Chapter Thirty: Bel'Shir Occupied
The inside of the Juraian transport ship was oddly silent as Washu stared out the window. Below she could see the city of the Tal'Darim, the capital of the whole planet. Most of the older structures were sharp and angular. Like whoever designed them was trying to disembowel the sky. But there were newer ones, Juraian tree structures growing upward.
The two kinds of buildings seemed to wrestle far below. Washu sighed and looked up to the television. There a newscaster was speaking. "And in other news, Emperor Nesshin won another stunning victory against the Tal'Darim. Several thousand Tal'Darim were taken prisoner, and few casualties were sustained. Unfortunately, the chaos of the battle was immense. As such, saving the crew of enemy vessels became difficult.
"As a result, nearly three hundred people died on both sides. It is clear that war is not without cost."
Three hundred in an intergalactic war. As opposed to tens of thousands in a border skirmish. It was almost impressive, and Washu simply couldn't comprehend. How could any species willing commit that kind of atrocity on one another?
"Mind if I turn this off?" asked Washu, looking to the only other person.
She was a green-haired woman with big, blue eyes. She glanced up in surprise. "No, I don't mind."
Washu typed in her console and quickly shut off the tv. She looked at her temporary companions. "So, where are you heading?"
"Well, I'm finding work as a mechanic." said the girl. "There are a lot of job opportunities opening up with the colonization effort."
"Why not just use locals?" asked Washu.
"Well, the locals don't understand Jurai tech, and we aren't sure they're ready to accept us." admitted the woman. "For security reasons, offworlders are needed to keep the colony running.
"It pays well, and, well, I'd love to see other worlds."
"Right," said Washu. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Sorna." said the woman. "I'm from Geminar."
Washu drew out her latest invention, a small capsule, and tossed it to him. "Catch."
"What's this?" asked the woman.
"Energy field generator. Should come in handy if anything happens," said Wahsu. "You press this, and the shield surrounds you.
"It could save your life.
"Oh, and don't test it. The thing only has one charge."
"Thanks." said the woman.
They landed, and Washu stood. Glancing at the woman, she realized she would probably never see her again. With a nod, she stepped out onto the landing platform and was lost in the cloud. It was odd how a single meeting, insignificant, could catch in your mind.
Soon enough, Washu was approached by a stunningly, beautiful, green-haired woman. She was dressed in flowing white robes and had rather significant assets below the neck. At her sides were armed guards, masked. "Washu, welcome to Bel'shir. I'm Princess Seto of the Jurai Royal Family, and I'm glad you decided to come to help us."
"I wasn't expecting an armed escort," said Washu, wondering just what had been going on.
Then again, at the rate Nesshin was beating the Tal'Darim up, they would move to guerilla tactics soon. Mikamo had given her the data. Seto looked to either side. "These are... an unfortunate necessity.
"Our conquest of Bel'Shir was rapid and complete. However, a large portion of the population is trained for battle. We're still dealing with a small number of insurgents.
"It should have settled down in a few weeks, but for now, you'll need to go to the facility under guard." She motioned, and they walked away, making for a luxury air car.
"I heard the attack went perfectly," said Washu.
"Better than perfect, actually," said Seto, a note of professional pride in his voice. We killed the Second Ascendant and destroyed his fleet in the harbor. Our troops are searching for Third Ascendant Malrath, but we suspect that he is off-world."
She opened the door on the car and motioned. Washu got in and began immediately scanning the car out of habit. She found something, rather cleverly hidden, and immediately got to work/ "Thanks. I can tell this is going to be... productive. Is Naja here?"
"She'll meet us at the station," said Seto, getting in after her. "What are you doing?"
Washu typed a bit more. "Bomb disarmed."
"Bomb?" asked Seto blinking.
"Yeah, someone set up explosives beneath this car," said Washu as it started. "Had to work to disarm it."
Seto froze. "...I think I'm going to have to check my security."
"You do that," said Washu, leaning back in her seat. "shouldn't you have been scanning for this kind of thing?"
"They've never tried anything that indirect before," said Seto. "And I did have my guards watching for it. Obviously, I'll have to make adjustments."
Washu did not respond. Perring out the window, she looked down to a courtyard where a protoss was filling canisters. It was like a fuel station, but it seemed to be like a sacred ritual. "So, what's the deal down there?"
"Oh, that," said Seto, shuddering. "They are selling Breathe of Creation.
