Empyrean Ruin: Houses Align Book 3

By Toby Keen

The conclusion of an epic crossing millennia, star systems both alive and dead and the gods themselves.
The eternal enemy has finally arrived
to find confused and terrified worlds with a fleet woefully under powered
for the all-powerful Gods. Fighting within the systems leaves hope dwindling
and life precariously hanging on the balance for all.
Taloth, Adri, Wranth and Jithro join forces to defend both solar systems from
utter annihilation.
The Houses Align sees the finale arrive in a battle, eons in the making. The
time has come for everyone to choose their side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504966184

Toby Keen

Toby Keen was born in 1977 and is still not dead. After making a career out of getting electrocuted, the latest jolt gave him the idea for this series of books and looks forward to writing until someone tells him to stop. Toby has had a deep-seated interest in all space-faring news since before he could walk and is always keeping up with the latest technology.

Book preview

Prologue

Lightning shattered the darkness of space throughout the impossible storm. The blue-black billowing nebula, constantly changing form and snapping out at the surrounding universe moved with a purpose that belied the typical aggressive and random nature.

For the first time in a century it felt eyes upon it as it drew closer to its latest target, one of a never ending series of living systems that sustained the creators of the storm.

Within the deadly form, a ship of massive scale stayed secluded within its own realm of existence, populated entirely by creatures that all other races in the universe called Gods for their longevity and unbridled power.

They travelled through space at a speed that made sense to them, that gave them time for their next target to complete their unknown task prior to their arrival. The people of the systems never knew about their task, what it entailed, but without fail they succeeded time after time, preparing their system for the inevitable appearance of the storm that was always their ultimate destiny.

The race had rested on their laurels for an unimaginable time, knowing that nothing could vie for the power that they wielded during unending lives as the eons spanning cycle they had created wound on.

During the incalculable time that they had roamed the void, they had only met a few dozen life forms that they had not had a direct hand in creating. The first prime species that they had met, had been added to the biological defences they employed for every system thereafter that they created. Sometimes the strange creatures lived, sometimes they did not, but in the systems that the creatures survived, the planets invariably burgeoned with life combined with the more important aspect that less damage accrued from natural disasters and from the stars.

The particular life form that they had decided to use on their planets always grew in intelligence quickly, building space faring crafts that defended the planet against asteroids and the like, while simultaneously learning how to control the wild and temperamental nature of the planets they derived their existence from.

The other races of creatures that had been met during their eternal trek through the stars hadn’t proven to be as pliable, hence they had been destroyed without hesitation. They were wiped off the face of the natural planets the storm came across with as little thought as cleaning a mildly stubborn mess. There had been no reason to leave anything behind that could eventually become a threat, no matter how far in the future.

As such, the inhabitants of the storm had ensured their longevity. The pattern never changed any longer as very rarely was a new species found that had the potential to grow into any sort of threat no matter how far along the evolutionary chain they climbed.

Those living within the storm watched the panic register palpably upon the planets as they entered their latest solar target. The routine was predictable to the point of boredom for the eternal hunters. Nothing new ever happened. The peoples of the system would invariably attack with whatever latest technology they had created, but they would never be strong enough to create a serious threat. Damage to the craft would occasionally occur but it was never enough to worry those hidden within. They hadn’t lost the corporeal forms of one of their own in so long that the thought of anything actually happening to them was no longer registered as a possibility.

The planets would be drained of the dark matter that the Gods used in every facet of their lives and they would move on as they always did, leaving behind a lifeless husk with the few unlucky survivors having nothing to survive on. They would invariably die out as the last of the natural resources dried up.

Once in a while one of the Gods spoke of change, of the need to do something different, of developing issues with what they saw and what they were doing. These were permitted to remain in one of the systems that were beginning their life cycle that had been artificially sped up, to see the life span of the creatures that they infected the system with. They were left to oversee the creationary process of the solar system as a whole but it also gave them a better view of what the creatures were really like; war-mongering, unpleasant, short lived and long hating. Entire generations would kill one another over an insult until the original reason was forgotten, but the war would continue anyway.

Many times the Gods would see their likenesses on idols and found that they were being used as an excuse for yet more violence, despite the fact that they had nothing to do with any of the insanity that the creatures brewed.

