Dark Hunter, Dark Saviour
Chapter 38: Mobilization, determination.
28th October 2900
Solaris, New Earth, Island base
True to promise, the Dawnbreaker had landed on the island once more the previous day, and after a brief reunion, they settled for the night. Tomorrow's meeting with Zoran was key.
Aboard the Dawnbreaker's communications lounge, the less controversial members of this coup arrangement were in conversation with Zoran via holographic interface.
Kirth: "We found the Princess. Our contacts in the Underworld Guild have made business with her a few times, and know how to track her. She's been hiding out in the Kar'thra system, in a small shack outside Araphen's colony, for the past 11 years of her 15 year exile."
La'kias: "She's been lying low, likely to avoid publicity. She still uses her first name, but she now hardly interacts with the colony, and uses a false surname if anyone asks."
Zoran: "Hmm, this situation is delicate. The colony will detect anything but a stealthy craft. The colonial security will likely have routine visual ID checks also. They'll recognize anyone notable."
Morthas: "Kirth and La'kias are out of the question, and Norstith poses a significant risk if we are detected, or may cause alarm to the Princess if she has been watching the war. The only people who could approach her with less chance of attack or alarming her are me and Ja'hail Rathor."
Zoran: "Good selection. She will be wary, and untrusting, but maybe desperate. I'd recommend trying to gauge her behaviour before proposing our offer. She may be unstable mentally after the trauma of a rumoured false exile."
Ja'hail: "This is what I was worried about. Another wacko princess to deal with."
Zoran [raises eye ridge]: "Hopefully this will not be a repeat of one recruit for the Varya interruption, by whom I mean Azula, the fire wielding human. Shak'rii shall be easier, at least physically, to deal with. And sooner is better if I say so."
Kirth: "Very well. We'll begin preparations to make our way to the system. It's on the edge of Alliance central space, so we should have a lesser chance of detection."
La'kias: "Personally I'd prefer a definite chance rather than perhaps having a chance of not being detected. In that case, I'd suggest we use a different vessel, a frigate landing at or being near the colony may spread alarm."
Zoran: "A corvette sized craft will likely suffice in that case. It would be best if you keep low. From the reports coming from my side, the Alliance militia is cracking down on some dissention spreading in their ranks and in the civilian populace as well, most likely due to your Underworld Guild allies. You have my contact details, and this call cannot be traced, the records of it are non existent. Contact me once the princess is secured and on board with the program, and continue to gather forces and entice the Guild to continue their corruption of the Alliance militia and populace."
The hologram winked out, leaving the 2 Kro'nogri, 1 Leg'hrul, 1 Robotic Leg'hrul, the cyborg Human and Cybertronian holoform there to contemplate the meeting.
"So, sounds like you're going to need a new ship to not spark alarm then." Said Alex. Kirth then said: "We shall leave the Dawnbreaker here. We stated officially that it will be on a scouting mission into UIP space, highly classified in path. It would be best if it remained here, and we-"
"Commandeered one of my smaller ships in orbit now?" Said Alex. Sighing, Alex said: "Those 2 corvettes I have aren't easily replaced just to say."
Morthas: "You're satellite network and your fleet of 3 destroyers, 2 cruisers and the battleship Liberator are sufficient to protect this planet, in fact, the entire array of systems within 10 light years of this star. Surely one corvette can be spared?"
"I never said no. I'll give you one of the corvettes. I can have it repainted and reconfigured as a merchant ship, bought second hand by a rich merchant, meaning you, and converted from military to private function. Just be sure not to scratch the paint." Said Alex dismissively.
Shockwave noted then: "Estimated time for retrieval of Princess Sha'krii Herensk are at most 2 weeks. Time of Dawnbreaker's absence from Alliance space not noteworthy. Demonstration of researched technology in your absence can be showcased during your stay."
Kirth smiled, saying: "New technology? Interesting."
Ja'hail coughed for attention, saying: "So what, I guess the repainting and altering of the corvette's military signal to private will take about-" Alex finished: "Tomorrow, starting in the next hour."
Morthas decided: "We ship out tomorrow then, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can sway her to represent and perhaps lead us politically."
Kirth, La'kias and their crew would remain aboard the Dawnbreaker for their quarters, but during their likely 2 week stay they were granted shore leave on the base. The scenic island was easily accessible to the few dozen crew, and only the restricted areas were off limits to anyone.
