<“Commander Devries. This hearing is convened to answer *^&**^&* of insubordination, mutiny, and the willful murder of commissioned officers of the Imperial Sovereignty of Earth.”> Her blood still rushed and hairs yet stood as needles, threatening to skewer the Pod in her hunched seat. The Queen had tried to offer explanation, a quick summary of events thus far as Hathan had traversed the length of deck from ramp to clearing. Reassuring. Affirming. He had given her such a look that the music had died on her before ever being birthed. <”Due to the nature of these *^&*, this hearing is to determine truths and decide which, if any, actions are warranted. You have *^&* permission to speak candidly during this hearing, unless otherwise informed. Do you understand everything I have said *^&* far?”>
<”I do, sir.”> Second time she had heard the ritualistic exchange. The Arbiter repeated the notes beat for beat, from memory and practice, while Kamenev created a cloud of hazy smoke while pooled upon the ceiling. Exhaling it, emitting it, from the stick practically chewed in her mouth. Tension had just about drained from both Admirals, now fixed in their seats.
<”Do you have any questions or statements before we begin?”>
<”Sir.”> He was so sure. As the Captain before had stood, but not rigid, not thrusting of core and uncertain shifting of feet when queried. None had stood when the Commander had entered, but it had not unbalanced him. He knew what he was doing. <”I do not contest these claims. I state my acceptance of the *^&* of insubordination, mutiny and murder against the authority of Captain Halsey and the crew of the Safir.”>
It did not require a Band of inscrutable alien design to interpret the shock which rippled throughout the room. Skthveraach felt confidence waver as the Pod stopped breathing beside her. Kamenev’s chewing of the stinking, glowing stick halted outright. Ambers posted along the walls drummed fingers against their lances, the blue shells looked to one another with myriad expressions, like ripples in a pond refracting back the same face in a dozen forms. Even Huan-Arbiter seemed caught as a tad feeds, the ritual of procedure cast off and aside. Features set but body no longer held with straightened poise, he brought himself to face the Oskar-Admiral, who was the only one present amidst the incongruent individuals to maintain the mandated calm of his role and office.
<”I have no further pertinent evidence to present towards these *^&*. Unless the Admiralty wishes supplemental *^&* to their questions.”>
<”Remain readied, Supreme Arbiter. I have a feeling we’ll need you yet.”> Whereas Oskar had hunched forward when speaking to the Captain, he now reclined. Stretched an arm out along the high-backed chair bearing design of circles overlaid in repetition. <”You’re *^&* hard on us hearing you out, Commander. That’s an extraordinary amount of trust you’ve put in the Sovereignty’s patience.”>
<”These are extraordinary times and circumstances, Admiral.”>
<”Your histories sing of you as a good officer, Commander Devries.”> Like sucking on the fetid length provided her life, Kamenev was stirred from initial shock and was devouring the stick between folds of flesh. <”A good officer doesn’t betray his oath, but a good officer who knew he’d *^&* up as hard as you would’ve at least put his pistol to his head by now.”>
Skthveraach was trying, ever more focused, to discern the Commander’s intent. For man who admitted to being frenzied, who admitted to having failed in his role, there was none of the shrinking or unrighteous fury the previous lesser-queen Captain had demonstrated.
<”I have never betrayed my oath to the Sovereignty, Admiral. If ordered, I will resign my *^&* and stand for firing line.”>
<”Don’t get clever with me, *^&*.”> Snap from Kamenev-Admiral, the stick pulled from her mouth as fluids flecked the desk, was answered by a renewed tightness of the Commander.
<”I state my acceptance of the *^&* against the authority of Captain Jacob Halsey, and the crew of the Safir.”>
<”But not against the authority of the Sovereignty, or the Admiralty.”> The fingers tapped. The hair over mouth tugged and shook as wrinkles of skin began to grow taut on the Admiral’s face. With floundering knowledge, a quick look to the Pod who was yet insensate and uselessly frozen beside her, the Queen could only accept that it was pleasure the seated grand male Queen offered. Was pleasure good? Too many emotions. There was a risk of death here. Wait to be called. He had said she would be needed. <”Because you are a good officer, who has taken his due *^&* in studying the charter of our *^&*. Specifically, the ever-pertinent and oft overlooked Article Two.”>
<”Loyalty to the Imperial Sovereignty is absolute. Any action which can be demonstrably proven to further Her authority in the *^&* must be undertaken at any cost to one’s self or others.”> It was the third time Skthveraach had heard the mention of these ‘articles’. Hathan recited them like they were canticles.
