9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Home World
[Vann] grimaced at his reflection in the mirror. Slowly he turned side to side examining his visage. There was something different in his reflection, and it was not the ridiculous clothing he was being forced to wear for the night.
“This, is what the youth are wearing nowadays?” asked the Emperor of the Dorvakian Empire as he tugged at the loose-fitting red yellow shirt and billowing pants. The black carbon composite armbands on studded with gems and an intricate pattern of other precious metals.
[Syn] glanced up from her Comm frowning, “Are your trying to sound like you’re old?”
[Vann] turned at his clothing, the jewelry tinkled and chimed and he winced again. “No, but this clothing is just pointlessly flamboyant.” He pointed to the red yellow stripes, each a slightly different shade. “A strip of cloth each from a different world?”
[Syn] flipped her Comm down, “The trend is moving towards having a separate thread from each planet. I’ve already put my order in for a dress to match.”
[Vann] grunted in annoyance. His Bodyguard [Reece] stepped forwards from the corner of the Palace’s dressing room. “You could hide another two large weapons in that ensemble.”
[Vann] nodded, “so could anyone else. If this is the fashion, you’re going to be busy checking everyone for weapons at this, thing.”
“No weapons!” snapped [Syn], “this is a party!”
“With people, you have been complaining to me for years, as some of the most horrible in the empire. Why shouldn’t I be armed around them?” asked Vann turning to look at the socialite, spymaster.
[Syn] stalked forwards, raising her Comm she ran it over the Emperor searching for weapons. [Vann] remained still eyes alight with amusement.
“Horrible in the way that they will spread vicious rumors and do everything in their power to destroy you politically. Since you’ve patently avoided interacting with them all and you’re technically the most powerful man in the Empire they have no ammo, and no will to attack you blindly.” Said [Syn] as she reached into his robes and extracted a knife.
“[Syn], the way you’re describing it I’m not more certain I want a few weapons.” Said [Vann].
She rolled her eyes and threw the knife at the bodyguard, [Reece] caught the weakly thrown weapon.
“Is he disarmed?” asked [Syn] turning to look at the large man as he folded the knife into his own clothing.
[Reece] smiled, “no.”
[Syn] tapped her foot and sighed, “does he need to remain armed? He has you!”
[Reece] inclined his head, “True.”
“I’m not going into this unarmed [Syn].” Growled [Vann] as he turned back to the mirror adjusting the robes.
[Syn] put her hands up to her head in frustration, her Coomm chirped and she flipped it out barely glancing at it. “Your escort has just passed the final security checkpoint. [Sam] is trying to stall him I give her twenty seconds.” [Syn] straightened up, all mirth gone from her features, “Have you looked over the dossier?”
[Vann] continued to adjust his clothing as he recited what had been in the documents, “She’s proper, rich, and her Father [Howard] owns Baroom. The company that is contracted out by the government for delicate construction and prototyping. She’s not involved with any of the company work, but her Father has always been trying to move up in the world, [Marcus] has kept him at arm’s length despite the company’s numerous contracts. If I show interest in his daughter, [Howard] will do anything I ask legal or not. The Emperor owing him a favor, and showing that I fancy his daughter would be the culmination of everything he has been working towards. [Reece] and I have been going over this plan for days [Syn].”
[Syn] glanced at the bodyguard, He nodded in agreement.
“The security on the building?” asked [Syn].
“It’s a standard spire, most of the security is at the base. There are several blank sections of the public schematics, several dummy floors, nothing out of the ordinary. The venue is as secure as it can be.”
[Syn] smiled, “and the girl’s name?”
[Vann] opened his mouth to answer, taking just a moment too long, “She is hardly a girl [Syn]”.
[Syn] tapped her foot waiting.
[Vann] cursed under his breath.
“Her name is [Venna].”
“I knew that.” Muttered [Vann].
[Syn] groaned. “This is going to be a disaster.”
“Think of it as making up for lost time. I haven’t gone to a party in years.” Said [Vann].
“The cleanup and PR for a young Emperor going out, making an ass of himself, getting drunk, making a few extra bloodlines, and deorbiting spacecraft to show off are all knowns. Wooing a businessman’s daughter for access to his company resources, to disrupt the Consul effectively ruling the Empire? Not so much.”
[Vann] closed his eyes, “I am the Emperor [Syn].”
“In title.”
The Young Emperor ground his teeth together the atmosphere of the room dropping.
“You want me to lie to you?” asked [Syn].
