《Final War: Hetairoi》
B1 | Chapter 00: Blood and Steel
In the myth, God is Force. Until the creation of Eidolons, we did not understand those words. The discovery of Psions, the harnessing of Callandium, the forging of the first Eidolons; all of it brought us closer to the comprehension of the Myth. We believed ourselves masters of war, architects of our own ascension. But now, we have seen it with our own eyes¡ªmade manifest in one man. And so we must ask the question we fear most of all: was the knowledge worth the cost?
There had been thirty of them when the battle began.
Thirty knights of Pendragon, piloting the most advanced war machines the Grand Imperium had ever wrought. Eidolons, each one an example built from the genius of the pinnacle of human society¡¯s engineering; each one a metaphor for the intersection of war and divinity. Each machine was the size of a multi-storeyed building, standing between twenty and twenty-five meters tall.
They had come here to kill a traitor.
They had come here to kill a mistake.
They had come here to kill a man who should never have existed.
And yet, they were the ones dying.
The battlefield at the Plains of Hadrian had been a perfect choice. Flat and open ground, no terrain to use as cover, and nowhere for a lone enemy to hide or maneuver. It had been painstakingly scouted and observed, with careful attention given to any rogue elements or possible oversights in the planning. They had proceeded with supreme confidence, after confirming nothing existed that would impede their plan.
Their foe would be cut off from reinforcements. He would be surrounded on all sides. There would be no escape.
It was planned to be a massacre.
And it was. Gods above and Devils below, it was.
Just not the way they had expected.
¡°He¡¯s coming again!¡± a voice he recognized as Rael¡¯s shouted over the comms.
¡°How is he so fucking fast?! I can¡¯t track¡ªNo! NO! N¡ª!¡±
Another link went dead, and the massacre continued.
Galahad Velius¡¯ cockpit vibrated violently in the middle of the storm, his Eidolon¡¯s servos screaming as it struggled to compensate for the sheer force of its evasive maneuvers. His HUD flashed red with critical warnings while he drew in a pained breath and tried to ignore the cracked ribs he¡¯d suffered from the last impact to his hardlight barriers.
His Battle Intelligence put his situation into grim perspective a moment later, its voice a feminine chime of worry and warning melded as one.
¡°Shields are at 9%, my lord, and your chassis has sustained critical damage. None of the kinetic energy or hardlight weapons are operational, and your monomolecular blade has been destroyed.¡±
Galahad barked a bitter laugh.
¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t know!¡±
¡°You can still flee.¡± she said solemnly. ¡°In fact, I would strongly recommend it.¡±
Galahad might have snarled at Corein for such words at any other moment.
However, given what they were facing, he could not fault her for them.
The black Eidolon was still coming.
It moved like nothing Galahad had ever seen before.
He had fought Aces before, in honor duels or small disputes between Core powers. They were a common thing, and the Imperator tolerated them so long as they did not harm the greater unity of the Grand Imperium. Galahad had seen knights wield their machines like extensions of their own bodies, like exoskeletal limbs moved at the behest of their natural counterparts.
But this? This was different.
This thing did not dodge gunfire¡ªit was just gone when the hyper-velocity rounds tore through the air it had occupied and obliterated stone and earth instead.
It did not counter attacks¡ªit was simply not there to be struck.
It did not fight to survive.
It fought to win.
And the worst part?
The thing that truly made Galahad feel fear?
It was thriving.
Somewhere, within that black Eidolon, whoever piloted it was not fighting for their life.
They were enjoying this.
"Regroup! We need to regroup¡ª!"
Rael Lysander¡¯s voice snapped over the comms, but Galahad knew it was already too late. The words were as hollow as the available options of his armament. His Eidolon had been built to stand toe-to-toe with the finest the Core of the Humanosphere had to offer, and now it was little more than an extremely costly prosthetic.
They were broken. Their faith, their pride, their hopes: all broken.
All their formations, their carefully orchestrated assault patterns¡ªgone.
Their perfect plan had been shattered the moment he engaged them.
No plan survives first contact with the enemy, but theirs had been atomised.
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Galahad gritted his teeth, hands tight on the controls. His Eidolon was one of the finest war machines ever built. Its targeting systems were perfect, its predictive algorithms refined over generations of warfare. It should have been enough.
And yet, despite all those advantages, despite overwhelming numbers, despite the power at his fingertips and those of his allies, it had meant nothing.
The black Eidolon was still standing.
¡°Why?¡± he demanded with copper-stained lips. ¡°What makes you so special?!¡±
He got his answer a moment later.
A knight to his left¡ªSir Tristan of House Mael¡ªroared forward in a last-ditch charge, his towering white Eidolon, Durandal, brandishing its twin hardlight lances as the golden construct spears hummed with kinetic force.
Tristan was one of their best duelists. He had won the laurel crown in Sol itself.
He was a prodigy among their generation.
Galahad did not dare to blink. Not that it mattered.
Tristan never even had the chance to strike.
The black Eidolon moved, and Tristan¡¯s machine was suddenly bisected, cleaved from shoulder to hip in a scream of metal and a detonation of its emergency-safed reactor that washed Galahad¡¯s vision in white fire.
¡°This isn¡¯t possible.¡± he breathed in bloodied disbelief. ¡°This can¡¯t be real.¡±
But reality cared little for his entreaties to reassert a more conceivable truth.
The battlefield around him shuddered beneath Galahad¡¯s ravaged machine as more knights fell, and combat frames designed for galactic conquest¡ªdesigned to bring entire human nations to heel¡ªwere reduced to burning wreckage and bloodied junk.
All the while, like the Grim Reaper, the black Eidolon simply continued forward.
¡°FOCUS FIRE! ALL UNITS, FOCUS FIRE!¡±
Galahad looked up at the sound of atmospheric engines screaming as they warped gravity to propel Eidolons forward in their bipedal assault phase, and snapped his eyes to their macabre obsidian foe as the affirmations were desperately given over the communication line.
With no weapons of his own, he was powerless to do more than evade backward and watch.
For the first time in the battle, a fact that was not lost on Galahad in how insane it was, every surviving knight was able to fire at once.
Railguns, coilguns, hardlight spears, dark matter flechettes¡ªevery single weapon system converged upon a single target. It was a storm of death, a wave of destruction that would end even a Core power supercarrier if it impacted a single point. Not even the most powerful of distortion fields or hardlight projectors could withstand that much output.
And Eidolons were far more fragile than Supercarriers.
Galahad felt a spark of hope ignite within him. Could they¡ª?
¡°The enemy is still advancing.¡± Corein reported softly.
Galahad felt the embers of hope gutter out in his soul.
The black Eidolon would not be denied.
Warp fields bled around its form, kinetic barriers flaring as hyper-velocity rounds curved away from it; bending under the impossible gravity distortions its machine generated. Hardlight spears shattered on impact, their energy dispersing against shields that should not have been able to react in time. Power diffusion radiated across its body in distinct lines of angry crimson, showing the insane speed at which each system was harnessed; like a conductor guiding a symphony of energy with a speed and precision that defied logic.
The enemy advanced without hesitation.
Galahad¡¯s fingers tightened around the neuralink control orbs of his machine.
¡°You aren¡¯t human.¡± he rasped toward the looming specter of death. ¡°You¡¯re a fucking abomination!¡±
His sensors screamed with a warning¡ªsomething unnatural, something wrong.
¡°Gravity Shock detected!¡± Corein cried out in warning.
The black Eidolon disappeared.
Not moved.
Not dashed.
It simply ceased to exist.
A spatial compression wave detonated outward, the ground beneath it cracking as gravity momentarily distorted and warped. Earth, stone, and bedrock were torn asunder; destroyed Eidolons ripped to further pieces, and even Galahad¡¯s remaining shields were dropped by a full 1% just from the discharge wave alone.
If it had occurred near a city, the force wake would have killed millions.
¡°What the hell happened? Is he fucking mad?!¡±
A moment later Galahad had his answer when the black Eidolon reappeared.
Directly behind Rael Lysander¡¯s machine.
¡°The Myth¡ª!¡±
Galahad barely had time to process their leader¡¯s awed, terrified words.
The black Eidolon¡¯s warblade flashed once.
The Cyranthe, widely considered one of the greatest Eidolons ever made by House Lysander, fell apart.
Not in chunks.
Not in pieces.
It was bisected with surgical precision.
Rael Lysander never even had time to scream.
¡°Zero Shift confirmed.¡± Corein reported in a voice that showed even the battle intelligence was shaken, if that was possible.
It was a technique known, but said to be impossible to harness by all but the most powerful of Psionics.
To perform it, a pilot needed to compress localized space behind the point of their origin abutting their machine, hold that compression while simultaneously shaping it to avoid obliterating their own chassis, and then release it all at once to instantly traverse the battlefield at near-relativistic speeds to one of the positions from which the compressed space¡¯s furthest boundary originated.
Any miscalculation¡ªeven the tiniest error¡ªwould cause instant brain death from the sheer feedback of the spatial distortion, not to mention the obliteration of the Eidolon being piloted. In most cases, nothing bigger than a finger could even be located after an unsuccessful attempt.
Even high-ranking Aces across the Core wouldn¡¯t attempt it.
Yet their enemy was using it effortlessly.
He was using it like it was breathing.
Galahad felt something twist in his chest.
This wasn¡¯t just skill.
This was something beyond skill.
¡°God is Force.¡± he whispered hoarsely, realizing Rael¡¯s final words.
The black Eidolon turned toward him next.
Galahad tried to run on instinct alone.
His graviton drive ratcheted to maximum, his machine roaring backward, every single escape vector mapped out¡ªand then he stopped with a dull boom that echoed through his mind, down to the core of his soul.
¡°Gravity Shock detected!¡±
He had already been caught.
A screech of metal heralded the first strike of his enemy¡¯s blade, eviscerating the reinforced metal shielding his cockpit in his Eidolon¡¯s torso.
Galahad hadn¡¯t even seen his enemy move.
Hadn¡¯t even registered the approach.
The black Eidolon had him.
¡°Drives offline. Shields offline. Reactor levels dropping rapidly.¡± Corein reported in a resigned voice.
Something shifted, a powerful grip took hold of his machine, and suddenly Galahad¡¯s Eidolon was weightless.
He was hoisted into the air like a broken puppet.
Galahad''s vision blurred as his systems flashed red.
Corein was imploring him to object, to run, to save himself¡ªas was her duty.
But he couldn¡¯t move.
The black Eidolon¡¯s crimson eyes flashed as it stared at him through the sundered hole that had been meter-thick reinforced adamantium.
¡°In the Myth,¡± he uttered softly, ¡°God is Force.¡±
A scream of metal announced the finishing thrust of his enemy¡¯s blade.
Galahad Velius died in silence, crushed beneath the weight of his enemy¡¯s potential, and entombed in blood and steel.
B1 | Chapter 01: Graecia
Graecia was the start of everything. If I had never gone there, if I had never followed my desires as single-mindedly as I had, would things have been different? I look out at the burning Humanosphere, and I question the wisdom in all that transpired to place me there. Which tragedies might have been averted? What lives might have been saved? Blood drenches me like a second skin, and I wonder¡ How did it come to this?
The fast-packet merchant ship Enterprising Fortune dropped out of warped space with a flash of cherenkov radiation and a small eruption of displaced space. The moment it did, the eclectic bridge crew of the vessel¡ªarrayed as they were in a small horseshoe depression in front of the elevated captain¡¯s chair¡ªcalled out their reports with due diligence.
¡°Translation completed, skipper!¡± a young man called out cheerfully. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at Graecia¡¯s solward Calypso point.¡±
¡°Fuel levels are good, too!¡± called out a young woman on the opposite side of the horseshoe. ¡°The hyperlane from Korinth was pretty stable, actually. The A-Drive barely had to put in any work maintaining the warp bubble.¡±
¡°Good to hear,¡± Captain Davos Larriman, a heavy-set man with slavic features and an impressive black beard, responded with a nod of thanks. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving toward the checkpoint before the locals get antsy.¡±
The casual ¡°aye aye¡± from the helmsman at the ¡®front¡¯ of the horseshoe¡ªthe exact middle of the curve¡ªkeyed in the rest of the crew to glance up at the projected ¡®viewscreen¡¯ superimposed in a full 360¡ã across the walls of the small interstellar courier¡¯s shielded bridge. Thanks to the technological advancements of the 31st Century, as reckoned by the central Solar Calendar of Terra, the ¡®view¡¯ of the outside was linked to multiple tachyon sensors that rendered a lagless three-dimensional image of space as it existed outside of the vessel.
In simple terms, it was akin to being aboard an old-Terran wet navy ship¡¯s bridge, and looking out from within. The difference, of course, was the ability to zoom in up to the light-second mark¡ªexactly 299,792 kilometers¡ªon anything rendered by the sensors. Details beyond that were supposedly unavailable, largely because of how the sensors collated and arrayed the data for the display and the nature of preserving a lagless process.
The science of it was far beyond the foundational education most humans received outside of very specialized Universities¡ªbut it was sufficient to simply say that everything within one light second or closer could be immediately seen and analyzed by the small seven-person bridge crew of the courier.
While they busied themselves with the space around the vessel, the Captain finally turned to look at the blond man occupying one of the two observer¡¯s chairs above and to the left of the raised command platform.
¡°We¡¯ll be entering Graecia¡¯s heliosphere soon, Magellan.¡± The Captain said with an appraising glance for his tall passenger. ¡°Once the fleet clears us, we¡¯ll C-Drive to Hellas. You should be able to make those payment arrangements we discussed, now that we¡¯re within range of the Ascendancy¡¯s tachyon HoloNet.¡±
Arthur Magellan looked up from the 2D holoscreen projected off the unassuming black band wrapped around his left wrist. The information he had been perusing on the Graecia system vanished instantly, and Arthur shifted the attention of his blue eyes to the grizzled man addressing him.
¡°I sent the order while reading up on Graecia the moment we left warp.¡± Arthur said with a smile. ¡°The Ascendancy¡¯s Central Bank will transfer the fifteen thousand drachma the moment I¡¯m station-side on Port Asfal¨ªs.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that, Magellan.¡± The Captain said without ire.
¡°I¡¯d expect nothing less.¡± Arthur said while standing up and moving to join the Captain. He left his jacket where it hung on the back of the observer¡¯s seat, and folded his arms¡ªthe long sleeves of his black shirt pulled up to below his elbows¡ªacross his chest.
When he did, he fully took in the view on the holoscreen for the first time, and let out a low whistle of appreciation at the images magnified across it at different points.
It was a Fleet. Not a small formation posing as one, but a genuine Fleet with full six-ship Squadrons and anchoring vessels for each Battle Group. In the thousand years since humans had first reached the stars, Carrier Doctrine still remained the core strategy of any successful interstellar military.
Four Carrier Battle Groups each composed of two Destroyer Squadrons, a Heavy Cruiser Squadron, and the anchoring Carriers themselves were each spread across the 50,000 square kilometer Calypso point in inexact patrol patterns, roughly 10,000 kilometers apart and at different elevations across the stellar plane. At the core of the dispersed formations hung the fifth and final Battle Group that actualized the Fleet, which was anchored by two Battleships and a Supercarrier between them.
Unless Graecia had vastly deviated from the normalcy of void warfare, the Destroyers would work as hunter-killer pairs to pursue and attack larger ships and support craft, while the Heavy Cruisers acted as line combat vessels to both screen for the carriers and exchange fire with a given enemy. The Carriers, meanwhile, would deploy swathes of Starfighters and other more specialized parasite craft.
The Battleships and their Supercarrier charge would be the fulcrum around which the Heavy Cruisers and Destroyers maneuvered. The two inordinately powerful ships of the line would be used as the fleet¡¯s strong center-forwards, while the Supercarrier acted as the Command and Control vessel for the entire Fleet, and coordinated its smaller siblings.
It was an order of battle that was predictable, but also inarguably effective.
Each of the vessels had been built with adherence to the cultural nuances of the Ascendancy, with an elongated spearhead style to their construction and impressive amounts of forward-facing and broadside firepower.
Most stellar warfare was conducted at distances of a few thousand kilometers, thanks to the speed and power of even the most basic human weapons systems.
When combined with the absurd nature of the available electronic counter measures¡ªwhose prolific level of advancement rendered almost all computer-guided weaponry worthless¡ªrampant throughout human space, the logic to opt for high-powered alpha-strike weaponry and destructive broadsides had become something of a universal constant among most successfully powerful stellar nations.
Given that he¡¯d heard Ascendancy warships also liked to make use of prows designed for plasma lance empowered ramming, he hadn¡¯t been too surprised by the aggressively forward-oriented ship design.
