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  “Do you not desire a galaxy of your own?”

  “We desire Yenoiv and the leadership of our own people.”

  “And what if it was not leadership, but inclusion as the other Houses are?”

  “We also desire this, but not at the cost of the majority of our House.”

  “So there is some concern for your own people hidden amidst your general apathy?”

  “Everyone must have some loyalty in some form, else a civilization will degrade into anarchy and self-destruction. I will admit that your loyalty is far superior to ours. In that you are superior. The question is whether or not that is an asset. Though it may be hard for a hive mind-based race such as yours to be anything but loyal, for you are programmed to be as such.”

  “To be a Star Force Monarch requires that we surpass such default programming and make our bodies and minds our own. My mind is free to consider many possibilities, but all are inferior to the path of the lightside.”

  “If you succeed in driving the Hadarak out of this galaxy I promise to devote my time to learning your philosophy so I may assimilate what usefulness is in it.”

  “You still do not think we will be able to push them back?”

  “Pushing them back is easy. Assaulting their fortifications in the Deep Core is hard. Taking and holding the Gateways is impossible for your empire. Though I do hope you will do so regardless. I sometimes tire of our Houses’ constant clandestine warfare against one another. I wish there was a better path, but so far I have not seen one, and I have studied the social structure of your empire intensely. I do not see it there. What I see is optimistic naivety.”

  “Effective naivety then.”

  “To date, yes,” the Reignor admitted. “Many have come here to study you, for you are a curiosity, but they do not find methods that they can replicate.”

  “That’s because the lightside is not something that you can turn on and off. It’s all or nothing.”

  “Is it? I was not aware of this.”

  “Can one be loyal if they occasionally betray you?”

  “If they betray you you should kill them immediately.”

  “Forced loyalty is not true loyalty. True loyalty is choosing to be loyal when no one is monitoring you and there will be no consequences for betrayal.”

  “If there are no consequences what is the reasoning behind the loyalty?”

  “If you have to ask that question they you do not understand the concept.”

  “I wonder if it is I that does not understand or you,” Plausious said honestly. “With what we have shared with you, if your lightside is truly stronger, then you should surpass us in time, correct?”

  “In theory, yes. Though we’re quite busy with the Hadarak at the moment.”

  “Then time will tell if you have found a superior path or not. If that proves to be true, then we will adapt to follow yours.”

  “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “One’s motives are critical to unlocking the power of the lightside. Without unlocking your conscience, you will not be able to walk it. You will be blind to the path and stray from it for you cannot track it.”

  “This conscience you have spoken of is your tracking mechanism?”

  “That is one way of speaking of it. And my conscience says a galaxy full of people should not be left to die when some of them can be saved.”

  “And my practicality says they are a lost cause and we must consolidate what we currently have in order to survive the challenges ahead.”

  “Our Archons do not just survive challenges, they crave them. And they have guided us into a habit of looking for potential allies in all situations rather than cocooning up and ignoring all else in hope of survival.”

  “Those who are doomed typically embrace the fearless philosophy.”

  “Death before dishonor is our way, for we wish to be better than everyone else, not just the last to limp on in survival.”

  “To be the last surviving is to be superior.”

  “Or just lucky.”

  “I find our conversations to be most curious, Count. I am almost learning from you.”

  “Can a message be sent to Utovi?”

  “If I wished it.”

  “Can you direct the survivors here, even if not under your protection?”

  “I could do that, but I will not. It will weaken you and diminish your ability to defend this galaxy. Neofan who have been exiled are rumored to be…predatory and unstable in nature. Many go mad, and if they stray into our path we must kill them before they kill us. It is also for this reason that House Atriark will not abandon our race. We must not lose who and what we are. And I will not risk becoming lost to save those who are already lost.”

  “Would it be possible for us to acquire some of your servant races then?”

  The Reignor studied the Bsidd closely, with his demeanor changing slightly. “You wish to maximize your odds in the coming invasion by salvaging useful tools that we have crafted and are now discarding. And in the process this works with your lightside philosophy. Multitasking indeed. It would require an amount of Essence procured by you and the use of intermediaries, for record of a transmission coming from us cannot be allowed to exist.”

  “If the Essence amount is not extreme, we can provide it.”

  “There are certain…items left behind in Utovi that we would like retrieved, but we were not allowed to take them with us. If these castoffs end up here possessing these items, and you take them in independent of our advice and counsel, and you were to deliver these items to us, we would have yet another mutually beneficial agreement.”

  “Are these items living?”

  “No. They are technological and nostalgic. Nothing that will conflict with your lightside philosophy. They are things left to be destroyed that we value.”

  “Heirlooms?”

  “Some. Others are more practical.”

  “Weapons?”

  “No. Some things more useful for our current situation.”

