Chapter Twenty-Five:
Relendiac's Triumph
Goraban's command ship, the Necla, sat in high orbit over Cladlenia. Goraban sat in his office, thinking about times long gone. This ship, the Necla, had been his ship since he had graduated from the Helshin Academy eight years ago. Afrin, then only an officer of Allysulia, had given it to him before the journey legend has named Afrin's Test. All of his greatest triumphs had come on this ship, but those triumphs paled in comparison with what would start on the Necla today.
"Patriarch Goraban," called an aide over the communications system.
"What is it, Captain Kalim?"
"General Descantes and General Delantig are waiting for you, sir."
"Where are they?"
"I believe they are on the command deck."
"You believe, Captain?" Goraban's voice had a hint of amusement. "This is your ship, is it not?"
"Yes sir, it is."
"Then you should know it better, correct?"
Relendiac-Captain-Kalim paused for a second, and then replied, "Yes, Patriarch, you are correct. The generals are on the command deck. They request your audience immediately."
"Tell them I'm on my way."
"Understood."
Goraban's mind was still in the past while he walked towards the command deck of his old ship. He and Suligan had broken the Dreg blockade on Balecroft with their fleet. Suligan had then been called to the planet's surface, leaving Goraban in charge of the fleet above the planet. Again, he had commanded from this ship. The Necla was a part of Goraban's history, and it was the only thing he truly needed for greatness, at least in his opinion.
"Patriarch, you do realize we are trying to keep a schedule?" asked Istean-General-Delantig.
"Sorry, General. My mind is wandering."
"Try to focus, Patriarch. We'll need everyone in top form."
"Agreed, General," replied Goraban, turning to look out the windows. "It's beautiful isn't it?"
Delantig laughed. "Yes Patriarch, it certainly is."
"Well then, let's see how they like being invaded," said Descantes.
"Peace, General Descantes. Calm down."
"Why? These people invaded my home! I have a right to be angry!"
"I don't doubt that. However, I don't advice letting anger rule your counsel. Anger, though strong, is not a good ally. Istean learned that the hard way, I'm afraid."
Descantes stopped and turned to face Delantig. "What do you mean?"
"Anger was an ally of Altoda and my father, and a root cause of Graupia. It tore a schism in our herd. So please, General, try to control it."
Descantes looked at his Istean counterpart with newfound respect; for he knew that he spoke truthfully. "Thank you, General Delantig," he said.
"No need to thank me, my friend." Delantig turned to Goraban. "Patriarch, the preliminary reports indicate that we beat the Cladlen patrol here. We can secure the planet at any time. Are we committed to this?"
Goraban was still gazing out the window, and he didn't reply.
"Patriarch?" asked Descantes. "Did you hear me?"
"I heard it perfectly, old friend. Let's go."
Descantes nodded, and turned to Captain Kalim. "Relay those orders, Captain."
"Certainly, General," said Kalim, moving to the communications desk. "This is Relendiac-Captain-Kalim. All units are go. Repeat, we are committed to the invasion."
"Captain!" called Goraban. "Get me Cando!"
"Certainly," replied Kalim. "Relendiac-General-Cando, report to the command deck immediately."
Cando was with Ranti, walking towards the officer transport when the summons came.
Ranti laughed. "Looks like you drew the short straw this time."
"I might get some action up here. Istean-General-Delantig seems very sure that we'll get a Cladlen patrol soon."
"We probably won't see much on the ground, either. Reports say that most fled when they heard Askinqua had been killed."
"Well, I must get back to the bridge. See you in a few days, Ranti," laughed Cando, turning back towards the command deck.
A few minutes later, Cando stood before Goraban and the others.
"I have a hunch on what this concerns, but give me your orders, Patriarch."
"You're probably right," laughed Goraban. ""I want you to command the fleet in my absence. A full blockade: Nothing in, nothing out. Understand?"
"Yes, Patriarch. Am I to engage incoming patrols?"
"Only if they will not respond to a peaceful message."
"All right then. Good luck."
Goraban nodded his acknowledgement. "Descantes, Delantig, we're off!"
Cando watched the three officers leave the bridge. When they had disappeared from sight, he turned to the forward window and saw the advance scouts descending towards the surface. The triumphant entry into Haldiar would commence shortly.
----------
Reno and Mute stood, silently staring each other down. The combat had come to an unofficial break, as both warriors once again tried to find a weakness that they hadn't yet seen.
