Arthros
Psychosomatic Output: Bio-Units
Synaptic Rank: Unbound
The throne room became so quiet Arthros could hear the individual beat of his heart. The ghost of a smile touched his lips, they couldn’t be serious. He gnced at his companion, her tight lipped frown made his jaw go sck. They couldn't be serious, the Storm couldn't be crossed.
“That’s impossible.”
The high table was silent, some looked grim, while others seemed disappointed.
“Are you saying the invader came from the Storm?”
The Admiral sighed, “it’s the most likely expnation, the breach happened almost exactly in the same spot the scout ship was destroyed. We would have been alerted had they crossed the perimeter anywhere else. Even if they had managed to slip through undetected, they would have been spotted long before reaching the breach point.”
The Sovereignty had been trying to navigate the Storm long before he was born, before the crusade, before the colonization of the moons. The smile returned, an uncharacteristic smirk. The fact that another civilization managed to traverse the impenetrable phenomenon must be driving them insane. Still, it just couldn’t be possible.
“You all sound insane, but I’ll py along. If this so-called invader did manage to cross, who are they? My concern isn’t their tech, it’s the fact they killed two of our pilots.”
Again, the high table muttered together, disgruntled whispers and mumbled curses. Most likely debating sharing more information, especially to him.
“We don’t know,” The middle one said finally.
Judging by the dejected tone of his voice, he was telling the truth.
“Well, you must have some sort of idea,” Arthros said, hairless eyebrows raising. “What good are the scouts you send beyond the territories if you don’t get any information.”
The Admiral hissed a warning, and a few Governors gasped. He tried not to roll his eyes.
“You forget your pce, Commander, you know the rules, no one is allowed beyond Dromedar. Our information comes from foreign interrogation alone.”
Arthros scoffed, “The time for these sorts of games is over, two pilots are dead, their HWNDs obliterated. Our hold on this star system is slipping.” He gred at them and ignored the Admiral’s sharp jab into his ribs, “It’s a stupid rule anyways, we should know what’s going on out there, that’s called gathering good intel.”
The high table erupted into more grumbling whispers, and the Governor addressing them sputtered in outrage. Only a few words articuted well enough for Arthros to understand. Insubordinate and arrogant among others. He ignored them and the Admiral’s enraged hissing in his ear. He just stood, waiting patiently for it to subside so he could get more answers.
He sensed he was nearing their breaking point, if he pushed it any further maybe then he would face real consequences. A lifetime of boundary pushing made him quite good at sensing when to stop.
“We have a few ideas,” The Governor said finally, “There have been… concerning rumors.”
Arthros waited expectantly, they seemed hesitant to continue. Another elbow jabbed into his ribs, hard enough to elicit a response. He shot a withering gre at her and cleared his throat.
“Forgive me Governors, I’m just passionate about protecting Dromedary. It’s what I was made to do.”
The lead sniffed and narrowed his eyes, “So you’ve said every other time you stood before us. Records of your insubordination show the same phrase being used there as well.”
They memorized his file? He grit his teeth and bowed his head, thinking about his conversation with Zludikai, about his team, about Jericho. Just behave and you’ll live long enough to ensure the survival of others.
“Because it is the only excuse I have for my behavior, I act with Dromedar’s best interests in mind.”
“Yes.” The lead said coolly, “It is time you start acting with The Sovereignty's best interests.”
The Sovereignty is in Dromedar, is it not you narcissistic idiot? You don’t control me!
“I agree Governor, please give me a chance to prove to you that I can. Meanwhile, any additional information on this invader would be greatly appreciated.” He shot a look at Zludikai, “Right Admiral?”
“Absolutely, the Navy needs all the intel we can get in order to combat this threat with minimal losses.”
He wanted to hit her. she spoke to them with such ease. As if communicating with this wretched fungus was no big deal. She would do well living up here.
The Governor’s lips twisted into a smirk, a strange sight given his sputtering outrage not thirty seconds earlier. “We might be able to work out a deal.”
A deal? They want to barter information with service, we’re on the same team morons!
Zludikai didn’t falter, “Of course, we are here to serve.”
“We sent a convoy to an outpost anchored just beyond Relocun's orbit. The savages were foolish enough to attack. They destroyed every ship in the convoy except one.”
“You want me to retaliate.” Arthros said ftly, a relocun raid was a little below his paygrade.
