Saying that anyone won a war like that with Ekict was never really true. What was an acceptable amount of losses in such a situation? In Anton’s opinion, nothing good came of the war. The current situation on Ekict where the average individual had greater autonomy didn’t require a war, and though Anton was confident it would continue to develop nobody could truly predict the future.
Lives were lost, and the main change to Weos, Rutera, and Ceretos was to restrict access. Greater security was theoretically good, but the fact that people felt they needed it meant it was only negative. Not that there were all that many systems they were interacting with on a regular basis. There were the three systems of the Sylanis cluster- they remained at peace even now, though there had been tension during the duration of the war with Ekict.
Beyond that, there was Gnadus. A frozen planet with the total population of a mid sized city. Some individuals chose to leave, while others chose to go to Gnadus for training. The harsh environment was favored by some, and while having the choice to leave via means other than ascension might make people ‘soft’, Anton thought it was better for people to be soft and alive. At least those who couldn’t handle the life of a dedicated cultivator, and the great intensity it sometimes required.
Then there was Doruma, just barely poking out of their shell in the decades after the last invasion from the upper realms. They were insular to begin with, so having another excuse to remain isolated set back the progress of befriending them on a wider level significantly. They had never opened their borders for visitation to begin with, and their location was officially kept secret at their request.
Shrenn and Tenoun’a were four times as far away as Ekict, half of the way to Azun and In’istra. Thus, it was impractical to interface with them in any capacity. Even simple messages could take a long time to arrive. They were still busy healing from their long centuries of strife, so they also didn’t have much interested in dealing with outsiders.
Beyond that, there were a few systems within a few dozen lightyears that had some signs of life. Establishing contact with them would now be much more cautious. A greater secrecy on one side would also lead to slower developments of any future relationships in either direction.
Anton hated to see such a level of distrust and discord, but perhaps he was simply biased by how simple things had been with Rutera and Weos. Aside from an infestation of upper realms spies, Weos had been quite cooperative. And Rutera was truly friendly from the very beginning, even when they had reason to be afraid of Ceretos’ power. Hoping that things would continue so smoothly in the future was overly optimistic.
-----
The Sergeant was late. Even she could admit that, having delayed until the last wave of void ants returning to their home systems. And she hadn’t wanted to go, because Anishka still remained with Ekict. It was her relatively weakness that allowed them to trust her, and that was exactly why she needed protection. But while the Sergeant had gained the support of other void ants and even some Royal Guard, she had to report back eventually. And she had promised to answer for her disobedience of orders.
She had followed her truthful interpretation of the Great Queen’s orders, but pushing that to the point of disobeying Royal Guard with a different interpretation… well, it was up to the Great Queen to decide what would happen. Disobeying orders in theory could be punished by death. In practice, it simply wasn’t done. That was why the Lieutenant and the Royal Guard had been so confused. A sergeant wasn’t even supposed to have her own interpretation of orders. And the Sergeant understood that.
Void ants were social creatures. They lived in great colonies of millions or more, but the Sergeant had thought she would be approaching the Great Queen alone. She was wrong. At least, her squad approached as far as protocol allowed, the Royal Guard following her to the Great Queen’s very audience chamber before letting her approach the final steps on her own.
It was intimidating, to look up at the Great Queen’s form. The size disparity was even more than with the Royal Guard. In each dimension she was nearly twenty times the Sergeant’s size, making her not just hundreds of times larger overall but thousands. Physical prowess aside, the Sergeant was well aware of the Great Queen’s intellect.
Three steps at a time she approached. She felt a fearsome awe. She would accept whatever judgment came… yet at the same time the Sergeant knew she would try to sway that judgment despite her own limited mental faculties. She approached the Great Queen.
“Report,” came the simple command.
“This one presents the report of a completed mission, though the main objectives of this one’s mission are now redundant and satisfied by others. This one regrets not being sufficiently capable so as to uncover signs of treachery before Ekict acted. The suitability for habitation is of course well enough known now- though it is unlikely the locals would be interested in a colony. Thus, only the tertiary objectives were meaningfully accomplished. The princess known as Anishka remains alive and well.”
The Sergeant hesitated. She could not read the posture of the Great Queen. It was not simply that much of her anatomy was hidden, but she also maintained great control. For a moment, she considered lying- by omission only. But if others had reported as she expected, remaining silent would be a certain death sentence, instead of just a probable one.
“During the course of the missions, there were multiple incidents of conflicting instructions. This one interpreted her orders differently from one Lieutenant and then a contingent of Royal Guard. This resulted in a split of command and inflicting injuries upon superior officers due to the resulting confrontations.”
Each motion of the Great Queen seemed as if it might crush the Sergeant- but she had no need to perform such a thing herself. In the end, it was simply communication signs. “So you not only disobeyed direct orders, but also attacked them?” Missing from this was the pheromones that would tell the Sergeant the Great Queen’s feelings. Perhaps she was so filled with anger she worried that she would slay more than just the Sergeant with the intensity.
“I could not disregard my interpretation of the third order. And in this one’s defense, I did not initiate the physical confrontations.”
“But you certainly finished them, incapacitating powerful individuals.”
“This one regrets keeping them from fully accomplishing other duties.”
“Do you know how human cultivators resolve conflicts among themselves?”
“Through logical conversation and peaceful agreement. This one has failed.”
“Yes, our cultivators managed to do so more often than not. But you just experienced a war. Humans fighting and slaying humans. But Void Ants do not fight each other.”
The Great Queen was right, of course. They did not. She had thought on it frequently, over the last months. Ever since her mind began to change. At some point, she somehow forgot that Void Ants didn’t obey out of a sense of duty or fear, but simply because that was what they did. Nobody even thought about defying orders. Just that meant she was broken. “We should not fight each other,” the Sergeant agreed. “This one awaits whatever punishment is deemed fitting.”
