“It isn’t as bad as that. Tomas and I have plans. If it comes to all-out war, we might not match their numbers, but we will have enough to defend ourselves. The good news is that their territory is so large that it will take years for all of them to reach us. The bad news is that they have three Legions close enough that they can attack in six months. The problem is that for my plan to work, I need them to attack with those three Legions before the other Legions arrive,” Adrian said.
“Why?” Johanna asked.
“I want to make peace with them—we need to make peace, but the Shara Daim are not like us. They want to rule the galaxy, and they believe everyone else to be inferior to them. We need to make them see us as their equal, as someone worthy.”
“There must have been other races that have been close to their equal—the Erasi, for example. They did not succeed in changing the way the Shara Daim look at them, so what makes you think that we can?”
“Because the other races were not made by Axull Darr. The entire Shara Daim culture rests on the notion that they are the heirs to the galaxy, descendants of the people who once ruled it, which we are as well. We are not so different from them; our goal is to rule the galaxy as well,” Adrian said.
“But we do not go around eradicating other cultures towards that goal,” Johanna said.
“Don’t we?” Adrian asked. “We might not use destructive weapons, but the result is the same. Any race that joins our Empire leaves who they were behind in order to become something new. We have destroyed cultures of every race that had joined our Empire.”
“Perhaps, but how will you make peace with them?” Johanna asked.
Adrian’s expression turned hard. “I am going to do what the Empire had been doing since its founding: I am going to destroy their civilization. I am going to shatter their belief that they are special, that they are the ones destined to rule the galaxy. I am going to force them to change. And the only way to do that is from within.”
Chapter Four
One month later — April; Year 55 of the Empire—Tarabat—Erasi space
Aileen, Sentinel of the Empire, walked into the small establishment, struggling not to rip the uncomfortable breathing mask off her face. She was in one of Tarabat’s domed cities, built to accommodate races that couldn’t breathe the air of Tarabat. She had spent the last few months on the planet’s surface, expanding the Empire’s influence with the Erasi and other races in the region. But she had also been trying to learn more about the Erasi, their practices and goals.
As she stepped inside, she noticed that the ceiling of the establishment was low, and she had to hunch in order to not hit her head. Before she’d the chance to take more than a few steps in, she was met with a strange insect-like creature which was almost all spindly appendages coming out of two larger round sections. Its head was at the end of a short and somewhat thicker ‘neck’ and was circular with multifaceted eyes and three sets of mandibles above them. Her implant immediately provided her with the information about the alien race on her HUD; its race’s name in its native tongue was unpronounceable by Aileen, and most other races, which was why they simply called them Hav. The alien was wearing the Erasi translation device, as all did here on Tarabat.
“Welcome I-you,” the alien said. The translator might have been an amazing piece of technology, but there existed races whose speech patterns were just too strange to translate precisely. The Hav were one such race.
“Greetings,” Aileen said. “I was told that I might find what I am looking for here.”
“What, looking might you be?” the Hav said.
“Information about the Weavers,” Aileen said slowly.
The Hav froze for a moment, his multifaceted eyes looking at her intently. Aileen reached out gently with her mind, trying to get a feeling of the Hav’s emotions. The Hav did not possess telepathy, which meant that it would be much harder for her to feel anything. But soon enough she got a few snippets from his mind—the Hav was frightened.
“I was sent by Narateth,” Aileen said quickly, and the Hav immediately relaxed upon hearing the name of the Jugat who had become a great help to the Empire’s people on Tarabat.
“Good, should told-know that before,” the Hav said, then turned and started walking towards the back room. “Come.”
Aileen followed and was led into a room that was half filled with some kind of green fog. She stepped inside the larger room, the fog reaching to her hips. The Hav was almost completely submerged, hidden except for its head.
“Here, information is,” the Hav said, and turned and left confused Aileen inside the room. She looked around, seeing nothing but the fog. She reached out with her mind, fearing some kind of a trap. Then something brushed against her mind, just as the surface of the fog rippled. Aileen took a step back and readied herself for a fight when a voice boomed inside her head.
“Fear me not, child,” the voice boomed.
Aileen shuddered at the intensity and the strength of the mind that spoke. “Who are you? Show yourself,” she sent.
The fog rippled again, and a head slowly rose, with a scale-covered, snake-like body following behind. The triangular head with large horns curved backwards rose to look down on Aileen, and the being opened its mouth, allowing her to see three rows of sharp, jagged teeth on both the upper and lower jaws. The being released a surprisingly soft and musical sound from its throat before its jaws closed and it lowered itself to be at eye level with Aileen.
“You may call me Jurr, although that is not my name. Others call my kind the Uraasat, though that is not the name of our kind,” sent the being, Jurr.
“And what is your real name?” Aileen asked curiously.
She felt the being’s amusement. “You would not be able to comprehend it in your tongue; Jurr and Uraasat will suffice. And who might you be, little child?”
“My name is Aileen, from the Empire that has recently made contact with the Erasi,” Aileen responded, embarrassed for not introducing herself immediately.
“Ah, I have heard of your Empire. You who dared kidnap a Shara Daim Dai Sha, whose ship shrugged off Shara Daim attacks and escaped so effortlessly,” Jurr sent, again with the hint of amusement.
“We are planning on returning the Dai Sha to her people soon,” Aileen added, chagrined. Something about this creature made her feel inadequate.
The Uraasat released a rasping sound at the same time as Aileen felt laughter from its mind. “Tell me, what aid might I provide to a people such as yours? Few find my doors without needing knowledge of something special.”
“I wish to know about the Erasi, about their Weavers,” Aileen sent.
“Ahhh… May I ask how you learned about them?”
“Erasi have good security measures, but we have been able to acquire a few snippets of information. We don’t know much, only that they are… instrumental in the Erasi,” Aileen said.
Jurr tilted its head and studied her with its dark red eyes. “The Erasi seem like a great and free society; many different races are allowed to live and trade freely among themselves within its borders, with the Erasi there to ensure that the contracts made are honored. And yet they are not at all what they appear to be.”