, Clan Dai Ven, and Clan Warpath. And out of those three only Clan Dai Ven and the Nuvan Clan were actively involved in expanding their territory to other systems. The Nuvan Clan held four star systems, while Clan Dai Ven held five, and Sanctuary as the capitol system of the Empire held three more systems. Clan Warpath was more focused on their one system, and their Clan was the most unique. Their system was basically one enormous asteroid field that orbited the star. That gave them the greatest well of resources, seeing as the asteroid field was extremely rich in ore.

  Finally the meeting came to an end, and the Emperor dismissed everyone. The Clan Leaders stood up and slowly made their way out of the room. Elias stood up as well and started towards the doors, but before leaving he glanced back at the Emperor, only to see him studying him in return. Elias hadn’t spoken with his friend since he accepted to lead the Hand of the Empire thirty years ago, not as Elias anyway. He wondered if Tomas knew that it was he who sat through the meeting with him today. Elias turned and left the room, he had a lot of work to do.

  Chapter Two

  Adrian Farkas Reiss, Clan Leader of the Clan Warpath walked out of the Council meeting. As soon as he exited the room his guard stepped in behind him. Two figures dressed in Warpath clan’s battle suits and
two massive beasts Sora and Akash, the wolions, animal native to Sanctuary that Adrian adopted when they were just born. The two animals were 700 kg of muscle, claws, and teeth, they had heads that looked a little bit like those of a wolf, though fatter and wider like a cat, with the nostrils higher on the snout, their teeth were more like that of a cat than those of a wolf. Their bodies were thick and powerful. They were about the size of a very large lion from Earth, but about a third heavier thanks to their denser muscles and bones which they developed from Sanctuary’s slightly higher gravity.

  “Where to now boss?” Clara Bengtsdotter asked on their private network, Adrian heard her voice through his implant.

  “The Emperor wants to speak with me privately.” Adrian responded via his implant. Immediately he heard his other guard, Meifeng Zhao groan as she brought one of her hands up to her helmet making a shoot me through the head gesture with her fingers.

  “Great, that means more door-guard duty.” Meifeng said.

  Adrian couldn’t help but be amused. His guards were two of the best warriors Warpath had to offer, and they were also complete opposites of each other. Meifeng was short and lean, while Clara was tall and heavily built. But each had risen to the top of Warpath’s warriors. Both of them were Sentinels, the elite of Clan Warpath.

  Adrian’s Clan was a lot different than the others. When Adrian’s proposal got sent to the Emperor (without his knowledge) it was just an exercise that he was doing in his spare time. He tried to imagine and plan out a society that was very different than anything that they had previously. He still drew from a lot of older cultures and societies. But in the end he created something new.

  The main difference from the other Clan’s was that Warpath didn’t have its own progeny centers. No one was born into Clan Warpath, one had to pass certain tests before he or she was accepted. There were still natural births in Warpath of course, but the children born of Warpath members weren’t really a part of the Clan until they reached maturity and passed the tests. If they failed, they would be sent to Sanctuary or some other Clan, and they had the option of not even taking the tests and simply leaving, with the option of taking the test later in life, if that was their wish. That was why Clan Warpath had a lot less people, their population was barely twenty five thousand, spread across three asteroid habitats.

  Clan Warpath was a clan of warriors. Every member of the clan, from the technicians to scientists and fleet personnel was also a warrior. Proficient in at least one area of warfare, as well as martial arts. Adrian wanted to create a society of warrior philosophers, people who were smart and wise. And now when they didn’t have to worry about old age, it was possible to achieve that. He didn’t want soldiers or armies, but specialists and leaders. People who could adapt to any situation. Ultimately, he wanted to create a group of people who were so formidable that they could be considered armies in themselves.

  There were of course some problems. Not everyone is capable of reaching such heights, that is why he made Warpath a clan that accepted new people only if they were worthy. Having someone born into the clan didn’t guarantee that they had what it takes to become what he envisioned. He gave them all an opportunity to be unique. The goal of Warpath was to push the boundaries of human capabilities, to push their physical limits to the edge, to perfect the art of war, and explore every warrior path.

  They arrived at their destination, Clara and Meifeng stopped at the door, along with Akash. Adrian and Sora entered. The room was furnished with furniture that was brought from Earth when Olympus left, wooden chairs, bookshelves with paper books, fabric carpets. To anyone who wasn’t born on Earth this room would look extremely strange, antiquated. Emperor Tomas Klein sat behind his big desk at the far end of the room, and as Adrian and Sora entered he stood up and came around to meet them.

  “Adrian.” Tomas said as he reached them and offered his hand. Adrian reached out to shake it. In the past thirty years Adrian and Tomas got to know each other well, as they worked closely in building Warpath, and had become friends. After shaking his hand, Tomas reached over and scratched Sora behind the ears, immediately she released a sound that would scare anyone who didn’t know her. But this wasn’t the first time Tomas was in the presence of a wolion, and he knew that the sound was wolions equivalent of purring.

