OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 626

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(Brain! Get back here! We need to write!)

Tread Softly Around Sorcerers

The last little statement caused a bit of an uproar, some of the nobility and royalty declaring it savagery, more of them claiming it to be justice and some stating that such an egregious overreach should be dealt with by the nobility as is their duty or right depending on the speaker. That last bit is divided on whether or not they could have done worse or simply executed the ones involved but it simply adds more noise to the proceedings until The Empress raises a hand for silence.

She gets it.

“Long has it been tradition for Sorcerers to handle their own justice. The sheer power our sons, brothers and nephews of the Dark Forest, and now several more forests as well, can bring to bear means that the oldest and most... disquieting truth of Noble rank is spoken of plainly in their presence. In that for all the rules we used to not fall into excess, stupidity and unworthiness, it all tracks back to our capacity for violence. And Sorcerers are difficult to match.” The Empress says lightly and there are several in the crowd that recall her personally stopping a Sorcerer with no casualties and before her guard could even catch up.

The same Sorcerer that years later had gone on to openly create two more Living Forests. And assisted in the creation of a third so massive it can be seen from near anywhere in the galaxy with the naked eye.

“Be that as it may My Empress, it has long been a difficult balancing act of keeping justice, duty and the wants of these obscenely powerful Adepts in accordance. Few people outside insane asylums will ever argue that a Sorcerer isn’t in some way justified for their ferocious and infamous retaliations, coupled with how easily they return to society as a fully productive member after achieving their wants lends credence to this. But we have our laws for a reason. We have judgment for a reason. I do not argue that a child abuser doesn’t deserve the full attention of the very sorcerer they created. In fact I would tie up such a wretch and hand the aggrieved party a rusted knife before departing the room if I was certain of the situation. But therein lies the problem. Certainty. Even during the least dangerous and deadly examples of sorcerers retaliation there have been tragic amounts of collateral damage. When The City Shaker unveiled himself, he had but one target. He directly killed twenty people. Indirectly killed hundreds, injured thousands and left potentially millions impoverished by his rampage. To say nothing of the cost on infrastructure and sheer damage to the very capital within which you palace is situated My Empress. I do not have the figures and sums ready in front of me, but I imagine it was many millions, if not billions of credits to repair the damage to the power system, foundations, sewage and more to The Capital. And that was a single, almost instantly aborted Sorcerous retaliation. One target. Twenty deaths, thousands of injuries and many lives ruined.”

“Excuse me.” Jacob says as he starts weaving around the crowds a little and takes a breath.

“So in summation, your concern is whether or not the sorcerers have done due diligence as to whom they are retaliating against and their guilt?” The Empress asks as she glances directly towards The Amarl family. Moments later, Jacob reaches the projector area.

“Excuse me.” He says. “I am Jacob Shriketalon. Second Sorcerer of Soben Ryd and currently employed as a Ship Captain for The Undaunted. I am also an escapee from The Supple Satisfaction, and personally responsible for the naming and capture of a large number of the now executed or soon to be executed individuals from The Supple Satisfaction.”

“Escapee?”

“I had been reduced to a child, I was also a disobedient, willful brat as a child. I hid from my caretakers, then overheard conversations that let me know without a doubt that they were not friends of mine. So I flew away under cover of darkness, ran beneath the trees and basically got away as best I could. But I couldn’t get off planet as a prepubescent boy, and so, I had to find a way to fight back. And I did. In the process I infiltrated the organization and began not only sabotaging it, but gathering information on customers, owners and staff alike. I didn’t have all of it. But many of the higher ups held a great deal of blackmail material over the others. A form of mutually assured destruction on the legal and informational sense. That is what was used to identify the perpetrators. Their own damn lists. Which as far as I’m concerned is basically adjacent to a signed confession.”

“What manner of sabotage did you perform?” A Noble woman questions him. He doesn’t know quite enough about Apuk formal dress off the top of his head to tell if she’s noble, landed noble, royal or whatever.

“Through bribery, seduction, a ‘convenient’ arrest and barely dodging attempted murder charges, I got put in charge of recruiting low level security. I filled that part of their organization with barely sentient nitwits who knew just enough to lie hard enough to avoid getting fired. I also gathered information and flagged some of the actually competent sorts as potential police agents to get them either killed or thrown out of the organization if they weren’t yet privy to the darker secrets therein.” Jacob answers.

“I see, anything else to contribute sir Sorcerer?” The Noble asks.

“For now no, but I will speak again if my understanding will be of use.” Jacob says and Therus’Amarl the Larger’s hand reaches his shoulder.

“Thank you for your assistance good Sorcerer. Incidentally, after this perhaps we could speak further. Ship Captain to Ship Captain about possible ways we might... Oh your pardon my Empress, my passion for my duties overtook me.” Therus’Amarl the Larger says before wincing a little.

“No apology is needed young Amarl, were such passions more rampant in The Empire then only wealth, justice and victory would grow.” The Empress states. “However, thank you for veering the topic towards duty and the aforementioned Justice.”

There is some disquiet as The Empress carefully scans the room and nods. “It is clear that the world of Lilb Tulelb requires a firmer, more direct hand in it’s ruling. That allowing the purely council, bureaucratic and business minded governmental affairs of that world has failed. Many of the higher ranked individuals within The Supple Satisfaction were the judges and lawmakers. Oversight and accountability are needed. Therefore, we now move into the next topic. Which houses, shall be granted the responsibility of the sword and the ban upon Lilb Tulelb? Who among you has the kin and kind capable of removing the blemishes upon that world to make it sparkle once again and to keep it as a jewel of The Empire? Today, we found new houses. I will hear names and the accolades that make them worthy lawbringers. Now then my Nobles, who shall be joining us in these chambers?”

