History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread

[Jmenschenfresser]

The Splintering
2420.5

Suburban shanty town, outside the Xiban Capital...the once great and lavish center of the Norak Continuum.

Tallik sat quietly staring at an old wooden table in a small one room apartment in a mud brick building. This was the fifteenth safehouse this month. Tallik had grown weary of the moving and the midnight rides. Two faithful body guards sat down stairs in the alley disguised as men playing Ran, a ancient Norak game of strategy, but he knew it was only a matter of time before one of them decided the game was no longer worth the effort and risk.

Tallik's grand plan of building a ringworld, the grand delusions of the Tribunals and their belief in divine evolution, had all gone down the great cosmic drain...where all spralling civilizations go eventually. A ringworld was too large to keep quiet. Someone eventually found out. Who knew? News of a giant slave colony spread throughout the underground of the continuum. The rebellion had always been lurking in the shadows, but this gave it the fuel it needed to grow. Martyrs flooded the ranks. Blood began to flow in peaceful places. Marches, demonstrations, bombs and attemtped assinations. Two of the three new Nebraska construction vessels were the target of sabotage. The captains of the ships refused to continue work claiming it was too dangerous. The Tribunals need to better guard the contruction site, they claimed. This complaint cost the captains their lives, but that certainly didn't help morale. Construction ground to a halt. What those in charge of the construction did not know was that the Tribunals were about to launch an attack on the Sallega worlds in Cephedri, and therefore couldn't spare the ships.

The ring world construction plans were shelved and Tallik was transfered to the High Command. He was to take charge of the second wave stationed in Arklite; however, just before the attack in Cephedri, the Grand Major of the Continuum committed suicide. Tallik saw his note. The poor old man couldn't bring himself to move the hand which would cause the death of the Sallega Empire. Tallik was installed in his place. Tallik had been responsible for Raeghar's pardon. The Tribunal Speaker thought it best if they killed him. Their logic was certainly sound--he'd betrayed the Norak and then he'd betrayed the Rebellion. Indecision, perhaps, thought Tallik. The confusion of the old Monk was a proverb in itself, warning against the changing of the guard...new wine into old wineskins. Tallik had gotten him the position aboard the fleet leader. It was all he could do...hide him in the midst of the chaos...where the men behind the scenes would lose sight.

He'd even gone to a blessing before leaving for Cephedri, but Raeghar didn't notice him at all. A few months later the old monk met the Almighty in a blaze of Sallegan capital ship missles. Having seen him at the blessing, he realized there wasn't much to mourn. Perhaps, he had done him justice in sending him to his death.

Cephedri had been a grand success. One ship lost and one slightly damaged. Tallik had picked the right moment. A third to a half of the Sallegan warships in Cephedri were docked for retrofitting. Four months later and Cephedri was clean of any Sallegan presence. The remnant of the Arklite force met up with the Moon Templars, jumping in from Cephedri. The Cruiser Tulsa then closed the warp point behind them...preventing a counterstrike. The initial battle of Narcisston had disabled all the Sallega warships. Nearly a dozen of them floated helplessly in space. By the time the Templars entered Narcisston, their numbers had shrunk to just a single ship because of desertion, failed life support or self-destruction. A mystery.

All the while a large Sallegan fleet in the far north, having eradicated most of the Sergetti, had been making their way back glassing every Norak world in their path. But the fleet lacked reinforcements and support. Small Norak attacks, oversized minefields and planetary defenses dwindled their numbers. They did manage to destroy all Norak worlds in both Usphada and Nizzarum...6 or 7 worlds in all.