Zirleth, as luck would have it to Shockwave for once, was more comfortable aboard her cargo bay of the Dawnbreaker, though as would happen later, it did not stop her from venturing outside the grounded frigate at times.
The following night was uneventful otherwise, and within a blur of time, the next midday arrived.
29th October 2900
The corvette, named the Rha'kina, as its commercial freighter disguise required, now began its ascent into orbit, the antigravity generators creating localized mass fields above the craft that were together more powerful than the planet's gravity on it. Upon reaching high orbit, the fusion coil thrusters fired, accelerating the corvette away from the planet at high velocity, the plasma plume spraying like a small, jet of flame in the vacuum.
Aboard, Morthas commanded the craft's autopilot intelligence: "Set course for Kar'thra, planet Araphen. Engage stealth systems upon exiting FTL." The craft's intelligence program acknowledged, the synthesized voice confirming the command. Ja'hail sagged a little in his chair, saying: "Well, looking at reports, at least Araphen is warm. Could have done without the cold while I was in the Dev'ral colony."
"Let's hope the warm air has made the princess reasonable and in a good mood when we reach her." Commented Morthas. Not a few seconds later, the corvette's low level AI completed calculation, and engaged the FTL drive.
Around the ship, space seemed to shimmer, the ship leaping away like a lightning bolt, a thin stream of light briefly visible before it disappeared, headed for Alliance fringe space.
5th November 2900
Kar'thra system, Planet Araphen, Alliance fringe space, edge of galactic arm
The colony in itself was reasonably sized, with a population of roughly 40,000 people. As a trading port between Alliance fringe space and the UIP fringes, it saw many off-world market products, news and technology pass through.
2 people secretly searching for a disgraced Kro'nogri imperial Princess were not the usual sort of visitors.
In the downtown area, Ja'hail was quick to find a public information terminal, and began searching for the princess's address. Quickly, he found it, as true to the Underworld Guild's reports, she still used her first name, but now used the false last name Ke'rah:
"Got it. She's in a private cottage, about 4 miles outside town, in the forest."
Deciding to travel on foot, the Kro'nogri mercenary and former Leg'hrul KI operative began their walk, making the first 3 miles in an hour. As they drew closer, they would run into he middle of a routine that the Princess undertook every few days or so.
Approaching a forest clearing, Ja'hail and Morthas trod lightly, their footsteps nearly silent. The sounds of insects and the rustling of the coniferous leaves on the trees, echoed. However, here, the sounds were quieter.
As the pair reached a clearing, Morthas stopped himself and Ja'hail, pointing ahead. There was a grazing trio of large herbivores, known as Kha'rakin. They were roughly the size of earth deer, with long, sniffing snouts for noses, capable of reaching into hard to reach places for either hard to get plants, or out of reach berries, and their skulls sported armour plating for charging, and armour on the shoulders as well, both of them for defence, and to hit trees to knock down food. Their bodies were a dusty grey colour, matching the greyish bark of the trees of the forest. One of them was slightly larger, with larger armour plates on its head and shoulders than normal, a male bull most likely.
The animals grazed contently, and while they went unnoticed, Morthas pulled himself and Ja'hail down into the nearby bushes, using his dark matter to cloak both of themselves as well. Watching, the bull Kha'rakin seemed to be suddenly alert, snorting off to another side of the clearing. The two females looked up as well, alert too.
A muffled shot, and a staple sized tungsten slug sliced through the air, penetrating one female Kha'rakin's head. The herbivore crumpled, dead from the shot piercing its brain, and the other two creatures snorted in alarm, bounding off into the forest in the opposite direction, perpendicular to where Ja'hail and Morthas hid themselves at the clearing's edge. Then, the sound of rustling bushes, and a lone figure emerged.
She walked over to the fallen Kha'rakin, her rifle now retracted and on her back, and pulled the creature up into her arms, hoisting it over her shoulders like a large bag. The creature was placing some strain on her, but she seemed well practiced in this laborious task.
Watching her walk off, Ja;hail whispered under the cloaking: "This might be her. I say we follow her and see if she lives in the cottage like the Guild said."
"Agreed." Under Morthas's cloaking, the pair followed her at a distance, not losing sight of her once.
After following for half an hour, their answer came. Just 100 metres from a small river was a prefabricated cabin, made of rustproof metal and fibreglass. It was small, but fully equipped. From the distance, they watched the person drag the Kha'rakin carcass into her house, shutting the door behind her.
