A Galaxy of Wonder

[Nax24]

A Galaxy of Wonder
(A Mildly Interactive Stellaris AAR)

 

[Nax24]

Hello everybody! My name is Nax24, I've been playing Paradox games on and off for over a decade now at this point. I've always wanted to do a Stellaris AAR, but I didnt want to just pick a single nation, start playing it, and then write about what happens in that nation. I feel like that narrows the point of view a bit, and if you have a game with ten or more unique civilizations, that kind of kills a lot of story-telling potential. As such, I am going to try to do something different. Instead of having the POV of this AAR be one polity, I am going to try and write multiple short chapters/stories based in each of the polities I have in my game at different points during my game. The game will serve as an inspiration for these stories, and as events happen in the galaxy, I may be inclined to write about it from a myriad of perspectives.

As such, I have created a galaxy with eleven civilizations, all custom-made by me and locked forcefully into this game, meaning they all will appear within this setting. What nation who's perspective I will be writing from though will depend on you, the reader. That's right, this is going to be a mildly interactive AAR (Qorten gave me permission, do not worry). The next post following this will be a sort of short summary of each of the polities that exist in this galaxy, and I want you, the reader, to pick which polity you want to hear a story from first. I will then write a story of some length about that polity, and once it is completed I will ask you, the reader, to choose again. Now, there are some things to keep in mind:

1. If an event happens in my game that I just NEED to tell a story for, I will ignore doing the poll and just write about it
2. The story could either be a one-shot post or could be tens of posts, so please be understanding if your favorite civ only gets one post while another gets ten, some of these civs I feel will be easier to write stories in than others
3. This format also allows me to take breaks and come back to writing whenever I feel like it. Writing an AAR like this means I can take breaks and come back when I am feeling up to writing, which makes it easier on my schedule that way.

Oh I am also using mods, they are as followed:
1. UI Overhaul Dynamic
2. Immersive Beautiful Stellaris
3. Planetary Diversity (and all submods for it)
4. Gigastructural Engineering
5. Extra Ship Components NEXT
6. Ethics and Civics Classic
7. Plentiful Traditions 3.x
8. Government Variety Pack
9. Universal Resource Patch
10. Guilli's Planet Modifiers and Features
11. Basic Ordinary Origins
12. Cybrxkhan's Assortment of Namelists for Stellaris
13. All the patches required to get these damn things working together

Anyway, I welcome you aboard. Enjoy your stay, and lets write!

 

[Nax24]

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The idealists thinking the future would lead to humanity uniting together in unity and cooperation were wrong. As the climate worsened across the globe in the 21st century, and the people of Earth reeled in the face of crisis, the democracies of the world buckled. Wars soon broke out over resources, and soon the world was on the brink of complete collapse. Yet, in the shadows, a new ideology was growing. Eco-fascism’s popularity skyrocketed in the face of the climate catastrophe and the complete lack of action by the democratic states that be. Appealing to the desire to solve the climate crisis using authoritarian means, to bypass the stupidity of the democratic systems which brought down change, “Collective Parties” soon formed across the planet with the goal of using strong leadership to save humanity. One by one the democracies of the world fell to eco-fascism, with the new governments dealing with what they considered the greatest crisis to Earth, over-population. Soon, the crisis passed, and humanity recovered. The Collective Parties turned into a Collective Committee, and they united the planet under their banner of ensuring the survival of Earth’s ecosystem, and the survival of humanity by looking to the stars and conquering anyone who would stand in the way of humanity’s greatness. Humanity stared into the abyss, and the Collective will ensure that it is filled with the blood of their enemies.

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Not all humans agreed with the Collective’s fascist tendencies. While the desire to save Earth was shared among many of all ideologies, many humans refused to accept living under a fascist dictatorship. As such, many revolted at the prospect, and were brutally put down by the government, another tick in their overpopulation solutions. Eventually, a group of settlers decided to leave Earth. In 2180, a colonial ship departed for deep space to be far away from the grasp of fascist warlords. They landed on the planet of Calagash, a prairie world with rich soil and plenty of land. The humans of Calagash, understanding of the need to protect the environment of their new home, decided to adopt policies to grow with the planet instead of molding and exploiting it. Eventually, Calagash became a rustic society, full of farmers and small rural communities. Their united Republic became as simple, with a small government that managed the various rural communities while promoting self sufficiency. While Earth may have fallen to dictators, Calagash would become the last bastion of human liberty and freedom, all while maintaining a simple society free from the clutches of industrialization.

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The Heleionites were once one of the most powerful Empires in the galaxy. Having controlled large swathes of space, the Heleionites prided themselves on being a beacon of liberty, equality, and fraternity in a chaotic universe. Bonthorallala was a massive commercial hub and population center for the galaxy. Yet, time was a cruel mistress, and over the centuries, the Heleionites’ Free Empire grew hedonistic. Shouldn’t the races of the galaxy be thankful for the Heleionites preservation of liberty and equality? Why should they be hailed as “equal” to the great liberators of the galaxy, a beacon of progress and societal improvement? Thus this logic caused the Heleionites to spiral into hedonism and cruelty. Their demands for their subjects to be thankful for their freedoms and protection led to rampant xenophobia, an authoritarian grip, slavery markets, and the looting of settlements as “payment for allowing to live in such a free society”. Soon, this hypocrisy reached a climax with powerful families starting civil wars for control of the Empire, and the revolt of various peoples in the galaxy against the Heleionites. The Empire collapsed, and was reduced to nothing but a relic of its former power.

Yet, the Heleionites did not die. They simply went dormant, and now they are awoken, ready to liberate a galaxy that has failed to appreciate what the Heleionites offered. Long live the Free Empire, and destruction to those who failed to appreciate what that freedom meant!

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The people of Inque, the Crimlarian, are used to harsh environments and harsh rulers. As a colonial possession of the Heleionite Empire, they were subject to the same discrimination as everyone else. Yet, even with the oppression of the Heleionites, the Crimlarian were able to hold fast and make a living for themselves. Many Crimlarian made their way in the world as merchants and other men of commerce making and selling things to the Heleionites. Some even managed to secure property in the process, though they were outclassed by Heleionite lords. When the Heleionite Empire started faltering, the oppression got worse. The Crimlarian were on the brink of revolt. When word reached them of other revolts in the Empire, the Crimlarian jumped at the opportunity. One man, Kiras Sheothri, an officer in the Heleionites Auxiliary Corp, would be the most successful in his revolt. Soon, other rebels turned to him, and with his military cunning, he would lead the Crimlarian to victory. With Inque free, the Crimlarians soon began the process of establishing a state. They decided the best approach to ease the transition and to upset the least amount of fighters was to establish a symbiotic government, combining the traditions of the Imperial government of the Heleionites with democratic institutions that prevented such a hedonistic and corrupt authority, and would give true power to the people of Inque. With that, the Crimlarian overwhelmingly picked Kiras Sheothri as their first King, and his dynasty would see the Inque go to the stars.

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The Saudade are ancient. Some say they predate the Heleionites by centuries. Some even say they were reported as far past as some of the Precursor civilizations. Yet one thing remains clear, the Saudade were not ones to partake in the great galactic game. Ruled by the mysterious Solar Kings, an embodiment of their star and almost a divine presence, the Saudade live with the belief that the stars themselves have blessed their rule, and that all other polities will one day see their magnificence. Eventually, with the dawn of space travel, the Saudade were able to ascend to the stars, and fulfill their destiny to unite all under the blinding glory that is their civilization. The Solar Kings shall be rulers of multiple stars!

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Just because you are generous to your people doesnt mean you are to those not of your own. No race is a better example of this than the Radianer. The Radianer won the lottery where to evolve on, with Nishushu being a prime ocean planet. Warm and bountiful waters, no natural enemies, and the room to grow, the Radianer soon let their lot go directly to their head. While their Coalition Government, a Democratic state aimed to ensure the well-being of the Radianer, is by many accounts a very social government, the Radianer themselves are not fond of non-Radianers. In fact, their pompous attitude, coming from the fact that they had it so well (it must be because of their superiority right?) oftens leads them to disdain xenos. They also have a pompous attitude even towards each other, which reports indicating that the average Radianer conversation ends up with at least one heated comment thrown in egotistical rage. Indeed, for a people that had been given a winning lottery ticket, they refuse to let anyone else bask in their wealth.

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“Knowledge is for All to Obtain, and All to Enjoy”. That is the motto of the Educational Consensus of Popa Kapo. Pronda as a planet is unnatural in its make-up. The planet as a whole contains numerous bioluminescent plants, with records indicating that the planet itself faintly glows in space. To the Lonoid people, the nature of their homeworld only asked more questions. Thus, the intelligent Lonoid grew to develop a scholarly nature, and eventually were united in their quest for knowledge under one banner. The Lonoid dedicate their lives to the pursuit of science, that universal knowledge is something that all should seek, obtain, and share. This was only exemplified by the discovery of massive technological caches across Pronda. This only drove the quest for knowledge, and the Lonoid soon found themselves exploring the stars for more info. Their society is one that is bent around the procurement and exchange of information and science. A Lonoid would be happy to teach anyone about the wonders of the universe, and all are welcome to study on Pronda to further their minds.

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To say the Shobdamese people have had it rough over the years is an understatement. Thousands of years ago, the Shobdamese were evicted from their home planet and brought to this galaxy by a precursor. Over the next milenia, the Shobdamese worked as slaves for various empires on the hot and sandy planet of Amhleshshi. Whenever a new power took over the planet, the status of the Shobdamese people never changed. Even when the “Free Empire” of the Heleionites came and took the planet, they kept the Shobdamese as slaves, toiling away on the dunes. However, that was until a man named “Qazak” came into the picture. No knows anything about Qazak, only that he was a slave miner with a vision and cunning to organize a revolt. Knowing that the Heleionites were on the ropes, Qazak organized other slaves, and when the time came, they revolted. For the first time in their history, the Shobdamese rose up against their oppressors and took the planet for themselves. Yet, Qazak did not want power. In fact, after the “Great Revolution'' ended, he disappeared. Though he is honored as the “Great Revolutionary”, no one knows what happened to him. The society left after the overthrow of the Heleionites soon organized itself under one principal, no one would ever have power over a Shobdamese person, not a boss, emperor, president, whatever. This anarchist society would work off the principles of cooperation and communal assistance, helping the people grow and survive as a newly independent state. This world without bosses would now be the bastion for the Shobdamese people as they march out into the stars.

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War is a racket. That is the belief of the denizens of the Zaaco salt fields, the Wusthean. These thrifty merchants have always been traders, using their salt fields as currency for the various Empires that have come through the sector. Yet, there was also one thing that the Wusthean realized, these Empires were fighting each other constantly. As such, the Wusthean decided to turn to a more lucrative form of business, arms dealing. The Wusthean Compact is one of the largest arms suppliers in the sector. Not a single war, revolt, or coup has occurred without one side utilizing Wusthean guns and armaments in this galaxy. Flushed with cash, the Wusthean now look beyond their little corner of the galaxy to expand their business. For the natural state of two species is war, and the Wusthean stand to profit from this stance.

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The Gotspeiferian people always were an industrial society. Their home world, Ningalasum, being covered in mainly mud fields, was not really suited for growing much food, but it did contain many natural resources that could be turned into industrial goods. As such, industrialization went faster on Ningalasum compared to other societies. A unique Steampunk-esq society emerged as a result, combining the primitive technology with the rapidly advancing society. These industrial societies and merchants also came together under the banner of a Trade League, uniting the planet in commerce and industry. The goal of the League is to simply make money with their goods and expand their commerce to the far reaches of the Galaxy.

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Xurk’in, the “Galaxy’s Casino”. For centuries, Xurk’in was just a distant trading post on the fringes of the Heleionite Empire, a perfect location for illegal trade and activity. When the Heleionites fell, Xurk’in became a criminal bastion, a true Libertalia, for the criminals and gamblers of the galaxy. Yet, while many saw a lawless bastion of scum and villainy, some saw opportunity. Enter the Tikanids. The Tikanids set up residence on Xurk’in after a disaster rendered their homeworld uninhabitable. From there, members of their species soon developed a great idea: instead of making money using the illicit connections Xurk’in offered, they would instead make money by offering themselves up as protectors of such illicit dealings, trade, and businesses. As such, a new Syndicate was formed, a Syndicate that provided protection (sometimes by force) to the criminal enterprises of the Galaxy. Any criminal or mobster or Godfather with Tikanid guards or ships guarding their stuff was seen as powerful, and the Tikanids grew wealthy off the back of this. Soon, the Tikanan Syndicate became one of the most powerful gangs of enforces and espionage in the galaxy for the criminal underworld.

 

[Nax24]

Link to poll here. You have till Monday the 30th to vote!

 

[Nax24]

Book I: Subjects No More
(A Story from the Kingdom of Inque)

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Prologue: Injustice

The morning rays reflected off the snow, turning it into a sea of shimmering powder, and showering the roofs and roads with its brightness. As dawn broke over the peaceful town, its residents slowly began to stir. Another cold day. Shops slowly began to open up. Deliveries began to arrive, as the hustle and bustle of morning activity echoed across the small town, the cold frost biting at their coats. To any other person in this galaxy, the cold could be all that would occupy their minds. But to the Crimlarians of Inque, this was just another morning on their planet.

A young Crimlarian makes his way through the crowd at a brisk pace. His jacket, barely having time to be buttoned, flutters in the wind. Dodging, weaving, ducking under all the morning commuters and their cargo. Side-stepping carts and hovercraft as they slowly make their way down the main road or as they unload their goods at stores and markets. Eventually, the young boy makes his way through a group of stalls selling morning produce. “Don’t break your neck Ki” shouted a boy from one of the markets. The racing Crimlarian stopped and backed up to the stall. “I don’t want to clean up your blood this early in the morning.”

Ki tossed the other boy a coin, “Maybe some food will slow me down Mirak.”

Mirak slides the coin through his hands, and passes Ki a piece of steaming bread. “Fresh from the oven, just the way you like it.” Ki grabs the bread and begins eating it. “My old man sure knows how to please. Where the hell are you going anyway, I usually don’t see you sliding around like that this early in the day.”

“Get this,” said Ki, leaning on the counter. “We discovered a great spot to see the morska migration.”

“Morska? Damn Ki you really can be a nerd sometimes.” chuckled Mirak.

“How can you not be excited? There are going to be like, a billion of them!” said Ki. “Anyway, I need to get going or else I will miss it!” he said, devouring the last of his breakfast. “See you later Mirak”

“Tell Nalas I said hi.” smirked Mirak. Ki rolled his eyes and continued running off. Mirak continued arranging the stall for the morning business.

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Morska, giant gray lumbering beasts on four legs, with spikes on their hide, and great skeleton domes on their heads. Though docile and known for their plant-based diets, they are a sight to behold, and often migrate to areas of plentiful food in great heards. The Crimlarian often have to put up postings and barriers to direct the herds away from population centers and roads, but sometimes a poor sap can be stuck behind one for hours as they cross.

To Nalas though, they were a fascinating wonder of Inque, and very rarely has she gotten the chance to see them in person. From her hilltop perch, she could see a great plain full of the lumbering beasts, trudging through the snow, kicking up vast pumes of snow behind them. She read about this event in books but this was the first time seeing it in person. A panting sound soon came up from behind her. “You are late, you know that Ki?” she scolded.

“Give me a break Nalas, it's morning on a day we don’t have school, and you drag me out at the crack of dawn to see these things.” Ki said, sitting down on the laid out blanket.

“Last I recalled you were just as excited as I was to see these things.” remarked Nalas.

“Last I recalled you hyped them up so bad it was hard not to get excited.” jabbed back Ki. The two laughed at this as the roars of the Morska echoed across the morning snow.

“They sure are incredible though.” said Nalas. “No matter what we do, or what we build, we cannot stop them from going to where they need to go.”

“They are determined for sure.” said Ki in response. The two young Crimlarian sat and watched the Morska as they moved in one great pack across the snowy plain. “Hey Nalas… I wanted to ask you something…” said Ki, in a rather faint voice. “Would you-”

Just then, a low hum echoed over the scenery. It caught both the Crimlarian off guard. It grew louder and louder. Just as it reached its peak, a space-ship zoomed overhead, over the herd which was now in a panic frenzy at the sudden appearance of the flying metal object. The spaceship zoomed past the hill, brushing up snow in Ki and Nalas’s faces. After the shock of what happened wore off, Nalas spoke up. “That ship was heading for town…”

At this comment, the two bolted off back towards town.

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Jarlas watched as the ships descended on the market, their landing engines blowing down stalls and chasing away both customer and seller. Eventually, a nice open space surrounded by broken wood and cloth opened up, and the ship descended. Its engine turned off, and the exit ramp lowered. Jarlas, clutching his cane, hobbled up on his good leg, his bad leg aching as he stood. Exiting the craft, a group of people with green rippled skin emerged, brandishing weapons and armor.

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Jarlas knew who they were; Imperial soldiers, Heleionites. At their front was a man wearing the clothes of an Imperial officer, holding a tablet in his hand. The crowd of Crimlarians grew as the man disembarked, scanning the crowd of who he saw as alien subjects to his masters. He bellowed out after a few seconds of surveying the scene. “His Imperial Majesty, upon accessing the situation regarding the false pretender claiming His Majesty’s rightful throne, has deemed it necessary to call for a general levee of all people who enjoy the freedoms and liberty offered by His Majesty’s Imperial standard.”

Murmurs arose from the crowd as he made this statement. Jarlas clutched his leg, aching from the pain of a grenade’s shrapnel piercing it decades ago, the result of the last levee of subjects the Empire did. The Heleionite officer raised his tablet, “In my hands is a list of Crimlarian citizens of Inque who are to come with me to receive training and be deployed in the name of freedom and His Majesty. All those who reject the defense of His Majesty will be rejecting liberty and equality, embracing authoritarianism and persecution.”

“Hypocritical bastards” mumbled a man next to Jarlas.

“We will be visiting all those who have the honor of defending Inque from the threat of tyranny. Please, continue as you would.” said the Heleionite officer, as more soldiers emerged from the ship. Most were Heleionite, but some were subject conscripts, the poor souls who got a visit from the draft-man on their planets no doubt.

Jarlas turned away and hobbled back home, clutching his cane. When he arrived, his medicine shop was still closed, for he had not started morning preparations to open his doors yet. After he entered, he sat down at the front desk, sighing at the thought of the poor people who would be subject to this new draft, and knowing that resistance would end up with a bullet in his good leg. Just then, the door opened, and Jarlas stood up to see the sight of Ki walking in.

“Sir, I saw the ship fly by, what’s happening?” asked Ki.

“A visit from our dear protectors, that is all.” said Jarlas in a solemn tone. “Do not worry about it, they won’t be bothering us. Get the store ready.” At this, Ki nodded and began setting up for today’s business. How long has it been since Ki came to him? Ten years? Fifteen? Jarlas remembers the day the small child came to him, an orphan of a family that no one remembered, to be raised and cared for by him. Ki proved to be bright and energetic though, a great help to his aging self. Soon, Jarlas grew to care for the boy.

As his thoughts drifted off, the front door slammed open. “Afraid we don’t open for another few-” Jarlas stopped mid-sentence to see the Heleionite officer with two soldiers walk into his store.

“Jarlas Sheothri…” the officer began to speak, “Rejoice! For you have been selected for the great honor of defending the freedom of your people from tyranny!”

Jarlas stood up stunned at this comment. “That tablet must be wrong. I did my duty, and paid my fair share in blood.” he said, tapping his bad leg with his cane. “Now stop interrupting me, I have work to do.” As Jarlas began to hobble off, one of the soldier's body-blocked him from leaving the room.

“I am afraid, Mr. Sheothri, that my records are indeed correct and have been thoroughly vetted. Your name is on this list.” said the officer in a much sterner tone.

“I will say this again. I… was… already… drafted… once!” shouted Jarlas. “I served years ago, and as you can see I am incapable of fighting even if my name is on that list, which if it is, I want you to vet the guys doing the vetting.”

“You reject the call to defend freedom?” asked the officer.

“I already answered the call to defend whatever you think this life is once, long before you even got to officer school, son.” said Jarlas. The two men glared at each other in a silent and tense moment.

“Hey sir, we got a shipment of jutaka herbs, do you want me to set them in the mixing ro-” Ki stopped his sentence seeing the officer and Jarlas stare each other down.

“A son?” asked the officer.

“A ward. This is Kiras, my ward and assistant.” said Jarlas.

The officer looked at Kiras, and then at his men. He then nodded, and after looking through his tablet, smiled. “Apologies Mr. Sheothri, it does seem that you are not fit for duty. But sadly, someone from this house-hold must serve the defense of freedom, and if it can’t be you…” The officer snapped his fingers, and one of the soldiers walked over to Kiras, slapped the box out of his hand, and grabbed him by the shirt.

“What is this! That boy is too young to serve and he is under my protection!” screamed Jarlas. “Unhand him this instance, he cannot be conscripted according to the law!”

“The price of freedom requires that some laws be overlooked in times of crisis” said the officer, a smirk in his eyes.

“You rat bastards!” shouted Jarlas, as he raised his cane. At this, a blow smacked him right in the chest, and he flew back into his front counter, as a soldier pointed his gun right at Jarlas.

“What’s happening… sir… sir? SIR!?!” shouted a panicking Kiras, as he was dragged out of the house. Jarlas could only watch as the pain in his chest grew, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

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“Shit-heads conscripted Ki!” shouted an exhausted Mirak to the group of other kids. “I saw them drag him to the square!”

Nalas had difficulty processing what Mirak was saying. One of the other boys spoke up, “Isn’t he too young?”

“You think those ripply-skinned bastards care about the law when it comes to US?” said Mirak. “If we hurry we can catch him and get him out of here!” The kids nodded, stood up, and began running off. “Nalas!” shouted Mirak back, as Nalas struggled to comprehend the situation.

“They can’t do this… he could die out there…” she whispered to herself, as she stood up and ran with the boys.

Dodging and weaving through an angry crowd, the kids arrived at the market. Jeers echoed across the square.

“They are just kids!”

“You can’t take them!”

“They could die!”

Shouts and curses rose over the square where a group of soldiers had corralled their draftees. Nalas saw Kiras first, sitting and shaking in fear surrounded by other Crimlarian young adults. She couldn’t believe her friend was sitting there, one of her first friends in fact!

“Stand back!” shouted one of the Heleionite soldiers. Soon the conscripts were beginning to be loaded up onto the ship.

“Someone stop them!” shouted a voice. “They can’t do this!” shouted another.

Soon, one Crimlarian, shouting about her son, tried to rush forward. A soldier stopped her, as the mother tried to claw her way past the soldier. “Stand back!” he shouted. The mother soon turned her energy into grabbing the soldier's gun, which sent off panic among the soldiers. The soldier threw the mother off.

The gunshot came quickly, and the mother soon fell and laid on the snow. It slowly began to turn red around her silhouette. One of the boys on the ship started screaming about his mother, before being rifle-butted and dragged onto the ship. Panic erupted in the crowd as Crimlarians began to run for their lives. Mirak grabbed Nalas shouting “We gotta get out of here!”

Nalas could only watch while running away as the ramp of the ship closed, and the engines began to roar to life.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter I: Opening Salvos

The snowstorm was picking up bit by bit. The Crimlarian man shuffled through the abandoned street, only the light of the street-lamps guiding the way, and even they bowed to the whims of the snow storm. The man hurried along, until he saw the glow of the tavern. He knocked on the door loud enough to be heard even with the wind howling around him. A slit in the door opened up, with two eyes peering out. A nod, the slit closed, and the door opened. The man hurried inside to a quiet tavern. It was closed for “maintenance”, and inside, a group of about five Crimlarians were seated at one of the tables, the only one without chairs on top, conversation in full swing.

“I’m telling you, they got Drakus and his boys in the middle of shipping makeshift fertilizer bombs! Heard they hanged him and left his body to rot in the shipyard so that every shipper knows the penalty of illegal arms shipping.” said one of the Crimlarians.

“I heard they carted him off to be tortured. Think he would squeal if put in that spot?” asked another, a woman.

“It doesn't matter. Drakus’s group was just that, a single group. I heard that an entire village on the outskirts of Carabol chucked a Heleionite tax-collector out a window! Think about it, an entire bloody village ready to take up arms!” said another.

“I also heard that villages that do those kinds of things get met with a brigade of Heleionite soldiers and cops occupying their town under martial law. Not really good for resistance when the enforcers are breathing down your neck every day.” said a third.

“Look, we just need to organize everyone to get ready for a fight. I have a feeling it’s gonna come sooner rather than later, and I don’t want some spontaneous event to catch us off guard.” said a fourth.

“I don’t think we will be waiting that long.” said the Crimlarian who just entered. He pulled over a seat to sit. “Inque got itself a new Governor, if my sources are to be trusted.”

“A new Governor?” asked the second Crimlarian.

“The Empire is at its wits end. Reports say that they are getting hit with rebellions and agitation across its colonial expanse. People sick of the wars, the levees, the taxes, and the general disregard of the Heleionites. Word is that they are trying their damndest to cover up a slave revolt on one of their slave mine worlds.” he replied.

“Any idea who the new Governor could be?” asked the fourth Crimlarian.

“A military vet, and a ruthless one. Guy crushed a pretender revolt on Ipska and brought the pretender’s head back in a box for the Emperor, along with reports of thousands of his supporters dead and dumped into space around the planet.” the fifth Crimlarian replied.

“So they got a hard-ass to maintain order? That’s going to go well with the people.” said the first Crimlarian, laying back in his chair.

“Say what you will, but at this rate, a lot of Crimlarians are going to get strung up before we do anything-”

Just then, the door to the tavern bursted open, and four Heleionite soldiers walked into the tavern. The tavern-keeper looked over to the men, and hushed the other four conspirators. “Evening gentlemen. About to close for the night so I can’t get you any food, but I can get you a quick drink if you have the credits.”

One of the soldiers walked over to the bar, eyeing the gathered crowd. “I heard Inque has amazing tylaty snow-bombs. One for me and one for the lads, why don’t you?” The tavern-keeper nodded and began making the drinks. “Heard reports around the area that these taverns are becoming hot-beds of authoritarian demagogues and ungrateful rabble-rousers.” he continued.

“That so?” asked the tavern-keeper, not looking up.

“Yea, it’s a shame. You people don't know how good you have it.” said the soldier. “We give you technology, wealth, stability, and some of you turn around and chuck bombs at us!” laughing afterwards. “No wonder the Empire doesn’t consider you equals, you take all you can get and chuck out the rest.”

“Yet you wonder why they chuck bombs at you.” said one of the tavern guests.

One of the soldiers snapped forward. “Excuse me furball?” he said, getting in the guest’s face. “Care to repeat that?”

“I said, it would do you good to potentially understand why some of my people are angry.” said the guest.

“Aren’t you cheeky?” he said, putting the butt of his rifle on the table so it stood up straight. “Remember who keeps you safe, and remember who enforces order around these parts.”