The time spent in the system reminded the Gods why they shouldn’t bother with attempting change, why they should continue on as they had always done. They had learned over countless years that there was no higher power than themselves, there was nothing more in the universe to interest them.

Due to their longevity, the hundreds of thousands of years that they spent watching over the planets was no more than an extended holiday to them.

The end result was that creatures on the planets were little more advanced than a virus, a plague upon the planet that they unwittingly destroyed despite the good intentions of a small percentage of the population. They were to be given less thought than any parasite.

The storm housed the craft that the Gods lived within, allowing it to exist in both realms of existence simultaneously, through which it would envelop the first of the planets in the system.

As always, the peoples of the world screamed, fought in vain and died and just as expectedly, the storm dwellers cared not one whit. The two Gods that had stayed behind to be caretakers to the planetary system and relearn why they were the only ones of importance, returned to their mothership, thankful that they could return to the lives that they had once forgotten how to apprectiate. After having watched the strange creatures massacre each other for millennia, living their pointless lives in a way that made no sense whatsoever, they could no longer feel pity. The creatures’ time had come and there was never going to be a future for such a despicable race.

The world eater’s drained one planet, then moved on to the second of the three in the system. Nothing gave them any reason to pause, and soon the system was dying, drained of the dark matter that was the unseen soul of the system. That strength wasn’t going to return.

The cloud moved on to return some more of its brethren back into their folds and drop off others, creating a new system in prime locations to draw in the power they so needed. Millennia would pass as they always had, or so they believed.

Chapter 1

Huk’na’ta, The Tunait

The Holy Father of the only surviving Huk’na’tan religion, watched as the valuable file was expertly accessed from a massive distance and downloaded onto his personal terminal.

The Huk’na’tan captain, Hak’nar, had been spying deep within Q’ran space for over a year prior to the sudden arrival of the entire Q’ran forces, although precisely how long, he was unsure.

The Q’ran had arrived with the intention of totally annihilating the system that had originally attacked them without apparent provocation. Once the Q’ran fleet had arrived and the two opposing forces had begun to face off, Hak’nar and his counterpart from the Q’ran home system had released virus’ into the computer systems of each armada stopping them lifeless. The only working systems left alone by the virus were short range communications and life support.

Now it seemed that the largest battle in all written history had been paused as if nothing more than a child’s video game. Virtually nothing moved any longer except for a few shuttles that had started transporting the leaders of each fleet to the Q’ran ship that had expelled the virus.

From what had been reported by news chatter, Holy Father Qu’cal had learned that both fleets had their power returned to them, but had put the battle on hold until the leaders of the fleets could speak to one another in person due to some new information. There was little to no new information incoming from the fleet apart from the request for everyone to stay calm and be patient. The King had announced from his throne room on Chut’ro, that the plan was going perfectly and as soon as the result was known, the rest of the system would also learn what was going on. No one really believed that he had any idea what was going on at all, but it was comforting for many to disillusion themselves with such nonsense.

Qu’cal had watched the live announcement while his bishops chattered interminably, trying to understand what had happened. It frustrated him that the Godless people of Q’ran weren’t going to be wiped from the slate of the universe but there was little that he could do. All he could do was try to come up with a way to take advantage of the situation. It had taken him a few hours but eventually had called upon the most experienced hacker he had connections with, to access Hak’nar’s ship from afar. Ostensibly his aim was to see if he could steal the secrets of the virus but what had been found had been far more interesting.

The ship had been foolishly left virtually defenceless from both physical and technological prying as its occupant’s paid sole attention to the only threat they could perceive, the opposing fleets. His hacker accessed their files and although the virus had been found, they had quickly understood that it had been designed as a one-time use program only. Once it had lost its grasp on the affected systems, its code would be released for everyone to see. It had been designed so that it would never work again, a gambit that threw a massive amount of information and power out the window. The choice had already been made though and he had been determined to find something of use in Hak’nar’s system.

The file that they were presently downloading may not have been as useful as a virus that could shut down entire fleets, but it wasn’t far off.

Hak’nar, during his time in Q’ran space, had built a massive database of almost all types of Q’ran military and non-military vessels and if all went well, then it would soon be his.

Although he wasn’t entirely sure at this point what he could do with such information, he knew that it would be very useful in the future. He had been so close to making the decision to show the entire Huk’na’tan people the true strength of the church but the arrival of the Q’ran had slowed his hand.

