A/N1: This is it!
A/N2: Abbreviations
IRC – Interim Route Channel
IGN – Inter Galactic Network
IPRC – Inter Planetary Research Commission
UCP – Universal Central Parliament
C.D. – Cosmic Date
Ώ - The Omegas (supernatural beings with limitless power over space time continuum).
Disclaimer: This story is based on the online game and the development of the 3rd Universe with its alliances, wars and real time players but the words are my own.
Chapter One
3rd Universe, Galaxy Quadruple, Sector Alpha 01, Planet Soras – Home World of Avi C.D. Jun 1st 2100
The intense heat of the two suns around which Soras was orbiting was turning the surface in mostly volcanic wasteland with few isolated areas where the vegetation was good for cultivating but this is not what Soras was famous for.
Planet Soras, the forth planet of Sector Alpha 01, home of Tsar Avius or Avi for short, was home for a very rare substance known as magnus delitia, which is used in the production of ships, space faring ships. It is found in the depths of the oceans. Yes, there are oceans although most of them are called the Boilers. Why you could ask? Well because they are boiling, this is uncommon on most worlds throughout the universe. But let's get back on the substance. Magnus Delitia's cost on the universe markets is so great traders would kill to have it. And that's why, not long ago; Tsar Avius entered the alliance BUL and although they are a fairly new alliance, which strength has been growing faster than any other alliance in the universe.
This day, which is Moon's day, Tsar Avius has invited his fellow members to Soras to celebrate their new bonding. The celebration was going to take place in the Tsar's castle, a building constructed primarily of fossils (sounds strange isn't it?) but the fossils are remains of gigantic animals that once inhabited Soras. And to be blunt no one actually knows when these animals have existed or how given the boiling temperatures of the planet but scientists believe that at some point Soras was quiet more hospitable. But this is not all.
In the awaiting of the members of BUL, the tsar was inspecting the castle that was decorated in the traditional alliance way thus showing respect for his new friends. The BUL ways, as far as we know, express the honoring of their supreme god – Tangra (the sky god) by interesting rituals, one of which involves the sacrifice of a goat (however in now our days some of these rituals have changed).
The concubines of the Tsar, pearls of the kingdom, will also be part of the main course of today's celebration, as they will perform for the guests an exotic and rare dance, which is known as Fire Blood.
Now to give some information regarding the castle's history and rituals, which are also interesting. The castle of the tsar is situated on Mount Celia on the northern hemisphere of Soras. It is believed it was built by the first colonizers of the planet some thousands of years ago. As mentioned above the castle was built out of fossils of long extinct animals, which gives it an odd look to all visitors. But it is incredible building technique that combines the scary look of the fossils and the ingenuity of the builders of that time.
Since the first builders and logically the first rulers of Soras, it is customary to present the ruler with a gift. One part of the gift should be a donation to castle's ground, which is a fossil to be added to the foundations of the castle (thus it makes you understand why the castle is primarily built of fossils and also it gives you an idea about the diversity of the castle's structure). It is interesting to know that the castle is a home for over thousands of different fossils coming not only from Soras but also from other worlds thus making it a living book of history. The other part of the gift should be a seed of the most beautiful tree of the visitor's home world. Why you may ask? Well simply put since Soras is almost incapable of sustaining any flora it became a home or more like a garden for a great diversity of other flora's specimens of other worlds. But the tree gift is primarily given in sign of good faith and collaboration.
On religious ground the tree gift is symbol of the bonding between different cultures, as it is believed that the great gods created on Mount Celia a place, a holly place where all trees in the universe could grow in peace. And it is interesting to know that the trees of all those who have later turned to be enemies of the rulers of Soras have withered and died. As always scientists say that the land is just more fertile than on any world.
The tsar has been just informed that his guests were beginning to arrive. Planetary sensors have detected the opening of multiple hyperspace windows and the emerging of the delegation ships, mostly Battleships bearing the insignia of the BUL Alliance.
Tsar Avius and the welcoming party have taken place on the landing platform just outside the castle. Soon the sky was filled with the noise of eleven shuttles making their descent.