“Private, that’s enough!” said the soldier at the bar. The private picked up his rifle and walked over to his superior. The tavern-keeper passed a drink over to the soldier. “We also received reports that some reputable establishments have turned themselves into dens of rebellion and chaos.”

“That so?” asked the tavern-keeper.

“Indeed it is.” replied the soldier. “We have reports that one such fine establishment… is this one right here.” he said, taking a long swig of his drink.

The tavern-keeper busted out laughing. “Sir, you would be hard-pressed to find anything of that sort in this tavern. Why would someone like me hurt my business and reputation by helping such people?”

“Then perhaps you won’t mind us peeking around your storage room…” said the soldier, handing a paper over to the tavern-keeper. He read it slowly. It was a search-warrant. The soldier nodded, and his three compatriors walked over to a side room door. The tavern guests all watched with anticipation, trying to hide the sweat slowly forming on their brows. The soldier kicked in the door to find…

“...nothing in here!” said one of the soldiers after surveying the entire room. It was just food, drinks, and containers. Nothing more and nothing less.

“Don’t be so sure…” said the lead soldier. He kneeled down on the floor, and began tapping. The taps were loud, until one tap made a hollow ringing noise. “Jack-pot…” he whispered, as he took his rifle and slammed it down on the floor, caving away the wooden door. He opened up a flashlight, and shone it around in the darkness. There were guns, lots of guns. Make-shift bombs, pamphlets, and all sorts of aggitation tools, all hidden within this secret shed.

“Well well well, what do we have here? Smuggling is a grave offense here in the Empire, especially illicit arms smuggling like this. You also are aware of the current emergency laws enacted on the pla-” The soldier could barely finish before a laser-shot echoed through the room. He looked down agasp as a small hole appeared in his chest, and looked up to see one of the tavern-guests holding a laser pistol pointed directly at him. He then collapsed on the floor.

The other soldiers, shaking the shock off, grabbed their guns, but they were too slow. An orchestra of shots rang out as the other tavern guests opened fire on the soldiers, killing the remaining three. When the dust settled, the tavern-keeper took a long swig of one of the drinks, and spoke up. “We need to move, now!”

As they grabbed the last box of gear and loaded it onto the truck, the tavern-keeper closed up the shop and locked it. “I got a friend in Yutsa who can help, we need to move though if we want to see the morning.” He started up the hover-truck, and it roared off from the back.

Yet, they were too late. As they got onto the main road, bright search-lights emulated from the road, and from behind them. “Get out with your hands up or die where you sit!” blared a horn. The five Crimlarians in the truck sat patiently for a second. They all knew what needed to be done.

“I said get out or die!” shouted the soldier, as the squad of men trained their guns on the truck and began moving forward. As they got close though, a crackling sound came from the back. Then, the truck exploded in a loud bang, sending the squad soldiers flying back. Windows around the road shattered as alarms began ringing. The soldiers picked themselves up, and looked on at the burning wreckage of the truck.

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​

This wasn’t General Optor Tervas’s first pacification mission. As he sat on the ship, he looked over the reports that came in from Inque. Agitation and resistance had grown ten-fold among the Crimlarians over the past fifteen years. Now there were reports of Crimlarians smuggling guns in and blowing themselves up if caught. He looked at the report of a make-shift truck bomb exploding killing the agitators and their gear to avoid confiscation by local authorities. This was the case throughout the Empire, the subjects of the Heleionites that weren’t Heleionites were agitating now that the Empire was going through bouts of conflict and internal strife. The Imperial Family was too busy squabbling with itself to render any meaningful change or strategy to deal with the crisis. Tervas feared that without a strong hand, the Empire would collapse.

The ship jolted, and its engines turned off. Unhooking himself from his seatbelt, Tervas stood up and stretched. He walked over to the exit ramp as it began to lower. A bolt of cold air slammed into his body, shivering him to the core. He heard that Inque was a cold planet, but he never knew how cold it could get. He heard the tales about how not one square foot of Inque is not hit by snow, and now he believed them. Could be worse though, could be Ipska, that jungle hell-hole.

As he walked off the ship, a cadre of soldiers greeted him with salutes. Walking past them, Tervas was soon met with another Heleionite administrator. “Welcome Lord Tervas, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your reassignment.”

“This is just another aspect of my duties, let’s make that clear right now, secretary.” said Tervas, walking past the secretary. “Give me a sitrep on the situation here, how bad it is, and don’t mince words.”

“Well my Lord, it appears that the Crimlarians are growing more agitated by the day. We recently have apprehended five-hundred suspects on accounts of agitation and rebellious behavior in the past week.” said the secretary.

“We conscript their men, quarter our enforcers with their women, and demand everything from them, no shit they hate us.” replied Tervas.

“My Lord, I wish to object to such ob-”

“Then tell me, what observations would be appropriate?” interrupted Tervas. “That this Empire thinks this planet is just another planet to extract bodies from?”

“Well, it’s not as simple as you may make it se-”

“It is as simple as I may make it seem. This Empire is failing to live up to its ideals.” said Tervas.

“That is slanderous talk regarding His Majesty’s do-”

“His Majesty should be thankful I delivered the head of the last guy out of five who tried to claim his throne, I think saying this kind of thing on my part would be allowed.” said Tervas. He stopped walking. “If we are to make sure Inque doesn’t break out into rebellion like other planets in the Empire, we need to repair the relationship the Empire has with the natives of this planet while also reminding them that blowing up fucking trucks in the streets is not tolerated. A carrot and a stick…”

“What do you suggest, my Lord?” asked the secretary.

Tervas continued walking, “First, we will separate the soldiers from the civilian population. It is clear that they can’t be trusted to handle this delicately. We should also look to bolster non-Heleionite enforcers on this planet, hopefully that will ease tensions on this planet. Keep the enforcers as hands-off as possible, only deploy them if someone tries to set off a bomb or smuggle weapons. Ensure maximum punishment for those caught doing that. I am sure that will be a good first step.”

Tervas walked over to the hover-craft that planned to carry him to the Governor’s residence. “If this Empire is to survive, we should strive to be true to the words we keep jabbing into our subjects rather than just use them to abuse those same people. So far, the only time this has happened has been on the battlefield, and trust me, I would know.” The hover-craft closed its doors, and began speeding off, leaving the secretary in a blinding snow blow-back.

----------------------------------------

​

Another nightmare. Explosions rocketed around as the Crimlarian soldier rushed forward. The sounds of Heleionite orders rushed past his ear along with the laser-shots. This planet was unknown, the terrain unfamiliar. On one side, Heleionites. On the other, Heleionites. Why was he fighting in this civil war between two people? He saw different species along with his own running towards the positions that his officers barked them towards. It didn’t matter where they were from, laser shots and shells didn’t discriminate by species.

As he rushed forward with his squad, a shell exploded in front of him, sending him back. When he came to, he saw a Heleionite soldier, one not wearing friendly symbols, standing over him with a rifle. Before he could shoot, a laser blast burned a hole in his head. A Heleionite soldier, one with friendly symbols, ran forward, and grabbed the Crimlarian. He stood up, and continued to rush forward blindly into combat, gun ready to shoot. But soon the orders soon blurred.

“Captain…”

He kept rushing forward.

“Captain…”

He kept seeing his comrades press on, Crimlarian and not.

“Captain Kiras!”

----------------------------------------​

Kiras awoke with a sudden jolt. He felt a bit sweaty. He looked around and saw the stewardess, looking over at him with a tray of beverages. “Sorry to disturb you Captain, but we have exited hyperspace above Inque, we will be approaching re-entry in a few minutes."

“Yea, sorry about that, a bad dream I supposed…” replied Kiras, as he strapped the safety belt on. How long has it been since he last saw his homeworld? Ten years? He was older now. He had scars from combat. He had traveled the galaxy fighting. He became an officer himself. But the snow covered plains of his home still echoed in his dreams. Did his friends and family think he was still alive?

As the ship approached the atmosphere, it began to jolt. They were re-entering. He grasped the handles next to him, looking around to see the other passengers. Some were Crimlarians like him, returning from duty. Others were Heleionites, tourists or bureaucrats in the colonial government. Either way, they all had the same destination in mind. Soon, the shaking stopped, and Kiras looked out the window to see his snow-covered home. “I’m home…” he muttered to himself.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter II: Homecoming

​

Kildary, one of the largest cities in Inque. To the Crimlarians, it is one of their most populous residential areas, full of residential areas, industry, and commerce. It is one of the few places on the planet that have a star-port, allowing for species off the planet to come and go. It is a major cultural center on the planet, and where poor and rich Crimlarians live. It is a metropolitan center, and a hub for transportation across the country.

To the Heleionites, it is a major administrative hub. Though the main administrative area is in another city, Jisata, where the Governor’s residence and the main offices of the colonial administrators of the Empire are located. Kildary is where trade between the wider Empire and the Crimlarians takes place, a major source of taxes and tariffs, a major source of recruits for auxiliary units, and a place where troops can be deployed rapidly in the event of unrest or an invasion on another part of the planet.

To Kiras, it was just where his ship dropped him off. This wasn’t his first time in Kildary. He was taken here back when he got conscripted. It was a major staging ground for deployments off Inque to conflict zones across the Empire. From here, he was shipped off to very basic training. Now, ten years later, here he was again. As he made his way through the city, and through the large crowds, sack over his shoulder, he kept looking at the various street signs. Vehicles moved past him, some blaring their horns. Taxis picked up and deposited people on the side-walk.

Yet this was nothing compared to the enforcer present. It is said that for every Taxi in Kildary, there are two enforcer cars, and for every ten people, an enforcer, and Kiras believed it. As he walked down the street, he saw a small squad of enforcers outside what looked to be a convenience shop. The car sirens were lightening up the block, as five Crimlarians were kneeled outside in cuffs. The enforcers were busy scouring the store, with one leaving it with a bag of rifles. Kiras kept walking, making sure never to make eye-contact with the enforcers.

Eventually, he came across a small loading warehouse in the city. Two Crimlarians were busy loading it up with goods. “Excuse me.” Kiras spoke to the men.

The two truckers looked up from their packing. “What do you want? We are busy.”

“I was told that you guys are heading out to Hodantas.” replied Kiras. A local at the docks told him of one of the few ways to get to remote destinations, catch a truck-ship that passes by. “There is a village that is a bit off the road but in the same general direction.” Kiras continued, pulling out a very torn and dirty map of the area.

“Woh woh woh pal.” said one of the truckers. “Not sure if you aren’t familiar but we aren’t a taxi service.”

“From what I understand this place doesn’t get any major public traffic from any of the cities, just the occasional truck delivering goods to it, and frankly I can’t be asked to look for and patiently wait for the next trucker going there for a lift, so I’m going for the next best thing.” said Kiras. He laid out a small cluster of credits. “Perhaps this will convince you to help?”

“Look pal, you need to understand-” the man was interrupted by Kiras placing another cluster of credits on the table. “Where did you say you needed to be dropped off?” Kiras pulled out the map and placed his finger on a village just between the two cities, off the beaten path. “Shit you really are remote. Best I can do is drop you off within a few hours walking from there.”

“I’ll take it.” said Kiras, rolling up his map. He walked over to the truck, and hopped inside. One of the truckers started up the truck, and then they were off. Kiras watched the city blaze by, and eventually, they got on one of the highways out of the city. Kildary grew fainter and fainter, before eventually fading out to the street lamps, headlights, and stars in the sky.

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“ORDER, ORDER” shouted the President of the Assembly. In a meeting hall somewhere in Hakara, a medium-size city near Jisata, a group of Crimlarians were debating. Fiery speeches were given, counter-arguments and arguments raged back and forth, foul words and words of support were thrown out. It was a heated environment, one that could only be found in a group of people who had been oppressed and looking for a way out. The big topic on the table though garnered more than the usual spree of harsh words and rhetoric, that topic being…

“Independence will doom us to be another failed society amongst the stars!” shouted a man at his chair. “While not one of us seated here will argue that the tyranny of the Heleionite Empire has been a terrible strain, one I must add is only getting worse in lieu of the wars and civil strife across it grow, it is of my belief that the Heleionite’s protection garners us security and stability from a hostile galaxy!”

“So we are to negotiate with our oppressors? Talk them out of cracking the skulls of our people whenever they look at an enforcer the wrong way?” shouted another assemblyman.

“The new Governor I have heard is willing to hear us out. Have you not seen the news regarding the easing up of law enforcement and military personnel within our cities? Have you not heard a pledge to make the enforcers more heterogeneous in its make-up to avoid species conflict?” shouted the speaker back.

“Of course, the problem is that we aren’t getting our heads smashed in by non-Heleionites! Brilliant!” joked a third assemblyman, as a group of others joined in laughter. “I say bring in whatever terrors the galaxy has to offer, for they are nothing compared to the terrors we face on a regular basis!”

The room continued on and on discussing the pros and cons of an independent Inque. To Liron Hopoi though, it was just nonsensical babbling. He had been at this assembly on what to do regarding the status of Inque in the Empire for weeks now, having been chosen by a group of his peers to represent them here. Yet, he already had his own opinions on the matter, and no amount of fancy political speech was going to change his mind. As he sat near the back, watching the politicians and village elders continue on about independence and co-dependency or whatever, a hand tapped his shoulder. “Sir… we have a situation…” said the voice in a whisper directly in his ear. Liron sighed, stood up, and excused himself from the room.

------------------------------------------------

“What?!?” Liron asked harshly to the three men standing in a side room. “He was an important runner and you are telling me that he got himself shot in a duel with the enforcers?” The three men just stared silently at the floor, with nothing to say. “Are you three just going to stand around in a fucking daze or are you going to start offering ideas as to how this happened?” he continued.

“Well he was known to be a fan of the ladies, maybe they snuck an informant in to get a confession?”

Liron sighed. “Okay fine that is a decent enough idea. Fuck me this bad…” he put his hands on his head and paced a bit. “What about his last shipment, the militia in Zandagor needs that ammo.”

“The shipment got out long before he was nabbed,” said one of the men.

“Okay… okay some good news at least. But if we are going to run this operation I need to make sure that our men don’t get themselves cornered like animals because some turn-coat offered to satisfy their lust.” said Liron, slumping into his chair. “Anything else?”

“No sir, that’s about it-”

“Alright then get out and keep fighting the good fight. Remember we are at war with those assholes, regardless of whatever those political people say in that meeting room.” Liron said, pointing his finger at each of them. “Got it?”

“Yes sir!” all three responded, before walking out.

Liron sighed before taking out a flask and taking a little swig. Liron had already made up his mind that independence was the best way forward for his people, it's just he didn’t have time to sit around listening to speeches or arguments. So he decided to agitate for freedom the direct way. Liron was the head of multiple resistance cells that have begun to sprung up across Inque in response to Helleionite tyranny, Crimlarians wanting to strike back against their oppressors. To Liron, these people were the best bet Inque had at freedom, and he needed to make sure that when the time was right, they’d have an entire army.

“Sounded like a fun conversation.” said a voice from outside the room. Liron looked up to see a slender Crimlarian woman standing at the door in business garb. “Wish I was a part of it.”

“Selvatas…” Her name came off Liron’s lips in a mocking manner. “You really do have an ear for danger don’t you? Here I was beginning to appreciate you in that outfit, the nicest one you have worn in ages.”

“Always a flirt aren’t you?” said Selvatas walking over and taking a seat. Liron passed the flask over to her and she began to drink. “You know you being here is just as surprising as I am.”

“What and miss out on those old men talking about how the Heleionites are gonna just casually let us be better off in their Empire. If I wanted a naive outlook, I’d ask a child what they’d thought.” replied Liron.

“Don’t be so cold, most of those old men benefit in some way from being subjects, whether it's good trade deals or at least some protection of their estates. Can’t say I blame them.” responded Selvatas.

“Selvatas, ever since we started working together you should know that I don’t give two shits if some rich Crimlarian cries over having to sell 2 acres of his 400 acre farm”

“And that is the reason why funds seem to never come in from those rich Crimlarians” said Selvatas. She passed over a document folder to Liron.

Liron opened it up with a curious expression. His eyes widened as he kept reading it. “How the hell did you-”

“Confidential informant, that sort of thing.” Selvatas said with a smug grin.

“Selvatas, this document contains a list of the Gektando’s agents and informants on this planet, the bloody secret police’s entire information network on Inque! You realize that whoever leaked you this info is dead ten rotations to the next cycle already right, and that they probably have been on your trail since you locked eyes with this person, right?” asked a concerned Liron.

“How about you don’t worry about me, and focus on using this information to the best of your ability. Who knows, maybe you can even get the girl who got your gun runner.” said Selvatas. “Have a little trust in your information network, why don’t you?”

“You do realize that with this information, I am going to act?” said a stunned Liron.

“You do realize that with this information, I expect you to?” said Selvatas. She stood up, and waltzed out the door. “Give them hell for me, Liron.”

------------------------------------------------​

“So that uniform, you are an auxiliary trooper aren’t you?” asked the trucker as the truck moved through the night. Slivers of the dawn rose up to greet his front view mirror.

Kiras stirred. He had just woken up from slumber, though a rocky one at best. “What?” he asked groggily.

“I asked if you were in the auxiliary corp? That special group of non-Heleionite soldiers I hear the Empire presses all its subjects into.” repeated the trucker.

Kiras chuckled. “Yea, I was. A captain actually.”

“An officer? Shit, didn’t even know that you could become an officer in that corp if your skin wasn’t green.” said the trucker.

“It is possible but it is uncommon, yes.” said Kiras.

“How long did you serve?” asked the trucker.

“Ten years I’d say?” answered Kiras.

“Shit, you must have fought on Ipska. Heard that the world was a jungle nightmare.” the trucker said, stunned.

“That was one place, yes. I was actually a part of the assault on Donmere Hill. Saw a lot of Crimlarians pressing forward, and a fair amount of good people died.” Kiras responded, solemnly, remembering the dream he had when he arrived on Inque.

“Why did you join?” asked the trucker.

“What makes you assume I had a choice?” said Kiras.

“Fuck… you were conscripted for that? Who am I kidding, that’s the only way anyone on this snowball ends up in an Imperial war. It was probably terrible I’d imagine.” said the trucker. “Say, that village you want me to get you close to, is that-”

“Where I grew up? Yes. Haven’t been home ever since. Lot of people probably think I’m dead.” interrupted Kiras.

“No kidding, I heard rumors that the auxiliary troops are mostly cannon fodder out there.” said the trucker.

“You would be correct in that assumption…” said Kiras, with a bit of sadness in his voice.

------------------------------------------------

​

Kiras hopped out the back of the truck. The trucker yelled at him, “This is about as close as I can get. Based on your map you are about a two hour walk from where you need to be. Think you’ll be alright?”

Kiras grabbed his ruck-sack from the truck. “Yea, it might have been ten years but I know this place like the back of my hand. Should not be difficult.”

“Well, good luck to ya then.” said the trucker. He closed the door, and sped off. Kiras swung his bag over his shoulder and turned to the woods. He began walking towards it, to home.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter III: Reunion

​

Governor Tervas stewed over the reports at his desk. Recent meetings of some “Assembly of Concerned Crimlarians” that were taking place in Hakara talking about things of a rebellious nature. Tervas’s advisors had suggested just sending in the troops and arresting everyone who attended this Assembly but Tervas declined. Not only because he felt disturbing such an event would only prove their anger true, but because the reports also indicated a fair number of Crimlarians, while upset with the status quo, were not radical enough to want full scale independence. After all, taking hostile action against the Assembly would just radicalize the people further. If he could end this situation diplomatically, it would spare the Empire from fighting a full scale rebellion, and allow it to focus on more pressing military matters, like that small slave uprising on Amhleshshi or another pretender crisis brewing on the outskirts of the Empire.

Regardless though, Tervas would keep his men on alert in the event the Crimlarians got any bright ideas about rebelling. Just then there was a knock at the door, and Tervas’s secretary poked his head in. “My Lord, your 14:30 is here”.

The Governor nodded, and the door opened to the sound of chittering on the floor. A rather sizable spider-like creature dressed in somewhat formal clothes walked into the room. “Governor Tervas!” it said. “It is an honor to meet one of the heroes at Ipska! I heard you used our product to great use there.”

“Commissioner Xeluch.” replied Tervas, who stood and walked over to the being. “Please, take a seat, I have much to discuss.”

The two sat down and a secretary brought over drinks for the two. “So tell me,” began Xeluch. “Normally Governors of the Empire don’t call us out personally for meetings like this, most of our business is done with direct Imperial authorities and the Imperial military. As you know, the Compact is very particular about following this procedure.”

Procedure. That word always felt hollow coming from a Wusthean. Their Compact was always out to make money regardless, breaking procedure was a worthwhile business strategy if it made them rich. “Well, as you know, I am in charge of the people of Inque, ensuring their loyalty to the Empire, and ensuring the planet’s peace and stability. Tell me something Commissioner, what do you think would be a great threat to that stability?”

“Governor Tervas I understand that Inque is an at-risk zone for conflict, and I was briefed by my superiors who got their information from yours about the volatility of the situation. Rest assured the Compact will continue its shipments to the Empire to help bolster its projection onto-”

“It’s not your sales to the Empire that I called you in for this meeting today Commissioner…” said Tervas, throwing down a vanilla folder.

Xeluch picked it up and began fidgeting through it. His chittering grew more and more restless as he read. “T-t-this is proprietary Compact information Governor, I do not know how you got but-”

“But it shows a history of transactions between Compact sellers and unknown entities on this planet. Perhaps the cache of Compact firearms that we have been finding in volatile areas of the planet would be more convincing? I can show you directly but you would have to mind the soldiers that died fighting the people who bought them.” said Tervas staunchly. He took a long swig from his drink. “Commissioner, I do not share this information with you lightly, but understand that I am not blind to the transactions your Compact has been making with rebellious forces on Inque, and you will not be able to hide it otherwise.”

“You are throwing hefty accusations around the Governor, I can report to the Compact about all of this and we will see if our deals survive.” said a quiet and aggressive commissioner.

“From what I understand there was an understanding that the Compact would not sell to internal hostile factions, that the only sales the Compact would make in Heleionite space were to be to official Heleionite businesses. If you do break off the contracts as a result of me sharing this information with you with the Empire, it will be tantamount to an acceptance of guilt and the Empire will act accordingly.” said Tervas.

“Is this a threat from the Empire?” asked Xeluch.

“No, it’s a threat from me. If I continue to find shipments from your company here on my planet killing my soldiers, I will convince the Empire to do more than just re-negotiate our contracts.” said Tervas.

“You know we can’t keep track of all our shipments, Governor.” said a more nervous Xeluch.

“Then you better start fucking trying.” said the Governor. “Do we have an understanding?”

Xeluch, completely stunned, stood up and brushed off his jacket. “I… will see what I can do…” he said. “I will be taking my leave now.” he said, as he turned and walked away.

Xeluch passed the secretary who walked in afterwards. “My Lord, are you sure this is the right call?”

“The Compact is one of the biggest arms dealers in the galaxy, if I can close that line of weapons proliferation to the rebels here, then we can at least outgun them if the worst case scenario comes. If they find a major source of weapons is gone, maybe they will reconsider their stance.”

“My Lord, with all due respect, is this worth jeopardizing the contracts the Empire has with the Compact, or risking war with them?” asked the Secretary.

Tervas looked out the window over the city. “We are in a crisis, anything should be allowed…”

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Jarlas Sheothri was getting too old for this business. He struggled with the box as he entered the room, and slowly walked over to the counter. He put it down with a heavy grunt. Sunlight was just entering the front room of his medicine shop, soon it would be time to once again open the shop. He slowly began arranging the bottles on the cabinets and shelves. This new shipment was needed, for he was running out of fever medication. As he slowly put the bottles on the shelves, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg. He dropped a glass bottle as a result and it fell, crashing into the ground. He grunted, and sat down on a chair near the front. His leg just needed a rest, nothing more.

As Jarlas was resting his leg, he heard the door open. “We don’t open for another hour, come back later” he said, not looking up. He heard foot-steps towards the front, and something got set on a table. Jarlas was frustrated, his leg was still hurting. He stood up, “Hey! I said we are closed! Come bac-”

He saw the patron, bent down over the broken bottle, grinding some of the powder between his fingers. “Kitora powder. You mix this with water and it is used to help bring down fevers. Prominent antibiotic on Inque. Also useful for migraines and general head-aches.”

Jarlas grabbed his cane and hobbled over. “That… is correct… but I’m not hiring if you are saying this to get a job.”

The patron stood up and looked Jarlas in the eyes. “Appreciate you not giving up my spot after all these years… old man…”

“Old man?” said Jarlas. He laughed a bit. “No one has called me that in years. The last person who did-”

“Was Kiras, wasn’t it?” asked the patron.

Jarlas was stunned. “How could you possibly know that? I have never seen you around and I know everyone in this town.”

“He got conscripted, didn't he? You tried to stop the Heleionites from taking him away and got a boot to the chest instead.” said the patron.

Jarlas was still stunned. “Impossible… no one would be able to remember that, besides me and-”

At this the patron winked. Jarlas couldn’t bring himself to speak. His cane dropped to the floor with a sudden thud. “It can’t be…”

Kiras smiled. “I’m home, old man.”

Jarlas walked forward, he felt a tear going down his eyes. He rushed forward and embraced his young pupil, as light sobs echoed throughout the store.

-------------------------------------------​

“We thought you were killed.” said Jarlas, as he set the drink in front of Kiras. “After a few years of no reports, we figured you were either dead or too injured to come home.” Jarlas sat down in front of Kiras. “But look at you, you managed to get out, and are a captain too!” Jarlas tapped his bad leg. “You made it out in better shape than I did at least.”

“I don’t blame you for thinking I was gone. I honestly am amazed you remembered me after all this time. Figured you’d get another helper or something.” said Kiras.

Jarlas laughed at this. “My boy, I didn't have the heart to replace you after what happened. It felt cruel to just shrug off them taking you away after you have lived here for so long that it didn’t feel right to just put up a help-wanted sign. So I kept chugging forward alone.” Jarlas took a big swig of his drink. “I suppose the extra work was a self-inflicted punishment on me for letting you get taken away without putting up a great fight.”

“And get shot? What good would that do everyone in this town?” said Kiras.

“It at least would have shown the town that there are some things worth dying over,” said Jarlas. “You only experienced the harsh realities of our situation ten years ago. I’ve been living with them for much longer than you’d been alive.” he said, once again rubbing his leg. “Frankly, I might die before seeing anything change.”

“Your nihilism is showing again, old man.” said Kiras.

“That it is,” replied Jarlas. “I hope to be proven wrong one day though. I just don’t see us getting the resolve to fight such a powerful organization, no matter how weak it is compared to the past as a united species.”

“I heard that there is a big meeting happening in Hakara where people are talking about this kind of thing,” said Kiras. “Heard about it while walking through town.”

“I’m not gonna hold my breath over some rich merchants debating over whether opposing tyranny is worth hurting their bottom line over.” said Jarlas. He stood up. “To get off this subject I am sure I am not the only one who will be thrilled beyond belief that you are here and alive. Make sure your friends know you are here too.”

