by Joe Crouch
Interrupting his viewings, a shorter Veterum walked through the doors, her robes flowed freely behind her as she spoke up, “The Emperor will be arriving imminently, please ensure you are prepared and ready for his audience.” As quickly as she came she was gone. Heeding her advice, Sean slipped back into his chair and straightened his collar. A violent rumble rocketed overhead, coming to a halt seemingly above the room, the loose fixtures began to shake on their holdings. Within moments the violent vibrations came to a halt, an air of anticipation built within the room as they all waited on edge.
The doors swung open as two heavily armoured guards marched into the room, they split and each took up a position on either side of the table. They stood sternly, their eyes were fixed on the outsiders and their fingers were restless as they kept both hands on their Hasta’s shaft. Standing to attention, the three Veterum on the opposite side of the table shot up in haste, they each clenched a fist under their chin and bowed their heads. Walking in with an air of superiority came a tall, well-built man, his back was as straight as an arrow, he walked with both hands firmly clasped behind his back as he took up a position at the head of the table. With a scornful glance, he looked towards the team and strolled in their direction, his deep, purple cape flapped behind him with every step he took. Looking the man up and down, Sean noticed a thin white band that wrapped around his head, it blinked a wide spectrum of colours as he moved.
As he drew closer the experienced features of his vicious face became apparent, Sean was sure this man had never smiled in his life, and if he did it was at the expense of someone else’s fate. Coming to a pause, he stood towering over Sean who sat pretending to be unfazed by his aura of power, he held his breath as he listened to the deep, methodical breaths above him. Moving on he stopped behind a standing Remulus, she had her fist firmly placed under her chin, but turning to look the man in the eyes he raised his hand and struck her down with one brutal backhand. Taris jumped out from her seat but the man pointed a stern finger in her direction if it was anyone else they would be scrambling around the musty floor searching for their severed hand by now, but there was meaning and a deathly willingness behind his actions.
With his plated boots clanking on the stone floor, the man circled the table, placing a hand on the tops of each of the official’s heads allowing them to be seated. As he moved towards his seat at the head of the table, he kept both eyes firmly planted on Sean who stared back at him. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the obviously elder man sat down to much pleasure as he scraped the seat forwards with a loud squealing noise.
“Well,” he said in a deep voice that carried over long distances, “Move closer to me.” Without hesitation, everyone stood and shuffled down the chairs until they gathered around at the head. “Better,” he said, rolling up the long sleeves on his graceful robe.
“These are the beings I told you about, Imperator,” the elder official said, standing to attention once more, “They penetrated our outer field and were set upon by our automated defences, their ship would have been scrap if not for the Veterum they had aboard.”
“Quite,” the imperator said, turning his gaze to Remulus who cowered in her seat, “I am Emperor Vespasian,” he declared, sitting back in his chair, “And I find it highly interesting about how it came to be that you have a Veterum in your company.”
“We responded to an errant signal we detected within the Outer Rim,” Fez replied harshly, trying to wrangle back some control to their side, “Upon arrival we discovered a Xuron ship scavenging through one of your own vessels, so we dispatched the alien craft, infiltrated your ship and neutralised the Xuron threat aboard.” Listening intently, the imperator leant forward when the destruction of Xuron was mentioned so casually, “We wandered the ship until we found a bay lined with stasis pods, it was then that events transpired to bring Remulus’ whereabouts to our attention, she joined my crew and I promised to bring her home.”
“You didn’t take the option of destroying yourself and your ship?” the emperor growled, “Those ships were to seed other galaxies, not be squandered so a pitiful Veterum such as yourself could find herself back among the citadel,” he barked, spitting to his right.
“I am eternally sorry, my imperator, we did destroy the generation ship, though, so no traces of our race remained,” Remulus replied, looking down at her feet.
“There will be ramifications for those actions, we are seeing a set of those consequences as they sit at the same table as our once mighty empire,” he said, in a deep, calm tone. Sean watched the room as the imperator spoke, everyone seemed on edge apart from Fez who was outwardly aggressive towards the Veterum, if it was a tactic it was one that he needed to employ with care.
“These consequences wish to speak with you as equals,” Taris moaned, “You said it yourself, ‘your once great empire’ isn’t so great anymore so why not treat us with respect, we’ve reported our position to the Ioution High Council, they could bring down the might of our empire here within weeks.”
“I pray you didn’t reveal our location or your intentions here,” the imperator frowned, arching forward towards the Ioution, Sean placed a hand on her leg under the table willing her to not push any further.
“No,” she spoke to the imperator while starring Sean in the eyes, “I did not.” The mood relaxed a little as a well-dressed male Veterum waltzed in carrying an assortment of drinks and snacks for the guests. Filling their glasses with a thick, yellow juice from a pitcher constructed from gleaming metals and jewels he wandered from person to person with a wide, toothy smile across his face. With a nod, he laid out a plate of fruits and what appeared to be cooked meats in front of Sean, picking up the plump, pear-looking thing he took a bite deep into its core. Green ooze rippled down from his mouth as the sweet flesh of the fruit refreshed his entire body.
