Riding Trails of Fire Lt. Yaram Tazi walked around her BlackWidow
starfighter, waiting for the balloon to go up. She ran a hand over its smooth surface. She
looked for any flaws that might be fatal in space combat. On the other side, her crew chief did
the same and then they’d switch to double-check. She admired the sleek deadliness of the
design. Just over 18m long and 5m tall, armed with 4 autocannons
firing armor-piercing rounds, and 2 missile launchers along the underside
of the spacec
raft. She’s powered by 2 engines mounted in the rear and multiple navigational
thrusters all over the craft to allow supreme mobility in space and 360-degree spin
without losing speed or direction. After the checks were done and her
crew chief agreed with her assessment, it was ready for combat. After settling into the
cockpit, she began the check of the instruments, sensors, HUD, oxygen hookups to her flight suit,
and alignment of the sensors in her helmet. She signaled her readiness
and
the ground crew loaded her bird into one of Revenge’s 120 launch tubes. She was a little nervous, this
wasn’t her first taste of space combat but none of the other fights were this big. As her flight’s youngest pilot, she was in the last launch tube to the
right of her flight’s element leader. She jumped slightly when the
command came over her headset, Echo Squadron Launch The acceleration pushed her against the seat
back as she rocketed down the tube. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw t
he bright flare
from hundreds of other fighters exiting the ship. The voice of her flight leader came
over their flight’s tac channel, Form up on me, and let’s get this party started. Lt. Tazi took her position to the right
and slightly behind her element leader, who was in a similar position
to the flight leader. She didn’t recognize the voice that
came over the squadron tac net, Mother of God! but she agreed with it. The space before her was filled with thousands of
rocket flares of miss
iles and torpedoes. Railgun rounds, only visible because of a special
coating that acted like the tracers of old, were so thick it looked like you could
walk on them. Pulses of plasma and laser fire crisscrossed the region between the 2 fleets. Enemy fighters rose from the ranks of Wraith
warships and Coalition fighters and bombers rushed to greet them. A vast dance of death
began as the Wraith fighters met the Coalition fighters in the spaces between and the waves of
destruction the larger
ships threw at each other. Here and there, an unlucky fighter or
bomber ended up in the line of fire from the behemoths and briefly lit up
a small piece of space as it exploded. She tried her best to stay with her element leader
as he got on the tail of a Wraith fighter. His autocannon slugs took huge chunks from the enemy
fighter before it exploded in a brilliant flash. And off they went looking for another target
in the massive sphere of dogfighting ships. Coalition fighters were better
built and
had better tech but the Wraith fighters were damn fast, maneuverable and so damn
many of them. For everyone the killed, 3 more seemed to take its place. Yaram felt a shudder in her ship and automatically scanned her screens. Her armor had
held with no significant damage. She had a Wraith fighter on her
tail doing its best to kill her. She fired her port thrusters and
her ship flipped 180 degrees. She squeezed the trigger and watched the slugs
punch holes through the enemy cockpit
, the enemy fighter losing
control and zipping by her. She flipped again and went looking for her
wingman. She spotted him just in time to see his ship disintegrate after being unlucky
enough to be in the path of a plasma bolt, meant for an opposing capital ship. She started to look for her flight leader when the
group leader’s voice came over the Tac Net Echo Squadron, support bomber squadrons 3 and 6 attack
runs on enemy capital ships at grid X-ray25, I repeat X-ray25. Suppress all enemy
point
defense weapons, while the bombers make their runs She located the correct grid
and headed that way. She passed the bombers on her way to attack the
nearest cruiser putting out AA fire. She skimmed only a few meters above the cruiser’s
hull, pouring fire into any weapon systems in her way. And then turned around to do it
along the other side of the cruiser. One down but so many more to go. Her
squadron swarmed over the closest cruisers and capital ships, reducing the volume
of fire
but not ending it completely. They did their best but several
bombers were hit while doing their run. The others bored in on their
targets, released their bombs, and quickly high-tailed back to
their carriers for re-armament. Yarram watched as the bombs hit their
targets but instead of exploding, they released a sticky molecular
acid to eat through the hull. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yarram ret
urned to the Revenge after seeing
how low her fuel and ammunition were. There was wreckage everywhere, chunks of
