Later that evening, Eirik was telling his children stories under the stars when Freja came out of the house. She sat down with them and listened alongside her children as Eirik told stories of the gods and heroes of old, and she saw the lights in her son's eyes as they envisioned themselves as mighty warriors dominating the battlefield. Eventually, she declared bedtime, greatly annoying both sons and father. But Eirik, knowing it was the right thing to do, told them to listen to their mother and they soon followed both of them inside to be put to bed. Later still, when Eirik was sitting outside with a small glass of mead, Freja approached once more and took a seat beside him.
"Eirik, you know I think of you as a good provider and a wonderful father of our children." She began, and Eirik already knew where she was going with this. She had touched upon it for the last year, but every time he had managed to find some problem that overshadowed everything. Not thing time, she had picked her moment carefully.
"But..." He started the next sentence for her, it was obvious there was more to her statement.
"Even as an emperor, there is only so much security and anonymity you can provide these children. No matter what you do and how we look at it, they are carrying targets on their back simply by being your sons! And I don't know how I can keep living with the worry that brings with it. Every time there is a shuttle in the distance, I have to tell myself that they have been cleared before approaching, but there is still a voice of doubt. What if they slipped through?" The words were new but the meaning had already been discussed a dozen times.
"I am training them as soon as they are old enough, Freja. At least we have the advantage of hiding behind the most efficient army the galaxy is currently able to muster. Besides, what place in the galaxy is safer than the coming heart of our empire? I might be the emperor, but you are the empress, a person with not insignificant power. Order whatever measures you want in place to secure our children, I pay the expenses gladly. What more can I do for you?" Eirik pleaded. He wished she would see things the way he did, but that was a large part of what he loved in her. Her sense of self-worth and courage to stand by her opinions.
"I want them to not need all those things Eirik! They deserve a normal childhood like you and I had, where the biggest worry at the age of 15 should be finding a date and sneaking out to get drunk on the weekends, not training to one day take over an empire and fight off assassins!" Freja raged against him. She knew she was being unfair, but she also knew there was a hint of truth to her words. She would not always be there to look out for them. Neither would Eirik. She wanted the safety that came with being a nobody.
"...What if the war is finished? Then we can focus on building and growing." It was a long shot but Eirik was grasping at straws. The unspoken alternative would be her leaving and taking the children with her. It was her right, according to ancient tradition. Hel, he would even give her this house and land and move out himself. He would not be able to bear living in the home where his family left him anyway. Better to build something new, somewhere else, instead.
This gave Freja pause, a few moments of silence passing between them. "You have 1 year. After that, I want you out." With that, Freja got up and walked inside, closing the door behind her. She knew Eirik would want time to think.
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Mur'Sai rubbed her head in frustration. Kyr'Tai had not shut up or stopped stomping since she was unceremoniously shoved on board and they had set a course away from the borders of Libertalia. Even now she was ranting loudly about opening fire and launching attacks left and right. If not for the immense political power behind her, she would not have lasted 5 minutes among the other high caste. Her late mother had understood the finesse required for the world of politics and leadership. This young idiot knew nothing except throwing her weight around and bullying anyone that disagreed with her.
The other high caste would play along, for now. But at the moment of truth, they would trickle away, leaving her to fend for herself. And while her rage would be more than enough to make her see anything through to the end, it would not be enough to keep her alive. The casual, almost indifferent dismissal of her attack by Eirik had shown that quite clear. Tai'Tanu on the other hand, now that had been a wonder to behold. She had played the part of the frail old Kloxna for months, never letting slip just how combat capable she had been the entire time. It had been a privilege to witness her last fight and she was happy that Eirik had shown proper respect to a fallen foe. Their rivalry was already becoming a legend among the Kloxna people, the event that started the war they are currently engaged in. The end had been fitting, an old warrior matriarch engaging in one last fight. She had died well and Mur'Say would make sure the true story was told, despite the protests of Kyr'Tai.
Finally, after apparently having ranted enough, Kyr'Tai stomped off, still shouting at anyone and everything, and headed for the training grounds, no doubt to wreak havoc on Mur'Sai's soldiers in sparring matches. No matter. With the very generous gift of gold, she would ask her mother for advice on how to improve the power of their bloodline. Their standing was already supreme as their bloodline was known as dutiful and competent. What they had always lacked was the funding to grow their influence. With the correct investments, that would be a thing of the past, the sack weighing damn near as much as herself. She had already sent word ahead of their arrival, making sure her mother would be waiting with enough forces to keep hold of the sudden wealth she had gotten her claws on. She would not put it past Kyr'Tai to try and seize it by force.