“Are they still around?” asked Kiras. “I’d figured they were off doing other things and whatnot.”

“Well, partially right. Mirak has upgraded to a proud merchant that transports goods across the planet. He made his father’s savvy seem like obliviousness, outpacing him in profit margins and revenue.” said Jarlas.

“That is something that does not surprise me. He was the only one to manage to sell something for three times the amount and make it look like the customer won out in the end.” said Kiras.

“Nuravar has taken up capacity as mayor of this town. I am sure you remember him romping around with you? Small-time local politician I suppose. You should stop by and say hi, I guarantee he will have some big feast for your return!” said Jarlas.

“I am not one for big parties-”

“Nonsense, you are alive, that is something that the whole damn town will want to celebrate,” said Jarlas. He stood up, and began walking over to the counter.

“What about Nalas?” stuttered out Kiras.

“You mean the good Doctor?” replied Jarlas.

“Doctor?” asked a stunned Kiras.

“Oh yes. You know that she was into that biology stuff. She went and got certified to practice medicine. Has been working with me to keep the town healthy. Last I checked though she was off providing aid to another village, and I am not sure when she will be back.” said Jarlas. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason…” said Kiras. “I’m sure I’ll run into her at some point.” he rubbed the back of his head.

He then felt a broom get shoved into his chest. “As for now though, I am reinstating you as my helper.” Jarlas chuckled seeing Kiras’s shock. “You really think I’m gonna just let you crash here and not put you back to work? You must have forgotten so much since you left.”

“Fine…” smiled Kiras, as he proceeded to sweep up the broken bottle on the floor.

-------------------------------------------

“Hey come on, you guys are already four hours late! What gives!?!” shouted Mirak in the dockyard as the container ship finally docked. The cargo bay opened up and a dozen Gotspeiferian traders rushed out and began unloading the large containers. The tiny things were very quick to begin finalizing contracts and apologizing for their tardiness. One of them walked over to Mirak and began bowing profusely.

“I am terribly sorry for the delay Mr. Iosp! Customs held us up for much longer than expected and the tariffs were much harsher than the League anticipated!”


“Look, I understand trading here is getting harder every day with all these wars going on, but I hope you aren’t going to use the tariffs to try and raise the selling price we signed a contract for.” said Mirak.

“And hurt our credibility? No no no Mr. Iosp! Even if we do not make a tidy profit, we are true to our word and to our customers. There will be no hassling over the contract. All we ask is that you continue utilizing the League for your shipping concerns!” said the Gotspeiferian merchant.

“An honest merchant? See this is why we like trading with you little things, you guys actually know how to instill loyalty to your brand. That alone makes you miles better than every Heleionite merchant I had to deal with.” said Mirak. He grabbed the receipt and signed it, before handing it back to the Gotspeiferian. He snapped his fingers and a large forklift lifted a large container of fertilizer onto the truck. “With the tariffs, we aren’t getting much in terms of growing supplies during the growing season. I’d figure I could sell fertilizer at a markup and make a bigger profit.” said Mirak.

“A shrewd merchant I see.” said the Gotspeiferian, before bowing and going back to his duties. Mirak sighed, and walked over to the drivers regarding the shipping plan.

“Look at you abusing a potential crisis for more money,” said a familiar voice. Mirak turned around. “In some sectors of the galaxy they call that extortion,” said Liron.

“Well when the government decides to start handing this shit out for free to Crimlarians let me know,” said Mirak. “What can I do today for you Assemblyman?”

“Don’t start with that shit. You know I hate being there.” said Liron, waving a hand.

Mirak chuckled a bit. “I can tell you something, at least being free of the Empire will make the tariffs go away and not cost me a pretty penny whenever someone tries to sell something on this damn planet.”

Liron chuckled in return. “Now, regarding your last shipment, I think I owe you something.” Liron threw Mirak a bag of credits. “A tip for your trouble.”

“If I was in a worse mood, I’d demand double for almost getting one of my drivers killed!” said Mirak. “You know how hard it is to hide grenades in bread containers?”

“But they got through in one piece didn’t they?” said Liron. “I got what I wanted, you got paid, everyone is happy!”

“Just put it to good use and keep my name as far away from the damage as possible,” said Mirak. Just as he said this, his caller began to ring in his pocket. “One second. Hello?” he said to the caller.

“Yea… yea… uh huh… WHAT!?!?!” shouted Mirak in a stunned gaze. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? You aren’t just messing with me? He’s having a what? Okay… okay… yea I’ll be there… if you are lying to me, I’ll rip your throat out.” Mirak hung up and turned over to Liron. “Sorry but I have to head back to my hometown.” He looked over to the truckers. “You boys are handling this without me, don’t screw this up!”

“Someone sounds excited, good news?” asked Liron.

“You know that best friend I told you about when I was a kid?” asked Mirak.

“I remember you saying he died in a war.” replied Liron.

“Turns out he didn't…”

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter IV: Death and Celebration​

​

“My Lord please, you must understand, the radicals are growing stronger and stronger!” Assemblyman Quros stated. “I can’t control the dialogue in the Assembly anymore, the voices for complete independence are growing louder!”

“Assemblyman, please.” responded Governor Tervas. The Crimlarian and Heleionite stood in a meeting room, as the Governor overlooked documents. “The Empire cannot risk military intervention on Inque in this time of crisis, our forces are spread too thin with small uprisings cropping up across the Empire. A large-scale revolt on Inque would prove disastrous to all parties.”

“I need not be reminded. Many business and entrepreneurial endeavors rely on the good trade status Inque has with the rest of the Empire. It would be ruinous if that status were to change due to a hand-full of radicals.”

“A hand-full?” asked the Governor. “Do you know how many of you people I have incarcerated on charges related to rebellion in this past day alone?”

Quors began, “I am sure it is not in any way representative of the larger population-”

“6,853 to be exact.” replied the Governor. “Yesterday it was 6,212, the day before was 6,019, and so on.”

“My Lord forgive me, is there a reason for these stats?” asked Quros.

“The number of cases across this planet are rising. They have been increasing daily at a shocking rate. My enforcers are stretching thin hunting these rebels down, and are begging me for more manpower and supplies… to let them off the leash I put them on.”

“Then let them loose! These rebels must be dealt with. My people are not traitors to the Empire!” shouted Quros.

“Afraid that is not a tool at my disposal. The enforcers are part of the reason why you people are rebellious to begin with.” calmly replied Tervas.

“Then you risk all out war. Something will come and cause those radicals to snap, and when they do, stars help you Governor.” replied Quros.

“Then you must ensure that you and your cohorts continue to work and suppress any treasonous voices wanting independence. If the Crimlarians see that the radicals are but a minority, they will not be eager to join them and risk Heleionite bullets. Wannabe rebels are just that after all, especially when things get bloody.”

“I hope the Empire upholds its end of the bargain in return.” replied Quros.

“The Empire rewards loyalty and punishes treason dear Assemblyman. Just make sure that the radicals are suppressed and silenced within the halls, and the press will handle the rest.” said the Governor. “You are dismissed.”

“Sir I should warn you-”

“You. Are. Dismissed.” said Tervas, harshly. Quros bowed and walked out of the room. Tervas continued to fumble through some documents.

His secretary walked over to him. “Those reports were courtesy of the Gektando. Agent Jastot sends his regards.”

“Yes, our beloved secret agent is keeping tabs and spying on our enemies,” said Tervas. He flipped through the papers. They contained information regarding some of the more radical members of the Assembly, the ones agitating the most for independence. One name though did stick out to Tervas. “Liron Hopoi… This page seems to be rather lacking.”

Tervas looked down from his window to see Assemblyman Quros enter his hover-car. “It doesn’t take much to convince those who have the most to lose from leaving the Empire to work for you. Quros is a perfect example of this.” He said to his secretary. “One of the richest Crimlarians on the planet, at my mercy. He is a great pawn indeed.”

“I am sure he has plenty of enemies in the Assembly and in the people.” replied the secretary.

“Indeed. But anyone smart enough to know that Quros and his cohorts are in partnership with me would not dare lay a finger on them. My neglect only goes so far.” Tervas looked down to see Quros talk with his driver before getting in the car. He looked away and back at his papers.

Just then, the building shook, and a muffled explosion could be heard. Tervas turned around and looked down to see a plume of fire and smoke rising from where Quros’s car was. Broken glass and concrete surrounded the area, as a group of Heleionite spectators were thrown to the ground, some bleeding. The doors behind the Governor opened and three enforcers rushed in. “Sir, there has been an incident, we need to take you to the safe room.”

Tervas smirked a bit. “I guess I was wrong…”

--------------------------------------​

“Quros Vitunda was tragically murdered in an explosion earlier today. After leaving an appointment with the Governor, Quros was killed in an explosion. Reports indicate that a bomb was placed under his car and timed to explode when he was leaving the appointment. We now go live to the Governor’s residence for more-”

Selvatas walked past without paying much attention to the newscast. Bunch of Heleionite propaganda, anyone with eyes could see it as such. The news constantly flowed of attacks and murders caused by Crimlarian agitators but never dared to talk about the fifty or so Heleionite atrocities committed daily. It made her sick. Now that a friend of the Empire was dead, and a Crimlarian too, Selvatas predicted annoyance at the million or so commentators talking about how Crimlarians are ungovernable and ungrateful little shits.

She pressed on, as the snow lightly fell across the cold sky. She reached the square, her destination, where Liron was waiting for her. In the square, was a display that Liron was fixated on, and Selvatas understood why. The two stood next to each other in silence before Selvatas cut to the chase. “Was it your doing?” she asked.

“What was?” replied Liron.

“Quros. Was that your doing?” asked Selvatas.

Liron chuckled a bit. “Did you know that Quros was labeled by the Gektando as an informant? A handful of his allies also?” asked Liron in reply.

“I gave you the damn document, yes I knew.” said Selvatas. “I thought you were going to just go after the small-time informants that were a direct threat to your cells, but this… this is crazy.”

“You really going to mourn for Quros Vitunda, a man who’d sell out his own people for a quick buck? No one loved him, and no one will miss him. The only reason why he was tolerated in the Assembly was because of his wealth and influence in the government.” said Liron. “We thought he could be useful for communication with the government to try and resolve this peacefully. Your document proved that he thought differently.”

“So you blew him up with a car bomb?” asked Selvatas.

Liron laughed. “I didn’t. I just made a comment to certain individuals and they seem to have done the rest. It wasn’t me who told them to blow up Quros.”

“The Gektando won’t see it as such. You and the rest of the independence faction are in their crosshairs and blowing up an ally is going to get you all killed.” said Selvatas.

“Tervas isn’t one to make martyrs or cause a scene. If he can’t prove anything, he won’t take action, and he can’t prove anything.” said Liron.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Selvatas.

Liron turned to face her. “Gut feeling I suppose. Maybe I am wrong and you’ll see me dangling from a lamppost in an hour.”

“That is a sight I’d rather not see,” said Selvatas.

“The rest of Quros’s allies are going to be outed as allies to Tervas and the Empire, and working in bad faith to undermine the entire Assembly. Those who wish to reconcile with the Empire will lose power in the Assembly, and we will be one step closer to getting a consensus on independence.” said Liron.

“Or the violence will cause everyone to reconsider this cause,” said Selvatas.

“If this causes them to change their mind they never wanted independence in the first place.” said Liron, he patted Selvatas on the shoulder. “But, getting one of Tervas’s allies makes up for all the friends he’s taking from us…” Liron walked away from the square.

Selvatas looked back at the display, the dangling bodies of Crimlarians blowing in the breeze. Five total, four male, one female, all accused. Selvatas knew that even if Inque wasn’t at war with the Empire, to Liron, it might as well be.

--------------------------------------

​

“OUR LOST SON HAS RETURNED TO US!” shouted Mirak as he and the rest of the square raised their glasses and cheered. The party was in full swing by this point. The village square had been converted into a make-shift party, with food, drink, and entertainment playing all throughout the street-lamp lit area under the night sky. Crimlarians danced, ate, and drank themselves silly in this impromptu party.

Kiras knew that this was all happening because of his return. When Nuravar came to him with the idea that a party be held for his return, he balked at it. “Nonsense! You are alive, and have made it home safe! This is cause for celebration!” Those words echoed in Kiras’s head as he sat on a raised platform with Nuravar, Jarlas, and Mirak seated next to him. He never realized how badly people must have missed him, enough to warrant a party at least.

“Hey come on why you gotta be so modest-looking?” slurred a rather tipsy Mirak as he wrapped his arm around Kiras. “I’m over here still in disbelief that you managed to survive ten years in that hell-hole of an army and you are acting like that’s not cause for celebration!” Kiras remember when Mirak came home. The man was almost in tears when he busted into Jarlas’s store. For all his snarkiness and wit, Mirak was still one of Kiras’s best friends, and Mirak insisted that this party be thrown, going as far as to front the cost for most of the alcohol and food. “Loosen up! Have a drink! Dance with one of your new admirers!” said Mirak, taking another swig out of his glass.

“Haven’t really been much of a drinker.” replied Kiras.

“Ah you prude! I am sure whatever slosh they served you in that army is nothing compared to a good Inque Janka!” Mirak shouted. He snapped his fingers at a waiter to bring over more booze. Kiras knew he was in for a long night. “I am sure you have some crazy stories to tell about the Empire too,” said Mirak.

“Not really,” said Kiras.

“Nothing? No alien women? No fancy planets? No dangerous battles?” asked Mirak.

“Nothing like that… my experience is that of any non-Heleionite serving.” said Kiras.

“So lots of xenophobia and getting shoved into suicide charges?” asked Mirak.

“Something like that I suppose,” said Kiras.

“Ah…” said Mirak, realizing what he was saying. “Sorry about pressing it mate, must have been more hell than exciting.”

Kiras looked at his intoxicated friend. “Nah, don’t apologize, it’s just not something I want to really remember at the moment.”

“Well, drinking will help liven your mood for sure! WAITER! WE NEED AN EXTRA GLASS!” shouted Mirak. The waiter at the barrels shouted something back. “WHAT? Hold on Kiras, I can’t hear them…” Mirak stood up and stumbled over to the barrels.

Kiras looked around a bit to see most of the town was having a blast. Many were beginning to become visibly intoxicated. Food was running out too. Kiras still couldn’t believe that this was all for him, it was a lot to take in. He quietly stood up.

“Hey, where are you going?” asked Nuravar, who was discussing with other village councilors.

“Sorry, just gonna get some air, don’t mind me. I’ll be back” said Kiras, waving as he walked away.

--------------------------------------​

The hill still overlooked the snowy plains below. At night however, everything was calm. Not a sound echoed through the valley, not a creature stirred. The wind had died down to a light breeze. Kiras looked over the area, undisturbed snow and trees stretching for miles. It had not changed a bit since when he was last here. Nothing really has changed. Everyone had just gotten older. The village had continued on as normal, and everyone was just trying to scrape by on Inque. Kiras’s friends all grew up and got jobs, and he wasn’t there to see it. Would his life have been different had he not been conscripted? Kiras shrugged it off, he didn’t like dwelling on hypotheticals and what-ifs. He picked up a handful of snow, compacted it into a snow-ball, and chucked it with all his might into the valley, where it plopped onto the plain.

“Let me guess… you think that I am a ghost or some charlatan who fooled your village?” asked Kiras. “That I am not really the Kiras you remember?” Kiras turned around to see another Crimlarian, hood up. “I was wondering when I would see you again.” The other Crimlarian pulled her hood down. She looked at Kiras directly. “Hey Nalas… or should I say Dr. Nalas.” said Kiras as he walked over.

“I heard that you were alive… it has been so long that I figured this was some sort of cruel trick.” replied Nalas.

“Well… since I am here, obviously I am who I say I am.” replied Kiras. He paused for a bit as he saw a tear run down Nalas’s face.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” said Nalas, with a quiver in her voice. After this, she ran forward and embraced Kiras. “I thought you were dead. We all did.” she said, as soft sobs began to echo through the area.

“I’m home.” said Kiras, as he returned the embrace. “I’m home.”

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter V: Same as it Ever Was

​

“A captain aye?” asked Nalas as she walked through the forest with Kiras. “I didn’t think they let Crimlarians become officers.”

“I was just as surprised. There I was standing in front of a Heleionite Colonel, all nervous, when he just tossed me some medal. ‘Congratulations, you are now a Captain!’ I believe it was his words before he went and did something else. Not much fanfare from anyone, and I just went about the rest of the day as usual” replied Kiras.

Nalas laughed. “They just casually made you a commanding officer without much batting an eye? I imagined you earned it beyond a reasonable doubt and those Heleionites had no choice! Explains the bitterness I’d imagine!”

Kiras smirked. “You give me too much credit. I didn’t feel like I did anything worthy of being denoted a leader. I was just trying to survive.” Kiras looked over at Nalas. “But enough about me, I heard you have been traveling a lot since getting your fancy degree.”

“You’d be surprised how many villages lack basic health infrastructure,” said Nalas. “Jarlas has been a blessing for home but due to the lack of supply of basic medicine and the lack of infrastructure or a desire to have some by our overlords, a lot of villages have been suffering. As such, I travel around to help when I can, but I am just one Crimlarian.”

“You are saving lives I imagine, I just took them. That makes your occupation much more respectable than mine.” replied Kiras.

Nalas blushed a little. “But you stared down death more times than me. Worst I ran into were some Heleionite brutes trying to extort a little extra toll.”

“Still, it’s amazing how much you guys got up to while I was gone. Feel like I’m gonna need to play catch up for all the years I lost.” chuckled Kiras.

“Well you got off to a pretty great start seeing that you had an entire damn party thrown for your return. Wish I had such fanfare whenever I come home to visit! Mirak is a cheap bastard when it comes to these things so seeing him help foot the bill for this was a shock.” said Nalas.

“I guess he still is and will always be a shrewd merchant,” said Kiras.

“Though I have to ask…” said Nalas as she stepped in front of Kiras and stopped his progress. “What is your plan at the moment? I know you said you were going to go back to work helping Jarlas, but what else is there?”

“I honestly do not know… I haven’t really given much thought to it. Jarlas might retire soon and I think I am experienced enough to take over for the old man.” said Kiras.

Nalas bursted out laughing. “As if you can step into those shoes! Managing an entire pharmacy and supplying medicine in correct quantities and dosages for an entire village?” asked Nalas.

“Hey someone has got to do it…” said Kiras.

“Well… I have a proposition for you then!” said Nalas as she leaned in. “Let me help with the medicine side of things when you take over!”

Kiras was stunned. “You want to help out at the shop?”

“Yea why not! I can help with managing the medical aspects and you can handle everything else!” said Nalas. “We can be a pretty good team you and I, just like when we went animal spotting in the woods as kids!”

“What about those villages you help out?” asked Kiras.

“I can make some time to go help them whenever the shop isn’t busy!” said Nalas. “After all, I am the only one in the village who knows anything about medicine, feel like I am obliged to assist!”

Kiras rubbed his temple. “I appreciate the offer but I can’t ask you to do th-”

“Well you don’t need to! I am all willing to help you out and get a normal life and job!” exclaimed Nalas.

Kiras smiled. She also hasn’t changed on this front. “Fine. I accept your offer.” he said.

Nalas clapped her hands together! “Splendid! I can help as soon as possible! Just make sure the shop doesn’t get burned down before I start!”

Kiras laughed. “I’d say that to Jarlas before anyone else.”

“Well, now that we have your career set out, what other goals do you have for returning to civilian life?” asked Nalas.

“I would be lying if I said I had a plan besides that…” said Kiras. “Probably just try to live as quiet a life as possible.”

“Take it one step at a time I presume?” asked Nalas.

“Something like that, just let things come my way. If I can enjoy a peaceful life after everything, I would feel pretty lucky.” said Kiras. He walked past Nalas. “Maybe even… no, that’s not something important right now.”

“What isn't?” asked Nalas.

“Don’t worry about it!” said Kiras as he continued to walk.

“Come on! Don’t leave me hanging!” shouted Nalas as she ran after Kiras.

--------------------------------------

​

The booze caused Mirak’s vision to be hazy. How long has he been drinking for? Shit, what time was it? He rubbed his eyes, and his vision did not get any clearer. He sat, dazed in his chair as the party began winding down. Where was Kiras? Mirak didn’t throw this party just to have the guest of honor stand up and leave for the evening before anyone else, and sober too! Mirak looked around and saw some drunk Crimlarians walking home. Damn, cleaning up this mess is going to be a problem hungover. The lights were getting to him too, the lights hung up for the party were starting to strain his eyes, the blue and red flashing lights were throwing him off, the light of the celestial bodies made turning away harder, the-

Wait, blue and red flashing lights?

“Fuck me…” said Mirak, as he suddenly realized what that meant. Enforcers had shown up. He struggled to stand up as the enforcer craft pulled into the square right in front of the party. All small talk and noises ended, and those leaving the party started trying to walk faster.

The enforcers got out of their car, armed and armored. Their rifles slung over their backs. Mirak stumbled over to meet them, and even in his drunken state realized that they were not looking happy. “What can I do for you, esteemed officers?” asked Mirak, trying his hardest not to slur his speech.

“We are looking for Mayor Nuravar, do you know where he is?” asked one of the enforcers.

“Sorry lads, the good mayor had a bit too much to drink and has taken to bed for the night, not a chance you can wake him up. So, I’m ya next best bet!” replied Mirak.

The enforcers looked at each other, very quickly noting that Mirak was very intoxicated. They held up a paper for Mirak to read. “We have a warrant for the arrest of one of your villagers in the murder of Quros Vitunda.”

“Ole Vitunda…” said Mirak, as he grabbed the paper and pretended to read. “There is some schmuck in this village, who helped possibly blow up ole money bags?” asked Mirak.

“This is a waste of time, he’s drunk off his ass.” said one of the enforcers, beckoning two other enforcers to follow him towards a house. The two unslung their guns and proceeded to the house.

“I can still understand you…” snided Mirak. He kept reading the document, or at least trying to read it. He saw the name of the Crimlarian in question. That name stood out to him in the haze of his mind. Why did it? The name was pressing into his skull, like it was screaming to tell Mirak something. What was it? What was it? Then, it hit him. In his drunken stupor, he realized why this name stood out. His eyes widened as the haze began to slowly lifted, and his heart began to pound.

He looked over to the squad of enforcers approaching the house, back at the name, and then looked at the head enforcer. “Officer, I think there is a mistake, this person doesn’t live in this village, this address is wrong…”

“What are you talking about?” asked the enforcer.

“I have lived in this village for twenty years. I do not know a single person with this name that lives here, your boys have the wrong address!” said Mirak, panic in his voice.

“The intel was provided by an extremely reliable source, maybe when you sober up I can have you read the warrant again you drunk.” said the enforcer, brushing off Mirak.

“No… no you gotta stop this, ask anyone here and they’ll tell you the same thing.” said Mirak. He noticed the officer was ignoring him. “Fucking pigs.” he whispered as he began walking fast to the enforcers about to breach the house. “Hey!! You are making a mistake!!!” Mirak began screaming as he hobbled faster and faster, his mind begging his legs to keep pace in his haze.

“Fucking drunk!” said one of the enforcers.

“You have the wrong gu-” the butt of the rifle slamming against the back of his head jostled his brain, as he fell face first into the snow. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the sound of a boot kicking in a door.

--------------------------------------​

“-and as he was saying this, he flailed his arms too much, lost his balance, and ended up falling into the latrine pit!” laughed Kiras. Nalas joined him in laughter. “I tell you no one laughed out loud out of fear of punishment but we all were cracking up inside.” Kiras sighed after finishing laughing. “Moments like that kept us going in these battles sometimes.”

“Reminds me of the time when I went-” Nalas was abruptly cut off by the sound of gunfire ringing out over the forest. Some winged creatures took off in a panic. “Hey what was that-” she stopped when she noticed Kiras in a defensive stance. “Hey what’s going on, you alright?” she asked.

“That was a gunshot…” said Kiras, as he looked around. “Came from the East… due 500 yards based on the sound… shit that’s from the village!” he said, as he began running.

“Kiras where are you going?!” shouted Nalas as she chased after him.

--------------------------------------​

“Hey… Mirak…”

The voice echoed softly in Mirak’s head as he began to regain his vision. His head felt like it got flattened by a hovercraft’s propulsion system, was this from an early hangover or from the smack he got to the back of the head. Either way it hurt like a mother-fucker.

“Dammit Mirak, wake up!” the voice got louder. Who was that? They sounded familiar. Mirak’s vision finally began to adjust, and he looked up to see the face of Kiras looking over him. He was sitting on the ground next to a wall.

“Look who finally decided to return.” said Mirak as he rubbed his head. “Picked a really great time to rejoin the party.”

“Mirak what the hell happened here?” asked Kiras.

Mirak looked around to see the house the enforcers were breaching. Lights were flashing off the walls of the houses as yellow tape marked off the doors off the front of the area.

“Those bastards didn’t…” began Mirak in horror.

“The enforcers said that they were responding to a tip they got about some assassination in the city. They busted in, there was an incident, and they opened fire.” said Kiras.

It was then that Mirak saw the body bag out in front of the house. “No…” he said. “No no no no no!!” he slammed his fist against the wall.

“Mirak calm down!” said Kiras. “You don’t want to get in any more shit than you already have.”

“Calm down? They just shot a fucking innocent person and you want me to calm dow-” as Mirak tried to stand up, he felt the metal on his hand. He looked over to see himself cuffed to a pipe next to him. “You gotta be shitting me…” he said.

“I also was told that you drunkenly got in their way and that they had to restrain you,” said Kiras.

“Because the person they just murdered was not the person they were looking for!” said Mirak. “I tried to tell them that they got the wrong person, the address was wrong, and that their information was messed up, and the pigs did it anyway!”

“Seems like they would agree based on what I heard them clattering on about. Heleionite tongue was something that I had to learn to speak in the army and it sounds like you were right to stop them.” said Kiras.

“Of course I was right!” shouted Mirak. “They did it anyway and they won’t admit they were wrong to us!”

“Mirak I am trying to keep you from getting sent to prison, your shouting isn’t helping at all!” said Kiras.

Mirak laughed. “You know something Kiras, a lot has changed since you left us. But the one thing that hasn’t and the one thing that you will never be able to escape from is the fact that the Heleionites are still your damn bosses, whether you are a soldier or a damn citizen.”

Kiras looked back at the crime scene. Just then, Nalas ran back over to them. “I got ointment and bandages here, this should help stem the swelling.”

“I was wondering when you would show up.” grunted Mirak and Nalas applied the ointment to the injury on his head. “Decide to drag Kiras out on some nostalgic frolic in the woods while the rest of us had to deal with th- OW FUCK” Mirak shouted as Nalas pressed hard on the wound.

“I would appreciate you holding still as I help you, or would you rather have a bulge on your nice head for a week?” said Nalas.

“Sorry… sorry… its just been a long night…” said Mirak, as Nalas wrapped Mirak’s head with a bandage.