<”And this would of course include any *^&* of duty, even refusal to acknowledge orders of a superior. Tell us Commander, what do you think of Captain Halsey?”> Murdering demon from beyond the sky. A quick laugh escaped her as antennae beat together. Yes, what did her Hathan-Commander think of his useless former superior?
<”Captain Halsey is a fine commanding officer, sir, who was appointed by the Admiralty to lead this *^&* mission because of their belief in his capabilities. He is a known veteran of multiple conflicts, all resulting in victory for the Sovereignty, and as such is beyond reproach. I am proud to have served under him.”>
Her laughter ceased.
<”Why did you refuse to follow his orders, and seek to unlawfully remove him from command of his vessel?”>
<”Under Article Two, I was acting by the authority of the Imperial Sovereignty to preserve *^&* critical to the war effort. During the course of the battle, I was *^&* to believe that species 01 of K-H-013 should be listed as a vital resource.”> Her claws were refitting to the grooves already established in the floor. Resource. Biomass? They did not eat her kind. The humor was still in the Admiral’s features. Why was he baring his teeth and bone?
<”I sincerely hope you are capable of demonstrably proving this, Commander.”>
<”I am, Admiral. I have forwarded recordings, *^&* and data collected over the course of the last thirty measures to the Supreme Arbiter for presentation at this hearing, should it be requested.”>
<”No need to be *^&*, Commander, you knew full well when you sent this data that we would have marked interest in seeing its results. Whether it will *^&* your conduct is another matter. Do you protest, Rear-Admiral?”>
<”Utterly.”> Hathan’s hands were balls of white behind his back as the female struck the smoldering end of the rod into curved ornamentation. <”I don’t care if these things bleed *^&* and excrete gold. 600 lost while Captain Halsey was *^&* himself off, but another 230 died in the span of that minute of confusion on his bridge. Confusion you caused, Commander.”> The stamped butt was thrust like a blunted scythe for Hathan. <”I detest officers like you who dredge up any *^&* they can find to excuse their actions. Any clever wording. All I see with this little ploy is you trying to save your own *^&* after you got too attached to the natives.”>
<”My decisions were unaffected by emotions, Admiral.”> Her gaster was spasming. <”I did everything within my power to save lives and end the conflict decisive-“> He cut short the song of darkness. The song of truths concealed. Unknowingly concealed? Then why did he turn his head back, now for the first time, to catch sight of her with shaded eyes and shaded mind. Then why did his music grind to an end, as if in realization. As if in … regret.
<”Supreme Arbiter?”>
<”There is evidence of this.”> Hathan dropped any regard for Skthveraach, the Arbiter’s affirmation turning all eyes, Queen to Commander, to room’s head. <”A continuation of audio transcript label 02, date *^&**^&*.”>
<”Admirals, I would ask this transcript be viewed at a later date.”> Hathan managed to keep his voice steady, but the shake of his hands would not be halted.
<”Refused, Commander.”>
<”Then I would respectfully ask for brief recess-“>
<”We’ve come off the line to be here, Commander.”> You did not interrupt the Queens. When the Queens interrupted you, it was the moment to clench tight to silence. The Admiral yet grimaced his white teeth, but that knitting of brow had begun to resurface. <”Now, Admiral Kamenev may not appreciate it, but I respect a man who *^&* to the founding principles of the *^&*. State before self. Many before few. Willing to put himself in the line of fire for that ideal. But this is your bed, son, and you’re going to lay in it. If that upsets the *^&* back there,”> Skthveraach stood, brought herself onto four legs as the Admiral sung of her and made gesture with hand. He did not address her further. <”Then that’ll be for you to smooth over following these proceedings. Arbiter, you may commence.”> Whirr. Click. Swish. Roll. She did not let herself be swept away this time. She was newborn in this strange world, and she was ignorant, but she was not stupid. Hathan refused to look back, but the Queen let him stand beneath her watchful gaze. He had saved her. He had ended the deaths. His truths.