“No.” spat [Vann]. “Despite the Emperors brilliant victory over the abnormal class C, the Security Council is unwilling to hand full control of the military to Emperor Vannalnaskara. The Emperor is young, and learning. He shows the promise of being the greatest leader of his bloodline since the succession began. Until this is proven, the safety of the Imperial citizens must remain under the prevue of the Security council given the new class C infestations.” Said [Vann] rattling off one of the official memo’s that had been circulating through the upper echelons of government.
[Syn] said nothing for a moment, before clearing her throat. “Distraught over this lake of support, but unwilling to press the issue caring more for the safety of the Empire you break from your studies for the first time in a decade to party.”
[Vann] stood back up, “To play socialite”
“You’ll be fine.”
The doors opened, breaking the delicate atmosphere of the room a flustered looking High Scientist [Sam] stumbled inwards her words coming out in a rush. “I tried to stop him but,”
A young man strode into the room after [Sam] a large smile on his face, “Cousin!”
[Vann]’s lips twitched, “We are fourth cousins Sontenkara. Emperor would be more appropriate.”
[Sonten] laughed, “Cousin is still in that title Emperor! You’re not going to be this uptight at the party, are you? I mean every woman’s going to be throwing themselves at you, an illegitimate heir would be better than what we’ve got now!”
[Vann] stepped away from the mirrors, [Syn] took his arm making him pause.
“You’ll do fine.”
“Thank you.”
“You make any heir’s I will kill you. The legality of that has at minimum taken a decade to sort through. Please don’t.” [Vann] nervously swallowed, “Got it.”
9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Olyn
Spinning around on the smooth floor Diana plunged the knife down between the plates on the class B’s back. The class B roared in pain, and wrapped her arms around Diana’s chest in a death grip that nearly shattered bones.
The two of them stumbled for several moments, each unsure what to do. Shaking her head to clear it Diana twisted in the class B’s death grip breaking free. Falling to the ground Diana lashed out at the back of the double-jointed knee. There was a crack and the air went still.
The class B pitched forward and hit the ground with a sickening thud, the large knife pushed between her blades twanged back and forth above her. She convulsed in pain and blood began to pool around her.
Diana leaned over to look her opponent in the eyes, “Done?”
The woman nodded. “I yield.”
Straightening up, Diana let the sounds of everything else filter back into her perception.
“The Deather has once again proven herself. For the first time in my memory, Top Mass has tapped out! Even after breaking the rule’s brining a knife into the arena! She has lost!” shouted [Saavan] over the PA system of the arena and stands.
Diana ignoring the screams of the crowd walked to the edge of the glorified stage, the forcefield holding it closed broke releasing her.
The crowd of class B around her all continued to scream. Diana ignored them, and instead turned to the class A that occupied the sealed boxes at the top of the stadium. Diana raised her hands in victory for only a moment in their direction.
The pageantry done Diana limped towards the fighter’s pit. The din of the rowdy crowd was quickly killed. Out of the crowds view in the small tunnel Diana leaned up against the wall and groaned.
The bruises from the fights last week had not yet healed, and the laceration from Top Mass’s first attack over her stomach was still bleeding. The woman could apparently keep objects under her plates.
One of the side service doors opened, and [Hal] stuck his head. “Diana? You need help?” He gestured vaguely behind himself where Diana knew there was a collection of medical equipment and pain killers.
“I’m fine. Where’s [Saavan]?”
[Hal] frowned, “Don’t you want to get patched up first?”
“[Saavan].” Spat Diana as she straightened back up.
“He’s up in box four.”
Diana grunted in appreciation. Ignoring the blood and sweat dripping off her onto the concrete floor she quickly turned to trudge up the stairs into the stands. The few people on the stairs all gave her a wide berth as she moved upwards to the specified box. The fighters rarely made their way into the stands, and when they did it had never ended well.
[Hal] followed her, apologizing to people as they passed.
“He’s not going to like this.” muttered [Hal].
Diana shot him a glare, used to them by now [Hal] ignored it but said nothing else. The two quickly ascended to the top boxes, the cold metallic concrete of the stands and area was replaced with ornate gilding, and soft materials.
A guard at the entrance to the box frowned as Diana approached.
“What do you want?”
Diana’s lips thinned and she looked at the gun he was carrying, still in its holster on his hip.
“I need to talk to [Saavan].”
The man’s hand moved towards his hip, Diana darted forward and slammed her fist into the man’s stomach. He gasped and doubled over the breath knocked out of him.
[Hal] looked down at the man and sighed, “Diana.”
