Fio'El Bor'kan Kais'Ves left the hover car and promptly dropped his bag. Even though he was one of the most promising engineers on Bor'kan. and some would say destined to rise to the rank of Fio'O he still dropped his papers and tools like a young Fio'SAAL apprentice. The servant at the door looked away. Kais'Ves outranked him by several years and the servant showed him the respect. But Kais'Ves was a humble man, his name meant "Faithful Helper" and while some of the more arrogant Tau would have mocked a name, he was proud of it. After all, were not all Tau good and faithful servants to the Greater Good?
Few alive were as great as servants as the great and favored Shas'O Kree'Tan, Commander Eastwind. And that was who Kais'Ves had the absolute pleasure of meeting today. Kree'Tan was very traditional in his way. Employing servants instead of drones and machines. He even sent a hand written letter via messenger to Kais'Ves requesting his presences.
Once Kais'Ves collected his papers the servant led him through the house. The estate was private and great effort went into making it as relaxing as possible. In the traditional style it was a square building that surrounded an open courtyard. Relics and items that Eastwind collected decorated his home. Every wall showing evidence of His long and glorious career. Holograms of him standing beside important people and friends. Trinkets from battles. Some of them their value and importance lost to Kais'Ves
The silent servant opened a sliding screen door and bowed. "My lord may I present Fio'El Bor'kan Kais'Ves." He then bowed and excused himself.
Kais'Ves would have bowed in return since it seemed the polite thing to do but the great Kree'Tan was not paying attention to him.
The center of the courtyard was a small grass square and there was Kree'Tan, even in his old age he was bound in grace. His braided hair was long and adorned with neatly tied ribbons. His white robes were simple, the only color he allowed was the turquoise sash and trimming on his sleeves. His face was stern and weathered. And he was putting all of his power into focusing on the sword he held in his hands. A katana with a purple ribbon adorning the hilt. It sliced through the air in a rather intense fashion.
Tau usually disdained close combat. It was bloody and cruel, a fasciation of the lesser barbaric races. But many Tau still held value in the ability a blade or a knife held. And given the savagery of the other races. Perphaps it was best, Kais'Ves could not judge. Instead he sat politely and watched the now retired Commander Eastwind put on a show of slices, cuts and flourishes. Unable to deny that it was a beautiful art from.
After several moments the Commander finally spoke. "I have been told that you are a skilled engineer, you created the plasma generators on V'letan am I right?" His voice was like a two pieces of slate sliding together and carried that aloof quality that seemed common in some of Kais's more pretentious teachers at the Earth Caste academy. However Kais felt that Eastwind knew more than most people pretended to know.
"Yes and no, favored Shas'O", Kais'Ves replied. "I was one of five engineers on the team, and we worked with the alien Bragi, they had the vision of the reactors and we made it reality. We could not have done it without them, they have a gift for plasma technology."
Eastwind frowned sourly, Kais was afraid he offended the eccentric Tau somehow. "That is not how I heard it, they made little mention of the Bragi short of crediting them as joining the project for the Greater Good. They listed the earth caste engineers as the ones deserving credit."
Kais'Ves shrugged, "every engineer worth his training knows that you don't make plasma generators without Bragi my lord. We would have been fools not to listen to them and heed their wise words. It was a humbling experience"
Eastwind cleaned the sword with near religious care before sheathing it and delicately placing it in a wooden box and covering it with what looked like a flag. "We pride ourselves on acceptance of the auxillary races but we always make sure to praise ourselves for suffering them, as if they need us." He closed the box and put it aside. "Would you join me for tea?"
Kais'Ves bowed, "Please, favored Shas'O"
A servant came out of nowhere with a tray of tea and cups. There was a small table set up in the corner of the courtyard next to a small pond, koi fish of all colors danced and swam. As Eastwind made his way to the table Kais'Ves saw that the old commander had a slight limp in his left foot.
"And one thing" Eastwind said, sitting down without giving Kais'Ves the honor of sitting first as a honored guest. "Do not call me Favored Shas'O. That is what sycophants or those who wish to be polite call me, in my own home you may call me by my given names. As I would like to call you by yours." He poured the tea, again without waiting. What anyone else would see as an insult, Kais'Ves saw as a Tau who did not wish to engage in petty social acts. He was a Tau of action, use to the simpler life of trying to kill before you were killed.