¡°It¡¯s impressive, isn¡¯t it?¡±
The disadvantage of being 6¡¯5¡± was that Arthur had to look down to continue his conversation.
¡°The fleet? Yes. They really take their Calypso security seriously.¡±
¡°It¡¯s been a lesser version of this at the last three jumps, too.¡± Larriman said quietly. The shorter man had only tilted his head as much as was absolutely necessary in order to meet Arthur¡¯s eyes, but the gesture was appreciated regardless.
¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because you spent the majority of it in a deep sleep pod.¡± Larriman snorted.
¡°I don¡¯t like long trips.¡± Arthur responded honestly. ¡°Better to wake up when they¡¯re nearly done, like I did in Korinth.¡±
¡°You did mention your dislike for extended voyages.¡± Larriman conceded with an appraising eye. ¡°Though it¡¯s surprising when said by a Freelancer. Isn¡¯t your entire trade plied in voidspace?¡±
¡°So-so.¡± Arthur said with a casual wiggle of his unadorned right hand. ¡°It really just comes down to the contract and the length of service. Most clients are just looking for someone to drive off pirates in the less heavily patrolled star systems.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve had our share of run-ins with pirates.¡± Larriman admitted. ¡°Though they peel off quickly enough once we transition to the C-Drive.¡±
¡°One hundred and twenty meters of pure acceleration!¡± The helmsman chimed in happily.
¡°Hey, shut up and fly.¡± Another of the crew said without heat. ¡°You can¡¯t boast about acceleration when we aren¡¯t even past the checkpoint yet.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not my fault the Ascendancy isn¡¯t¡ª¡±
¡°Incoming message!¡± A voice called out sharply. ¡°Priority band, military IFF. It¡¯s Graecian.¡±
¡°On-screen.¡± Larriman said without preamble.
The viewscreen¡¯s seamless imagery was populated at the center a moment later by a large, rectangular digital window into what looked to be the warm glow of a populated command bridge. A pretty woman with a Mediterranean tan and brown hair tied into a single long braid appeared before them, and signs of on-going activity in her background gave the impression of quite a busy posting.
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¡°Unknown vessel, this is Ypoploiarch¨®s Cadaya Seren¨®s of the Ascendancy Royal Navy Supercarrier Ulysses.¡± Arthur¡¯s eyes ran over the woman¡¯s striking red uniform while he observed, and he noted the tabs of rank declaring her the Ascendancy¡¯s equivalent of a First Lieutenant.
He also made note of the fact that, for all that Graecia was a mid-Rim civilization, the clear use and pronunciation of the English that had become standard across the Humanosphere and their rapid act of voidspace interdiction spoke of a very well-trained military. ¡°You are currently within the sovereign territory of the Graecian Ascendancy, and this is a lawful challenge of your intentions. Please flash ident and declare your purpose.¡±
¡°Ulysses control, this is Captain Larriman of the merchant courier Enterprising Fortune, in-bound with mail and media from the Charlemagne Cluster. I am flashing ident¡ now.¡±
Arthur glanced down when Larriman accessed a 2D screen of his own via the black metal band on his left wrist, and then looked back to the viewscreen to see Cadaya¡¯s eyes shift to read something that had just arrived.
¡°We have a positive ident flash on your drive signature and hull, Enterprising Fortune, and have matched you to our records.¡± The Graecian woman said with far more warmth than had been in her initial greeting. ¡°On behalf of the Kings and Ascendancy, welcome back to Graecia.¡±
¡°Thank you, ah, Ypop¡ªYpoploi¡ª¡±
The woman¡ªwho Arthur imagined couldn¡¯t have been more than forty given her youthful features¡ªcut off the Captain¡¯s struggles with a warm laugh.
¡°No need for that, Captain. First Lieutenant will suffice. We don¡¯t expect foreigners to have an operational comprehension of Greek!¡±
¡°I see the ARN is as understanding as I remember, First Lieutenant.¡± Larriman said with a grateful laugh. ¡°My thanks for your welcome, and it¡¯s a pleasure to be back. Are we clear to proceed through the Calypso point and enter C-Drive?¡±
¡°Authorization for entry to the System-proper is granted, Captain.¡± The First Lieutenant said with a smile. ¡°Proceed through the gravity shroud at your leisure, and activate C-Drive when ready. As a note, please remember to make your way straight to Port Asfal¨ªs at Hellas-L1 for refueling, docking, and customs.¡±
¡°I understand, Ulysses control. My thanks again for your warm welcome.¡±
¡°Our pleasure, Captain Larriman. Please enjoy your time in Graecia. Ulysses out.¡±
The connection cut off a moment later, and Arthur turned to Larriman with a thoughtful look. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that.¡± He said honestly.
¡°Expect what?¡± Larriman asked with a look back up at him.
¡°How professional she was. The ARN could be any peer power from the Charlemagne Cluster in a different uniform. I¡¯d heard very different stories about the Rim nations.¡±
¡°Graecia is an exception to most of those stereotypes, though sadly many of them are true. Just be glad we didn¡¯t go to Liberty or, worse, Parthia.¡±
¡°Eugh.¡± One of the women on the bridge said. ¡°Parthians give me the creeps. They look at me like I¡¯m meat.¡±
¡°Lose some weight then.¡± Another of the crew cut in slyly.
¡°Hey, fuck you Albert! Brother or not, I swear to the stars I¡¯ll fucking shoot you!¡±
Arthur snorted in amusement when the two siblings devolved into bickering and turned back to Larriman.
¡°Isn¡¯t Parthia the nation Graecia¡¯s at a standoff with?¡±
¡°Magellan,¡± Larriman said with a level look, ¡°Parthia is at a standoff with anyone that owns an Alcubierre drive.¡±
The Alcubierre, or ¡®A-Drive¡¯, to which Larriman referred was named for the same scientist that, during the 20th century, theorized the idea of faster-than-light travel by stretching the fabric of space-time in a wave in front of a ship, while simultaneously causing it to expand behind. The ship then ¡®surfed¡¯ the bubble of re-expanding space.
Like the universe¡¯s most Newtonian-defying rubber band.
The breakthrough that Alcubierre¡¯s theory eventually provided became one of the most celebrated moments in human history. Using Alcubierre¡¯s math as a starting point, scientists had discovered that instead of creating warped space, Alcubierre drives could instead be used to access a dimension layered above and through ¡®Real Space¡¯ called ¡®Warp Space¡¯.
For most vessels across the expansive width of the Humanosphere, Alcubierre Drives were the only feasible way to move between star systems.
¡°I thought that was the norm out here, honestly.¡± Arthur said with a sigh. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what I get for being a Fringe-born snob, or something.¡±
¡°It¡¯s almost like you look at the Rim the same way the Core looks at the Fringe.¡± Larriman pointed out shrewdly.
¡°You make a good point.¡± Arthur admitted wryly. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m still adjusting to the idea that the Rim isn¡¯t some stellar incarnation of a ¡®wild west¡¯ in space.¡±
¡°The fact that metaphor has survived over a thousand years of Human expansion still never ceases to amaze me.¡± Larriman said with a chuckle. ¡°And the Rim can be bad, but the real wild west is the Frontier. Which, come to think of it, makes that analogy very pertinent.¡±
¡°Hard to keep a classic down, I guess.¡± Arthur said with a laugh.
Larriman shook his head. ¡°Or a good Freelancer, I¡¯d wager. I don¡¯t make it my business to pry, Magellan, but I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t curious as to what series of events forced you to travel nearly two hundred light years from the outer-Fringe to the mid-Rim.¡±
¡°I got involved with the wrong woman.¡± Arthur said with an honest shrug.
Larriman stared at him and then burst out laughing.
¡°I knew those fancy genes of yours were trouble, Magellan. I just never thought they¡¯d be trouble for you!¡±
Arthur smirked good-naturedly at the Captain¡¯s words. ¡°Hey now, I¡¯m more than a handsome face.¡±
¡°Yeah!¡± One of the women on the bridge cut in. ¡°You¡¯re a handsome body, too!¡±
A round of laughter filled the bridge again, and Larriman raised an eyebrow at Arthur. ¡°She may be jesting, but she has a point. You¡¯re much too purposefully gene-tailored, and far too charismatic to just be a random Freelancer, Magellan. I¡¯d pay good money to know your story.¡±
Arthur buried the spike of tense readiness that flared up at the Captain¡¯s words and instead opted for an easy smile. ¡°I¡¯ll stick to being an interstellar man of mystery for now.¡±
Larriman¡¯s expression faltered for a moment while looking at him, and the man simply nodded. ¡°Suit yourself, Magellan.¡±
Arthur let out a low breath at the man¡¯s reaction, and focused on controlling his mood and thoughts. With the level of psion density he possessed, which was rare even in the Fringe, his reaction to Larriman¡¯s words had likely been enough to give the Captain a subtle sense of imminent lethal consequence.
Not that Larriman would really recognize that, as much as he would simply have a gut feeling not unlike that of a prey animal when confronted by a predator: become small, or run.
Arthur took firm control of his mood and turned back to the viewscreen, his eyes sweeping over the colossal castle-in-space Star Fortress built atop an engine-equipped asteroid. It hung unmoving above them, its design a mix between ancient Greek domes and more Norman towers and parapets¡ªall wrapped within a transparisteel dome that contained its own atmosphere.
From their distance at the very edge of the Calypso point, it was only visible thanks to the magnification and visualization granted by the tachyon sensors.
It was still immense, and with a naked eye on the image, Arthur estimated the dome to be about twelve kilometers at its highest point, and eight in diameter.
The asteroid it was built on could probably have killed a planet on impact.
The immense Star Fortress and the Fleet assigned to it were holding static vigil over the 50,000 square kilometers within which interstellar traffic might emerge, and Arthur considered how many thousands of people must have resided within it while the Enterprising Fortune moved into and through the invisible gravity well generated by the Warp Anchor within the fortress¡¯ hidden depths.
Such anchors were a staple of any star nation¡¯s control of voidspace, and restricted access to higher forms of maneuvering like Compression Drives or¡ªin the case of Calypso Points¡ªAlcubierre Drives. The nature of a Warp Anchor was simple enough: build a gravity well generator, wrap it in a centimeter of neutronium alloy, and use a super-capital to tow it wherever it needed to go.
Then build a star fortress around it.
The reason it was called a ¡®Warp Anchor¡¯ and not a Gravity Anchor was, well, irrelevant.
People named things as they wished.
¡°How long until we breach the gravity shroud?¡± Arthur asked politely.
¡°An hour at full acceleration,¡± Larriman responded in a moderately subdued voice, ¡°and from there, it¡¯ll be about four hours from the edge of the heliosphere to Port Asfal¨ªs at Hellas-L1.¡±
Arthur nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go and make sure I have everything ready to disembark. Maybe stretch a little. I¡¯ve been asleep for¡¡± He trailed off when he realized he had no actual idea. He hadn¡¯t bothered to check.
¡°Two months, according to the Solar calendar.¡± Larriman said with a voice that gained some genuine amusement when he answered. ¡°We shaved a month off the trip by not stopping at the Nioret Cluster and using the Euclidean route instead.¡±
¡°Up and over?¡±
¡°Up and over.¡± Larriman confirmed.
¡°I see.¡± Arthur said quietly. ¡°Thank you for that. I appreciate the brevity of the trip.¡±
Larriman eyed him for a moment, and then inclined his head in silent acceptance of the unspoken olive branch.
¡°You¡¯re welcome, Magellan. Now go see to your belongings. I don¡¯t want to spend longer than I need to in Asfal¨ªs because you forgot your night light!¡±
Arthur snorted good-naturedly, shook his head, and left the bridge amid the quiet chuckles of the crew.
B1 | Chapter 02: Port AsfalÃs
If you¡¯d asked me then why I made the offer to him, I¡¯d have told you it was simply the right thing to do. With time and distance, I realize that it was so much more than that¡ªand so much more terrifying than that as well. A man¡¯s mind is the one thing he should have control over, especially in an age where maladies of the brain are eliminated¡ and yet in his presence, I was entirely outside my own good judgment. Throne of Terra, I still quail at the power he had even then¡ªbefore he truly Awakened, and everything went so horribly, horribly wrong.
Port Asfal¨ªs, to Arthur¡¯s eyes, resembled a gigantic metal umbrella. A colossal shaft of steel hundreds of feet long extended down from a circular top capped by a massive dome, and dozens of vessels¡ªmany far larger than the Enterprising Fortune¡ªsat docked in one of the endless number of carefully constructed drydock slips created to allow for rapid arrival, departure, and the loading and unloading of goods.
He had returned to the bridge near the end of the Enterprising Fortune¡¯s journey through Graecia and had been present when they¡¯d dropped out of Compressed Space with a vacuum-muted eruption of displacement.
He didn¡¯t want to imagine how long it might have taken them to move from the outside of the Heliosphere to the third planet in orbit of the system¡¯s A0V-type white star, Apollo, without the C-Drive. Being able to travel at up to 0.5c¡ª149,896 kilometers per second¡ªoutside of gravity wells or warp anchors was incredibly useful for crossing the billions of kilometers that a star system contained.
It was also a steady drain on any ship¡¯s supply of hydrogen fuel, though his understanding of the Enterprising Fortune was that for what the fast-packet courier lacked in living space, the immense engines around which the one hundred and twenty meters of its length was built greatly made up for it in terms of output and acceleration.
Then again, fuel needs were why Gas Giants were so incredibly valuable.
Arthur¡¯s eyes drifted away from Port Asfal¨ªs and fell upon Hellas.
The first thing he thought of was how stunning the Ascendancy¡¯s Throneworld was.
The first colony and official Capital of the Graecia system, Hellas orbited comfortably within Apollo¡¯s liquid water zone. At almost twice the size of Terra, Hellas was a supercontinental world with three major land masses and two moons, both of which had been converted into colossal satellite fortresses. From Arthur¡¯s research, both had been named for the twin sons of Ares; Deimos and Phobos.
Hellas alone appeared to have been named for a region of ancient Greece, while the remaining planets in the System had all received names from the classical Pantheon.
Hades, which sat in the orbital position closest to Apollo, was a sickly green toxic world that Arthur understood to be completely uninhabitable outside of very specifically built bio-domes. Above Hades and hidden from Apollo by the toxic world¡¯s shadow was Tartarus, another artificial fortress built out from a large asteroid, equipped with engines, and set into a static position to watch over the tidally locked green planet which doubled as the system¡¯s supermax prison.
If nothing else, Arthur couldn¡¯t fault Graecia¡¯s work at deterring criminals.
Hades was a permanent warning against the folly of violating the Ascendancy¡¯s laws.
Next out from Hades and between it and Hellas sat Poseidon; a storm-wracked massive ocean world that, based on Arthur¡¯s research, was purported to be home to leviathans large enough to be seen from orbit in the right circumstances¡ªand utterly antithetical to any form of human habitation thanks to the same fauna, despite its surprisingly hospitable atmosphere.
Then came Hellas, at whose Lagrange-1 point hung the immense body of Port Asfal¨ªs.
Demeter was the fourth planet out from Apollo after Hellas and was located at the outer edge of the liquid water zone, though still within its blanket. Demeter, which Arthur understood to be a dedicated Agri-World with one of the highest food productions in the entire Rim, was orbited by its single uninhabitable but mineral-rich moon Persephone.
Beyond Demeter and fifth out from Apollo lay Ares, which Arthur understood to also be the site of the largest amount of dedicated military infrastructure within the system outside of Hellas¡¯ lagrange points. The entire planet had been largely converted to steel and industry, with a breathtaking orbital ring of shipyards encircling its equator. This ring was connected to four immense space elevators that anchored it in place and provided ready transport to and from the surface.
A surface that had continent-sized facilities and troposphere-tall habitation spires visible from space.
The small, habitable planetoid Aphrodite orbited Ares, its surface an eclectic blend of blue, purple, and green that had made it famous as a holiday destination throughout the Rim.
In the sixth position of orbit around Apollo lay the super jovian Gas Giant Zeus¡ªtwice as large as Sol¡¯s Jupiter¡ªand its moons Hera, Artemis, Dionysus, and Athena. The massive harvesting ring orbiting Zeus served both as a primary fueling station for the Ascendancy¡¯s Navy, and one of the largest hydrogen extraction operations in the Rim; large enough to supply every ambition the Graecian Ascendancy might hold economically and militarily.
The last and seventh planet in the System was Hephaestus, a molten world to which all visitation was forbidden, and whose moons Aurum and Argentum had been converted into excessively powerful defensive fortifications. The entire thing screamed military research and development to Arthur, but he had no intentions of prying.
For reasons that Arthur had neither the education nor interest in understanding, Hellas had developed a superb habitation capacity; and was well-known as both a super-habitable world ideal for all forms of life, and a planet rich with a plethora of natural resources¡ªespecially metals¡ªthat had made Graecia the wealthiest star system in its home cluster.