She wrenched the door opened, and the people in the box all looked up at her blinking in surprise.
The men and women in the box were class A. The class A so far down on their luck they had to slum it on a planet near the edge of the Empire. The collection of bald red skinned aliens was broken up only by one other anomaly. A red skinned alien with barely perceptible hair growth and slightly lighter red skin nearest to the ring. [Saavan] was technically still class B, but the Genomic Correction Virus had filtered through several generations of his ancestors. His children, if he ever had any would be class A.
“Diana!” [Saavan] put his microphone down and stormed through the box towards her.
“You assured me you would be checking all of the fighters.” growled Diana.
[Saavan]’s lips thinned. “This is not the time, how did you?” he glanced around Diana and rolled his eyes at the guard who was slowly edging into the box still gasping for breath.
“You either make sure they don’t have weapons, or I’m going to remove them from the ring. Permanently.” Spat Diana.
The only sound in the booth for a moment was the steady drip of blood onto the floor. [Saavan] and the other class A apparently stunned at the death threat.
Another man in the booth slowly stood. He was thin, and dressed in a simple pale-yellow suit like ensemble that the class A businessmen preferred. His face was unremarkable, save for the dullness of his right eye. “Deather, Diana.”
Diana turned to him, and [Saavan] remained very still not moving to look at the man.
“Yes?” growled Diana.
The man stepped forwards and extended a hand, placing it on Diana’s shoulder unfazed by the sweat seeping through the light shirt she was wearing. Diana returned the greeting placing her own hand on the man’s shoulder.
“You can hardly blame your opponents for cheating. None have come close to removing you from the ring without a weapon. Although magnificent to watch, your fights are a forgone conclusion. No one is making money from them; the bets are always in your favor.”
Diana took her arm away from the man, and crossed them. “This is hardly my first choice of employment,” Diana glanced back at [Saavan], “and if an opponent decides to bring a gun into the ring, it’ll be a fair fight. I don’t like those odds.”
The business man crossed his arms and smiled, “I have an idea. I’m sure [Saavan] will agree. Would you be willing to fight several opponents at once?”
Diana narrowed her eyes, “I am paid at a flat rate,” Diana paused waiting for his name.
The man smiled, “Cherkaya.”
“I am paid at a flat rate Cherkaya. It’s hardly worth fighting at the pay I do now. As much as I enjoy, performing,” Diana looked around at the class A in the booth who were all leaning away from her. “I would be forced to kill my opponents in a fight like that. [Saavan] would not appreciate that paperwork.”
Cherkaya’s smile widened, “I could take care of that, as well as ensuring your opponents are unarmed. If you win, I will have a proposal for you.”
Diana leaned back shifting her weight to one foot, “A proposal?”
“More of an opportunity.”
Diana turned to [Saavan]. “You’re the boss.”
[Saavan] blinked, and cleared his throat. “I would be happy to accommodate you Chairman. My staff as always is at your disposal to accommodate,”
Diana cut him off, “I accept.”
“I look forwards to it then.” Said Cherkaya.
Diana turned back to [Saavan], “We’ll be discussing your weapon screening practices later?
[Saavan] winced, “we will yes.”
“Good.” Turning Diana calmly turned to leave. The guard who had only just gotten back up quickly stepped out of her way as she passed.
[Hal] raised a small first aid kit as she stepped out, Diana grabbed at it and ripping it open stuffed a wad of medicated gauze onto her cut wincing as it burned.
“What do we know about Cherkaya?” growled Diana.
[Hal] nearly stumbled over the stairs they were descending, “Your plan worked?”
“When don’t my plans work?”
“Without blowing something up, or shooting someone?” asked [Hal].
“Just give me the Comm if you’re not going to look him up.”
[Hal] tapped his ear, “[Orin] looked him up when you started talking. He’s a Chairman of the Olyn branch of Urnap Technologies. They’re primarily responsible for integrating new technology from class B and C into the Empire when required. The Olyn branch is responsible for the reverse engineering aspect of that process.”
Diana nodded, and wincing pulled the gauze away to examine her wound. “What about him, personally.”
[Hal] listened to his earpiece for a moment, “He’s well enough off he could be living on the Home World, earned his position in the company by working up through it.” [Hal] frowned, “He is known for his ant-imperial stance. Nothing very aggressive. Spends a lot of time at ‘entertainment’ venues.”
[Hal] slowly looked Diana up and down, “You don’t think that’s his proposal, do you?”