The first shuttle belonged to the first leader of the alliance, Spister. He is said to rule over nine majestic planets in Sectors Gamma 07 – Prime Galaxy, Beta 09 – Galaxy Second, Epsilon 04 and Omega 10 – Galaxy Tertiary. Then followed the shuttles of Bionix, a lord of the outer rims of Prime Galaxy, mostly known for genetic research; The Devil, a lord of Interim Sectors controlling vast trading fleets and some questionable businesses; GHS of the high council of BUL, mostly known as the land lord of Matari Prime; Absent of the high council of BUL, also known as Space Ghost – for his strange ways; Cheffo from the Space rings of Baltima Prime; Drizzt – the second leader of BUL, mostly known for defeating a major lord of the Tiv Alliance; Voinski, lord of Dead Space in the outer rims of Galaxy Prime; Plamen Petrov, possessing superior fleets in Galaxy Prime; Lord Dune, from planet Arrakis at the edges of Galaxy Tertiary and Lord Heaven, knight of the Black Rose, also from the edges of Galaxy Tertiary, lord of the mysterious Black Planet.
The tsar greeted his guests one by one. Then they were taken to the castle with the Panorama shuttles; class Falcon, small but elegant shuttlecrafts. The trip to the castle was rather short but the guests had the opportunity of sighting. They passed by the fire chasms of Doom, a natural geyser of hot vapor coming from the depths of the planet. As history of the planet recalls some of the death sentences included dropping criminals into the Doom.
Mount Celia was resting on the Vapor Mountains in a volcanic area. But the builders of the old days have created a sophisticated network of roads passing through many bridges, some of which were cut inside the solid volcanic rock. But the greatest surprise awaiting the visitors was the castle city on the mount Celia and as it was called Spear of Heaven.
By the design of the ancient builders the Spear was constructed on five levels, each of which was hewed out in the hill and enclosed by a wall with a wide gate. But the gates were not facing each other: The first gate of the town wall was facing East, the next was looking on the South, the third – North, the forth – West and the last was back on the East, so the paved way was zigzagging on the slope of the hill. And every time the road was passing through one of the Great gates, the road was going through a vaulted tunnel, piercing the enormous rock ridge, which titanic mass was cutting in two every ring of the town except the first.
The tsar's castle was erected on the fifth level surrounded by a large and highly fortified moat. The castle gates were reachable only through a narrow bridge that was lowered on the moat. But that was not all. For the purposes of planetary defense or more precisely the castle defenses, the castle was surrounded with a thin wall line from which the defense shield is erected. Also near the pikes of the castles were placed mighty defense gunnery such as the deadly plasma turrets and gauss cannons.
The entrance of the castle, as the guests could notice, was all in polished volcanic mineral. The walls were decorated with ornaments dating back a thousand years and bucklers, shields and clubs. After crossing a narrow passage, the guests arrived in the hall, a spacious space where were placed a long wooden table with highly armed leathered chairs, as the Sorarian people were normally above six feet eight, and some smaller tables where the servants and the concubines usually occupy until called.
The castle's guards, which were standing alongside the red yellow carpet, had most interesting attire. They were donned with dark red leather shirts embroidered with the insignia of kingdom on the left side of the chest. They were also wearing yellow or more close to orange trousers with tassels of the skin of a cat. On their heads they were wearing black helmets with a cattail falling from behind. And also the guards were holding in upright position on their chests red painted heavy blaster riffles.
"Please, have a sit." – Tsar Avius gestured.
The guests sat on the table and instantly the servants appeared. They were bringing the overture of the royal banquet – the famous Fire Wine, which literally is a burning and flamy liquid. It tastes like a whisky with red-hot chilly peppers and a bittersweet wine. The Fire wine is usually served into wooden goblets with incrusted emblems of the Fire God – Chaos-in.
Naturally, the guests approached the drink with caution, because it did not carry its name for nothing. They took a sip and momentarily on most of them the effect was eminent. The colors of the rainbow started changing on their faces. The only ones unaffected were Lord Dune of Arrakis, Drizzt and Lordheaven, perhaps due to the certain similarities of the national drinks on their home worlds.
"Excellent drink." – Lord Heaven exclaimed. "A real treasure."