¡°It¡¯s beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡±
Larriman¡¯s words snapped Arthur out of his ruminations and he turned back to the heavy-set man with an apologetic look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±
¡°Hellas.¡± The captain said with a nod to the viewscreen. ¡°The Ascendancy was lucky that their colony ship was sent here, out of so many other options.¡±
¡°Oh.¡± Arthur said with a look back to the viewscreen. ¡°Yeah. They were.¡±
¡°Port authority sends all clear, skipper.¡± One of the women manning a bridge console declared cheerfully before the pair could say more. ¡°We¡¯re being guided into slip Epsilon-Thirteen.¡±
¡°Already?¡± Arthur asked with genuine surprise while the cylindrical shape of the Enterprising Fortune made an immediate and careful approach toward one of the many docks of Port Asfal¨ªs. ¡°I expected a longer wait time.¡±
¡°You saw how efficient the Navy was at the Calypso point.¡± Larriman pointed out. ¡°Why would their primary starport be any different?¡±
¡°You make a fair point.¡±
¡°Besides, Graecia is one of the most popular refueling stops in this whole section of the Rim. You can reach most of the inner sectors on a pretty straight path from Graecia, if you allow for some Euclidean movement between layers of the Orion Arm.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t think fuel would be much of a factor.¡± Arthur said with a thoughtful look at the viewscreen, though his eyes were more focused on Asfal¨ªs and its layout. He mapped it carefully while he spoke, just in case he needed to understand the external nature in future. ¡°Most inhabited Systems have at least one nearby, from my understanding. It¡¯s always part of the consideration for the Terran colonization authority, from what I¡¯d read.¡±
¡°That¡¯s usually true,¡± Larriman conceded, ¡°but there are always exceptions. This isn¡¯t the Fringe, Magellan. It¡¯s a much wilder section of space, for all that I said it wasn¡¯t the wild west. The wars are long and brutal, and any trader worth their license knows it¡¯s best to identify a reliable and affordable fueling stop on their first trip in.¡±
¡°Are the non-standard routes that inefficient?¡±
¡°It¡¯s rare to get stuck without hydrogen for the Alcubierre,¡± Larriman said conversationally, ¡°but not unheard of this far out. Especially with how unstable some of the hyperlanes are. The amount of fuel you need to burn to keep the warp bubble stable enough for travel can be exponential in some micro-clusters, and if you get stuck between fueling stops without enough hydrogen to make the next jump¡¡±
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¡°Game over, unless someone finds you first.¡± Arthur said with a quiet sigh. ¡°I get it. You¡¯ve had to learn where to expect consistency.¡±
¡°In essence.¡± Larriman nodded. ¡°The Hyperion Cluster is better than many others for variety, though Graecia is the usual go-to for most people.¡±
¡°That¡¯s reassuring.¡± Arthur said with another easy smile.
¡°I¡¯m surprised at how much of a show of force they¡¯ve been giving off, though.¡± Larriman said with a grim glance at the viewscreen and the warships they could both see prowling the space around Asfal¨ªs. ¡°Things with Parthia must be worse than we¡¯d heard.¡±
Arthur observed the screen while a formation of three cruisers and a light carrier sailed past and entered C-Drive with a blaze of their plasma engines, hyper-accelerating into specks of distant light almost instantaneously with a small discharge of force-wake. ¡°I thought it was just hyperlane control tensions and resource disputes, plus what you said about Parthia being the Cluster¡¯s bully.¡±
¡°So did I, but¡¡± He nodded to where the task force had just vanished from. ¡°The ARN has the home fleet out in force across the entire System. The last time we were here, half of these ships were probably in drydock and uncrewed to save costs.¡±
Arthur frowned at the screen thoughtfully while Larriman spoke.
¡°Something¡¯s ramping up, Magellan.¡± The Captain said with grim confidence. ¡°And for all that I enjoy Graecia, I¡¯ll be happy when I leave this Cluster. Rim wars are¡ a different beast.¡±
¡°You said that before.¡± Arthur noted. ¡°What makes them so bloody?¡±
¡°You¡¯ve done the research, I¡¯d hope.¡±
¡°Some.¡± Arthur affirmed. ¡°But you sound like you¡¯ve had experience.¡±
¡°Unfortunately.¡± Larriman said with a nod. ¡°And all I can really tell you is that it¡¯s a stellar bloodbath. The people out here fight hard to claw their way up toward the inner sector standards, and they¡¯re more willing to start shooting for it than anywhere else. Ambition creates aggression, and make no mistake, the Rim nations are the most ambitious. They were settled far later than the Fringe, and they¡¯re far enough away from Terra to feel as though adhering to the ¡®natural order¡¯ may not always be to their liking.¡±
¡°That¡¯s just inviting Censure from the Grand Imperium.¡± Arthur muttered.
¡°It¡¯s happened a few times. Most of them just don¡¯t care, though. They want to claw their way up to parity, and they¡¯ll go through anyone in their way. I¡¯ve seen inner-Rim nations go to war with outer-Verge powers, despite the insanity of the logistics involved, and nevermind the technology disparity.¡± The Captain said, and shook his head while he continued. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Rim sector, and don¡¯t underestimate the Hyperion cluster.¡± Larriman warned. ¡°You¡¯ll live longer if you respect their ambition for what it is.¡±
¡°I suppose it¡¯ll mean plenty of work for me,¡± Arthur murmured with a thoughtful look at the military vessels displayed on the screen. ¡°Assuming I can find an employer worth the time, anyway.¡±
¡°On that front, Magellan, I think you¡¯ll be fine.¡± Larriman said more evenly. ¡°Graecians are nothing if not broadly honorable. It¡¯s a cultural thing.¡±
¡°Sounds like a good place.¡±
¡°Better than many.¡± Larriman agreed.
Minutes passed in silence after that while the Enterprising Fortune was settled into its assigned dock with a careful application of maneuvering thrusters. When the docking clamps took hold of the courier with a rumbling thud, Arthur stepped back and Larriman rose from his seat.
¡°Let¡¯s get you aboard Asfal¨ªs, Magellan.¡± The Captain said with a smile. ¡°And let¡¯s get me paid!¡±
Arthur smiled wryly and turned to the rest of the crew. ¡°I didn¡¯t really get to know any of you, but best of luck! Stay safe out there.¡±
¡°Yeah, you too, tall, blond, and handsome!¡± The same woman from earlier shouted, and drew forth a laugh from the rest of the crew. ¡°If you ever need a tour guide, feel free to give me a call!¡±
Arthur snorted and threw a wave at the crew, before turning to retrieve his jacket and backpack and pull both on one, after the other. From there, he followed the Captain out of the doors to the bridge without a second look back.
¡°We¡¯ll be in dock for two days, Magellan,¡± the Captain said while they moved through the linear, cramped corridor threading through the main body of the ship. ¡°If you decide you want to join us on the return trip, you have until then.¡±
Arthur raised a surprised eyebrow at the bulk of the other man, though it went unseen, and responded with a guarded sense of wary surprise. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯m not planning on it.¡±
¡°I thought as much, but the offer¡¯s there.¡± Larriman said over his shoulder.
Arthur considered the shorter and heavy-set man thoughtfully, and then let his curiosity triumph. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d want me around, given I¡¯m ostensibly running from something.¡±
¡°I may not be overly fond of what manner of supposed ¡®woman trouble¡¯ would send a man as clearly capable as you are running, Magellan, but I also felt your psion density on the bridge. I left it alone, but I¡¯m not like the rest of the crew. I have insights in that sort of thing, and you¡¯re no ordinary Freelancer.¡± The Captain shrugged while he walked. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t pry too much on that front. I have a feeling it¡¯s better for my health if I don¡¯t.¡±
Arthur frowned at the man¡¯s certainty while they walked, and assessed the swarthy Captain with a more critical eye. Was Larriman truly picking up on his psion density, or was there something else at play? He didn¡¯t want to accuse the merchant of anything incorrectly, but if there was something else going on¡
He quietly started checking the corners of each area while they proceeded forward.
The Captain seemed satisfied enough with what he¡¯d already said to continue their progress without further comment, and the pair proceeded in silence.
It took Arthur and Larriman all of six minutes to move steadily from the bridge to the large, singular docking airlock connecting the courier¡¯s superstructure to any external vessel or station that sought entry. There were other access points, but those served a solely maintenance function and only opened one way.
When they arrived at the large metal doors, the pair stopped together and Arthur turned to face the wider, but notably shorter merchant.
¡°Thank you for your hospitality and the safe trip,¡± he said without preamble. ¡°The drachma will be deposited into your accounts the moment I step foot onto the station.¡± He waved his left wrist and the omni-comp on it idly. ¡°It¡¯s already been set up, as I promised.¡±
The Captain simply nodded at the reassurance, cast his dark gaze at the docking umbilical connected to the airlock, and then turned back to Arthur. ¡°Two days we¡¯ll be here for refueling and to take on mail and media.¡± He said simply. ¡°If you decide you want to return with us, send a message by HoloNet.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Arthur assured him firmly. ¡°Though I have to say I¡¯m surprised, again, that you bothered to remind me of that offer. Your insistence is a little suspicious, to be candid, given your assertion that I¡¯m ¡®no ordinary Freelancer¡¯ as you put it.¡±
¡°Sometimes you just need to trust your gut.¡± Larriman responded with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°I know you¡¯re not just a Freelancer even if you won¡¯t say what you are, Magellan, because I¡¯m not just a fat merchant.¡± Instead of elaborating further, and with seemingly no reaction to the coiled tension that entered Arthur the moment the words were said; the Captain instead rolled up his right sleeve to show what appeared to be an intricate tattoo of metallic platinum wrapped around his forearm.
Arthur, however, knew better. His eyes narrowed with immediate recognition.
¡°Callandium?¡± He asked rhetorically. ¡°That explains your confidence, at least.¡±
¡°To a point.¡± Larriman responded with a nod. ¡°I have enough compatibility for a few matrices, but bugger all for psions to fuel them. Your density makes mine look laughable.¡± He said with a shake of his head.
¡°I only opted for this one to gain some rudimentary capability as an empath to help with business deals, and even then, I¡¯m only Theta-ranked.¡±
Arthur¡¯s expression slowly morphed from open wariness to a more subdued caution, but he nodded at Larriman¡¯s explanation. ¡°That would explain it.¡± He said carefully, though he didn¡¯t let his guard down. Larriman could be lying, after all. ¡°I take it you were tested for the Academia Psionica?¡±
¡°Deemed incapable, despite my compatibility.¡± Larriman said with a shrug. ¡°Low psions.¡±
¡°So they granted a license for a single matrix as consolation.¡± Arthur surmised.
Larriman nodded and rolled down his sleeve. ¡°The Paladins took me for testing when I was fifteen, though I can¡¯t say it was too much of a surprise. I¡¯m no Coreblood.¡±
The moment the Captain said the word, Arthur felt a sharp spike of irritation, though he couldn¡¯t have explained why. Other than his own biases against Coreworlders, there was no real reason for him to react to a slur meant for people from the innermost Sector of the Humanosphere.
Despite those facts, the epithet had engendered a feeling of anger in him he couldn¡¯t quite quantify.
Instead of addressing it, Arthur simply offered his hand out for Larriman to shake.
¡°I appreciate what you¡¯ve entrusted me with, Captain.¡± Arthur said politely. ¡°And I would like to say it¡¯s been a genuine pleasure to have been your cargo, inasmuch as I was also your passenger, but this is most definitely where we part ways. I wish you luck.¡±
Larriman eyed him for a moment, but shook his hand regardless. ¡°You really are set on this, then?¡±
¡°Very much so.¡± Arthur confirmed. ¡°Graecia is where I need to be.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ll tell me why?¡± The Captain asked when their handshake ended.
¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t.¡± Arthur said with an apologetic smile.
¡°I thought as much, but it never hurts to ask. You stay safe, Arthur Magellan, until next we meet.¡±
¡°Until then, Captain. Godspeed.¡±
Arthur turned and started toward the docking tube and umbilical.
Larriman didn¡¯t stop him and Arthur hitched his backpack firmly onto his shoulders. Without a glance back, he stepped from the true steel of the Enterprising Fortune and onto the flexible plastisteel of the docking umbilical.
Port Asfal¨ªs lay ahead, and Arthur knew in his core it was where he had to be.
He also hadn¡¯t lied to Captain Larriman.
He truly couldn¡¯t tell the other man why he had to be in Graecia. It was not a conspiracy nor some great secret opportunity that drew Arthur onward toward the immense star port. No family awaited him, and no clandestine forces for him to command or guide lay lurking around a corner.
The simple truth was that Arthur had a compulsion that urged him onward to Graecia, a compulsion that encouraged, the demanded he comply.
It was a compulsion whose source he couldn¡¯t identify.
In Graecia, he hoped to find answers.
No matter the cost.
B1 | Chapter 03: Vasilikós Kidemónes
Had we known then who it was that had arrived among us, we might have acted differently. Chosen differently. I cannot say for certain if the decisions we made were truly what was in the best interest of Hellas or humanity as a whole, but I am glad we made them. I am glad we chose faith over hostility. I shudder to think what the consequences might have been, had we chosen wrong. We had received the living embodiment of Pandora¡¯s box, and I thank all the gods that we handled it with proper care.
Arthur strode along docking umbilical with a silent assessment of the area he could see beyond. The immediate station was seemingly abandoned, with the occasional holographic infomercial decorating the plain white walls, and filling the area with the subdued sounds of consumer advertising. From perfumes and sprays to weapons, armor, and even the occasional marketing campaign for a new type of commercial starship dominated the various appeals to new arrivals.
The interior was quite conservative, and seemed entirely built purely to house passengers, crew, or other such personnel for a single ship or transport. The small white seats, cramped area, and tell-tale domes of hidden automated turrets set into the ceiling told Arthur all he needed to know.
His booted feet transitioned from plastisteel to true metal and he stepped out into the receiving area. The moment he did and his vision was no longer obscured by the narrow docking umbilical¡¯s walls, he found a lone young woman in attendance.
She was attired in the abiding red of the ARN, had short blonde hair, brown eyes, and based on her single upward-facing chevron and lack of medals or pins, was one of the Navy¡¯s enlisted. His eyes met hers at the same time as hers met his, and Arthur smiled while she blinked at him in momentary surprise, and then recovered.
¡°Welcome to Port Asfal¨ªs, sir! I am Naftis Kiara Larsen. Do you require any guidance?¡±
Naftis. An equivalent to an Aurelian ¡®Spacer First Class¡¯. Bottom of the ladder.
¡°Nice to meet you, Kiara.¡± Arthur said with a casual confidence that he knew instinctively would make her more comfortable. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what manner of knowledge fed him that awareness, but neither would he question its veracity. It felt right.
¡°My name¡¯s Arthur. Arthur Magellan.¡± he continued with a warm smile. ¡°It¡¯s my first time in Graecia, and I¡¯m trying to figure out what happens next.¡±
¡°Oh!¡± Kiara said while staring at him with what Arthur classified as a deer-in-headlights look. ¡°A newcomer? That¡¯s¡ªthat¡¯s awesome! I mean, that¡¯s wonderful! Ah¡¡± she patted down her pockets, paused, and then seemed to realize what she was doing. A moment of blatant embarrassment followed, and she instead took a moment to center herself with a quick breath in and out.
¡°Everything okay, Kiara?¡± Arthur probed gently.
¡°I¡ªuh¡ªyes. Sorry, sir. I wasn¡¯t actually paying attention to the fact anyone docked, and¡ I¡¡± she trailed off at the exact moment that Arthur saw her eyes widen with realization of her admission of not paying attention, and her face turned red. ¡°Um. I don¡¯t know why I said that. Sorry? Wait. I¡ªI mean¡ª¡±
¡°Naftis.¡± Arthur said with confidence and an injection of authority he knew she¡¯d respond to positively. ¡°I just need to know what my next steps are. Perhaps you could tell me where I should go from here to find passage down to Hellas?¡±
The very young enlisted, which Arthur decided was the most plausible explanation for her flustered state, looked mortified when she nodded, and answered with only a mild stammer. ¡°Y¡ªyes sir! Um. Out? Out! Yes. That way. Uh. Customs. Customsisthatway!¡± she finally blurted out, while pointing to the only real door within the small boarding and disembarkation area. It lay directly opposite the one he¡¯d stepped through from the umbilical behind him.
¡°Thank you, Kiara.¡± Arthur said with a suppressed twinge of annoyance. He didn¡¯t blame her, necessarily, for her lack of togetherness¡ªbut there was definitely a degree of impatience for her lack of decorum that bothered him.