Diana threw the soaked gauze onto the ornate floor, and extracted sealant from the kit. “He’s not that bad looking, but I doubt it.” grunted Diana as she closed the wound. “He would have just offered money instead of another fight.”
[Hal] opened his mouth to say something else, thinking better of it he cleared his throat. “So, any ideas on what he’s going to offer?”
“Big, violent, and hopefully illegal.”
“You’re going to do the same thing as Jikse try and take over?”
Diana chuckled and leaned up against the wall, “No. Jikse was full of people playing criminal, fighting over scraps. I don’t know what the Empire’s done to you class B, but the class A?” Diana drew in a breath and closed her eyes.
“They’d like to think they’re different, but they are the class C they hate. Backstabbing, manipulative, assholes.” Diana cracked an eye at [Hal], “I think that’s the reason they kill other class C. They don’t want the competition. They keep you and the other class B around, because they can control you.”
[Hal] considered her words and shrugged, “If you say so. It’s your neck in the fight.”
9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Chront
Reaching the end of the staff briefing Derrick glanced down at his Link checking his own notes for the final time. “Any further questions about the week’s projects?”
The Seninon men and women, all of whom were far older than he was, representing the best and brightest of the species all looked around at one another. The silence in the room was palpable, as they reached what was for many the most important part of the meeting, and the very large carrot Derrick used to keep things going.
Derrick drew in a breath a smile on his lips, “I believe the Arnoch Team have the first question this week?”
An old Seninon with eyes that had glazed over stood up in the middle of the engineering group. “We have been going over the designs and specifications for many of your vessels and stations. Your people at one point utilized inflatable habitats and structures in space in large amounts, then moved away from the technology. Why?”
Derrick frowned and glanced back at the other human in the room.
Allen stepped forwards to address the alien, “The inflatables were difficult to construct in space with materials mined there, and offered little ability for modification in the future. The interwoven cloth and materials are just as strong as metallic bulkheads, especially with the gel layers and reactive components installed. Weaving that cloth in limited gravitational fields though? It was easier to cast and form metal, and much cheaper given metallic abundance in space.”
Derrick nodded in agreement with the architect. “Once you can manufacture in space, and utilize the resources in asteroids rare Earth, er, rare metals are massively devalued. You can use iridium and palladium like its iron.”
Murmurs of discussion rippled through the three scientific groups, and Derrick paused for a moment watching. The Seninon scientists would go on for hours discussing implications and advancements in relation to any information he gave them, and Derrick couldn’t fault them for the unruliness.
If someone stepped forwards with technology and science from three hundred years in the future he would have been just as giddy.
Allen leaned towards him, “You read the message from Anil this morning?”
Derrick grimaced, “No, I barely made it to this briefing. I was up until 0430 working.”
Allen’s lips twitched, but he refrained from inquiring. “Henswick and Renil want to see you.”
Derrick rubbed at his eyes and leaned back from the podium, “About?”
“What do you think?” asked Allen.
Derrick sighed, and Allen continued. “Someone in one of your engineering teams managed to connect all of the dots in the information, and they learned the Canada has fabricators that could construct nano-machines.”
“Great.”
Allen nodded in agreement and stepped back. He cleared his throat. “Soonik team! Your question?”
The volume of the room spiked for an instant before one of the few young Seninon women in the room stood, she smoothed out her dress and calmly met Derrick’s gaze.
“Yes Hala?” asked Derrick, his eyes meeting hers. She was the daughter of President Renil, and was not in the room because of that connection. She had been the one to pose the most difficult questions so far.
Hala calmly turned to the Halfil team leader, “We are combining questions yes?”
The man quickly nodded and Derrick raised his eyebrows. No team had ceded time yet.
“Quantum Computers.”
Derrick frowned, “What about them?”
“Why did humanity abandon it?”
Derrick thought and shrugged, “We gave up.” Derrick stepped out from behind his podium. “The concept of a computer that needs only the answer to know what question was asked, it is a compelling one. So compelling that scientists and engineers from Earth worked on it for more than a century, I think. No one could ever reach critical mass with the qubits to make the effort of maintaining the system worthwhile. Algorithms on classical infrastructure increased in efficiency, so the need for a quantum system just petered out.”
Hala glanced down at the Link she and her team had to share, “So you don’t think it could work?”
Derrick raised his hands, “That’s something to ask a physicist. Check the notes on the Link for that, opinion though.” Derrick grimaced, “I don’t think so. I’d love to be proven wrong, but the power such a system would have is exponential dependent on the number of qubits. It’s far too powerful.”
Hala smiled slightly, “It’s too powerful? So, it can’t work? That’s not very scientific.”
