by C. C. Ekeke
Jennica snapped her head up from Habraum’s broad chest and looked at him dubiously. “You’re serious? This coming from the same man who said ‘No kids, no crying, no thank you?’”
“Yes, but that was then,” Habraum laughed, cupping Jennica’s face in his hands. “I want to start planning for our future.” As he gazed at her, Habraum saw the shock on her face, felt her trembling.
Jennica composed herself with a smile and clasped her hands around his own. “I like this new you, Mr. Nwosu. He better stay around awhile. Especially while I have some classwork to do,” she pulled away and moved to her desk. “This should take about half an orv, and then we can get out of here.”
“Of course, Jen.” Habraum walked toward the classroom viewport left of Jennica’s desk. “Take your time.” She sat at her desk and settled into her work, but with this broad smile on her face that Habraum had never seen before. Smirking to himself, he folded his arms and turned to the semi-dusty viewport, watching the swarming traffic of children below exiting the school building. He wondered then what kind of father would he be? And what future beyond being a fighter pilot could he build for his offspring?
The hiss of the classroom door opening caught his ear. Habraum turned his head to see an adult Rothorid standing in the entrance, trailed by the much smaller twins from Jennica’s class. Given the thickness of the long, muscular tail swishing feverishly from behind, it was obviously a male Rothorid. His sinewy physique was evident, even under the blue-and-yellow Union Command uniform he wore.
The male, like his children, had scaly maroon skin, but his was darker and much more leathered with age. Those large ginger eyes, the triangular thin-lipped maw and wrinkled brow folds betrayed nothing, only a stoicism that brooked no tolerance for waywardness.
“Mr. Ishiliba,” Jennica was on her feet. “How nice to see you! Is there something I can do for you?”
“No thank you, Msss. Hoang,” the Rothorid spoke in a raspy voice. His s-words sounded like hisses, and not welcoming ones. He then turned to Habraum. “I wanted to ssspeak with your classss guessst.” The Rothorid turned his narrow gaze on Habraum. “Sso my offspring tell me that you are filling their headsss with ssstoriess about the Korvenitesss,” the Rothorid prowled into the room, past Jennica’s desk and into Habraum’s face at disquieting speed. “How they aren’t culpable for the sssinss of their brethren.” His twins, who hung back outside the classroom, went into fits of sissing that loosely resembled laughter.
Habraum straightened up and stared back at the Rothorid’s reptilian face, not the least bit intimidated. He stood at least three inches taller than the Rothorid. “Someone has to, because the parents sure as hazik aren’t,” Habraum said with a biting edge, his tolerance for slipshod parenting non-existent.
“Okay,” Jennica rose from her desk to stop the clash. “I’m sure there’s a better way to settle this—”
“It’sss okay, Msss. Hoang,” the Rothorid smiled, displaying long, needle-like teeth. Habraum recoiled. He preferred it when the other just glared at him.
“I’m jussst glad that your guest actually thinkss rationally about the Korvenite matter,” he continued, holding out a clawed hand. “Pleasssure to meet you, Habraum. I’m 2nd Lt. Honaa Ishiliba.”
“Same on this side,” Habraum cautiously returned the handshake, seeing Jennica relax visibly from the corner of his eye. He then saw the strange insignia on the upper-left torso of Honaa’s uniform.
“Uh, excuse me for asking,” Habraum stared at the insignia. “But you’re a 2nd Lieutenant of…?”
“The Sstar Brigade Ssspecial Forcesss,” Honaa rasped, stepping back a little.
Habraum frowned. He had heard a bit about this ‘Star Brigade.’ Some specialized branch of the UComm full of super-powered beings that battled against terrorist threats to the Galactic Union.
“Thisss is why I came when my offssspring told me of your presssence. You’re a maximum, yesss?”
Honaa hissed it so coolly, Habraum felt his jaw drop. “That’s not public knowledge,” he stammered.
“I know, but you are on Section M’s dossssier of regissstered maximums, which isss how I know.”