“Well, that’s why we are here to help you out…” replied Nalas.

Just then, an enforcer walked over to where the three friends were sitting. He looked at Mirak with a glare, before procuring a key and unshackling him from the pipe. He then looked at Kiras. “I leave him in your custody, Captain…”

“Thank you officer.” said Kiras. The enforcer walked away.

“Wait you have pull with those assholes?” asked Mirak.

“The recent batch of enforcers that the Empire has deployed here aren’t all Heleionites you know…” said Kiras. “Some of them used to be auxiliary soldiers, and being a former auxiliary captain gets you perks with them.”

“Tyrants of a different skin…” said Mirak.

Nalas and Kiras looked at each other. They both hoisted Mirak up on his feet. “Come on, let’s get you home.” said Kiras. The blue and red flashes bounced off them as they walked into the night.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter VI: Been Around Long Enough

Governor Tervas paced anxiously in the hologram room. He knew what this meeting was going to be about, and who was going to attend. He put his thoughts together, repeated his lines, and went through his answers to every single question he could possibly conceive. Yet stress gripped him. He knew that this meeting could be a huge boon or a crippling setback to his efforts on Inque. He had spent the months following the assassination of Quros Vitunda doing everything to try and stem the tide of rebellion on his planet, while juggling the politics of a weakened Empire that seems to only push for the worse policies. He continued to pace, and pace.

Just then, an indicator on the hologram beeped. It was time. Tervas sighed, and pressed a button on the interface. A face appeared on the hologram. “Governor, are you ready?” asked the stern voice.

“Yes, I am ready.” Tervas replied. The face nodded before fading. Eventually the hologram changed, and Tervas fell on one knee as a regal face emerged on the hologram. “Your Majesty…” said Tervas as he bowed his head.

“General Tervas, or should I say Governor Tervas. You seem well today.” said the voice. Tervas had met the Emperor of the Heleionite Empire multiple times in the past. In many ways the Emperor was Emperor because of Tervas’s efforts combating pretenders. Yet, Tervas was caught off guard when an Imperial messenger stated that the Emperor wished to speak to Tervas directly one day. Tervas had no true idea as to why the Emperor wished to speak with him, but he assumed it wasn’t for praise or a promotion.

“Yes, as well as I can be Your Majesty.” replied Tervas.

The Emperor looked at his subject. “I will get straight to the point, Optor,” he began with a stern voice, “The reports coming from Inque and the other colonies of my Empire have been… disturbing… to say the least. Insubordination, disregard for our laws and practices, disregard for our traditions, lack of appreciation for being citizens of this Free Empire, under my protection, rebellious actions.” the Emperor continued as Tervas bowed in silence.

“Your Majesty, I have been trying to handle the situation with care and tenacity.” said Tervas.

“Yet they seem to be failing!” said the Emperor loudly. “The reports from Inque show that despite your actions, despite your policy changes which go against your Imperial mandate in many instances, the Crimlarian traitors grow exponentially with each passing day!”

“Your Majesty, this is due-”

“I don’t want your excuses, Optor!” boomed the Emperor into the room. “The approach of diplomacy you have so decided to undertake with these traitors and rebels is clearly not working. Only by might and power will the people of Inque understand their place in this Empire, and learn to praise it.”

“Your Majesty with all due respect, the situation is on a knife’s edge as is. If we tackle this with force, they will surely rise up!” said Tervas.

“Then you must respond with the full might of the Empire at your back!” said the Emperor. “If those who are ungrateful for the freedoms my will brings to their back-water planets wish to rebel, then they will be beaten back into gratefulness! Am I clear?”

Tervas bowed his head again. “Yes, Your Majesty…” he said solemnly.

“Good, see it done then.” said the Emperor, and then the hologram stopped.

Tervas stood up, wiped the sweat off his brow, walked over to his desk, and poured himself a glass of water before slurping it down. He stood for a second, contemplating the meeting, before shouting in a rage and chucking the glass against the wall, watching it shatter into a thousand pieces. “Damn it all!” he shouted. The Empire was collapsing and their only solution to slow it was policies that would speed it up! A violent response to the Inque would mean civil war.

If this was the stance of the Emperor, the Empire’s hold on Inque was doomed…

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“Order, order!” shouted the President of the Assembly over the crowd of jeers and cheers. “Assemblyman Jakof, please continue.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” the Assemblyman replied. He continued his speech. “We are on the verge of making a deal with the Empire for greater freedom and autonomy. Governor Tervas and our delegations have made great in-roads into guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of the Crimlarian people.”

The room burst out into jeers and cheers once more, with cries of “Tervas is lying!” mixing with “We are doomed to war otherwise!” The President of the Assembly banged his gavel again.

Jako continued, “It has been a long and hard process, one that has taken many years to finalize. I assure you that the Empire is listening to us. We cannot jeopardize these negotiations, else the hammer of oppression will fall on us once again!” The jeers and cheers sprang up a third time, as the President banged his gavel. “We must trust the Empire-”

“Why should we trust them?” rang a voice out from the Assembly. Jako turned to see who had interrupted him, as a Crimlarian squeezed his way through the crowd of politicians.

“Assemblyman Hopoi… you grace us with your voice, a rarity given how much we have heard of your doings in the backrooms.” replied Jako.

Liron moved forward into the center of the meeting hall, where he could be better seen and heard. “You speak of trusting the Empire, but I must ask why we should.” Liron began.

“Not trusting them would lead to the negotiations being derailed, it would lead to oppression once again.” replied Jako.

“Is oppression not what we have been dealing with for centuries?” asked Liron.

“Well… yes… but we have the potential to change that!” said Jako.

“And if the Empire breaks their word? It seems that we are expected to be the ones to act in good faith for this deal to work, but the Empire doesn’t seem to have such guarantees.” said Liron. “What if they decide one day in the future to toss out their deal and lead us back to oppression?”

“Well if you understand the situation in the Empire, they don’t have a desire to anger us.” said Jako.

“What if the Empire solves their situation and obtains that desire?” asked Liron.

“I… I…” stuttered Jako.

“Are the agreements of this deal binding? Are there any consequences for the Empire if they break it? Do we have guarantees that this deal will never be broken besides their word? Do we have anything that prevents the Empire from tossing the deal out at its most convenient?” asked Liron. “I ask these questions because it is clear that the burden of expectations has been put on us. The Empire is weak now, yes, but if they regain their strength they will throw it out the first chance they get without consequence. I doubt they would also allow for consequences to exist if they broke it too.”

“What is the meaning of this deep dive of the deal?” asked Jako.

“The meaning is that your proposed deal for greater rights has put the burden of good behavior and good faith only on us, and the Empire can easily toss it out whenever it feels fit. I do not believe the Empire acts in good faith when dealing with their subjects that aren’t Heleionites. I only believe we are allowed to have this deal in the first place because the Empire is too weak to act otherwise!” said Liron to jeers and cheers. The President banged his gavel again.

“As such, this deal is flawed and doomed to fail the moment the Empire feels strong enough to toss it out. The only way to ensure total freedom of our species for all time is by unilateral separation from the Empire and the creation of our own sovereign state!” shouted Liron. The room erupted into applause and shouts of anger as even the President’s gavel was failing to silence the room. Liron simply looked around, and retook his seat in the chamber. He had said his piece, now he had to wait for the words to set themselves in.

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“Self-righteous fellows, I tell you.” said Liron as he gulped down another drink. “Any agreement we make with the Empire will only be temporary! Do they not realize that they hold all the cards when it comes to diplomacy?”

Selvatas poured Liron another drink. Must have been a rough day in the chamber. “What was the agenda today, oh great orator of the Inque?” she said snidely.

“Same thing as it has been for months if not years, negotiate or fight,” said Liron. “There are still too many people who think we can negotiate with those brutes.”

“Don’t they talk about anything other than that?” asked Selvatas.

Liron took another swig. “Not really. We aren’t a government yet, we are just concerned citizens if you want to be generous, trying to get a better deal than the one we have now. Only problem is that it makes this all sound like a market where we haggle over prices.”

“How is that a problem?” asked Selvatas, taking a swig of her own.

“Because if it's a market, then the seller has all the money and the goods while the buyer has none!” said Liron, slamming his fist down on the table. “We have no power here! The only way we get out of this mess is to permanently detach ourselves from it!”

“Yes yes, the same things you have been saying for years now…” said Selvatas. “You’d think such a notion would be popular, but it seems that it takes a lot to convince people that they are better off not with a boot on their neck.”

“Little by little…” said Liron, “Little by little we are convincing them, but people are scared to fight, scared to wage war against the Empire, scared of what to do if we win. A thousand years of oppression might be oppression but at least its consistent and not likely to get you murdered.”

“But evidence to the contrary exists that they could get murdered anyway. Remember that one poor bastard who got his house raided due to bad information?” asked Selvatas.

“How could I not? Just another example.” said Liron, gulping down another drink.

Selvatas stewed a bit as Liron drank. As long as she knew him, Liron was always fighting for freedom. It did not surprise her that he would be so frustrated with how long it was taking given the situation of both Inque and the Empire as a whole. “I have one question though,” began Selvatas, “what happens if we win?”

Liron looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I’m asking what if we win. Obviously if we lose we probably all get the wall, but if we win, what happens?” asked Selvatas.

“There are at least five steps you are missing before we even get to that point so I am not sure why thinking about it now is important?” asked Liron.

“Well, it's important to have a plan in case things go wrong, but it's as important to have a plan when things go right.” said Selvatas.

“No shit lady, you think I don’t know that?” Liron said annoyed.

“I think you are too focused on getting the war started that you haven’t thought about what to do if we win, cause if handled incorrectly we might have a bigger problem on our hands than just fighting the Empire…” said Selvatas, taking another drink.

“Maybe…” said Liron after stewing for a bit. “But let’s make sure we are at least winning first before we plan a victory march.”

The two continued to drink and talk the night away.

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Getting open doors while carrying a lot of boxes can be a bit of a hassle. At least, that’s what dawned on Kiras as he was trying to open the main door to the shop. A shipment of herbs and medical remedies had just arrived to restock the store, and Kiras decided it would be smart to try and get as many of them in one trip as possible. Sadly, he was realizing real fast that this was a bad idea. “Dammit… just got to…” muttered Kiras as he tried to get a hand on the door while holding three boxes of goods. So much for looking cool carrying all this.

Just then the door opened and Kiras stumbled forward suddenly. He tried to balance the boxes as he lurched forward, afraid that they would all come crashing down. Then, another hand grabbed the boxes, and stabilized them for Kiras. Kiras leaned his head around the boxes and was face to face (literally) with Nalas. “Good morning partner!” she beamed. “Looks like you need my help!” She then proceeded to take a box off the top of the stack.

It has been a few months since Nalas took control of the pharmacy in town from Jarlas and “hired” Kiras to help her run the place. Like they discussed, the plan was for her to be the medicine woman, and he would help with the administrative and shop upkeep. So far it’s worked out pretty well, and Jarlas was more than happy to sell the place off and enjoy a bit of a retirement. “I had it under control…” Kiras grunted.

“Yeah well your definition of control was spilling all my good medicine on the floor and probably breaking a lot of glass, but to each their own.” Nalas said with a smirk.

Kiras sighed, and set the remaining boxes on the counter. “So you need the receipt for stock purposes or am I good?” asked Kiras.

“As long as it has julik plants in it, that is the big thing I need for today!” said Nalas.

“Yea you got about two pounds of the stuff?” said Kiras, reading over the receipt. “Remind me again what julik is used for?”

“Sore muscles.” she said, reaching into the box and procuring a handful of the herb. She then moved over to a back counter where a mortar and pestle lied, put the herb with some other liquids in the container, and began grinding it all together. “You make a paste out of it and rub it on sore spots on the body. It eases the pain.”

“They used to just stick needles in our body when our legs got sore from combat in the army.” said Kiras.

“Well that was probably a numbing agent, not necessarily a healing remedy. But then again they probably just got the cheapest option. This is the real stuff!” she said, as she put the paste into a container. “Anyway, I got a patient this morning who pulled his back lifting something heavy who requested this stuff.”

“Busy day?” said Kiras.

Nalas put the vials and additional medicine in a pouch. “Well besides that I have a patient with fever, a patient with migraines, and a kid who rolled his ankle pretty badly on an icy slope…” she said. She grabbed her cloak from the hanger and threw it on. “So yea, it should be a busy day!”

“Think you will be back in time for dinner? I think I figured out how to grill foryack in the way you like it!” said Kiras.

“Don’t hold me to it, but I would love to try it! Just keep the shop running smoothly! I got a patient coming in today to pick up their prescription, it’s on the second shelf to the right! Have fun!” Nalas said as she scurried out the door.

Kiras sighed, and continued unpacking the boxes. As he unpacked, a laugh was heard from the side. He turned to see Jarlas standing in a doorway. “Oh to be young again…” he said, as he walked slowly over to a chair. “I wish I could have foryack grilled for me.”

“Hey I can cook other things too, and Nalas can make anything way better than I can if she wants to.” said Kiras.

Jarlas chuckled, “You know, watching you two run around is like watching a married couple interact.”

Kiras, hearing this, turned red and snapped up to Jarlas. “We are not married!” he said.

“Bit jumpy I see, and red cheeks really don’t do you any favors now,” Jarlas said, “You practically are a couple in a lot of ways!”

Kiras sighed and turned back to his work, “We aren’t a couple old man, we are just old friends and business partners, nothing else too it. You don’t seem to know much about this anyway.”

“I know that you want to be a couple though…” said Jarlas.

Kiras stood up and turned to Jarlas, “Excuse me?”

“Oh my boy, don’t play dumb with me! You are the easiest person to read in regards to your emotions! Everytime that woman appears you get all happy and giddy in your looks!” said Jarlas, “You cook her food without her asking, you help her with running the place, and I feel like she was the one you wanted to see the most after coming back to us! I may be old, but I have been around long enough to know what being in love looks like.”

Kiras sighed, “Even if that was the case she probably views me as a friend and business partner anyway. I was gone for ten years, why would she love someone who was gone for that period of time?”

“Why would a traveling doctor decide to settle down and run a shop the moment you arrived back in town?” asked Jarlas.

“I don’t understand the question.” replied Kiras.

“Once you do, I think you will understand why I find this so funny!” said Jarlas, as he walked over and patted Kiras on the shoulder. “Now if you excuse me, I’m meeting some old friends for a game of hyupt in the tavern, you two enjoy the evening together!”

“Hey hold on a sec- '' the door slammed in Kiras’s face as he sighed and continued back with his work.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter VII: My Feelings​

Nalas put her hand on the forehead of the sleeping child. His fever has gone down but his head was still warm. She placed a new cold wet towel on his head. Just then, the mother walked in the room. “How’s he doing Nalas?” she asked.

Nalas stood up. “The medicine seems to be working, his fever has gone down. I recommend another dose in about four hours, and if that doesn’t break the fever, let me know and I can get you more.” she said. She reached over to her bag and handed another vial to the mother. “Another dose though should be all you need based on how things are now.” she said.

“Thank you doctor, you are a lifesaver!” said the mother, with a sigh of relief. Nalas smiled back and nodded before taking her bags and moving downstairs where the rest of her equipment was located. “Can I convince you to at least stay for a hot drink?” asked the mother. “It’s been so long since we have had a chance to talk and I wish it was under different circumstances.”

Nalas looked at her bag. She didn’t have anything pressing after this appointment, so might as well do some catch up. “Why not Haplit.” she said, setting her bag down off the table.

------------------------------------------------------------

“So you just decided to throw the idea out and now it’s your job?” asked Haplit, rather stunned.

“I figured it was a good business opportunity. Jarlas struggles to walk, and I have seen him physically struggle running that shop by himself. If you think that I was going to just let Kiras flounder about with the only medical place in a fifty mile radius, you are poorly mistakenned!” said Nalas.

“Very noble, letting the old man enjoy retirement now that the prodigal son has found his way home,” said Haplit. “Still, that man has been gone for ten years, I can’t imagine how the war affected him. Last I recall he was just a sunny boy but now… I shiver at the thought of what the war did for him!”

Nalas sighed as she put down her cup. “You’d be surprised. He hasn’t really changed, yet he has changed a lot. He’s still the same old kind kid I remember, always willing to help out and always ready to do the right thing. Yet, in many ways he’s different. He’s quieter, he’s more shut up about his feelings, and small things make him jump.”

“Sounds like the war affected him and he’s trying hard not to show it.” said Haplit.

“I have taken care of many veterans, Kiras exhibit the same personality changes they underwent,” said Nalas, “but I know that while he is happy the war has impacted him. I just think he wants to just live a calm life now, away from all that mess, where he is not a Captain but just a regular person.” replied Nalas.

“How does that make you feel?” asked Haplit.

Nalas stood up and walked over to the window, looking out as a group of kids ran past throwing snowballs. “It makes me happy that he is home, an old friend coming home is always a good thing, especially one that went through nightmares untold. Yet, I want to let him know he can be vulnerable around me. I know he is hurting, I just want him to know we can help him through it. He doesn’t have to handle it all by himself.”

Haplit smiled, “You really do care about him do you?”

Nalas chuckled, “I am a doctor, and he is an old friend, it’s only natural this is how I came to feel.”

“But there is more to it than just caring isn’t it?” asked Haplit, “Do you-”

“Yes, I do love him” said Nalas.

Haplit was taken aback. “I… I didn’t expect you to say that so openly and bluntly? You just said though he was your friend.”

Nalas sighed and clenched her chest. “I always figured that I loved him, probably back when we were kids, but I didn’t realize it. When he got conscripted I grappled with those feelings and realized that I did. I thought it would never be returned, but now he’s back, and I couldn’t be happier. Yet-” Nalas stopped for a second. “-yet I do not think he feels the same way. His desire to return to normalcy wouldn’t let him change something like this. So I am resigned to just being his friend and co-worker. It’s the least I can do.”

“You can’t be serious!” shouted Haplit, “You just bled your heart all over my floor and then just say you are fine with the way things are?”

“Is this the part where you bring up some romance book and how I should confess my feelings for him, where even if he rejects me I can at least get it off my chest?” asked Nalas.

“Yes!” said Haplit, “As a doctor you should know stressing out over this is not good for your health!”

Nalas chuckled, “Well, I appreciate the concern, but as my patient you shouldn’t be addressing my health concerns.”

Haplit stared at Nalas, “Well, you should consider it. You are willing to work with the damn man, and own a damn shop with him!”

Nalas set the hot drink down, “For now though, could I have another glass?”

------------------------------------------------------------​

Nalas walked through the town with her medic bag in her hand. How could she just confess to Kiras? Would he even like her back? Could a rejection ruin their friendship? Her head began to spin. She looked around and saw Crimlarians shopping and talking in the various shops in town, including all the couples.

Dammit! She had to deal with these feelings for years, why the hell are they bothering her now more than ever? It was Haplit’s fault obviously, how could she have figured it out! Dammit, dammit dammit! Nalas’s face felt red to her. She grabbed the edge of her hood to cover her face so that no one could see her in this embarrassing state. “Great… the only thing that could make this worse is if-”

“Nalas?” said a familiar voice. She snapped around to see Kiras standing behind her. “Thought that was you!” he said.

“Oh hi Kiras! Fancy seeing you here! Wait, how’s the shop? You aren’t slacking are you!?” scolded Nalas.

“Shop’s fine, a very light day today and we are still good on inventory, so I figured I’d find you and see if you needed any help” he said.

“I just finished up the last task for the day so I have been just meandering about, hehe” she chuckled. What the actual fuck was she doing? She’s freaking out around a guy she’s seen a hundred thousand times a day now at this point!

“Alright, mind if I walk with you?” asked Kiras.

Nalas’s face turned a bit redder. “Uh… yea… sure…” she said. “I wasn’t really going anywhere in particular so why not?”

“Hey you alright? You look kind of red?” asked Kiras.

“Never been better!” shouted Nalas. What the fuck was actually happening?

------------------------------------------------------------

​

General Majan looked over the wreckage of the scene. Emperor save them, this was a complete disaster…

The ships were badly damaged as they came in, they unloaded scores of wounded and dead Heleionite soldiers and Imperial auxiliary units. How could this have happened? They were damn slaves! No slave would have the means to fight off an entire Imperial army! No slave would have the ability to commandeer land-to-space guns to fire on Imperial ships! How in the fuck did those reptillian slaves do this?

Majan looked down as the medics were treating soldiers with laser shots, missing limbs, and rags around their eyes. The ships had large holes in them exposing areas of the ship to the void of space. Hangers had fighter-ship wrecks all over them. This army was completely mauled to bits. Now all Majan needed to do was fully assess how screwed the Empire was in the face of this slave revolt.

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“At 14:00 local time, the Twelfth Legion landed on Amhleshi at sector 2…” said another General to a room full of other military officers and state leaders, including the Minister of War himself. “They met little resistance when they landed, but as they marched out to fight a reported army in sector 56, a large gang of Shobdamese slaves burst out of the sand with weapons and tools that were acquired from their revolt.” The general then played a body cam of a swarm of lizards popping out of the sand and blasting soldiers who were stuck out in the open. “When air support was called in, we learned that the Shobdamese had acquired anti-air weapons and began opening fire.” Another clip of a space-craft flying to the battle and then seeing the other craft in its squadron get blown out of the sky on approach.

It was clear that the Imperial Army was completely caught by surprise in territory they had no experience in, and got decimated by an enemy who knew every dune like the back of their hand. “Similar reports indicate that Divisions 54 and 98 suffered similar fates at their landing zones in Sectors 32 and 65,” continued the General.

“What about the land-to-orbit weapons? How did they acquire those?” asked a statesman.

“According to a technical report, those batteries were breached by rebels who utilized mechanics that repaired those guns to take them over and fire on our fleet,” said the General.

The Minister of War looked at the maps and combat pictures. “What are the casualty reports?” he asked.

The General cleared his throat and stuttered for a second. “Casualty rates indicate that 65% of the Twelfth Legion were killed in action, and another 20% suffering wounds. 5% were captured.” At these stats, the entire room gasped and whispered. “Divisions 54 and 98 suffered half losses, many of whom were executed after being disarmed.”

“Barbarians!” shouted one of the generals. “Have these savages no regard for the rules of war!?!?”

“They were slaves General, they don’t even know what those rules are!” replied another.

“What the hell do we do?”

“We need to put a bounty on that leader we keep hearing reports about!”

“We don’t even know if he exists!”

The Minister of War stood up, “Enough!” he screamed. “Are we just going to balk in the face of such defeat or are we going to find a way to strike back? What’s the status of the other Legions and can we relocate them to the fight?”

General Majan stepped forward, “Sir, the other Legions are busy with border conflicts with the neighbors. They report multiple skirmishes with the Sovereign Suns and other nations on the border. Our neighbors seem to be ready to pick our Empire apart, and reports of an entire Legion being decimated will cause them to take more aggressive action.”

“What about an orbital bombardment? Can’t we just shell the damn things from orbit?” asked another General.

“We could, but now that they have access to heavy land-to-orbit weapons, we could risk naval casualties, not to mention that all scouting operations of the planet have not properly located any of the hiding places of the rebels,” replied Majan.

“Those scouts are useless!” shouted a general.

The Minister of War looked at his staff, “We cannot abandon the planet. If one planet breaks away from the Empire it will inspire rebels on other planets to strike out! Reports indicate they are on the verge of open conflict. If our Empire is hit with that many rebellions it will not survive!”

“We must act fast and squash this slave revolt with overwhelming force!”

“With what force though, General?”

“We need to get more men together, ramp up recruitment efforts!”

“That may not be enough!”

On and on the Generals bickered. The Empire had just been dealt a major blow, and it seemed no one had any idea. Majan had one thought. It was a desperate thought, but it was their only option potentially. He had to take it up with the Minister after the meeting…

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter VIII: Desperate Times

​

General Majan has never been to Inque. All he knows about it is the War Ministry reports about how unstable the planet is becoming. Majan has always shrugged at them, all planets in the Empire with a population that wasn’t Heleionite was unstable at this point, and the slaves blowing up an entire Legion is not going to help that at all. Yet, here he was on this snow-ball. As his driver took him through the capital, he could see how under-stated the situation was.

Enforcers on almost every corner. Three arrests on one street that he saw. Angry faces on Crimlarians whenever his vehicle drove past. It was clear he felt unwanted. A shame, these furballs needed to show some reverence to a General fighting for their liberty! Regardless, he wasn’t here for their lack of respect, he had bigger things to handle.

As Majan’s car pulled up to the Governor’s manor, he was greeted by a guard of soldiers saluting him. He got out and waved, as a secretary led him into the house. Eventually, he was led up to a room, and the door was opened before him. Stepping in, he was greeted by a lounge room with couches, a table, and a fire-place freshly lit. Standing in front of it was-

“Governor Tervas” said Majan.

The Governor turned around, “General Majan” he responded. The two walked to each other, before grabbing each other’s wrists and embracing. “It’s been too long, old friend!” said Tervas.

“It has indeed, Optor.” replied Majan.

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“Do you remember that engagement on Pulastrk?” asked Majan, as the two Generals talked over glasses of fancy drinks.

“How could I not, you ordered a massive strategic bombing on a fortress there” replied Tervas. “While a platoon of my auxiliary units were assaulting the walls!”

“At least they weren’t Legionnaires!” chuckled Majan. He put his glass down. “So tell me Optor, how is managing these things?” asked Majan.

“The planet? It has its rough days but I feel I have gotten at least some aspects down to routine” replied Tervas.

“I meant the Crimlarians” replied Majan, “I have seen how they react to officials like me driving through the street, along with the hundreds of enforcers you have stationed on every corner.”

Tervas sighed, and took a long swig of his drink, “Managing the people of this planet is proving harder and harder every day, and no fault of my own.”

“No fault of your own?” asked Majan.

“Indeed! The Empire constantly wants me to press a boot on their neck, but every time the boot’s pressure increases, the more they wriggle and struggle and cause problems” answered Tervas.

“Isn’t that what your job is, press them into respect and break them if they are disrespectful?” asked Tervas.

“In a way, but I feel doing that will make the situation worse, and have been actively avoiding it” answered Tervas, “I have been working out deals and agreements with some committee that was created to address some of their grievances. If I can just have a little more time and finalize the deal, I can possibly keep things from breaking out into Civil War!”

Majan sighed and stood up, and summoned a secretary with a briefcase. Majan opened up the briefcase, “The situation is already worse” he said before tossing a document on the table. “I am sure you are aware of this?”

Tervas picked up the document, and as he scanned it his eyes grew wider and wider. “Is this report circulating among the Empire?” asked Tervas.

“No, public relations is still trying to find a way to present it to the capital.” replied Majan.

“I wasn’t made aware also bec-” began Tervas.

“Because the fewer people outside the Legionnaire command structure who know about what happened the better, which makes it easier not to accidentally report it to your planet before we are ready with the official declaration” interrupted Majan, “but we can’t keep the lid on this secret forever, especially if the survivors are going to be going home or back into the public.”

