Jehz was sitting in Dorz’s offices, listening to the low-level Rychii diplomat drone on to both of them about the concerns regarding the General’s behavior. To the Rychii, it was a clear violation of both their law and the agreements struck with the Given after so much effort. Both Given officers wore the dutifully concerned expressions of professional diplomats but were confused and angered by the story, finding it hard to believe. Even if the events were partially true, there had to be more to it, of that they were quite sure. That the captain of a Given warship would steal a transport to accomplish some bizarre rescue mission when he had some of the most powerful forces in the universe at his disposal was almost laughable. They assured the Rychii official that there would be a full investigation while gently trying to probe for more details.
When it was disclosed that the Rychii officer suspected by the Given as being behind the attack at the prison camp was overseeing the investigation, they became even more alarmed and suspicious. Dorz felt compelled to launch into a predictable and drawn-out diplomatic explanation of the unlikelihood of a Given officer of the General’s stature being involved in a plot of this nature but was mercifully interrupted by an aide rushing into the room and whispering in the official’s ear. The Rychii diplomat seemed concerned, almost scared at what he heard. He swallowed hard and turned to the Given. “Gentleman, you must excuse me but there have been some significant developments in this affair. I need to gather some details and will provide a full update as soon as I can.” With that the Rychii rushed from the room. He returned a few minutes later, an even graver expression on his face than the one he’d tried to hide when leaving. He took a deep breath and began to speak “I regret to inform you there has been some sort of accident and the remaining Given special guests are dead. We do not currently know the cause. The General’s ship has been spotted in the area and we are of course actively investigating.”
Dorz and Jehz stared at each other in disbelief. More Rychii misinformation it would seem, but to what end? To disgrace the General and undermine the protection negotiation? It was surely possible but there seemed to be widespread consensus among the Rychii, finally, that the Given protection agreement was worth signing. Dorz and Jehz thanked the Rychii official and reiterated their promise to look into the matter from their side. As soon as they returned to the hotel, Jehz tried to contact the General and when he couldn’t reach him urgently tried to raise Rahez instead. As Rahez relayed the limited details he knew, Jehz collapsed into his chair, stunned. He couldn’t believe the General had been drawn into such a juvenile game and couldn’t understand why he had not reached out for help.
Rahez had only the barest details but Jehz imagined correctly that the infection and threat to the hostages as well as the General’s experience and overconfidence in these kinds of conflicts had likely contributed to the problem. He immediately felt a deep urge to find the General, insist on using all his power to make this go away, make all the Rychii involved pay dearly. If he needed to, Jehz felt he could tear the planet apart piece by piece to fix this for the General. Who even had a chance of stopping him? The consequences to the protection agreement would simply have to be set aside and dealt with. The diplomat in him however knew that was not possible. They had no confirmation who was behind this plot and whether those involved in the planning had any connection to the main Rychii government. Jehz jumped up and paced the room. Why wouldn’t the General answer his comm? It was maddening. The General must know he could help. Rahez confirmed that the General’s ship had reentered Rychii airspace and appeared to be headed for the Capitol city. Jehz figured he would not have time to locate a ship to take him there before the General’s touchdown so despite the direct order against it he decided to use his suit to fly instead.
***
By the time the General entered the Rychii atmosphere, he had formulated what he thought would be a solid plan. Assuming he was being tracked, he would first fake a course toward the nearby building the Given had been using as the headquarters while on Rychii. He knew Wellku’s forces were not likely to blow their cover by pursuing him aggressively and the Rychii government would be reticent to compromise in any way a deal they seemed to want very badly so they would likely keep their distance as well. At the last minute, he would change course and close in on Wellku’s hideout. That should buy the needed time to do what had to be done before the Rychii defenses could react. The transport wasn’t exactly a war craft, but even basic Given armament would be devastating to any Rychii defense. Should Wellku be expecting him, as he imagined must be the case, there would still be no way to stop him.
Entering the airspace above the Capitol city, the General’s plan seemed to work as expected, his approach to Wellku’s hideout monitored but unchallenged. Throughout the trip, the General refused to even glance at the bio comm or his personal device. He did not want there to be any chance Rahez, Jehz, or anyone close to him would be negatively affected by what he was going to do. If they got involved in this in any way, they would be. Getting closer, he trained his radar on Wellku’s location in the building. He could see five life forms, but there was no sign of escape or panic. Wellku and his crew seemed quite unconcerned by the possibility of an attack, which to the General represented a surprising departure from the conservative, defensive approach displayed earlier on while he was in orbit. They must know by now he was nearby; it was almost as if they were trying to draw him in. They couldn’t possibly think they could win this battle, but they seemed to be acting like they could.