They had stopped using ranged attacks about half an hour earlier, and swords had become the prime attacking force. Niepdre, the falcon of Elidion, had flown higher and watched the battle from a mile up, and Akromanda had not appeared for some time.
They had fought for over an hour, and yet neither looked the worse for wear. At first, Mute thought he had the advantage, but Niepdre had evened the combat. As they had sparred, the advantage had shifted from one to the other, but was lost as quickly as it had been gained.
Both combatants were tiring, albeit very slowly, and the mistakes and weaknesses of both were magnified. Finally, Mute made a critical error. His stroke to parry was a second too late, and Reno's blade found the flesh of his sword arm, which Mute dropped, howling. Reno stopped to breathe, and found himself on the ground a second later.
They had temporarily forgotten their swords, and rolled on the ground, trading kicks and punches. However, Reno found his sword, and while Mute was still on the ground beside him, he stabbed downward.
Mute yelled out in pain as Reno stood up. The sword was actually only impaled in Mute's left arm, but it was enough to render him immobile for a second. Reno calmly walked over and grabbed Mute's sword. He walked up to Mute and pulled his own sword out of the bloody arm. He kicked Mute's side, turning him over, and crossed the swords above his neck.
"Give me a reason why I should spare you long enough to sit in judgment before Elidion's council," Reno snarled.
"How about the laws of Elidion," laughed Mute. "Specifically, the one that forbids harming prisoners of war, seeing as how I appear to be a prisoner."
"I believe, given your history, Elidion would forgive me for roughing you up a little," Reno replied, pushing both blades into Mutes neck, starting two trickles of blood.
Mute laughed. "I'm sure they would!" he said, accenting the last word with a kick to Reno's left leg.
As Reno collapsed to the ground, Mute grabbed his sword out of Reno's hand.
"On the other hand," he said, no standing over Reno, "Renegades don't believe in taking prisoners."
Stabbing downward, Mute's blow was met by a desperate slash of Reno's sword.
"Parylasi!" countered Reno. Mute's body suddenly contorted in pain, and he fell to the ground again.
Unfortunately, the spell only paralyzed Mute's body, so he was still able to mentally cast fireballs at Reno.
Both were on the ground for two breathless minutes, long enough for Mute's paralysis to wear off. Mute was the first to rise, and he laughed as he walked towards Reno.
"You fight well, Elidiocan. But you are not good enough to beat me. Now, old friend, You will die. Akromanda!"
"Infern-!" Reno's spell was cut short when Mute's shadowy unleash drove its' sword into his chest.
Mute continued to laugh as he approached the fallen Elidiocan. He stopped a few feet away from the fallen Adept, still bleeding from the two wounds on his neck.
"Not so sure of yourself, are you, Mute?" asked Reno. His opponent's pause had given him enough time to climb back to his feet.
The battle renewed, Reno let Mute push him backwards towards a hill. As they fought up the slope, Reno, who had the high ground, suddenly stopped and leaped high into the air. As he passed over Mute, he drove his sword towards his head. At the same time, Mute aimed his sword up, towards Reno's airborne body.
Both swords found their marks. Reno's sword cut a large gash in the back of Mute's neck, causing him to instantly fall over. Mute's sword became lodged deep in Reno's chest. Mute retained consciousness long enough to teleport to some unknown destination, but Reno never had the time.
Niepdre flew down to offer his aid, but Reno's wounds killed him before the falcon could get there. As he died, he took comfort knowing that he had almost certainly mortally wounded his foe.
"A heavy price," he mumbled, "but well worth it."
Niepdre let out a final, doleful cry and flew off into the sky.
----------
Goraban's face held a look of triumph as he walked through the streets of Haldiar. The invasion had met with very little resistance, and Haldiar had yet to mount a sizeable defense.
"He was overconfident," muttered Descantes. "His entire army is still at Chilaquand."
"He thought he could crush you easily," replied Delantig. "He expected little resistance there, and none here."
A firefight erupted as they encountered a small pocket of resistance. They had seen less then a dozen of these, and the constituents of the resistance were often scared citizens, although one or two small companies of garrisoned troops had already been defeated. Goraban had expected and prepared for more, and thus his army looked like overkill. However, as Cando radioed in from above the planet, he was glad of his army's size.
"Patriarch, we have trouble."
"What is it, Cando?"
"Cladlen scout force, inbound in Sector Ten. They haven't seen me yet, though, so our presence is still a surprise."