‘Holy Father?’ queried his latest initiate, a young man that had already shown his total support for Qu’cal by killing an overly vocal opponent at the Holy Father’s personal request. He had done what he had been told solely because he truly believed that Qu’cal was the voice of the Lord. Faith of such magnitude had left him as someone that Qu’cal visibly trusted. Underneath the skin though, the Holy Father trusted no one but the One True God.

‘Bishop Fae’gre, what is it?’ he responded politely but distractedly, eyes fixed on his terminal. The file was already half retrieved and it wouldn’t take long for the rest of it to be his now.

‘The fleets are motionless, the king has no one to support him, would this not be the perfect time to remove him from his worthless throne?’

Qu’cal turned to the young man. Anger was crossing his face as he spoke of the king. It had been evident to everyone that knew him from initial meetings that he hated the man passionately. The Holy Father had looked into the past of the bishop to see that he had been a lesser known priest in a tiny church in the dark side of the planet Chut’ro. In the lower levels of the planet that had become one massive city, natural light never permeated and had been dubbed the dark side long ago.

Due to the negligence of the King and his subordinates, Fae’gre and his little church had been overlooked for assistance time and again during the harsh times that clouded the entire system. Despite how often the young man had done his best to get the supplies needed to help those in his parish, he had been ignored by one person that was supposed to care for all of his subjects. Fae’gre had worked ceaselessly, spending every last coin that he could scrounge up to do his best for the people that came to him for help. But it had never been enough and he had watched too many die, starving in the system wide famine that most blamed on the monarchy and its excessive nature. He was one statistic of millions that were going through the same terrible times. However, it hadn’t broken him as it had so many others.

He hadn’t even been able to get the necessities of bedding or water for his parishioners and eventually, after years of holding back the inevitable, his little church had been over run during one of the many bouts of rioting. The little that had been there had been ransacked, stolen and burned in the tired anger of the downtrodden.

He had been forced to flee with nothing more than the cloth on his back, finally ending up in the Tunait; the central church for all of Huk’na’ta. There, he had proven his worth over and over again, quickly becoming one that Qu’cal was willing to trust with some of the nastier work that he was forced to commit. The man may have lost his faith in the monarchy, but he still believed strongly in God and that alone was a rare commodity these days. As such he had become a powerful tool in Qu’cal’s arsenal.

‘It would not.’ The Holy Father finally replied, kicking himself out of his reverie. He realized that the man had been waiting for an answer for many minutes as his own thoughts had contemplated the life that had brought him the tired young man.

‘The last thing that we need at the moment is war between the faithful and faithless. If we attacked then the fleets may clash due to an erroneous belief that the Q’ran attacked the planet surface. It would likely become a war far greater than anything we wished to create. Too many would die and our fleet’s success would not be guaranteed. God has not spoken to me on this matter, but I feel it to be true.’

To the young man’s credit, he just nodded and quieted immediately. He trusted his Holy Father completely, even though just seconds earlier he had been ready to pounce, to begin the attack on the monarchy that he so rightly wanted disassembled.

The file finished downloading and Qu’cal grinned fiercely. He wasn’t completely certain what he was planning yet, but half-formed thoughts and ideas were spinning through his mind already. He knew that God would tell him what to do when He deemed it necessary.

The hacker looked at him questioningly after removing all evidence of his appearance in the ships computer.

‘Tell no one what you have seen here today and I will ensure that you live handsomely for a long time to come.’ The Holy Father said with a tight smile.

The hacker bowed low, smiling, then left the room without a word.

‘Keep a detail on him, I want to make sure that he says nothing to anyone. If he does, you know what to do.’ He said this to his second-in-command, Far’nath, who nodded and left the room quickly, Fae’gre had the uneasy feeling that the man wouldn’t be able to appreciate his payday. That left the Holy Father and Fae’gre alone together.

‘What do you think my boy?’ asked Qu’cal with a self-satisfied smile.

‘I am not sure Father.’ The young man replied honestly. ‘A part of me wants to attack the monarch now, but without resources I do not know what we could do.’

The man smiled widely. ‘The resources are lacking for now, but fear not, one day the so-called-king will pay for his many crimes. The people cry for vengeance and what are we if not a voice for the people.’

