After Zayd explained his experience with the Mech Destroyer system, Eirian spent several minutes processing what she’d learned about the relic. “I need data,” she finally said, her eyes roaming over Zayd like she was examining a side of beef to select her favorite cut. “For now, you tell no one about the relic or how it operates. I’m going to discuss this with Lady Nimue. While I wouldn’t care to measure something as subjective as ‘Beauty’, the rest of this is quantifiable. I want to be able to translate the numbers it’s giving you into something real,” she said. “We need to establish a better baseline for evaluating your evolution anyway.” With a wave of her hand, a soft tone sounded.
Moments later, the door to the lab opened to admit a simply dressed, incredibly handsome man with ice-blue hair worn in a long braid. “Priestess,” he said humbly, touching his eyes and lowering his head as he waited for instructions.
“Zayd, this is Acolyte Eion. Be nice to him, he’s the only acolyte I have left after the nightmare we just went through,” the priestess said. “Eion, this is Zayd. He has sworn to serve Lady Nimue as her Champion but he has much to learn before he can discharge his duties. I want you to put him through a complete evaluation, of strength, reflexes, spatial processing, logic, and reasoning, all of it. I need to plan for his evolution and for that, I need good data. While you conduct the examination, you are permitted to answer his questions as long as they don’t touch on any secrets,” she explained.
“I understand Priestess Eirian. Your will be done,” the acolyte said formally, touching his fingertips to his brows and giving a slight bow.
The acolyte wasted no time, subjecting Zayd to an exhausting battery of tests of nearly every conceivable measurement of his capabilities. Some of it felt like entrance exams he’d been through after he washed out of the Zed-Alpha program and had to apply to ordinary schools to finish his education. Other elements felt like the most comprehensive physical exam he’d ever received. Reaction time, visual acuity, and even olfactory sensitivity were tested.
Throughout the test, he was able to ask Eion several harmless questions and concealed within them, several less harmless ones. He learned that Fae had difficulty reproducing naturally, especially Noble Fae like Lady Nimue. According to the acolyte, not only were potential couples evaluated for genetic compatibility and the likelihood that their children would maintain or enhance the strength of specific traits, but it often required artificial interventions to ensure that conception was successful and that the resulting pregnancy was viable. The practice had become so ingrained in Fae society that even families of humble origins like Acolyte Eion needed to avail themselves of those services in order to have more than one successful childbirth. After asking how many people Eion had grown up with he followed up with a more useful question.
“So going from such a small family to a ship like this, was it hard to make a transition like that? There must be thousands of people onboard,” Zayd said as he strained against yet another pressure plate to measure the strength of a different set of muscles than the last one.
“Oh no, there aren’t that many people aboard the Spear of Destiny,” Eion said easily. “She’s actually a very small ship when you think about it. A third of her size is dedicated just to propulsion. When you add the science labs, the equipment storage, the shuttles, and other small craft, all the space gets filled very quickly. Before,” Eion paused a moment, his voice catching in his throat. “Before we lost people in battle, there were only two hundred and fifty people aboard the ship. Besides,” he said, trying to move away from the painful topic. “As an Acolyte, my duty is to serve Priestess Eirian. I don’t really have a place in most ships' functions. Those who serve the temple keep mostly to themselves so it wasn’t that different from being at home with my parents and siblings.”
“I’ve seen the battle damage on the hull,” Zayd said, carefully observing the acolyte for his reactions. “It must have been hard.” The statement was generic enough, but Zayd had no clue how these Fae handled death in combat. Did they throw their soldiers into bloody battle to accumulate honor and glorious deaths? Was each battle reluctantly fought and each death mourned? He didn’t know but it would have a huge impact on how they treated him.
“It has been hard,” Eion confessed, pausing as Zayd picked at a wound that was still raw. “You have to understand, even though everyone aboard signed up to take risks in the unexplored sectors, not everyone is a warrior. In the Imperium, most internal conflicts are fought between Champions. It lets us preserve our populations and ensures that the percentage of genetic legacies lost to internal conflict is kept to a minimum. Aliens don’t care about such polite rules though,” he said, hanging his head. “We brought a full flight of soldiers, and an entire fist of mech pilots, but the, the beasts that attacked our ship didn’t restrain their slaughter to our soldiers,” he continued, his pale gray eyes becoming distant. “We were still inspecting the ruins when they attacked. They killed anyone on the ground, soldier, scientist, cleric, it didn’t seem to matter. We,” he hesitated, his throat tightening as he tried to speak further. “We all lost people we cared about.”
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“Who attacked you? Who would do something like slaughtering a bunch of archaeologists?”