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“Do you deserve a punishment?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“For violating orders and harming superiors.”
“And your reasons?”
Was the Great Queen forgetful? No, of course not. She simply wanted the Sergeant to be reminded of the weight of her actions. “This one interpreted that she must continue to protect the Princess at the Great Queen’s orders overriding subsequent orders.”
“Should a soldier be punished for following orders?”
“No.” Of course not. If she had simply gone along, she would not be punished.
“And my orders take priority.”
“Of course. You are the Great Queen. All others are born from you or your daughters.”
“So why should you be punished? You followed my orders, as I expected of you.”
The Sergeant twitched, an involuntary physical response to mental confusion. “My interpretation was correct?”
“Would you have followed if if you thought it wasn’t?”
“No? But then, it would not have been my interpretation.” Right? If she did not think it was correct, she would not have acted upon it. “But higher ranking officers-”
“Here, only my interpretation matters. And I say you will not be punished.”
“This one is grateful for the Great Queen’s mercy.”
“There is no mercy to be given where no wrong has been done. Now then, what shall you do next?”
The Sergeant waited for her orders. And waited. Surely, if there were no orders for her the Great Queen could relay them later, could she not? Wait. “Can this one request being assigned to the princess Anishka again?”
“Why?”
“I still believe her to be in potential danger, and she would need protection.”
“Indeed. She is important. I should assign a Royal Guard to the task.”
“No!” The Sergeant recoiled at her own haste. “This one spoke hastily. She means to say that a Royal Guard may prove insufficient.” But then she might just assign two. “And too obvious.”
“What then should I do?”
“This one is… strong for her size. She would wish to be there personally.”
“A Royal Guard would be better. But assigning too many would be inelegant.”
“How might this one be assigned?”
“Become a Royal Guard. Or…”
“This one is afraid she cannot become a Royal Guard. This one is still barely large enough to be a Sergeant.”
“You have grown. But indeed you will likely never be as big as they are.”
“... There was another option?” Somehow, formality lost her there as the situation overwhelmed her thoughts. She didn’t want to abandon Anishka.
“You could admit why you want to go.”
“What?”
“It is simple. Say it.”
“This one would do well defending Anishka in the future.”
“Merely a statement of fact. It is not a reason. Certainly not yours.”
Why did the Sergeant want to do this? It was fairly simple. But was it even allowed? Ah, but if it was forbidden, then she would simply die. That would be a better option. “Anishka is my friend.”
Stillness. Fear. What would the Great Queen’s reaction be. “Good.” Good? “You did it. Remember to keep that in your mind.”
“That Anishka is this one’s friend?”
Disappointment. That was strangely opposite. “That is half of it. Try not to lose the other half.”
What was the other half? “What is it?” the Sergeant asked timidly.
“If I tell you, I think it will do you no good.” The Great Queen waved her away. “You are free to return to your friend.”
Relief. She had her orders. And she was not dead, which was also preferable. As long as she would not be alone.
-----
Doctor Escarra shook his head. “What is it with your type and treating your bodies like a pile of refuse?”
Anton shrugged, “I don’t know. You made Chikere’s arm, right?”
“And while it was a great advancement, it would still be better for her to have her own arm.” He pursed his lips, “Unless she can learn to be a tech cultivator.”
“I didn’t choose to have these injuries,” Anton pointed out.
“You did make them worse for temporary gains, though.”
“The cuts are clean,” Anton protested. “It was all charred before.”
“Your bones are… fine,” Escarra said. “But your muscles are irreplaceable. And no, I can’t just make you a prosthetic torso.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” Anton said.
“Or ribcage.”
“I understand the damage is significant. I was just referred to you as the most likely option to help.”
“That might be the case,” he said. He leaned forward, “I’m surprised they made such a functional ribcage, given the circumstances. It’ll have to go.” A pause. “I almost expected you to rip it out.”
“Do you want me to? Unlike Chikere, I will wait until you fully explain.”
“Well. I have an idea. We’ve been working on ways to regrow tissues. Consistently, I mean. Obviously there are healing herbs and the like that are processed into medicines. But if those worked for you, you wouldn’t be here.”
“My body is old,” Anton admitted. “And my energy…”
“Is beyond what such things can withstand. Even if you want to let them work, there are limits,” Doctor Escarra nodded. “I heard there are things in the upper realms that can recover anything. I’d love to have a sample. Enes said he’d send a scan if they ever got one, but that’s not the same as having one.”
“Can’t help you there,” Anton said. “I’d disintegrate in the upper realms.”
“I wasn’t asking,” Doctor Escarra shook his head. “So. My team has been working on a method. One that doesn’t require a specific core technique or cultivation rank. And for the moment it’s both monumentally expensive and dangerous.”
“Okay,” Anton said.
“So basically, I’d like to have you try it out. We can cover some of the expenses on our end, but our funding isn’t endless.” Anton nodded. “It will require a lot of work on your end as well. But we might be able to regrow your muscles, using your body as a scaffold. I will admit, your advanced age… will make it more difficult. Though we’ll also get useful data.”
“How long?” Anton asked.
“Months, if you’re extremely lucky. Most likely years, if it works at all.”
“Would I have to remain here the whole time?” Anton asked. “I have things I need to do.”
“If you let us get constant data for… about a year, or until we know for certain if the process is viable, then I suppose that would be sufficient,” Doctor Escarra looked disappointed.
“I could carry monitoring equipment with me.”
“Please do. Though I suppose we can’t have it transmit the data for security reasons.”
“Isn’t this just a healing method?”
“Sure, but I can’t think of anything we need to keep more secure than the precise physical status of our Assimilation cultivators.”
Anton couldn’t disagree, especially considering recent events.