  Tomas gestured at the two sofas to the side and they moved to sit there, Sora finding a spot on the ground close to Adrian’s feet.

  “How are things, with Warpath I mean?” Tomas asked. Adrian raised an eyebrow at the question.

  “Fine, things are progressing according to the plans.” Adrian answered.

  “Good, good.” Tomas said distracted. “I see that you added another aspect to your mantle since we last saw each other.” Tomas commented, looking at the back of Adrian’s hand. Adrian put both his arms in front of himself, with the back of the hands turned upwards, looking at the intricate tattoos drawn there.

  His left hand held three black circles, each with a different symbol inside. Stylish lines and arcs in different colors connected each circle to the other two. His right hand also held three circles with symbols. Each circle had small orbs tattooed close to them. Each of the symbols represented a learned aspect, an area in which the wearer of the tattoos was proficient in, and the small orbs represented the level of their proficiency.

  Over the course of his life Adrian had learned six aspects, leadership, hand to hand, weapons, fleet command, ground command, and history. Adrian was most proficient in hand to hand and fleet command aspects, so those symbols had the most orbs tattooed around the circle, both had six orbs. While his weapons had five, leadership three, ground command two, and history one. His symbols were also black in color, signifying that his main focus was in the combat paths. Other people had different colored symbols, according to their main focus.

  The idea of tattoos came from a few of Warpath citizens who first got them as a way to mark their progress, the practice then spread until it was officially adopted. The location and the appearance differed from person to person. Some chose to place the marks on their shoulders or chest, some even on their face. Each chose a different way to fill the space in between the symbols and orbs, Adrian saw one soldier whose mark was a tree, symbols hanged like fruits from the branches. In time the marks would grow as people learned more and more, especially now that most would live long lives.

  It was a Warpath thing, something that showed that in just thirty years they had managed to create their own culture and customs.

  “Yes, I finally had the time to spare and learn more.” Adrian said.

  “That’s good, one should never stop learning.” Tomas said distracted. Adrian looked closely at Tomas, and then he noticed that Sora had raised her head from the floor where she had been napping, and that she was looking at Tomas. Adrian too studied Tomas. Sora had felt something which meant that he could too. The wolions were highly intelligent, and empathic. Adrian had realized it a long time ago, when he caught Akash and Sora using their ability on him. And over the past thirty years the two animals spent almost all of their time with him, over time the two wolions learned to project the feelings of others to Adrian, letting him feel them for himself. It was one thing that Adrian never told to anyone, except Iris. It was his secret weapon. And now Sora was projecting Tomas’ emotions to him.

  Tomas was feeling trepidation, but there was also an undertone of fear, nervousness, and hesitation.

  “Why did you really want to speak with me?” Adrian asked.

  Tomas got up and walked to the window, looking out at the city. After a minute he turned to Adrian and spoke.

  “The Sowir are on the move.” He said.

  Immediately Adrian stood, “They broke the pact?”

  Tomas shook his head sadly, “No. But they have a staging point in a system on their border, close to Nelus, and are gathering forces there. We believe they plan to finally finish them off.”

  Adrian’s brow furrowed with concern, “But how do we know – O
h… We broke the pact didn’t we? We have assets inside their territory.”

  “Yes. We had to make sure that they weren’t going to break their word. I know that it sounds hypocritical, but we had no choice. We only sent unmanned stealth drones to monitor their systems.”

  “Did they find out?” Adrian asked.

  “We have no reason to believe that they have, we had the drones moving through their territory for more than a decade. No, it’s likely that they just decided to take care of Nelus.”

  Adrian narrowed his eyes. “There is more isn’t there?”

  “The force that they gathered is big Adrian, a thousand warships with more arriving every day. Plus the support ships.” Tomas said slowly.

  “A thousand?” Adrian said shocked, the Empire had nine hundred warships in its Fleets, not counting the support ships, with them the number was more like a thousand and two hundred. And also not counting the Clan guard’s, but even with them the number wasn’t much bigger. But a lot of that number would need to be set aside for defense, the Empire would never be able to attack with such large number.

  “And we know they have more. These ships are coming from the heart of their territory, the ships they have guarding our border are still there.” Tomas said, “We believe that this force was gathered specifically to finish off Nelus.”

  “And Nelus? How many ships do they have to defend themselves with?”

  “Eight hundred and fifty warships, but four hundred of those are retrofitted merchant ships or their new cruiser class. Which according to everything we managed to learn about it is far inferior to their other ships. Its poorly made, the council cut corners everywhere it could.”

  “I assume that this information comes from Clan Dai Ven and Clan Leader Jusan?” Adrian asked.