Rising Apocalypse

9781 CY (alternate)

"The Nietzscheans are what!?" the master of the Andromeda Ascension shouted.

"Lower your voice!" snapped Gar.

"It's all right, Yeshgar. Let him have his say." The Magog Vicar admonished. The master of the Renewed Virtue closed her mouth, but her eyes narrowed at the Cardinal.

The Vicar turned his full attention to Dylan, who was still staring incredulously.

"Did you know that our Holy Order was born of a fluke?" the Magog asked quietly.

Dylan's accusatory eyes suddenly become overwhelmed with confusion. Where was he going with this?

"You see, Cardinal, it is written in only a few old texts. Our great Father, the founder of our Way, had a vision for all races. He had a vision that all would someday embrace the path of good. That all would choose the path of self enlightenment, of peace…of freedom."

"It's a good vision, Vicar." Dylan observed.

"Yes, Cardinal, it is. It only takes one act to set events in motion. As it turns out, he had all that he loved taken from him in the moment it takes to blink and eye. The records do not necessarily say what happened, but whatever it was…it spurred him outward into the galaxy. His mind burning with new truths that the Divine in all of us teaches."

Dylan's eyes moved briefly to Gar. "What exactly are you saying Vicar?"

The Vicar's voice softened. "For every soul that chooses to walk the path of peace and order. For every soul that chooses, is converted, is persuaded to follow Orthodoxy…there are those who simply won't. The Order's mistake was in treating the Neitzschean's as equals. It was a mistake that started in the old Commonwealth and was carried over in the Order. And we have paid dearly for that mistake in blood."

"Vicar, the Father wrote in his texts that all races have the potential for accepting Orthodoxy. If they haven't, it's because it hasn't been correctly conveyed to them. It's because they don't understand." Dylan countered.

"Some misunderstanding, Cardinal." Gar interrupted. "How many more thousands will it cost to save them?"

"..and the Order would sacrifice many more soldiers in the fight to save our fellow man from themselves. Orthodoxy would demand it. In fact, Orthodoxy does demand it. However, therein lay our problem, Cardinal. We have prisoners by the thousands, expending the necessary resources to house them, reeducate them, rehabilitate them..whatever it takes. And yet, they STILL resist. They still attempt to escape, to strike back. Even some member worlds are wavering in their war support because they can see that we are getting nowhere with them! Let me ask you this one question Cardinal Hunt: Do you believe that Orthodoxy is wrong?" The Magog narrowed his eyes.

The Cardinal, without missing a beat, "No sir. It is not wrong. I would stake my life on it."

The Vicar smiled a thin smile. "You have, Cardinal… you have. If you had wavered, you would no longer be master of this vessel. Only true believers in our cause for peace and order will head up our new strategies. You see, Dylan, if Orthodoxy is not wrong then where is the mistake being made?"

"Vicar, I… I.." Dylan's hands opened in question.

"In our definitions Dylan." Gar answered.

"Yeshgar is correct. All these years, we have treated the Nietzscheans as a separate race of beings, treated them with the privileges put forth through Orthodoxy. And that was our mistake. The Nietzscheans are NOT a separate race! Cardinal, the Triumvirate has come to understand that the Nietzschean is nothing more than a human! Nothing more!"

Before Dylan could interrupt, the Vicar continued. "The "Nietzschean" was an experiment to create the ulitmate human through genetic manipulation and conditioning. Genetic tampering, of course, is prohibited by Orthodoxy. Do you know why, Cardinal?"

Dylan's thoughts sorted out his Seminary classes. "It's a perversion of that which is natural. If all souls are inherently good, then that which perverts or distorts those natural states must, in turn, make such souls…"

"Evil" Gar finished.

"Exactly! The geneticist, Paul Museveni, thought to create the perfect human. What was the first thing these "perfect humans" did? They adopted a philosophy that dictated that their betterment could only come through conflict. Where is the peace in a philosophy like that?"

Dylan remained silent.

"Cardinal, their entire existence was one contrary to Orthodoxy. They are a perversion, no.. an abomination. Bred only to cause strife and chaos. Is it any wonder that we cannot convert them? Their thinking is inferior, making them really only a sub-class of man."

The Magog put his hand on the Cardinal's shoulders. "Dylan, when all things are considered, will anything outside Orthodoxy survive and flourish?"