<”-enant, have these bodies removed.”> They were back on the bridge. The overseeing platform of the battle still raging on the ground. Where was Skthveraach now; had she breached the second line of their defenses that mad rush to their deaths with her children? Had she already fallen on the field? The screaming pitch of wailing alarm remained, but voices were yet frozen stilled. <”Order the VTOLs back. Leave the emplacements where they are, prioritize getting the soldiers out of their zones. What’s the ETA on our bombers?”> Nothing. <”*^&*?”> A female’s noise. <”Focus, *^&*, give me the count.”>
<”T-… twenty-five seconds, Cap- Commander.”>
<”Inform the third line, tell them it’s going to be nearly on top of them.”>
<”We’re still seeing lancefire at the second line, Commander. They’ve lost their *^&*, but have fallen into defensive groupings.”> A male, not Hathan, responded.
<”The bulk of the *^&* are swarming past them, heading for the third. They may be able to hold-“>
<”The big one. There.”> The Commander again. <”Like the ones we saw once the hives were emptied. If we take it down, the rest will scatter as before. Restate the grid coordinates, Lieutenant, and prepare a *^&* from the Safir.”>
What was this?
<”Sir! There are still men-!”>
<”I am aware, *^&*. If the run is unsuccessful, I want a barrage from orbit on that area. If those creatures break the third line, they could run straight to our wounded and evacuation ground. We are not taking that chance. Confirm the orders.”>
What was Hathan saying?
<”Bombers to drop *^&* at grid C3-744-219. Over the target in ten beats.”>
<”Then they have twelve to get their heads down. *^&**^&* you, Halsey… Gunnery *^&*, I want *^&**^&* prepared. *^&* C-1 through C-4. If anything is still moving down there, we aren’t waiting for resupply, we are hitting them again.”>
The Queen knew where she was.
<”Bombers confirm *^&* away. Impact in seven beats.”>
She was in her swarm. The second column of aliens was torn and broken. Her armor was melted over her gaster, but held still. The workers would clean what was left. Her soldiers, her spitters, everything she had left was driven wild by her pheromones and was with her. The third column of creatures in sight. Their lightning dropping her children all around her. Striking and burning at her. At everything.
<”*^&* are loading. Relaying targeting grid.”>
<”Impact in three… two…”>
Something was whistling. She remembered it. Like the strongest of winds through the grasses and trees. She heard it over the death, over the pain, over her head.
<”Impact confirmed.”>
Flight. Her last memory. The ground opened beneath her, and it did not swallow, but expelled. Into the notrocks she had been tossed like discarded inedible chitin. Onto the ground made muddy with blood, hers or her daughters or the creatures, she did not know. There was no air. There was no light. She had fallen. She had sunk. And she had known no more.
<”*^&* targetting.”>
<”Hold on the *^&*. Lieutenant get me a sitrep from our troops at hive 06. Confirm what we’re seeing.”> The response was not immediate, but it was deliberate when it arrived.
<”No response from the second line. Third line is reporting casualties, but fit to continue fighting. Hostiles are scattered and disoriented throughout the area.”>
<”Kill any within-…no. Kill any still moving within 400 *^&* of the line, but prioritize capture of any of the aliens still living. Any who can be taken with minimal force. Kill the rest, but do not pursue if they retreat. Status of the evacuation?”> There were more words, of course. There were always more. But they dropped away as the hum from around her came to its end. The song running its course. She knew where she was. She was here, on the vessel of the aliens from the sky. Just her. Her, and him.
<”You were ready to drop *^&* on a Class-A planet?!”> More shock than anger. Admiration? She didn’t care.