  “Then let us negotiate the terms,” Count Meerkan said, feeling optimistically victorious, for rescuing anyone from the Neofan home galaxy was a mission objective the Director had given him long ago…and perhaps today was the day he found a way to make good on that particular entry on the wish list he’d been given to negotiate with the Neofan if various opportunities ever arose…

  7

  April 15, 154930

  Poolion System (Home Two Kingdom)

  Turron

  “And why did you bring me here?” Paul asked as he and Cal-com were walking the busy streets of one of the smaller cities on Turron, again wearing cloaks to disguise themselves amongst the alien traffic on a world populated by a branch of the Virri race that was widespread across this quarter of the galaxy as the Archon walked viewing the ground in front of him and little else.

  “What do you feel differently than on Ha’shavi?”

  “You want the list?”

  “Give me the highlights,” the Voku said, having to walk sideways to get between a group of shorter aliens and a hovercart full of fruit as they got sandwiched between the two when the traffic flow ebbed the wrong way.

  “Naivety, positivity, cluelessness, happiness, angst, boredom…”

  “And in yourself?”

  “My senses are still limited, and there’s a danger in that, but I’m less worried about the environment. I felt more open before.”

  “You need the danger for the contrast?”

  “I believe that would be an accurate assessment, though I’ll admit I’m mostly blind as to what’s going on inside my head right now. You didn’t answer my question.”

  “You must find the answer yourself, or it won’t process,” Cal-com said dismissively. “The Voku never had your problem, nor did we ever have full control. We always served the Elders and trusted in their guidance and forethought. You are an Elder, so one extreme of yours is untethered. This creates imbalance if
you do not have a quest to push in that direction. Without this pressure…I speculate…that you will become lost in matters of that direction. I have not noticed your leadership of others to have flagged in the least. It is your connection to the unknown that is lacking.”

  “I can’t argue that.”

  “But you also can’t confirm it?”

  “Everything you’ve shown me, and we’ve discussed, nips at something I can’t put my finger on. I keep missing the obvious, and I don’t know how to open my eyes because I can’t find what’s shut down.”

  “You said the last time you felt ‘normal’ was during the V’kit’no’sat war?”

  “That last I can remember. Afterwards was kind of a blur.”

  “Because the war ended or because Essence began?”

  “Perhaps because nothing of merit occurred…at least not in comparison to what came before.”

  “You conquered the impossible, now everything of less difficulty feels unimportant?”

  “It feels important, but as a side mission. My primary quest is complete. The V’kit’no’sat were survived, defeated, and now absorbed. The threat is gone.”

  “A threat that defined you?”

  “We became who we are in spite of it. Without that spite…”

  “You think you wouldn’t be yourself? That is utter stupidity.”

  Paul frowned beneath his hood. “How is missing that ascension irrelevant?”

  “Because it does not make you who you are, it allowed your true colors to show through. They were always there, perhaps dormant before, but it did not create you. If it did, there would have been a Star Force long before yours was formed. Have you ever found any pure lightside civilizations beyond your own?”

  “No,” Paul said regretfully. “I’ve often wondered about that. You’d think there’d accidentally be one somewhere to find.”

  “The lightside is the more difficult path. The darkside is the easier. You have made the lightside accessible to others in a way that did not exist before. How many races have you encountered that didn’t even know the lightside existed?”

  “Too many.”

  “Only the truly strong can hold to the lightside and defend against the darkside, for all darkside hates the lightside for what it is. So a lightside civilization will always face a galaxy of opposition, and they will not isolate themselves permanently.”

  “They’ll stick their nose into other people’s business, expose their existence, and draw enemies to them they didn’t even know existed?”

  “Perhaps. I think you underestimate how advanced Star Force is. You bring answers to problems others don’t even know exist.”

  “Is that why you brought me here?”

  “In part,” Cal-com said, referencing the slightly shorter race of natives they were pushing their way through politely as they had to fight against downstream traffic as they switched streets. “These people aren’t lightside, but they have allied themselves with it. They remain independent of Star Force, but they have learned from the wisdom and guidance you offered, unlike Ha’shavi. This world isn’t as advanced, but it’s advanced enough to provide the people with what they need. You will never have to invade here, for they’re not a threat to the Empire or to themselves. They’re good neighbors to have, and proof that not everyone in the galaxy is stupidly defiant. And if this world someday has a chance to repay Star Force for its assistance, they will in a heartbeat.”

  “Are you sensing that in them?”

  “Not in any particular individual. But you can see it in their culture. Gratitude is in their monuments, and in their emulation of Star Force ways…but without blatant copying. They wish to be different where there is no disadvantage. Does that bother you?”

  “Why would it?”

  “Because our way is better and they’re not fully using it.”

  “Most of Star Force’s citizens don’t fully use it,” Paul pointed out as the traffic began to thin as they climbed a shallow hill on the sides of the vehicular road that held a number of hovering speeders moving so slow they were nearly stopped.

  “What bothers you about this place? I can tell there is something.”