metal and bodies hanging in space. She landed in the assigned hangar and
waited for the ground crew to get her out of the cockpit. She ordered more fuel and
ammo restocked before taking care of personal business and then reporting to the CAG. She
made her report and was given her new orders. While not as massive as the human motherships, the enemy flagship was still twice
the si
ze of Wraith capital ships. Despite heavy damage, it was still
operational and extremely dangerous. Its main batteries were devastating Coalition
capital ships and damaging the mothership. So the Admiral elected to send 100 heavily armed Marines to board it and
destroy it from the inside. She was to join a dozen other fighters and escort
the breaching pods against the Wraith flagship. After launching, Yarram linked up
with the 4 breaching pods and their escorts. Navigating the gap between t
he
forces had become more complicated with all the wreckage from Wraith and
Coalition ships floating around. But it also gave the little convoy
some cover until they were almost to the flagship. As soon as they left the
debris field, The fighters accelerated and began suppressing enemy defense
batteries in the breaching pods' path. Yarram was so intent on watching the pod attach to
the flagship’s hull and begin boarding procedures that she never knew the Wraith fighter was
there. A half-d
ozen shots blew holes in her ship. She had just a moment to berate herself
and then felt a moment of pain before her fighter exploded and became another
piece of flotsam on the battlefield. Poor, Bloody Infantry L.Cpl Harker looked at his watch again. Only
1 minute after the last time he checked. He always did this before combat: check the
watch, the rifle, the watch, and the rifle. He looked up and saw Kaglo laughing at
his pre-combat routine. Kaglo was his Dulvod battle buddy. They’d been
fighting together for months and were the only ones left of their original platoon. They’d been through a lot of shit together, these
last 9 months. Bexar XII, Regula II, Drexia Prime, and that absolute nightmare battle for the
Jexian colony on the 3rd moon of Larina II. Coalition forces suffered 95% casualties by
the time the last of those damn Wraiths were down. The ground pounders took 85% of those
casualties from the ground combat which made Harker wake up in a cold sweat on the bad
n
ights. The Jexian factories let the Wraith pump out weapons by the thousands.
And even worse, half of those damn factories were underground. They couldn’t
be wrecked from space or by air support. So it was up to the infantry to root them out
with rifles, grenades, swords, and bayonets. The Poor, Bloody Infantry (PBIs) as they
referred to themselves carried the day but the cost was high. Entire companies were wiped
out, the 4324th was massacred when they assaulted a factory complex under the
capital city. 12,000
troopers went in and none came out. Alive anyways. It took the Ghouls (grave registration) 2
weeks to connect all the remains from the tunnels and buildings. And another 6 months
to collect and identify everything they had. The Wraith tore them apart, literally. The
close quarters meant they were practically on top of you before you even realized that.
The 4325th gave as good as they got though, they only left a couple thousand of
the estimated 25k Wraith they engaged
. That was the battle that wiped out their platoon and left just Kaglo and
himself as uninjured survivors. Harker rechecked his watch, looked at the
Dulvod, and signaled 5 minutes to go. They double-checked each other's gear. Especially the
jump packs, it was a long way down if it failed. —---------------------------- It was time. Harker gave Kaglo a fistbump
and then checked to ensure the rest of his fire team was ready. The back of the dropship
opened and Harker and Kaglo stepped to the e
dge. The light turned green and they lept into the air. The rest of his squad followed
them. 2 more sticks came after. Harker enjoyed the sensation of free
fall that came before activating the jump pack. Go too early and you were
an easy target for the Wraiths. Wait too long and you can mess yourself up
from the sudden change in direction. Harker fired the jets and landed safely. The
rest of his men did as well but someone from the other sticks messed up and came down like
a stone. He land
ed with a scream and a thud. Harker ran over to check, even
if he knew the trooper didn’t survive. They’d landed on their
head so at least it was quick. He jogged over to join his Sergeant and Lt. to
get his orders. SOP was for the first units to secure the LZ. His squad was ordered to
sweep and clear the closest buildings and then set up an OP. He’d get a pair of heavy
weapon teams once the objective was secured. They used the tried and true infantry
tactic as they approached the 3-story
buildings. Kaglo rushed his fire team forward
10 meters, while Harker’s team covered them. And then Kaglo’s went to ground to provide cover
as Harker’s group rushed past them and dropped at 10 meters. They did this to the buildings.