He had expected better from the ARN after what he¡¯d seen in space.
Kiara, despite all convention, saluted at his thanks.
She looked frozen with shock after she did, and her eyes focused determinedly on a spot somewhere over his shoulder.
¡°E¡ªenjoy your stay in Graecia, sir!¡±
¡°Thank you, Naftis.¡± he said with a bemused smile. ¡°And take care of yourself.¡±
Arthur left before he could be engaged in further awkward discourse, and moved quickly across the boarding area to pass through the pair of blue-marked double doors, and into the Port-proper beyond.
Immediately when he did, he noticed that security in the area¡ªwhich was still mostly devoid of passengers or traffic¡ªwas far more extensive.
The first indication of that was the pair of power-armored guards standing with professional vigil outside of the doors leading to the embarkation lounge of the Enterprising Fortune¡¯s docking bay, their hands devoid of any obvious weapons.
Even a quick glance told him that they likely wouldn¡¯t need weapons to handle him.
Arthur¡¯s loose study on Graecia and the Ascendancy which ruled it allowed him to identify both men as members of the Vasilik¨®s Kidem¨®nes. In English, it quite literally meant ¡®Royal Guardians¡¯. They were identifiable not merely by the rich blue cloaks that covered their shoulders and necks and fell to trail a few inches across the ground, but by the immaculate silver paint that covered their armor.
Their kit was clearly modeled off of Ancient Greek Hoplites, though the metal was painted silver where historically it had been distinctive bronze, and where their armor might have once had necessary gaps; tightly woven nano-threaded mesh strong enough to withstand limited direct fire from most ballistic and energy-based weapons covered what might have otherwise been exposed skin.
Their helmets were made in the Corinthian style of their Hoplite forebears, with a metal ¡®plume¡¯ in place of the horsehair one they may have had in a more classical time. Where the helmets would normally have T or Y shaped gaps for the eyes, nose, and mouth; black glass occupied the space between the metal instead.
Despite the occasional mesh-covered joints foregoing armor over their elbows and knees for the sake of mobility, Arthur knew from his limited research that the mesh itself was rated for vacuum and could protect the Kidem¨®nes from gaseous or liquid attacks as well.
Despite his fascination with the blatant throwback to Ancient Greek culture, however, Arthur also recognised something else.
They were soldiers, and he was an unknown.
As if in confirmation of that thought, both men turned to face him when he drew closer, and their hands rested on the all-too-functional sword hilts that their shift in position made visible upon their left hips.
¡°Welcome to Port Asfal¨ªs,¡± the Kidem¨®nas on the right said in polite standard, his voice vaguely distorted by the speakers built into his hermetically-sealed helmet. ¡°I am Endymion Chloros of the Vasilik¨®s Kidem¨®nes, and this is Perseus Andino of the same.¡± Endymion¡¯s voice was a deep bass, and even with the distortion he managed to sound both gruff and professional all at once. That was a neat trick. ¡°Welcome to Hellas, mister¡?¡±
¡°Arthur Magellan.¡± Arthur said with a polite smile and nod, while extending his arm and shaking both mens¡¯ hands companionably. ¡°I¡¯ve heard good things about Graecia.¡±
¡°Well met, Arthur.¡± Endymion rumbled cordially.
¡°Well met.¡± Perseus responded as well, his voice notably calmer in tone.
¡°What brings you to Port Asfal¨ªs?¡± Endymion continued.
¡°I¡¯m looking for transport to Hellas, and couldn¡¯t find a direct flight to the Iris.¡± Arthur explained with a nod back toward the umbilical. ¡°The Naftis manning the lounge said this was the only way in.¡±
¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Endymion grunted with a nod. ¡°Travel to and from Hellas proper is restricted to citizens with class three security passes, Ascendancy-licensed merchants, and Graecian military. All out-System traffic and visitors have to go through customs here on the orbital station.¡±
¡°Ascendancy policy is to instruct new arrivals to stay aboard their vessels until we¡¯re ready to receive them,¡± Perseus continued in Endymion¡¯s place, ¡°which isn¡¯t usually more than an hour or two, but we had no reason to do so given the current lack of traffic.¡±
He gestured to the area around them when he finished, in order to illustrate his point.
Arthur nodded in understanding, and glanced around at the largely empty station section. Even with multiple other embarkation and disembarkation lounges, no one else was present in the area. He only saw a small smattering of other Kidem¨®nes, some civilian staff, and the occasional member of the Navy.
¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised, given what I¡¯ve seen coming in from Korinth.¡±
¡°No trouble, I hope?¡± Perseus asked carefully.
Arthur had not expected the Kidem¨®nes, who were by all rights elite warriors, to engage a random traveler in such direct and seemingly genuine discourse¡ªbut some buried instinct whispered to him that such an interaction would be to his advantage, and so he crushed his doubts and simply embraced the opportunity to learn what he could.
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¡°No trouble.¡± Arthur said with a shake of his head. ¡°But certainly an escalated naval presence. It¡¯s not difficult to see that things with Parthia are getting worse, even for someone from out-Cluster like me.¡±
Perseus nodded at his words and sighed audibly.
¡°The usual traffic has slowed to a crawl, and most of the merchant and trade vessels that do still come have a stake in Graecia already.¡± unspoken was the implication that Arthur was no merchant, and that the guardian was very much keyed into that fact. ¡°It¡¯s only been couriers and civilian transports that make use of Asfal¨ªs lately.¡±
¡°My understanding when I left Aurelia was that the disagreement was over hyperlanes and mineral rights, or something to that effect.¡± Arthur said with a helpless shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve come to understand how woefully misinformed that was after visiting.¡±
The pair of Kidem¨®nes fell silent for a moment and turned to each other at the same time, which was followed by the occasional sound of muted clicks filtering through to Arthur¡¯s genetically enhanced ears.
With experience and discernment telling him that they were communicating on a private channel, Arthur chose to wait patiently rather than be obtuse and interrupt them. He was a guest in Graecia, after all, and the extent of the Kidem¨®nes benevolence was an unknown factor for him still.
Captain Larriman had been right about things being calmer when closer to the Core, though, he reflected while he waited.
The Core of the Humanosphere was controlled by the Grand Imperium, and humanity¡¯s only true hegemony did not tolerate excessive violence within its sphere of influence¡ªeven if that sphere extended far beyond the two hundred light years it officially controlled.
Out as far the Fringe and especially the Rim however, the Humanosphere was bereft of the Grand Imperium¡¯s unilateral enforcement of peace and almost obsessive interventionism.
Its Star Marshals and the Peacekeeper Battle Groups, whose impressive flotillas roamed in and around the few hundred light years closest to Sol, didn¡¯t range nearly as far as even the inner-Fringe.
As a result, the multitudinous star systems of humanity often found ways to indulge in their species¡¯ natural drive toward violence thanks to the knowledge that they were mostly safe from the Imperator¡¯s wrath. After all, distance was a kind of shield all its own, and while the Imperator could project his Grand Imperium¡¯s power all the way to the furthest reaches of explored space, almost nobody had ever been foolish enough to act in a way that warranted such a heavy-handed response from Terra.
Though from Arthur¡¯s conversation with Larriman, the fear of that Censure was definitely eroding across the Rim.
Arthur¡¯s focus returned to the moment fully when the calmer of the two¡ªPerseus¡ªaddressed him again.
¡°You¡¯re from the Fringe?¡± Perseus asked with what Arthur thought was wary curiosity.
¡°I am.¡± Arthur confirmed with a nod. ¡°I¡¯m a Freelancer looking for work, and somewhere to stay for the length of whatever contract I find.¡±
¡°A Freelancer¡¡± Endymion muttered grimly. ¡°That makes more sense. I suppose it stands to reason you¡¯d come out here if you wanted to earn some drachma, given how peaceful the Fringe is.¡±
Arthur didn¡¯t miss the mild disdain tied to the word ¡®peaceful¡¯, but chose to ignore it.
¡°The Fringe has its share of conflicts, but I find that life there can be somewhat sedentary at times.¡± Arthur responded carefully, and without overtly lying. ¡°I came to the mid-Rim because I felt like it was where I had to be, and I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve regretted the choice yet. My limited experience with Graecia has shown me how wrong people can be about Rim nations. Your homeland is incredible.¡±
Both Kidem¨®nes glanced at each other again at his words, and then turned back to him.
Perseus was once again the first to speak.
¡°It¡¯s refreshing to hear that coming from a Fringer.¡± the more junior Kidem¨®nas said in a markedly warmer tone. ¡°I can imagine what is said about us out in the Rim, and I appreciate your open mind, Magellan. Plus,¡± he added with a small chuckle, ¡°I can¡¯t deny it¡¯s mollifying to see Freelancers choosing Hellas over Xerxes.¡±
¡°Says something that even Mercenaries recognize how slimy Parthians are.¡± Endymion growled approvingly.
¡°Charlemagne has a lot of Greek and Roman influences across the Cluster, if we¡¯re speaking in terms of the Terran cultures that preceded us.¡± Arthur said honestly. ¡°Graecia just felt like the more natural fit.¡±
The compulsion notwithstanding, it was true. Graecia was far closer to what he was used to in Aurelia. Admittedly, there was a lot more Franco-Roman influence to Aurelia than Grecian, but the overarching aesthetic remained similar and constant enough to breed a comfortable familiarity, if nothing else.
If Arthur still felt oddly out of place in both nations, well, that was just him.
Arthur had never truly felt like he fit in on Aurelia. Graecia was likely no different.
¡°Do you have a sponsor here, Magellan, or is this strictly a blind disembarkation?¡± Perseus asked while shifting to a more relaxed and companionable stance.
¡°Blind.¡± Arthur confirmed with a wry smile, and idle demonstrative hitch of his backpack. ¡°Just the clothes on my back, and anything I could easily carry.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a brave man.¡± The Kidem¨®nas observed thoughtfully. ¡°Not sure I could do that.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re yet to step into a true war, Andino, despite your skill with a blade.¡± Endymion growled with a hint of mirth, and then turned to Arthur. ¡°Not like this one. He¡¯s seen that kind of death before, and plenty of it. Am I right, Magellan?¡±
Arthur¡¯s expression tightened a little at the senior Kidem¨®nas¡¯ words, but he saw no point in deception and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve seen my share of battles. Freelancing can have a lot of non-lethal contracts, but sometimes even those turn bloody whether you want them to or not. All I can say is that I¡¯ve survived this far, so I like to believe I can hold my own.¡±
Endymion nodded sharply with what Arthur thought might have been approval. ¡°That¡¯s a veteran¡¯s answer. No boasting, no bragging, just truth.¡± he reached out and clapped an armored gauntlet on Arthur¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine here, Magellan.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen you compliment a stranger.¡± Perseus said with genuine surprise. ¡°Are you feeling well, brother?¡±
Endymion turned his helmet toward the younger Kidem¨®nas and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll feel better when you aren¡¯t pointing out idiotic details.¡± he growled.
Arthur did notice that the hand dropped away from his shoulder quickly, though.
The disdain and irritation for Perseus¡¯ observation were evident¡ªand familiarly hollow. It was the empty recrimination between friends, diametrically opposed in personality, but friends nonetheless.
Arthur couldn¡¯t help but feel strangely envious of their clear camaraderie.
¡°He does enjoy trying to crush my spirit.¡± Perseus said while turning his helmeted head back toward Arthur. ¡°But secretly I think he just likes me being socially functional enough for the both of us.¡±
¡°Shut up, Andino.¡± Endymion growled.
¡°No need to pretend, brother.¡± Perseus said mildly. ¡°Magellan understands. Don¡¯t you, Magellan?¡±
Arthur chuckled despite himself. ¡°I get it.¡±
¡°If you¡¯re done gossiping Andino, I think we should probably let Magellan be on his way.¡± Endymion grunted. ¡°You¡¯re after Customs, I take it?¡±
¡°I am.¡± Arthur confirmed with a nod to Endymion. ¡°I assume I¡¯ll find it eventually if I just follow the pathways here.¡±
¡°All roads lead to bureaucracy!¡± Perseus said with a laugh.
¡°Just follow the signs.¡± Endymion agreed. ¡°You¡¯ll find it easily enough.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± Arthur said with a grateful smile. ¡°I appreciate the guidance, and the chat. You two have a good, uh, day?¡± he glanced down at his left wrist the moment he realized he didn¡¯t actually know what the time was.
¡°Day.¡± Endymion confirmed with a quiet snort before Arthur could open his holoscreen. ¡°Definitely day. You sure you can find your way to customs, Magellan?¡±
Arthur¡¯s smile turned wry. ¡°I think so. I¡¯ve just been a little distracted, I suppose.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t we just take you?¡± Perseus asked with what Arthur suspected was an impulsive thought.
¡°We aren¡¯t tour guides, Andino.¡± Endymion grunted.
¡°We also aren¡¯t doing anything here, brother.¡± Perseus pointed out with a sigh. ¡°There are two Hexarons in this section alone, and we¡¯re due to be relieved at the top of the hour anyway. Let¡¯s just call Vicente and Morello and let them take the watch until the relief team arrives.¡±
¡°They aren¡¯t even part of our Hexaron.¡± Endymion growled.
¡°Our Hexaron is split over three different duty stations across the entire system, brother. We aren¡¯t exactly spoiling for options.¡±
Arthur remained silent as the pair conferred, and idly adjusted his backpack.
A Hexaron was the six-man squad Kidem¨®nes operated in as standard, he recalled.
¡°Perhaps.¡± Endymion said after a moment of silence. ¡°Check the schedule, first.¡±
¡°I did! There are no other disembarkations slated for the next few hours, and we¡¯re superfluous here as it is.¡± Perseus said confidently. ¡°Besides, Magellan¡¯s not like the rest of the tourists that come through. Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t feel it, Tacticus! This whole meeting is like a¡ª!¡±
¡°If you say a sign from the gods, Andino, I swear to Zeus I¡¯ll hit you.¡±
The taller but more junior Kidem¨®nas shrugged in an exaggerated manner.
¡°You said it, brother, not me. Besides, you¡¯ve been more social with Magellan than you are with most of the Navy. That merits at least some investigation, right?¡±
Arthur felt a strange sense of deja vu at Perseus¡¯ words, but dismissed it. He¡¯d never even been to Graecia before that moment. Still, something about what Perseus said had felt¡ odd. It was as if he should understand or know what was going on, and why Endymion was more openly social with him.
A subtle wave of focus swept his concerns away, and he dismissed the thoughts immediately.
The ¡®why¡¯ of it didn¡¯t matter.
Only answers mattered, and if the Kidem¨®nes wanted to take a liking to him, that just helped his purpose for being there in the first place.
¡°The Navy are blowhards.¡± Endymion continued while oblivious to Arthur¡¯s thoughts.
¡°And Magellan is a Freelancer.¡± Perseus pointed out with clear amusement. ¡°Weren¡¯t you ranting about mercenaries just last¡ª¡±
¡°Fine, Andino.¡± Endymion cut in with a snarl. ¡°We¡¯ll take him to customs, but we only go as far as customs.¡± he continued firmly. ¡°No further.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± the younger Kidem¨®nas said with a laugh. ¡°Whatever you say, brother.¡±
B1 | Chapter 04: Knight-Errant
Even then, despite my brother¡¯s recalcitrance, I knew we¡¯d made the right choice. His presence, his manner, the way in which he interacted¡ªall of it felt different to me. Special. I didn¡¯t know if it was divine intent or mere happenstance, and the underlying presumption of a universal plan; but I understood to my core that we had been meant to meet him. For me it was a simple matter of following what I knew to be true. Looking back, even with everything that¡¯s happened, I still believe I made the right choice.
Arthur fell in with the two Kidem¨®nes when they set off, and carefully remained half a step behind.
Enough for them to lead, but not enough to look as if he were being forced to follow.
He didn¡¯t want to look like he thought himself their peer, but neither did he wish to be antisocial or appear to be. It was a delicate balance, especially given the blatantly abnormal level of favor they were showing him.
Something about their willingness to help him tickled Arthur¡¯s deeper-rooted sense of caution, but he couldn¡¯t quite place what it was. He felt as though he should have known the answer, but every time he tried to focus in and find it, his mind slid away from the thought and put him right back to his state of mild vexation and answerless suspicion. They shouldn¡¯t have been so willing to help. He knew that.
Then again, people did strange things for strange reasons.
It was very possible they truly were just bored.
¡°What did you think of the System when you came in, Magellan?¡± Perseus asked while they walked.