“Wow,” Sean said, wiping away the goop from around his mouth, “This is amazing.”
“I’m happy you enjoy it so,” the imperator said, sipping on his drink, “I am certain there is a lot you would like to know about our race, how we remained hidden, why we decided to become isolationist, it wasn’t always so.” Listening intently the crew shuffled their chairs forwards as if around a campfire listening to stories. “We have been at war with the Xuron for thousands of years, longer than most care to remember, in our time we came up against a force we so arrogantly decided we could vanquish with ease based purely on our xenophobic thinking at the time. It went well, at first, but we soon faded into obscurity with the sheer unrelenting numbers and force they wielded, our colonies and established worlds were devastated one by one until only a handful of outposts remained. We took the decision to seclude ourselves from the galaxy as the last form of preservation.” Looking around the table, Sean was desperate to ask about what the officials had mentioned previously.
“So…” he begun, gauging if it was the right time to ask, “About that prophecy…”
“Bleh,” the imperator groaned, waving away the thought, “An old tale with no credence or base in reality, I would not worry yourself with it, mystics attempting to predict the future waste our resources on this.”
“But imperator,” one man spoke up, “The resemblance is striking!” With nothing more than a stern eye the man sat back down and remained silent, they knew the consequences of disobeying the hierarchy here, the emperor was not a man to be trifled with.
“So, captain,” the emperor begun, clasping his hands together out in front of him, “How is it that your ship withstood our outer defences with only minimal damage, vessels have passed the barrier in the past and were vaporised before they could get a transmission away.”
“The war with the Xuron has forced the galactic community to come together and work on stifling the threat,” he said, “We are the tech leaders within our coalition of species to the point where the Xuron are slowly becoming an inconvenience more than a pressing matter.”
“Interesting,” the emperor admitted, “I am surprised they remai
ned within this galaxy after destroying us and allowed your species, and others it seems, to flourish, that is most certainly not their ethos.”
“It is not,” Fez nodded, “As a race, we have always advanced relatively quickly with superstition not playing a major role in our society, but while our technology may have advanced quickly we ensured the route was clear before stepping out from our world and onto others.”
“This… galactic community,” the emperor asked, “How many species are involved?”
“Enough,” Fez answered evasively, “Are you interested in maybe joining something special, rekindle some of your former glory?”
“It is a distinct possibility,” the emperor admitted, “There has been talk within the last hundred years in spreading our wings and regaining our place within the galaxy, but there is something we can offer that keeps our identity hidden while providing a weapon for your use.” Perked up at the possibility of technology from the Veterum, Sean and Fez both sat forwards as the imperator waved in a scientist to stand beside him. “She works within our scientific endeavours department; I will allow her to explain our proposition,” with her hand clenched under her chin she stepped forward.
“Thank you, my emperor,” she said in a sweet, high-pitched voice, “I will try to keep this short. The Xuron are a versatile race, they can adapt to many environments and atmospheres that we cannot without often heavy and bulky equipment. But they do have one glaring weakness – Their genome.” Looking at each other, the team grew weary of Veterum’s offerings, genocide was never an option for them. “The proteins that make up their biology are vulnerable to a specific weapon created many centuries ago, but one of our previous leaders decided the power was too much for a single race to wield so split the weapon into pieces, loaded them onto different ships and sent them across the galaxy to hide.”
“How do you know so much about their genetics?” Taris questioned.
“We’ve had thousands of years to study,” she replied, answering the question but remaining evasive, “We have travelled out in secret and recovered most of the pieces, but all knowledge was destroyed regarding this project long ago, so if we gather up the remaining modules we can reverse engineer the prototype for future use.”
“This sounds like a weapon of mass destruction to me,” Zarid said, “I’m not having anything to do with that rodeo, I’ll take the first ship away from the Mar’Ell once we dock elsewhere.”
“Zarid’s right,” Sean said, turning to face the emperor, “We want nothing to do with the genocide of a species.”
“The weapon is not calibrated to cause mass destruction,” the scientist interjected, “It is a beam which destabilises the bonds of force holding their specific molecules together, could it be re-engineered for a massive scale? Yes, but as it was constructed it was a single, focused beam which affected a solitary target.”
“Let us imagine we are interested,” Fez said, “Why could you not go and get the piece yourselves if you have recovered the others.” Looking around evasively, they each turned to imperator for him to answer.
“The Xuron have scarred us, captain, as I’m sure you can imagine,” the emperor admitted, “This piece is located on a planet named Chaon, it just so happens that this world is within Xuron territory and finding willing participants for an expedition into their space is… difficult.”
“And you, as the figurehead of this world, say to me these weapons will not be used for the genocidal actions of a vengeful species?” Fez asked, questioning the emperor’s true motives.
“Under my patronage they will not,” he replied, bowing in respect, “All I wish is for us, and you, to have a consistent, unstoppable defence against an enemy that has caused the entire galaxy suffering and chaos.” With a glance at his crew, he gauged their reactions, most seemed sceptical of the idea but with the piece under their control they guided the narrative of the deal, maybe even the construction of the weapons to ensure they were never used outside of defensive stations. Taking a deep breath, the captain stood, placing a fist under his chin.