"Wait to engage them, General. Don't give them any reason to attack."
"Agreed, Patriarch. I'm reading their transmissions now. Cando out."
----------
A lone Renegade stood on the Cladlen ship's bridge, apologizing profusely.
"I am sorry for that. He was quite rude."
Captain Iishe, leader of the Cladlen's home defense force, stood raging. "He's an overconfident, pompous fool! He knows damn well that he won't stand for five minutes against anything Elephande left there!"
"If it comforts you any, Captain, he won't listen to my words either. He has a history with Anegon, and he considers it a personal matter. The fact that his second is a girl of Anegon irks him to no end, I can assure you."
Iishe laughed. "Tell me, Miran, does he have any redeeming qualities?"
"Just one. He is quite charismatic, as you have seen. It's one of the qualities that caught Mute's eyes in the first place."
"And you? If you are from Anegon, how were you drawn into the Renegades?"
"They had already held me against my will for three years when I was given this dubious honor. Mute seemed to forget my origins and thought that a girl might have more control over Xavier. Not true at all."
"A bad idea, then?"
"Quite. I was from Anegon. Xavier took it as an insult that an Adept of Anegon had been placed as his second in command. Besides, Mute is the only one who can keep him on a leash."
"And Mute liked to keep him on a leash because he was afraid that Xavier would spark a rebellion against him."
"You catch on quick, Captain."
Iishe chuckled for a moment, but then stopped. "Wait," he said. "Something's not right here."
"What is it?" asked Miran.
"Commander Fradi! Where are the orbital stations?"
Fradi just stared at his screen. He looked up at Iishe, and said, "They appear to have been destroyed, sir."
Another officer, Commander Sulphis, spoke out. "Captain Iishe!"
Iishe looked worried now, but his answer was terse. "What is it, Commander?"
"We're being hailed, sir. Shall I bring it up?"
Iishe now looked visibly shaken as he gazed out over the blue-brown orb of Cladlenia.
"Captain Iishe?"
Iishe remained silent, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. Miran moved next to him.
"Captain?" she asked. "Shall we reply?"
When Iishe turned to face her, he was calm. "Yes. Commander Sulphis, start the transmission."
----------
General Cando looked at the viewscreen, quietly studying the faces of the Cladlen Captain Iishe and the Renegade leader Miran. Iishe's face showed both fear and fury, and it appeared that the fear was a recent addition. Cando liked that a lot. It would make it easier to work with him.
However, the female Adept, introduced as the Renegade leader Miran, might be another issue. Her brown eyes stared right back at Cando in a look of determined defiance. Obviously, she had less fear than her Cladlen counterpart. Cando laughed, and completed the introduction.
"I am Relendiac-General-Cando, currently head of the Indosyne Expeditionary fleet. We have put this planet under new management."
Iishe now laughed, and replied, "Obviously, you are a self-made general who escaped the massacre at Chilaquand."
Cando's smile was still visible, mocking the Cladlen leader. "Obviously, you were not at Chilaquand, or you would know the news. The Army of Frontain, under the command of Allysulia-Patriarch-Elephande, has routed Askinqua on the plains of Chilaquand."
Iishe's face turned to rage. "You lie!"
"I don't. Askinqua was killed in single combat by the General of Anegon."
Iishe didn't even bother to answer this comment, but Miran's face showed that she recognized the name. She turned towards Iishe, whispering "I believe him. The one they call the General was one of my closest friends. They say his power has grown exponentially in the past four years."
"He's the one Xavier's pissed at, I suppose?"
"Yes. Their feud is eclipsed by only one other."
Iishe sighed, and turned back to Cando. "I suppose there are terms?"
"Yes, Captain, there are. Land in the Haldiar Spaceport. Patriarch Goraban will meet you there."
"Agreed," replied Iishe, and the screen went blank.
The Cladlen bridge was deathly quiet as Commander Sulphis set a course towards Haldiar.
Iishe sighed. "It was my job to protect the planet. My job, and that damned fool conned me into taking him to Anegon, leaving the planet wide open. Besides, I've heard of the brutality of Elephande's 'terms,' and it's not something I look forward to. I have failed, Miran."
"There is still hope," she said softly. "Elephande is much nicer than Askinqua makes him out to be."
"He killed Askinqua, though! We were lucky Askinqua advocated the cloning and memory storage technology, otherwise, our triumphant return would have been impossible."