<”If necessary, sir. A decisive end to the battle was needed to … expedite our retreat.”>
<”Admiral Kamenev, I think this settles your question? The Commander took every reasonable route to end the conflict promptly, with as few losses as could be managed.”> Six thousand dead. More. Any who survived would have frenzied, or collapsed without purpose. Only a few would have found way back to the colony nests. Kamenev made a grunting sound the translator did not process. <”Then we will move on to the data you have made central to your hearing, Commander Devries. These are the studies done on the Queen?”>
<”With Queen Svera’s assistance and compliance, yes.”> She was still standing. She had not thought to sit. Not given much thought to anything, in fact. The Hathan was before her here, but so too was he before her in the memories. Exposed. Awaiting. Dead within her containment cell the beat she desired it, but unafraid. He meant her no harm. He had not attacked her people. He desired peace. Then he was on her carapace, ordering the death from above to fall on them all. On her specifically. A thing to be destroyed to halt the fighting his own superior had begun. <”Her help has been invaluable in the research done by *^&**^&* Jennifer and the *^&* team.”>
<”I will display the results on your pads, Admirals.”> The Arbiter made inclusion to the chorus, and their eyes turned together towards their readouts.
The air was unsettled. The vessel was cold. The Queen had never really stopped to appreciate, to let sink just how tepid her fluids ran on this unliving hulk of hardstone metals. She first feared it as a beast who reared past mountain peaks. She then marveled at it as a testament to the power of these new creatures. But it was dead. And it was hard. And it was cold. Coldness was crawling from it, and up her legs like invisible tendrils.
<”Communication after only four measures. Identification, mimicry, then adaptation.”> The Pod had pointed to Skthveraachk. Identification. With fingers around the arm of another pale shell, she had turned fellow thinker around and pointed to its back. Gestures understood. Armor pried off her body with the creatures’ permission. Thanks given. Communication.
<”Ability to comprehend simple commands. Obedience, reception to pain signals and *^&* training methods.”> ‘It wishes us to move to the other side of cavern,’ she had hummed in hushed recitation to her scout. ‘Received.’ He had paused. ‘Why, does it wish this?’ ‘I do not know. Accompany me.’ Obey or be harmed. She had known it then, before the Pod could sing in ways she understood and no longer needed the painrock. No longer needed, because the Queen no longer disobeyed.
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<”You yourself went into the chamber to facilitate one of the first language exchanges, Commander? That marks twice you have risked your life for the aliens. Your bravery is notable.”> Bravery was to face death, to put life on the line in pursuit of goals. She had thought the Commander brave. She had been a fool. Her eyes were unblemished and uncovered now. The deaths he caused. The betrayal of the one to whom he reported. Who ruled him. He had already been a dead man once his Queens arrived. Unless he had something to show. Unless he had something of … value.
No.
<”And you are certain these were *^&* of a different colony?”>
<”Their societal structure is *^&*social, a collectivization of purpose and responsibility. Unlike our *^&*, they are sentient and capable of adjusting both their role and allegiance to suit the situation however and are not bound by instinct. Drones from one Queen may make the choice to serve another, indeed they seem naturally inclined to it when no others are present.”> She had shown them her people could be led. That under leadership they would unite, and obey, for the sake of survival. She had taught them this.
<”Their problem-solving set new precedents on the *^&* cognitive test battery, and while individually our tests on the drones and lesser castes were failures, in the presence of a Queen their IQ is brought to levels comparable to ours.”> Physical examinations of their prowess? The motions had been so simple. The lights almost amusing. Where was the difficulty in catching them, in cooperating? ‘Locate and touch lights. Retrieval unnecessary. Mark path. Gathering formation.’ One line of command, ten bars of activity. Trivial to them. Impossible for animals. And the humanites did not need animals.
No.
<”Even without weapons or a grasp on complex tool making, their cohesion and strategy is demonstrated in the tactics from their encounter on planet K-H-013, but it goes beyond singular intelligence.”> Hathan increased the tempo. Skthveraachk felt how his heart beat, felt the ripples it left in the heated currents pouring from him. Warmth vacated him. Words spilled freely as the room soon was filled with nothing but them. She was drowning. She was drowning in knowledge always before her, knowledge it was her role to see and catch, but now it was all around her and she could do nothing but sink.