¡°You¡¯re resource rich and know how to exploit it.¡± he said candidly. ¡°I respect the sheer ambition of the Ascendancy. With what you have here, you could rival some of the outer-Verge nations given enough time. You¡¯ll climb to parity with them faster than some Fringe powers will.¡±
Endymion grunted at that. ¡°That¡¯s a rare sentiment from a Fringer.¡±
¡°I suppose I¡¯m a pragmatist.¡± Arthur said wryly. ¡°And I know how to acknowledge true potential, no matter which sector it¡¯s from.¡±
Perseus and Endymion glanced at him, and the senior Kidem¨®nes inclined his head.
¡°I apologize.¡± he rumbled quietly. ¡°The insult was uncalled for.¡±
Arthur shrugged a little and smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t blame you for it. I can imagine what manner of bullshit people from the inner sectors give you.¡±
¡°I suppose you can.¡± Perseus said with a chuckle. ¡°The Fringe was the Rim before the Rim existed, after all.¡±
¡°And the inner sectors never let us forget it.¡± Arthur agreed with a nod.
¡°Shit rolls downhill.¡± Endymion muttered. ¡°The Core gives it to the Mantle, who gives it to Verge, who gives it to the Fringe, who gives it to us.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t give it to the Frontier, though.¡± Perseus said conversationally.
¡°That¡¯s because the Frontier¡¯s too busy killing itself with a violence we couldn¡¯t hope to match.¡± Endymion snorted.
¡°I had heard it was pretty bad out there.¡± Arthur stated quietly.
¡°The stories don¡¯t do it justice.¡± Perseus confirmed with a shake of his armored head. ¡°We get the occasional Frontier trader out here, and other than some special clusters, it¡¯s bad. Local warlords and failed states bad.¡±
Arthur¡¯s eyebrows rose in genuine surprise at that.
¡°What makes this wave of colonization so much less stable than the last few?¡±
¡°Distance, so people think.¡± Perseus said grimly. ¡°The Rim only barely feels the Grand Imperium, but we at least understand that Censure has happened. The Frontier? The Core may as well be a distant and irrelevant boogeyman to them. Imperial Censure is almost pure legend a dozen light years further out from Graecia, let alone the two hundred from here to the Frontier.¡±
¡°It¡¯s worse the further you go, too. Every dozen light years is a devolving level of civilization, and the outer-Frontier may as well be a permanent warzone. What few colonies do survive are¡ª¡±
¡°Better not spoken of.¡± Endymion interrupted with a rumble.
¡°Nobody has tried to help?¡± Arthur asked with a twinge of anger. For some reason, the idea of such unpoliced chaos struck a chord of rage in him he hadn¡¯t known to exist until that exact moment. Chaos, his mind told him, was antithetical to everything he believed in. Why that was, he was unable to say.
Perseus glanced at Endymion, and the older Kidem¨®nas sighed and gestured for him to go on.
The pair of them led him through a chair-populated waiting area and toward a large, white-painted metal opening with the words ¦§¦¨¦§ ¦ª¦¡¦© ¦¥¦¨¦©¦¬¦¡ in bold, blue-lit letters on the panel above. A galactic standard translation of CUSTOMS was lit below. Arthur followed the pair through the long access gate quietly while Perseus continued.
¡°Everyone¡¯s tried, but with no true hegemony in the Rim, it¡¯s not plausible.¡± Perseus said with a turn of the helmet back to Arthur. ¡°Even Graecia, for all that we¡¯ve actively sent aid and help out there, just can¡¯t afford to send proper expeditions. We could restore peace across many Clusters, and pretty easily at that thanks to our stability and economy, but¡¡±
¡°You¡¯d be making yourselves too vulnerable to your enemies.¡± Arthur guessed.
¡°Those Parthian animals would be pounding at the gates within a month.¡± Endymion growled.
¡°And without a guarantee of safe borders,¡± Arthur surmised, ¡°moving fleets that far out is just asking for any deployed forces to lose logistical support.¡±
Perseus nodded and continued with a tone of regret. ¡°We wish we could help. Honor would demand we should, but our people have to come first, and we simply can¡¯t run the risk of exposing ourselves to Parthia.¡±
¡°What a mess.¡± Arthur muttered.
¡°It sucks.¡± Perseus agreed sadly.
¡°The trickle-down enforcement used to work.¡± Endymion muttered. ¡°The Core checked the Mantle, the Mantle checked the Verge, and the Verge checked the Fringe.¡±
¡°But the Fringe largely broke that cycle.¡± Arthur said with a glimmer of sudden insight. ¡°They¡ªwe¡ªdidn¡¯t properly do for the Rim what the Verge did for us, because the emphasis on a peaceful outer sector had eroded so much with time and distance.¡±
¡°And as a result, the Rim has abandoned the Frontier entirely.¡± Perseus said with a resigned nod. ¡°It¡¯s a failure in the chain of responsibility, but that¡¯s what distance does. The Grand Imperium cares about peace enough to enforce it, but send people far enough from the immediate range of those enforced ideals¡ª¡±
¡°And it all goes to donkey shit.¡± Endymion said flatly.
Arthur would have smiled at that, if not for how depressing the topic was.
¡°The chaos benefits Parthia, regardless.¡± Endymion continued disdainfully. ¡°Those slaving bastards will raid the Frontier semi-regularly for new batches of people to put to work, both for their mining operations and to use in their planetary exploitation programs. They work them to death, and then just go and steal more people.¡±
¡°That¡¯s terrible.¡± Arthur said with a deeply-rooted sense of something being wrong. He felt as if he should have been able to do something about Parthia¡¯s actions, despite all logic to the contrary. He supposed it was guilt. The idea of humans being enslaved was in opposition to everything he believed.
At least, that was what he felt.
It felt strange that he couldn¡¯t say with certainty.
A subtle compulsion soothed away his wonder about the matter a moment later.
¡°It¡¯s the Humanosphere.¡± Perseus said resignedly while Arthur refocused on the Kidem¨®nas. ¡°All we can do is try to make our own slice of something better than the rest. It¡¯s the most simple, and most ruthless truth of human existence: There are the powerful and the powerless, and there¡¯s always a bigger star nation.¡±
¡°Unless you¡¯re the Grand Imperium.¡± Arthur said with a core-deep certainty.
¡°Unless you¡¯re the Grand Imperium.¡± Endymion agreed with a grunt.
Arthur looked around after they emerged from the long corridor they¡¯d entered, and the conversation momentarily lapsed when he did.
The area they had entered was far larger and more populated than the one they¡¯d started in, and Arthur realized quickly that it was some sort of ¡®nexus¡¯ point for multiple different arrival areas. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people filled the space even with the relative statement of ¡®low traffic¡¯ by Graecian standards, and he could see long lines of people with a wide and eclectic variety of attire waiting in front of dozens of gated customs stations, manned by men and women in the scarlet colors of the Ascendancy Royal Navy.
¡°Wow.¡± Arthur said with genuine surprise. ¡°This is Customs?¡±
Advertisements played in a myriad of competing volumes and with a plethora of colorful and exciting holovids that reeled across monitors, along walls, and hung suspended by anti-grav motors across the waiting area. It was immense in scale, and seemed to be able to easily house several thousand more people, even with the crowds that were already present.
¡°One of the checkpoints, anyway.¡± Perseus said in a satisfied tone. ¡°Asfal¨ªs has several customs areas scattered across the station.¡±
¡°How many people live here?¡± Arthur asked in wonder.
¡°A few million on the station proper.¡± Perseus said with a sense of pride that was nakedly apparent. ¡°It¡¯s one of the largest stellar habitations in the Rim.¡±
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¡°Graecia has a lot of things called ¡®one of the best in the Rim¡¯, I¡¯m learning.¡± Arthur said wryly.
¡°We aim to impress.¡± Perseus laughed.
¡°Clearly.¡± Arthur said with a low whistle while he looked around, and let the ugliness of their previous conversation wash away with the spectacle. ¡°Though now I¡¯m curious about you two.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± Endymion asked gruffly.
¡°My understanding was that your division was part of the Royal Guard.¡± Arthur explained while the two resumed walking toward one of the distant Customs desks. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you guarding a docking umbilical, honestly.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a common misunderstanding.¡± Perseus responded without any sound of offense and a half-glance back. ¡°The Vasilik¨®s Kidem¨®nes are tasked with the security and safety of the two Kings, yes, but we¡¯re also posted to the most critical locations across the Ascendancy.¡±
¡°I knew that, and it makes sense you¡¯d be aboard Asfal¨ªs as a general posting.¡± Arthur responded conversationally. ¡°But the docking bays seem a little rudimentary for the Royal Guard.¡±
¡°What did you expect to see?¡± Perseus asked without offense.
¡°I thought I¡¯d see some Royal Marines.¡± Arthur answered honestly. ¡°Or even standard station security officers, especially given how little traffic there is.¡±
¡°Your guess makes sense.¡± Perseus said while coming to a halt¡ªEndymion with him¡ªand idly gesturing to the colossal area around them rife with noise, activity, and throngs of humanity.
¡°The Marines tend to focus on shipboard defense and security, and garrison the less important stations and stellar facilities; and we have normal police forces for the various municipal districts on our worlds and orbital habitats, including Asfal¨ªs¡¡± He gestured over for indication toward where Arthur did, in fact, spy what appeared to be blue-uniformed police officers speaking to some irate looking people. ¡°But strictly speaking, even though we technically share space with the Navy and other elements of the government; Asfal¨ªs and other militarily or politically important areas are firmly our jurisdiction.¡±
¡°How does that work with contravening authority?¡± Arthur asked with interest.
¡°We tell them what to do, and if they know what¡¯s good for them, they do it.¡± Endymion said with a snort. ¡°If they get lippy, well, there are ways of handling that.¡±
¡°Endymion likes to go above them while they¡¯re standing there.¡± Perseus laughed.
¡°It¡¯s about sending a message.¡± the senior Kidem¨®nas said shamelessly.
¡°I can see the logic.¡± Arthur said with a laugh of his own. ¡°Though it¡¯s definitely a little vindictive.¡±
¡°Well, perhaps a little.¡± Endymion admitted with a hint of amusement.
¡°Thanks for explaining it.¡± Arthur said with a nod of thanks.
¡°No problem.¡± Perseus said easily. ¡°It¡¯s not like you couldn¡¯t have found it out with a quick sweep of the HoloNet.¡±
¡°Better from the source, though.¡± Arthur said simply.
¡°Always is.¡± Endymion agreed grimly. ¡°Too many idiots on the ¡®Net.¡±
¡°Which begs the question, Arthur, as to whether there¡¯s anything else you want to know before we part ways.¡± Perseus said with a gesture around them again. ¡°This is Customs, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s in my interest to push my surly brother too far.¡±
Endymion snorted at Perseus¡¯ words, but didn¡¯t deny them.
Arthur smiled at them both, and took a moment to seriously mull over Perseus¡¯ offer. Was there something else he wanted to know?
He thought back to what he¡¯d read, and then to Captain Larriman, and then looked up at the Kidem¨®nes. He pondered over how bold he felt, before simply deciding to risk a question he wished to ask. The worst they could do was decline to answer. ¡°There is one thing.¡± He said carefully.
¡°I can already hear the hesitation.¡± Perseus said with a laugh, and a friendly slap to Arthur¡¯s wider shoulders. ¡°Go ahead and ask, Arthur.¡±
¡°If you¡¯re sure.¡± He said with a smile before proceeding. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s another element to your force. The Myrmid¨®nes?¡±
Endymion looked at him and sighed. ¡°Of course that¡¯s your question.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve done your research.¡± Perseus agreed with amusement.
¡°Not enough, I¡¯d say, but some.¡± Arthur said lightly.
¡°Curiosity isn¡¯t always a good thing.¡± Endymion rumbled dourly.
¡°But it isn¡¯t a crime either, eh?¡± Perseus said with a laugh.
Arthur smiled at them both, and Perseus continued a moment later.
¡°Myrmid¨®nes are Kidem¨®nes that have matriculated through the Academia Psionica. It¡¯s a pretty popular point of pride for us to work with them, despite my brother¡¯s surliness. The Grand Imperium¡¯s Paladins have a Fortress-Monastery and garrison force for it on Hellas, like they do in every other stable system in human space, but this far from the Imperium psionics are more or less allowed to defer joining if they don¡¯t want to.¡±
That was a surprise. Arthur hadn¡¯t thought the Imperator would ever be so liberal.
¡°That¡¯s unheard of for anyone above Delta rank in the Fringe,¡± Arthur observed with interest, ¡°and it¡¯s even less tolerated toward the Core, from what I¡¯ve heard.¡±
¡°The Myrmid¨®nes have an understanding with the Paladins,¡± Perseus explained while they chatted and the odd passersby threw them curious looks, which Arthur ignored. The Kidem¨®nes were the only ones of their kind in the Customs area, surprisingly enough, and Arthur wasn¡¯t unaware of how odd it must have looked for them to be casually standing around chatting with him.
¡°They are free to serve the Ascendancy and fight for their homeland, and in return, they will answer the call if the Paladins ever need them.¡± Perseus continued while oblivious to the attention they garnered on occasion. Or seemingly oblivious, at any rate. ¡°Terra¡¯s power is respected even this far out, as unlikely as it might be for the Imperium to project power. Nobody wants to make the mistake of being the star system that pushed the Imperator too far.¡±
¡°Even with them being so disconnected from the Rim?¡± Arthur asked curiously.
¡°Everyone in Graecia knows what happened to the Morlane Confederacy.¡± Perseus said with a shake of his head. ¡°An entire inner-Rim nation powerful enough to be a true multi-stellar state, and with the economy to challenge the outer-Verge powers just¡ dismantled.¡± he shrugged and continued. ¡°All of it happened within the span of a few Solar months, and the timeframe was only that long due to the Imperium¡¯s forces having to travel over a thousand light years.¡±
¡°It might have been before we were born, but we¡¯ve met people from Morlane.¡± Endymion added grimly. ¡°Most Rim citizens have. You don¡¯t forget stories like theirs.¡±
Arthur was careful to nod seriously, but otherwise avoid overt reaction.
¡°And Myrmid¨®nes¡ª¡± Arthur said while shifting the topic back for the sake of his own clarity ¡°¡ªare something similar to Aurelian Chevaliers, I¡¯m guessing?¡±
¡°In essence.¡± Endymion agreed with a slight shrug of his armored shoulders. ¡°They are independent investigators and enforcers, tasked with rooting out spies, traitors, and extremely dangerous criminals or dissidents. Their psionic gifts make them particularly skilled at the work, and give them formidable capabilities in battle.¡±
¡°Their Callandium compatibility must be high.¡± Arthur murmured half to himself.
¡°It is.¡± Perseus confirmed. ¡°They have a generous helping of psions, too. None of them are above Delta in strength, and most are apparently Epsilon or lower. Otherwise I don¡¯t doubt the Paladins would have forced them into service already¡ though I¡¯ve heard a rumor their Strategos is on the cusp of Beta.¡±
¡°Andino!¡± Endymion growled.
¡°It¡¯s just a rumor¡¡± Perseus grumbled.
Arthur held up a placating hand. ¡°I get it, Endymion. Thanks for answering at all.¡±
¡°It was our pleasure.¡± Perseus said a moment later with genuine warmth. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting man, Arthur. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve met anyone as effortlessly charismatic in a while.¡±
¡°Just good genes.¡± Arthur half-joked.
¡°We did notice that.¡± Endymion grunted. ¡°Symmetrical features, powerful frame, not a blemish or flaw to be seen, and you move like a man that can and will leap to violence quickly if properly provoked.¡± he folded his arms and shrugged shamelessly. ¡°Part of why I consented to escort you was to observe your nature for myself. You could do a lot of damage very fast if you wanted to, I¡¯d wager.¡±
Arthur¡¯s eyes tightened a little at Endymion¡¯s assessment, but he didn¡¯t try to deny it.
¡°You¡¯ve got me dead to rights, it seems.¡± he said with a half-hearted smile.
¡°Not quite. You could be a Parthian spy.¡± the senior Kidem¨®nas said flatly. ¡°But I doubt it. You¡¯re not the type they¡¯d want. There¡¯s too much to notice about you, and you¡¯re too easy to like. We¡¯re extensively trained in Parthian tactics¡ªand they haven¡¯t tried to trojan horse us in decades.¡±
¡°What happened to the last one?¡± Arthur asked despite his better judgment.
¡°Defected to Graecia.¡± Perseus said with a laugh. ¡°Hilarious when you think about it. I heard the Parthians were livid. We landed a whole cache of intelligence as a result.¡±
¡°Normally I¡¯d reprimand him for that, but it really was decades ago. It¡¯s history at this point.¡± Endymion remarked gruffly. ¡°And as I said, you¡¯re too easy to like. I almost felt your anger at the idea of Parthian slavery, odd as it is to say. I can tell you¡¯re not like those animals on Xerxes.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ genuinely flattering, Endymion.¡± Arthur said with a wry smile. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°Mm.¡± Endymion grunted.