One team moved, while the other covered them. It was slow progress but safer
with a possible strong point ahead. Upon reaching the buildings, they began to sweep them but found nothing. Even
the thermals showed it was clear. Harker had his team take up defensive
positions, while he sent a runner to notify
command the building was secure. While they waited, they began to
improve the fortifications with materials taken from another nearby building.
Squad-level railguns covered the front with interlocking fields of fire, mortar
pits were dug behind the buildings, and walls around windows were strengthened
with sandbags and extra layers of material. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------ 45 minutes later other units had moved
up and secured a perimeter around what was now the Command Post and Col. Flagg
gave a briefing on the next stage of the operation. Beside her was a Rasi dressed
in rags and covered in bruises and scars. Col. Flagg began, Word’s come down that all drop troops made their LZs and we’re
good to go with the next stage. She moved aside to show a map of the city on the wall. Objectives were marked on it
as known locations of enemy troops. The Col
onel gestured to the Rasi This is
Jaleka and he’s been here for 7 years now, According to him, there are many other slaves
that live inside the cities. He’s also told us the Wraith are there in force and have been
preparing for the invasion for weeks now. Col. Flagg continued, Our orders are
to drive the Wraith out of the city, minimize civilian casualties, and secure it. This won’t be easy, Mechs, Artillery, Tat’s,
and even air support are of extremely limited use in this environment. It’s
a shit job
but the Admiral knows who to call for that. The Poor, Bloody Infantry shouted
the troopers taking a sort of pride in getting the dirtiest and nastiest
jobs to do. And doing it or die trying. Dismissed, she said, returning
the soldiers’ salute. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’d been three hours since they began
the assault and they were barely a block in. All hell had broken loose when
Coalit
ion troopers entered the city. Lcpl Harker and his squad were engaged in a firefight with a group of Wraith
in a 4-story building ahead of them. Harker was trying to make himself as small a
target as possible while trying to pinpoint that damn pulse-laser emplacement. Miller’s
squad had been caught in the open when it fired on them. He had to leave 7 dead when he pulled
out so now it was Harker’s job to take it out. He’d sent Kaglo and his fireteam into
a nearby building to clear it and the
n distract the gunners until Harker’s
team could cross the open ground and assault the building. But he still wasn’t
sure which floor the damned thing was on. A fusillade of Coalition projectiles struck
several possible locations for the gun. Fuck it. Harker thought before
he ran across the street, stooped as low as he could
and still run in his armor. He took cover in the doorway while
waiting for his team to cross. ‘So far so good he said to himself The last of his troopers went down as
the pulse laser finally announced itself. Shit, he thought, and then gave orders
to his team. They split into pairs and slowly advanced down the hallway,
checking each room before moving on. They did this room by room, floor by floor
before finally locating the gun. He listened but couldn’t tell how many Wraith were in there.
Harker sent 2 troopers to the room directly below them. Once they were in place, Harker’s team
kicked in the door and fired into the room. The Wraith gunners were cau
ght by surprise but
reacted quickly and dove to the floor. The second they hit the floor, a volley of shots pierced
the floor from below, shredding the prone Wraith. After determining they were the only ones
in the room, he crossed to the window and gave the signal that it was done. He tossed
the pulse laser out of the window and had the satisfaction of seeing it break into pieces.
