In loosing the Matriarch
we lost a valuable ally.
In the Taïrian nomination
of Master Flint for
Autarch, we gained an
enemy.
Peligia
~~*~~
Crewman Gao ran across the muddy ground, his cap askew as he desperately tried to keep it perched atop his head, sliding and skidding through the maze of tents and guide wires heading for Darien's command tent. The fresh coffee pot in his hand swishing and sloshing about threateningly as the exuberant young man came crashing through the tent flaps in a panting, very wet, and triumphant pile.
Darien looked up from the notebook he was working on, while listening to Commander Durnham's history lesson of the Amsus Liberation War. His eyes creased as he stared at the young Batboy that had been assigned to him since they'd made planet fall to replace his coxswain, as beside him Lauren shot to her feet, a wild look in her eyes.
"What do you think you're doing barging in here like that?" She snapped, a hand floating near to her chest, showing that she'd been taken by surprise by the youth's entrance.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry," Gao repeated picking himself up and bowing repeatedly, "sir, Ma'am… err Mrs. Sir… ma'am… sir…"
"Oh for Godsakes," Lauren rolled her eyes. "Just give us the coffee and I won't have to hurt you."
"I'm sorry," Gao almost whined, trying his best to put the coffee on the table while still managing to resemble a kicked, very wet puppy.
Lauren took the pot, setting it down as she shook her head, looking for an extra mug. Grumbling when she realized Gao had only brought one, she stalked out of the tent to fetch the mug he'd obviously forgotten in his haste.
Gao gave a trepidous look to Darien, "is there anything else, my lord?"
Darien closed his notebook, using his thumb to keep his place as he looked up over the rims of his glasses at the young crewman. "You're doing a good job, Gao, you don't need to be so frightened…"
Gao's eyes went wide, "I'm sorry…"
"Stop saying sorry," Darien said firmly.
Gao bowed his head rigidly, as he immediately began to fuss with Darien's desk, straightening everything out and moving the box with the arcane Kule timepiece that Darien had painstakingly built by hand. He was still neatening everything when Lauren returned, bearing two mugs. Sopping wet, she fired Gao a baleful glare, unbeknownst to her, the moment her back was turned Gao stuck out his tongue. Turning bright red when he realized that Darien was still watching him, he immediately excused himself and ran away towards the kitchens.
"And I thought James was bad," Lauren cracked.
"Gao's all right," Darien murmured. "He just doesn't realize when too much is too much." He turned back to Commander Durnham. "So, the Liberation War… I get the how, but what was the why? Why did the Amsus suddenly turn on the Empire? I sounds to me as if they were programmed to be loyal, and so… what, did that programming malfunction?"
"Amsus don't malfunction," Durnham replied. "The reasons why they turned were hotly debated by xenothropologists, as well as Xeno-psychologists… and the one resounding conclusion was that the Amsus must have evolved, on some level, to a point of self-determination."
"Bull," Lauren stated firmly. "Rikard, he built them, he pre-programmed them to turn…"
Darien sighed as he sipped his coffee. "The implications of it are astronomical; it means he had to be planning his coup since before the founding of the Empire… that he helped to create."
"Well," Commander Durnham said, adjusting his glasses and frowning. "What do we know now? I mean, considering that we are aware of a lot more than anyone in the old Empire, and the fact that we are here on Peligia… what are the conclusions?"
"Rikard is brilliant, but he isn't pre-sentient," Darien said tapping his jaw.
"He has foreknowledge of future events," Lauren suggested. "Some how he is able to predict the future."
"It's random chance, or luck," Durnham countered. "He was preparing a contingency plan in case he lost control of the Empire, which he did. It just happened that he positioned his pieces in the right place at the right time."
"But why wait three-hundred years?" Lauren shook her head. "He could have toppled the Empire during the Liberation War; you yourself said that the Amsus took the Empire totally by surprise."
"He wasn't ready," Durnham paced his holo-projector. "Timing is everything, he was working on the GN-3 project, and he needed to bide his time… The Amsus were a powerful weapon in the Empire's hand, had they still been a part of the Empire during the Polian war… or even the Apilon Rift war, the Empire would have crushed both Elder races with relative ease. Everything was moving too quickly for him, so he had to slow it down."
"Conjecture," Lauren shook her head. "What hard evidence do we have of his motives?"