"Indeed." – Drizzt agreed.
"I'm pleased to hear it then I guess we could continue." – Tsar Avius said snapping his fingers thus alerting his servants.
The servants immediately disappeared but soon came back with some dishes bearing appetizers and elder juice (for those unable to continue with the fire wine). The appetizers were more or less lacteous bits, like cheese or sort of taken from the only animal resembling the Earth cow – the Gurgle Horse, powdered with a hot root of Asphaltira, which is one of the trees growing on the castle grounds, bearing a strange resemblance with ail in a tree form.
Hopefully, everyone enjoyed the appetizers and while eating the guests inquired about the traditions and habits on Soras. Tsar Avius was most pleased to satisfy this request. The Devil was most interested into the ways of production of the fire wine and some other drinks and foods cause as it is well known he is quite the marketer. Lord Dune was interested mostly in all kinds of spices while Lordheaven was interested in almost everything including the history of Soras and the first colonizers. Voinski expressed interest in the area of minerals and natural resources; GHS was interested in the immediate area of space, especially asteroid fields. The others had variable inquires about vegetation, moisture areas like swamps and fens and techniques in handling them, energy production given that Soras was orbiting two suns, biogenic research and etc.
With the questions and answers over, the main course was served. It was composed of national dishes like Panned Cirba, which is a bird as big as an eagle and even bigger, soufflé with jolted jonquil in a fire sauce (prepared from the roots of Mandrageda, which bares taste similarities with Mandragora; ocean salt, which is quite bitter; sorrel and mayonnaise), lettuce salad with maize and cornflakes, Dreal bites (the Dreal is an animal who has no equivalent on Earth or any other place but its meat tastes somewhat like chicken and hare, more or less) and others. Then it came to desert – snowballs, a cream like dish.
When the guests had finished the tsar led them to the throne hall, which was deeper into the castle and on the middle level. The first impression anyone gets while entering it is that he is in a furnace, not only because it is hot inside but also because its walls were in amazing shade of red orange representing the element of fire. The floor was covered with carpets and as tradition dictates no one enters in the throne hall with his shoes on. The experience of touching was indescribable given the soft mossy nature of the carpets. Scattered across the hall were small cozy cushions while the throne itself, which was slightly elevated, was positioned in the middle of the hall.
The guests sat on the cushions and were immediately served cocktails with strange translucent orange liquor. Then Avi clapped his hands and the light within the hall was diminished to semi-darkness. Strangely enough the guests had the impression that the walls had come to life. They also thought noticing several figures into the fire and as it came to be it was no mere illusion.
Tones of the surreal music filled the hall. It seemed they resembled the soft and tender voice of the harp with a touch of an unknown instrument, which was creating a nice but warm background of overflowing tones in A, C and G minor, and also the sound of a very subtle but distinct Arabic-type guitar, and also the distinct background of a kettle drum and possibly a tambour of some kind. The melody was shifting slightly here and there as it was in synchrony with a vivid fire.
Five lissome, slender and elegant figures emerged from the playful fire. They were dressed mono bikini style. Their bodies were oiled and shining playfully on the fiery background. They were the tsar's concubines, the pearls of the kingdom.
The concubines' bodies were bending and twisting in such perfect harmony with the music, as they were one with it. Their hands were moving slowly in the air performing slight wave octagon like movement and then crossing playfully across their breasts and touching gently down there oiled bodies. Their eyes, oh their eyes were shining like embers in the more and more darkening room. They were moving across the hall passing by each guest, playfully caressing them on the cheek and twisting their bodies around them like ropes.
The rhythm then changed more to allegro and vivace style. The women's movements became more erratic, quick but also much more playful, as they removed the only piece of cloth they had. You could say they became hungrier for flesh and much hornier. The blood in our guests 'veins was already boiling in desire and primal lust. But the rhythm was the thing that was driving them crazier and bolder.
The women started playing with their bodies in such erotic and almost perverse way that none of the guests could resist. Watching was becoming an agony of the internal animal desire and lust. The fire in the walls was becoming more and more intense, as representing what was happening with the guests on the inside. It was nearing a state of total loss of self-control, nearing an explosion.