¡°Before we go, Arthur, would you answer a question of my own?¡± Perseus asked curiously.
¡°By all means.¡± Arthur said permissively. Turnabout was fair trade, after all.
¡°Which sort of Freelancer are you?¡±
Arthur hesitated for a moment at Perseus¡¯ question, and then felt a small encouragement erode his natural wariness. He¡¯d kept his skills under wraps during his negotiation with Larriman, but something¡ªinstinct or otherwise¡ªtold him it was important he be honest with the Kidem¨®nes.
So he was.
¡°I¡¯m a Knight-Errant.¡± Arthur said as calmly as his spiked heart-rate would allow. Despite his mind telling him it was the right thing to do, a deeply rooted part of himself balked at the idea of giving away that information. ¡°I can pilot and build Ninth Generation Eidolons.¡±
Both men went very still when he said that, and then turned to one another rapidly.
The clicking was rapid-fire almost immediately upon them turning to each other.
Engineered Interaction Dual Origination Linear Operation Neuralink Weapons, also simply called Eidolon Weapons or Eidolons for short, were the hardest to pilot and most difficult to master warmachines in the Humanosphere. They stood on average between 15 to 25 meters tall, with the ability to transform between a highly maneuverable starfighter and powerful humanoid form.
Eidolons were easy enough to build. Finding pilots was a far more difficult prospect.
The largest reason, of course, was that the people that could even be considered as pilots were one in a million, while only one in ten million might be considered truly formidable.
And beyond those, perhaps one in a hundred million would be classified as a prodigy.
Capability was only one part of it, of course. The other factors were far more esoteric. The mental bandwidth required to operate one of the machines was hard to gauge without simply putting candidates in a cockpit with a neuralink to test them, and the result could range anywhere from a failure to move the training machine, to the too-common-for-comfort cases of sudden-onset brain death.
And the likelihood of which result would manifest was difficult at best to predict.
¡°Arthur.¡± Perseus said after several long moments of silence. ¡°Are you telling us that you are a trained and veteran Eidolon pilot from the mid-Fringe with the capability to replicate mid-Fringe technology?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Arthur said simply. There was no point lying, for all that part of him was raging at his own stupidity. The urge to be honest remained, but another part of him was livid for agreeing with that urge. He couldn¡¯t have explained the compulsion if he¡¯d wanted to.
¡°You realize what that means, right?¡± Perseus asked skeptically.
¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good guess.¡± Arthur replied with resigned amusement.
¡°We¡¯re going to have to ask you to follow us.¡± Endymion said grimly.
¡°You¡¯re not in trouble, Arthur, but if what you say is true¡¡± Perseus trailed off.
¡°It¡¯s going to cause a whole fucking circus of bullshit.¡± Endymion said flatly.
¡°Yeah.¡± Arthur said simply. ¡°I figured.¡±
¡°Hey, there¡¯s a bright side to this.¡± Perseus said while Endymion signaled to some nearby officers, and started barking orders for them to clear a path through the crowds after they ran over.
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Arthur asked skeptically.
¡°If all goes well, you¡¯re gonna find that work you wanted, and then some!¡±
Arthur couldn¡¯t help himself at that.
He laughed.
B1 | Chapter 05: Kingmaker Theory
Knowing what we do now, the entire situation on Asfal¨ªs could have ended in catastrophe. We were shielded as much by our own ignorance as we were by our erstwhile companion¡¯s desire to skirt past our notice. Part of me wonders if it would have been better to let others handle his case. How different might our lives have been if we had simply walked away? Would Graecia have been safer if we had deferred the responsibility? We may never know, but still¡ Still, I wonder.
Arthur followed calmly behind Endymion and Perseus, and maintained his look of casual interest in the finery of Port Asfal¨ªs while they passed through it. It was an act of kindness on the part of the two Kidem¨®nes, Arthur assumed, that they had not taken up a more blatant detaining posture.
Their trip through the customs barrier, the ¡®first border¡¯ between interstellar space¡ªat least on paper, given there were other planets closer to Graecia¡¯s two Calypso points¡ªhad been simultaneously eventful and completely devoid of surprises.
Endymion and Perseus had simply rolled over the questioning Naval staff and officers by sheer force of presence, and despite a commendable interrogative by the more senior officer near the end of the Customs area, the two Kidem¨®nes had ushered him through the gate and past the staring eyes of dozens of people without so much as a backward glance.
The elevators behind the Customs Officers had carried the trio from the arrivals area to somewhere far deeper into the immense space station, and they¡¯d emerged into a very different environment.
The inner heart of Port Asfal¨ªs was built shockingly similar to a true ocean-bound terrestrial port, and it took Arthur¡¯s breath away. He¡¯d seen images, but they hadn¡¯t prepared him for the sheer scale to which the Ascendancy had constructed their station¡¯s inhabited interior.
Buildings in the style of Ancient Greece with modern amenities and materials dominated the space, creating wide and spacious lanes of traffic.
Many of them were occupied by pedestrians traveling through carefully demarcated sidewalks while small vehicles¡ªgrav-bikes, in most cases¡ªtraveled to and fro amid the hum of repulsor engines, which illuminated the bottom of their vehicles with soft blue light.
While the structure of Port Asfal¨ªs externally resembled a massive umbrella cast in steel, its gargantuan domed top made far more sense when seen from within. The Port was not merely a middle point for travelers, but a living and breathing city-station all on its own.
While guests were plentiful, it was not difficult to spot more casually dressed civilians or¡ªstrangely more commonly¡ªuniformed members of the Ascendancy Royal Navy.
Kidem¨®nes like Endymion and Perseus were present while the trio moved through the streets, though they were often accompanied by blue-uniformed police officers, armed with far lighter versions of the Kidem¨®nes¡¯ power armor and absent the helmets or cloaks that completed the guardians¡¯ austere appearance.
¡°We¡¯ll take transport from the nearby security station.¡± Perseus said while they walked, and drew the occasional curious or surprised glances from passersby. ¡°I understand you probably would have liked to explore Asfal¨ªs more, Arthur, and we¡¯ll get to that after we take you where we¡¯re going. It¡¯ll be worth it, though, I promise.¡±
¡°Can you tell me where exactly it is we¡¯re going?¡± Arthur asked with a glance down at the taller of the two guardians.
Perseus laughed.
¡°The Rear Admiral in charge of Port Asfal¨ªs. If we didn¡¯t, she¡¯d likely send a Hexaron to break down your door the moment she learned you¡¯d slipped through her fingers.¡±
Arthur chuckled at the seemingly light-hearted comment, and decided not to dwell on what that eventuality would look like. He was beginning to suspect that the Kidem¨®nes were modeled more heavily after the Hoplites of Ancient Greece than he¡¯d properly suspected, though there was definitely a more generally Terra-European bend to their structure.
Mostly Greek, but with some external modifiers in the mix, it seemed.
¡°Why would she want to do that, out of curiosity?¡± he asked while they walked.
¡°Because your arrival could change the fortunes of some very important people.¡± Endymion said with the most intensity Arthur had ever heard from him. ¡°And I intend on making sure you have the chance to choose the right ones. Not just for them, but for the Ascendancy as a whole.¡±
¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen him so passionate about something like this.¡± Perseus admitted without any attempt to be subtle. ¡°And that alone makes me want to help. My dour brother is rarely so animated, so it moved me when he insisted we take you to see the Ypon¨¢varchos.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Arthur said with a mix of faint amusement and lurking wariness. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to run for the hills yet, then.¡±
¡°I¡¯d catch you.¡± Endymion said firmly.
Arthur and Perseus both laughed at the statement, though not out of lack of belief.
Something about the normally taciturn Kidem¨®nas¡¯ statement was just funny.
Their journey continued in comfortably calm silence from there and Arthur spent time simply admiring what he could about the streets and Port Asfal¨ªs as a whole. It was a truly beautiful locale, and the rampant greenery offered a cleanliness to the air that was difficult to attain with air scrubbers alone. The faint scent of olives was everywhere, mixed with the subtle aroma of retsina, scents of lamb and garlic, and other myriad smells that were highly indicative of the Ascendancy¡¯s Grecian heritage.
It was a small paradise in space, and Arthur felt something in him yearn for more.
There was a part of him that, in defiance of all reason, felt at home in Graecia.
But he knew, down to the depths of his soul, he had never belonged in a place like it.
Arthur¡¯s quiet admiration and peaceful enjoyment of a seemingly idyllic society was only damaged, in fact, when they drew closer to the mentioned security station. The sounds of raised voices and metal on flesh reached his ears, and he automatically tensed for confrontation while some part of him he didn¡¯t recognize began rapidly assessing escape and attack routes.
It was only when he and the Kidemones rounded a final corner and came within sight of the immaculate police station that the source of the commotion revealed itself.
Several blue-uniformed peace officers were in the midst of restraining and corralling a group of men in unassuming attire, each of them bearing similar features that only truly became apparent in their uniformity when compared to one another, and their difference to the Graecians when compared to the mass of officers around them.
¡°Parthians.¡± Perseus said with quiet disdain at Arthur¡¯s side. ¡°Spies, most likely, trying to infiltrate Hellas through Asfal¨ªs.¡±
¡°They do not appear to be trying very hard to blend in.¡± Arthur observed while steeling himself against the surprising urge to intervene against the over-enthusiastic police officers.
Another baton smashed into the ribs of one of the Parthians, and he grimaced in disapproval.
¡°They likely were smuggled aboard a trade container using Callandium obstruction matrices.¡± Endymion muttered. ¡°The Parthians have some few skilled psionics. I would not be surprised if one of their so-called Immortals was behind the scheme.¡± his voice was not disdainful, as much as it was cold¡ªas if he were commenting on the habits of animals, rather than people.
¡°Parthians have neither honor nor compunction when it comes to such things.¡± Perseus said as if it were fact. ¡°They would sell their own mothers for benefit if they believed it would get them ahead.¡±
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¡°This is why we maintain our presence throughout Asfal¨ªs.¡± Endymion said on the heels of Perseus¡¯ words while turning toward Arthur. ¡°We cannot afford more of this filth infesting our home. They are a malcontented, vile, and repugnant people. Slavers and rapists run their nation. They are the opposite of everything Graecia stands for.¡±
Arthur¡¯s gaze shifted from Endymion and Perseus to the Parthians, and despite their words, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder at the complete veracity of their claims. He did not believe the Kidem¨®nes were overtly lying, but it seemed mildly absurd to him that the Parthians were simply a massive collection of evil, slaving, mustache-twirling psychopaths.
After all, history often warned of the ease by which entire cultures could be vilified.
How he knew that, however, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to explain. He simply did.
Silence fell over the trio once again when they crossed the street, and Arthur looked away with a frown when the Kidem¨®nes saluted the police officers in approval of their actions. He liked Endymion and Perseus. They were, based on his instincts, genuinely good men with good hearts.
But he could also see where hatred and bias had warped their sense of perspective.
Parthians, to the Kidem¨®nes, weren¡¯t people any more. They were just targets.
It was a very dangerous mindset to encourage, and he had no doubt it was encouraged. Very likely by authorities far, far above his new companions¡ªand with a very specific agenda in mind, as well. It took two nations to agitate tensions, after all, and for all that Graecia claimed to be the subject of Parthian aggression, Arthur wasn¡¯t quite sure that was entirely true.
Not after the unvarnished loathing he¡¯d seen and heard in the course of the day.
By time he managed to fully parse through his thoughts on it all, they were airborne.
Arthur¡¯s eyes widened when the aircar Perseus had commandeered for their shared transport banked across the metropolitan expanse of Asfal¨ªs, and offered him his first unobstructed aerial view of the Port. Thoughts of Parthian and Graecian conflict went to the back of his mind, and he simply focused on drinking in the view offered to him by their flight.
Beautiful had been an understatement.
As if in homage to the land from which Graecia had drawn its cultural heritage, Asfal¨ªs was seemingly designed as a massive tribute to everything classically Greek. A beautiful man-made river as blue-green as any one might find in the Terran Mediterranean ran through the city.
Its forks and branches were numerous, and the entire construction of the city itself was built in professionally asymmetrical partitions that lended the illusion of a city built around the river, instead of an artificial ecosystem placed within the station interior.
Olive trees and various other traditional Greek flora and fauna were evidenced, and Arthur could even spot large fields of greenery at several locations across the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis where no elevators had been built.
¡°It¡¯s gorgeous.¡± he observed appreciatively with his eyes transfixed by the city below.
¡°Our ancestors came from many places to claim Hellas and create what would become the Ascendancy, but they all agreed that our heritage was the most important thing to keep constant.¡± Endymion said quietly from beside him. ¡°Wherever we can we honor the souls of our ancient home, we do so. Even here, nearly twelve hundred light years Rimward from the cradle of humanity, the legacy of men like Pericles, Leonidas, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes, and Alexander live on.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a noble aspiration to want to honor the past.¡± Arthur agreed with a look back to Endymion¡¯s armored head. ¡°This isn¡¯t something I expected to see, honestly. I knew Graecia and the Hyperion cluster were more advanced than most Rim nations, but this level of artisanry is stunning.¡±
Endymion grunted in acknowledgement. ¡°The Hyperion cluster defies what many consider normal for the Rim, as you said. If only we had been founded earlier, many of the misconceptions and enforced limitations we suffer through might not have been given a chance to take root.¡±
¡°Time is often the greatest barrier.¡± Arthur said with a thoughtful nod.
¡°Yes.¡± Endymion agreed fervently. ¡°Our comparative age to the Fringe, especially given how large the time gap between our colonization and theirs was, means they have had centuries, in some cases, to out-develop and out-build us. The staggered nature of human colonization as a whole has left a diaspora of colonies that seem to have been intentionally forced into tiers of capability.¡±
Arthur hummed in thought at Endymion¡¯s words and turned to look out of the window in thought. The sentiment struck a deep chord within Arthur, one that reminded me of something he¡¯d largely let lapse into his suppressed memory. He never forgot things, after all, thanks to his gene-tailoring¡ªbut he did lose sight of things that were not immediately important.
Gene-tailored memory was very difficult to explain, he¡¯d learned already.
The idea of a grand design behind human expansion was a very commonly held theory, however. The fact it had never officially been confirmed was almost irrelevant given how widespread the belief was, especially in the Fringe and apparently the Rim too, if Endymion was any indication.
¡°Kingmaker theory?¡± Arthur asked when the name came to him.
¡°It would make sense.¡± Endymion growled with a nod. ¡°It was Terra that initiated the expansion in earnest eight centuries ago. Why did they only send out the colony ships in waves, and why take such care to ensure that each cluster even within the Core held largely homogenous populations across each planet of its habitable systems? Populations whose cultures, in many cases, had rivalries and natural frictions dating back to the bronze age of our species and beyond?¡±
¡°I admit I¡¯ve heard the same in Aurelia before.¡± Arthur said honestly while turning back to Endymion. ¡°The Charlemagne cluster contains Aurelia, Svartheim, Colchis, and Rasputin just to name the major four. If I named all twelve, it¡¯d be a checkerboard of conflicting ideologies and values There does seem to be some measure of commonality in how naturally in-conflict each cluster¡¯s colonized star systems are.¡±
¡°And what better way to ensure that no one can ever rise to challenge Terra¡¯s primacy than to make common purpose a doomed dream?¡± Perseus asked conversationally from the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°It¡¯s an open secret that the Grand Imperium has access to some sort of interstellar communications array, and yet the technology has never been shared.¡±
That, Arthur knew, was a sore point even in the Fringe.
Some glimmer of understanding surfaced within him when Endymion mentioned the technology, but that understanding vanished as quickly as it appeared.
¡°It¡¯s brilliant in its own way." Endymion continued while oblivious to Arthur¡¯s thoughts. "Create the seeds for inevitable conflict, and disallow anything approaching real-time communication between star systems. It even limits most militaries from waging overly ambitious wars, given that logistics and a command and control loop become harder and harder to sustain over longer distances.¡±
Arthur smiled wryly despite the topic. ¡°You almost sound like you approve of it now, Endymion.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a warrior, Arthur.¡± The Kidem¨®nas said firmly. ¡°More than anything else, I respect the bold brilliance of what has been done. Terra has castrated the greater Humanosphere¡¯s natural cooperation enough that we will never be able to dream of challenging its power with any sort of united front, but has left us with enough capability that we will be too busy warring with our neighbors over resources and territory to truly care.¡±
¡°Designating a galactic standard language seems to play into it as well, I suppose.¡± Arthur admitted with a sigh. ¡°A universal tongue for communication allows the hundreds of nations of the Humanosphere to negotiate, argue, and cycle through periods of peace and war¡ªbut it is never quite enough of a bridge for true understanding en masse, because it¡¯s outweighed by the sheer immensity of cultural opposition in each cluster.¡±
¡°So you do understand.¡± Endymion said approvingly.