“We accept…” he said half-heartedly…
Chapter 16
Stood watching the shipment of goods and perishables touchdown in the shuttle bay, Sean took a moment to indulge his own thoughts in solitude. He was entirely uncomfortable with a race having that much power over another, but he knew the Xuron wouldn’t hesitate in using the very same tactics against his own species. Becoming what he despised was not a solution to the problem the galaxy faced as a whole, though, and if the weapon could be used as nothing more than a deterrent there could be some use in its reassembly. But that much power often corrupts, all it took was one rogue splinter group to unleash the weapons true potential on an enemy colony and the very moral fibres that held everything together would unravel.
Veterum shuttles touched down below him with a vicious wake that rumbled out from their large engines, for a race as advanced as he believed them to be, the invention of grav-drives had passed them by. He watched on as the side of their bulky ships split and wrapped around the hull. Every Veterum that stepped out had the same expression of wonderment on their faces as they saw the clean, technologically advanced shipbuilding techniques of the Ioutions. One was so enamoured he gripped tightly to one of the support beams, absorbing the faint heat which emanated out from the foreign materials it was constructed from.
It warmed his heart to see the Veterum and Ioution crews working in tandem, the first impressions he had gotten of the new aliens was one of regimented order without deviation, but they seemed to relax when off-world experiencing something new. Their officers stuck to his impressions, though, as they stood at the foot of their respective shuttles barking orders to the workers which scurried about unloading and stacking vast boxes of supplies.
One-by-one the Veterum formed up in neat rows alongside their ship’s ramps, paying respect to their commanding officer as they walked up into the shuttle first. It didn’t take long for the fleet of small ships to spark into life as their engines burnt brightly, he wasn’t entirely sure what technology they employed as they moved and accelerated far beyond the capabilities of a chemical burn as they slipped out from the shuttle bay’s shielding and out to the dark expanse.
“Sean,” came a female voice. Turning, he saw Taris in all her beauty stood on the bulkhead, her thick, blonde hair was a mess and a layer of dirt covered her skin from the planet, as it did them all, but she maintained her aura of elegance as she smiled at him as he looked on gormless. “Come on you idiot,” she laughed, pulling him along by the arm, “We’ve got a team briefing, we’re going to be late.” He was in an undeniably good mood as they frolicked and ran down the hallways, if they were going into Xuron space he had to enjoy every moment he could.
With a hiss, the doors to the meeting room split apart revealing a sea of angry faces which each turned to glare at them impatiently. Stifling their laughter, the pair looked to their feet and took the two remaining seats which had been reserved. “So good of you to join us,” Fez scolded sarcastically as heads shook with disappointment at their childish behaviour. “As I was saying,” Fez begun, “We need to make a final decision if we are going to go through with this trip to Chaon or not, there are some obvious positives and negatives to the whole thing, let me hear your thoughts on it.” The room remained silent as everyone waited for the person next to them to answer, breaking that silence Sean spoke up.
“Recovering the weapon is a good idea,” he admitted, “But I really wouldn’t feel safe with the Veterum in control of its manufacture, they have too much invested in seeing the Xuron exterminated in an act of malice.”
“What makes you or any of the other races within your coalition less vengeful than us?” Remulus snapped, annoyed that her entire race was being pigeonholed, “It seems the current crop of worlds out there have experienced as much suffering as we have, what’s to stop them using the weapon themselves.”
“That’s why we control the distribution and p
arameters the weapons operate under,” Fez replied, “Because as you say, there are many species out there who would like nothing more than to see the Xuron extinguished at any cost.”
“But surely if you win the war against them you’re still annihilating a vast swath of their population, I’m not entirely sure how it is now, but the concept of civilians was alien to them, every drone worked either in engineering or aboard a ship,” Remulus said. “My point is, Veterum weapon or not, you’re going to be committing to the genocide of a race whether you’re destroying one ship or outpost at a time or doing it all in one.”
“The difference is,” Sean interjected, “Is it gives them time to surrender and change their ways, who knows, in a hundred years they may become a functioning ally of the community.”
“They will not,” Remulus barked, “That is not in their genome.”
“Be that as it may,” Fez stepped in, calming down the situation, “As the captain I think having this option is better than not having it, raise your hand if you agree.” Slowly, each person sat around the table rose a single hand, Sean was unsure but Taris grabbed his arm and put it out for him. “Fine, it’s decided, we will go to Chaon. But now we need a plan, and our old friend Farel seems to have an idea.” Sean’s face lit up at seeing the engineer involved once more, he had been busy working on new prototypes for the Mar’Ell, but it seemed he had wrangled back some time to at least be here today.
“Thanks, captain,” the happy Ioution beamed, “Chaon isn’t a special world by any stretch of the imagination, a handful of useless planets, dual-star, no asteroid belt, I can see why the Veterum chose to hide something there. But old scans, and I’m talking years old, show a sizeable Xuron presence in the system, we don’t know why but they’re there. So, what I propose is to slip into say… near the system’s Kuiper Belt, push the Mar’Ell into silent running and take one of my babies out for a ride,” Sean put his face into his hands as he recognised what he meant.
