“We wish to speak to you about the information you reported, about the Ra’a’zani slave race,” another Elder, this one a woman, said from Anessa’s right.
“The Humans,” Anessa said. “I have not yet been able to find a Ra’a’zani world with these Human slaves on it. The Ra’a’zani we have defeated had made sure that we got no information about their other clans. Three of their clans still live. Until I find them, we cannot be sure that they are the ones that the lore speaks of.”
“We have reviewed what you have found in the Ra’a’zani records,” said one of the male Elders, “and we are certain that they are indeed the same as the ones the lore spoke of. The physical resemblance is undeniable, apart from their strange coloring—but then, the skin of the People is not the same as that of the Shara Daim. They have the blood of the ancients.”
“You wouldn’t have summoned me only to tell me of this,” Anessa said, irritated, partly because of their summons, and partly because of her inability to find the last of the Ra’a’zani.
“No, we have not. We want you to shift the priorities of the First Legion. You need to find the Human homeworld,” an Elder said.
“I was already doing that,” Anessa argued.
“You have been trying to find and kill the Ra’a’zani for their crimes, to punish their arrogance. Finding the Human homeworld was secondary to that task; you were hoping to find out more about them as a byproduct of your conquest.”
Anessa narrowed her eyes at the Elders, whose faces she couldn’t see. “Why are you so adamant about this? Finding these Humans might be interesting—we could test them to learn more about ourselves and how we differ from the People—but aside from that, they would serve no purpose towards our goals.”
“The location of their homeworld is more important than the conquest of the Ra’a’zani,” another Elder said.
Anessa reached for her power; her eyes tingled as power of the Sha flowed into them, revealing the dark room to her sight. “The Humans have allowed themselves to be enslaved; they are weak and deserve no consideration from the true heirs. Their existence only confirms that the lore is truth, and perhaps sometime in the future we will find the last that the lore spoke of. Maybe they will prove themselves worthy. The Humans are not, and I will not allow their existence to hinder me in spilling the blood of our enemy.”
She pointed at the Elders, whose faces she could see clearly now even in the dark. “Marked for death. Pronounced Daksinn by you,” she said calmly, and saw them flinch as power made her voice resonate. “You would have me abandon my honor, my duty? In order to search for slaves?” she finished pointedly, glaring at them, waiting for their response.
She saw them turn to look at one another, felt their minds touch. They conferred privately, and it took all that Anessa had for her not to try and break into their conversation.
Finally, the Elder in the middle turned to look at her. “We apologize, Dai’Sha. We had asked much of you without providing knowledge of the why,” he said.
Anessa held the Sha for a moment more, and then released it. Accepting their apology with a shallow bow of her head, she spoke, “Then let me understand why this is so important to you.”
She watched as he glanced around at the other Elders, and felt more than she saw them shifting uncomfortably before he turned back to look at her. “What we are about to tell you has been a closely guarded secret, known only to the Elders of their times, since the time our people awakened to the Sha.”
Then another Elder, a woman, continued.
“As you know, before our people awakened to the Sha, we were losing the war with the Nazaari over control of our star system. Our history tells the story of how the Sha gave us the power to defeat them. But the truth is a little different,” she said. “Once we gained the Sha, our people heard a beacon and, following it, they discovered a gift left by the one who created our race, Axull Darr of the People.”
Confused, Anessa interrupted, “What do you mean, ‘created’? The lore speaks how we were their direct ancestors, one of three forgotten colonies that got left behind, the last of our kind. It speaks of how our skin changed to accommodate this world, and we lost the Sha only to regain it once we became strong again.”
“The lore was written at a time of hardship, to make us feel special; it is what allowed us unity at a time when we were close to being broken. It allowed us to spread this far and gain strength,” another Elder said.
“And what is the truth?” Anessa asked.
“The truth is that the People were dying; there was only a handful of them left. They tried to prevent their own deaths, but failed. Axull Darr split from the others of his kind because he did not agree with their methods. He created three races, using his own genetic code to mold them. He then placed them on three different worlds, so that they had evolutionary variance. The lore does not lie about everything. We are the heirs to the People who ruled the entire Galaxy. Our blood is their blood.”
“And what does this have to do with the Humans?” Anessa asked.
“As we were saying,” the Elder in the middle continued, “Axull Darr left us a gift. A device containing all the knowledge and technology of the People. It was that technology that allowed us to end the war in our star system, to defeat the Nazaari. But, as the Nazaari neared their end, they learned of the device.” The Elder said regretfully, “With their last strength, they mounted an attack on its location and managed to destroy it.”
Another Elder to her right then spoke. “We lost all the knowledge that the device contained. At the time, we didn’t have the technology to transfer all of that information; what we did transfer were only bits and pieces that barely scratched the surface of what the device contained. And those small remaining pieces of technology that survived are what have made us this strong. Even now, hundreds of years later, we are benefiting from those technologies. It is why other races fear us,” the Elder said.
Anessa studied them for a moment before speaking. “You don’t care about the Humans. You want their device,” she concluded.
“Yes,” the Elder sitting in the middle said hungrily as he leaned forward to look at Anessa. “Axull Darr left a copy of the same device with each of the three races. The Humans have been enslaved by the Ra’a’zani, who had no concept of the Sha when they met with us. That means that the Humans do not have it, and have not yet heard their beacon. Their inheritance is still hidden on their homeworld. And with it, we can finally regain our birthright, and rule this Galaxy.”
PART TWO – INHERITANCE
Chapter Twenty-One
September; Year 53 of the Empire – Warpath
Aileen blocked an attack from her opponent, then pushed in and delivered a direct punch to his chest. Surprised by Aileen’s speed and strength, her opponent took the brunt of the punch, which lifted him off his feet and sent him to the floor on his back. Aileen stood her ground and watched as her opponent got back up on his feet.
The man rubbed his chest for a moment and then brought his hands together at chest level and bowed. “Thank you for the chance to learn from you, Sentinel,” the young Nel adept said.