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Eirik spent most of the night sitting outside, his thought dwelling on what could be done and what had been done to bring him to this point. He had chosen the safe route, the defensive approach to conflict. Make a bulwark and let the enemy smash themselves to pieces against it. But, he had also become civilized. Comfortable. Before his sons were born, he would never have allowed an enemy that close to his personal dwelling, no matter the reason. He would never have allowed people he cared about to be subject to such risk. He had lost his edge, and now he stood to lose everything most dear to him, on account of who he had become, as a result of getting the life he wanted.
When the sun started to rise, he heard the front door open and Freja's steps on the ground behind him.
"You never came to bed." She said. It was not an accusation, merely a statement of the fact, and she sat down next to him while she waited for his response.
"I was reaching a realization," Eirik answered and he looked over the fields and trees around him, the rising sun covering everything in a pleasant golden light. "That being that I must stop trying to wage a soft war if I wish to finish it anytime soon. But I am hesitant to do what must be done. The cost will be great, not just in life and materiel, but we might very well lose our souls in the effort to end the war quickly. And I want to end it quickly if it means keeping my family around me, but ultimately, the choice to stay is yours and I will respect whatever decision you make. But if you take my sons from me, I will insist on sending a teacher with them and that you continue their combat training.
I will do my best to comply with your one-year wish, but I cannot win the war alone. Things take time and my empire is still small. In 5 years, provided the stream of recruits does not dry up and that we do not suffer under the brunt of the war, I will have the military power to make demands. Speaking of, I am heading to the office to enact some... changes, to our military policies during the war. It's time the gloves came off."
Without waiting for a reply Eirik got up and moved toward the shuttle that was waiting at the far end of the nearest field.
"When will you be home?" Freja called after him.
"When the win is either won or on its way to being won!" Eirik said without breaking stride and moments later he was on his way toward the spaceport and the seat of his government.
It was a short flight to the port, but It left Eirik enough time to change into the black uniform with golden embroidery that had come to represent the official uniform of his people. He barely had time to step off the shuttle before a small army of messengers, diplomats, representatives from various other governments and more was trying to secure a moment of his time.
For a few moments, he tried making his way past the horde but had to resign himself to it not happening without some kind of interference. It came moments later in the form of a small army of soldiers rushing to create a living wall around Eirik as he made his way further into the port. But instead of heading to the usual collection of offices and guard rooms where most of the official work took place, he made his way toward the hangar that had been turned into a press release center, as well as a gathering point for whenever a general statement needed to be made to foreign dignitaries.
"Summon the diplomats, the army and fleet commanders, the dignitaries as well as the Kloxna representatives. I have an announcement to make." Eirik ordered as he entered the small room that served as a place of peace before he had to face the hordes. He took a few minutes to gather himself, smoked half a cigarette from the pack he had stashed here just for the occasion, and didn't bother leaving it behind when he walked out of the room and stepped up to the single microphone that had been connected to speakers all over the hangar.
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immediately, cameras sprang to life and journalists started shouting questions while everyone else quietly observed him. They knew he was not one to mince words and he would get to the point fairly quickly. Lifting a hand, Eirik waited for silence to settle over the small crowd that had already gathered and which grew by the minute.
"I am not known for my long-winded speeches, nor for my ability to create flowery words of poetry." He began, "So I will make this short and to the point. From this point in time and until the war has ended, Liibertalia will implement a total war policy. There will be no more prisoners, no more skirmishes, no more trade embargos. If a Kloxna vessel opens fire on us, we will obliterate it. If Kloxna soldiers open fire on us, we will turn them to ashes in retaliation. If anything other than immediate surrender is encountered, we will kill and destroy until such a time when an unconditional surrender is offered.
Those that surrender will be placed in either a POW camp until such a time where they can be transferred to a work colony, or be moved directly to work for the state. Resistance will be met with lethal force. Any trading ship in Libertalian space asked to submit to random searches will do so without question and resistance, and in turn, said searches will be carried out as effectively and quickly as possible to minimize the impact on those subject to our attention. Resistance will be met with seizure of ship and cargo until a full investigation has been carried out, which, when considering the war, could be a long while.