¡°I do.¡± Arthur said while turning back to the view, and feeling a stirring of discontent within himself he couldn¡¯t quite identify. ¡°I just wish it didn¡¯t make so much sense.¡±
¡°As do we, Arthur.¡± Endymion growled. ¡°As do we.¡±
Silence reigned within the car again while Perseus guided it toward their destination, and it wasn¡¯t until almost ten minutes later that it was broken once more¡ªthis time by the younger of the two Kidem¨®nes.
¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Perseus said while smoothly landing the vehicle.
Arthur took a moment to just see the building.
It was built not unlike an Ancient Greek temple, with twelve marble steps twenty meters in width leading up to a set of open double doors, and an overhang connected to a set of colonnaded white columns built of the same marble as the steps.
A massive golden eagle perched over the doors, and appeared to be gripping three lightning bolts in its talons, while its eyes stared down as if it could see Arthur.
He shivered for reasons he couldn¡¯t quite define and looked at Endymion.
¡°Is me going in there looking like I just stepped off a starship going to be an issue?¡± Arthur asked while gesturing to his combination of boots, jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and jacket.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect so.¡± Endymion said while opening his door and stepping out.
Arthur opened his own door to step out, and Perseus turned to him when he did.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about the clothes, Arthur. You¡¯re still better looking than most living humans in Graecia regardless.¡±
¡°What the hell, Perseus?¡± Endymion said in surprise.
¡°It¡¯s just the damn truth, brother. He may as well go in there with confidence. I certainly wouldn¡¯t want to meet the Lion Duchess while worrying about my appearance.¡±
¡°The Lion Duchess?¡± Arthur asked curiously.
¡°You¡¯ll find out.¡± Endymion said gruffly. ¡°Come on.¡±
Arthur eyed the eagle hesitantly, but followed the pair inside regardless.
In the back of his mind, the compulsion urged him on.
B1 | Chapter 06: Atreus
I should have been able to tell, then. I should have seen it in how my brothers reacted. I should have noticed the signs, but I was blind. Arrogant. We had been taught we were the apex Predators, second in might only to the vaunted Paladins of Terra themselves. We had been taught to hold pride in our supremacy. What fools we were. We had mistaken a lion for a lamb, and none of us had any idea what it was that we welcomed into our midst.
Twenty minutes later, after a process of introductions and explanation of circumstance which proceeded with surprising levels of cordiality; Arthur was led to an office possessed of only sparse decoration. The room was adorned across the middle with a large circular rug in the spartan crimson of the Ascendancy Royal Navy, while white walls hung with various banners denoting different subdivisions of the Navy framed the interior.
Photos sat upright upon the desk at the far end of the room, and a high-back executive chair took pride of place behind it. One which served as the makeshift throne for an irrefutably beautiful Graecian woman.
She was dressed in the uniform of the Ascendancy Royal Navy, with a crimson overcoat buttoned in gold on the right side of her body, black coloring over her shoulders and upper arms, and two golden stars of rank decorating each of those same dark patches on her uniform. The black material of her high collar, reaching midway up her throat, bore the same two stars in paired formation.
Her black hair was tied back into a professional bun, with streaks of silver rising from her temples toward the tied mass of midnight above. Her eyes were a stormy gray, and even at what Arthur estimated to be middle age¡ªaround one hundred or so years old¡ªshe had the look of a woman that both genders would walk into inanimate objects admiring.
The amount of duty tabs on her jacket, overshadowed only by the golden Graecian eagle above, was enough of a point of emphasis to warn Arthur into respectful silence.
A single black beauty spot sat on the left side of her face, above her full lips, and when she appraised him he was reminded of nothing so much as a she-wolf observing a potential conquest.
And not in a fun way.
¡°Have a seat, Kyrio Magellan.¡± the woman said in a tone that was one half invitation, and one half command.
Arthur took note of the formal use of address and filed it away while he complied with her order and settled into the provided chair opposite her. Endymion and Perseus, having accompanied him in the room, took up deceptively casual positions on either side of the door.
He appreciated the gesture, for all that it was purely that.
¡°I am Ypon¨¢varchos Cassandra Leos. Asfal¨ªs¡¯ defense is my responsibility, in addition to the normal requirements of an Ascendancy Flag Officer.¡± the woman Perseus had called the ¡®Lion Duchess¡¯ said in accented English.
Somehow, even her voice managed to sound beautiful. A mix between a purr and caress.
¡®Lion Duchess¡¯ indeed.
Cassandra leaned forward when she spoke and braced her elbows on her desk, bridging her fingers together and narrowing her eyes at Arthur above them. ¡°Which brings me to you, Kyrio Magellan. Based on the reports supplied by Kidem¨®nes Chloros and Andino, paired with the travel receipts provided by the Enterprising Fortune; you are what you seem to be¡ªand that is precisely where my interest lies.¡±
¡°You¡¯re looking for an Eidolon pilot.¡± Arthur guessed with a shrewd assessment of the Rear Admiral. ¡°One that isn¡¯t a native.¡±
¡°Quite so.¡± Cassandra confirmed with approval. ¡°You arrive on our proverbial doorstep, fully prepared with the skills and knowledge we need moving into this period of heightened tension within the cluster, and seemingly absent any complicating fealties or associations that would pose an impediment to our ability to hire you.¡±
¡°Which is a little too convenient.¡± Arthur guessed.
¡°Which is much too convenient.¡± Cassandra clarified. ¡°There are only three possibilities here, Kyrio Magellan. Either you are exactly whom you say you are, in which case we of the Ascendancy would be thrilled to put you to work¡ªsomething I intend to see done personally, if such is the case¡ or you are an agent, sleeper or otherwise, sent by Parthia to infiltrate and sabotage or frustrate our most critical military infrastructure. The final option¡ Well, I don¡¯t wish to be rude, but¡¡±
¡°You¡¯re wondering if I¡¯m a fugitive.¡± Arthur surmised.
¡°Or a runaway Lord.¡± Cassandra said with a discerning gaze.
Arthur opened his mouth to respond, and then winced. A small throb had spiked in his head abruptly, and he reached up to massage it.
¡°Is everything alright?¡± The Rear Admiral asked carefully.
¡°Yes. Sorry.¡± Arthur said politely. ¡°Mild headache. I think it¡¯s just the result of two months of deep sleep.¡±
¡°Ah. Not a fan of long travels?¡±
¡°Not really, no.¡± Arthur admitted without embarrassment.
¡°I can relate. I despise long journeys.¡±
Arthur took a breath and pushed on. ¡°So what I¡¯m hearing is that you need to, for your own sake, make sure I¡¯m neither a liability nor a foreign asset.¡±
¡°That is correct.¡± Cassandra said.
¡°Though, that assumes I even want to work for you.¡± Arthur said mildly. ¡°Which, with all respect to you, I have no idea of yet. My only experience with you has been Endymion¡¯s insistence on coming to see you.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Cassandra said with a small smile. ¡°He didn¡¯t tell you about my family?¡±
¡°No.¡± Arthur said with a shake of the head, and another mild grimace at the lance of pain through his head that followed. ¡°But the fact that Endymion, who I¡¯ve learned in my short time with him is the most surly Kidem¨®nas alive, wanted me to meet you says you¡¯re someone important¡ªnot just to the Ascendancy, but to its people as well.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve a mind touched by Athena herself.¡± Cassandra said wryly.
¡°It¡¯s a simple deduction.¡± Arthur disagreed with a mild massaging of his temple.
¡°Not one for flattery, I take it?¡±
¡°No, your grace.¡± Arthur said with a shake of his head. ¡°Not one for flattery.¡±
Cassandra grinned openly at his words.
¡°You really might be what I¡¯m looking for, then.¡±
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¡°Assuming I¡¯m not a spy, fugitive, or political refugee.¡± Arthur observed.
¡°Assuming so.¡± Cassandra agreed.
¡°And you need to be certain.¡± Arthur said with a sigh of annoyance at his head. ¡°Beyond reasonable doubt.¡±
¡°I must.¡± Cassandra agreed with an intense look before turning to the Kidem¨®nes. ¡°Could one of you please retrieve a glass of water for Kyrio Magellan?¡±
¡°Yes, your grace.¡± Endymion said immediately and stepped out through the door.
¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± Arthur said with a glance back in surprise at Endymion¡¯s rapid obedience.
¡°You¡¯re evidently in some small measure of pain. It¡¯s the least I can offer.¡± Cassandra said simply.
Endymion returned a moment later with a tall glass of water, and set it smoothly into Arthur¡¯s hand. He glanced at the Kidem¨®nas in surprise again, but inclined his head in thanks. A paranoid part of him wanted to check for some sort of chemical in the water, but he doubted that was in Endymion¡¯s character.
And if they really wanted to hurt him, they were wearing power armor.
With those facts in mind, Arthur took a grateful sip of the chilled liquid.
It helped. Somewhat.
¡°Better?¡± Cassandra asked with a smile.
Arthur simply nodded and set the glass onto a coaster on the desk.
¡°Thank you.¡± he said with his full focus back on the Rear Admiral.
¡°Do you have any questions regarding what I¡¯ve said so far?¡± Cassandra asked when he set the glass down.
¡°No. I¡¯m mostly just interested in getting the ¡®potential spy¡¯ part of the equation out of the way. I can¡¯t imagine that is going to be good for my prospects, as far as employment in Graecia goes.¡±
Cassandra laughed warmly. ¡°No, I can¡¯t say it would. I am glad you understand that. It will make this much faster, and likely far less unpleasant. We have an easy way of qualifying your nature, in fact...¡±
While she spoke the doors to her office opened when she trailed off, and the sound of heavy footsteps followed their parting.
¡°To that end,¡± Cassandra resumed, ¡°I took the liberty, after being informed of your coming here by Kidem¨®nas Chloros, to request the services of someone uniquely suited to resolving this matter quickly.¡±
Arthur shifted in his chair to look to his right at the same moment as a new figure came into view, and his heartbeat sped up in response to what he saw. The new arrival wore armor of a similar design to Endymion and Perseus, but where theirs was silver and they bore thick cloaks of luxurious cobalt, the figure that entered was bedecked in plates of matte black.
A cloak of spartan crimson covered the warrior¡¯s pauldrons and fell across their back like a river, trailing down upon the floor as they walked. Their right hip bore a Greek Xiphos with a hilt suitable for one or two-handed use, and a blade built to a larger scale than was tradition.
When the Myrmid¨®n¡ªfor that was the only thing they could be¡ªcame to a halt and turned to face him properly, Arthur felt a small chill roll down his spine at the symbol proudly rising from the center of their chest: the ¦«. Lambda.
The symbol for ancient Laconia.
The symbol for Sparta.
¡°Thank you for joining us, Lord Atreus.¡±
The Myrmid¨®n reached up and removed his helmet without replying and set it on Cassandra¡¯s desk, revealing the face of a man that looked to be in the prime of his life. A well-kept black beard lined his face, and onyx hair cropped with military precision covered his head. His eyes, which were a bronze that seemed to match well to his olive skin, remained fixed on Arthur even when he at last chose to respond.
His voice was like the rumble of a mountain.
¡°It is my honor to serve the interests of the Ascendancy, Ypon¨¢varchos. That said, I can scarcely believe so much pageantry and commotion has arisen from the arrival of a single young man.¡±
¡°You and I both, my lord.¡± Cassandra said with a twinkle in her eye that Arthur couldn¡¯t quite parse. ¡°Were it not for the insistence of the Kidem¨®nes, I would not have believed the matter as important as it is.¡±
¡°That is assuming this Freelancer speaks the truth,¡± Atreus said coolly, ¡°and does indeed possess the skills he claimed.¡±
¡°That¡ª¡± Cassandra said decisively ¡°¡ªand his intentions and allegiance, if any, are what I am hoping you will be able to discern.¡±
¡°Then let us not waste any more time.¡± Atreus decreed.
Arthur looked from the chiseled features of the tall Myrmid¨®n to Cassandra¡¯s beautiful, and decidedly iron-willed features, and then steeled himself mentally. ¡°May I ask a question?¡±
Cassandra raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow, and then nodded for him to proceed.
¡°Once this is done, will there be any lingering side effects? As an Eidolon pilot, my mind is my most important asset.¡± He looked between them critically. ¡°I¡¯m not educated beyond rumor and supposition on what Lord Atreus intends on doing, but I am concerned about endangering my only marketable skill in the process. The fact I¡¯m here at all is only thanks to my trust in the Kidem¨®nes behind me, and that¡¯s only going to extend so far.¡±
¡°You think you can just leave?¡± Atreus asked with what Arthur thought was genuine interest.
¡°I think I haven¡¯t done anything that warrants a mental probe without my consent.¡± Arthur said with a steadier voice than his pounding heart might have permitted normally. ¡°And while I will consent in order to get this suspicion dealt with, I want to know I¡¯m not ruining myself in the process¡ªor risking that happening.¡±
Atreus raised an eyebrow and let out a low rumble of thought, but said nothing.
Cassandra, meanwhile, gave him a long and unreadable look before nodding.
¡°The concern is valid. My interest in you would be for naught, as well, if your worries came to pass.¡± she turned to the tall Myrmid¨®n and smiled. ¡°Perhaps our Myrmid¨®n can shed some light?¡±
Atreus grunted in response, but spoke after sending a very pointed look at Cassandra and then turning back to Arthur with a narrowing of his eyes. ¡°It is a baseless concern, but forgiven due to your ignorance. The only risk lies in whether or not you attempt to fight my investigation. Should you do that, I cannot speak to the results.¡±
He shrugged his massive shoulders and then continued.
¡°If you cooperate? The most you will feel is a mild headache, and even that is unlikely. Your implied certainty in being found truthful does you credit, too. It should mean a lack of resistance, which would¡ªas stated¡ªmake the entire process smoother.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Arthur said with a careful look at the Myrmid¨®n¡¯s expression, and a steadying sip of water. He was nervous, of course, but not because of the probe per se. He simply wanted to get it all over and done with. He hadn¡¯t left his home cluster in search of answers just to lose his skills to the admittedly understandable paranoia of a mid-Rim star nation.
¡°Mm. You¡¯re not scared. That¡¯s a good start.¡± Atreus said unabashedly. ¡°You also seem to have made a good impression on both my Kidem¨®nes brothers, if their mild anxiety on your behalf is anything to go by.¡± he glanced at Endymion and Perseus, and then back to Arthur. ¡°I will be extra cautious, Knight-Errant, for the mere fact that you have so easily earned their affection.¡± Atreus smiled mirthlessly. ¡°It is a rare feat indeed to have such a quick impact.¡±
¡°I aim to please.¡± Arthur said with a flicker of amusement before the smile he managed to summon faded once more. ¡°And I am also ready, Lord Atreus.¡± he took a breath and sighed. ¡°Or as ready as I¡¯ll ever be for this sort of thing.¡±
¡°Very well.¡± Atreus said with what Arthur almost thought was veiled amusement, before he stepped forward and extended his right hand. ¡°This will be over quickly. For you.¡±
Arthur¡¯s brow furrowed in momentary wonder at the man¡¯s words, though before he could put a voice to his thoughts, he felt something akin to pressure surrounding his skull. Seeping past the surface. Digging toward his mind. His consciousness.
His instinct, initially, was to fight. In fact he started to do exactly that, until a hand on his shoulder drew his attention back to Atreus¡¯ face, now far closer.
The grip, Arthur thought idly, was quite powerful.
¡°Let me in.¡± the Myrmid¨®n instructed in a surprisingly soothing voice. ¡°If you are no foe, Arthur Magellan, then you have nothing to fear. Let me in.¡±
Arthur hesitated despite the man¡¯s words and his own resolve to do exactly that, fighting against some instinct or deeply rooted part of himself that urged¡ªno, demanded he deny such a pervasive intrusion. It was a primal urge that implored him to fight. To rail against the submission requested of him.
With an act of will, Arthur forced that internal resistance away. He suppressed it. He pushed down his need to defend himself and, in what he could only describe as a deeply unsettling act, he exposed his mind to Atreus.
The Myrmid¨®n¡¯s power entered his mind like an opened sieve.
Arthur¡¯s eyes lost focus. His muscles spasmed.
He felt a strong hand take hold of his head, and then everything faded.
Darkness offered him its embrace, and Arthur fell into it gladly.
