Heavens of Glory

Chapter X

It was the start of the twelfth day into Orion’s fifth year at the Academy, when Orion was forced out of sleep by the glaring red warning light. He looked around for a few seconds, blinking between the red flashes, then shook Seedo, who had the bunk next to his.
          “Wake up. I guess its time for the annual drill again.”
         Seedo sat groggily up. “Already? Yija, it isn’t like anything’s ever going to happen. Can’t they just let us sleep?”
         Suddenly the loud emergency klaxon blared up. Seedo and Orion looked at each other for a second.
          “O shit.”
         The Acadamy was under attack. This time, it wasn’t a drill. The headmaster’s voice came on the intercom above the loud wail of the klaxon.
          “All students and staff, report immediately to the bunker. This is not a drill. Report immediately to the underground bunker.”
         Amid the loud shouts coming from around them, they jumped out of bed and found their way towards the emergency door, now unlocked and slightly ajar. Orion threw it open, and jumped in, falling down the slide. He could hear Seedo coming down behind him. He landed at the bottom and rolled out of the way of Seedo. Seedo landed and rolled a second later, and together they ran off through the massive underground labyrinth towards their assigned room, soon followed by the rest of their dorm. As soon as they had arrived at the steel-walled room, a massive explosion sounded overhead, shaking the floors which they stood on, even though they were over fifty marsecs underground. Only a few other people had gotten to the room when the headmaster came back on the intercom ordering all doors shut and sealed.
         Orion looked out into the corridor, crowded with people trying to get to their rooms.
          “In here, quickly!” he shouted into the crowd. Eight more came in, then he shut the door with the help of some other students, and turned the lock.
         The room shook again as another explosion destroyed a little more of the school…

         The camera zoomed in on Carla as she paused in the middle of her speech. She blinked quickly at the camera, looking directly into it, then continued.
          “This new faction, this party,” she made sure to use the same word written in the Statutes, emphasizing once more the illegality of the situation, “believes that its desires are unique and separate from those of every citizen of the Alliance. They do not realize that our current government is doing everything it reasonably can, without the sacrificing of life that they call for, to end this war. Our Warleader Tash has already pounded the Union with numerous attacks since his election to office one year ago. I am sure that he wants this war to end just as much as any of us, despite what the Ultimates are saying. He has recently announced to the Triumvirs that he plans to form a new unit. He has recorded a speech which will be broadcast once this conference is over.”
         Carla Laos looked around at the assembled press members, mentally preparing herself for her final statement, which she knew would leave everyone speechless. Most of them, anyway.
          “The Ultimates are claiming that our current form of government is weak, that it needs reform. They shout that our military is not receiving enough support, and changes must be made. To them, I say that the government of the Alliance, stable now and forever, is built on change. It constantly morphs into new forms to conform to the wishes of the people. If the Ultimates want change, than I say we should give it to them.
          “However, we will not allow that change to occur with hostility. What I propose is peaceful- indeed, it is a cause for celebration. I say that instead of creating an interstellar dictatorship, we should create a new Alliance. An Alliance that has long been long overdue, and which will meet with all the desires of every citizen within our great nation, whether they have long been citizens, or are newly given this honor. I ask you, the people of our Alliance, to create this new government by bestowing the honor of citizenship upon a new species, which has served by our sides for centuries, and which has always been faithful. I ask that this species accept the honors of citizenship, and continue to aid us in our struggle against the Union. I ask that the Motwise be granted official membership to the Alliance, and I ask that we give the Union a new contender- the Alliance of Six!”
         The press sat silent in their seats, for once, but only for a minute. Soon the questions came flooding down, and the Curia’s Liaison Officer came in to the room to answer them. The Alliancic Leader smiled as she walked off to the left. Without a doubt, no one had expected that.
         Maria sat at the foot of her bed, watching Laos’ speech on the three-dimensional television. The view switched away from the podium, and a brief ad for some local restaurant came on. Maria had to admit that Laos did have a point. The formal addition of the motwise into the Alliance would not only increase support of the government and boost morale, for a little while, at least, but would also present an opportunity for a new Constitution to be written, as was the custom whenever a new species was annexed.
         The advertisement on the television ended, and the screen went translucent for a second as the network loaded Tash’s recording. Soon his head appeared, floating on nothing, and with no background. He looked out from the viewer.
          “Civilians and Bonscouts of the Alliance. Our war effort has now continued for almost a millennium, and may very well continue for another thousand years. Our forces are evenly matched with those of the Union, and for every battle we win, they win one also. We need more firepower to punch through the enemy’s forces. I am therefore authorizing the re-instatement of a unit which was disbanded centuries ago. I hereby declare that the raj-wreth and the raj-ha shall once again be a part of the armed forces of the Alliance. Tash out.”
         Maria gasped as the image disappeared. She remembered the vids of the raj-wreth which they had watched at the Acadamy. Her history class had focused on those elite soldiers for almost a week.
         The word raj-wreth translated from the warrior’s tongue as ‘elite killer’, and the raj-ha were the leaders of those killers. These soldiers were part of none of the other existing forces of army, navy, air force, or fleet, but rather were their own division entirely. The Alliance had commissioned the raj-wreth at the very beginning of the war, but had eventually stopped outfitting them due to the immense cost of maintenance- roughly five million marks to simply train and equip one raj-wreth, and twice that for each raj-ha. But the immense cost had been well placed. They wore poly-carbon biolith-steel armor, which was nearly impenetrable to almost every weapon used at the time. They had been equipped with the super-guns of the day- a rapid fire pulse laser, a mako rifle, and an extendable mace blade. They were ghosts amongst the enemy army, sneaking into their ranks and killing dozens each before they were ever detected. When they were detected, their personal shields, powered by personal fist-sized fusion reactors, made them immune to all energy weapons, and their solid but light armor defended them against all solid projectiles. They had been refined killers, taking out hundreds each, with only a handful of deaths throughout their entire ranks.
         If Tash was authorizing the funding of such an expensive soldier, he must be desperate indeed.
         The comm, which had been thrown on the bed, beeped twice. Maria reached over and tapped it. “Vieny.”
          “Medic Vieny, the Admiral is ready to debrief you now. Meet him in his office.”
          “Acknowledged.” Maria tapped the com again, closing the channel, and headed for Hadrmagar’s office.

