Chapter 2: A Bad Time For All, Then
And here is the second chapter of the Tale of Two Stars. I'm sure by now most of you will have realised that it will actually involve many stars, but the only two of any importance to this story are Iphaes, the star around which the planet Draconikus orbits, and Sol, the star around which, well, I'm sure you can guess.
Unbeknownst to General Halcon, Space Commander Dar'Ell was not having the best of times either. The instant he had established both the Draconis Rex Haegemony and the Draconic Spacefleet, Dar'Ell had promptly spent his entire Empire's Treasury on a new paintjob for his flagship, the Draconis Imperialis. This had, of course, raised concern about his fitness to be in charge on the home planet of Draconikus, but these concerns had been tenuously smoothed over by the fact that he had, after all, singlehandedly created the Empire, Haegemony, and Spacefleet. But the public review had been scathing, to say the least.
Then he had found out that the cause of the relative calm from the centre of the galaxy had been due to the Grox building up a massive armada that had swept through many of the inner systems, and decimated the central empires. If it wasn't for Dar'Ell coaxing the Haegemony together, even the Spacefleet may not have been enough to stop them. They had stopped it, finally, on the very lip of a wormhole that led straight to the outskirts of the Draconis Rex Empire. Even so, a great number of Grox raiding parties had made it through, and Dar'Ell and his fleet had been kept busy for many weeks by pleas for help and reconstruction.
Then, after that entire harrowing episode, something interesting happened. System after system fell, and empire after empire stopped crying out for help. This would normally indicate a Grox incursion, except that whatever it was, was heading straight for the galactic core. Checking the logs, he had thought it may be a new, war faring empire, claiming its stake amongst the stars. But the records showed no signs of intelligent life from that sector; at least none anywhere near the Space Age. So, Dar'Ell reasoned, it had to be that a member race of the Haegemony had developed some new weapon, and then the planet it was developed on had revolted, and was now carving a bloody path through the galaxy.
However, the Draconis Rex liked to believe that they had left their warrior like tendencies back on Draconikus, and so Dar'Ell had gone to meet this splinter faction with nothing but his own ship to defend him. And he had met, what was it? The Imperium of Man. Granted, the Rex had encountered violent races before, but their empires had either grown content after a few small conquest, or fractured after growing too large (Or, of course, challenged the Rex and been ruthlessly exterminated). But this Imperium had done neither. It was obviously a huge empire, as it had come from another galaxy! The resources a unified Galactic Empire like that could field would have to be immense!
He had been told, right to his face, that they wanted the death of all non-Men. Even the Wubble Empire, religious fanatics that they were, had only waged a war of conversion on the Draconis Rex people. And this Imperium wanted the death of every other race in the Universe. Multiverse, if the latest theorists were right. Well, obviously he had retreated. Facing down ships of that size and number, without knowing beforehand how to deal with them, and without backup, was suicide. And the cloning procedure was starting to become painful, so many times had Dar'Ell been through it. And of course, to prevent them tracking his route of departure, he had had to distract them somehow. Seeing how big those ships were, neither he nor any of his crew believed the Planet Buster had been overkill in any form.
Thinking all this through, Dar'Ell started pulling up contact details on his personal computer. And was disappointed to find that the entire Spacefleet had been hired out on tasks. Cancelling their next appointment in favour of an emergency defence session, Dar'Ell had an idea. The Seeyid Empire had been the Rex's official Prefects in the Galactic North for quite some time, and were even considered by many to be the Rex's closest allies. What many forgot was that, centuries ago, the Draconis Rex had created the Seeyid, so of course the two Empires were close. And, as they had been loyal Prefects for many years now, the Seeyid wanted to be elevated above the other members of the Haegemony, to the rank of Rex Regis. This would effectively make them the second in command of the Haegemony, and rulers of the Galactic North.
Knowing all this,
Dar'Ell sent them a message. To attain this most vaunted title of
Rex Regis, they must first quell the disturbance in their
neighbouring spiral arm. They may take as many ships as they wish
from the other Empires to do so. It would not be in their best
interests to fail.
After sending this message, Dar'Ell wriggled
his cilia in what equated to a smile. The Seeyid would not fail them.
Not with all that at stake.
A little tidbit of info about the Iphaes system, just for all you who are dying of curiosity. It is at the centre of the bit of space that is known as the Draconis Rex Empire, politically and near enough spatially as well. It has four planets. Working inwards from the outermost are : Sanguinas ( A paradise [T3] planet with three heavily defended cities, so named because sky water, and earth are the colour of blood. It has a very large GDF [Global Defence Force] and exports yellow spice), Draconikus ( The beating heart of the Draconii Empire, with ten heavily defended cities, and a huge GDF. Its natural resource is red spice, but, being the heart of a huge interstellar empire, all its citizens are swamped with any type of spice you care to name.), Terraguay (A large, lush, jungle planet, which has recently been designated a Wildlife Preserve. There used to be a space shuttle wreck from a nearby extinct empire on it, but the Relic Preservation Council can't seem to find it.) Frethous ( An uninhabitable gas giant.) However, orbiting Draconikus is its moon, Portobello Moon. This is also a paradise planet, however, to clear the space around Draconikus, Portobello has been designated the only allowed market for Draconikan spice. This has created a huge market culture on the moon, and, naturally, the only yellow spice that seems to make it to Draconikus is Portobellan and small amounts of Sanguinasion. Fortunately for the empire, the merchants of Portobello never seem to want a holiday, for if they did, not only would Draconikus grind to a halt amidst spice protests, but the Empire's treasury would also take a huge hit, as the Spacefleet takes a commission for the transport of spice around the Empire (and mainly to Portobello).
Anyone who actually read all of the above, well done, go and grab yourself a biscuit. But before you do, don't forget to give me a review, to tell me all about your devotedness to my fic.