As for the Kloxna delegates, I will receive your formal surrender within the next hour or you will leave the borders of my empire This is not negotiable. The only reason I have for allowing you back within my empire will be to offer said formal surrender of your species. Considering the death of Tai'Tanu by my hand, that should be easier achieved now than ever before." The whispers broke out among the Kloxna diplomats and even their guards murmured amongst themselves, something unheard of in the honor guard of Kloxna diplomats, as Eirik revealed the news. Raising his voice to drown out the whispers, he continued.
"Furthermore, these changes will apply to ALL ships that are not under the direct command of my navy, including trade ships originating from the empire of Libertalia itself. Petitions to have ships exempted from this rule may be handed over to the diplomatic offices at your convenience. Thank you all for coming, have a good day." His message delivered, Eirik stepped back from the microphone and started walking out of the hangar. His guards rushed to create a zone around him where he could move unimpeded, but nobody got in Eirik's way. something about the abrupt way he had begun and ended this gave everyone a feeling that he was a man on a mission and getting in his way could only end badly.
Eirik and his confused personal guards made a straight line for the restricted part of the spaceport, the guards being dismissed at the entrance to Eirik's offices, where they took up position in the lobby and adjoining security room and settled in for a long day. Eirik had not been this single-minded since before he became a father.
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As soon as he entered his office, Eirik saw David, Jesper, Signe, Knud, and quite surprisingly, Las'Tai, gathered inside, waiting for him.
"Took you long enough to rediscover your stones. What gives?" Jesper smirked at him, another new scar adorning his face.
"None of your business, any of you!" Eirik snapped like in the old days, the youthful mirth replaced by the seriousness of a middle-aged man in a line of work that saw very few people growing old. "The only business we have right now is winning the war!"
"What has sparked this sudden interest in finishing something that is going to resolve itself with time? What aren't you telling us, Eirik?" David asked. "You laid out the battle plan that would see attrition win the war for us. Why this change in mindset?"
"You saw the assassination attempt before the last fight. Or at least, you saw the result of it. I will not accept that kind of danger to my family. Hence, my eagerness to finish this war and take us to a state of existence where our enemies are far and few between." It was part of the truth and close enough to his real reasons that Eirik felt he wasn't lying to anyone. not directly anyway. Some things were not meant for sharing.
There were a lot of suspicious looks directed at him, but they also all knew about the attempted murder of him and his family in the night and they slowly accepted his words. "So. How do we approach this new war of yours?" Las'Tai asked, As the daughter of Tai'Tanu she would have been the next head of the bloodline, but being disowned years earlier by her now dead mother had robbed her of that. She regretted nothing, her life in Eirik's employ was a fulfilling one.
"Send out orders to all military vessels that upon encountering any ship not on the list of exemptions they are to request an immediate surrender followed by quick inspection to determine purpose and cargo. Standing orders for cargo restrictions remain unchanged. I want the ground units to start mobilizing, we are going to play to the advantage of ground combat with overwhelming firepower. Hit-and-run style attacks, aimed at inflicting damage and cost rather than gaining ground. Employ scorched earth on all captured enemy installations, anything not of immediate use should be burned to ashes." Eirik had taken a seat in his desk chair as he spoke and he was firing off his orders like he had something to prove.
"What about those that surrender?" Knud asked, the aging man still as sharp as ever, mostly on account of keeping up with his Alzheimer's medication, and ever focused on the humane aspect of things.
"Create large work plantations with a split between food crops and economic crops. Sugar. coffee. fruits and berries for drying, they will all help fund the new series of offensives we are going to engage in. Let any POW that wishes to, work on the plantations in exchange for increased rations and access to improved recreational facilities. We are going to need larger quantities of meat to keep up with demands from future prisoners and refugees, so offer economic grants to any farmer willing to start raising cattle.
Start recalling our ships from escort duty once their current charges have been safely delivered to their destinations and request a meeting with the Terran Army representative to discuss new strategies for the war. Increase the size of the fleet guarding the Glorpil homeworld by an additional two capital ships and eight support ships, and find me a suitable planet or large moon we turn into a designated military training facility spanning the entirety of said planet or large moon.