The Wraith wouldn’t recover that weapon. They finished clearing the
building met up with Kaglo’s team and wen
t stalking the next strongpoint. As they crept along the wall of the next
building, Harker reminded himself it could be worse. The Ghice were fighting
below ground in the tunnels and sewers. A sound from behind a door almost earned a
grenade through the window before realizing they were civilians. But before they went, one
of them pointed out another Wraith strong point. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For 3 long
days, the Coalition forces
fought a vicious close-quarters battle with the Wraith defenders. This allowed
the Wraith to use their natural abilities to their fullest and casualty lists showed
that. The Coalition took more casualties from the puncture wounds of claws,
talons, and fangs than weapons fire. Wraith Claws, Talons, and Teeth
met Coalition bayonets, swords, and other melee weapons. Coalition
rifles became secondary to Human shotguns and various pistols in
the tight confines of urb
an combat. Block by Block, Street by Street,
Building by Building, Floor by Floor, and Room by Room they battled the stubborn enemy. The Wraith used the lessons
learned during years of combat with Coalition forces. And they learned them well. Companies went in and came back as a Platoon, dead and wounded were brought out by the
suicidally brave medics. Numerous lives were saved because they were willing to go right
to the front line and retrieve the wounded. For 3 days, the fighting raged un
til
the Wraith finally had nowhere to fall back to. They took over a large
factory located near the city center and wanted to make the Coalition pay
the butcher’s bill to drive them out. But that wasn’t needed, thermals
and other devices determined there were only Wraith inside so command
called in a bombardment from orbit. Once that was done, the infantry
rushed the ruins and finished off any survivors before they could recover. One city down, dozens to go. —------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lcpl Harker sat with his helmet off
and his back to a wall. His helmet, armor, and weapons were covered
in the gore from several species. He looked towards Kaglo but
he wasn’t there anymore. He got jumped by 3 Wraiths and managed
to kill 2 before the 3rd brought him down. Harker killed the 3rd and then
wept as his friend died in his arms. Only 5 members of his squad were still hale,
the rest were dead, wou
nded, or missing. He tried to take solace in the low number of civilian casualties but it was hard to
remember that after his closest friend, his battle buddy, and his brother had
joined thousands of others in death. Right now he just wanted out
of this armor, some hot food, a shower, and some sleep. Not
necessarily in that order. He knew this wasn’t done, there were more cities
and camps to liberate before it was done. But Humanity's final revenge was almost here.
Admiral Tanaka surveyed t
he wreckage of thousands of ships from both sides of the
battle. As he watched, rescue ships were scouring the wreckage for survivors. Thousands of
capital ships floated dead in space, their hulls cracked open or holed from the barrages thrown at
both sides. Many smaller craft were hardly more than a cloud of debris, the frozen bodies of their
pilots nearby.The fighting in space was over, the destruction of the enemy flagship threw the Wraith
into complete disarray. Any form of organized re
sistance fell apart and left the Wraith
ships easy pickings for the Coalition fleet.The battle on the surface still raged but Coalition
ground forces, assisted by hundreds of thousands of slaves rising against their oppressors,
had Wraith ground forces reeling. Coalition warships assisted with the orbital bombing of
marked targets.The death throes of the Wraith’s once-vast empire consumed the lives of millions
on both sides but the campaign was finally over. Admiral Tanaka thought to himsel
f The
long campaign of revenge was over, it was time to rebuild the human race. —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Qov'vak was sound asleep when the chirp of
the communicator woke him. This better be good He muttered to himself and was surprised
to see the Qhexian Ambassador to the Great Council. I’m sorry to disturb your rest,
Elder Qov’vak, but a matter has come up. And your assistance would be greatl
y
appreciated.Qov’vak listened in stunned silence as the Ambassador explained the
situation to him.When he had finished, Qov’vak finally spoke, Of course, I will
dress and meet you in the capital chambers. —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All across the territory that
made up the Grand Council, a single phrase was broadcast on every
channel and every screen. It appeared in both Galactic common and the na
tive
languages. It simply said, We Are Coming. This is repeated every day in the Grand Council’s
chambers just after the session was opened. The Council members became more agitated by
the day. Was a new enemy announcing their arrival? What did it mean?On the 9th day, Another
message went out on every channel We Are Here. The Grand Council received another
message, Tomorrow is Judgement Day. This phrase sent the Council into
an uproar. Calls of distress, fear, and fury rang out in the hall
