Marathon
Part 2 of the Stardust Cycle
Credits:
MaxTheFox - writer
"KittyTac" (anonymous) - co-writer
"andrewthewyvern" (anonymous) - editor
Sangyal Palsang - editor
"Calico" (anonymous) - editor
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CHAPTER 0 - A BRIEF PROLOGUE
26 Aug 2132
"This cannot continue," the human diplomat said to the others as the representatives sat around a huge rectangular table, lit by inoffensive dim lamps. These others were representatives of the species the Human-Relmai Pact had established relations with: all ten of them, including the two host nations. Only seven had flags hanging above their seats, with the remaining three– all highly non-humanoid species– making do with provisional gray drapes. There were many seats that were empty altogether, in preparation for future contacts. A large, mostly gray pseudohologram of the Oval hung over the table, with much of it hazy and unlabeled.
Silence followed.
"This cannot continue," the imposing-looking Mediterranean man repeated, slamming his fist on the table for emphasis.
"What is the urgency?" Said an alien resembling a multicolored bear with a proboscis and three pairs of eyes. They spoke perfect English thanks to a translator hidden somewhere in the shaggy fur of their face.
The human sighed. "The urgency is that this filth," he pointed to the dark crimson blob on one end of the pseudoholographic display, "will keep conquering and conquering."
An adjacent gray splotch blinked crimson a few times and joined the larger blob. "Look what happened to the syanndree just last year. Today the syanndree, tomorrow the rrktq. Then the jhi'ledan. The Dal-Ghar Iron Empire is a threat to the nascent interstellar community and must be contained. We propose the Alliance of Sapient Species, a free and equal coalition of those ready to stand up to the dal-ghar menace. We have already drafted a charter, but first I would like to hear the representatives' opinions."
The light-magenta-furred relmai beside him nodded, while the rest of the meeting merely blinked their eyes, in many combinations thereof. The silence was deafening.
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12 Aug 2141
The now-older man spoke to a much broader, and less vexillologically-barren, audience. "And less than a decade later, everything I had warned you about, gentlebeings, had come to pass."
The red blob had grown by two more larger splotches and half a dozen little specks.
Then, the man repeated his statement from nine years ago, to very muted, but slight agreement. Only then he had realized what the initials of the proposed organization spelled out, highlighted in big red letters at the top of the document. Hastily, he erased the smaller O and wrote in a larger one. AOSS.
Every represented civilization's diplomat read the proposed charter, which, aside from promising mutual defense, mandated that members must have fully equal rights for minorities in addition to having a functional democratic process. The human was nervous, and remained quiet.
…
He was shocked and a bit distraught that only a few species had joined… with the only great power being the Aadalu Eternal Sacred Republic, a sort of semi-democratic theocracy that had, by then, passed enough reforms to be eligible to join– thanks to a sizable doctrinal shift reforming their faith. Being conformists by nature, the aadalu people followed said reformation with little strife.
There were other, more democratic civilizations that were strong regional or super-regional powers, including several right in the middle of the Oval. But they refused to join, citing potential infringements on their sovereignty. Attempts to persuade them failed. Further elaboration on the non-intrusiveness of the terms was met with another objection: they did not trust this Alliance to protect them considering its inevitable disunity, and felt that staying neutral kept themselves safer.
But after a lengthy debate, it was established that even with this small roster, the Iron Empire may be contained. A cordon sanitaire of nations surrounding its Hegemony of freshly-gained slaves could be created. It would be called the Barrier of Freedom. The civilizations comprising it often did not meet the membership requirements for the Alliance, but the Barrier was still necessary, or billions more would suffer…
21 Oct 2230
Many of the previously-skeptical civilizations had joined the Alliance in the intervening ninety years. However, the Space Cold War against the dal-ghar, vaguely serpentine aliens, had been a stalemate for all of that time, despite many skirmishes and incidents in the meantime. In addition, the Barrier had only served to contain the physical expansion of the Empire, and insidious agents continued to menace civilizations all over the Oval.
Worse yet, in late 2230, the Hegemony had started massing fleets and troop transports in systems bordering one of the Barrier states, the Union of Ilsh-bewruw Kingdoms, while the Alliance was distracted keeping at bay several neutral empires around the formerly-primitive but highly lucrative planet of Gewroohiri, which was coveted for its unique biological features. However, it would take years for such a buildup to pose a credible threat, giving the Alliance time to prepare.
Luckily, in the meantime, scientists of the Black Fang Republic– a nation of lupine genemods who had separated from the Terran Federation during its civil war, only to reapproach it soon after– developed plans for a superweapon, one strong enough and concealable enough during the process of its building, to be able to discourage the Empire from attacking the ilsh-bewruw.
The catch? The Union was on the other end of the Oval from the Republic. While they had the industrial capacity to manufacture the superweapon, the blueprints had to be delivered safely… and someone had to do it.