B1 | Chapter 07: First Revelation
The day he walked into my office, I believed we had merely inherited a problem. How foolishly optimistic that was. His presence had the feel of a neutron star, condensed and silenced, and even without any talent with the Veil; I could feel his pressure. His presence. At the time, I had assumed it to be the Myrmid¨®n, yet in hindsight perhaps that was little more than wishful thinking. We had embraced a supernova, and none of us had any idea of what lay in store for us as a result.
¡°For the sake of what we must do, you cannot remember this conversation. Not until the time is right.¡±
Arthur frowned at the words of the blonde woman opposite him and watched her critically from across the table between them.
¡°I am not sure how comfortable I feel with the necessity of this cloak and dagger, Inquisitor. Even for an agent of the Throne, this is a level of paranoia I am unaccustomed to.¡±
¡°I assure you, my lord, that this request comes from the highest levels. While I understand this may be confusing, I must impress upon you the need for such drastic measures as I am suggesting.¡±
¡°You are suggesting wrapping my very psyche, memories, and sense of self into layers, Inquisitor. Layers that I have neither the recollection to identify nor the power to unravel!¡± Arthur narrowed his on her, blue eyes meeting brown, and scowled. ¡°More than that, you are asking me to flee to the middle of a backwater mid-Rim nation with no more than what I can carry, and some fabricated backstory with more holes in it than my lecherous cousin¡¯s good sense!¡±
¡°I am but the messenger, my lord Zacaris. Pendragon has ever been a loyal part of the Imperium, and your noble bloodline a treasured branch of¡ª¡±
¡°Spare me the flattery, Inquisitor. Please. It does neither of us honor to indulge in such theatrics. Instead, tell me why. Why me? Why now?¡±
¡°Because you alone are capable of doing what must be done.¡±
¡°That is not an answer.¡± Arthur said with a scowl.
¡°It is as much an answer as I can give, my lord. I must ensure that we compartmentalize things as much as possible.¡±
¡°You want to bury these secrets in sequence?¡± Arthur asked incredulously.
¡°That is the easiest way to ensure you only discover what you must, when you must.¡±
¡°This is sounding more insane by the word, Inquisitor.¡±
¡°Necessity is often married to insanity, my lord. It makes it no less important for those affected.¡±
¡°And whom is it, precisely, we are doing this for? Terra? Pendragon?¡±
¡°The Humanosphere, my lord. The entire Humanosphere.¡±
¡°I find that difficult to accept.¡± Arthur said with narrowed eyes. ¡°Especially since you are proposing a psionic castration of the very strength that I could use to help it!¡±
¡°Only temporarily.¡± Nataliya said calmly. ¡°Only until it¡¯s necessary to unleash it.¡±
¡°You need to give me more than that.¡±
¡°I cannot.¡± She said firmly.
¡°Inquisitor, if you expect me to¡ª¡± Arthur began heatedly.
¡°I cannot, my lord. I cannot take the risk of revealing too much before you are ready.¡±
¡°Throne of Terra, it cannot be that cataclysmic. You are acting as if we are all under imminent threat of destruction.¡±
¡°Not all threats are so easily quantified, my lord. Not all threats are so easily understood.¡±
Arthur growled under his breath and leaned back in his chair while folding his arms over his chest, and staring out of a nearby window in thought while his gaze roamed over the levitated spires of Camelot. The Inquisitor seemed content to let him do so, and after some five minutes of rumination he finally spoke again. ¡°How long would I have?¡±
¡°You must depart before you are inaugurated as your father¡¯s heir.¡± the Inquisitor said with her hands¡ªeach one shimmering platinum with inlaid Callandium sigils¡ªextended to him in entreaty. ¡°Before the necessity of your pursuit transcends the recapture of a wayward scion and instead becomes the rescue of a stolen inheritor.¡±
¡°That¡¯s in five days!¡± Arthur exclaimed while looking back at her.
¡°So you must leave within four, then.¡±
¡°That¡¯s madness. I couldn¡¯t possibly¡ª¡±
¡°I will see to the arrangements, my lord.¡± Nataliya said with utter confidence.
¡°You wish me to be seen as a coward.¡± he seethed. ¡°You wish to dissuade my father from any pursuit out of shame.¡±
¡°That would aid greatly in our purpose, yes.¡±
¡°Do you not realize how antithetical the very idea of flight is?! I am a Knight of the Round!¡±
¡°And the child of a concubine.¡± Nataliya pointed out without concern for the insult it paid him. ¡°One that has had to prove their worth in the eyes of everyone. This world has never been kind to you, my lord. It will happily believe you a coward, if you but give it the excuse.¡±
¡°I fought, bled, and killed to disabuse them of that notion!¡±
¡°And still they are ever-so-ready to believe you weak and incapable. You owe them nothing, my lord. You are being called to a higher purpose.¡±
¡°You are asking me to give up everything I have worked my entire life for.¡± Arthur snarled. ¡°You are asking me to lie to myself, and enable you to make me believe it!¡±
¡°I am.¡± She said resolutely.
¡°I am the rightful heir to House Zacaris! I am the progeny of an inviolate bloodline!¡±
¡°And before that,¡± the Inquisitor reminded him, ¡°You are a son of Terra.¡±
Arthur opened his mouth, closed it, and then let out a ¡®tch¡¯ at her response, his gaze upon the spires resumed with a renewed frown of brooding skepticism.
¡°Let¡¯s say I do agree. What manner of impact would I have with none of my skills available to me? You intend on armoring me in ignorance and lies, and sending me to a backwater hole of civilization with no more than the clothes on my back¡ªclothes that, frankly, are an insult to my lineage! You must tell me something, Inquisitor.¡±
¡°Your body will remember what your mind does not.¡± Nataliya assured him. ¡°And that will be enough to ensure your survival until your memories properly awaken.¡±
¡°How delightfully unhelpful.¡± Arthur said snidely. ¡°And still you give no answers!¡±
¡°The answers must come when you are ready to receive them.¡± the Inquisitor replied. ¡°Telling you now would be inviting disaster, if not outright sabotaging your chance at survival.¡±
¡°Your continued abeyance from specificity does not inspire confidence, Inquisitor.¡±
¡°I understand, my lord. Truly I do. This is, however, the nature of the calling. Your calling.¡± her tone hardened as she said it. ¡°Terra summons you to serve, Lord Zacaris. Will you answer?¡±
Arthur stared at the spires for another long and ponderous minute as a thousand different reasons to tell the Inquisitor, powerful and indomitable as she was, to go to the deepest void of the frontier rolled through his mind. A dozen different ideas for escape, up to and including summoning other Knights of the Round roiled through his mind.
A coward, his father had often called him. A son of a whore with no spine. A bastard absent the drive, the passion, or the will to succeed. Arthur had proved him wrong with blade and machine both, and devastated those sent to crush him.
He had won his laurels, his rights, and his recognition at the edge of his sword. He had been fighting hatred since his birth. Even his name, Arthur, had been a mockery¡ªthat was why they had paired it with his middle name.
The traitor. The abomination. The fiend.
Arthur sighed, and closed his eyes to listen.
To listen to his father¡¯s voice, claiming he was a coward with no resolve.
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To listen to his grandfather before him, mocking his abysmal Callandium capacity.
Arthur let out a low, resigned breath in surrender and forced himself to be calm.
None of them would ever imagine him capable of what Nataliya asked of him.
Arthur¡¯s eyes opened, and he locked his gaze on the Inquisitor¡¯s own.
¡°Yes, Inquisitor.¡± he said at last. ¡°I, Arthur Mordred Zacaris, will answer the call.¡±
Arthur¡¯s mind returned to him slowly. It grew from a spark of awareness of self into a slow and consistent ember, which continued to gather momentum and strength from there.
Distantly he felt as if he could hear voices, though in his mental fugue all he could parse was vague intonations and the implication of urgency from the unclear nature of tense intonations.
¡°...risks are¡ªfind out about¡ªkeep it to ourselves¡ªwrath on us all¡ª...¡±
¡°...cannot tell¡ªwe investigate further¡ªthe interim¡ªenough caution for belief¡ª¡±
A low groan escaped Arthur¡¯s lips when the ember of awareness erupted into a blaze of cognizance, and he felt his mind snap back into equilibrium.
And with it, the awareness of Arthur Zacaris once more.
His true self. His true mind.
Information, awareness, and knowledge hammered into his consciousness with the thunder of an avalanche. The half-heard and distorted words of those around him faded to nothingness under the deluge, and Arthur snapped back to consciousness with a sharp intake of air, and a surge of shock.
The Inquisitor had erased him. She had replaced everything he was with a fabrication, one designed to obfuscate and perfectly suppress everything he knew to be true. She had deleted him. She had removed him as if he¡¯d never been. It was perverse. It was infuriating.
It was existentially terrifying.
Worse, he had agreed to it.
Arthur felt his heart race while memories long forgotten surged to the fore of his mind, escaping from where they had been buried beneath layers of psionic power. His entire life in Aurelia was a lie. The information would pass any manner of investigation, because Nataliya Verchenko was nothing if not thorough like all her ilk, but he¡¯d never truly existed there. He had never lived there. He had never even visited Aurelia, really.
Arthur Magellan was a complete fabrication.
He was Arthur Mordred Zacaris, of Pendragon.
He was the most lethal Knight of the Round Table.
He was a Coreblood of the most celebrated lines, bred in pursuit of perfection.
Another moment of thought crashed into him, and he shuddered while reaching up to grip his head. He remembered more. He remembered his staggeringly low Callandium compatibility. He remembered his father¡¯s disappointment. He remembered the mockery, the vitriol, and the shame over an accident of birth he could no more have controlled than he could have willed a star to die.
More than anything else, he remembered himself and was able to view that remembered self more objectively. With only the limited insights into himself, and with the false but still existent medium of Arthur Magellan, he realized something quite immediately.
Arthur Zacaris had been disturbingly self-entitled and arrogant. The very idea of it unsettled and disquieted him. For all that he knew it was who he had been and perhaps even still was under it all, he wanted nothing to do with that particular element of his memory.
He¡¯d come to have respect for Graecia, for Aurelia, for the struggles and realities of the outer sectors and their people. He momentarily wondered if perhaps that had been Nataliya¡¯s plan, but the truth was that he had no context with which to weigh it. He recalled himself, yes, but so too was so much still missing.
For a start, he had no recollection of how to recreate technology before the Fringe. He remembered using the technology, but the same way a man might remember using a sword he had no part in forging. He knew what it felt like, what its strength was, and how to wield it¡ªbut he could no more rebuild those weapons and drives than he could sprout wings and fly.
Additional to this was the fact that, in truth, Arthur Zacaris had been a bitter and cruel man. Forged by his environment perhaps, and created through a series of horrible and abusive events that had¡ªto what little recollection Arthur had¡ªshaped him into the selfish, arrogant, and fundamentally spiteful creature he¡¯d experienced in the memory. He could empathize with Arthur Zacaris, but in that moment, he came to an immediate realization.
He had no desire to become him again.
At least not in the way he remembered.
¡°He¡¯s waking up!¡± a familiar male voice warned.
Arthur¡¯s eyes opened and he looked up with a sharp gaze to see Cassandra watching him with an impassive and focused expression, her gray eyes drilling into him with searching intensity.
Atreus flanked her to her left, and both Endymion and Perseus had joined her to the right with their visored helmets turned toward him in silence.
Cassandra¡¯s expression softened when his eyes met hers, and she spoke in a perfectly calm and controlled manner.
¡°Welcome back, Kyrio Magellan. The impact of Lord Atreus¡¯ investigation seems to have taken a toll on you. How do you feel?¡±
¡°More myself.¡± Arthur answered with a small slur. His accent had even been changed, and he felt his remembering mind fighting with false muscle memory to build words in a way he was no longer used to.
¡°Are you sure you are quite alright?¡± Cassandra asked carefully.
¡°I¡ªI will be.¡± Arthur said while still attempting to master his rebellious tongue. ¡°May I ask what happened?¡±
¡°Your psyche collapsed under the strain of the probe.¡± Cassandra answered while Atreus watched on. Clearly she was the ¡®designated speaker¡¯ in the present case. ¡°Lord Atreus has assured me that you will be back to your normal, healthy self in a matter of minutes.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Arthur said carefully, while forcing his tongue to cooperate and quietly reaching out to sip the glass of water still left on the coaster. Much of its perspiration was gone, due to the length of time it had sat idle, and from that he could gauge that he had been unconscious for more than the perceived few minutes of the flashback. ¡°How long have I been insensate?¡± He asked slowly.
¡°Two hours.¡± Cassandra answered with an appraising look. ¡°Though I¡¯m told that¡¯s not unheard of. It seems your psions simply disliked the stimulation that Lord Atreus enacted upon them through contact with your mind.¡±
¡°I¡ don¡¯t really understand what that means,¡± Arthur admitted with the same deliberate speech, ¡°but I¡¯m going to optimistically hope it¡¯s irrelevant to me.¡±
¡°As far as I understand it, it is.¡± Cassandra said with a wry smile.
Arthur grunted when a small lance of pressure passed through his mind, and lowered his palms to compress his upper neck and the back of his head while slowly rolling both hands from side to side. The memories in his mind were like blades, each stabbing at his brain in a manner he found exhausting.
It took him almost a full minute before he spoke, and to their credit nobody seemed interested in rushing him.
¡°Did you find what you were looking for to satisfy your concerns?¡± Arthur asked carefully, and while looking up at Atreus specifically.
¡°In every way that matters.¡± the Myrmid¨®n confirmed coolly. ¡°Though there are extenuating factors we must discuss.¡±
Arthur grimaced and blinked against the pain in his head, and then nodded his assent. He wasn¡¯t surprised by the statement. He¡¯d suspected something would come of the probe, though he was hoping it wasn¡¯t a revelation of his true origins. Something told him that Nataliya would have planned for that much.
And from what he could recall of Nataliya Verchenko, she was incredibly powerful.
¡°I am all ears, my lord.¡± Arthur murmured with a grimace of pain.
¡°All Eidolon pilots possess psionic talent to some capacity, which is what allows them the prescience, spatial awareness, and almost supernatural reaction times required to be combat effective in what would otherwise be very expensive prostheses.¡± Atreus said without taking his eyes off Arthur. ¡°Though this is hardly news to you given your status among their number, what is surprising is that while your testing records results show you at a Callandium compatibility of forty-two percent; my delve revealed an oddity with your psion levels.¡±
¡°Please enlighten me...¡± Arthur said while massaging his temples gingerly.
¡°Your psion density is, frankly, factors larger to the point that I¡¯d suspect it of being false, no matter the fact it¡¯s impossible to falsify.¡± Atreus said with focused intensity. ¡°I¡¯ve seen high numbers, but this is beyond the pail. You don¡¯t have the highest ever recorded in Hyperion, but you¡¯re in the top twenty at least.¡±
¡°Well, I suppose there are worse things to hear.¡± Arthur muttered with a slow roll of his neck and another grimace of pain. ¡°Though with my lack of Callandium compatibility, I¡¯m hardly about to start crushing buildings.¡±
¡°Your psion density is irrelevant in the larger scale, because you cannot handle the Callandium required to catalyze them safely. Yes.¡± Atreus agreed tersely. ¡°However, it does mean your reflexes, spatial awareness, and neural bandwidth ratings are likely all rated higher than almost any operator in Graecia¡ªto say nothing of your passive ability to inspire comfort, familiarity, and even loyalty in others, as you did unwittingly with my Kidem¨®nes brothers.¡±
The last part of course was enough to give him pause. It was not as if he¡¯d actively manipulated either Endymion or Perseus, but the simple reality was that someone with psions as dense as Atreus claimed his were could make even the most well-trained mind bend and yield toward disproportionate magnetism. Humanity had often wondered as to what charisma truly was, and in psions, they had found their answer.
People with high psion density were essentially magnets for positive interaction.
The only redemption for such effects was that they could not control them at all.
¡°You were not honest with us, Arthur.¡± Atreus continued heedless of his internal thoughts. ¡°You are not merely an Eidolon pilot.¡±
Arthur eyed Atreus carefully, but said nothing. He waited to see what the Myrmid¨®n believed was the truth.
¡°You were an Aurelian Champion, weren¡¯t you?¡±
Had his true memories been revealed to the Myrmid¨®n, then the questions Atreus was asking would have been far more probing and far less courteous, but that was not the case. The tall spartan was rolling with the only logical assumption which the identity of Arthur Magellan allowed: that Arthur was a member, either retired or deserting, of the Aurelian Star Kingdom¡¯s elite Eidolon operators.
It was not too far from the truth, though if he revealed the whole truth he had a feeling he¡¯d give the Graecian soldiers in the room apoplexy.
Aurelia might have been distant and powerful, but being from the Fringe power¡¯s elite was at least something they could logically accept.
Being a Knight of Albion?
Not just that, but a Knight of the Round Table?
He might as well have said he was Achilles reborn.