Derrick held his Link up. “This, and all of Humanities computer technology is the exact same as what you have. It’s smaller, made of better materials, and we’ve got software libraries that are centuries old.” Derrick turned around and picking up the marker drew on the board, “In the end it’s all just one’s and zero’s.”
Derrick drew a one and zero on top of one another, “Quantum is all probabilities. No definite states.”
“That,” Hala hesitated, “Would make it difficult. Humans have built technology that can accurately handle fuzzy data. Could similar techniques not be applied here?”
Derrick tapped the marker against the wall several more times and pursing his lips turned away trying to keep his voice level. He and everyone else in the room knew what she was referencing, “That’s if for now, back to work.”
The room unfroze. The three engineering groups grudgingly began to move out of the room, fights already breaking out among the engineers and scientists for usage of the Links they had to share. They had access to most of the data that had been on the Canada as well as what Derrick had personally saved, but it was never enough to satiate them.
There were large gaps and missing knowledge domains, the Ark’s core On Bellona was the only thing that had more data through. Most of Humanities knowledge was still on Earth and Mars, slowly degrading in the disabled computer systems.
“Are you joining me at the meeting?” asked Derrick.
Allen shook his head, “Hell no. I’ve got to deal with the Vakurian.”
“What happened?”
Allen’s lips twitched, “They’ve got no nudity taboo, and they love sunshine. This is the first planet they’ve felt safe enough to move around on in decades. Some Hern acolytes who were touring the facilities you’re building spotted them out on the beach. As I understand it, they are now insisting they be allowed to try and convert the Vakurian.”
“That’s bad why?”
Allen grimaced, “The Seninon on the base are tolerating the Vakurian and us, because of orders on high, but the cultures.” Allen sighed, “The Seninon and Vakurian are more compatible with Humans that each other.”
“You don’t think a common enemy will be enough to keep them together?”
Allen chewed on his lip, “I want to say it will, but the Vakurian nuked themselves out before the Empire even came. The survivors are the ones who took their first ships. The Seninon are like Earth right before the North American civil war. Bellona, the Ark, almost all of the people who made it out of Sol were Martian.”
Derrick nodded and gestured for Allen to follow. The two walked out of the lecture room, moving towards the office Derrick had been given. Opening the door, and navigating through the massive stacks of paper and non-critical components salvaged from the Canada Derrick began collecting his notes and equipment to meet with the world leaders.
“What’s your point?” asked Derrick.
“We’ve all got different objectives. Vakurian’s want to survive, Humans and Tanuin want revenge, and the Seninon want our technology. The threat of an enemy to keep us together won’t last for very long.”
“Isn’t that what’s being negotiated on Bellona?” asked Derrick as he thumbed through a large ream of paper.
Allen sat, “What is said, and what actually happens are two different things. Cultural differences, however much you want to change and accept one another, well it’s difficult from both sides.”
The young engineer glanced over at the older man and raised an eyebrow.
Allen leaned forwards in his seat, “What if we meet some Class C who perform child sacrifices every day, or have slaves? Are we going to save them to? We’ve been lucky enough so far, all of the aliens we’ve met are almost like us.”
Derrick glumly looked at the other man, “I’m an engineer Allen. I work with machines so I don’t have to figure that stuff out.”
“You’re going to run into the issues. Your engineers are accepting everything now, once they’re comfortable you’ll face push back for concessions to their cultural norms.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
Allen weakly smiled, “I am. The Vakurian, and the Seninon from what I can tell as just as good as Humans, but we’re not exactly perfect are we?”
Derrick shook his head and turned to the small black box in the corner of his office.
“No. We’re trying though.”
9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Bellona Colony
Ranlin shivered and pulled her jacket closer to her frame. Reaching up she pushed the earplugs further into her head trying to dampen the chittering noise of the creatures that were all over the base. The Humans and the Seninon couldn’t hear them. The unnatural, perpetual squeaking.
All effort had been made to insulate her quarters, but it wasn’t enough. The cold, the sound, it was all pressing down.
The door to her quarters opened and Ranlin looked up, the old red Seninon stood in the doorway a mug of the human coffee in each of his hands.
“Ranlin, may I come in?”
She smiled and beckoned him forwards, “I’m never going to turn away someone bringing me coffee.”
The old alien smiled and stepping inside held the mug out. Ranlin took it, and cupping the warm metal inhaled and tried to relax and clear her head.
“Headache?” asked Gerinal as he sat on the edge of her bed and sipped his own drink.