s in hundreds
of voices.Everyone was so agitated that none noticed the handful of delegations that simply
sat and watched with their equivalent of little smiles on their faces. Even the normally dour
Baritzens seemed highly amused at the chaos. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been many cycles since Qov’vak had been in
the Grand Council chambers but he wouldn’t miss this for anything. He never
thought he’d set foot
in these chambers again.He took his seat in the Qhexian delegation’s designated area and looked
around at the various delegations, seeing the look of fear and worry on their faces. He nodded
to the few beings that weren’t acting in the same way.Gharnick, The long-serving Council Speaker
brought the noise to a hush with a single tap of the bell-like device on the podium. He spoke the
ritual opening-This Convocation has now begun, let all speak as equals and maintain th
e bonds
of peace while inside these hallowed halls. Before Gharnick could say another word,
Qhor’Qan spoke up, Council Speaker, If I may?Gharnick seemed annoyed by the
breech of protocol but saw no reason to object. The Speaker recognizes the Qhexian
Ambassador.Qhor’Qan walked to the center of the chamber, I ask permission for a guest
to address this august body. The last said with a subtle mockery most of the ambassadors
missed.A voice shouted from the upper rows, Why should we waste our
time with this when
there is an important matter to discuss? Qhor’Qan faced the direction the question
came from, Tut tut, Ambassador Zanara, you know the rules. Until my request is approved
or denied, no other comments may be made.Gharnick rumbled his agreement and then followed up
with Does any Ambassador second this motion? Seconded came the reply from
a half-dozen Ambassadors. Qhor’Qan looked at the Speaker, his eyes asking
the question.Gharnick simply said Proceed Qhor’Qan once again
addressed the
assembly. Honored Ambassadors, dignitaries, and guests. For the last several
days, we’ve received a series of cryptic messages, and we’ve worried and wondered about them.
With a dramatic pause before continuing, The last one indicated today to be Judgement Day. My guest will enlighten us today about the
meanings of those messages.With that, He stepped back and indicated the center of the floor with a
wave of his arm.There was a slight shimmering and a being in armor seemed to
appear from nowhere.
The helmet’s faceplate was opaque and gave no hint of the occupant. All they could tell was that
they had one head, and two arms, and were bipedal. The being reached a hand over to press something
on the wrist of the other arm. The armor retracted into several parts of the uniform worn by the
strange being. A few astonished gasps erupted from the oldest members of the Assembly. Even
Gharnick was shocked, It can’t be he exclaimed. The being stepped forward, I
am Preside
nt Matilda Becker, of the New Terran Republic and head of
the Andromedan CoalitionShe looked at the various members of the Assembly. The Humans
have returned to the galaxy of our birth. She paused at the uproar her words elicited and
waited until it died down. Fifty human years ago, The Wraith, as we call them, attacked members
of this Grand Council. Scorn filled her voice as she used the title. We called for war against
them to support the weaker races they attacked. This Council talked an
d did nothing. Only 7
governments stood at our side and drove the Wraith from this Galaxy.She began to pace as she
talked, And what was our reward? She was angry as she answered her question, We were betrayed
by a member of this Council and our worlds were destroyed.She practically shouted, Our home, our
cradle world, and the rest of the Sol system were obliterated.She reached under her uniform and
pulled out some sort of tag on a chain around her neck.This, this is what we still have of ou
r
worlds. Each Human ID tag carries a piece of our destroyed worlds as a reminder of what we lost.She
stopped and faced a section of the chamber, Her voice turned menacing, And a promise to deal
with the ones who almost extinguished the spark of the Human Race.Five Human years ago, We repaid
the Wraith for their destruction of our worlds and the genocide against our race. She continued, We
made friends and allies in the Andromeda Galaxy, who had also suffered at their hands.We formed the
C
oalition and fought the Wraith across hundreds of worlds and vast expanses of space. Until we stood
on the doorstep of their homeworld.Millions of lives were lost in that final campaign before it
was done. The Wraith’s Empire was liberated and the few surviving Wraith were exiled to a small
moon. They will never be allowed to leave it. She looked up as she spoke, We learned
many new things and found new technology to improve the lives of all the members of
the Coalition. My armor is just a
small part of those improvements.She then looked
directly at one delegation as she said, And we learned who betrayed us.The chamber
once again broke out in a cacophony of noises from hundreds of sources.President Becker called
out Ambassador Cin Amana of the Bhrath. looking directly at the Bhrath delegation. Will
you join me on the Chamber’s floor?Every eye turned to look at the Bhrath Ambassador.
