But Nelus and Eran were ruled by the council, it had always been that way. To disobey was unimaginable. And yet Eran could think of nothing else.
“Massar?” Erani’s communications officer said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
“Yes?”
“You have a priority one message from Nelus.”
Erani checked his screens and saw the forwarded message, he was instructed to listen to the message in private. So he got up from his chair and walked over to his ready room, sat down behind his desk and played the message. He was surprised to see that it was a message from Sestar Nimuse of the council.
“Massar Erani. I have chosen to send you this message in secret, bypassing the council, because I believe that this last insanity is the last drop. Nelus can take no more. After Sesatar Jusan left, I have come to realize just how much damage the council was doing to our people. And I started building influence and power in order to change things. But house Nor Ral is too powerful and alone I could do nothing. But you Massar Erani now have the power to change things. This message is a plea. Take action, the council must be disbanded. Help the people take their world back. Whether you do what I know you feel is right or report this message to the council and remain their minion, I will already have started a revolution on Nelus. The people cannot stay silent anymore.”
Stunned Erani looked at the blank screen for several minutes. And then he rose up, he knew what he had to do.
Invictus
Isani sat in the command center of his ship, the remaining Empire ships remained in the system still, except for the Harbinger that had raced back to Sanctuary in order to provide Adrian with the best medical care. He hoped that Adrian would be alright. He knew that using the Watchtower was dangerous, but they had no choice. Without it Isani doubted that they could have defeated the Sowir force. Perhaps they could have, but he was sure that they would have lost more ships.
Isani was in the system because the Empire wanted an explanation for the betrayal of their fleet. The Nelus Council had, like it always does, threatened and started moving the rest of their fleet from Nelus to join the ships that had been fighting the Sowir.
And the Emperor wasn’t amused. Nelus had the advantage in numbers, but their ships were even worse than those of the Sowir, and Isani was fully prepared to pit the remaining third of the Warpath fleet against them. But when the two Nelus forces joined forces they didn’t try to attack the Empire fleet.
Instead the entire fleet turned and headed back to Nelus. The Lighthouse’s sensor drones had intercepted communications between Nelus and the fleet, or rather communication from Nelus to the fleet. The Nelus ships didn’t respond back. To all appearances the Nelus fleet seemed to have gone rogue. One of the drones followed the fleet giving Isani and his ships live feed of what was happening light hours away.
The Nelus fleet reached the effective range of the Nelus defense platforms. One of them even fired on the ships, but the fire ceased within minutes. An enormous amount of chatter was happening between the fleet, the stations, and military installations on the ground. The drone couldn’t get everything but apparently a coup was in progress. The military in concert with the Nelus people rose up against the Council. That was three days ago.
The fighting lasted for two days, but eventually the military and the people overthrew the Council. Another day passed before the people of Nelus sent a message to Isani’s ships. The drone that was close to their fleet and undetectable received the message and passed it on via FTL comms, ahead of the light speed signal that the message was sent in. Isani watched the message, and intrigued by it recorded one of his own. Then he used the drone to send the response back hours before Nelus expected it.
A day later Invictus with an escort of six ships met up with the diplomatic ship from Nelus halfway to the planet. He insisted that their team comes on the Invictus, which they surprisingly agreed to. Isani and his second – Sub Commander Liz Turner sat and waited in the meeting room as the security escorted them through the ship to him. A few minutes later the doors opened and three Nel walked in.
Isani recognized two of them. The one who appeared to be in the lead was Retsar Erani, or at least he was at the time Isani knew him, now his dress told him that he was promoted to Massar – the supreme commander of Nel fleets. The second person he recognized, was Sestar Nimuse of the House Jar Tel, who was now an old woman. The third was a younger man, who Isani didn’t recognize.
Restar – or rather Massar Erani spoke first.
“I didn’t know that Retsar Isani had a son.” He commented.
Isani smiled. “I didn’t.” He said. That confused the two who knew him previously and both of them studied him closely.
The first to respond was Nimuse. “Retsar Isani was in his fifties when Sowir attacked Nuva, he would be my age now. You are obviously in your thirties.”
“It’s just Isani, or Commander Isani now. And yes, you are correct I am eighty seven years old.” Isani said.
“That is impossible.” Erani said.
“The Empire possesses many advances not known to Nelus or the Sowir.” Isani said simply.
“So you have some kind of rejuvenation technology?” Nimuse asked yearningly.
Isani at her feeble form and decided to answer with the truth. “The Empire does have rejuvenation tech, which I have used, but we also possess the means to stop the aging process altogether. I will never lose my young appearance, nor will I physically age.”
“That is absurd! Immortality is a myth!” The third Nel said.
Isani turned to look at him and smiled. He knew that such open usage facial expressions was something that Nel that were not part of the Empire rarely saw outside of family units.
Ereni made a Nel gesture that indicated calmness and restraint to the young Nel. “We are not here to discuss technologies, and what is or is not possible Hishok Tansi.” Ereni said.
Upon hearing the young man’s tittle Isani was surprised. Hishok roughly translated to citizen in standard, and it referred to ordinary people who were not a part of an organized group.
Ereni turned back to Isani and made a gesture signaling apology, surprising Isani yet again. Nel, and especially Nel from Nelus were not known for being humble. Isani answered with the gesture meaning acceptance, and then gestured for them to continue.
Eren visibly relaxed and started speaking. “We would like to open diplomatic talks with the Empire, we are here now hoping to talk with the leader of this fleet.”
Isani frowned. “You’ve been talking to him.” He said.
The three suddenly looked flabbergasted. Isani looked at them as they exchanged looks and glanced at Liz at Isani’s side, who had kept silent. Then Isani realized what surprised them.
“You thought that the leader of this fleet needed to be human.” He stated. Seeing their chagrin, Isani pressed on. “Well, you are right. The commander of this fleet is a human, but he was injured during the fighting and I as his second have assumed command. But the Nel and humans are all members of the Empire and as such have equal rights.”
“We didn’t mean to imply anything, it is just that the last time that we had contact with you we dealt with a human.” Nimuse said.
“As I said, we are all equal in the Empire. Your request for diplomatic talk is accepted. I invite you to stay aboard the Invictus until I inform the Emperor. I am sure that he would want to send an expert negotiation team to speak with you. But I warn you that he is not happy, the actions of your fleet had lost us many lives.” Isani said.