"It's used for religious rituals regularly. Every family needs at least some of it.
"Actually...
"It's probably for the best if we discuss that in the safety of the lab."
Washu shrugged and proceeded to sleep most of the rest of the way. When they finally arrived, she stepped out and met Naja. Quickly she hugged her. "Naja, it's been a while."
"Yes, I know," said Naja. Washu looked at her and saw bags under her eyes.
"You look terrible," said Washu. "What happened?"
"I've had a long day," said Naja, before coughing violently. "Why don't we move on?"
Washu walked behind her into the lab. It was one of the new buildings, and Washu saw a number of protoss radiating hostility. There was a psionic sort of malice around them that she didn't like one bit. Obviously, the occupation would be harder than the conquer. "So, how has the research been going?"
"Well," said Naja, evasively, before coughing. "Sorry, I, I picked up a bad cold. My system hasn't adjusted to it yet."
"Bel'Shir is crawling with diseases," said Seto. "We've been working overtime to quell the infections. Three people have even died."
Three people.
Washu remembered a statistic on the number of earthlings who died from diseases. Thousand died every day, and yet they felt like three men dying was a tragedy. It was why she'd asked for that favor before agreeing to come here.
"We've been working with the Breathe of Creation a lot, and well... it seems like it is more than I ever expected it to be," said Naja miserably.
"What do you mean?" asked Washu.
"You see, it's of incredible religious significance to that Tal'Darim, Washu," said Naja. "They believe it is a means of communing with their god, and, well, I think there may be something to that."
They entered into a huge, darker room. Throughout it were vats of red liquid. Yet there was a sort of aura in the place. It was like what the Tal'drim had projected their way. The scientists here hurried back and forth. They glanced back as if they thought they were being followed.
"Wow, this place is nice." lied Washu, trying to lighten the mood. "Has a real mad scientist vibe to it."
"Thanks," said Naja. "Anyway, all our research actually has led to a lot of fruit." Then she drew out a datapad and brought up a contract on it. "I need you to sign this."
"What is this?" asked Washu.
"This information is classified, Washu," said Seto. "We need your signed agreement that you will not disclose any of it without permission."
"Scientific knowledge is something that should be shared with everyone," said Washu, somewhat offended at the idea.
"Maybe," said Seto. "But if the protoss learned some of the things we have, we'd lose a serious advantage."
"Fine," said Washu, quickly putting in her signature. "Now, what is the deal here?"
"Follow me," said Naja.
Washu followed her, sick of the secrecy, into another, deeper chamber. This one only had one tank and a series of strange devices. The presence now seemed like outright malice, and Washu looked back. She was half-expecting someone to be creeping behind with a knife. But there was no one there. "What...
"Something is wrong here."
"I know the feeling," said Naja. "You get used to it.
"You see, the Tal'Darim believe that the Breathe of Creation is attuned with their god, Amon. Many of us had believed it to be nothing more than superstition. However, recent events have made us think there may be something to it."
"There are only three Chousin Goddesses, Naja," said Washu.
"We believe Amon may be a lesser deity, pretending to be a comparable one," said Seto. "Efforts are underway to deprogram the Tal'Darim from their worship.
"However, the potential uses for the Breathe of Creation are immense."
"So why are you telling me this?" asked Washu.
"We'd like permission to use one of the gems," said Naja.
Washu drew up her gems. "Hmm, these? Why?"
"Our experiments are about to become far riskier," said Naja. "Several of our staff have had to take long periods off. More have outright resigned. A few who did neither had breakdowns.
"We're hoping we can use the gem to counteract the effects of this... presence."
"Well, I'm going to be working here anyway," said Washu. "Why do you need my help?"
They shared a look.
"Well, actually Washu, we'd prefer you focus on other pursuits," said Seto.
"What pursuits?" asked Washu.
"We'd like you to work on learning Tal'Darim technology," said Seto. "We're hoping to see if it can be made compatible with our own.
"Naja is more than sufficient for directing things here."
"Right, right, I take your point," said Washu, drawing out the gem. "Proper use of resources. Catch." She tossed the gem, and Naja snatched it quickly.
"Are you sure you should be tossing those things around?" said Seto, looking petrified.
"Don't worry," said Washu. "They're pretty much unbreakable. Just don't use these things in anything except security, or I'm taking it back."
"Thank you, Washu," said Naja, looking better in only a moment.