Signe, what upgrades had been made to the PESSA suits in the time I have been away from the battlefield?" He directed the question toward the woman who seemed content to lean against the wall and observe.
"Changes in alloys, mostly, along with minor modification to increase mobility and comfort of the wearer. We changed to Caseless ammunition on the rotary guns and modified the forcefield generators on the shields to cover a larger area. This gives our troops the ability to advance safely behind the PESSA troops as well as make more effective use of the shield wall. The caseless ammunition also means the suits can operate more freely with less dependence on being close to a resupply depot or forward OP.
We have begun work on a larger and much heavier model meant to be used as a siege breaker, armed with either twin railguns or large-caliber artillery. Impervious to most, if not all, small arms fire but does require support in the form of infantry and light vehicles.
We have also finished the factory to produce the FTL bombers and have slowly begun work on getting a manufacturing line set up. another few months and we project a total of four bombers created every month. If we prove successful in this goal, we are going to start work on 4 additional factories in this system and the neighboring empty system. There is a moon that would make a great strategic place in terms of defensive capabilities and means of hiding our operation. Most of the system is uninhabitable, even with all our technology, and strip mining took place decades ago.
By all accounts, it is a dead and useless system waiting for its start to go supernova. We can seal off a few of the old mining facilities and make underground production facilities there. Safe, secure, and hidden away from prying eyes. Anything short of cracking the moon open would be ineffective in destroying the facilities through orbital bombardment. If the tunnels stretch far, we can even expand production to manufacture weapons and munitions, moving a lot of industry away from the planets we plan to use for food production in the future.
Oh, and we have increased the amount of armor on our ships in favor of shields. With the enemy being focused on energy weapons, it's the sensible choice as cutting through armor is a lot harder than spiking out a shield with shield cannons." Signe rambled off as she went over a checklist she pulled from her pocket when Eirik directed his attention to her. She had known this question would come the moment she saw him leave his shuttle.
"Speaking about that, the Kloxna have begun bringing MFG's* to every camp, every base, and every FOB they set up. It is getting difficult to carry out attacks on their supply depots. We have needed to escalate to heavy weapons teams and either multiple front attacks or several diversionary attacks to succeed. I was going to bring it up at the next monthly tactical meeting but now seems like as good a time as any." David interjected, a look of intense worry on his face. "We don't have the manpower to keep that up as things are right now, and Terra is unwilling to ramp up aggressions. They would rather face the storm of a well-supplied enemy force."
Eirik pondered this for a moment but never got the chance to answer as the built-in communicator in his desk beeped. Eirik quickly pressed the button to answer. "What?"
"Sir, nobody knows where to direct this call and you don't pay me enough to deal with something like this. So, here you go." The voice of his secretary rang out and he heard the tone of a call being connected. "Who is this!" He demanded, more curious than angry at the interruption.
"It has been a long time, Eirik. Did you miss me?" A voice he had hoped to never hear again, cooed at him. He stiffened up and shot a glance around the room, seeing every emotion from pure amusement to pure horror etched on the faces of those gathered.
"Hello, Sif. I thought you were spending your time in a Terran prison, rotting away for your crimes." He sighed heavily. He could have gone the rest of his life without this encounter and considered it a positive thing. She had haunted him in the time after he had her handed over to Terra, he would not deny that. She was an enchanting woman when she wanted to be, strong-willed, beautiful, and blessed with a deceptively innocent and vulnerable look. But she was almost as deadly as she seemed harmless, her skills nearing, if not rivaling, those of Freja. And she was known as one of the most dangerous female bounty hunters to ever leave Terra.
"I can tell you all about it over dinner. But you will not get me alone, Emperor," Her pronunciation of the word emperor, was practically dripping with sensuality, She was a predator on the prowl and she had a target in her sight. "There is someone I want you to meet."
"And who could you possibly know that I would want to be introduced to?" Eirik said dismissively. He wouldn't even entertain her mention of having dinner together.
"I want you to meet your daughter." The answer came from the speakers in the room and Eirik wished for all the universe that he could make something untrue, but he could hear the certainty and triumph in her voice as she said the damning sentence. Silence fell over the room as Eirik stared at his desk in horror.