Habraum didn’t like where this was headed. He didn’t like discussing this subject. “Look, Honaa…”
“Don’t fear Habraum, for I am one assss well. Observe.” The Rothorid snatched up an e-marker from Jennica’s desk before she could protest. He stared at it in his hand, his orbs narrowing into mere ginger slits. Then the e-marker began to warp and twist, the very air around Honaa’s hand rippling with some unknown energy field. Habraum’s eyes became saucers. Jennica gasped. More sissing giggles from the twins, who had probably seen their father do this many times. The sissing died with a glare from Honaa.
“My abilitiesss are matter dissstortion.” Once a writing device, the e-marker now looked more like a pretzel. “Becaussse of the sssuperior training program within the Star Brigade, I can do far more than that.” Honaa casually placed the misshapen e-marker back on Jennica’s desk as if he had done nothing amazing. It rolled off and clinked oddly onto the ground, bringing Habraum’s attention back to Honaa.
“There are many maximumsss that are recruited to the Ssstar Brigade. We work hard to uphold the idealsss of the GUPR while guarding it from any terrorissst threat that may present itssself.”
“But why are you telling me this?” Habraum asked.
Honaa flopped his tail from side to side, which was a Rothorid shrug. “Becaussse many in the Star Brigade feel that you, with your exceptional piloting, are a perfect candidate for our organization.”
Jennica had heard enough. “I think I speak for both of us when I say that Habraum is happy just to be on solid ground right now,” she stood up from her desk, her voice with a permanence that caught both males’ attention. “Joining another military organization is not on our list of priorities.”
“I’m not recruiting him, Msss. Hoang,” Honaa snapped his head back to Habraum. “But I will asssk you to consider coming to a preview of what we do, Mr. Nwosssu.” He held out his hand; this time it held a white comcard. Habraum cautiously took it. “Give me a call if you desssire to hear more about the Ssstar Brigade. Good day, Msss. Hoang, keep up the good work in teaching my offsspring.”
He pivoted and hissed at the twins in his native tongue of Wuiroth. The twins stood up at attention when their father passed them and stalked out the door, his tail swishing lazily in his wake. The small Rothorids stared at Habraum with twin pairs of ginger eyes for a few moments before scampering after Honaa. The classroom door promptly hissed shut. Habraum stared at the ivory comcard in his palm, the Star Brigade logo shimmering on either side. “Me, in a team of elite maximum commandos?” he thought out loud. It sounded even more absurd then. So why was the idea of it still stuck in his mind?
“Well, that’s one offer we won’t be taking.” Jennica was busily sweeping her datapads into a sleek grey satchel. “Come on, let go before any of my other students’ parents come with even stranger offers.”
Habraum absently nodded and stuffed the comcard in his pocket. Jennica watched him while slinging the satchel over her shoulder. “You’re not actually considering his offer, are you?”
The Cerc shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”
She froze, her features hardening. “You are considering Honaa’s offer.”
“Jen—”
“After all that you’ve gone through,” Jennica cut him off, looking down at her desk in barely controlled fury. “I cannot believe that you would even consider putting your life in danger again.”
Habraum felt his cheeks warm. “And I said that I hadn’t made any type of decision yet, Jen. It is just an option at this point. Besides, it would be better than sitting at home, barricading myself from nosy holojournalists and the whole galaxy!” The frustration of not doing anything useful burst out before he could stop it. “Rogguts, Jen, I can’t live my life standing still just because it’s the safe thing to do!”
&n
bsp; Immediately Habraum saw the way Jennica stared back, staggered from the gusto of Habraum’s argument. The sight of it struck his heart with a pang of embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Jen. That was so uncalled for,” he said quietly, idly scratching at the back of his head.
“No, I should apologize,” she walked back toward Habraum. “I won’t become a nag like my mom.”
“Thank the Maker for that!” Habraum wrapped his arms around Jennica’s small frame and held her tightly, relishing her sweet fragrance under his nostrils. Life had become too short for petty arguments.
“Let’s just go home, okay?” Jennica kissed him firmly on the lips and pulled back a little with a renewed smile. “You can cook us some of those scrumptious kurokoos strips for dinner tonight.”