<”Our soldiers at hives 07 and 08 were withdrawing when the enemy began to employ the same tactics as hive 06. Ambushes. Baited lines. In less than a bar, the ideas had been transmitted. Aboard the Palamedes, *^&* who had never been exposed to one another conducted precise maneuvers and cooperation to kill a larger and physically superior creature.”> Her attendant. Sacrificed for the colony, willingly so, to defeat the chaerilite. Songs which would be made legends would be written of it, of how one death had felled a star-sent, to prove to the humanites their power. Their will. Power and will the humans could bend and make theirs.
What had she done.
<”They are adaptive, ruthless, but with intelligence enough to learn and advance their capabilities. And this is not even beginning to touch on their biology.”> Tables laden with legs. <”Their *^&* system response to sickness/*^&* is varied beyond our understanding.”> The crests of soldiers, workers, drones. Carved off and left to rot. <”*^&**^&* sequences, *^&*, one of their soldiers is by all definitions an entirely different species from another, and we can’t even begin to figure out how.”> A Queen’s scythes hanging from the wall. No different from Skthveraachk. Perhaps she had awoken first and deemed unsuitable. Perhaps she had awoken too late, and the humanites did not require a second subject. She was not special. She was simply fortunate.
What had she done.
<”A compelling case.”> The pad clattered as it was laid down by the haired Admiral. <”For numerous utilizations of their species.”> ‘Workers. Laborers.’ Her thinker had been breathless. Not processing the information rationally. ‘I am unsure of their number or colony size, but these tests seem designed to measure cohesion and strength in body.’ She had told him to reassess. <”The applications of *^&* will need further study, but this is what you saw during your mutiny? This is what you believed was invaluable asset to the Imperial Sovereignty?”>
<”Yes, Admiral.”> She could see but one eye. One white orb, within shining the unnatural lights as the sun had caught the glow of her world. Standing where no other but the departed had stood. Seeing what only the Composer had before witnessed. Hathan-Commander had shown her a lifetime of wonders stretching into alien infinities, and she had missed the pit awning before her. The white slid, the soft colors of his gaze graced across her. And for the second time since the arrival of the humanites, her world ended. <”I believe species 01 should be immediately processed and tested as viable combat force for military deployment.”>
The Pod was more nimble than Skthveraachk would have suspected; she managed to tuck down and shrink into a ball as the Queen’s gaster flew overhead in the turn. One of the ambers made it two of their lengths, a half of hers, towards her as she made for the ramp. She felt something break, on or within him, when her forelimb swung to send him spiralling through the air and into one of the sealed viewports with wet squelch. A shot rung out. Skthveraachk felt no heat. It was ignored.
<”COMMANDER DEVRIES-“>
<”-YOUR FIRE, hold your fire!”> Another was approaching. Previous warning unsuccessful. She had ensured scythes were sheathed when she struck the first of the ambers. She made sure one was exposed as her mandibles split wide and vents hissed out threat. His lance came down, but his eyes were wet and wide. He halted. She advanced past.
<”-dical team to the observation deck!”>
<”Will speak with her! Alone, it will be fine!”>
<”-leeway in this, Commander, we will recess. You are given leave t-“> Attennae came low to switch the translator off. The contraption, the technology grafted to her skull felt like a bulbous tumor ready to pop. The Band was choking her. She knew she was scarring the metal of the walls as she thrust herself down through the opening, ready to tear open the door before it wisely slid apart. No. It was not alive. The dead moved in this place, and she walked with them. Out into the corridor, where she was forced back down onto all legs as unintelligible gibberish was hooted and hollered after her. No room to breathe. No room to think. Forward. Forward to the mess, then to the cargo elevator, then to the lower corridor and to cargo hold where her colony would-… was-… unity. Togetherness. She was alone. She could not be alone.