  The Archon sighed. “I guess the more I advance the less impressed I am with people like these who have achieved a great deal, but they’re so far behind me I can barely talk to them without having to dumb down my thought process.”

  “You have trouble with communication?”

  “I phrased that wrong. I mean I wonder why I’m even bothering to try communicating to people who are so inferior. If there is a need, then that’s obvious. But I don’t feel the need. I feel…alien. Like I don’t belong here. And the more powerful I become the more that feeling grows.”

  “And it’s grown a great deal since Essence use began?”

  “You’ve traced my problem to that, haven’t you?”

  “I suspect it’s linked.”

  “Then why don’t you have a problem with it?”

  “I’m not an Elder,” Cal-com reiterated.

  “Please don’t start referring to me as that. I have very few peers as it is.”

  “And you regret that?”

  “The only way I could have more was if I slowed down my rate of advancement.”

  “And you view doing such to be treason?”

  “For Archons…it pretty much is.”

  “But you wish you had peers?”

  “I wish I had superiors to learn from instead of having to figure out everything on our own.”

  “Have not the Neofan been this in some ways?”

  “Superiors I can trust,” Paul amended.

  “Have you ever had that?” Cal-com wondered.

  “A long time ago during basic training. The Black Knight, especially.”

  “I don’t recall him ever helping you directly?”

  “True, he didn’t. But as an adversary he taught us more, in some ways.”

  “And so did the V’kit’no’sat? And now they’re not around anymore? At least not in a superior fashion. You’ve caught up and exceeded them. You’ve never had a superior ally to teach you. You’ve learned everything from facing and overcoming your superior enemies.”

  “And that ended with the V’kit’no’sat war,” Paul agreed, seeing the correlation.

  “And after going through that, lesser paths of advancement…such as those utilized by this planet…are going backwards for you. So you don’t want to mingle with them as peers, for fear it will diminish your battle-honed edge?”

  “It’s more like what’s the point? We’ve beaten this game long ago, why replay it now when there’s no challenge to it?”

  “You’ve outgrown it.”

  “Yes we have.”

  “And this has left you without a path, because the game ended with the V’kit’no’sat?”

  “We’ve had a lot to do since then, but somehow you’re right. I can’t say why though. The Hadarak are far more powerful than them, as are the Bond of Resistance.”

  “But they’re not superior. The Hadarak are crude, brutish, and low skilled, short-lived slaves run by unseen masters utilizing genetic chains that cannot be easily broken. You can’t rescue them, and they don’t even want to preserve their own lives. They’re powerful primitives, but still primitives, and the fact that they’re winning so much has to be frustrating?”

  “No, it’s not that. They’re swarm strategy, just like the lizards were, only amplified to planetary level. No, you were right earlier. It’s Essence. We’ve pursued the power, but in a way I don’t want it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “It doesn’t feel…warriorish. Does that make any sense?”

  “You have to pursue the power because it’s necessary, but it doesn’t obey the physical training ascension ladder that everything prior to it did.”

  “You can be fat and still develop Essence,” Paul said pointedly, never having phrased it like that, but now that he thought about it the sentiment became crystal clear. “
There was a lore from before I was born. A group of special powered individuals, all with different powers. They were called X-men. Some of their powers could be developed with training, some greatly so, but a few just had natural abilities that were either there or not. One was called Cyclops. His eyes fired energy beams. That was his usefulness in battle.”

  “And his power wasn’t tied to physical fitness at all?”

  “Nor to training. He had the same output no matter how many times he used it. It didn’t change. He just showed up, pointed, and fired. He could have got extremely fat and accomplished the same task.”

  “And you don’t like the idea of a ‘slacker’ being able to be a peer with those who had to work their way to power?”

  “Something like that. I don’t want to undo my Essence skills. I just feel that something is off in the way we have to fight. It was worse before we had any defenses for it.”

  “Did you feel the same way about your psionics?”

  “No, not at all. I guess because those had to be trained and mastered.”

  “And leveled up?”

  Paul stopped walking as they came to a dead end, then followed Cal-com to the side as they began to climb a stone staircase.

  “It’s not just about skill or muscle. It’s power reserves. An inferior can overwhelm a master if they have a larger reserve.”

  “Such as the Uriti?”

  “I don’t have a problem with them.”

  “But you do the Neofan?”

  “More so the Vargemma, but yes, also the Neofan. I see inferiors with greater power than me.”

  “As if the universal constant of hard work got destroyed when Essence was introduced to your knowledge.”

  “It hasn’t been the same since, and even refusing to use it now is making me feel better.”

  “Perhaps Wilson was right,” Cal-com suggested as they came to the observation walkway up on top of the city’s boundary wall, with few people up there other than occasional joggers. The pair walked up to the low wall that had a security field just beyond it to prevent people from falling off and down into the distant jungle below, for the city was elevated at least 50 meters above the tree canopy.