That brought a grin to Habraum’s face. “Definitely, and you get to ride home in style today.” He waved his SR-23 keys in Jennica’s face. As they walked out of the classroom to the translifter, Habraum threw a burly arm around her and pulled her in close. He could feel the shameless stares of teachers and students alike that were still in the hallways after school, but ignored them.
Once inside the translifter, Jennica cuddled against him and stared blankly at the smooth doors of the lifter, obviously lost in her own thoughts. “Ground Level,” Habraum said, feeling the translifter descend. He glanced at the floor, and still that insignia lingered on his mindscape.
So the Star Brigade was always hard at work upholding the ideals of the GUPR? Habraum had already done that and then some with the AeroFleet. But since returning from Cybernarr Space, the Cerc realized how small his world was as a fighter pilot. What used to be exhilarating was now mundane. Habraum even interacted with his sophomoric pilotmates differently, almost embarrassed with how they carried themselves. Something needed to change. He remembered another job offer he had received from a holofilm director. As a holovid actor! Habraum cringed, fiddling with the comcard in his pocket.
I should at least give this Star Brigade a brief check, he said to himself.
Exiting the translifter, Habraum and Jennica walked through the near-empty halls of Lincoln Elementary and into the bright noonlight. Me, a Star Brigadier? Habraum chuckled at the thought as he and Jennica saddled onto his hovercycle. In his twenty-four years he had seen stranger things happen.
Inside the Galactic Union
Despite being a young star-spanning government, the Galactic Union of Planetary Republics has quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with. Its promotion of equality and diversity amongst its members has made the Union one of the most prominent and fastest growing hyperpowers in the known galaxy.
Contents
Formation
Government Structure
Military
Noteworthy Chouncilors
Formation
The Beginning
The early seeds of the Union were planted in 2068 when Earth first achieved FLT space flight outside the Sol System. A decade or so afterward, humanity was welcomed into the interplanetary community by other spacefaring races like the aquatic Galdorians, the pacifist Kudobans, the energy-based Voton and the squid-like Rhomerans. For the next half a century, the five species became key trading partners and allies.
During this period there were quarrels that nearly destroyed this early accord, like the Half-Year War (2093-2094) between the Voton and the Rhomerans, as well as the Voton Civil War or The Radiance War (2115) that nearly tore Aurealis apart. Talks began to create a more formal merger of affairs during the Interstellar Boom of the 2120s and 2130s. But these discussions became actionable after aggressive encounters with the Kedri Imperium and the Ttaunz Supremacy.
The first incarnation of the Galactic Union was the Coalition of Free Worlds formed in 2148. This government ends in disaster a year later due to a weak central government with next to no power over the five members’ independent governments. The Voton and Rhomerans almost doomed any future attempts at a unified government due to their timeworn feud reigniting.
Two years later in 2151, cooler heads prevailed and another effort toward a star-spanning government came in the form of the Galactic Union of Planetary Republics. Many mistakes from the Coalition of Free Worlds were corrected, per the Articles of Unification, with the formation of a stronger central government holding authority over the memberworlds’ independent governments and sharing authority between the Five Founder Races.
At this point, the Galactic Union comprised of Earth (earthborn human), Aurealis (Voton), Rhomera (Rhomeran) Bal-Dobra (Kudoban) and Galdor (Galdorian) along with each planets’ respective colony worlds and territories. The capital world was Galdor.
The Union at the time was led by the Executive Council, which appointed two Chief Executives from each memberworld. Each of the five memberworlds had equal voting power, so no one race could overrule another on their own. As the ultimate authority in the Union, the Council was responsible for maintaining law and order between Union worlds, colonies and territories.
The High Tribunal Court, established on Galdor in 2152, was the head of the government’s judicial branch and the ultimate authority to punish those who violated Union law.
A rumor amongst Union citizens was that just before the Frontier Wars with the Ttaunz Supremacy, the Executive Council created and employed a secret agency of elite operatives known as Covert Reconnaissance and Operations (CRONOS). The agency’s alleged mandate was to keep the Union stable by any means necessary. The agency’s existence has never been confirmed nor denied by the Executive Council.