Tallik had given specific instructions to take the Sallegan homeworld. All other colonies in Narcisston fell quickly once the Norak marines successfully stormed their homeworld. With the majority of the Sallega military gone and the heart of their economy destroyed, the war against the Sallega was more or less over, but an internal war was just beginning. After the death of her brother, Raeghar, Pellwain, governor of the long time Norak colony in Knoglam, turned the world over to the Farzah. To insure that her people would be taken in as equals she quickly married the local Farzah Lord. The Farzah, especially the Lord of Knoglam were more than happy with the deal--technology, citizens, ships, fighters, and a wife....what more could you ask for. Perhaps she should have been leading this entire show from the beginning, thought Tallik. The Tribunal government vowed to kill all of them once the war was over, but the threat was a hollow one.

Not long after, the First Strike Initiative, a collection of space stations and contruction vehicles in a deep space nebula, south of the Eee and just west of the Jraenar turned over their command codes to the Jraenar. Soon, the worlds of the outer rim, now farther than ever from the Continuum with the destruction of Usphada and Nizzarum, left the Continuum and sought a protectorate alliance with the Praetorian. Four worlds far west then left the Continuum seeking entrance into the Eee Empire.

Everywhere dissent and divisioned cut society. The Speaker had become increasingly paranoid over the Last months...ever since the incident with the captains of the contruction vessels. By the end of the war with the Sallega, he had had more than half of the original Tribunal government executed. Tallik sent to the Admiral of the Moon Templars an order to demand the surrender of the Sallega Empire. Tallik himself left for the homeworld. Within one week of each, the Sallega surrendered and Tallik shot dead the Speaker of the Tribunal government...ending their six year reign of horror. Tallik assumed the title of interim High Priest, and reinstated the Counsel. Not long after, he sent home most of the military and had the core of the Norak military might destroyed. In getting rid of the Moon Templars, he was insuring that no one after him could use the fleet to enslave the dying Continuum. The Zynarr homeworld declared its independence taking with it all of Cephedri. The two worlds in Olontra joined the Amon'krie taking with them one of the mighty space fortresses, The Tower of Babel. The newly accepted Xi'Chung homeworld soon declared the rebirth of the XI'Chung Hive and left the Continuum along with several other worlds in Organtrix with Xi populations.

Perhaps the best irony of all was when the Sallega homeworld tore up the armistice and stipulations for surrender. All of Arklite joined the pascifistic CueCappa, and even some of Xiban. The three secluded systems on the southern wing of the galaxy declared themselves a sort of Neo-Norak Republic, turning secular and taking the rest of Xiban with it. Really all that remained was the homeworld. Rebels backed by the Neo-Norak Republic and others funded by the intelligence agencies of the CueCappa fought to wrestle control of it from the remnant of the Tribunal heirarchy. The hunt centered around Tallik. Little did the factions know he was responsible for their new found liberty. Little did they know that his wisdom had freed the quadrant from another tyrant stepping as soon as the previous one hit the floor still warm. New wars would refashion the systems. New leaders with visions not born out of history would step forward and heal the people.

Tallik thanked the Almighty for Pellwain. She had shown him the right path by her defiance. Tallik looked up as a young man came through the rotting door. He had a gun in his hand, just peeking from the sleeve of his cloak. Tallik looked down at the table, at the gun there and the Holy Text lying next to it.

"Are you the one called Tallik?" the young man asked.
"I am. Are my guards dead?"
"No. We took them by suprise. They surrendered and ran off."
"Then all is well," said Tallik.
"My name is Raeghar and I am here to kill you." the young man said calmly.
"Raeghar? Is that a common Norak name?" Tallik asked.
"Not as far as I am aware, sir."
"I once knew someone by that name, but he is long dead." Tallik's mind wandered a bit before continuing. "You have a good name there. It is proper that a man named Raeghar shows me the great nude door to oblivion. I want you to have this." He shoved the Holy Text toward the young man.
"I cannot take presents from dead men, sir."
"But I still breathe. My friend, whose name you bear, gave that to me."
"I do not believe in the Almighty," the young man said with conviction.
"I know. I know, but please, do not refuse a dead man. He sees the end you cannot."

With that the young man, still expecting a trap of somekind, took the book and slid it into his cloak. Tallik smiled as he did so, the lines in his face revealing his age.