“We call them the Beithioch. They have no homeworld, at least, not anymore,” Eion explained, rubbing a tear away from his eyes. “They build fleets of whatever starships they can build or steal and wander the stars preying off of other civilizations. If they’d captured us, they’d have taken the Spear of Destiny for their fleet and anyone they captured alive would be given the option to join them or die. There are dozens of Beithioch fleets out there,” the acolyte said, a trace of hatred creeping into his otherwise gentle voice. “But one day, I hope to see the one that did this to us torn apart and dropped into the nearest star!”
“So, as Lady Nimue’s Champion, I’ll be expected to fight these Beithioch?” Zayd asked pointedly. “Do you want me to help you take revenge on these Beithioch?” He knew Lady Nimue had enemies of some sort, and enemies powerful enough to damage even a ship as advanced as hers. What he hadn’t realized was how terrifying those enemies might turn out to be. The image that Eion painted of vast fleets that grew every time they successfully seized the ships and crew of their victims was chilling. If they were lucky, the resulting fleet would be too hodge-podge to fight under a unified command structure and factional differences would blunt their effectiveness as soldiers. If they weren’t however, if they were able to perfectly integrate their conquered victims and to leverage their unique strengths, the resulting fighting force could be terrifyingly adaptable in a wide variety of combat applications. While Zayd hoped that it was the former, the damage to the Spear of Destiny made him wonder if it was the latter and if he would soon be embarking on a campaign to win back honor for the slain members of the ship’s crew.
“That’s up to Lady Nimue,” Eion said, helping Zayd up and moving him to the next test. “Not every Champion is given the authority to command troops. If she wants to fight the Beithioch, she’ll need dozens of mechs and hundreds of soldiers at a minimum, and that’s just to match the firepower of the fleet that caught us. If you’ve evolved enough by then, you may be sent to fight their elite troops and mech pilots even if you don’t command the assault,” the acolyte explained, his gray eyes gleaming as he imagined the carnage of a powerful Champion tearing through the fleet that had claimed the lives of his closest friends aboard the ship.
“A Champion serves at the pleasure of their Lord or Lady,” Eion finally said, setting aside his own desires for revenge as he focused on his work. As much as he hoped this strange Champion could accomplish in the future and as much as he wanted to see the Beithioch fleet burn, at the moment, it could only be a distant fantasy. “Lady Nimue will expect you to fight whoever stands against her, whenever she requires it of you. Mostly though, it should be duels and challenges between other houses after we return to the Imperium. It will take some time before she’s able to prepare another venture like this one that takes us through so much hostile territory. While her power and position are on a level you and I may never reach, she is still only the third daughter of the House of Gael. Her responsibilities to command the military forces of the House of Gael are limited. If she was the first-born, things would be a lot harder.”
“So, being a Champion means I’m basically just a hired fighter, a glorified gladiator that might fight in real battles if there’s not a better option available,” Zayd summed up his understanding. Truthfully, the idea didn’t bother him very much. In larger battles, the contributions of individual soldiers could be greatly minimized when the forces clashing reached a certain scale. Worse, no matter how talented or capable he was, an overwhelming enemy bombardment could decimate whole armies without the individual soldier having the chance to fight back against their doom. Fighting as a gladiator, Zayd felt he would at least have more control over his own life and death. If it was a match of skill at combat, he was willing to wager his life on his own capabilities, especially now that he would be gaining the assistance of the powerful relic.
“Well, that’s half of it at least,” Eion said, setting up the next test and explaining it to Zayd carefully. “There’s also a lot of ceremonial responsibility and more. A Champion is a direct representation of their Lord or Lady. You can speak with her voice to execute her will. Your sword is her proof of strength that the words she speaks or the ones you speak on her behalf, can be trusted. A Champion is one of her most trusted and important retainers,” Eion explained. “I don’t know why she chose someone like you. To be honest, your performance in these tests is mostly inferior to the candidates she brought on this expedition. As soon as we return to civilized space and they’re able to enter advanced healing pods, either of the mech pilots onboard could easily overwhelm you in a fight. But since she chose you, and since Priestess Eirian supports you, I’ll do my best to help you too.”
“Thanks,” Zayd said, extending a hand to the other man. “It’s good to have a friend.”
“We’re not friends,” Eion corrected, even though he accepted Zayd’s handshake. It was far too soon after the Beithioch attack and the death of his closest friends for him to open himself to new friends and the pain that would come from losing them. “But I don’t mind being your ally. As long as you’re useful to Lady Nimue and Priestess Eirian, you’ll have my support too.”
“Fair,” Zayd said with a slight smile. Friendship, it seemed, was too much to ask, but he’d at least gained an ally.