As soon as Vit’r’an entered the pool he felt the soft bites of Rasari, the fish that Ra’a’zani used for cleaning, eating the filth of his body. Looking down in the water he saw that these were yellow in color and not the muddy brown of the altered fish that they transferred from their home world to the other worlds.
“How does it feel?” Tig’r’an asked.
“It feels… Right.” Vit’r’an answered.
Tig’r’an showed his teeth in a Ra’a’zani smile. “Yes.” He said then closed his eyes.
For some time they remained silent, enjoying the feel of the water and the soft bites of the fish. And then Tig’r’an moved and drew closer to Vit’r’an.
“There has been a development.” He started, “Clan Ravinan has encountered another high intelligence race.” Tig’r’an said.
Vit’r’an moved and looked at Tig’r’an. “Another slave race?” Already he was thinking what the repercussions of such a discovery would be. The clan Ravinan was a minor clan before, but now with the influx of slaves and most likely materials that would change, the discovery alone might make them one of the core. “That will have a great effect on the core. Another slave race wi—”
“No.” Tig’r’an interrupted. “Not another slave race.” He said.
“What do you mean?” Confused, Vit’r’an asked.
“The ships Ravinan sent to conquer the new world were destroyed.” Tig’r’an said, and continued before Vit’r’an could interject, “This new race are not like the others we found before. They had ships, that could travel the great void between the stars. And everything we learned until now suggest that they were not contained on a single world. They have more, the same as us.”
“But, that is impossible.” Vit’r’an said.
Tig’r’an smiled. “Not impossible, the clan leaders knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later. That is why we still build warships such as the Law of Ooruvan. We were fortunate not to have met any race that was our match until now. But this race… They didn’t just destroyed the Ravinan ships, they went on an offensive, they conquered two of Ravinan outer worlds and destroyed the Ravinan main fleet. The clans agree that they are a threat to all Ra’a’zani.”
Stunned, Vit’r’an barely managed to ask another question. “Why are you here then?”
“There has been talks between the clans, for the first time in a thousand of rotations the unification of the Ra’a’zani clans has been proposed.” Tig’r’an said.
“They can’t be that much of a threat! Clan Ooruvan alone holds a thousand warships! Three times as much as the Ravinan, and they have no ship bigger than a battleship!” Vit’r’an said angrily standing up in the pool.
Tig’r’an watched him calmly. “Sit down Vit’r’an.”
The tone of the command snapped Vit’r’an out of his anger and he lowered himself down into the water. “Apologies Elder.” He said with a bowed head.
Tig’r’an watched him for a moment before acknowledging Vit’r’an’s apology.
“I have seen the records of the battle Vit’r’an. Those ships of theirs ripped Ravinan fleet apart. Ravinan ships did inflict damage upon them, even destroyed a few. But the battle favored their side greatly. And we don’t know how big their territory is or how many battle ready ships they have. The Rakar has decided, and the Elders agree with him, we need to focus on our holdings in the core, strengthening our positions and building more ships.” Tig’r’an paused for a second before continuing, “A joint fleet has been proposed amongst the clans. And we will need every available ship back home. It has been decided that we will abandon this system.”
“Sire please, I understand that the situation is dire, but a few ships can’t possibly make a difference. And this system gives us access to a lot of materials—”
“No Vit’r’an. It isn’t enough. You have done well, and I have made sure that you will not lose any influence amongst the other Dakars. But this system is nowhere near the development level of our other mining systems. It has great resources, but its infrastructure is nowhere near capable enough to support our future demands.”
“What about our obligations to the other clans? And what of the slaves?” Vit’r’an said.
“The clans that have standing orders have already been reimbursed from other systems, and the rest will come from what you have mined until now. We will load everything you have on hand into the five cargo ships, and I will leave five for you to fill before abandoning the system. And as for the slaves, the last five cargo ships have been modified to carry slaves. We will take all of your breeding groups, and some of the ones raised by us. With them and those we have back in the core we will have enough to breed a lot more.” Tig’r’an said.
“And what of the rest? Are we just going to leave them unsupervised?”
“Of course not.” Tig’r’an said barring his wicked teeth. “I have brought an Destra’ka for your ship.”
Vit’r’an looked at the wicked teeth of his sire, stunned and unable to find any words.
“Just the reaction I expected.” Tig’r’an said, snapping Vit’r’an out of his trance.
“Destra’ka? Have you gone mad? It hasn’t been used in a two thousand rotations, just the fact that you built another is enough for the other clans to turn against us should they find out.”
“They will not know. Destra’ka is undetectable unless you see it used, and our clan will be the only one in the system when you do so. Besides, there are many things that can cause the same effect as a Destra’ka. They will not have enough evidence to accuse us, assuming that any clan sends ships here afterwards.”
“As you wish sire.” Vit’r’an said, knowing that his opinion mattered little.
“Good. I leave as soon as we transfer the cargo, I will also take the other ships in the system. Only your flagship will remain with your transports and my cargo ships. You have a year to fill the ships with as much as you can and set for the core. Use the Destra’ka before you leave.” Tig’r’an ordered.
“Yes, Elder.”
Chapter Six
Four days later – Sedna
“My God. Look at that monstrosity.” Igor Akulov said, in the middle of the table was the hologram of the three ships that entered the system a few days ago. The entire leadership of the resistance was still at Sedna, they were still in the beginning fazes of the planning. And also until the fabricators built enough FTL comms for all of them, it was better for them to be close. The Ra’a’zani thankfully didn’t have the ability to detect the FTL comms, at least not that they were aware of. But Asumy also assured Jacob that even if they could detect it in space they would be unable to do so on Earth, too much interference.
“Did we have any idea that they had something like this?” Anissa asked the table.
Everyone around the table shook their head, including Jacob.
“We have never really managed to hack into their secured computers. Everything we know is from the unsecured ones and from what we managed to get by eavesdropping.” Jacob said.
“So what are we going to do now?” Oliver Eldritch asked.
“We need to warn Olympus. The odds are now turned against them. There is no way they can fight off eight ships with their ten, not when three of them are bigger than all of theirs combined.” Jennifer Williams said.
“Come now, let’s not be hasty. There is no need to alarm them just yet.” Akulov said.