Ranlin swiveled her ears around in agitation and pulled the plugs out. “Yes.”
He nodded in sympathy, reaching into his robes he drew out a small paper pad and thumbed through it. Ranlin watched with interest. It was odd to see such an antiquated form of note taking.
“Have you and Jun come to a decision?”
Ranlin sighed, “We have. We’re certain the Admirals won’t like it. We’ve been isolationist for so long, wondered on our own, isolated within ourselves. My people, prefer the now and its assurances rather than a promise in the future.”
“That is not exactly an alien concept, but surely even with your expert care the ships your people live on cannot be maintained indefinitely. You must be thinking of the future in some fashion.”
“They can’t be, but putting our trust in another species will be difficult. Many are willing, but most are not. The status quo is easy.”
Gerinal sipped his cup of the alien brew, “That it is.” He held up a Link, “I’ve been reading through more of the data you provided, I can see very much why you admire them. They are so much like your own species, but just different enough to succeed. The way you obtained all of this information is itself an amazing example.”
Gerinal flashed an image of the old shuttle up on his Link, the two examined it silence. Ranlin moved her ears forwards, “Who wouldn’t want that? She didn’t live a perfect life, but she found something I think everyone dreams of, a perfect partner in life and death.”
“They had little conflict, and only their lives were at stake. We are carrying the weight of our entire species with our decisions.” Gerinal sipped at his coffee, “We must consider our people above our own wants.”
Ranlin lifted her own cup to her lips and quickly drained half of it, burning her tongue in the process. “I know. The Human’s technology, and the stories like this make them look perfect but allying with them guarantee’s nothing.” Ranlin hung her head, “as much as I wish it would.”
“oh?” asked Gerinal.
Ranlin frowned at the old alien, “They’re surviving, just like we are. They have unique technology that’s given them an advantage against the Empire, and some of them can adapt to accept alien cultures. It’s not enough to be guarantee that my decisions won’t doom my people. The Admirals will have final say, but they’re going to listen to my recommendation.”
“Guarantees are something you should always avoid, either the task is too easy or the one making it is a fool. The Humans know that, not one has promised me we will defeat the Empire. Every single one of them is confident they will.”
Ranlin frowned, “That’s not a contradiction?”
Gerinal shook his head, “No. It is the same thing the Captain of the Canada did above my world. Stagg refused to sit by and watch my people die. She was facing impossible odds, we could do little to help, but she was confident she would win. She did not promise she would win. Understand?”
“I think so.”
“The Humans can see that they are imperfect, flawed, and struggling. Despite that, one of the first things they did when they escaped the Empire was build a ship to explore their enemy, learn, and start to fight. They didn’t even consider hiding. With the Humans we will either win, or die trying.”
Ranlin considered his words and leaned back in her seat, “Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“The same as anyone else. I would rather die with a weapon in my hand, than on my knees begging.”
Ranlin twisted he ears forwards, “The believe they will win, but belief does not always translate to action.”
Gerinal tapped his foot thinking, “Should it? A belief is a powerful thing. Belief is what has nearly driven the nations of my world to destroy themselves. Belief is what your own species were better than others destroyed your world. The Humans have believed many things, they have been driven by racism as much as your own people, politically fragmented as much as my own, and as religiously devoted as the Empire themselves. We each though what we were doing was right, and so did the Humans. Somehow, each time their belief and acts contradict and they break the cycle to survive.”
The Vakurian scoffed nearly choking on her drink, “The Empire think’s they are right?”
Gerinal furrowed his brows, “They are doing what they believe is right. That is the only explanation. No people could be content with the atrocities they have committed unless they knew it was the right thing to do. That belief is what drives them.”
“They’re class A, they simply kill everything not like them.” Spat Ranlin.
“That is all they can do?” asked Gerinal, “No class A has ever befriended a class C?”
Ranlin leveled her gaze at the older creature. “No.”
“I should think in their entire history there has been at least one.”
Ranlin shook her head and stood, “It’s impossible. They’re evil,”
“So, a class A, just born and new to the world is evil?”
“They will become just like every other class A, so yes.” Growled Ranlin.
Seninon slowly nodded his head and gestured at her seat, “I did not mean to upset you. We are simply talking yes?”
Ranlin grimaced and sat, “You have not been running from them for generations, watching as they burn others to pieces. Knowing if you do anything, your own species would quickly follow. The class A must be destroyed, if we want to have any chance of surviving.”
Gerinal slowly turned his eyes to her, “Do you think the Humans share that opinion?”