"Alright. No one else is living there besides her, that was her." Said Morthas. Ja'hail then thought aloud: "So how do we go about this?" De-cloaking, but both of them still behind a tree, Morthas said: "We won't be able to form a false reason for us being here, so we should speak the truth, but withhold some perhaps unsettling details until later."
Ja'hail noted the small receptors on the prefab's roof: "She'll have an uplink to the Alliance spacenet, so we may not have to fill her in on past events as I feared."
Summoning their confidence, they both set forwards, reaching her door in little time. Ja'hail was first to the door, but before he could do anything, as his finger was 3 inches from the buzzer, the door slid open, revealing Sha'krii Ke'rah/Herensk.
"Who are you?" She asked, her reptilian eyes narrow with suspicion, looking between Ja'hail and Morthas. Morthas cleared his throat, saying: "Forgive us, I am Morthas Krithos, and this is Ja'hail Rathor. We want to talk to you."
"Not interested." Sha'krii moved to close the door, but Ja'hail propped a foot in the doorway, making the sensors stop the door shutting as long as his foot was there. He said: "We want to offer you a job, we know you have skills that could be put to good use."
Leering at the mercenary, she said: "I'm just someone who lives off the land. I have no skills to offer the wider galaxy, so you can take your offer back and leave."
Morthas Krithos then said defiantly: "We know that is a lie, much is your identity, Sha'krii Herensk. Or is it Ms. Ke'rah now?"
Her hard, alert look vanished, leaving Sha'krii stunned, unable to speak. She had managed to disappear off the galaxy face 2 years after she was banished, interacting little, and now, after a 13 year false identity, two men had found out who she really was.
"Why did you come for me!" She demanded, reaching for her rifle on her back. Raising his hands as she brought the muzzle to his chest, Ja'hail said in a surprised tone: "Easy now. We aren't here to hurt you, we actually want your help."
Studying both of them intently, Sha'krii put her rifle away: "Fine, but you two had better have a good reason to come all the way to me."
"I think you will find the role we offer to be very significant." Said Morthas.
After letting the two into her humble home, Sha'krii forced both Morthas and Ja'hail onto a couch, coaxing them into explaining. Nothing was held back, but gradually poured on her.
The whole history of the war's events, and the beginning so true dissention in the ranks after the disastrous Varya invasion operation. At this, Sha'krii was aware, she paid close attention to the war. She was surprised to hear of a planned coup to overthrow the current Alliance government, in a preferably bloodless and swift rebellion. What they offered her though was extraordinary.
"Our leader, Commander Kirth, and every other leader in this whole operation, needs someone who we can rally behind, someone of notable political reputation, one who knows the Alliance leadership on a personal level." Said Morthas.
"Me? You want me to be the political face of this whole revolution?" Replied Sha'krii. Nodding, Ja'hail said: "Yes. Everyone in the Alliance knows who you are, and that will give the coup movement a face in a way, and with your skills from your training before you were cast out, you could help us navigate the political battlefields we might come across. Also, you might be useful in battle, you're sniper skills were decent from your hunt we saw from a way's off."
Morthas then said the game changer: "Also, we in this coup, don't believe in the war, and in the face of your reputation, many of us think you don't deserve to be out here. No one would believe that after your mother's tragic death at 16, you'd actually kill your father 4 years later-"
"I DID NOT MURDER HIM!" Sha'krii shrieked, slamming her clawed fists into the metal table, denting it visibly. Ja'hail and Morthas recoiled in shock at her outburst and violence. Regaining herself, she looked down at the table, uncurling her fists in shame, and bitter sadness: "I'm sorry, that's, a hard thing for me to get over."
"That reaction alone suggests your innocence. It would not be the first time a political set up occurred like this." Said Morthas. Sha'krii asked in a low whisper: "What would you have me do as the political leader of this coup?"
"Your reputation as princess is in tatters anyway, and you can always retreat to the identity you lead now. However, you would represent us publically, be our speaker on the coup's behalf. We already have many allies in the navy, army and elsewhere who can lend forces and influence, and we have contacts in the Underworld Guild also. They agree to work with us in the fact that a successful coup would leave a window of political crisis in which they could see a significant boom in business."
Scowling internally at the reasons for the Guild's reasons for joining the coup, Sha'krii knew she could use this to redeem herself. Her rightful empire, the Leg'hrul empire, and the Alliance in general, was being slowly killed by this futile war. If she could end it soon, she would. Her brother as Kro'nogri king would be an obstacle, but what may be more painful would be perhaps encountering the Leg'hrul King, Rho'kis. Her former fiancé, and lover. If she could reclaim her old life, and preferably not kill anyone she knew well if the coup was bloodless, as hoped, she would die a happy woman.