Kais'Ves actually preferred it this way. Because he was incredibly thirsty.
"As you wish Eastwind." Kais'Ves said sipping his tea without waiting to wish the aged commander good health as was customary. Eastwind laughed. It was a hearty chuckle more fit for a bar room than a gentle tea table. His sour look melted away.
"I see that I have made a good choice in seeking your services Faithful Helper. Eastwind said, sipping his tea at his own pace.
"What services exactly did you have in mind Sir?" Kais'Ves asked. He had assumed that he sought out his architectural skills. It was somewhat common for bored military commanders to sponsor promising artisans simply because they had the money to do so. Which was why Kais'Ves still was polite despite his host removing the need for it.
Eastwind finished his cup and refilled it and made to refill Kais'Ves's "First answer me this question, what does the Greater Good mean to you?"
That was a serious question. The Greater Good was everything the Tau stood for. Laid down by the holy Ethereals ever since they united all the castes together at the fortress of Fio'tan thousands of years ago, ending a great civil war that threatened extinction. It was for the Greather Good we lauched our first rockets into space. Established our first colony. We lived for the greater good and the warriors of the fire Caste even died for it. Kais'Ves could have recited the five tenants of the Greater Good that all Tau learned in their youth but Kais was sure that Eastwind wanted a more personal answer. He spent a moment to collect his thoughts. He did not want to give a wrong answer.
"The Greater Good…is just that, the greatest good of all people. Every person, every caste, every sept and even all the races within the Tau Empire. We are all so different, and that is what makes us strong. But what unifies us is that we are supposed to put aside any selfish goals to think of the person next to us and beyond Regardless of what caste or race they are. No one is greater or lesser in priority. It means I live and I work and even die for the better of someone I may never meet or see."
Now it was Kree'Tan's turn to sit in silence, he finished half his cup of tea before finally replying. "That sounds like something a water caste would but you seem to truly believe it."
Kais'Ves shrugged. " I want my life to have a purpose, I don't know of any greater than the Greater Good"
Eastwind nodded his head, seeming to make up his mind. "I want you to write a memoir for me"
Kais'Ves gave a confused look. Eastwind had already written a thesis on unconventional warfare. Almost all of it was taken from personal experience. "I don't understand sir, would that not be better suited for a Water caste member? Many excellent writers come from there, I am just an engineer"
Eastwind scoffed, "Water caste, they would water down my memoir to make sure to offend no one. They would rather be celebrated for writing the memoir than celebrating those who lived the story." He set his tea aside. "I have read your reports, you have written on alien architecture and seem to have a respect for how aliens think, and most importantly, you make it easy for the reader to identify with the aliens. Even an old Tau like me could understand it"
Kais'ves bowed his head. "Thank you, I had to pick a subject and thought I would at least find something interesting to spend the next ten years writing about." This earned another hearty chuckle from Eastwind.
"I don't want a story about me I want a story about others. Others I had the great pleasure of knowing." Eastwind seemed to be lost in the void of his own mind before bringing himself back to the present. "Can you do this for me?"
Kais'Ves nodded his head, it was unconventional but he guessed that was exactly why the Commander wanted him "I might not have all the details, is this going to be a full memoir or a story?"
Eastwind let a servant take the tray and gave him a much smaller plate that held a long wooden carved pipe and a small pile of dried indigo leaves. Eastwind stuffed the leaf into the bowl of the pipe and lit it. A heady smoke puffed out of his nostrils. "I want the reader to know about several different people, including myself. I want it to be a story about those around me. So that everyone will pick it up but filled with truth for it to be discussed in all circles."
Kais'Ves pulled out some of his tools, ignoring his architectural devices and instead opting for a tablet and a recording device. He came expecting to commission a statue or a building, not write a biography.
Eastwind continued. "It won't all be accurate, there were simply some things I was not told about, or was only hinted at. But I have a burning desire for this story to be told. So I will simply tell you the story as I know, from beginning to end, I want the reader to feel what I felt when I was told what I know, and to feel what my companions felt. Even if they are not all around to tell the tale"
Kais'Ves set up the recording device and saw that it was picking up all their perfectly, He spread out his notes and was ready. "Perhaps at the beginning of every chapter we can include a small piece of dialogue from you. Explaining how the story goes. You are already famous for adding personal feeling and narrative to the story."
Eastwind nodded, slowly slipping into the past. "Then we will begin".