“No,” the Governor said, his smirk ripening. “Admiral Zydoss led an orbital bombardment, a little overkill but it seemed to have done the trick.”
A little overkill? That would have required the repositioning of the entire fleet. There weren’t enough warships left for that maneuver, and for what, genocide? One gnce at the sour look on Zludikai’s face told him she felt the same.
“What do you need from me then?”
“The convoy needs an escort.”
He widened his eyes. They wanted him to run escort, like some cadet fresh out of simution. Rage bubbled and the spines on his body quivered. They were trying to humiliate him.
“We know a pilot of your caliber holds quite a high rank among within the Navy, but the merchant captain has requested someone qualified. There is no one more qualified than you.”
Arthros said nothing, his fists clenched, and his spines threatened to explode like needles in a pin cushion. He had more important things to do, his team needed him, Jericho needed him.
“Run this mission, and we’ll release every report our scouts have given us that might pertain to our mystery intruder.”
He took one big breath, enough to calm himself so the foul string of obscenities didn’t escape his tongue. “Whatever the Sovereignty needs.”
“Excellent.”
Whatever else was said didn’t register. His anger blinded him, and his pulse filled his ears. In what world did it make sense to withhold valuable information, and for what? All to save face? Anything to make them feel better about themselves. To hell with the entire pnet.
“Arthros, are you listening to me?”
He jerked to reality; they were walking out in the street. The cathedral far behind them.
“No, what were you saying.”
“That I’m proud of you.”
He snorted, the sentiment did little to smooth his frustration. “I should have cut his head off.”
“Then we would be left with nothing.”
He sighed and lifted his face. The upper yer was filled with sunlight, the air was the perfect temperature. Yet all was eerily quiet, it felt wrong. Where were all the animals? Oh right, driven to extinction.
“You really believe they crossed the Storm?”
She sighed, “I didn’t want to believe it, but it’s truly the only expnation. They had the tech to annihite two HWNDs, three days ago I would have said that was impossible.”
He grunted, she was right on that. HWNDs were supposed to be invincible. That belief alone did most of the heavy lifting in terms of peace keeping. Could they afford for the Relocuns to discover HWNDs could be destroyed? Or the Union? It would be a disaster.
“That human you mentioned before, Cyprus Atik? A few moments before I ran into you, I received a transmission from one of our patrols. They reported a Union ship anchored in Relocun orbit. The official introduced themselves by the same name.”
“Let me guess, she was standoffish and refused to eborate on her reasoning for being there.”
The Admiral chuckled, “it really pissed Wraitharos off. He’s suspicious of course, but it could be a humanitarian mission.”
“Or it could be something else.”
They both walked silently for a few moments, each of them sharing the same thought. If the Union did pn to join Relocun in their fight against them, could they hold them off? They were probably the only two people in the entire star system that knew the truth about Hokku.
“She could still be there when you escort the convoy.” She suggested.
He gave her a look, “You think she’ll partake in a Relocun ambush?”
Zludikai raised her hands defensively, “I’m just telling you to keep your eyes open. If the Union is up to something, it’s best we figure that out before it’s too te.”
The st thing he wanted to do was escort that convoy.
***
Arthros found Randrea and Graito walking together down one of the corridors in the Dormitory. He stopped them and they questioned him on his disappearance. He quickly expined the meeting with the High table, and the mockery of a mission they were sending him on. Randrea and Graito both hid a smile.
“You’re in charge of Jericho’s training. As soon as he wakes up have him try the crown again. Keep going until he can stand up.”
“and if he can’t?”
“Have him keep trying.”
She gnced at Graito, “I mean if he can’t. Do you want me to take it off.”
For a moment he stared at her, the very thought of removing the crown to save his life seemed perverse. A sp in the face of the integrity of HWND training, and yet he had done it. He couldn’t keep it up, eventually Jericho would have to do it on his own, or he would die. That was the nature of the HWND program, it was how they weeded out the weak.
“Don’t intervene,” he said quietly. At least he wouldn’t be here to watch him die. “Find the twins, and Fydither, have them suit up and meet me in the hangar, I’m not doing this fool’s errand alone.”
They saluted and hurried off. Arthros swore under his breath and marched in the direction of the hangar. At least he had an excuse to pilot his HWND.
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