Every year since 2151, Unification Day celebrates the historic date the Galactic Union officially formed.
The Frontier Wars
The much larger hyperpower known as the Ttaunz Supremacy had been a threat to the Union memberworlds dating as far back as the late 21st century. The Ttaunz had been long been interested in adding Galdor to its dependencies, which the oceanic world always rebuffed. The Supremacy attacked a new Union colony, claiming that the settlement had encroached on its borders, even though the Ttaunz had no claim to the territory. This ‘blatant affront’ gave the Ttaunz an excuse to declare war on the fledgling Union in the year 2153.
The Union knew it couldn’t win a fair fight against the Ttaunz Supremacy’s larger, cohesive military fleet. And the Ttaunz, overconfident in an easy victory, deployed only a small portion of its fleet to engage the Union. But thanks to intel gathering by Rhomera’s spy network, the unconfirmed infiltration efforts of CRONOS and devastating guerrilla tactics from Galdorian, Earth and Voton forces, the Union took the fight to Supremacy forces. Less than a month later, the Ttaunz retreated in humiliation.
After that, the Union memberworlds combined their military forces and the Union Command Armada was born.
Union Command’s first true test came in 2155 when the Ttaunz Supremacy attacked again in an attempt to conquer the entire Galactic Union. The war lasted over a year and almost ended in the Union’s defeat, after the Supremacy launched orbital strikes on Galdor and Rhomera—briefly conquering the former planet. The Union repelled the Supremacy with a combination of guerrilla tactics and the new unified might of their nascent armed forces, but couldn’t fully drive the Supremacy out of Union Space. The Ttaunz’s military had size and firepower superiority.
But AeroFleet Admiral Odin Tayal’s daring gambit changed the course of the war. Tayal took a small fleet of ships to attack the Supremacy’s core worlds and outposts, disguised as Vorn attack cruisers, causing Supremacy forces to turn back toward their own aerospace. As the Supremacy made their way through asteroid fields, the UComm forces sandwiched them in a devastating sneak attack that lasted for two days. The Ttaunz were decimated while the Union barely lost any ships.
What remained of the Supremacy forces surrendered in late 2156, leading to the Accord of Terra Sollus (then an Earth colony), effectively ending the Second Frontier War. A key component in the Terra Sollus Accord was the creation of definitive borders between Ttaunz and Union Space to prevent fu
ture warfare. These conflicts, dubbed the Frontier Wars, were also known as the Supremacy Wars or the Borderland Crisis.
The aftermath of the war led to the Union’s continuing military buildup in order to prepare for another Ttaunz attack, as well as any other hyperpower that might attack. Also, to protect the branches of the Union government, the Executive Council’s center of operations was moved to Bal-Dobra.
The Age of Expansion
In 2157, just after the Second Frontier War, a magnetar destroyed all of the Ttaunz Supremacy’s core planets in the cataclysmic event known as the Supremacy’s Ruin. This left a graveyard of dead worlds and a number of the Supremacy’s far-flung colony worlds that remained untouched by the devastation. Free now from the yoke of the Supremacy, the natives of these planets kicked any remaining Ttaunz out. This left the imperiled Ttaunz homeless and at the mercy of the many enemies they had made over the centuries.
Surprisingly enough, it was their old enemy the Galactic Union who came to the displaced Ttaunz’s aid, ferrying them to safety and finding a home for them on the planet Faroor.
The Union’s actions in regards to the displaced Ttaunz refugees garnered much praise and respect from the galactic community, causing many planets to request membership. The influx of new members over the next several decades was welcomed by most Founder Races.
However, unease over having to share power caused some growing pains when new members took issue with only the five Founder Races being eligible for the Executive Council. These growing pains led to the creation of the Union Bicameral in 2173 and office of Chouncilor in 2174.
Membership guidelines were established in order to weed out candidates who could not contribute economically to the Union. Some of those worlds deemed ineligible became colonies or territories depending on their potential for growth.