*           *          *

         Scarth looked at Tano quizzically. Having spoken in the alien tongue, without the aid of his translator chip, the monte slid his visor shut again.
          “What was that?” Scarth muttered into his comm.
         Tano shrugged. “I thought it might be the most effective way of doing this.”
         Scarth shook his head wearily. He had seen enough old Earth vids to know where Tano had gotten the phrase, but he had never taken the monte to be so… melodramatic. He spoke again into the com.
          “Whatever. Let’s just hope that thing understood.” He glanced briefly behind them. “And tell that reporter that’s been skulking at the door to stay on our tails. I think he was holding some sort of recording device, and hopefully broadcasting our images to the rest of this world.”
         Tano nodded and turned around, rearing on his hind legs to show the native his enormous mass. Nice, Scarth thought. Make them afraid. Tano raised his visor again to speak to the green outline which stood in the shadows near the newly-made hole in the wall. The native stepped boldly forward in response, holding a small sphere at his chest and pointing its glass lens at the trio.
         Scarth turned his attention to Sel, who had been using his translator chip to talk to the clerk. The green attendant tapped a button somewhere on her side of the counter and spoke some words into a speaker which Scarth’s translator chip registered as, “Samy, you have some… visitors.” Scarth noted the title- the same as was used by Federation regents.
         The clerk stood up and made a quick motion with its head-tentacle, which Scarth took to mean as ‘follow me.’ It led the three bonscouts, trailed by the reporter, down a wide hallway to another set of doors, which were guarded by two natives who looked like soldiers, but were lightly armed compared to what the Alliancic soldiers were equipped with, and they seemed to know it, for they quickly opened the doors.
         Sel chuckled into the com. “I guess they don’t want us to blow these doors as well.” Scarth gave a slight laugh. On a whim, he turned the helmet-cam behind him and zoomed in on the wreckage of the door. He thought he could make out the mangled bodies of four more guards. He was beginning to regret the wanton killing spree on the streets.
         Sel seemed to have the same thoughts. “You know, all those people on the streets- they didn’t seem as xenophobic as we thought. They just seemed like innocent pre-space onlookers.”
         Tano nodded, showing that he also believed in the innocence of the natives.
          “What’s done is done. Let’s just focus on this Samy, for now.” With a flick of his eyes, Scarth turned the helmet-cam back towards the room, and its tenants. A native stood behind the desk, shouting something at them.
         What is the cause for this unwarranted interruption?
         Scarth stepped forward, telling his two companions to remain by the doors. He raised his visor so he could speak to the Samy. He walked up to the table and put a hand meaningfully on it. The Samy looked at it for a second, waving his head-tentacle agitatedly, then glanced up at Scarth.
          “I am here to represent the Alliance of Five. Your people have committed an act of war against our nation by causing the destruction of one of our battleships. Do you have anything to say to this accusation?” Scarth felt like he was a judge at a trial.
         The green regent standing behind the desk didn’t answer for a few seconds. He simply stood there, looking curiously at the lenothias. Finally he opened the small slit in the front of his face.
          “Who are you, you Pre’gtio’inj’k’k’t-less jerks, and why do you accuse me of having attacked you, when it is you have walked in here, killing loyal Brictipars on your way in? I would have you thrown in jail immediately, if my Pre’gtio’inj’k’k’t weren’t telling me you were not worth the effort.”
         Scarth, wondering if his translator chip was still working, could make no sense of that last statement. He silently told the small implant to translate- he struggled to pronounce the word in his head- Pre’gtio’inj’k’k’t as simply ‘Preg’. He then used the psychoanalysis part of the chip to figure out what exactly the being- Brictipar, perhaps?- was referring to. He finally decided that the Preg was probably the tentacle on the back of its head.