Tervas sat back and rubbed his temple, “An entire Legion… Gods what a disaster… Tell me the Ministry of War or someone has a plan to fix this?” asked Tervas.

“We do,” said Majan, “and it’s why I am here” as he tossed down another set of documents, one with the Imperial seal on it.

Tervas picked this up and began reading it, his eyes growing even wider. “No…” he began, “No no no no NO!” he shouted before slamming the paper down. “You cannot be fucking serious here Majan!”

“The Emperor’s finalizing the decree as we speak, this is just a rough draft but very close to what the final draft will be” responded Majan.

“This is your solution?” shouted Tervas, “A fucking mass levee?!?!”

The room grew quiet for a second. “Optor, an entire Legion has been desecrated, and many of our other Legions are fighting border disputes and small wars with the neighbors on the rim. We have almost no military support in the internal areas, and so we need as many units as possible to put down this slave rebellion”

“I thought you were smarter than this Majan!” shouted Tervas, “Do you honestly expect these people to just line up to go fight against a people whose rebellion is one they all probably SYMPATHIZE WITH!?!? They would riot if asked to volunteer, and you want to FORCE THEM!?!?!” Tervas was almost screaming.

“The Emperor’s will is the Emperor’s will!” shouted back Majan, “We shall not go against it! You will bring the necessary troops to the service of the Empire, one that protects them and one they should be grateful to!”

“The Emperor is going to kill his Empire by doing this, it will spark rebellions across the entire damn realm!” said Tervas, “Please Majan, you cannot let them do this! I beg you!”

“The decision was already made, Optor! They will fight for the Empire that protects their liberty and freedom, if they are grateful for the protection and freedom our Emperor grants them. If they aren't, they are not true citizens and shall be treated as traitors!” said Majan.

“You saw the expressions the Crimlarians gave you as you drove by! You cannot tell me that they will do this!” said Tervas.

“Then we will make them!” said Majan.

“We cannot! This is my planet, my responsibility, and I will not have my plans derailed by a vain call for forced patriotism from a species who has had none for centuries!” said Tervas.

“You will follow the decree to the letter Optor, for I have orders from the Ministry of War with the approval of His Imperial Majesty to overrule you in this matter if you do not.” said Majan.

“You are going to remove me?” asked Optor.

“I will if it means executing the Emperor’s will” said Majan, “so either you will oversee or I will. It will happen, and nothing either of us can do can stop it!” Majan looked at his friend in distress and walked over and put his hand on him. “You grew too fond of these people my friend, and allowed them to be disrespectful to the Empire for too long. I understand this is a problem that cannot easily be broken, but I beg you to please consider your Empire, your people. The Crimlarians are not your people, we are.”

Tervas looked up, “I put too much work into this to see it destroyed in a matter of days.”

“It will not be destroyed, trust the Emperor, trust me” said Majan, “I will leave you to consider this.” Majan walked out of the room, leaving Tervas to sit and ponder what the hell to do now.

-------------------------------------​

Kiras jolted from his bed, pistol drawn pointed at the door. Sweat rolled down his forehead as his heavy breathing relaxed into a more calm pace. His eyes darted the room as sunbeams penetrated the curtain and rolled onto the floor. Kiras wiped his head, put his pistol back on the banister near his bed, and laid back down. Another damn nightmare. He’d thought that by being home and being out of combat would make them stop, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Kiras grunted and got himself out of bed before showering and going down to open the store. He felt groggy as the adrenaline from his wake-up drained. As he began restocking the shelves, he heard footsteps and saw Jarlas walk to the front. “You look like you had a rough night’s sleep,” said Jarlas.

“Yea, sometimes it happens,” replied Kiras in a quiet tone.

“A nightmare?” asked Jarlas.

“You can say that,” replied Kiras. Jarlas sat down with a cup of morning brew and began to sip it while reading the morning paper, watching Kiras stock the shelves. “Hey, old man,” began Kiras, “You told me once how you served in the military as well.”

“That I did,” said Jarlas. He tapped his leg, “And you probably are aware of the big consequence of that adventure.”

“Did you have any difficulties coming home and becoming a normal person?” asked Kiras.

Jarlas chuckled, “Of course I had troubles! Anyone who goes off to fight has to deal with them once their service is done!”

“I assume it was more than just your leg?” asked Kiras.

“Well… in a way. War does things to a person’s emotions and head that makes it difficult to adjust back to a normal life. Things become different when you return, people you knew before you went might be somewhere else doing other things. I am sure I don’t need to explain what that’s like-” Jarlas stood up and walked over to Kiras, “-because you probably are or have experienced all that already.”

Kiras looked silently at Jarlas, not really sure how to respond. “Which is why when you say that you had nightmares, I think there is something more to it.”

“It’s honestly nothing,” said Kiras. “Just some bad memories rearing their head, that’s all.”

“You know, you should be lucky that you have such a great group of friends, that’s more than I got when I came back from duty,” said Jarlas before returning to his seat, “Don’t be afraid to rely on them if needed.”

“It is nice. It makes it feel like the old days,” said Kiras, “and that’s all I want now at this point.”

Jarlas squinted his brow at this comment. He began to speak against this but right before he did, the door opened and in came Nalas with a big “Good morning everyone!”

“Morning,” replied Kiras.

“You look like you didn’t sleep well last night Kiras,” remarked Nalas.

“A bad dream, that’s all,” replied Kiras.

Nalas and Jarlas looked at each other and then looked back to Kiras. “Well, I hope you wake up quickly cause this week is going to be a big week!”

Kiras struggled to remember why, “Remind me again why?”

“It’s the Festival of Sylvar!” responded Jarlas. “You can’t honestly tell me you forgot about one of our biggest celebrations!”

Memories of the festival soon flushed into Kiras’s head. “Wait, that’s THIS week?!” he responded.

“Yes! Who knows what medical situations may arise as a result of this festival, so be ready!” said Nalas, as she began to work on her daily remedies and prescriptions.

“Festival…” thought Kiras. It has been far too long since he has been to one of those.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter IX: Submission to Change

​

The Festival of Sylvar, a proud religious holiday on Inque! The Crimlarians had been celebrating this holiday regarding the Goddess of Frost for longer than the Heleionites had been Inque’s masters. This history was not lost on Kiras as he walked through the village’s celebration. All around him was one large party. Stalls full of traditional food, games, entertainers, religious ceremonies, all fully displaying Crimlarian culture for all to see. Memories flooded back to Kiras as he remembered going to these festivals with his friends as a kid, that was before-

Just as his mind began to wonder, he felt a slap on the back. “You are zoning out again!” shouted Mirak with a grin on his face and a beer-mug in his hand.

“Guess I was…” Kiras chuckled to himself. It was the fourth day of the festival and Kiras was invited with Mirak, Nalas, and some other buddies to walk around the festival and see the sights. It was a good break from the festival, and Kiras was shocked when he was told that the shop was going to be closed early in lieu of the celebrations.

Kiras and the group walked past a group of religious dancers dancing and singing chants to Sylvar in the square to the amusement of the locals. They walked past a kid eating a piece of fruit glazed in some sort of sweet syrup. Eventually, Mirak, now another half a mug under, jostled Kiras and pointed at a game. Kiras looked closely and realized it was a shooting game. “How about it, ole timer? A competition?”

Kiras laughed to himself knowing full well how this whole thing was going to play out. “Sure, why not?” Mirak went first, as he grabbed the gun and struggled to aim it. He popped a shot off and it went wide, the second one went above all the targets, and by the time he ran out of ammo, Mirak had barely hit a single target. Kiras laughed, “Good thing no one ever asked you to go hunting!”

“Bite me.” said a disgruntled Mirak, handing the toy gun over to Kiras. Kiras fiddled with the gun, a familiarity washed over him. He then took the rifle, and lowered the barrel.

“You get ten shots, all ten must hit or else dinner gets cut in half for you!” shouted a voice. Kiras looked around to see who had said it, but no one was shouting. He breathed in, and methodically he began shooting targets. One target, then two, then three, one after another after another. The world grew quiet around him, and with each shot, the toy pinging slowly morphed into the sound of live fire. Eventually, the toy bullets ran out, and Kiras breathed out. Just like training, and hundreds of times before.

“You think you are hot shit furball?!?!” shouted a voice. Kiras lurched around to face the voice, gun in hand, and found himself pointing it directly into Mirak’s chest.

“First off, out of bullets,” said Mirak, slightly pointing the gun away from his chest, “second off, you aren’t getting out of owing me for food through that!” Mirak bursted out into laughter. Kiras put the gun down and rubbed his temples. Mirak stopped laughing and looked at him. “Hey, it was just a joke… hey you alright? You seem to be sweating a little?”

Kiras whipped his brow and realized he was sweating a little bit. “Yea, sorry. Maybe let's stay away from shooting things for a bit.”

Mirak looked at Kiras, “I remember you really liked this game when we were kids ya know. Thought it would be a fun memory to relive. Sorry I didn’t realize it would be rou-”

“It’s fine it’s fine,” Kiras said interrupting. “Anyway I think we should get some food, it's been a while since I had anything to eat!”

Mirak looked at his friend with an odd glance, and shrugged. “Hey Nalas where did you say that one food stall you liked wa-” Mirak turned to the crowd, but the group had seemingly scattered. “Hey Kiras, where’s Nalas?”

-------------------------------------------​

“Didn’t I tell you to get lost Lervas?” asked an increasingly frustrated Nalas.

The Crimlarian in front of her, slightly inebriated, put his hand on the wall next to Nalas’s head lightly. “Look Nalas, what do I have to get you to at least walk the damn festival with me? It’s not a huge ask ya know!”

“And I told you that there wasn’t anything you could do, now leave me alone, I don’t want to worry my friends.” Nalas said.

She tried to leave but Lervas blocked her in some more, “What the drunk merchant and the soldier? One seemingly can’t resist running his mouth and the other-”

“You better pick your next words carefully Lervas.” snapped Nalas.

“I see someone has a favorite!” jeered Lervas, “What’s he got that I don’t?”

“Respect for personal space for one!” said Nalas, who was past frustrated now.

Lervas chuckled, “I find it insulting that you have a great guy right here who wants to be with you and you choose the fucking Imperial pawn who we all thought was dead for ten years and who just so happened to saunder back into our lives!”

“You really are not helping your chances right now at being chosen though are you?” said Nalas.

“Look…” Lervas said backing off a bit, “All I am saying is that your choice of guys is questionable if your top pick is a man who could easily get conscripted again and get shot on some far off planet-” The slap came sudden and hard, Lervas reeled back and had to catch himself from falling. He looked at Nalas, who sneered at him, clenched fists. “Alright if that’s how you want to plaaaaaaaaAAYYYY”

Nalas’s sneer stopped as Lervas’s head and body slammed into the wall next to her, a single arm pinning his neck to the wall. Nalas looked and saw Kiras standing there, in a combat pose. “You know Lervas, if you actually were gentle, you could have gotten a woman by now!” he joked. Kiras looked over at Nalas, “Hey you alright?”

Nalas’s face turned a bit red, but not from anger. “Fine, thanks!” she said, “Though I had the situation under control!”

“Trust me Nalas, this was more for Lervas’s protection than anything!” said Mirak as he walked over, “Alright boy, down.” he joked at Kiras.

Kiras let go of Lervas and tossed him to the ground. Lervas grunted a bit before standing up, “Well if it isn’t the prodigal soldier himself, we were just talking about you ya know?” Lervas dusted himself off to the best of his ability, “Tell me something, you ever fear getting called back up?”

“Excuse me?” asked a rather confused Kiras.

“It’s an honest concern some would have! You are a soldier now after-all! Any day you could get called up again and disappear for another ten years!” shouted Lervas, “Now I don’t know how conscription works in the Empire, but I feel if they wanted to drag you away again like all those years ago they could easily do it!”

“Hey Lervas I know your ass hurts figuratively and literally, but uh, relax before you make everything worse.” remarked Mirak.

“Yet here you are! Trying to pretend that nothing has changed! Trying to live a normal life!” Lervas started wagging his finger, “You are the property of the Heleionites my friend, and everyone in this village knows! You aren’t fooling anyone with this medicine-man bullshi-”

The punch came fast and quick, and Lervas soon found himself on the ground. He looked up to see Kiras, fuming in anger. Mirak quickly stepped in before Kiras could continue his punches, “Hey hey hey I think he got the message!” Kiras stopped, and looked around to see a small crowd looking at the fight. He looked over at Nalas, who had a shocked look on her face.

“Excuse me…” he said as he quickly walked off away from the scene.

“Hey wait up-” Mirak began before he was interrupted by Nalas putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Let me take care of this…” she said.

-------------------------------------------

​

“Well you done fucked up now didn’t you Kiras?” mumbled Kiras to himself as he strolled through the forest. What was he thinking? He really let that little shit Lervas get to him that bad? Yet, something about what Lervas said rang in his head.

““You are the property of the Heleionites my friend, and everyone in this village knows!”, that sentence screamed in his head. It was always his biggest fear that the village would just see him as a soldier, something he did not want to be seen as. Decking Lervas though wasn’t going to stop those fears however. Hell, the villagers probably see him more as a brute now than ever, just some auxiliary thug.

“You know back when we were kids, you never would have thought about punching someone in the face” a voice suddenly came from behind. Kiras turned to see Nalas leaning against a tree, looking right at him. “Figured you’d be out here”

“There are a lot of things I feel I wouldn’t have done as a kid now. Here to yell at me for them?” asked a frustrated Kiras.

Nalas walked over to Kiras, “Not really, just wanting to make sure you are alright.”

Kiras rubbed his hands over his face, “Do you think what he said was true? That I am just seen as another soldier, Nalas?”

“You really are taking that asshole’s comments seriously?” asked Nalas.

“No… it’s not that, it’s just…” Kiras began to explain, but he had a hard time coming up with the words.

“What’s wrong, Kiras? Something is obviously bothering you” Nalas continued.

Kiras sighed, “It’s nothing that you need to worry about, I just need some time to think. I don’t want to ruin the festival for you and Mirak-”

“I don’t care about any of that at the moment! You obviously are going through a lot, and I want to help you!” interrupted Nalas.

“Oh so I punch a guy and you think my mind’s all fucked up? Is that what this is?” asked a frustrated Kiras.

“No that’s not that at all! It feels like you are trying to keep a lot of things to yourself and it leads you to lash out when someone brings it up apparently!” said Nalas.

“I am fine! Why can’t everyone just let things go back to the way they were before! Put the last ten years behind them and just go back to normal!” shouted Kiras. “I want to live a normal life, I don’t want people to change for me, I just want things to remain the same! Apparently I can’t have that!”

“Because what happened to you wasn’t normal! You were put through a terrible experience, everyone understands that!” said Nalas.

“So it's pity then!?!” shouted Kiras, louder and angrier. “You feel bad for the soldier coming home from war and now have to treat him with fucking kids gloves?!”

“We never treated you like that! We always have wanted to help you return to a peaceful life, but it’s clear that your time in the military has changed you! What with the night terrors, the sudden quiet disposition, lashing out in anger, you can’t just magically wish all that away because you just want to go back to when we were kids!” said Nalas.

“Maybe I am suffering from these problems! Maybe I can never escape the fact that I killed people against my will! Maybe my personality is so different that I might as well be a different person! I don’t care, these are my problems, and not anyone’s concern. I want people to see me as the kid they remembered from ten years ago, and nothing else!” continued Kiras.

“I can’t do that… I can’t look at you the same way I did those years ago…” said Nalas. Her voice got quiet and shaky.

“And why not!” yelled Kiras again.

“Because I love you, you stubborn ass!” Nalas screamed.

The forest got quiet as the trees rustled softly. Kiras stopped, looking at Nalas who had tears in her eyes. “You want things to go back to normal, make us all pretend that you never got conscripted, make us ignore all your trauma and problems, and just carry on like you were on a trip for the past ten years. I can’t do that Kiras. I care about you, more than ever before and I can’t watch you suffer alone in solitude…” Nalas took a breath as a soft cry echoed from her mouth. “You don’t need to fight these problems alone, you don’t need to bury your past, you don’t need to pretend like nothing happened. You went through a horrible experience, and we want to help you recover. I want to help you recover!”

Nalas wiped a tear running down her cheek. “It’s okay that things are different. It’s okay that people may not look at you the same way they did ten years ago. I want to be with you and help you realize this, to help you with whatever painful memories you have! Please Kiras…”

Nalas continued to softly cry as her sobs were the only thing echoing through the forest. “This is really embarrassing, I’m sor-”

It was then that Kiras embraced her. “I should be the one apologizing for making you cry like this. That wasn’t my intent…” Nalas calmed down as her head rested against Kiras’s chest. She then felt a hand on her head, slowly caressing it. “You know what’s funny, all of this time I wanted everyone to pretend that I hadn’t changed, that I was the same plucky kid from before. But deep down, there was one thing, one thing I hoped could change. I was just afraid it would lead to my perfect future world being torn apart, no matter how much I desperately wanted it.”

“What was that?” asked Nalas. She then felt something warm on her forehead as she looked up to see Kiras kissing it. Her face grew red in a matter of seconds.

“I wanted to be more than just a friend to you.” said Kiras, face also red.

Nalas, after a few seconds, pushed back from Kiras, laughing, “By the Goddess what kind of sappy romantic confession was that!” she said through the laughs. “You could have also just said ‘I love you too’ you big nerd!” she continued.

“I figured we were spilling our hearts out over here, I'd do something like that!” said Kiras, red in the face from embarrassment.

“You sounded like the main protagonist in a romance novel!” said Nalas, still laughing.

“Hey come on now, you were so serious a second ago and now you are laughing at me! I wouldn’t have been like that if this is how you were going to re-” Kiras was interrupted by Nalas walking over, grabbing his shirt, and kissing his lips.

After releasing their lips, Nalas spoke up with a smile on her face, “But also hearing those words come out of you is a dream come true.”

Kiras smiled back, “You know, maybe you are right that I shouldn’t be afraid of things being different. Maybe starting with you is the best way to get over my fears.”

“And all I ask is to be with you every step of the way!” she responded. “Now come on, Mirak is probably another three pints under and we need to survive his harassment when we tell him about this.”

“Oh boy…” said Kiras. Nalas chuckled as she slid her hand into Kiras’s, and together, the two started making their way back to town.

-------------------------------------------​

The screen blurred to life in the window of the shop. The Imperial insignia glowed out and the sound of the anthem blared through speakers. A similar message was appearing on screens across the city and across the planet. Eventually the screen transitioned to a Heleionite standing at a podium in regal attire. A message played across the bottom:

“Breaking News! Emperor to give speech addressing military concerns!”​

The rumors have been swirling across the Empire that a terrible disaster befell the military in the past few months. Perhaps this speech was to talk about it directly. The Emperor began to speak.

“Good Day, citizens.”

“It is with great sorrow and sadness that I speak to you today, to report that our brave and honorable soldiers suffered a terrible misfortune on the planet Amhleshshi.”​

The rumors were true? It must have been pretty bad if the Emperor himself would admit it.

“The dastardly and treasonous inhabitants of that planet, ungrateful for the freedom and liberty We provided their people, struck out against our brave forces and dealt a devastating blow to them. This treason is befitting of such a people, and proper force must rectify this situation!”
​

Amhleshshi was the desert planet, right? Isn’t that the planet with all the slaves? The slaves rose up in revolt? They also managed to beat the Legions? How bad of a shape is the Legion in?

“However, in order to properly defeat such a treasonous and ungrateful people, We ask you, the citizens of the Empire, all citizens, to join together and fight for the sake of liberty and freedom!”

“As such, by the power of Our Crown, and the authority of Our throne, We issue a decree requesting all citizens fulfill their patriotic duties to the Empire to take up arms and join us in defeating this foe!”​

A request? No… the Heleionites would never request anything from their subjects, this was a demand.

“All citizens of the Empire who meet Our specifications for service will be called upon to defend liberty and freedom from those who seek to fight against it on Amhleshshi!”​

It was another conscription… to put down a slave revolt!

“We humbly thank all citizens for their sacrifice in this grave threat. We hope that all citizens selected will fulfill their duty with pride and honor, with zeal to defend the Empire in their souls!”​

The speech soon gave way to shouts on the screen.

“Long Live the Empire!”

“Long Live the Emperor!”

“Long Live the Empire!”

“Long Live the-”​

The brick through the window cut the broadcast off. It slammed through it, causing sparks and static to rise out alongside broken glass. The screen cracked and blazzed.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter X: Changing Patterns

The engines of the hovercraft could be heard from inside the steel passenger hold. The ten soldiers sat, patiently waiting as the craft continued along its directed flight path. They knew their mission, a standard extraction, nothing too complicated, no chance of problems. As the hovercraft continued its flight, one of the soldiers, a rookie, anxiously tapped his feet and checked his magazine. He loaded it back in, and then after a few seconds, took it out to check it again. He checked his gear over and over again.

Eventually, a hand grabbed his shoulder. “Feeling a bit anxious kid?” the sergeant asked.

“A bit sir, first time I had to do something like this.” replied the rookie.

The sergeant chuckled, “I remember feeling the same on my first operation. Fortunately for you, you won’t actually have to fight anyone. We should be in and out like no problem.”

“How do you know sir?” asked the rookie.

“This isn’t the first time we had to do an extraction like this…” said the sergeant.

“Destination in view, estimated time to landing, five minutes!” said the speakers in the passenger hold. The sergeant got up and pressed a button on the side of the craft. The doors opened and a stream of snowy cool air flooded the craft. The rookie looked outside, and the first thing that came to mind was how many people were on the streets.

The streets were full of Crimlarians, all holding signs and banners marching in unison. There were thousands of them, tens of thousands even! The rookie could hear their chants rise up over the sounds of the engines.

“WE WON’T GO! WE WON’T GO! WE WON’T GO!”

The sight of the crowds and the loudness of their chants caused the rookie’s anxiety to flare up. The sergeant looked over at the rest of the soldiers in the craft and began to speak, “Alright boys, we are going to land on the roof of the Enforcers Headquarters, extract the Commissioner, and get out! Should be nice and smooth, hostile forces are reportedly not armed to an extent that could jeopardize the safety of the VIP!”

The rookie nervously watched as three other hovercraft zoomed past him, all armed with soldiers. One was an attack hovercraft, replacing soldiers with missiles and guns; searchlights aimed at the crowds below. The rookie could see small rocks and bricks being thrown at the attack craft, barely making it up to the craft. Some dinged off it. “Don’t concern yourselves with the Crimlarians, they always do this whenever the Emperor decrees something they don’t like. This mission is simply a precaution. Give it a week and they will all be lining up ready to fight for the Empire!” said the sergeant.

“Roof in sight, landing zone obtained, beginning landing procedures now!” said the craft’s comms. The rookie looked out to see the headquarters of the Inque Colonial Justice Bureau, a bureau that managed the colonial dispensation of justice on Inque and ran many Enforcer related operations. Surrounding it was a sea of angry Crimlarians shouting that same phrase the rookie was hearing. Except this time they were throwing bricks at the building, rattling the fenced gates leading into the place, and hoisting banners. The rookie could see enforcers in all the windows with rifles and snipers, some firing off gas canisters into the crowd in the hopes of dispersing them.

“Craft 3 this is the Bureau internal garrison, Commissioner Dayyert has been notified and is making his way to a secure position close to the roof. Once your men make it down to us, we will begin the evacuation.” said the coms.

“Roger that garrison, making a descent now.” replied the pilot.

The hovercraft began to make its descent. “Attack Craft 1, what’s the status of the protest?” radioed in the Sergeant.

“The furballs are just throwing rocks and banging the gates, nothing too crazy. We got fifty guns trained on it so if they try to fuck with us, we will send them running!” replied the attack craft as it circled with its searchlight.

“Keep overwatch and stay alert, I don’t expect the Crimlarians to do anything too rash, but you never know. Landing now.” replied the sergeant.

“Roger that sir, continuing to sweep through the-” a whistling sound filled the air as a ball of light emerged from a building near the Bureau and slammed into the attack craft, causing a massive explosion and sending it spiraling down into the courtyard below.

“What the-” began the sergeant.

“ROCKETS! ROCKETS INCOM-” screamed one of the other pilots as another ball of light slammed into it blowing it up, sending it spiraling into the building below. A third struck the second, as it jolted down and slammed the tail of the landing hovercraft. The tail snapped and the pilot lost control. The soldiers in the craft grabbed on as their craft lurched forward, and crashed onto the roof.

---------------------------------------------------------------

​

The rookie slowly woke up to the sound of gunfire and breaking glass. He was still sitting in his seat. His radio blared, “Enemy fire! When the fuck did they get guns!??! Hostiles engaging from multiple buildings and the streets! We are at risk of a breach!”

The rookie felt a nudge on his shoulder as he looked up and saw the sergeant looking at him. “Good you are still alive. We need to move now!” he shouted as he unbuckled the rookie and handed him his rifle. He radioed in, “Garrison airborne evacuation compromised, proceeding with underground evacuation now, heading to the Commissioner’s location.”

“Understood! Proceed with haste, garrison is pinned down!” said the sergeant’s comms.

“Copy that! Alright fellas we need to move!” shouted the sergeant. Another soldier kicked open the roof door as the squad made their way downstairs off the roof. The sound of gunfire mixed with the sounds of screaming commands.

The floor was in chaos. Bureaucrats huddled under their desks as enforcers scurried around to take up arms. A wounded enforcer stumbled by, supported by another. From the other side of the floor, a line of enforcers were opening fire on the crowd and hiding as bullets rained in from who knows where.

Eventually, the squad made its way to a secure office and made their way in. Inside, three enforcers and the Commissioner were waiting, weapons loaded. “Commissioner” said the sergeant as he saluted.

“From what I understood this was supposed to be a routine operation, what the shit is happening out there?!?” yelled Dayyert.

“The situation is currently unknown, and it appears that the Crimlarians were armed beyond our understanding. We need to move though sir and get you to the underground escape route.” said the sergeant, beckoning his squad and Dayyert to follow.

As Dayyert and his guard left the office, a red-light began flashing on the floor as an alarm blared out. Outside, a massive yell rang out that could be heard from where the soldiers were standing. “BREACH! THE BUILDING HAS BEEN BREACHED!” screamed a man on the enforcer comms.

“We need to move now! Go! Go!” shouted the sergeant as they made their way to an emergency elevator, one built for this purpose. Everyone piled in, and an enforcer slammed a button heading down to the bottom floor.

As the elevator began its descent, the sound of gunfire grew louder and louder. “What insanity is this…” mumbled Dayyert, “Taking up arms and storming the bureau’s headquarters! The audacity of those creatures! We will make sure they pay in blood for this…” As the elevator continued to descend, the main light in the elevator went out and the elevator jostled, before an emergency light came on the elevator continued on. “Furballs must have cut the main power. Not to fear, the elevator can run on auxiliary power.” stated an enforcer to the soldiers.

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened to reveal a dark tunnel. The soldiers and enforcers turned on flashlights to see in the darkness. “This way sir,” said the sergeant.