She decided: "I shall do it. My empire's survival and dignity rest upon this coup's success, and the ending of the war soon after. I will not stand by and let the Alliance destroy itself any longer."
Standing up, Sha'krii Herensk looked upon Ja'hail and Morthas. Morthas saw the determined look, knowing the Princess had returned, and he got down on one knee, bowing low briefly. Ja'hail saw this, and bowed briefly too. Sha'krii looked around, seeing her prefab from the inside as it was. She said: "I can't leave immediately. I've lived here for over 11 years, 7 of them alone. I need some time to get anything I need ready, I might now be coming back here again. Give me a day, I just need time to go over this once more."
"We'll come back tomorrow, at mid morning time." Said Morthas. Ja'hail said: "Pleasure meeting you Princess Sha'krii." The two departed, leaving Sha'krii alone in her prefabricated 'hut'.
Going into the sleeping area, Sha'krii clicked on a photo holobook, looking through the memories she had, or specifically, three pictures that signified three key stages of her life now gone.
The first was of that faithful day at age 16, and was a photo of her brother standing beside her, her mother standing proudly beside her, and her father standing behind her brother, and hand on each of their shoulders.
Second was of the day that Sha'krii and Prince Rho'kis were announced to be married, but before the announcement. They both stood before a fountain in the Leg'hrul royal palace grounds, her hand linked with his wing talons, one of his wings enveloping her protectively and lovingly.
Last was of the man who helped her, and until recently, the only one she knew of who knew her as Sha'krii Herensk. Va'rath Lo'rik, an aged Leg'hrul, sat down in his armchair, his grey feathers, with smoky whisps of red tips and blue coating, and in a blanket for warmth over him, smiled warmly with his cracked, worn beak, his tired eyes showing the love he felt towards Sha'krii as he would a father to a daughter. She had offered to work as his caretaker, quickly earning his gratitude, and his love. He never believed that she had really killed her father, it was far too unbelievable, and he helped her in the years he was there when the time of remembering that day came, and of the day her mother died. After he died peacefully in his sleep, her hand intertwined in his as gratitude for his kindness, Sha'krii was alone, friendless, loveless, and self reliant.
Letting a lone tear escape her eye, Sha'krii closed the holobook, wiping the tear with her clawed hand off her scaly face. She was going to make things right once more. She had hidden herself away for a crime she did not commit for too long, and it was time to show the galaxy just how far she would be willing to go to end this war. The disastrous interactions of those accidentally UIP scout 'ambassadors' may have triggered the start of the war build-up, and eventually the war, but it would be by her hand that it would end.
6th November 2900
Tarihhis [Kro'nogri homeworld], Royal Palace
Kal'sik was fortunate enough to be in the position he was in now. Just half a year after Varya, and he had regained some of his credibility by helping crush some of the surprising series of uprisings across the Alliance, brutally. Not enough to earn him a notable role in the attacking forces, but he earned a prestigious role.
He was now captain of the royal guard, head of the bodyguards of the Kro'nogri royal family. Despite his reputation, it was a pleasant and simple job, and the fact he was on the homeworld of his species made it more attractive.
Currently, Kal'sik stood alert off to the side of the throne room, himself and 8 other guards present in the throne room at the edges. In the centre, the local sector defence secretary presented his findings on the uprisings across this sector of Alliance space, among others, to the King and Queen:
"The revolts are all saying the basic same goals as they have been for over 2 months now, demanding an end to the war, or cutting on military spending, saying it may not be bankrupting the nation, but the costs they endure are too great."
On the throne, 27 year old Kro'nogri King Lo'rath brooded grumpily. This was one among many cases of revolts and complaints from the commons, but they had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. There had always been grumbling or voiced protest to the war, which he could easily dismiss, but this was getting out of hand in some areas, with riots, assault on security forces, even armed attacks on military garrisons, though with little success in the latter. These riots came at the worst possible time, coinciding with a series of victories for the UIP, losing the Alliance territory they fought hard to take by force in the early war years.
After listening to the sector defence secretary for a few more minutes, Lo'rath dismissed him, saying he'd simply read over a report of the findings in private. As the secretary exited the hall, Lo'rath sagged in his throne, sighing aloud, rubbing his scaly temple with his hand. To his side, his Leg'hrul queen, Va'kara, ushered him gently off his throne, and suggested in a warm tone that reflected her tiredness also: "It is getting late. Why don't you head back into your office and only deal with texts and not people from today onwards?"