As the hall became more illuminated the dance was getting faster and faster. The movements were melting into one another in beautiful figures. And then in one instant the dance was over. The women were gathered around their tsar surrounding him like a flower. The guests were applauding them hearty and passionately.
"Thank you, girls." – Tsar Avi said. "Now to business gentlemen."
"That was extraordinary." – Spister said.
"Indeed." – Bionix agreed.
"Yes, the entertainment was superb but we have come here to discuss serious matters." – Drizzt announced.
"Right." – Spister agreed. "Now, the truth is that we are gaining serious position in this universe. Our strength is growing."
"Yes, and with that we are also gaining powerful enemies." – Drizzt added.
"So we have to decide what our policies will be like and whether or not we should seek alliances with others or continue on our own." – Absent said.
"This is nice but it seems it would be more like talks than decision making." – Lord Heaven inserted. "Given that the whole of the alliance is not present here."
"Yes, more or less." – Drizzt agreed.
"Now as you all know we are holding front line positions in the UCP thanks to Absent, Voinski, the Godfather and the Devil." – Spister said. "And to maintain our influence over the systems we have to strengthen our positions throughout the universe. Now we have strong influence in Galaxies Prime and Second but in Tertiary and Quadruple we are not as strong."
"Guess why?" – Lord Heaven said sarcastically.
"Too many Tivs and Packs." – Lord Dune replied.
"Right. My point is that you guys should increase the seriousness of our policy in those regions." – Spister said.
"Easy said than done." – Lord Heaven observed.
"It ain't easy for any of us but we are doing our best nonetheless." – Spister spat.
"No need to get cheeky or snappy. I'm just stating a fact." – Lord Heaven replied harshly.
"Wow, you two, come down." – Drizzt intervened. "We should not fight among each other."
"Drizzt is right. Come on guys." – Cheffo said.
Lord Heaven sneered at the remark and looked with flashes in his eyes at Spister but said nothing. Drizzt had always managed to control the situation before it escalates beyond control.
"Now. As you are all aware our war with the Polish Union (PU) is not going so well although they have many members that are not as strong as most of us their numbers are still greater than ours." – Drizzt said.
"This proves the point that we need more allies so to strengthen our position." – Tsar Avi inserted.
"But this would not happen while our precious leader Spister-baby is always against, aren't you?" – Lord Heaven said harshly.
"Yes, and I have a good reason for that." – Spister shot.
"Which none is capable of understanding?" – Lord Heaven added.
"Take PU for example. We are at war with them. And two days after the declaration they proposed an alliance afraid for their skins." – Spister replied.
"So what is the problem with that?" – Lord Heaven shot. "We all make mistakes."
"Yeah right." – Spister snapped mockingly.
"But what you are talking about is exactly the opposite, you moron. And I'm saying that there is nothing bad in considering and in making an alliance." – Lord Heaven snapped.
"Who is the moron?" – Spister spat. "We cannot trust anyone enough to form a lasting alliance if they change their opinion every two days."
"We can't trust anyone because we are not even trying. For the example you are speaking before they declared war we had a non-aggressive agreement, which you broke. Then their leaders acted on impulse and on your persuasion, and logically soon they realized their mistake and wanted to correct it. But it was too late because of your incompetence." – Lord Heaven snapped back.
"Mine? How dare you?" – Spister shot angrily.
"Would you two stop?" – Drizzt raised his voice. "We have bigger issues to address here than your little squabble. Spister, Lordheaven control yourselves. There is no point in squabbling."
"Indeed." – The Devil said. "Besides this could only serve our enemies. We all have problems and we all find a way to deal with them. So Lord Heaven, stop sniveling."
"Sniveling?" – Lord Heaven's jaw dropped in surprise.
"Yes, if you can't handle it maybe it is time for you to find someone within your empire who can." – The Devil emphasized.
"Oh, I see. You are all getting again united against me."
"Enough." – Drizzt's voice thundered in the hall. "Lord Heaven shut it, Devil, Spister you too."
"Fine." – They both shot angrily looking each other with animosity.