The young man drank his words and made the leader of the church feel more powerful than he ever had. He didn’t know what it was about Fae’gre, but he knew that the man would do anything that was asked of him. As such he would always be a favourite of the Holy Father. He would have to do something for the young man to show his appreciation as soon as he could spare some thought to the matter. For now, he returned himself to the present.

The situation in the Huk’na’tan system had been dire for decades. A lack of resources had strained food to the breaking point and in many poorer places on the planet that was more city than anything else, there was nothing left. Cannibalism had been reported numerous times, although no concrete proof had shown itself. The monarch had introduced repeating culling each year. The oldest and most infirm together with those with bleak futures would be put to death in hopes that their unwilling sacrifices would ease the strain on the system. It had done what it had been meant to do, but the cost of which had been terrible to the system as a whole. The people had grown to hate the monarch who had planned the culling and the only thing that kept them in line during the tumultuous times was the might of the military that hadn’t fought a war in hundreds of years.

The entire system had been under the control of the one monarch for centuries, passing the crown down through the family despite the admittance that the system was a flawed one. The only reason that it kept going any longer was because everyone was afraid of what would happen if change was to come their way. Therefore an outdated model was kept alive due only to fear and tradition.

‘I would be honored to be by your side when that day comes my lord.’ Fae’gre said and went down on one knee, kissing the back of the Holy Fathers hand in supplication.

‘And you will be my dear boy. You are one of my most trusted few and you will learn one day of what our glorious future holds.

‘Our interference in Q’ran’s affairs was not countenanced by the Gods and as such it was doomed to fail from the beginning. We may have attacked first in the hopes of expanding our empire and finding new resources but the Q’ran have come to prove to us all that we were not doing God’s work, let us pray that He will show us the way and let us survive these terrible times. Fear not, he will guide us if we are faithful. We must show all of Huk’na’ta that our God is within us all and we must listen to everything that He commands.’

Fae’gre said nothing but bowed his head. Qu’cal could feel the emotion flowing through him and knew that as ever the young man would do as he was asked.

‘But for now, we must see how this plays out. We must wait, bide our time and wait. It will come. Be patient, it will come.’

Chapter 2

Huk’na’ta, No Man’s Land

Taloth, Wranth and Hak’nar stood shoulder to shoulder despite Hak’nar’s slightly exaggerated Huk’na’tan frame and waited for the first of the visitors to appear. The Q’ran race was on average slightly shorter than the Huk’na’tans, but it was made up for in bulk. It was almost as if the Q’ran had been stretched on a rack to create the Huk’na’tans. The thought brought a smile to Taloth’s face until he remembered what they were doing.

The rest of Taloth’s crew had made themselves scarce, although they had discretely armed themselves in case of any need to suppress violent actions from either group that were presently on their way.

Taloth wished yet again that he hadn’t let Akrat leave the ship back in his own system, to go to Nethgard to attempt to access the Gods’ realm. The mage’s presence would have been excessively useful at this remarkable and crucial time and not only for his use of magic. The man’s council had been key in keeping the crew on track many times in the past and without him, the ship felt odd, as if there was a part of it missing. He wondered momentarily where Crow, the quartermaster, was hiding out. The large man would probably be peppered with weaponry in case of a worst-case scenario, just waiting for the chance to ply his terrifying trade.

His mind snapped back into the correct gear as the click and juddering of docking arms grasped his ship. He felt his breath shorten slightly and saw out of the corner of his eye that Hak’nar’s face had become somewhat paler. This didn’t help the calm demeanor that he wanted portray but there was nothing they could do about it. He glanced over at the ex-commander, Wranth and to his unintentional disgust, saw that the man almost looked bored.

It didn’t take long for the airlock to cycle and before he could change his mind or do anything to remove the nervous tension that built within him to a boiling point, the lock opened and in walked four people dressed in heavily decorated military clothes. He only recognized one of the important looking group.

Wranth spoke first.

‘Welcome Emperor Ranak, Captain Chenarr, Commander Grant and consul Laetro. It is a pleasure to see you all here.’

The anger emanating from Ranak at the sight of Wranth was almost palpable, but the pleasure radiating from Chenarr was just as apparent. It made for a very strange initial meeting. Taloth believed that it was all the battered woman could do, to not run over and hug the old man. He remembered the tales of how she had received the scars and the sling that seemed to be a permanent part of her uniform but snapped quickly back to what was going on, knowing that it was not the time for wool-gathering.