“I never thought I would have to be subjected to using this tunnel,” stated the commissioner, bitterly, “It is clear though that this isn’t just going to be some protest movement, we need the full force of justice to squash these traitors-”

The sergeant’s hand motioned up and the stop of the soldiers silenced Dayyert. The soldiers trained their guns and flash-light on the darkness as small footsteps could be heard. One of the soldiers nodded at the sergeant and procured a grenade. He moved quietly forward, flashlight pointed ahead, and winded up to throw it.

That was when he heard a bouncing noise on the rocks.

And then another.

And then another.

And then another.

The soldiers looked as four cylinder containers rolled in between them in the dark. After a brief moment of silence, the sergeant screamed “GET DOWN” before all cylinders exploded, sending rocks, soldiers, and enforcers flying. The rookie was blasted onto the floor, as he rolled onto his face, gun out of reach. His ears rang and his eyes strained against the blast force and the darkness. He looked to his right and saw one of his squad-mates, bloodied and limp from the grenade. Light from the back of the tunnel emerged as gunshots began to break through his deafness. As he slowly began to recover from being concussed, he looked up to see an enforcer, stand himself up, only to be shot three times in the chest before collapsing again.

The rookie began to slowly crawl towards his gun, his head still throbbing, his legs in pain. He looked over again to see shapes emerge from the shadows, firing on the squad. He saw his sergeant return fire with his rifle, only to be swatted down by the figures in the dark. As he got closer and closer to his rifle, he saw Dayyert stand up, concussed, face cut and black from the rocks. He looked over at the figures in the shadows before putting his hands up and shouting something. The rookie barely heard it, but it was a plea due to the panicked look in the commissioner’s face. The figures in the shadow did not care, and a shot through the head silenced Dayyert as he slumped back onto the ground.

The rookie continued to crawl towards his rifle, he was so close. Right as his hand was about to grab it, a sharp kick in the ribs turned him onto his back, and jostled his hearing back to normal. When he tried to get up to fight, a boot slammed on his chest, pinning him to the ground. He looked up to see a Crimlarian standing over him, small-arm in hand. He had make-shift body armor on, and wore a cap on his head. The rookie looked over to see other Crimlarians, dressed in similar fashion. One had a mask on, another had glasses, some had more heavy weapons.

“Must feel weird having a boot pinning you down after all this time, doesn’t it?” asked the assailant standing over the rookie. The rookie stared back in silence. “Well,” the Crimlarian began, “Your Emperor wants us to fight it seems.” they said, as he reloaded his small rifle. “Tell you what, I think we will fight,” the Crimlarian lowered his rifle barrel to the rookie, “We will fight with all the determination we can muster.”

The sound of a final gunshot rang through the tunnel.

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“An attack on the Colonial Justice Bureau HQ? Are they MAD?!?” screamed an Assemblyman in the Crimlarian Assembly. “Reports of mass violence against Enforcer operation facilities! Reports of burning and looting across our cities! Reports of armed thugs wandering the streets! Fellow Assemblymen, we do oppose conscription and always have for years, but surely we cannot oppose it like this!” The room erupted into jeers and cheers. “Any goodwill that the Heleionites might have given us died with Commissioner Dayyert, murdered trying to flee the violence! How long before the Legions get called in? Will we bear witness to the massacre of our own people!?!”

More cheers and jeers. As the meeting hall calmed down, another voice spoke up. “Assemblyman, what would you consider the right response to this conscription decree?”

The Assemblyman looked to see who had spoken. “Assemblyman Hoppoi… I wish to remind the meeting that there are reports that the violence happening on Inque right now is to be blamed on the Independence faction, a faction you are a prominent member of, supplying the means to do violence on the Heleionites?”

“I am well aware,” grunted Liron. “Answer the question”

The Assemblyman was taken a bit aback. “Well, the protests were a good start. We should file a petition to the Empire-”

The Assemblyman was interrupted by the sounds of loud laughter from Liron. His brow furrowed as Liron continued to laugh and laugh. Eventually he calmed down. “Forgive me, Assemblyman, members of the Assembly, but at this point, any talk of negotiating with the Empire I take as a big joke.”

The Assemblyman began again, more enraged, “It is not a joke! These murders and violent rampages are a threat to our well-being, and can lead to repression! We must try and-”

“Do the same shit we have been doing for the past few centuries?” asked a dead-serious Liron, “Forgive my language.”

The Assemblyroom began to hushly whisper, some jeered at Liron for being a violent demagogue. Liron waited a minute before continuing. “Members of the Assembly, we have tried to be peaceful to the Heleionites. We have protested and begged and even negotiated with them time and time again! My father tried it, his father tried it, and his father tried it too! What has that gotten us? Do the Heleionites just stop abusing us? Do they stop being tyrants? NO!” Liron shouted, “They don’t care that we are angry. They don’t care about our petitions or rage. They don’t care about us not wanting to be conscripted, they will drag us out of our homes like they did time and time again!”

“Are you justifying us resorting to violence?” shouted an Assemblyman.

“Are we to just sit here and send out another petition, another negotiation attempt as the Heleionites drag out our children and brothers to fight a war? A war they are losing?!?” Liron shouted again, “I have reports from outside sources that the Heleionites lost an entire Legion to the rebels on Amhleshshi, an entire Legion! This conscription is to plug the gaps in their forces! They are hemoreging men fighting border wars with their neighbors! Assemblymen, this Empire is DYING! Yet, all we want to do is send out the white flag in a failed attempt to keep the Empire alive on Inque!”

“What about reprisals! They will send forces to fight us!” said another Assemblyman.

As Liron was about to speak, the doors to the meeting room bursted open and a squad of Heleionite soldiers stormed into the room, guns drawn. The room entered a state of shock, the Heleionites never sent soldiers to interrupt their meetings! As they set up in the room, a man wearing an official uniform walked to the center of the room, to the sounds of jeering from the Assembly. He held his hand up, beckoning the Assembly to silence. “Members of the Crimlarian Assembly…” he began to speak; “I come on behalf of General Ulyss Majan, the acting commander of Imperial forces on Inque with a proposition!”

The Assembly grew deathly quiet as the official pulled out a piece of paper. “General Majan asks that the Assembly declare the riots and violence spreading across Inque as illegitimate and denounce them fully and publicly to the general population. At the same time, the Assembly shall call upon an investigation into the murder of Commissioner Dayyert, that his killers be brought to justice alongside all who conspired to have the Commissioner murdered. Afterwards, the Assembly of the Crimlarians is to immediately disband itself and cease all activities-” this was greeted by a massive cry of jeers from the entire Assembly, “-and that all members of the Assembly stay out of colonial affairs on pain of treason from this day until their last!”

“What do we get in this proposition!” shouted an Assemblyman over the jeers.

“Your lives,” said the official, dead-panned with no emotion, “as well as the lives of all those you hold dear. It is General Majan’s belief that this Assembly is nothing more than a coalition of traitors that should have never been indulged and should have been shot the moment they were convened. The General though is merciful and willing to let you all walk away from this without immediate reprisal should you follow his simple instructions. You have 24 hours to comply.” The official walked out, the soldiers followed.

Liron turned to the now quiet Assembly, a sense of dread washed over them. He looked at the Assemblyman who asked the question about reprisals. “Those reprisals will come regardless of what we do. Our existence is justification for it. So tell me, members of the Assembly, shall we let history repeat itself, or shall we strive to not let it?”

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter XI: An Offer You Can't Refuse​

The streets of Kildary were loud.

Mirak noticed this as he was riding shotgun in a delivery truck. It was a standard shipment, some trinkets and necessities to sell in the out-lying villages. Mirak has driven the same route time and time again, but even in times of protest and riots, he could make his way through easily since they never got big enough to block traffic. Now though, things were different. As Mirak sat and watched the truck and the rest of traffic slowly move through the sea of people gathered. They had signs, were shouting chants, and standing on boxes showing off scars and telling the horrors of war. They preached stories of the Assembly being told to disband, they told about armed citizens storming enforcer buildings, they told of how the Shobdamese, slaves who started with nothing, beat an entire Legion, and how they could easily do the same thing.

Mirak was stirred when his driver honked on the horn shouting at the protestors to clear the road. “Easy there friend, can’t you see these people are already agitated?”

“Well it doesn’t help us very much to be stuck here!” shouted the driver. Mirak sighed again and looked out. The chaos and anger he was witnessing was unlike anything he had seen before. Has everyone reached the breaking point? Was Liron pulling them along or was this un-planned? These thoughts continued as the truck began to slowly lurch forward as people began moving out of the street. “This is going to take us all bloody day just to get off the street!” shouted the driver.

Mirak looked out to see a man standing on a preacher's box shouting, “We will not go die on some desert planet to keep this Empire’s boot on our necks! We must fight them and break free!” Another independence demagogue. They sure were out more in force than ever before.

As the truck continued to lurch along, the sound of distant gunfire echoed across the street. Some of the mob looked around in shock as to where it came from, but quickly went back to their riot. Mirak sighed again, getting out of the city was going to be a nightmare…

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“Finally, now we are moving!” shouted the driver as it bumped across the road. After hours of navigating large crowds, they finally got on a main road out of the city. If they kept moving, they would still be able to make the first delivery and get paid. Yet, something felt off to Mirak, the atmosphere changed from the streets. “Ah shit…” the driver said as they began slowing down. Mirak looked up and saw a large body of Heleionites on the road. They had large vehicles blocking the streets. Mirak also noticed that these people were not just simple enforcers. They were armed, well armed. The vehicles looked less enforcement and more military. It was then that he noticed the sigils on the side of one of the vehicles.

“Fuck me, those are Legionnaires…” said Mirak.

“Legionnaires? When did they show up?” asked the driver.

“I don’t know and that’s the least of our concerns at the moment. Just stay calm and we can get through this.” replied Mirak. The Empire had sent a Legion to Inque? Things must be really bad. That or the Governor decided that “no survivors” was a good way to stop the chaos. Mirak heard stories from elders about what happened the last time Legionnaires showed up on Inque; things were going to get really ugly.

A soldier walked out and put up his hand as the truck slowed to a stop. The soldier walked over to the window and tapped it. The driver rolled it down, “Afternoon sir.”

“Sorry but I am going to need to ask you to turn around. All roads out of Kildary are to be shut until further notice under orders from the General.” said the soldier.

General? Obviously the head of the Legion but why were they doing this without the Governor’s support? “We have all the necessary paperwork to deliver out of the city.” replied Mirak.

“All interplanetary travel by road and air is restricted to Crimlarian residents in the direct areas they are residing. Paperwork stating the contrary has been voided under the lockdown orders.” said the soldier.

Mirak looked out of the corner of his eye to see two soldiers on his side of the truck with their rifles looking at the truck and him. “We weren’t made aware of this order though,” he said.

“Well eventually you people will figure it out…” said another soldier, snidely.

“Look, I think there is just a misunderstanding, there are many of us who rely on delivering outside the city-” began Mirak.

“Turn around, final warning.” interrupted the soldier.

Mirak and the driver looked at each other, Mirak shrugged and told him to back up, no point getting killed trying to get out. They’ll have to find a way to sneak out of the city. As the driver threw the truck in reverse, a low hum hit Mirak’s ears. Mirak looked around to see where the hum was coming from. It continued to get louder and louder. One of the soldiers shouted something, and the others began running back and arming. That is when Mirak saw it in the mirror, four vehicles making a bee-line towards the blockade.

“Hey what are those-” began the driver, who just noticed. Mirak grabbed him and shoved him onto the floor as a hissing noise screamed past them and detonated one of the trucks. Soon, the sound of gunfire erupted around them. The soldiers were shouting orders as shouts of wounds began to rattle the car. Mirak looked up to see a group of armed Crimlarians with small-arms jump out of their vehicles and open fire on the blockade. “Shit shit shit!!!” shouted the driver, “What do we do!?”

“DRIVE YOU FUCK, DRIVE!!!!” screamed Mirak. The driver slammed on the acceleration and accelerated forward. The sound of crunching metal came with a lurch forward as the truck barreled its way through the blockade. Mirak swore he heard a soldier scream as they drove past. Eventually, they were on the open road. The two looked up and saw behind them a gun-battle, slowly going in the distance.

“What the shit was that…” said the driver breathing heavily.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling things are going to go crazy on this planet…” replied Mirak.

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“The situation on Inque seems to be rapidly devolving into chaos General.” said the man in the hologram, “Yet your plans seem to be questionable to the Ministry and to the Emperor in how to resolve it!”

General Majan sighed as he began to speak, “I am aware that these plans require resources from a reserve that is already stretched thin-”

“An understatement for sure!” interrupted the hologram, “You are taking valuable divisions of your Legion, the 5th Legion, which is currently holding the line against increasingly fervent raids and attacks from the Saudade, attacks that are stretching the reserves on their own if I may remind you, and sending them to do policing work on Inque!”

“Was I not assigned by the Ministry to handle this crisis following the failures of His Majesty’s appointed administrators to control the situation through any means necessary?” asked Majan, “The splitting of the 5th Legion to help handle the rebellious Crimlarians may seem like an unusual move given the circumstances but it is a necessary one! By ending this rebellion before it has a chance to get worse should be the goal. Afterall, in my opinion it was the failure to act quickly and decisively that allowed the Shobdamese to take advantage and prepare for us, allowing them to strike a critical blow!”

“Are the enforcers and local garrisons not good enough to stop this rebellion?” asked the Minister.

“No, and it was a mistake to assume they would. It is clear based on data obtained by intelligence that the Crimlarians had been preparing for such a large display of resistance for a long time now. Their weapons, though crude, are surprisingly effective. It seems to be a combination of custom-made weaponry and imported weapons…” said Majan.

“You think someone is supplying them? That list could be any polity that the Empire could be challenging, and Inque is too far from the borders to be properly supplied by foreign gun runners! Thus I find it hard to believe that any foreign entity could be supplying them!” said the hologram.

“Many Crimlarians, some with wealth and resources, are sympathetic if not out-right supportive of the rebels according to intelligence, so they could easily buy anything in bulk for a rebellion if they had the desire,” said Majan.

“So what are you proposing?” asked the hologram.

“My plan has four simple parts,” began Majan. He began pulling up screens and various videos gathered from around the planet. “The first stage of this operation is to weaken their leadership…” a video from the Assembly came up showing the Heleionite guards ordering it dispersed, “I have already ordered that Assembly of traitors to be dispersed. Some of those Crimlarians will disperse, they value their lives and property too much to risk the label of traitor. Any who decide to continue to lead will be marked for death, and I have gathered their names and the names of their kin. They will submit or face the consequences.”

“That doesn’t stop those who were not associated with the Assembly from taking up leadership positions…” said the Minister.

“Stage two is to stabilize as many areas outside of the cities as possible.” Majan opened up various maps of the planet, “This is where I once again like to push my request onto the Ministry…” said Majan.

“The Thirteenth Legion is still gathering recruits! Even if it can fully be replaced, the legionnaires will not be ready to see combat!” said the Minister.

“Which is why deploying them fully to Inque would be a great training exercise. They will begin by stabilizing the planet outside of the major cities and urban areas. There are plenty of villages that would become hotbeds of rebel activity and become major strongholds. If we deny the rebels a place to run and hide, we can easily pick them off!” said Majan, “Any village or town that resists… well… target practice is important for any recruit…”

“What of the cities? If you focus too much on the villages, the cities could be overrun!” said the Hologram.

“Stage three of this operation is to contain the violence as much as possible within the city. The divisions I gathered from Legion V are outnumbered. If we can contain the rebels to specific areas of the planet, we can better manage them.” said Majan.

“Isolate them, cut off support, wither them down via attrition?” asked the Minister.

“Yes! With that, the final stage of the operation will begin, a squeeze.” Majan said as he pulled up maps of various cities with specific movements and points of interest in various cities across Inque, “The combined efforts of the Fifth and Thirteenth Legions will squeeze the rebels, and destroy them. They will not be able to re-gather their strength, and such a crushing defeat would lead to a collapse of support. The rebels will give up or be forced to give up by their peers, and order will be restored!” said Majan, “Of course the Empire will expect contrition from ungrateful citizens, so conscription will be increased from Inque to allow the Crimlarians to atone for their crimes…”

The Minister sighed, “We cannot afford to lose another planet to chaos. The Shobdamese crisis is already taxing our Empire greatly, another crisis of such magnitude could very well destroy the Empire as we know it! We trust you General, the Emperor puts his faith in him. Do not disappoint.”

Majan bowed, “His Majesty’s work will be done, long may He reign.”

With that, the hologram dispersed, and light returned to the room. Majan sighed as he took out a flask and took a swig from it. “The situation is already far out of your control, Ulyisus,” said a voice from behind. Majan turned around to see Tervas sitting on a seat. “The only way this ends is with copious amounts of destruction and death now.”

“The death of traitors is something that I will gladly endorse.” replied Majan, walking over to a window, “Something you should have done long ago…”

“The Legions are not ready to be a police force, shit they aren’t ready to be a force at all! You are asking Heleionites we just gave weapons to police a planet many of them never have been to!” said Tervas.

“Last time I checked this is my operation. The Emperor gave me full authority of all dealings on Inque until the rebellion has resolved, and I will not listen to those who do not have the desire to do what is necessary.” responded Majan, harshly. “Plus, you do not need to worry about the Legions losing their way.”

“How? They don’t know this planet! You are sending young people into a landmine field!” asked Tervas.

“Well, the conscription orders are still in effect on this planet aren’t they?” said Majan in response.

Tervas thought for a second, and then put his hands on his head, “Gods dammit Ulyisus, you are going to turn this rebellion into a Civil War?!?”

“I am sure many Crimlarians do not want to fight the might of the Empire, so those who don’t will help us fight against those who stupidly want to fight us!” said Majan, “If the rebels see their own kin fighting on our side in make-shift auxiliary units, they will surely be less inclined to fight! At the same time, if we offer the Crimlarians a chance to avoid service off planet by serving here, I am sure they will have no reason to complain! After all, these furballs will probably be more likely to serve if it’s in their own interest and in the interest of those close to them!”

Tervas, shocked, began to walk out of the room silently before stopping and speaking, “You are vastly under-estimating the anger these people feel, and it will be your downfall my friend…”

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Rayaww has never seen this many military ships over Inque before in his entire career. As his ship emerged from hyper-space, the Tikanid adjusted himself before seeing the mass armada assembled before him.

“Good grief… if I would have known better, the entire planet was being invaded,” he turned to face the cloaked individual, “So I feel like what you are paying me to get on the planet is not enough…”

“Just get me and the goods I came with to Kildary and you will be paid handsomely.” replied the figure.

Rayaww shrugged, “Your funeral…” he said as he began the approach to the planet.

As he approached the fleet, a message hailed him on the comms, “Unidentified ship, this is the Lavras, the planet of Inque is under a special military blockade, please leave the sector.”

“Cruiser Lavras this is the transport Jurasta, I am on a special transport request to the planet, requesting an exception to the current blockade to allow the ability to land.” replied Rayaww.

“Transport Jurasta, please provide your exception documentation with proper paperwork and seals to verify your statement,” said the voice.

Rayaww pushed some buttons as a beeping noise emerged, “Cruiser Lavras I have sent you the required paperwork, please verify.”

“Impressive… you must have prepared for this…” said the mysterious passenger.

“Not my first Heleionite military blockade over a planet in its own territory. Your superiors would be happy to know that such a thing is becoming quite frequent.” replied Rayaww. “Forged Heleionite documents and seals to get through customs and any sort of nonsense like this are so common on Xurk’in that you can just buy them in bulk for single digit credits! The bastards just skim it and let you in.”

“Transport Jurasta, paperwork has been verified, you are clear to approach and land.” came the comms.

Rayaww was a bit stunned, “Uh… roger, Cruiser Lavras, beginning descent now!”

“Sound a bit surprised smuggler,” said the figure.

“That was too easy… last time I had to go through this I had to provide additional documents just to convince them to let me in… usually takes an extra thirty minutes before I can descend in these situations, man they REALLY are getting lazy.” said Rayaww.

As the ship passed the fleet, the figure looked out at the ships, and noticed something, “These ships have a sigil I do not recognize.”

“Sigils all blur to me, unless you people happen to know them by specifics?” asked Rayaww.

“Sort of, I know what sigils the individual Legions use, but this one in particular is new…” pondered the figure.

“Well just hope they don’t start shooting at us cause that would be bad for both of us now wouldn’t it?” joked Rayaww. The figure didn’t laugh. “You people sure don’t have much of a sense of humor do you?”

The ship continued to descend to the planet’s surface.

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These kids were too green to be here. That’s what the lieutenant thought as he observed a group of legionnaires from the 13th Legion passing the time at the docks. They were busy gawking about, admiring their new toys and armor, and talking about how great it will be to get into combat. These kids just learned how to aim and shoot their guns and they are acting like they will save the Empire.

“Hey sir, you think we will see combat anytime soon?” asked one of the young privates. “Wanna shoot some furballs soon ya know!”

“I wouldn’t get too eager…” said the lieutenant.

“Come on sir, everyone back home says that we are better than all of the furballs combined!” shouted another soldier, playing cards.

“I have fought with the Crimlarians in auxiliary units before, they aren’t no slouches to blood,” began the Lieutenant, “They will kill you if you are not careful, and their nature will make them enjoy it all the way until you breathe your last. Seen it first hand myself.”

“Wait sir you can’t be serious?” asked one.

“Watched a Crimlarian soldier, no bigger than you, run out of ammo, and beat an enemy soldier’s head in with a rock… had nothing more than a rock! If they want you dead, you will be dead!” said the lieutenant, picking up a rock for dramatic effect. Just then, a ship began to land on the dock. “Alright boys! Time to go to work! I want scanners out on that thing!”

The soldiers began moving around, grabbing equipment and their rifles as the ship began to land. Soon, they all gathered outside the landing door. The door opened, and out-stepped a bird-like creature, hands raised. “No weapons friends! I promise!”

“A Tikanid? Never thought I’d see one of you out here.” said the lieutenant.

“We get around more than you think good sir!” replied the Tikanid. He walked over to the cargo drop, pressed a button, and the cargo doors opened to reveal large stacks of boxes and a hooded person manning them. “Now I know the drill, do whatever you need to do. Scan it, poke it, whatever, just know you won’t be finding anything now.”

The soldiers began scanning it and investigating as the hooded person joined the Tikanid. “Who’s that, your co-pilot?” asked one of the soldiers.

“Yes! Unfortunately they have a condition above the eye and don’t want anyone to see it. Please respect them in this. I can show you their ID if needed to verify this.” said the Tikanid. The soldiers shrugged and continued their job.

“What are you shipping, Mr…” said another soldier, looking over an electronic device, “Rayaww?”

Rayaww walked over to one of the crates and hit a button, popping it open to reveal bottles of liquid. “Liquids of Nishushu! One of the more rare drinks in the galaxy! A glass of this will send even the toughest drinker to a state of intoxicated euphoria! Yes gentlemen, the Radianer may not be the most friendly of people but they make a damn good spirit!” One of the soldiers tried to pick up a bottle, “NO DON’T TOUCH THAT YOU FOOL!” Rayaww shouted, grabbing the bottle. Some of the soldiers raised their guns at Rayaww, “This is for some high-ranking officials on this planet! Do you want them to come after you for spoiling their drinks? I am only looking out for you, my good man!”

The soldiers relaxed a bit. Soon a truck pulled up to meet the ship. “Ah yes, our ride is here. Now if you excuse us gentlemen I have an urgent delivery. Am I clear?”

The lieutenant eyed the Tikanid harshly before waving his hand, “He’s clear, get him out of here.”

Rayaww bowed, and soon he and his assistant finished loading the goods onto the truck and sped off.

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“So you are saying that two Legions are now deploying on Inque in response to what is happening?” asked Liron, agitated.

The group of Crimlarians sitting around the table looked at each other before one spoke up, “Yes, it seems that the newest Legion, the Thirteenth Legion, is getting their baptism by fire on Inque, and are assisting with reprisals. Though, it seems that they are merely barricading the ways out of Kildary, as well as blocking traffic into other major cities.”

“Boxing us in from the sounds of it…” said Liron. “Anyway we can hook up with the Liberation Committee in Jisata?”

“Not yet, it seems that Jisata is under heavier pressure due to its importance to the Imperials. It will take some time.” said another person at the table.

“Very well, let’s focus on linking up with those groups out on the street fighting and get our militias organized and growing-” Liron began before the door opened, interrupting the speech.

Selvatas stepped in as the eyes of the Liberation Committee of Kildary looked at her, “Pardon me, but it seems you all have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” asked a committee member.

Selvatas stepped out of the way as a hooded individual walked into the room. The committee looked at each other puzzled before they lowered their hood to reveal their white skin, flowing red-hair, and pointed ears.

The committee began to whisper to each other anxiously. “You are Saudade, aren’t you?” asked one of the committee members.

“Selvatas you willingly led her here?!?” shouted another committee member.

“Calm yourselves, I mean you no harm,” the Saudade began to speak, “My name is Alagossa Qinzana, I am a special envoy from His Solar Majesty sent to talk with the representatives of the Crimlarian resistance to the Heleionite Empire. I suppose I am speaking to them now?”

The other committee members began to whisper and exchange glances. “Yes and no…” said Liron after an awkward period of silence. “Yes, you are talking with representatives of the resistance. No, you are only talking with a group.”

“Our intel suggests that the resistance is most active here in Kildary, so we supposed that the Kildary group would be the ones closest to leadership.” Alagossa continued.

“It’s not that simple you see. We aren’t really one cohesive block, but we are trying to change that at the moment.” said Liron, walking over to Alagossa, and extending a hand. “Liron Hoppoi, Head of the Kildary Liberation Committee and former member of the Inque Independence League, at least while we tried to go the legitimate route.”

Alagossa reached out and shook Liron’s hand, “A pleasure, I suppose then you will have to contend with the offer I give you from His Solar Majesty.”

“An offer?” asked Liron, “Let’s walk and talk.” Liron led Alagossa out into the main complex the committee was having its meeting in. Inside this large underground space, countless Crimlarians were running around, grabbing guns, manufacturing ammo, and checking maps. “Pretty impressive don’t you think?” asked Liron to Alagossa.

“Indeed, we have heard of the impressive offensive that these bands of resistance fighters have managed to pull off. It seemingly has galvanized the people into further action in this city.” replied Alagossa.

“You’d be surprised how spontaneous the whole thing was. The conscription notice went out and next thing we knew it Crimlarians were asking us for guns to storm Heleionite administrative buildings all across the planet! All we are doing is trying to organize and direct the anger that rose up on its own.” said Liron.

“Yes, revolutions tend to be a combination of planning and abrupt chaos, at least that is what I have heard.” said Alagossa. “I notice though that you seem to be making many of your weapons on your own?” she said, passing a group of fighters putting together crude rifles and rockets.