Groaning, Lo'rath replied tiredly: "My Queen, you know how important addressing these uprisings is to me. But I will admit they are growing tiresome. I think I might actually take the rest of the evening off."
Surprised, Va'kara said: "Well, I'm sure our little Ara'kai will be pleased to hear that."
Sitting on some outdoor benches in the courtyard, Lo'rath tiredly looked skywards, the red twilight sky and the low orbiting moon, Ke'lath, hanging far above. In times of stress, he found it relaxing to study the moon's image, looking at the lights of the spaceport on its surface, and the orange-red ribbons of lava flows that covered its equatorial surface.
The sound of childlike laughter snapped him out of his daydreaming, and the King's son, the 5 year old Ara'kai, landed on his lap, his dark blue/grey and red tipped wings flapping slightly clumsily as he landed. Ara'kai laughed at his landing, and Lo'rath cracked a smile, a small laugh escaping his lips, pulling his featherweight [literally] son into his arm, engulfing the avian in a strong one armed hug.
"Daddy. What did the man I heard mean when he said people were rioting?" Asked the young prince. As it would be, to cement relations, Ara'kai was not to be heir to the Kro'nogri throne, he was born out of desire. When the time for an heir came, which would likely be in the next 5 years, Lo'rath would have a genetic clone of his own, with randomized DNA mapping like how his son was conceived before his embryo was put into one of Va'kara's unfertilized eggs in her body. He would have a genetic heir, but he wanted to stabilize the Alliance, and win the war, or at least quell these riots, before he arranged that.
Va'kara sat down by Lo'rath, with Ara'kai starting to become sleepy, using up his youthful toddler energy quickly. He crawled over into his mother's arms. In Kro'nogri and Leg'hrul tradition, it was generally thought that it was the duty of the parents to nurture the child themselves, or at least directly with assistance from hired help. Considering all that had happened to Lo'rath in his life before becoming king, spending time with his son and wife was something he cherished, enjoying the peace that came with it. And in these times particularly, peace was not a common thing.
10th November 2900
Solaris, New Earth, Island base
The island was on alert for the new arrival with Morthas and Ja'hail, ready to receive the Princess by midday local time. It was currently early morning though, and Raxler, Shockwave and Alex were in the research lab, running a simulation of a new design of artificial intelligence platform.
After the success of Raxler, Alex had commissioned the creation of another AI, though one not as intelligent as Raxler was. While Raxler surpassed a human's cognitive ability, this new one would have slightly less intelligence than a human, more like that of a smart animal, but would be more capable of exhibiting emotional inflections. It was an experimental trade off of sorts, less intelligence for more emotion.
However, unlike Raxler, the body Alex had envisioned for his new AI 'child' was actually more difficult than the actual programming itself, hence the reason for the synthetic muscle fibres he had ordered be researched and perfected, to create a body capable of regenerating points on covering joints, and allowing a more flexible body armour. It would much more resemble an organic being, even when not using any disguise of any sort, than Raxler could outside his Alex disguise.
"Limb mechanics of proposed design require a further week to perfect before manufacture can begin. Internal systems of antigravity generators and internal power generator is simple, but the integration of a full blown, 'slow and steady' termed replicator into the material intake systems is proving difficult. This still leaves the finish date of research and design at a week's time, and manufacturing at another 2 days." Said Raxler.
Shockwave stated: "In aerial movement, this hardware design shall be much more mobile than your other units, ground or air based. With the antigravity generators it can save weight, allowing its thrusters to provide it with speed in the air, and the former still allowing transition to orbit. The intergration of a short range FTL drive shall be easy enough once the rest of the technology is in place."
"Short range? As long as it can do up to 25 light years in one jump I'll be fine with it." Said Alex.
"Acknowledged. Research shall continue as normal." Stated Raxler. Shockwave and Alex made their leave, while Raxler integrated himself into the research database computer via uplink. Outside, Shockwave rumbled aloud: "Princess Sha'krii Herensk is due with Ja'hail Rathor and Morthas Krithos within the next 4 hours."
"Well, at least we don't have to research how to put her together. And she's the last person we're looking for. From here on in, its nothing but building up, researching, and planning, no more running around." Replied Alex gladly.
It was true, once she was here, no more running around for specific people. Their plans could begin to really shift into gear.