‘You better know what you are doing.’ Ranak snarled at Wranth.

‘We do.’ Came the surprisingly civil reply. Taloth had expected far worse considering that Ranak had once sentenced Wranth to a lifetime of prison on Nethgard, blaming him solely for the death of Ranak’s only son. Wranth was supressing all personal feelings, knowing full well that the only important matter was that the talks went smoothly. Chenarr had been Wranth’s protégé while he had been commander of the Q’ran fleet. She had flown up through the ranks as she had repeatedly proven her worth but when the commander had been disgraced and imprisoned, unpleasant rumours about her rapid advancements had risen and although there had never been any proof to support the stories, she had nevertheless been reduced to captain status. To her credit, she had never complained, just continued on knowing that her stellar record was the only thing that kept her away from a place beside Wranth on the prison planet. She had never forgotten the old man though and had secretly always looked forward to their meeting once again even though she had never really believed it could come true. He had been more of a father figure to her than her own mildly abusive father had been.

‘May I present Captain Hak’nar of Huk’na’ta.’ Taloth said as pleasantly and calmly as he could muster. The captain put out his hand in Q’ran fashion, to shake the hand of the most powerful man of all Q’ran.

Surprised, the emperor shook his hand, momentarily speechless.

Hak’nar said something in his own language and immediately the on-board computer system picked it up and translated.

‘It is an honour to meet you my lord.’

To his credit, the emperor didn’t flinch or pause at the translation, just replied calm and collectedly.

‘It is an honour to meet you also. May I ask how you can hear our voices in your tongue yet yours is coming through the ships speakers?’

Hak’nar wordlessly withdrew a small earpiece to show Ranak then returned it once more. Ranak nodded in understanding.

‘We have more of those if you would like to use them my lord, or we can keep the speakers on instead.’

‘I think we shall all take those devices, there will be less confusion about who is speaking that way.’

Taloth nodded and immediately passed out the form fitting earpieces, which were put in without further comment.

‘If you would all follow me, a meeting room has been set up.’ Wranth said after the last ear piece was installed and motioned for the group to follow him. As they left, Ranak sent a quick message to the transport vehicle to detach to allow the Huk’na’tans craft to dock.

Taloth and Hak’nar were left alone once more but they knew it wouldn’t last long as the dull ring of docking arms detaching was heard. Silence reigned momentarily in the room once more.

Hak’nar looked over to Taloth with a small smile.

‘Well that wasn’t all that bad?’ he stated and asked at the same time.

‘It could have been far worse, at least we are still alive!’ Taloth admitted nervously, wondering how Wranth was doing. He knew that he had been the right person to go with the Q’ran ambassadors, but it didn’t cease his nervous mental meanderings.

Before anything more could be said, a more clumsy docking sound rang through the chamber.

Hak’nar had sent his own transport vehicle to pick up the dignitaries from the Huk’na’tan fleet. They had spent some time before the implementation of the plan to create some sort of docking system that the Huk’na’tans could use to attach to the Q’ran system. They had only tried it once and it had worked well, but that didn’t remove the nervousness from the two of them. The last thing they needed right now was to have the Huk’na’tans killed because of mechanical failure. It would be one of a thousands of reasons for the thread-bare peace to become all-out war once again.

Thankfully the lock cycled without significant issue and soon four tall Huk’na’tans entered.

‘Commander Li’thro.’ Hak’nar saluted the first man to enter the ship. The man responded with a surprisingly warm smile and a salute then moved politely off to the side.

‘Commander Jo’run.’ Once again the same sequence of events occurred, this time sans smile. The commander seemed less than impressed with the situation, but Taloth could still feel something of relief emanating from the man. If he was forced to guess, he would have said that the man had no interest in war whatsoever, despite his grand position.

‘Major Sha’ta.’ The third of the group responded to the salute but nothing more. She seemed initially to be a rather serious person and Taloth had no luck reading her whatsoever.

Finally the last of the group entered, a man that looked rather bewildered and out of place with the military folk that had come first. Taloth couldn’t help but smile at the way the man seemed to be devouring everything with his eyes, as if he could learn everything about Taloth’s craft through the technology that was visible.

‘Dr. Yeal?’ Hak’nar asked, sounding surprised.

‘That is correct, and you are Captain Hak’nar I believe?’