They all saw the same shimmer as before and 4 humans were revealed to be standing behind
them
.The wild-eyed Bhrath looked for a way to escape but the 4 humans prevented that.
They picked him up and marched him to the floor. They weren’t particularly cruel in their
handling of the Ambassador but neither were they respectful of his position.Once the Ambassador
was brought before her, the Terran President nodded to her troopers and they released the
Ambassador, who immediately slumped to the floor. President Becker towered over the Bhrath
Ambassador. Cin Amana of the Bhrath, your peop
le stand accused of providing
information to the Wraith that led to the destruction of hundreds of human
colonies and billions of human lives. Cin Amana looked up and pleaded, I wasn’t even
born when this happened, I’m innocent!!True but it was the Bhrath government that did and
you are a member of that government, She said, her voice thick with anger.She took a round device
from a pouch on her belt and tossed it on the floor. It projected a huge 3d image of a planet.Do
you recognize this
world, Ambassador? she asked It’s Bhrath, he replied The image changed to a security feed
from one of the Bhrath warships in orbit. Do you recognize the Bhrathi
at the bridge of this cruiser? It’s my Son. Please don’t hurt him, he begged. She pushed another button, Speak to
him.The Ambassador looked confused, How?She indicated the image. It was
obvious something was happening on the ship as techs furiously worked on their
consoles and his son was visibly confused. Bhadra, it is your father.
he tentatively spoke,
not believing it would work.The image of his son started looking around for the source before
replying. Father?, Where are you? I am in the Grand Council chambers…The President cut
the Ambassador off. Tell him something is going to happen and to not do anything
stupid.Cin Amana spoke to his son and relayed the message,She nodded at one of the guards and
from behind the helmet, a voice simply said Now The image split to show the planet and
the cruiser’s bridge at the
same time. Hundreds and then thousands of specks of lights appeared above the globe and some were
seen through the cruiser's viewscreen. Each speck grew until it flashed and in
its place was a ship. Thousands of ships were suddenly there.You could see the
startled look on Cin Amana’s son as this happened. He was just starting to give
some orders when the President opened the link again. Tell him to stop what he is
doing and radio their fleet to stand down. Despite his misgivings, the Ambass
ador passed the message on and convinced his son to
give the orders.Excellent Ambassador, you are doing great. President Becker said,
with a hint of condescension in her voice. She turned to address the
assembly, Esteemed Ambassadors, I wish to introduce you to a small portion
of the Coalition’s war fleet. She paused for dramatic effect before continuing.They
just jumped in directly from Andromeda. At this pronouncement, the chambers erupted into
shouts and insults, calling her a liar and
worse. She held up her hand for quiet but
it took Speaker Gharnick practically smashing the bell-like device to quiet them down. I say this not to brag but as a warning. Calling
in reinforcements would be a very bad idea. She began to walk around the floor again,
focusing their attention on her movements. As for those that called me a liar, I would ask
some friends to verify the claim. She dramatically swept her arm towards the delegations of her
long-time friends and allies.Before revealin
g ourselves for this session, we made contact with
our old allies from the fight against the Wraith. She smiled warmly at the Qhexian delegation,
whose ties with humanity ran very deep. And representatives of their governments were invited
to visit our new homeworld and also testify to our ability to travel with such speed.She
looked around the chambers before saying, My friends, if you would be so kind as to
verify my claims.With that, the delegations from the Qhexian, Kithranka, Barithian
s, Zathrex,
Ghalians, Malachitzin, and Xrexians stood up and confirmed the Human’s claim.While some might
have been willing to call out the smaller races as being puppets of the Humans, No one
would ever call out the Kithranka as liars. They’d been known to rip off the offender's
appendages and beat them to death with it. Part of joining the Grand Council, as a new
ambassador, was being specifically warned about it and watching the footage of a massive Sholkor
learning that lesson the hard
way. Despite being twice his size, the Kithrankan Ambassador
ripped off the Sholkor Ambassador’s tail and nearly killed him with it. Only its vast size,
and pleading from the Speaker, kept it from dying. Now where were we? She said, tapping
her finger against her chin as if she was thinking. It was obvious to Qov’vak
that she was enjoying herself immensely. Our betrayal at the hands of the Bhrath.