“Yea it’s not much but it gets the job done. We have rich benefactors in Crimlarian society donating resources to obtain parts and weapons, but we don’t have the means to obtain proper weapons. What we have can work, but I am skeptical that it can stop two full Legions.” replied Liron. “Sometimes we luck out and one of our richer friends buys a shipment of Wusthean arms, and gets it planetside. Yet, it seems the Empire is clamping down on those…”

“I suppose that is a great lee-way into the offer I wish to ask you…” said Alagossa. She turned to face Liron, “The Sovereign Suns wish to be a supplier for your little rebellion.”

Liron and all those who were in ear-shot stopped and turned to face Alagossa. “You want to supply us? I get your people and the Heleionites are basically at war, but the logistics of such an endeavor would be monumental!”

Alagossa smirked, “Anything to break this deadlock my people and the Heleionites have. We have already extended the offer to the Shobdamese too. The Sovereign Suns can assist in supplying weapons, armor, explosives, anything that can easily be smuggled onto Inque, in exchange for breaking the Heleionites and providing an opportunity for my people to end this bloody war once and for all!”

“You still haven’t answered my question about the logistics,” said Liron.

Alagossa pointed towards the back of the space, where a bird-like creature was lugging in multiple crates. “Dammit all, you know you could have told them what is in these crates and got me some help!” Rayaww yelled. He opened one of the crates to reveal bottles of liquid.

“I am not sure how this is helpful…” said Liron. Rayaww picked up a bottle, and pushed a small button underneath it to pop out the top divider in the crate, revealing a large bundle of weapons. Liron looked in and soon became in awe of what he saw. He looked over to Alagossa, “These are high-tech Saudade arms… rifles, repeaters, heavy ordinances… the works…”

“The Tikanids and the Sovereign Suns have a very mutually beneficial relationship, and their smugglers and criminal connections are some of the best in the entire sector. With them on your side, any weapon that your resistance should desire can be given to you. Though it will eventually cost you, we ask that you prove that your people can beat the Heleionites like the Shobdamese did. Once your people are free, we can negotiate repayment.” said Alagossa, “That is the offer His Solar Majesty gives to all of Inque in resistance.”

Liron stewed for a second. He looked over at the other Committee members, to Selvatas, and to the gathered crowd pulling out the weapons and marveling at them. He sighed, “As long as the Committee agrees to it, Kildary at least will agree to this deal…”

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter XII: It's Happening Again

Kiras tapped his finger waiting as the machine continued to gurgle. Did morning brew usually take this long to make? The rays of the morning were entering the room as Kiras continued to wait patiently. It was an early morning for sure, and Kiras would have preferred to stay asleep. After all…

Just then, he felt something lean on him as a pair of arms wrapped around his chest. He heard a yawning noise. “Morning Ki…” grumbled out a very tired Nalas. It has been a few weeks since Kiras and Nalas had started going out, and Nalas had felt brave enough to spend the evening at the Sheothri residence.

“You haven’t called me Ki in years” chuckled Kiras. Just then, the machine stopped making noises and a light liquid poured into a cup. “You also got yourself out of bed just in time.” Kiras said as he picked up the glass. He tried to turn to give Nalas the cup, but whenever he did, her head, glued onto his back, just turned with him.

“No… don’t make me take my head off this pillow…” grumbled Nalas, half-awake. Kiras chuckled a bit as he continued to struggle. “Come on, the meteor-shower doesn’t even begin till the evening, you can sleep in…” continued Nalas. That’s right, the big meteor shower was today wasn’t it?

Kiras quickly spun around in Nalas’s arms so she couldn’t follow, and soon Nalas’s head was plopped on his chest. “It’s not your back but it's still nice…” she murmured, as her eyes continued to remain shut.

Kiras soon held the brew cup close to her nose. She sniffed the air, before her eyes began to open. “You know, the old-man says I make a mean cup of morning energy.”

“Smells good…” she said as she lifted her head up and snatched the cup. She took it, sipped it, eyes soon darting wide open, and drank the rest. “Tastes amazing too!” she said, now fully awake. “What did you do to it?”

“I just added some farva milk, and the old man has gallons of the stuff. Says it makes any liquid taste better, and I became a quick believer!” responded Kiras.

Nalas sat down at the table. “Well then Mr. Chef, what else do you have planned today for my meal?”

Kiras chuckled again, “Well, don’t have too high expectations, my food knowledge is much more limited than my drink knowledge.”

“Hey if you make it for me, it has to be at least digestible!” joked Nalas. The two laughed as together they slowly began their long day.

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Jarlas sat as he polished each item on his shelf. One by one he polished trinkets and nick-nats he had gotten over the years. Each one brought back good memories of his past, each one bringing him back to good times and good people. He smiled as he continued his work.

“Now remember, meet me down the road heading south when the sun starts setting! Don’t be late!” said Nalas, as she walked to the front of the office. Jarlas looked up from his work to see her putting on her outdoor wear.

“Hey you know me, I’m never late for stuff like this!” replied Kiras, helping her gather her things.

“Remember that one meteor shower you almost missed back when we were kids?” asked Nalas.

“That was because I was sick and had to sneak out to meet up!” responded Kiras.

“Well regardless, just don’t be late.” said Nalas. After putting on her boots, she walked over and hugged Kiras, “I put a lot of time into finding this place so don’t make us waste it.”

Kiras leaned down and kissed her, “Again, don’t worry about it!” Nalas smiled before walking out the door.

Kiras smiled as he looked out the window watching Nalas leave. Soon, laughter broke the silence. Kiras turned around and saw Jarlas laughing and polishing things. “Oh my, to be young and in love! I am sure I have told you plenty of times before but I will say it again, I was right about your feelings!”

Kiras’s face turned red, “What’s so funny about this old man?”

Jarlas put down his latest trinket, “I am sorry my boy, it’s just that I watched you grow up, and now the little kid who was a smarty-pants is now an adult with a significant other! It’s just all very humorous to me!”

“I don’t really see the humor in it to be honest…” said Kiras.

“Forgive me dear boy,” said Jarlas, as he stood up and walked over, “To tell you the truth I am joyful of your youth and passion with young Nalas, especially after everything that has happened to you.” Jarlas walked over and put his hand on Kiras’s shoulder, “The boy I watched for so long and got taken away from me deserves to be happy after everything that happened, is what I think. You take care of that girl now, and don’t blow it!”

“Relax old-man, I wouldn’t dare dream about letting her go. I feel like being with her has made me a stronger person, and that alone makes her the greatest person to step into my life.” said Kiras.

“Woo-hoo-hoo, sounds like you are going to propose to her if you speak like that!” joked Jarlas. “Not that I would oppose. You did after all make more progress than me on that front!”

“Wait, you had someone you liked, old-man?” asked Kiras, a bit stunned.

“Yea, a long time ago…” said Jarlas, as he walked over to his shelf of trinkets. He plucked an old hairpin from the shelf and rummaged his fingers through it. “When I was younger, I found someone who I considered the love of my life. We were good together. I got them this as a gift.”

“You never talked about them before though?” said Kiras.

“We were set to wed, until fate decided to play its ugly hand on us.” continued Jarlas, as he set the hairpin back on the shelf. He slammed his cane hard against his leg, enough to make a metal sound. Kiras immediately understood this, and nodded. “By the time I got back, I had learned she caught an illness and passed. Doctors said it was from some respiratory disease. I say broken heart.”

“I’m sorry you had to endure that.” said Kiras, thinking about his own past. What would he have done if something had happened to Nalas while he was on duty.

“The Heleionites almost took my leg, it is true. But they did more damage to my heart, more than anything else. Which is why seeing you and Nalas together, as corny as my mind makes it sound, fills me with more joy than I could ever hope,” said Jarlas, he wiped his nose a bit, looking at the hairpin, “I am proud of you Kiras, as proud as any father would be of their son for finding happiness.”

“Well shucks old man.” said Kiras, smiling and scratching his head.

Jarlas soon turned, “Now come on, you should get to work. You don’t want work to hold you back from enjoying a good evening now do you?”

“Yes sir!” said Kiras, as he turned to begin his shift.

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Mirak sat in the office, nervously tapping his foot. He’s been waiting for minutes now, doesn’t Nuravar know when a friend has stopped by? It didn’t matter, the mayor’s tardiness was the last thing on his mind after driving out of a shootout. Mirak had crawled his way slowly across the countryside after his truck got shot to oblivion and almost exploded, making deliveries and keeping a small profile, until he found himself back in his hometown. Oddly enough, the chaos in the city had not made its way out to the villages. They were mainly untouched, going about as if nothing was happening. Was there a communications black-out? Did they just not care? Did the Empire just forget about them?

The doors opened and Nuravar stepped in. “Mirak! Good grief you look like you saw a ghost!” said the mayor.

“Nah, just something has been on my mind for a while, that’s all.” replied Mirak, softly.

Nuravar walked over and gave Mirak a drink before sitting down at his desk. “So, you said you wanted to ask me something? Go on, ask away!”

Mirak took a long swig of the drink, it was just water. He sat silent for a second afterwards before speaking up. “Do you or anyone in this village know about what’s happening in the cities?” he asked.

Nuravar sighed before beginning to speak, “I only have heard about the conscription notice. Other than that I have heard trickles of talk about fighting in Kildary, riots turning into gun battles, that kind of thing. Why do you ask?”

“So it is a media black-out…” said Mirak, solemnly.

“Media black-out?” asked Nuravar.

“I was just in Kildary, driving delivery for people, whatever you heard pales in comparison to what actually is happening.” said Mirak.

Nuravar chuckled, “You gotta be joking, no way that it's as bad as-”

“The Empire sent Legions to the planet Nuravar, I saw one of their armored vehicles get blown to shit!” interrupted Mirak, “It’s a damn war out there Nuravar!”

Nuravar sat, his face turning into one of disbelief, “Are you 100% sure that you are telling me the serious truth?”

“What do you think I lied to you about this?” asked Mirak in response.

Nuravar put his hands on his head, “No wonder no one got this info out here…”

“I am amazed nothing happened out here yet, you’d think the Empire would send something out to round people up.” said Mirak.

“I imagine they are a bit preoccupied at the moment in the cities…” said Nuravar, “Mirak if I understand correctly you had contacts in the Independence League back in the capital, anything from them?”

“You know that my work with them is something I am not really able to talk about… for your safety…” said Mirak.

“Just answer the damn question.” replied Nuravar.

Mirak sighed, “No, I haven’t really had contact with any League member after the first shots rang out in Kildary, I have no idea if they even are in the city still.”

“That leads me to believe that some of them got out to the countryside and are hiding in villages like this, waiting for things to settle…” said Nuravar.

“If I saw someone from the League, I’d tell you, but there is no reason for the Empire to go sniffing around here. If they do show up, well they will leave disappointed.” said Mirak.

“If the military shows up, they are going to grab some of the residents for military service. I don’t think a rebellion is going to cause conscription to slow down…” said Nuravar.

Mirak sat and stewed for a minute, “Does Kiras know any of this?”

“You are afraid of history repeating I see. I already told him what I just told you, and he just quietly took it. I didn’t really get much of a reaction, I assume he just doesn’t care anymore or thinks he is fine, free from further duty” said Nuravar.

“Idiot… they recruited him as a kid, they don’t give a damn about what he thinks.” said Mirak. “Do you know where he is?”

Nuravar responded, “Getting ready to watch the meteor shower-”

“-with Nalas, fuck. I need to kick his ass and make him aware of how big things are!” said Mirak.

“I think he’s been stewing over it long enough…” said Nuravar in response, “Just do it after his date. No point in ruining his fun.”

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​

“Why in the name of the Gods are they sending us out to some forest?” asked the Legionnaire squad member. He and four other soldiers were playing a game on a barrel. “It seems like a waste of time, the fight is in the city isn’t it?”

“Relax, they want us just taking care of some things in the country-side, something about securing flanks or some shit like that,” said another soldier. He casted a wooden stick with scratches in it onto the barrel.

“I heard they found a weapons cache in the area they want us to clear out,” said another.

“I heard it was because there was some resistance leader hiding away in some snow-drift in the back-country and we are going to hunt him down!” said a third soldier.

“I still think the Empire would want us here where all the fighting is happening, fighting with the 5th.” said the first soldier.

“Don’t pray too much for battle, I heard the fur-balls are putting up a damn good fight, even got themselves some fancy new weapons.” said the third soldier.

“Please. We have them right where we want them, boxed in with no way out. I give it a few solar cycles and they will be all strung up across the road!” said the second soldier.

“Gonna see if I can lead a group of fur-ball conscripts, make them pay for wasting our time here instead of fighting actual wars!” said the third soldier.

“You? An officer? That’s a funny joke!” said the first soldier. He tossed the stick again, and cheered when it landed just the way he wanted. He collected his winnings as the other soldiers groaned. “Hey come on, the best generals have luck on their side!”

“Form ranks!” shouted a voice from behind. The five soldiers and two other squads of five shot up and ran over to form ranks. Their commanding officer soon walked over to inspect them. “By the Gods you are all as fresh as a baby! I will be shocked if you all manage to come back alive!”

The officer placed a portable projector on a crate, as it came to life and showed a map of Inque. A red crosshair soon appeared on the map in some rural part of the planet. “There is a village out here, between Kildary and Jisata, that you grunts are assigned to take and hold. As part of operations, the 13th Legion shall be securing this stretch of country-side between the cities to help with the encirclement. Through your efforts, we shall ensure these rebel scum have no means of escape! We shall also conscript the locals into helping us, to shore up numbers and eliminate resistance”

The soldiers stood in silence, processing the order. A secure mission? Lame. “Any furball that interrupts or disrupts your operations you have full authority to deem as a rebel and do with them as you see fit! Do I make myself clear?”

“Sir yes sir!” belched out the soldiers.

“Alright, report to the loading docks, we depart in 30.” said the officer.

“Sir yes sir!” the soldiers said, before saluting. The officer beckoned them to get ready, and the soldiers dispersed to grab their gear before embarking on, for many of them, would be their first mission.

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​

“That’s thirty!” shouted Nalas as she pointed up to the sky. A flash of light crossed the sky. “That puts me above you by five!” she said, smugly.

Kiras sighed. “It is said that we got another hour left of this, so don’t count me out yet!”

Meteor showers are a rather rare sight on Inque. Asteroids and comets exist in the system that Inque resides in, but very rarely are the conditions met for there to be a shower. Scientists say that they only occur after a mass collision of asteroids launches small fragments towards Inque. Whenever they happen though, they turn into big events for the Crimlarians. One can live their entire life without seeing one.

Which is why this one is such a big deal. Now, in the cities you would find watch parties and massive observation groups on the rooftops. In the countryside though, oftentimes small groups of people or couples go out to the areas where there is not much light pollution, to get a better view. Sometimes city dwellers make their way out to the rural parts to get a better glimpse.

Nalas and Kiras, though, weren’t tourists. Nalas had talked non-stop for the past month about how this was a once in a life-time opportunity for everyone, and how awesome it would be to get a watch-party together in the woods for it. However… “everyone” turned into just “Kiras”. Even though they weren’t the only ones out watching the interstellar spectacle, they were enjoying some quality time together. Nalas managed to find a spot, and brought mats to sit on, a small light, and a portable gas heater. Kiras was impressed at her readiness.

“27! Ganging on you lady!” said Kiras, smirking in Nalas’s direction. She chuckled a bit.

“You know, the last time we went to do a viewing out of the village like this… things didn’t really end well for either of us…” said Nalas.

Kiras looked at her. They did go see a herd migration the day when Kiras got conscripted didn’t they? “Yeah, it didn’t end well for us, did it…”

Kiras sat down on the mat, his excitement gave way to a bit of melancholy. “Shit I didn’t mean to make you sad thinking about the past,” said Nalas.

“No no no, it’s fine,” said Kiras, he rubbed his hands together and breathed on them, even with the heater, Inque nights were awfully cold, “Just, hoping things this time have a happier ending…”

“Come on, I made you think about something, what is it?” said Nalas.

Kiras took a deep breath and sighed heavily, “I heard there was some trouble in the cities. The Empire issued another conscription decree… Nuravar”

Nalas leaned back as the words hit her. “They did what?”

“The same thing that got me sent to the army got issued again, Nuravar told me about it a few days ago…” said Kiras, “After that, he said he basically lost all contact with the cities, only hearing rumors of riots and protests.”

“No… they can’t take you again!” said Nalas, “I won’t let them, no one in that village will let them!”

Kiras saw a tear run down her face. “Hey hey hey, it's going to be fine. If the rumors are true, and the people of Kildary and the other cities are taking a stand, the Empire wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and enforce it, at least not without stopping the riots-”

“And what if they did!?!” said Nalas, with more tears, “They will come after you, and everyone else, you can’t just pray for things to end well!”

“What? You want me to take up arms and fight a one-man war?” asked Kiras.

“The entire village will support you! You don’t need to fight alone!” said Nalas.

“I’m not risking your lives!” said Kiras. The two stared intensely at each other. “I would rather serve in a thousand battles than watch you get hurt, watch any of our friends get hurt. I’m sorry.”

“So you will just let them drag you off again!?!” asked Nalas.

Kiras rubbed his hands again and blew on them, this night was especially cold for some reason. “If the choice is between them hurting you, or serving again, I think that’s an easy cho-”

He felt his hands get grasped by Nalas. They were trembling. Nalas looked down as she wiped her eyes. She then leaned her head on Kiras’s shoulder, “You know I can handle pain. It’s just a neurological reaction, like how being cold is.” She grabbed the edge of her cloak, and brought it over to cover Kiras, as sort of a make-shift blanket. “I know you would rather die than see us get hurt, you are after all a caring individual. Allow me to say that I would rather die than see you leave me again.”

“Nalas I-” Kiras couldn’t get the words out of his mouth before Nalas kissed him. Their lips were locked for a period of time. When they unlocked, Nalas spoke up softly, “Remember when I said that you need to let us help you when needed? This is a perfect example of that. We won’t let them take you again, and even if it hurts us or worse, we would rather fight to help you than to see you taken again. We will not let that cruel fate happen to you again, I won’t let that happen to you again…”

Kiras sighed, deep down he knew she was right, even if he protested and raged, they would fight with him, to help him, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. “Fine… you win…” said Kiras, “If the Empire does come for anyone though, we all stick together, like we have done for all these years.”

Nalas smiled at these words, and snuggled her head onto Kiras’s shoulder. “31…” she whispered, as another rock shot across the sky.

Kiras looked up in shock and then looked at her again, “You sappy cheat!”

Nalas chuckled, “Even if what I said was from the heart, the desire to win our game comes from there too!”

“Alright then, gotta bring out my A-game…” said Kiras, as he glanced across the sky. Just then, a light emerged from, barely above the horizon. “28! Back on track!” Yet, the meteor continued to shine brightly. In fact… it was starting to get brighter…

“Kiras… I don’t think that is a meteor…” said Nalas, lifting her head up. It was then that a roaring sound began to fill the air bit by bit, as the meteor grew closer and closer. Voices from the trees emerged, other viewers watching. The object was getting brighter and louder.

“DUCK!” shouted Kiras as he threw himself and Nalas onto the snow, covering her body with his. It was at that moment, the roaring sound of a hovercraft cracked by, speeding off behind them. Snow from the trees and the ground were flung up, covering Kiras. He and Nalas got up, Kiras brushed himself off. “Fuck that’s heading towards the village!” he said, as he began to run off towards the village.

“Kiras, wait!!!!” screamed Nalas, as she grabbed her things and chased after him.

“This can’t be happening again… this can’t be happening again… this can’t be happening again…” were the only words that echoed in Kiras’s head.

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter XIII: Death and Vengeance

​

Jarlas sat outside his shop and watched the stars in the sky as the meteorites whisked past. They were not as visible as they would be in the countryside, but here Jarlas could make out the streaks still. The town had gotten rather quiet, most of the population was either getting ready to sleep or out star-gazing. The wind was the only sound that broke the silence of the village night. Jarlas sat and watched, and reminisced about the past.

“They sure are pretty, aren’t they Katori?” Jarlas said to himself. He fumbled with a hairpin in his hand as he watched the stars. How long has it been since she died? It had to have been decades at this point.

“You know, I wish you could be here watching it with me… Could have that yivova drink you always liked… I am sure you would have enjoyed it greatly. You could have also met Kiras.” he continued, mumbling to himself.

“He’s a good lad you know… you would have liked him. Good heart, cares for others, learns quickly, has a good group of friends, and found a lovely lady to be with. He’s going to do well in this life I tell you Katori.” Jarlas continued to press the hairpin between his fingers. “He’s gone through a lot of suffering, did a tour just like me, but his friends were still around when they came back. Don’t take that as me being upset, I am not blaming you, I just am happy that he had a much better time getting out of that life than I did.”

Jarlas continued to look up at the sky as meteors flashed through it, “You would have seen him as a son, just like I do Katori…” Jarlas stopped for a second before chuckling to himself, “I’m talking to ghosts, my mind must be going.”

Just then, a loud humming noise emerged over the sky, getting louder and louder as lights began turning on all over the village. Jarlas stood up and walked out onto the street. Eventually, a large craft emerged from the sky, military, as it hovered over the town square. As it began to descend, the wind from the engines blew over stalls and makeshift wooden stands that were there earlier from the market, blowing leftover goods through the air. Jarlas began hobbling towards where the craft was, slowly, as the neighbors came out of their houses wondering what was happening.

Eventually, Jarlas made his way into town to see a crowd gathering. Seven Heleionite soldiers were on the ground surveying the crowd, as one of them was badgering Nuravar over something. Jarlas walked over slowly, and began to hear the conversation.

“There are no rebels here Lieutenant! This is unnecessary! We are a small village!” shouted Nuravar.

“Orders are orders Crimlarian. Now get your people out here now.” said a translator for the Lieutenant.

“Some of them are still returning from watching the meteor shower!” said Nuravar.

“I don’t care, bring them in when they wander in! If any slip away, it is on your head!” said the Lieutenant before walking off and barking something in Heleionite to his soldiers. The soldiers soon began corralling the villagers into an organized group.

Jarlas hobbled over to Nuravar and began to speak, “What’s happening mayor?”

Nuravar sighed, his hand over his face, “The Heleionites are occupying this town for ‘our safety and protection’ in the face of the rebellion in the city, and are demanding the village assist with the peacekeeping operations in the area.”

“Assist?” asked Jarlas.

“Yea, assist. They want bodies to help them and other soldiers in making sure the rebels clear out of here, whether it be giving information, supplying the troops, or even helping them fight…” the last bit came out of Nuravar with frustration.

“They want us… to fight our own people!?!” shouted Jarlas. Nearby Crimlarians looked at the conversation with sudden horror and confusion.

“It’s the duty of all of us to fight for liberty and freedom or whatever fucking nonsense they justify this shit with.” said Nuravar.

“And you expect the rest of us to go along with this?” asked Jarlas.

“I am not risking my village getting torched over this. Do what you need to do but I am not risking lives tonight.” said Nuravar.

“You risk lives tomorrow if you don’t do shit” said Jarlas, walking over to the rest of the crowd. Nuravar sighed and went around asking the villagers coming into the square to remain orderly and to get their neighbors if they could.

Jarlas walked over and stood in line next to other Crimlarians. Some were yawning, some were in sleep-clothing. They stood and waited as the Heleionite soldiers walked around, making tallies, and observing documents. One of the soldiers was talking in Crimlarian tongue translating questions from the leading officer. Others were looting the stalls their craft broke, grabbing trinkets and stuffing their pockets.

One of the soldiers walked over to Jarlas’s row, and eyed him up and down. He spoke something in Heleionite to Jarlas. Jarlas had forgotten much of his Heleionite tongue training from the military. The translator joked with the officer before the officer moved on. Jarlas figured a joke was made at his expense, but he continued to stand.

Just then, Jarlas heard the soldier stop and shout something at a Crimlarian down the line. “He said, eyes up furball!” said the translator. Jarlas looked and saw the Crimlarian’s head down, his eyes facing the ground. The officer got close and said it again, translator following. Then, the officer said something different, followed by him punching the Crimlarian in the stomach before grabbing his head, and shoving it above his foot. The other soldiers who watched laugh. The soldier continued to speak in Heleionite. The other Crimlarians looked anxious as this was happening, most were fearful of what they’d do if they responded.

Jarlas watched on in anxiety. However, as he watched the soldiers abuse the young Crimlarian, all he could remember was the day when the Heleionites took Kiras away. They shot someone in the process, and they ripped the closest thing he had to a sun. Katori’s hairpin pressed against him in his fingers. His anxiety turned to rage. Someone had to tell these brutes off.

The kick to the soldiers side came without much of a second thought. Jarlas kicked the officer in the side. The surprise kick had the officer let go of the Crimlarian, who fell face first into the snow. The officer got up, looked at Jarlas, rage brewing in his eyes. “Enough!” said Jarlas.

The Heleionite chuckled a bit as he stood up. He muttered something to the other soldiers in Heleionite. The rest of the squad laughed. The officer continued to laugh before a sudden punch to the side of Jarlas’s head stopped the laughing. The officer screamed something in Heleionite before grabbing Jarlas and chucking him into another soldier who smacked him in the chest with his rifle. The soldiers began jeering as they bounced Jarlas back and forth, smacking him over and over again, before Jarlas finally tripped, and ended up in the snow. A soldier said something before the officer walked over and spat on Jarlas’s head. His whole boy ached and moaned, they broke at least a bone, Jarlas was sure.

The soldiers soon continued scanning and shouting things at the increasing mass. Jarlas looked up and saw their fearful faces, wanting to help but scared of what would happen if they did. “Forgive me Kiras, Nalas, I can’t watch this happen anymore…” mumbled Jarlas as he picked himself slowly. A soldier said something to his officer who turned around and made a comment, causing the other soldiers to laugh. As Jarlas stood up, he noticed a rock in the snow. It was a sturdy rock. He picked it up and held it as he got on his feat. One the soldiers looked at Jarlas, and spoke something to his officer, pointing at the rock.

The officer grunted, said something, pulled out a hand-gun, and shot Jarlas right in the chest.

Jarlas felt a deep pain in his chest as his ears began to ring. He looked down and saw the hole in his shirt, the area around it turning darker as he began to bleed. He looked up to see the Crimlarians ducking their heads in terror as the soldiers began shouting at the rest of the crowd. Soon, his legs gave out and he fell on his back, as his breathing soon became painful. He looked up in the sky as light flurries began to fall. The meteors were still falling from the sky.

It was then that he heard a guttural scream, “JARLAS!” It was a familiar scream as he looked over to see a figure sprinting towards him in the snow. As the figure got closer and closer, Jarlas made him out.

Kiras soon slided next to Jarlas, and pressed his hand on Jarlas’s chest. “Kiras…” Jarlas whispered.

“No no no no no no!!!!” Kiras began speaking frantically. “Stay with me old man, you are going to be fine, just need to get you out of here, somewhere we can patch you up.”

The words came in fainter and fainter as Kiras screamed to get someone’s attention. The soldiers just looked over and made comments. Kiras looked down at Jarlas, “You are going to live old-man! I’m getting you out of here-”

Jarlas put his hand on Kiras’s face, as tears flowed down. “My son…” he said.