"Now then, I have one price for my help here," said Washu. "I said I wanted a favor in our earlier conversation, and I'll tell you what it is?"
"What is it?" asked Seto.
"I want clearance to observe Earth," said Washu.
Seto blinked. "You can feel free to make use of the observation-"
"No, I don't mean observation domes," said Washu. "I want to go down there in secret and see what things are like."
"...That's a difficult thing you're asking of me, Washu," said Seto. "I'll have to clear it with the Emperor."
"Aw come on, Nesshin's a big old softy," said Washu. "And I'd like to get an idea of how earthlings think. I work here for my ten-year contract, then I check things out."
"Alright, Washu. I'll see what I can do," said Seto. "Now, maybe I should take you to your team."
"Great," said Washu.
Ten years working here. Not too long, and she'd get to examine Tal'Darim tech while being closer to Naja. Nothing too bad, and at the end of things, she could try going where no one had gone before. Earth.
Washu was in a good mood.
Clay was in a foul mood.
He'd contracted several minor sicknesses on the last world Tokimi had sent him to. Worse still, he'd found very little. Now he was coming to Bel'Shir. While it promised to be interesting, he was only too conscious of what had happened last time. It was to his benefit that the Tal'Darim fleet was scattered, but the memory was fresh in his mind.
"Zero, what have you found?" asked Clay.
Zero looked to him, her robotic form shifting. "Dr. Clay, I am observing events on Bel'Shir. As Lady Tokimi predicted, the Tal'Darim have been defeated. However, my scans appear to be distorted."
"What do you mean?" asked Clay. She'd become far more observant of things since his modifications.
"This entire world radiates with an energy type that distorts my instruments," said Zero. "I am concerned that gazing too deeply into it may have unfortunate side effects."
"That would be the Breathe of Creation." guessed Clay. "And it is precisely those qualities that make it necessary for us to investigate it.
"Still, we have time. And there is no sense in rushing an investigation.
"For now, I want you to begin taking samples from all those who enter this world. Lady Tokimi wishes us to create a report on the effects the Breathe of Creation has on various races."
"Is it not possible that Lady Tokimi already knows as much?" asked Zero.
Clay was pleased he could rely on her to ask important questions. An outside perspective was necessary, even for one of his genius. She was, perhaps, his greatest creation, and it would be difficult to exceed her. "Possible, perhaps.
"But knowing and understanding are two different things. As I have said, anything can be understood, you merely need the right perspective. I believe that Tokimi's limitations are based on her status as an outsider.
"As a divine being, who has always been far beyond the scope of normal understanding. She may understand the function of creation without comprehending its purpose."
"Are they not the same thing, Doctor?" asked Zero.
Clay looked up. "Really Zero, I thought I had programmed you better than that. A factory is designed to produce a product en masse. But the production is not an end in itself. Rather, it is merely a means by which that product is provided for one purpose or another."
"Is it not also conceivable that the Breathe of Creation is something outside of her control?" asked Zero.
Clay frowned. Such a question would be difficult to ask without meeting Tokimi directly. "That is a possibility, I will grant you. Given the situation, we have no way of knowing. We will simply have to mind the task at hand and hope we discover the answer.
"Tell me, how goes the process of translating the information we received from D3."
"It is a difficult thing indeed, Doctor Clay," said Zero. "I suspect that learning all of the information on it would take a great amount of time. Only a slightly smaller duration than discovering it in field research. And field research would provide the benefits of practical experience."
"I see," said Clay. "That is unfortunate, but the information is still of use. I want you to focus your efforts on elements of the universe that are difficult for us to observe. Black holes, dark matter, and such." He paused as something occurred to him. "...Actually, that may hold answers.
"Check for all information on the Breathe of Creation. Get me a complete analysis. We will then check the information against our findings here."
"You wish to verify this data logs accuracy?" asked Zero.
"Never take anything for granted until you have more than one source, Zero," said Clay. "To do less is just bad science."
Zero nodded. An unnecessary but not unwelcome tick she had picked up. "Yes, Doctor Clay."
Author's Note:
So originally, I was going to focus on the epic battle to take Bel'Shir and show Seto earning her spurs. Then I realized Washu was the main character. Plus, most people will want to get to the Starcraft part of this fic sometime this millennium.
So I skipped it.
Ultimately, the war is merely the backdrop to the actual story. It is not yet the center of the conflict.