          “Don’t try to act stupid. Your missile defense system shot us out of the skies.”
         The Brictipar looked frozen, almost scared. His Preg changed to a strangely purple color, and lay stiffly across his neck.
          “Then you are off-worlders? Aliens?”
          “Damn straight, you xenophobic son of a bitch. What did you think we were, a local species of fungus?” Scarth paused for a breath and eyed the Brictipar’s green skin. “It looks like that position has already been filled.”
         The Samy backed up towards the wall, violently shaking his purple Preg. “No, no, no. I am not the person you want to talk to right now. You want to see the Hegemon. But it might take a while to get an audience with him. Come back in a couple years.” He began motioning to the guards frantically. Scarth understood what the Brictipar was doing and pushed the guards out of the way, leading Sel and Tano out. The doors closed behind them as the Samy muttered, “I really don’t have time for this. Please, next time, make an appointment with my clerk. She will gladly give you any opening I have in my busy schedule, but…”
         Scarth closed his visor, shutting out the insistent chattering. He spoke to Tano.
          “Bring that reporter to the shuttle. He’s just been elected our tour-guide on this planet. First stop- the office of this Hegemon.” Scarth looked up and saw jet contrails overhead. “Better be quick, they’re flying in the air force.” Tano nodded and pointed at the reporter, motioning for him to get on his back. The reporter backed up, but was seized by Tano’s strong arms and thrown into a sitting position as the monte ran towards the ship, following Scarth and Sel.
         The long-legged Lenothias arrived first, and threw open the hatch, jumping in quickly. Sel and Tano were only a second behind. Scarth slammed the hatch shut, and sat down, calming his nerves. He turned towards the tactical station and pushed a few buttons. “I’m raising shields, just in case they decide they want to launch some more missiles at us.”
         Sel sat down on the seat in the back of the cock-pit. He turned the locks on his helmet until he heard the small beep, then began slipping it off. The reporter saw this, and began backing away.
         Scarth laughed. “I guess they’ve never heard of clothing before.” He began pulling off his own armor, noticing the reporter was now holding the recording sphere again. He spoke to the Brictipar, letting the translator chip give him the words before he slowly enunciated them.
          “I guess you’re gonna get the story of a life-time. What’s your name?”
         The Brictipar slowly spoke. His Preg had become completely purple with fright. “Mork.”
         Scarth finished with the arm guards and began un-locking the chest plate. “Well, Mork, I’ll make you deal. You show us around, and keep ‘casting our movements to the other Brictipar, and I won’t kill you.”
         His Preg shook up and down. Scarth took that to mean he agreed. He turned towards the helm and started up the engines.
          “Umm, sir? The people are called Denesecs.” Scarth turned the chair around to look at Mork.
          “What?”
          “We call ourselves Denesecs. Brictipar are the large double-doors that guard an office. Like the ones you blew up. B-but we are called Denesecs.”
         Scarth broke out laughing, catching the Denesec off guard. “You mean to tell me, that your regent is more concerned about his… DOORS, than his people!” Scarth doubled over in his chair. “I bet when your people find out about that, they won’t be too happy.”
         Scarth turned back to the helm, still grinning broadly. He opened a channel to the Neyna. “Tom, looks like we’re gonna make another stop before we head back. We need to find some Hegemon guy, or something, and take things up with him. How’re repairs going?”
          “Slowly. Thirteen people, most of whom are not engineers, cannot do that much in terms of repairing a ship very quickly. But we have primary power back up. I’m trying to figure out if we can manage to cut off the dead-weight in the lower decks. At this rate, we’ll probably be done in about forty days, standard.”
          “Forty days… keep me informed. We should be back in a couple hours.”
          “Confirmed. Neyna out.”
         Scarth turned off the com and eyed Mork. His Preg had returned to a calm green now, and he seemed to have been interviewing Tano.
          “So where is this Hegemon?”