"You sound just like the rest of them now, Iishe. You have told me of the Haldrian legends, of your people's suppression. Now let me tell you another story. The first time they met, Askinqua refused to surrender, instead letting almost his entire army die in another rout. He and Elephande met in single combat that day, and Elephande defeated him. Given a choice between surrender and death, Askinqua chose the latter, and Elephande reluctantly obliged him."
"So he lied?"
"You, a Haldrian, have to ask me that? The entire purpose of this campaign was revenge. Killing Elephande would alleviate his humiliation. There never was nobility in any of his causes."
"He was a fool, then, as my father told me. We shall surrender honorably, and I will dismantle that damn machine myself!"
"Good, my friend. You will fare as Sulit-Aladan did after Balecroft."
"I will warn you now: not many of my people will surrender. Running and hiding is better to their cause. Delanate will do his best to sow the seeds of a new conflict someday."
"There are a few in every group, Captain Iishe."
Iishe nodded to Commander Sulphis, who was beaming. Sulphis spoke over the ship's intercom.
"Attention all Cladlen forces, this is Commander Sulphis speaking. An honorable surrender has been offered, and we are descending towards Haldiar to meet and discuss terms. Those who feel this is not to their liking, you will be allowed to leave on transports. Everyone else, we will land in about fifteen minutes."
What happened next surprised everyone. Cheers erupted across the three Cladlen ships as the end of hostilities was celebrated. Even the few Renegades scattered throughout the small convoy cheered. Iishe and Sulphis were laughing and talking of how perhaps peace would bring change to the Haldrian people, and Miran smiled because she knew she would soon be reunited with her friends.
----------
Upon landing, Captain Iishe had only one request of Goraban.
"Patriarch Goraban, my troops are exhausted. If at all possible, we would like to rest before the talks."
"All right then. Where were you quartered?"
"We were with the rest of the troops: in the main base, at the center of the city. I'll show you."
As Iishe led Goraban through the streets of Haldiar, an amazing event happened. Iishe and his two thousand troops were joined by Cladlen who had been fighting Goraban's forces minutes ago. As they got closer to the base, the Cladlen numbers swelled to near four thousand. All were offered the same terms by Goraban, and all accepted.
Iishe took it on his honor to guard the base himself, and Goraban let him, posting only a small guard of Relendiac soldiers. Both Goraban and Delantig were impressed with the control Iishe was able to keep amongst the Cladlen forces. Instead of spending his time dwelling on his failures, the Cladlen leader tried to preserve the fragile peace.
Two days later, Iishe agreed to talk. In what had once been Askinqua's war room, Iishe and the other Cladlen leaders formally handed their commands over to Goraban.
"I will say, it is kind of strange. For twenty-five years, I was told that the Cladlen were the only people who deserved to lead the universe," said Iishe.
"All races have the right to rule, Iishe," replied Delantig. "Askinqua had a good vision, but his desire to achieve it was misguided."
Delantig looked a bit uneasy, but Goraban continued for him. "No one power deserves to hold dominion over all. That, however, is precisely what Askinqua wished, and an alliance was formed of those who would try to prevent that."
"And the alliance was successful," Iishe finished.
Another Cladlen leader spoke up. "How do we know that this power won't try to hold dominion over all?"
"We don't," replied Goraban. "We can only hope they won't."
"We understand our mistakes," said Iishe. "But other's will refuse to see them, and they will give you trouble down the road."
"We'll worry about that when it comes," said Goraban, "but Indosyne will keep that in mind."
----------
Miran had slipped away from the ceremony and sat down in a small room adjacent to the war room. Despite being quartered in a well-kept officer's room, she had been without sleep for four days. The first two were because of Xavier's rashness, and the other two were spent remembering her life before this conflict. A single vision was running through her mind: the group that would become the nucleus of Anegon's Company before Xavier ever attacked the city. She was there, as were others, including Richard, Cyrus, and…
"It's been a while, Miran."
She sat back up, looking at one of the faces that had just played across her memory. After the initial shock of seeing him wore off, she stood up to greet him.
"Allen! I had hoped to see at least one of you!"
"We had been hoping for four years, my friend," Allen replied. Turning down the hall, he called for Cyrus, who appeared in about five seconds, embracing Miran.
Allen spoke from the ground; seeing as how Cyrus had knocked him down to get to Miran. "So, where were you these past years?"