"Spister is right about one thing." – Drizzt began. "We have to strengthen our position in Galaxies Tertiary and Quadruple. The other major alliances have moved in those sectors of the universe so to escape us. As Lord Dune informed us, there is a strong presence of members of Tiv, Pack and Wing303."
"It is good to mention also that recently we learned that Tiv and Pack have formed an alliance." – Absent added.
"Yes, it is not yet official but soon they will announce it publicly." – Bionix informed.
"This would shift the balance of power in the universe." – Drizzt said. "And given that we are at war with PU and our policy towards Tiv and Pack is anything but friendly it would present a significant danger for our alliance."
"We can handle them all." – Absent said with confidence.
"Some of us maybe but not all of us." – Drizzt inserted. "We need the entire strength of our alliance to withstand them should they choose to act together."
"This is highly unlikely." – Bionix added.
"Nonetheless Drizzt is right." – GHS concluded. "We could move some of our operations in those areas where there is strong enemy presence and …"
"Who cares who is right and who is wrong?" – Lord Heaven cut him off. "There is only one truth and no matter you say it will never change. Only a fool would assume that he could control an entire universe. The very proverb written under our banner says it all "The union makes the force". You want to conquer the universe – well then there is only one way and that way is through union. Sooner or later we'll have to ally ourselves with others in order to survive no matter how much some of you disagree. I may not be the strongest or the smartest among this alliance but I know this – a time will come when we'll have to choose from the right way and the easy way. And when this time comes - hmm – you'll see how right I was."
"Maybe." – Drizzt concluded. "But until this time let us please concentrate on our current problems."
"Basta! Deal with them without me! Not that you ever needed Me." – Lord Heaven shot while getting up. "But you have my support – for NOW. Good-bye!"
Lord Heaven left them and went straight back to his shuttle, which departed shortly after. His fleet spread, opened a hyperspace window and disappeared in the depths of the cosmos.
"Well, at least no more sniveling." – Spister snorted.
"This was unexpected." – Drizzt sighed.
"Don't worry; I'll communicate our decision to him." – Tsar Avi assured.
"Ok. With this settled let's hear some propositions as to what you're going to do." – Drizzt called.
"I'll see to moving some of my resources to Tertiary, Gamma sector." – Absent said. "And concentrate on intimidating Aleph."
"Good point. He has become a problem." – Plamen said. "I'll concentrate on diminishing some of Pack's influence in sectors Beta and Delta."
"Excellent. Lord Dune, it would be good if you could provide us with intelligence for those sectors." – Drizzt said.
"Consider it done. I shall transmit the information through IRC." – Lord Dune affirmed.
"Avi, you will ask Lordheaven to do the same for his sectors."
"I will." – Avi said. "And I'll provide you with intelligence for the areas around me."
"Good. All that is left is one small disturbance. Absent."
"Yes. We have noticed increased chatter among HONOR members."
"What for?" – Cheffo asked.
"Disbanding of the alliance we have with them and not only this. We have recently found out some of their spies deep within our territories. We also heard that some of them have made a pact with smaller alliances whose ships have been raiding our territories for quite some time." – Absent explained.
"This is outrageous." – The Devil shouted.
"Yes, but for the time being we've decided to leave them the benefit of a doubt until we have more solid prove." – Drizzt said.
"And we have to monitor the situation more closely." – Absent stressed.
"I'll take care of this." – Spister said. "I'll send my elite spies to find out what is going on there."
"No." – Drizzt objected. "I think it would be better if we hire mercenaries and send them instead to avoid suspicion."
"I agree." – GHS said. "The reports we have might be mistaken so lets proceed with caution."
"Caution? Are you joking?" – Spister asked mockingly raising an eyebrow.
"We must not be seen. And if we have seen wrong we could lose an ally. So I ask not to make rush decisions."
"Fine." – Spister shot.
"I think it would be better if we continue another time. It is clear we won't achieve more at this session." – Avi intervened.
"Indeed. We'll reconvene in one an year." – Drizzt concluded.
"I invite you all on Arrakis for our next meeting." – Lord Dune said.
"Agreed in a year on Arrakis." – Spister concluded.
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Lordcaelus