The two bowed deeply to one another and Taloth could see without a doubt that they knew each other somehow. He felt as if he should know the name but couldn’t place it quite yet and before he could put some serious thought into it, Hak’nar turned to him. He straightened his back somewhat and tried to look as confident as he could.

‘This is Captain Taloth, my co-conspirator in the plan to stop war between our two systems.’

The one that had been called Li’thro bowed to Taloth, who responded the best he could, trying to mimic the gesture.

‘Although I appreciate the fact that you have the best interest of both systems in mind, I hope you will understand that the future may be rather difficult for the both of you and your crew mates. You have effectively threatened two entire fleets and probably will not be well liked for the foreseeable future. This war was necessary in ways that you simply cannot comprehend and you may have doomed more people than you could possibly imagine.’

Taloth felt a chill crease his spine at the statement of fact that was not designed to be a threat. He had to force himself to not show it despite the chill it set into his thoughts; he could end up being the target in the near future for an accident. He happened to glance at Commander Jo’run and surprisingly all he saw was a large smile as the man winked at him. Apparently the serious sentiment was not shared by all. He felt his heart lighten slightly although it was not alleviated entirely by the gesture.

Hak’nar turned to Taloth and motioned for him to lead the way to the meeting room, which he did without saying a word. He felt glad that he didn’t have to speak, he wasn’t sure if he could have trusted himself to say anything at the moment.

They walked to the meeting room without a word and as soon as they entered, the four leaders from each system faced off against one another in an air of electricity, the central table and chairs being the only things between them that seemed to hold back from a more physical reaction.

Wranth had already taken a seat at one end of the table while the delegation had taken their places on one side of the long and plain table. The old commander of the Q’ran armada stood at their arrival as did the Q’ran delegation, then he bowed to the Huk’na’tans as if he had been born in the culture. He sat once again, spreading his hands to either side of him, wordlessly asking them all to be seated.

Still silent, everyone in the entire room sat rather slower than Taloth suspected they normally would have done. With Wranth at one end of the table and Taloth and Hak’nar at the other, the two groups faced off along the longer sides.

Taloth could barely believe that everything was still civil. He had almost expected Ranak to have said something insulting to destroy the fragile peace as soon as the Huk’na’tans had entered the room.

Finally Ranak did decide to speak, but his voice was calm and in control.

‘You say you have something to show us that removes our… how did you put it? Ah yes, our luxury to be squabbling.’ He said and turned to Taloth. ‘Well I for one am very interested in seeing what this is.’

The emperor ceased speaking before inflating the already tense initial meeting. Taloth was forced once more to re-evaluate his impression of the man. He was not acting as the rumours and tales had suggested. It was almost as if he was speaking to the wrong person. He wondered momentarily whether the real emperor had sent a doppleganger in his place but dismissed the thought as ridiculous almost immediately.

‘Your imperial highness, we have evidence to show that a far greater threat is looming on our horizon that dwarfs any issues that our two solar systems may have with one another. I believe Dr. Yeal has studied this information and we have had the chance to see some of the information for ourselves as well as discover our own truths on the matter.’

Taloth wished yet again, as he spoke, that Akrat had been able to attend this meeting, it would have made everything much simpler.

‘My colleague Akrat Delaeph has met with those that we call Gods and has learned the truth of what our future holds.’

Ranak’s face shaded a tinge of purple as he forced himself to stay under control. Now Taloth could see the hidden face of all of the tales that circulated about the man.

‘Are you telling me that someone actually met our Gods and then had a conversation with you? I hope you understand the questionable nature of your claim?’

‘I must concur with his imperial highness.’ Li’thro spoke up surprisingly, even using the correct title for the Emperor of Q’ran. ‘The idea of actually meeting and speaking with a God sounds like fantasy possibly mixed with heresy.’

‘My lords, I understand your skepticism, it is well earned, but there is much proof that we need to submit before we get back to that particular point. I made it just to help you understand how much effort has been put into finding out whether the information we were receiving was actually true or not.’ Taloth knew that it was time to put all the cards on the table and was surprisingly happy about it, he just wanted to let them know everything that there was to know. He wanted more than anything else to be done with these far more powerful people and what he had discovered so that he could make further decisions themselves. He took a deep breath, taking the signal from Hak’nar that he agreed it was time, and started his carefully prepared speech.