"Not where I wanted to be, that's for sure. But it is a long story."
"Knowing these ceremonies, we have time," laughed Cyrus.
"It was Xavier," she began. "His rashness prompted Mute to think that I could keep him in check. So, in the span of a few words, I went from being a prisoner to being that idiot's second. Luckily for me, I wasn't transferred until after Reno killed him the first time. Mute just rescinded his word and the Renegades kept me locked up for three more years."
As she paused, Cyrus and Allen shared a glance, now even gladder that Xavier had been disposed of.
"What are you doing here then?"
"I was getting there, Cyrus."
"Yeah, Cyrus," laughed Allen. "Have patience." At those words, Cyrus rolled his eyes and punched Allen's shoulder.
"Some things never change, do they?" asked Miran, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, because Mute had signed some treaty with Askinqua and the Cladlen, he had access to Cladlen biotechnology."
"Following Askinqua's orders two centuries ago, Cladlen scientists perfected very advanced cloning technology, which, along with some sort of memory-storing device, allowed both Reno and Xavier to return to life with all the memories they had at their death."
Miran paused again, then continued. "One of Mute's first decisions was to give me a choice: I could again agree to be Xavier's second, or I could die a slow and painful death. As much as I despise Xavier, the former was the wiser choice. So, to his chagrin, I became the second to Xavier of Vesuvia," Miran laughed. "I was his complete opposite. By simply keeping the values I hold dearly, I succeeded better than anyone could have imagined. Even though Xavier didn't heed my advice, most of his soldiers did. It was that fact that kept half his army with me when he went to attack Anegon."
"We thank you for that," said Cyrus. "We barely defeated him with the strength he had."
"When he descended to the planet, Captain Iishe decided that if he was pompous and foolishly confident to refuse his help, he would leave him down there, open to whatever Elephande retaliated with. Of course, you know the rest."
"I don't think Xavier knew you had left him down there," replied Allen. "He seemed very confident that he would annihilate us."
"Yeah," agreed Cyrus. "He bragged about not even having his full strength to oppose us."
Miran started to reply, but an outburst of noise drowned her out.
"They must have signed the treaty," said Cyrus.
Descantes's head appeared in the door. "Get down here quick!" he said.
Shocked by his tone, Cyrus, Allen and Miran followed Descantes back to the war room. Several Cladlen officers had refused to hand over their weapons, and had them aimed at Cando, Ashto and Goraban, who weren't backing down. Captain Iishe and two others had their weapons pointed at the insurgents, but were unsure of how to proceed.
One of the insurgents saw Cyrus run in, and fired at him. Cyrus saw it, and felt his mind go into slow motion.
"Prota-" he said, but Descantes had already blocked the shot and fell to the ground.
Iishe nodded, and the three officers opened fire at the insurgents, incapacitating them quickly. Goraban spoke as they moved to gather the weapons.
"Get Descantes to a medic," he said to one of his aides.
Descantes scoffed, and tried to stand up. "I'm not hurt back. I can go myself."
"Fine," laughed Goraban as Descantes left the room. "Keep your dignity."
As Iishe led the would-be traitors from the room, Goraban sighed.
"I'll notify Akula," he said. "Tell Delantig he's need in here."
"We'll do it," said Cyrus, and the three Adepts left the room.
"The rest of you, get some sleep," ordered Goraban. "It's been a long day."
"What of the traitors, Patriarch?" asked Cando.
"They have not impeded our triumph," he replied. "Iishe has vowed to handle this, and I trust him."
"Right. Our job is complete."
"Agreed. You're dismissed, Generals."
Ashto left the room quickly.
"What is it, General Cando?"
"If you don't mind, Patriarch," he said, "I'd like to stay. I'm not really that tired."
"You're lying, but I don't mind if you stay. Besides, you know more about their orbital defenses. You can brief the Commanders on that subject."
Cando groaned, and Goraban was trying not to laugh.
"You asked to stay, so I'm giving you something to do. Get to work."
Cando nodded, and moved out into the hallway.
"Captain Jakob!"
One of Goraban's aides came into the room. "Yes, Patriarch?"
"Set up the transmitter in here. Start a message to the Commanders at Frontain."
"Right away, Patriarch."
As Captain Jakob was keying in the coordinates, General Delantig walked in.
"Am I late, Patriarch?"
"No, General. You're actually a bit early."
"Good."
"Alright, it's ready."
"Start transmission."