“Svera!” Heard the footsteps. Knew the scent. Tasted the excretions. Couldn’t turn around. If she turned around, she would kill him. Forward. Forward. “Svera, *^&**^&*! *^&*, *^&*!” Syntax was wrong. Pitch was crude. Volume was needless. Repetition was insult. Better he used the humanite words for her. Better that he not remind her with each mangled usage of his effort to appeal, to assure. Better he call her thing. Tool. “Svera!”
“SLAVES!” Her wail endured for beats, echoing down the lifeless passageways hewn from hardstone, that bore no warmth nor welcome. He was there. In the blues she found so enthralling, wondering how they could have trapped such beautiful shades in perpetuality. His hands emptied and opened. Ambers were in the distance, but she was sure a dozen more were just out of sight behind corners by now. She rounded, and slammed the tips of her scythes into the floor lest they snap forward for the man mere three lengths away. “From the very first. From the moment our composition began. You stood before me, and swore alliance. You taught me. You showed me my world floating in the sky. You told me of how you had killed those who had frenzied, to learn of us, and I forgave you. You told me you had fought against the order to destroy us, and I accepted it of you. And throughout all, you knew.” She scrabbled at her translator, slapped at it. “You sung of truths incomplete. You withheld knowledge pertinent and known. There is no word. There is no concept within my tongue or the songs of old! You… you…” What was not. What was wrong. The translator accepted the inputs, and the alien concept was hurled from her like spitter’s acid. “You LIED!”
<“Sometimes…”> That disgusting meat slipped from his mouth and wiped at his lips. <“Sometimes, the wholeness of truth can be overwhelming.”> Once more his words, spoken as they had been before he threw back the fronds and let sear the light of reality. Her mandibles snapped.
“You will not excuse yourself. You will not defend what you have done. We were never to be your equals. We were never to touch your heights. You have taught us so we may better serve. So that we may better obey.”
<”Svera, listen to me-“>
“I HAVE LISTENED!” Resistance, screeching and painful, met her as she dragged scythes forward through the floor. Her legs buckled and body braced against the firmness of the ship, but slowly did the panels give way and allow the distance between them to shorten a length. “I have listened to your every note, to your every breath, since I was brought and imprisoned here! I listened, and I adhered, and now you will listen, Hathan-Commander.” Control. No control. Breathe. No air to breathe. “Do you know what Jelly is to us?”
<”We have heard it mentioned several times.”> He had taken a half-step back. Corrected himself. Then returned to his stance. It no longer impressed her. She continued her advance.
“It is the death of the self. It is the end of the song. When we are born, it is fed to us, and through it we know ourselves. We find our place in the grand choir. To take one grown from another colony, and to force upon them your jelly, is to make dull their minds and enrapture their voices.” Metal gave way, torn up in two jagged lines which cut and carved at her scythes. Marking them. Gouging them. “They no longer know themselves. They can no longer differentiate their music from the others. To them, they have always been of this colony. They have known these voices all their lives. They feed on the jelly, and there is no longer a mind to be discordant. They are unified, for they no longer know of any alternative. They are the departed. Bodies that move but no longer live. Slaves to another’s will.”
<”And you think this is what will happen to you? Svera, there was no other way. There was no other choice!”> She brought herself to a standstill. A half length. A precise length. The exact length in which the Commander had last stood before her, unguarded, unprotected. Close enough that her outer eyes could barely register him.
“You show us marvels, then use them to lure our focus. You show us weapons, then teach us that to combat them is death. Your education is double bladed, your intentions a trap. No, Hathan-Commander. The jelly robs us of our senses first, then it robs us of our choice. You keep us awake when you enslave our purpose to yours. You are worse.”
They watched one another, then. Stood there, in that hallway, listening to the wetness of their breaths and the finality of their truths. No more barriers. No more subtly. No more guises. Just him. Just her.
<”When my people were still confined to our world, we often would encounter others. Like us.”> She pictured him cut in half. Leaking. Oozing. Clawing at the wound as though it could save him, as she had watched others do. <”When we did, one of two things happened. The stronger either took everything they had and then killed them, or the stronger took everything they had, then took them too. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not all at once. But always, one of the two. Every time.”>
“My people take. We consume. We kill one another. But it is not senseless. It is not to absorb. My vassals obey because I am the stronger, and where there was once disparity, there is now unity. One day, my world will no longer struggle. They will no longer kill. The Founder’s Will shall be realized, and with one voice shall we raise ourselves to heights unceasing.”