Staring directly at the Ambassador.She looked at one of her guards, an unspoken
question pas
sing between them. At his nod, she turned to the globe and changed the
image. It showed a large room, decorated with priceless gems and metals.Ambassador Cin
Amana, Do you recognize this room? she asked He tore his eyes away from her predatory gaze with
a distinct effort. It’s the Bhrathi Throne room, he replied, confusion and
fear showing on his face. President Becker nodded to her aide again, who
gave a barely audible command over his comms. Now. The view changed as the camera turned to
show dozens of Bhrathi on their knees, human soldiers standing behind them. The camera
then panned to the left and showed a Bhrathi male, gowned in bejeweled robes, kneeling before
a pair of humans.Ambassador Cin Amana was shocked but numbly answered when the President
ordered him to confirm his identity.That is Emperor Cartharax IV of the Bhrathi Empire. He
turned to look at the Human President again, but how, the throne room is the
most secure place in the Empire. President Becker merely
winked
and replied Trade Secret. She looked around the
chamber and raised her voice, Does anyone dispute that our actions
are permitted under Grand Council law? No one objected. She continued, In light of their actions
assisting the Wraith in their genocidal actions against my people, does anyone
contest our right to deal out justice in any manner we chose, aside from
total annihilation of the Bhrath? Once again, the chamber remained silent. The President glanced at her aide and nodded.
H
e gave another barely audible command and one of the Humans guarded the Emperor
prodded him with his boot.Can you hear me, your Majesty? She askedThe kneeling figure just
nodded.I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you, she said.Yes, I can hear you. the Emperor replied, his voice and
demeanor submissive.Good, I want you to hear my proclamation of our actions in obtaining justice
for you for enabling such a horrible crime against Humanity at the same time as this Assembly. She
took another dramatic paus
e before continuing, The order to relay the location of our worlds
came directly from Emperor Catharax III. His death put him beyond our reach but
we do have you, Emperor. She looked out at the Assembly before continuing, You will
abdicate your throne, immediately. The monarchy is dissolvedAnd you will be our guest on New
Terra.She turned to the Bhrathi Ambassador, Cin Amana, You will help organize a new government
for your people. I don’t care which form it takes but choose one to benefit
your people.Cin Amana
nodded before speaking, What are the other terms? Your Empire took several colonies by aggressive
actions against weaker races. You will give them back, she said,How you do it to be decided
by negotiations with the respective races. Cin Amana looked crestfallen. I
understand His reply was barely audible. And what happens to my people?The
President smiled and simply said, Nothing.Cin Amana’s head jerked up, thinking
he misheard her. Nothing? Your people are innocent an
d we do not hold the actions of
others against the innocent, she answered. She directed her last remark to
the rest of the Grand Council But keep in mind, while we
might forgive, we do not forget.
Comments