‘From Huk’na’ta, we learned of the existence of an ancient race that has long since passed on. The Huk’na’tans had travelled to this system to discover as much as they could as well as for other reasons.’ He decided to leave the other reasons, being that of the massive overpopulation issues there, out. If the Huk’na’tans wanted to speak of them, then he would not force their hand. ‘Those that once lived there left information on a computer in a static vault that was expertly translated by Dr. Yeal and a few of his companions.’

Li’thro raised an eyebrow at Dr. Yeal who looked sufficiently sheepish. How Taloth and Hak’nar had received that information would be a question that the good doctor would not like to be asked later on. For now, the most powerful man in all Huk’na’ta, supposedly under the king, kept silent and continued to listen.

‘It was learned that a force far greater than anything that particular civilization could have defended against, had attacked them. During the attack, they had drawn something from the planet from a system of hidden storage devices that the planets hold deep within them.’ He looked at Li’thro, trying to read the man’s stone expression. ‘The stored material was dark matter.’ He knew that Li’thro wouldn’t know what it was or at best would have only a very passing knowledge of the valuable resource, as their system was a barren wasteland when it came to the potent energy source. ‘The process of this removal is catalysed by the core of the planet itself which is cooled substantially during the procedure. The planet’s surface goes through massive changes due to this and ends up destroying a large portion of anything trying to survive upon it. The exact nature of the planets death after this was not understood by those that wrote the files, so it is hard to say exactly what was done do the surface of the planet or whether it was just an aftereffect of the withdrawal process. No matter how you look at it, nothing survived on the planet for longer than a single generation after the Gods moved on.’

He was stopped by Ranak who cleared his voice with the obvious intention to speak.

‘Are you telling us that the gods, whom so many of our people have prayed to for so long are in fact just a heavily advanced race?

‘Of a sort, yes.’ Yeal jumped in unexpectedly with a hint of excitement in his voice that he found hard to hide. ‘They have been around for so long and have life-expectancies that are so extensive that they may as well be considered Gods compared to our races. We could also discuss the definition of God anyway and could be surprised by what we would find.’

A withering look from Li’thro stopped him from continuing however.

‘We have come to the same conclusion using our own resources.’ Taloth agreed with Doctor Yeal. ‘The history that we have learned of the Gods movement throughout the universe is long and rather fantastic but we know it is true.’

‘How could you possibly know something like that?’ Ranak asked, anger creeping onto his face once again. It seemed to be a natural state for the volatile man despite his obvious intentions of keeping it hidden.

‘When I said earlier that one of our people spoke to the gods, I was not exaggerating. He spoke to Harrow and Shenath.’ He saw the question on Li’thro’s face. ‘These two have long been our Gods of the afterlife and of healing respectively. We have called upon them our entire lives to take the souls of our loved ones or assist in the healing of our wounded, and as far as we are concerned, they have always assisted although comparatively recently some of us have begun to believe that the talent for healing is within us and is not being derived from an outside force. A relatively new understanding is that it is the feeling of the dark matter entering a mages body that gives them the feeling of Godly intervention. To be honest, it is a remarkably complicated situation that warrants much further study than we have been able to give it.’

This time it was Li’thro’s turn to question what was being said.

‘What exactly do you mean; the talent is within us? Are you saying that you can heal without technology?’

Taloth sighed at the conundrum he found himself facing. He had gone over the possible conversation many times in his head and this was the one point that he had been unable to come to terms with. He was potentially ready to give up information that was vitally important to the Q’ran and could become instrumental in future battles were these peace talks to fail. He sighed again, unable to see what choice he had. He had to lay cards on the table for both sides, if he didn’t then one may feel that they had superior knowledge and either side leaving the initial meeting feeling as if things were hidden from them could spell disaster.

‘It is magic. I have spoken to Hak’nar extensively in the past about it and I believe he would be the best person to assist you in understanding what it is. We may be able to understand one another, but our ways of speaking can still be rather different.’

Before Hak’nar could begin though, Ranak leapt from his seat. Thankfully no weapons had been brought to the meeting from either side, otherwise the explosive action would likely have elicited some violence.

‘Hold your tongue! We cannot be divulging out such information so freely!’ he visibly strained to not shout, realizing as he did so that he was trying to order a member of the opposing force. He spared a baleful glare towards Taloth who tried his best not to wilt in his seat under the heat of it.