"We aren't pursuing motives at the moment, just method." Darien clarified to his two commanders. "If we examine his method, maybe a motive will become apparent. Everything started literally days after VonGrippen returned from Peligia."
"Before," Durnham corrected. "The death of VonGrippen's wife, Katherynn was what started the Admiral down the path to finding Peligia."
"How did she die?" Darien inquired.
"Assassination, a few months after his son and his daughter-in-law gave birth to Edward and were similarly killed." Durnham looked puzzled. "Three assassinations…"
"Driving VonGrippen to act," Lauren surmised. "Again evidence of Rikard's long term master-plan. We know Edward is a GN… could he be the GN-3?"
"What?" Durnham cocked his head around.
"Well, look at it. VonGrippen's grandson is born, bam-bam-bam, his entire family is killed. It's like someone was trying to orphan the boy… But why spare VonGrippen himself? Why not kill the single, strongest influence inside Edward's family?"
"You couldn't reach VonGrippen," Durnham stopped his pacing. "He was seldom at the Imperial Court, seldom on Geldan VII. He preferred the Excalibur… and weeks before the assassination of his wife, VonGrippen had broken the Immortal Emperor's orders and had gone to the Apilon Rift with General Chow's task force."
"What if that was the assassination attempt?" Lauren was on a roll, her hands wrapped around her mug as she stared into the dark liquid. "How many ships survived the AR war?"
"Excalibur," Durnham answered. "And even then, only by sheer luck that the mine field around the Jump Nexus was deactivated and a relief fleet was dispatched."
"Who ordered that fleet?" Darien cut in.
"The Imperial Senate, overruling the Highlord Council after the Immortal Emperor's transcendence."
"And who ran the Senate?" Lauren demanded triumphantly.
"Rikard." Durnham stated. "But I fail to see how that fact supports your master-plan theory."
Darien's eyes flashed, as he began to realize where Lauren was going with her theory. "Where was Edward?"
Durnham paused, "well his grandmother had sent him to VonGrippen to raise, stating that the palace was too dangerous. And, while I never understood why a starship in the middle of a war zone was considered safer than the Imperial Court…"
"You're saying," Darien said, looking at Lauren, "that Rikard realized if he killed VonGrippen, he'd kill Edward?"
Lauren sat down heavily in her chair, "that still doesn't explain why Rikard would do this in the first place. I mean, legitimate heir to the Empire, GN-3 sure… but where does Peligia fit into all of this?"
"Pre-positioned pieces, in the right place," Darien said quietly. "Rikard was plotting a coup over the Empire, he had an army poised to strike, he had a legitimate heir to the Immortal Emperor, and the Immortal Emperor had transcended. He would have ruled the Empire unchallenged… except something happened and he changed his mind."
"Fickle, a supreme ruler of known space?" Lauren looked sceptical.
"He found a bigger prize after the AR war," Darien mused. "Chicken and the egg theory. We're trying to prove that Rikard knew about Peligia from the beginning. What if he didn't? What if he learned about it after the AR War… instead of leading VonGrippen to Peligia, VonGrippen led Rikard to it?"
"Why rule the galaxy when you can rule the universe?" Lauren shook her head. "Still sounds weak to me, why bother with the GN-3 at all? Why resurrect Edward? Why…?"
"He lost control after the AR war," Durnham answered. "Rikard's Senate was subverted by the Bishop's Council who gained power after the Emperor's transcendence. He had to manoeuvre his pieces again, strategize, and he needed to know where Peligia was to gain control over it. All of this hinged on VonGrippen. Once he knew VonGrippen had found Peligia he moved to strike, removing Kardiac and the Bishop's power took time, and the Polian's helped him there. With them gone, all Rikard needed was to get the location of Peligia from VonGrippen, kill him and place Edward on the Throne of the Empire using VonGrippen's forces."
"He failed again when VonGrippen abandoned Earth," Lauren chewed on her thoughts. "Rikard just can't seem to catch a break. Losing his temper he orders the Amsus to strike, after all they've been sitting useless since he abandoned his first plot… So that he can then focus his attention on finding Peligia."
"He got stuck," Darien concluded. "Ruling the Hegemony he no longer desired to rule for three-hundred years, searching futilely for a place he could never find, while Humanity ground to a shuddering halt."
"A great, galactic mistake…" Durnham lowered his head.