Dylan lowered his head. "No. Orthodoxy is life. Orthodoxy is peace. Orthodoxy is order."

Gar nodded in agreement to his response. "So…they cannot be converted."

The Vicar shook his head. "Abominations cannot be reasoned with. Abominations are not natural….are not, and can never be, "good". All genetically engineered beings are abominations existing in direct conflict with Orthodoxy."

"Then it's over. For them as a people." Dylan's eyes downcast in despair. Gar moved her hand out to offer support.

"We can still teach them Cardinal. They will not be converted, but they can be made to understand. They cannot be saved, but there can be redemption."

"How?" Dylan asked looking as the Magog's eyes start to glow with a growing excitement..

"By making them understand that nothing, NOTHING, can stop a force for good, for peace..for order. When they pass on, they will take that understanding with them. But …they must pass on, Cardinal."

"It seems…it seems cruel."

"To a certain extent, I agree and some will be shocked at first. This new understanding is already being relayed to San-Ska-Re and throughout High Guard. In the end, though, Orthodoxy wins."

"..and we WILL win." Gar finished..

Cardinal Hunt looked at her. So energetic and full of purpose…so full of zeal. A magnificent example of a 'Daughter of the Holy Order of the Commonwealth'. New understandings were always a great test of faith. Yet, no matter how strange, no matter how confusing they seemed, things always had a way of working out. Perhaps that also was true for those acts that also seem distasteful?

He started to stand up. "If you both will excuse me, I have new directives to implement. You both have a standing invitation to join me for dinner if your schedules permit. An officer will attend to your needs. Vicar, Deacon." Nodding to his two companions before leaving the room.

There was, after all, a war on.

****

Fountainhead

The massive push by the Than warriors of the Order caused the Nietzschean defenders to fall back. It would be only a matter of time before there would be no further place to fall back too.

The High Guard Battlegroups had stopped their eighteen hour orbital bombardment of the Nietzschean homeworld as soon as the defending guns fell silent. Now the hard part began. The massive Glorious Heritage Class vessels hovered overhead as troop transports began their descent. Slipstream travel had greatly changed the strategy of intergalactic warfare. In theory, an attacking battlegroup or single vessel could slipstream into a system virtually anywhere (the location depending on the skill of the pilots at the controls. In some instances it has been seen that not all ships of a battlegroup arrive at the same destination in the destination solar system.). With slipstream travel virtually wiping out the time factor involved in distance, systems had to rely on a rather tight defensive network surrounding a major populated planet.

The Nietzschean planets tightened that network at the start of the war and so the intrusion into their home system did not come as a surprise. However, they were not prepared for the change in the High Guard's overall strategy of "redemption". Their defense forces fought fast and furious but the High Guard were no longer interested in prisoners.

Two Nietzschean cruisers had surrendered hoping to stall the advancing battlegroups and make the boarders fight for every inch of their ship. Imagine their surprise when missiles from the battlegroups utterly reduced to dust the surrendered ships.

Fountainhead had responded with a fury all it's own decimating one battlegroup. If there was one unifying factor for the Nietzschean Pride's to work together, it was the fact that they were now fighting for their lives.

With the last of the defending guns silenced, Than Lancers were sent down to finish the task at hand. Since the change in the Holy Order's strategy, all forward assaults were handled by Than soldiers. They were the Triumvirates personal guard of sorts. The Than are very single-minded when it comes to fulfilling a purpose. Their hive/caste-like structure makes that a dominant characteristic. The Triumvirate and Magog found this very useful when they were converted to Orthodoxy. They simply would obey and right now, the order was: 'eliminate the abominations'.

The Nietzschean defenders, though, fought valiantly on against the advancing Than hordes.

The fighting lasted for almost a week, until quite unexpectedly, a Nietzschean fleet slipstreamed home and found the last few defenders being snuffed out. They caught the attacking battlegroups in orbit by surprise destroying many. The Lancer groups on the ground were left undefended and the raiding ships inflicted heavy losses.

By the time, reinforcements from the High Guard had arrived, they found the system empty and the planet smashed. A few regiments of Than remained and the last defenders, as their resources started to dwindle, were rounded up and executed.

Fountainhead had died.

The war, however had taken a life of its own.