‘Your imperial highness, at this point all truths must be laid upon the table for the better understanding of what we are apparently going up against.’ Li’thro spoke politely but firmly. ‘I believe that in fairness of giving one another secrets of sufficient worth, we shall tell you something that we would rather you knew nothing about also.’ He paused and Taloth couldn’t take his eyes off the man. He had quickly come to terms with the situation and was already willing to take steps to calm it down. A politician like this in his own system would have been emperor within years and probably without any violence.

‘We are starving to death.’ Li’thro said with a small sigh. ‘A few years, a decade at most and we will be nothing but a pack of savage animals left on a planet that can no longer support even half the population it currently possesses. We have only stayed alive this long through mass production of some substances that can only barely be considered food. We call it dark side food and although it can sustain you for a while, extended use of it will end up killing a person through lack of proper nutrients. We try to ensure that everyone gets enough of the light side food that will offset the toxins that the dark side food builds up in the body, but we are waging a losing war. Our light side food is becoming scarcer as time passes and although very few know it, our facilities are failing one by one. Were you so inclined, you could simply wait us out and watch us die under our own hand, but I believe that this meeting will end up with some unique opportunities for us both if we can come to an understanding.’

Taloth cringed at the realization that even Hak’nar hadn’t known how bad his own systems future seemed. Hak’nar was sitting wide eyed and barely able to keep his mouth from dropping open. Even the commander of the fleet, Jo’run, seemed surprised by the news and that alone surprised him more than anything else; if such information was being kept from even those in such lofty positions, then the situation was dire indeed. He waited for Ranak to do something foolish with the unbidden gift, but the emperor surprised him once more by sitting back down. He thought for a second and then bowed his head slightly to Li’thro, admitting the power of the information given, then sat back, seemingly completely relaxed once more.

Taloth realized what made the man so formidable. Everything he had seen so far had given him nothing to form a concrete opinion on. What had made him angry a short time earlier caused nothing but a raised eyebrow minutes later and vice versa. It was almost as if he was keeping everyone off their guard just to ensure that they didn’t know where his thoughts were heading. There was no way to know what to expect from the man and for a person in his position that was the most dangerous thing he could wield against his enemies.

‘Thank you Commander Li’thro, that was very generous of you.’ Wranth said emotionlessly in the silence after the surprising declaration. ‘Please continue Captain Hak’nar.’

Hak’nar nodded his appreciation, obviously coming to terms with the knowledge that they had all been given and gathered his thoughts.

‘In Q’ran space there is something called dark matter, masses of it. It is something that we cannot see or access as our own system has so little as to be inconsequential. Due to this we as a system have no knowledge of what it is or what it does, but the fact of the matter is that it can be manipulated by those with sufficient skill to do a wide manner of tasks from the mundane to the seemingly impossible.

‘One of those things we have already experienced first-hand. It was magic that caused the explosion the last time our two fleets met in battle.’

Taloth saw a flicker of understanding in Li’thro’s eyes, as if he had suddenly put two and two together to find an answer that fit all the criteria his mind hand set in place.

The battle that had occurred years earlier had been at the edge of the Q’ran system and it had been leading towards Huk’na’tans victory. Their superior technology in both defence and offense had shown early in the battle and despite the ferocity of the battle and how hard the Q’ran were fighting, the end result had quickly been obvious. The Q’ran had done the only thing that had given them any sort of an edge. They had created, using a mass amount of mages throughout the fleet, a singularity closer to the Huk’na’tan fleet than their own, but the spell had backfired and had destroyed almost as much of their own fleet as their enemy at the time. The end result had been a terrible loss of life and no clear winner in the battle. Both sides had retreated to lick their wounds and prepare for a return to the battlefield.

‘The use of this magic is massively varied as I said, far beyond any knowledge that I have, but I know that it can be used to heal wounds that normally would have killed and speak over massive distances without the use of technology. Also, it can be used to travel between our realm and the one where the gods reside. A true magic user would be far better at explaining, but that is the gist of the matter.’

Li’thro nodded politely. ‘May I ask a question?’ He didn’t wait for permission, just asking out of form. ‘If the gods live in a different realm, how is it that we could attempt to stop them from continuing doing what they have apparently always done?’

Taloth sighed. ‘That is one of the reasons for this meeting. I wanted to have everyone understand what we are up against initially and then pass the reins on. What we have