Everyone starts talking to everyone.

Queen Amarl turns back to her family, something the other Noble and Royal Matriarchs and Patriarchs have already done and nods to them. They nod back and Therus’Amarl the Smaller is handed off to Therus’Amarl the Larger.

“Why’s everyone backing out?” Arden’Karm asks.

“This is going to take a while and we only have to be here now if we want to be. This is... tedious and generally only the true business of the family head, the heir and maybe the spare. And that of course leaves much of the family just crowding the area otherwise. Which means we can take the time to reacquaint ourselves with our baby brother!” Therus’Amarl says with a smile.

“So you’re not the spare or heir? Wait, how do the Apuk do this?”

“Lineal Primogeniture. Or following the firstborn. I am eighth born. Mother had two small sized batches of two eggs the first two times she laid and then a full four as she began to grow comfortable as queen. I hatched last as the youngest child of the third batch.” Therus’Amarl notes before pausing. “Or at least that was the assumption before the cloning made everything muddled. This is going to be rather complicated and confusing for a time.”

“No doubt big brother... Now let me hold my little brother. Now.” A petite Apuk woman begins and Therus’Amarl the Larger chuckles as he hands over Therus’Amarl the Smaller. “Don’t you start with me.”

“Of course not oh mistress of the...”

“Do not.”

“Of course.” Therus’Amarl the Larger notes. “Still our dear brother needs a tour of the home, the gardens, the kitchens so a snack can be snuck when needed, the library. The Throne, The Audience Chambers and of course he needs to meet our dedicated staff. Even if he has perfect memories of the layout, some rooms have changed and we have some new hires.”

“But first! His room! Your old nine year old things are already there.”

“Does this mean I need to bring in my uniform?” Therus’Amarl the Smaller asks.

“You have a uniform?” His sister asks.

“The Undaunted gave it to me when we were helping on Centris! It’s bright yellow and orange and I’ve got all sorts of special mushrooms growing on it!”

“And what do they do?”

“They cushion things really, really well. Other sorcerers tested them by firing iron chunks out of coilguns at them and they just bounce off the mushrooms!”

“Organic armour?”

“Over an already well armoured and Axiom Protected suit. What he’s got is... a high profile Private Stream uniform. Basically a large overcoat with pants, hat and gloves. With the collar up then only the eyes are really exposed and the rest is well defended normally, the buckle of the belt has a totem that absorbs thermal, electrical and filters away toxic clouds. And there’s armour plating all over it and plenty of spaces for expanded pockets for the sake of carrying gear. Finally the wearer can actually shuck any part of the uniform instantly in case they’re restrained by it. Add those mushrooms to it and he’s borderline impervious in the outfit. Or at the very least will need a lot of special attention to so much as scratch.” Jacob explains.

“Why high profile?” One of the Amarl siblings asks.

“To keep track of them.” Jacob answers.

“No, as in, what makes it high profile and what’s the difference between high profile and standard Private Stream uniforms.”

“The difference is colour and it’s worn to signify that the Stream is going completely all out, as in using the biggest, most dangerous and collateral prone weapons we have.”

“... Okay...”

“A Private Stream is a persona of a young eager soldier. They look and sound like a child, but the closest to an actual child we have in the position are soldiers that have had too many healing comas and now have childish bodies. The Private Stream uses social stealth to be a low profile bodyguard and field agent that can accompany anyone or be seen anywhere without being intrusive. But they’re actually highly armoured and heavily armed combatants who each have a direct link to an Intelligence Officer who’s feeding them constant information, making them screamingly effective and highly aware at all times.”

“Do the Undaunted have children in their ranks?”

“Cadets, they’re trainees below the age of enlistment. They go through basic drill exercises and are taught things like navigation and proper call signs in military code. But the only way they’ll ever see action is if the city the program is in is attacked, they will get called in to help the evacuation and get civilians moving to safety while also joining them there.”

“Hmm... are cadet programs really that popular?”

“On worlds where there’s a significant Undaunted Presence they are. Zalwore, Albrith, Centris, Lakran 297 and Vucsa 5 all have healthy Cadet Programs. Granted, each one is fairly different. Vucsa 5 is completely under Undaunted Control as is Lakran 297, but Lakran is recovering from a millennia of ever progressing genetic damage and being regressed to primitivism and... You look like you have a question.”

“Isn’t Lakran Two Nine Seven where nearly every Primal in the galaxy is making a pilgrimage to?”

“Then turned around around because another Primaris Primal showed up. Yes.”

“Primaris Primal?”

“It was a semi-official designation for the first Primal, but then two other First Primals showed up so... it’s in the Undaunted official vocabulary. Grandmother of the Nagasha, Emmanuel Skitterway of the Urthani and Clawdia Greatpincer of the Wimparas are the three Primaris Primals. First of their species, but not the last.”

“Has anyone figured out how more Urthani or Wimparas Primals Emerge?”

“Not yet. But if it’s like the Nagasha it will be years before another shows up. And that’s a big IF.”

“There was something else fuelling the rush to Lakran...” One of the Amarl Daughters says.

“I think the first child between Yserizen a Primal Nagasha who was last on that Lakran and Emmanuel is already a Primal Nagasha male.”

“... That would do it.”

“Wait, do Primals with Primals produce Primals?” Arden’Karm asks.

“That has happened before I believe.” Therus’Amarl the Larger states. “But it is not a guarantee. But it IS higher than average. For all that there is anything average about a Primal.”

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