<”My people believed the same. Achieved it, even. Never for long, but for long enough that *^&*/eggs grew, aged, birthed, and died in peace.”> Hands were left at his sides. Not behind his back. Not hidden from her, not any longer. <”We fought to find harmony, gained it, then eventually lost it, and fought for it all over again. Eventually, we fought with weapons that nearly destroyed us. All of us. Even our world itself.”> She believed it. Even knowing the man could speak untruths willingly, Composer rest her, she believed these creatures could do it. <”Until someone finally said, ‘enough’. Until we looked around us, and realized what we had almost done. What we had wanted to do.”>
“And how did you achieve your harmony?” She wanted to know. She wanted to kill. To tear, and maim, and punish this man who had made her betray her role. Her race. By what power did these creatures pilot themselves to the sky and beyond? “How did you finally unite your people?”
<”We killed three billion people.”> There was no sadness. There was no faltering. Numbers struck her with their impossible weight, but merely rebounded from his implacable stance. <”Until there was no longer disagreement. Until there was no longer an ‘other’ to contest. There was one voice. There was one purpose. We left our planet, and made more. If any sung in opposition, they were removed. Because there are only two things that are tolerated when my people find an ‘other’ within the places the have claimed.”> She did not shrink nor shirk. But the Hathan-Commander maintained his stance, a half her height and a third her length. <”Kill it, or make it yours. I did not lie to you, Svera. I want to save your race. And the only way I can do that is by convincing my people, my Queens, my Admiralty, my Emperor, that you are something that is better to use than it is to kill.”>
Specks in a hurricane. Motes on a breeze. All her life, Skthveraachk had been told she was fool for abstaining from enslavement. She had called her mother, when she was brave enough to do so, the same. What was in the best interests of a colony now would not always be the case. Loyalty was always to the collective, to the self within it. While they spent cycles with scentcrafters concocting tales of peace and notions of harmony, their enemies would absorb three colonies for every one they convinced. Her mother had gazed from the peak of Hollowcore, down the spiral causeway lined with the carvings of her Queen, and her Queen before, and sung out for none but Skthveraachk to hear.
‘The discord will not be silenced by cowards. The Founders will not embrace the weak. They silence the other because they fear their own voices too frail, they bind the other because they can only lead those chained to their will. When the Final Song at least rings out, it will not be a song of cruelty, or of fear, or of power which crushes all others. It will be of a truth so pure that none can deny it, and all must follow. Our harmony will not be enforced, Skthveraachk. It will be discovered, together, by all of us. On that day, all will remember, and sing as one once more. Once, and Again.’
<”Svera?”> All her life. A fool who fought against practices all others had adopted. And the final irony of it all. For soon enough, these star-sent would descend, and all would serve. Faithful or separated, Triumverate and Queenless Raiders all. Serve, or die. Heavy. Hunched. And so, so very tired.
“You have taught me joy and sorrow, Hathan-Commander. Shown me worlds beyond my own. By your actions, you have killed thousands now, millions later, and saved hundreds of millions beyond. Skthveraachk-Colony will remember this, from now until the death of the song. Of how you have ensured the preservation of my species, the memories will hold in remembrance forever.”
<”Svera…”> She thrust her head forward. Felt it strike true, impacting Hathan at his chest. Air was flung from him, his body striking ground before her. Below her. Forced to angle his head up awkwardly, to gaze up rather than as equals eye to eye, holding hand to his core and trying to regain his air. The Queen was unsure if the Band could pick up the intricacies of her emotion. She only hoped.
“And until the last breath of my last child on the last day, Hathan the First. First of the Humanites. First of the Liars. Until the sky swallows us all, Hathan-Commander. All you have done, all you have caused, all you will cause; Skthveraachk Queen of Skthveraachk-Colony, War Queen … will NEVER forget.”