“I’m here old-man, don’t you worry!” said Kiras, as he grasped Jarlas’s hand.

“I am… so proud of you…” Jarlas said weakly.

“Come on don’t talk like you are going to die, I am getting you out here!” said Kiras.

“Keep being… a kind man… and fight… to protect… everyone…” said Jarlas. Kiras looked down at Jarlas, silent, and in shock.

“Old man…” said Kiras with a whimper.

“I am proud… to have you… as the son… I never had…” Jarlas looked up, and saw another Crimlarian standing next to Kiras. It wasn’t Nalas or Mirak, but instead a familiar face. It was Katori, or at least a vision of her. Katori smiled as she walked over to the other hand, the one Kiras wasn’t holding.

She kneeled down and grasped it. “You always did jump in front of danger for others.”

Jarlas chuckled a bit, his breathing got more and more shallow, and eventually, his eyesight went black.

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“By the Gods its fucking freezing here” said a soldier as he disembarked the craft. The rest of the soldiers disembarked and looked around the site of the destruction they caused.

“Ruined a lot of good loot too!” said another soldier.

“Alright boys, keep alert, we have a job to do.” said the officer of the group, walking in front. “Ravorez, translate what these furballs say.”

“Y-yes sir!” said one of the soldiers running forward to join his officer. The officer and Ravorez walked to what looked to be a large building in the square. Just then, a Crimlarian rushed through the door, his clothes looked like they were rushed onto his body. He began shouting something in Crimlarian. “He’s asking what the military is doing in his village, it seems he is their leader,” said Ravorez to the officer.

The officer grunted, “Tell him this; We are under orders to occupy this village due to reports of rebels from the cities running into the countryside.”

The Crimlarian argued back after the translator spoke to him. “He seems confused by the word ‘rebel’, sir”

“What’s hard to fucking understand, we are here to make sure you ungrateful furry shits aren’t harboring anyone who would fight back against the liberties and freedom we gave you.” said the officer.

“It’s just a precaution, we are just here to make sure the rebels aren’t using this village for anything illicit.” Ravorez said in Crimlarian. The Crimlarian stood in silence.

“Tell him that we need his people to. Get them all out here and ready to assist in peacekeeping operations. Tell him that they are under my command, and they will supply us and fight with us if deemed necessary!” said the officer.

Ravorez translated this, and the Crimlarian looked taken aback. He said something to the translator in a fever pitch.

“He’s saying that the village is not some military outpost, and that the village has no soldiers,” said Ravorez.

“Well that’s a damn shame, make it one!” said the officer.

The translator relayed this, the Crimlarian continued to speak exacerbatedly. “Orders are orders Crimlarian. Now get your people out here now.” said Ravorez in Crimlarian. The Crimlarian continued to speak, and the translator relayed the response, another claim that this was all unnecessary and that his people were scattered watching some meteor shower.

“I don’t care, bring them in when they wander in! If any slip away, it is on your head!” said Ravorez after being told to state this by the officer.

The officer walked off, and Ravorez joined him. A crowd was forming to see what was happening, and the officer watched as an older Crimlarian walked over to speak to the mayor of the village.

“Alright! I want these people all organized. We will go through and figure out what it is they do, and how they can be useful to our operation! Not one head is to be missed!” ordered the officer. “Ravorez, translate questions for me.”

“Yes sir!” said Ravorez.

Ravorez walked and translated questions and answers for the Lieutenant. As he walked, the other soldiers were looting stuff from the broken stalls, or corralling Crimlarians who wandered into the village into the big heap forming.

“I can’t bring any of this shit home with me!” said a soldier, digging through the stall wreckages, tossing knick-knacks aside.

“What, you expected gemstones?” asked another soldier.

“I expected something cool from this, what the hell am I going to do if I can’t bring home some trophies!” the soldier said, “Isn’t the point of some campaign to bring back shit to show off?”

“Hey this looks drinkable at least, maybe we can get buzzed off it later!” said another soldier, waving a bottle around, another soldier chuckled.

Ravorez continued to walk with the Lieutenant as he walked the rows. Soon, the Lieutenant was facing an older Crimlarian. It was the same one that Ravorez saw talking with the translator earlier. “You sure are an old shit aren’t you. Think we can get some use out of him, Ravorez?” asked the Lieutenant.

“Maybe a decoy for the rebels, after all who’s going to shoot an old fella like that?” joked Ravorez. The officer chuckled before moving on.

The officer continued down the line. Eventually he stopped in front of one Crimlarian, a rather young looking one, whose head was down, and whose eyes were on the ground. “Eyes up you fucking fur-ball.” shouted the officer.

“He said, eyes up furball!” said Ravorez. The Crimlarian continued to look down. The officer’s face looked like someone who was disrespected.

“Eyes… fucking… up… at… me!!!” shouted the officer again. Ravorez translated again. The Crimlarian’s face was still down. “Little shit aren’t you,” said the officer looking at Ravorez, “Like looking at my shoes so much don’t you? Let me help!” the officer said before punching the young Crimlarian in the gut before grabbing his head and shoving it above his feet. “Take a fucking gander at that why don’t you! They are great shoes aren’t they!”

“Should have him admire all our shoes sir!” shouted another soldier, as the squad chuckled along.

“Yea make him shine them as his first job!” shouted another.

The young Crimlarian struggled, the Crimlarians next to him looked horrified. The officer smirked. That was, until he felt a boot kick him in the side, causing him to stumble and drop the Crimlarian. He looked up and saw the old Crimlarian standing there, tense. The old Crimlarian said something, the officer didn’t understand, nor did he ask for a translation.

“I guess you were wrong, Ravorez…” said the officer as he stood up, “I don’t think he would be a great decoy, I think he will instead make a great sparring partner with that strength!” said the officer.

The other soldiers began laughing, “Let’s try out some new fighting techniques on him sir!”

“Excellent idea lads! We can start… now!” said the officer as he decked the older Crimlarian in the face. “TEACH THIS OLD FUCK A LESSON BOYS!” he screamed, as he tossed the old Crimlarian into the squad. The soldiers began butting him with rifles, punching him, kicking him, and all sorts of physical abuse before the old Crimlarian collapsed onto the ground.

“Shit I think we broke him!” joked a soldier.

“Alright enough with that lads, remember your mission!” shouted the officer. He continued where he left off, asking questions and getting answers. He made mental notes of each of the residents, who looked at him with anxiety. Some looked on with rage, but they at least looked at him.

“Uh… sir…” interrupted Ravorez.

“What is it?” asked the officer, who turned and saw the older Crimlarian picking himself up. “Oh… tough son of a bitch isn’t he?” he asked.

“Sir!” said Ravorez pointing at the old Crimlarian. He was holding a sturdy rock in his hand.

“He’s got some balls too.” said the officer.

“Your orders sir?” asked Ravorez, gun primed.

The officer laughed as he turned to face the Crimlarian. “Perhaps an example should be made of those who refuse to stay down when ordered to…” The officer un-holstered his handgun, and put one bullet through the older Crimlarian’s chest. He staggered backwards and fell in a bloody heap.

The Crimlarians around him screamed and ducked, as the soldiers raced over with their guns shouting to everyone to calm down and stay in line. Ravorez heard screaming coming from behind him as he turned and saw a Crimlarian run from the back towards the dying Crimlarian in the snow. He looked behind him and saw another Crimlarian holding back a third one, the third one in obvious shock, tears running down its face.

The officer watched as everyone slowly stopped screaming and began to return to calm. “Get everyone in line, now!” shouted the officer as he walked around. The soldiers began pushing people up and into line, grabbing wanders coming into town from the forest, and corralling them.

The officer turned to face the Crimlarian who was next to the older one, and walked over. He stood over them both, and looked down. The older Crimlarian was dead, in a pool of blood. The Crimlarian holding him, without looking up, said in Heleionite, “Murderers…”

“Oh so you can speak our tongue! Good, someone who can help get your people in line. Get up!” shouted the officer. The Crimlarian refused, he just continued to look over the body of the dead Crimlarian in the snow.

“I said-” the officer began, grabbing the Crimlarian by the collar, “-get u-”

The Crimlarian quickly turned around and slammed something into the side of the officer's head. The officer spiraled down, face first into the snow, his helmet flying off. “Little shit!” he screamed as he grabbed his pistol and turned around to shoot the Crimlarian, but the Crimlarian was already on him. The Crimlarian knocked the pistol out of his hand, and stood over the officer, the large rock that the older Crimlarian had firmly held in his hand.

The officer could only brace himself as the Crimlarian held the rock up, and brought it down hard and fast on his head. Blow after blow landed on the officer, until the officer’s vision blacked out.

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​

Kiras ran with all his might, chasing the hovercraft that he saw. He knew it was a military craft, he knew who was on that ship. He ran through the snow, past trees, and past other Crimlarians walking back to the village. He ignored shouts and comments from those Crimlarians, asking what was happening.

As he barreled through the woods, memories flooded his head. He was back on a front during a civil war, as an auxiliary soldier, as a kid, running into fire from enemy troops. He was back leading soldiers into a fortified position, an action that got him a battlefield commission. He was back on some hellish front, fighting for his life and the lives of his comrades. Kiras did not care about the flashbacks, he was focused on getting back to his village before things got worse.

“Kiras wait!” shouted a voice from behind. Even Nalas could not slow him down from getting back to the village. Eventually, he reached a clearing. He saw the craft landed in the middle of the village. He saw villagers lined up in front of a group of soldiers, all of which were inspecting the villagers. He stood, surveying the scene.

Kiras looked and saw an old Crimlarian stand behind the soldiers, holding a rock in his hand. Was that, Jarlas? Kiras watched as the soldiers pointed out the Crimlarian with a rock. He began to walk forward and started to shout out for the old-man.

That was when a soldier pulled out a hand-gun and shot the old Crimlarian right in the chest. Kiras watched silently as the Crimlarian fell into the snow.

The world slowed down and became silent. Kiras watched as the other Crimlarians ducked in terror at the shooting, but he did not care. His feet moved on his own, as he began running towards Jarlas, collapsed on the ground. “JARLAS!” was the only thing his voice could scream out as he ran towards his fallen mentor.

Nalas heard the shot as she entered the clearing, she saw Kiras running towards Jarlas as he laid in the snow. She began to run towards Jarlas as well, before a hand reached out and stopped her. It was Mirak. “No! If you go out there you are dead too!” he said.

“Let me go, damn you!” shouted Nalas.

“For Kiras’s sake I’m not letting you get caught up in this madness!” shouted Mirak. Nalas could only struggle, as the tears flowed down her face.

Kiras ran towards Jarlas, as he slid down to Jarlas. He pressed his hand against the bullet hole, directly in his chest. Kiras was frantic, he began to breathe heavily. This was his mentor, bleeding out in the snow.

“Kiras…” Jarlas whispered.

“No no no no no no!!!!” Kiras began speaking frantically. “Stay with me old man, you are going to be fine, just need to get you out of here, somewhere we can patch you up.” Kiras looked up at the soldiers, “FOR FUCK SAKE HES DYING OVER HERE! GET SOME HELP!”

“Old man had this coming for him, stupid furball!” joked a Heleionite soldier to his comrade, as both began to laugh.

Kiras looked down at Jarlas, “You are going to live old-man! I’m getting you out of here-”

Jarlas put his hand on Kiras’s face, as tears flowed down. “My son…” he said.

“I’m here old-man, don’t you worry!” said Kiras, as he grasped Jarlas’s hand.

“I am… so proud of you…” Jarlas said weakly.

“Come on don’t talk like you are going to die, I am getting you out here!” said Kiras.

“Keep being… a kind man… and fight… to protect… everyone…” said Jarlas. Kiras looked down at Jarlas, silent, and in shock.

“Old man…” said Kiras with a whimper.

“I am proud… to have you… as the son… I never had…” Jarlas soon looked to his other hand, away from Kiras. He laughed at something, and then he became still. His breathing stopped.

“Old-man…” said Kiras. “Jarlas please don't go…” he whimpered. The tears wouldn't stop. “No no no no no no don’t do this to me Jarlas!”

As he sat with the dead body of his father-figure, he could hear the soldiers shouting at everyone to line up, he glanced up to see a soldier corralling Nalas and Mirak. He watched his friends get corralled into some service. They were getting pressed into service, just like Kiras feared.

The pool of blood around Jarlas grew. Soon, Kiras felt a presence behind him, it was a Heleionite soldier. His anger boiled up at the presence of an oppressor, a murderer, a tyrant. “Murderer…” Kiras said in the Heleionite tongue.

“Oh so you can speak our tongue! Good, someone who can help get your people in line. Get up!” shouted the soldier. Kiras ignored his commands. His anger continued to boil over. These bastards took his childhood, they threatened his friends, and had just killed the closest thing he had to a father. His rage grew and grew, fused with his grief.

It was then he saw the rock that Jarlas had in his hand, laying by his side. This rock would be a good weapon, and Kiras grabbed it in rage. His mind went blank. His village was getting pressed, just like he was. Soon, the rage controlled his entire body.

“I said-” the officer began, grabbing Kiras by the collar, “-get u-”.

“No more…” thought Kiras as he was being lifted up.

“No more…” thought Kiras as he took the rock and slammed it into the soldier’s head.

“No more…” thought Kiras as his rage kicked the handgun out of the soldier’s hand before beating him more with the rock.

“No more…” thought Kiras as he continued to beat the soldier’s head in with the rock, over and over again, until the snow around the head turned crimson.

“No more…” thought Kiras as he continued to hit until the soldier stopped breathing.

These thoughts screamed in his head as Kiras extracted revenge for decades of tyranny and oppression by the Heleionites, revenge for ruining his life and killing those who he held dear. Eventually, Kiras came back to his senses as he stood over a dead soldier, head caved in, bleeding out, not breathing. He looked up to see horror in the faces of the other soldiers. The other soldiers had their guns pointed at Kiras, not sure what to do. They had a desire to shoot the man who killed their officer, but could not will themselves to pull the trigger.

Kiras stepped off the body, looking at the Crimlarians behind him full of the same rage and desire for vengeance. The Heleionite soldiers, with a terrified look on their faces, hands shaking, turned towards the other Crimlarians, and then back to Kiras, bloody rock in hand. Kiras walked towards the soldiers.

He stood in front of a soldier, rifle raised, but jittering due to nerves. He looked him dead in the eyes with his bloody rock by his side.

“I’m giving you a choice…” Kiras said as he looked a soldier dead in the eyes. “You can leave now… or leave in a body bag.”

The soldiers looked at Kiras and then looked at the other Crimlarians. Some began to pick up rocks themselves, or wood from the stalls they destroyed. They all had the same rage burning in the eyes of Kiras. They were willing to kill in the same brutality as Kiras. The soldiers, scared of the creatures with fur with a desire to brutally kill them, did not know what to do.

“Fall back!” shouted a soldier, making the decision for them. The soldiers dropped their guns and ran towards the craft. They did not sign up to get mauled to death in the woods. They boarded the craft, as the pilots quickly took off, and flew off from the village.

Kiras watched this, and dropped the rock once the craft was out of sight. He fell on his knees as a familiar embrace wrapped him. It was Nalas, tears in her eyes. “Kiras… are you alright?” she asked.

“No… I’m not…” Kiras said with a sad tone. It has been months since his last kill, and he never thought he would do it in his own village. “Jarlas…” Kiras mumbled.

“I’m sorry brother…” said Mirak, who kneeled next to Kiras and Nalas. “He didn’t deserve this kind of death…”

“We should bury him…” Kiras said.

“What?” asked Mirak.

“I said, we should bury him…” said Kiras, as he stood, and stumbled towards Jarlas’s body. The rebellion had come to his village, and Kiras had to figure out what he was going to do now…

 

[Nax24]

Book I, Chapter XIV: A Gamble

​

Xurk’in was a dive. Always has been.

The Heleionite Empire was vast and difficult to properly govern. While planets like Inque and Amhleshshi had their value, enough of one to be properly governed, no one really cared about Xurk’in, a gas giant trading post on the fringes of the Empire that hardly saw much activity, an oversight during the expansion as to who would be willing to trade with the Empire in that quadrant of space. So when a bunch of smugglers and traders of illicit goods began to use the planet as a base of operations to expand their network across the vast space of the Empire, the Heleionites weren’t really in a position to combat this, nor was their much motivation to.

This also proved beneficial for a group of bird-like creatures, the Tikanids, to move into the system and establish the floating towns as a make-shift home. They also picked up on the general criminal and illicit nature of the planet, and all criminals soon learned that a Tikanid establishment would never snitch on its clients, no matter how wanted they were by authorities.

But to Alagossa Qinzana, it was still a dive; a dive that at least wouldn’t question why a Saudade was buying drinks in an area that technically was in the space of her people’s current enemy. As she sat and drank, she watched a newsreel on the screen. The newsreels as of late had always been about how brave the Imperial Legions were to go out and combat rebel forces at home, and hostile forces on the border. Propaganda for propaganda sake. Alagossa sighed, she’s heard these lines thousands of times by this point; how the xenos of the Empire are ungrateful and should be happy to be part of such a free society.

“If only they really knew…” said a voice from behind. Alagossa turned quickly to see a familiar face, a Saudade man. The man sat down next to Alagossa.

“Colonel Homisis…” said Alagossa.

Alagossa’s boss ordered a drink as he watched the news-reel. Homisis was the head of operations for the efforts to supply rebel elements within the Empire with Saudade gear and weapons. “How are we looking Alagossa?” he said.

Alagossa sighed and took another drink, “Not good Colonel… the Heleionites are catching on that someone is supplying weapons to Inque, and they are clamping down on non-Heleionite traders docking in Inque ports.” She showed her tablet to Homisis, a security feed of a Gotspeiferian crew being detained by Legionnaires. “They went from not caring at all to simply detaining any merchant who doesn’t look like them. We can’t really ship things if the mere fact that the crew is made up of Tikanids or Gotspeiferian automatically gets the ship seized.”

“Have we considered just dropping and running? There are plenty of smugglers who have done such things here on Xurk’in discreetly.” asked Homisis.

“We don’t have an area to really drop. Most resistance activity is in the cities. If we drop it in a city, there is the risk that the Heleionites will pick them up first. Not to mention that air-security is the tightest in those sectors.” Alagossa responded, dragging her finger to a map, pin-pointing areas of anti-ship weapons. “Our only option is to drop them in the rural areas of the planet… but we have no idea if the Empire or a resistance faction controls them, and we have no idea if the rebels in the city can obtain them.”

“They don’t have anyone outside the cities?” asked Homisis.

“Not that I am aware of. The rebellion kicked off in the cities, but it seems they only really stayed there. I wouldn’t be surprised if a village or two also took up arms but we have no way of confirming if that is true.” replied Alagossa.

“It also looks like the rebels are getting surrounded…” said Homisis, using the tablet to highlight positions of the rebels compared to positions of the Legions. “At this rate, they will be squeezed in and destroyed!”

“Do you think the offensive will change anything here?” asked Alagossa.

“If they are defeated before that happens, no. Diverting forces away from Inque after they are no longer needed there doesn’t help our strategic goal. That rebellion needs to stay alive long enough to split the forces of the Empire. If that happens, the Empire will either have less troops in our path, or they have another enemy at their back ready to strike.” replied Homisis.

“Then I suppose we should find some friendly country-folk to help with this…” stated Alagossa.

“Perhaps… but maybe some news from our sources on Bonthorallala might prove to be the ultimate benefit,” said Homisis.

He leaned in close to Alagossa, whispering, “There are angry voices from the Imperial family over the Emperor’s handling of the situation…”

“What does that mean for us?” asked Alagossa.

Homisis chuckled a bit, “That’s right, you are relatively new to dealing with internal Heleionite squabbles,” he took a swig from his drink, “Whenever the Imperial Household is dissatisfied with what the Emperor is doing, the chance of one of them trying their luck at taking power themselves grow. The Empire has suffered many pretender crises over the past few solar cycles. The current Emperor himself had to deal with one no less than 10 solar cycles ago!” said Homisis.

“So you think the Empire is heading to another civil war?” asked Alagossa, curious.

“I have no idea. But if a civil war breaks out, that’s it. They can’t handle a civil war, our offensive, and two major rebellions. They will have to break on something, and if they do, we and our friends will be much happier as a result!” said Homisis. He took another drink before standing up, “For now though, focus on finding a place to do discrete drops! A free Inque benefits us in numerous ways, let's make sure it happens!”

“Yes. Praise the Solar Throne!” said Alagossa.

“Praise it indeed.” said Homisis as he paid and walked away.

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​

The rebels hid behind the barricade as the fire poured in from down the street. The shops and houses around them had holes in them from explosives, bullets, and laser shots. This makeshift barricade of rubble, furniture, and bags wasn’t the best defense, but it had been quick to make and thus was the best the rebels had to do.

For weeks now, these rebels have been fighting across the city as Legionnaires poured in from transports. The riots and attacks on government facilities had turned into a full blown insurrection, and these rebels have been scurrying around Kildary setting up ambushes, rallying the populace, distributing make-shift arms, and setting up road-blocks like the one being defended now. Sometimes there would be no conflict, the enemy wouldn’t know where to look, but today was an exception. When the barricade finished, a column of Legionnaires stumbled upon it, and began an impromptu assault. Now the rebels could only hold out and fight until an opportunity to escape presented itself.

“Observation counts fifty Legionnaires if not more! We are out-numbered!” shouted a rebel.

“Hold the line! If we run now we risk the units stationed on Ingrat Street being flanked! We have to hold them until they fall back!” shouted back another rebel, popping up and unleashing a spurt of a Saudade repeater. The other rebels noded and began firing off the barricade with him.

As the battle reached a pitch, the rebels could see the Heleionites begin to slow their advance. Their casualties were mounting, and the assault had stalled to collect itself before moving forward again. A rebel chucked a grenade, taking out a Legionnaire who was too close to an easily fragmented door-way that splintered when the grenade exploded.

It was then that they stopped firing. An eerie quiet fell over the skirmish as the rebels wondered what was happening. “Boss… Ingrat Street has fallen back, they are no longer in a position to be flanked! Let’s get the fuck out of he-”

It was then that the street began to rumble. As the rebels peered over the barricade, they saw the Legionnaires duck into cover, as an armored tank rolled onto the street.

It rolled forward before stopping in front of the barricade, lowering its turret down. “OFF THE FUCKING ROAD BLOCK!” shouted a rebel, as the tank fired, obliterating a large section of the barricade and sending a handful of rebel soldiers flying back. The Legionnaires, upon their armored escort punching a hole through the road-block, began to press forward again. The rebels who survived the blast picked themselves up, and fell back into the alleyways and narrow streets, blasting away at the Legionnaires, who continued their march towards their objectives.

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Liron Hopoi once again had to face the situation he and his fellow resistance fighters were in. The screens showed how bad things were for the rebels in Kildary. The Legions had them almost effectively circled, their backs against the wall. The Saudade, while having initial drops prove successful, were now having difficulties bringing in supplies. The Legions had heavy weapons and were pounding away at defenses. This was not just the case in Kildary, but in other cities too, and had been the case for weeks now at this point. Indeed, the situation was desperate. The Empire was putting the squeeze on all of them.

Liron sighed as he rubbed his eyebrows. The committee was desperate for either a break-through or a way to escape, and neither were coming fast enough. Some have even considered going underground, hiding out until the Heleionites dealt out their cruel brand of justice on the resistance before emerging and trying to survive whatever comes next. Liron though wasn’t about to just run for the hills. As he gazed at the screen, a voice rang out from the back.

“You know staring at maps isn’t going to make the situation any better.” Selvatas said as she strolled into the room.

Liron sighed, “It doesn’t, it just leads me to believe we are royally fucked.”

“We are taking a lot out of the Legions though. If we can just find a way to slow them down long enough we can re-group and think of a plan of attack.” said Selvatas.

“Yea, I don’t think the tanks are slowing down any-time soon…” said Liron as he zoomed the map out over the planet. “Kildary is in a bad shape, Jisata worse so. The Empire is encircling most major positions in the cities around Inque.”

“Sounds like everyone is in the same boat we are…” said Selvatas.

“I would advise maybe finding a way out of the city and running into the countryside to regroup, but I fear the exits are rapidly closing, and we won’t be able to get enough out…” said Liron.

“Reports indicate that the rural areas are being occupied by a secondary Legion, in order to help encircle our positions and to keep our fighters from finding sanctuary in the forests.” said Selvatas as she began pinning reported sightings of Legion activity in the countryside of Inque. “It seems they are planning on making sure we can only run into snow banks to freeze to death…”

Liron looked at the map before gesturing, “Wait wait wait wait… zoom in over there…” he said, pointing to an area between Kildary and another city. Selvatas zoomed into the area. Liron looked at it for a bit. “Okay now zoom in over there and there…” he said gesturing to the map. The map panned over the areas. “Zoom back to the first spot…”

“What am I looking for here?” asked Selvatas.

As the map panned over to the first spot, Liron began to point and speak. “I know this area, there are a sizable number of villages around this part… and there seems to be no Legion activity there…”

“Could they just not get there yet?” asked Selvatas.

“No no no…” said Liron as he zoomed out a little bit. “This cluster of villages is close to a major road network connecting Kildary with a neighboring large city. Now they do control this road network still but why not secure the entire route fully?” Liron zoomed over to other major roads between Kildary and the other cities. “Look here, complete control over the network… same over here… and over here… not a single village in a 100 mile radius is left untouched by the Legion… yet over here… there are villages in less than 25 miles that are not occupied…”

“An oversight perhaps? Maybe they are spread too thin?” asked Selvatas.

“No… no if the Empire wanted to keep us in Kildary they would make absolutely sure that we cannot travel between places at any cost. There is something out there that is preventing them from doing that here!” said Liron, starting to sound a bit excited.

“Or maybe someone!” said Selvatas, excited, understanding what Liron was getting at. Her excitement stalled a bit as she thought, “But it might just be the Empire making a mistake… Betting on some rogue rural resistance cell keeping the Legions back is a huge bet… it’s too risky to bet on…”

Liron turned to Selvatas. “Are the tunnels that lead to the city limits still functional?” he asked.

“Yea… to a degree… I don’t know for how long though-” Selvatas began.

“Take a transmitter, take three fighters, head towards these coordinates, and see what you find. If you find a resistance group, establish communications between us and them. If you don’t find anything, stay out there to avoid what is coming next here…” said Liron.

“You are putting the entire hope of this fight into my hands just because of some theory?” asked Selvatas.

Liron zoomed back in on the map of Kildary, as another block is marked as occupied. “We don’t very many fucking options now do we Selvatas?”

Selvatas nodded. “I got some fighters in mind. Should take roughly a few cycles to get over there. If you don’t hear from us after 10 cycles, assume we got captured or died.” said Selvatas as she turned around, “I hope to the Goddess that you are right Liron…”

She walked out the door, as Liron turned back to the map, rubbing his eyes again. “I sure hope I am too…”