“It’s over Wellku”, the General yelled in the comm, “I’m sure you can hear me. You seem to love deadlines so I have one for you. You have 30 seconds to allow your associates to leave. As dishonorable as they may be for associating with scum like you, they will live to see another day should they choose. You on the other hand should make peace with your Gods. Today will be your last day on this pitiful rock.”
“General, what do you think you are doing?” said Wellku, his tone full of mock surprise. “For all of our sakes please calm down. Don’t let our personal vendetta jeopardize the agreement both our peoples want. You can still walk away from this…as a coward and a petty criminal perhaps, but it does not need to end here for both of us.”
“It won’t be both of us Wellku. Neither your backward justice system nor military establishment will be able to touch me no matter what I do even if I am stranded here for a time. And should that come to pass, that time will be short, I assure you. Our scientists are the best in the universe and they are aggressively working the so called “unsolvable” Host and Guest problem. They will find a cure, I’ll go home, and you will still be very, very dead.”
“Perhaps, but you will still be the arrogant idiot General who killed his own people. Even a primitive like myself can tell that will follow you for the rest of your days. Perhaps the Given will forgive you, though if they do, they are even weaker than they seem. But will you ever be able to forgive yourself? Outsmarted and out maneuvered by a savage who has never even left his home planet. That’s a tough one to accept for a powerful war hero I would think. Maybe it is the Rychii who should run the galaxy General, not the Given. We have none of your pathetic sentimentality and weakness and we are not afraid to do the things that must be done. Kill me, if you have the courage, though I doubt very much that you do. You are too comfortable in your role and too set in your ways to finish me and pay the price you would pay. Yes, I know something of your Musa traditions General, diplomats do like to talk don’t they? To share. Let’s be honest, the little idiots don’t know when to shut up! Doesn’t really matter if I am wrong though. Either way I still win. I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, even more. The toothless old statues running this world are crumbling and the riders from the sky, the ones that would be gods, you of course, have been shot with a flaming golden arrow. What a noise it will make when you smash into the ground. The shock felt around the world. Beautiful, absolutely and breathtakingly beautiful. I don’t fear the Given, General, none of us do.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The General armed the weapons on the transport and locked onto Wellku’s tracker. “Your comrades better leave now, Wellku.”
“We are not going anywhere, invader. This is our planet and we would die a thousand deaths if it slowed down you insidious parasites for even a short time.”
The General readied himself to fire, secure in the knowledge that this was a man that had caused the deaths of hundreds of Given and truly deserved this fate. He wouldn’t waste another minute on trying to capture him and risk him escaping by turning him back over to the Rychii. If only the Given took prisoners thought the General, this lowlife, this mirt would deserve an especially unpleasant seat. But of course they didn’t, hadn’t since the beginning in fact no matter what the circumstances. It was too complicated and messy for a people already tackling the steep and complicated challenge of protecting the galaxy. They killed who they absolutely had to kill and turned their back on the rest, hoping that mercy would allow a protected world to more easily deal with the trauma of a Given contact and stitch itself back together. The Given were more concerned with martyrs than enemies. Enemies could always be killed at a later time if necessary, once martyrs caught fire in the hearts of a people, that was much harder to defuse. No need to hasten their creation if it could be avoided.
Wellku however was an extreme danger to both the Given and Rychii and he had to be dealt with. The General felt confident he was too selfish and cruel to be an inspiration to any but the most dedicated zealot. He was in “have to kill” category and it would end now. The General initiated a force gun blast which blew apart the corner of the building where Wellku had been. Huge chunks of debris rained down on the ground below. It was finally over. The transport was running dangerously low on fuel so the General scanned the ground for a place to set down.
Suddenly the comm crackled to life. “Miiissssed me, General”, the mocking tone of Wellku’s voice reverberated through the General’s head. There was no way anyone could have survived the blast thought the General, this can’t be real. But as Wellku continued, he knew it was. “I have to tell you I really appreciate the assist on that one, General. Those guys you just cut down were some of my worst enemies, and some of the Given’s biggest supporters. Unfortunately for them, they weren’t as good at detecting a Given tracker as I was. That thing was tough to find, I will give your tech guys credit. If I hadn’t been willing to undergo a 12-hour micro scan, they never would have found it. That session nearly drove me insane, but it paid off. I just knew there was something odd about the way you grabbed me that day we scuffled in my office. You are good, General, but that wasn’t enough this time. It just keeps getting worse and worse for you doesn’t it?”
The General was shaken but he didn’t panic. He knew from the signal strength that Wellku had to be nearby, almost surely in the building itself. The transport did not have the power for another force blast so his only option would be to set the engines on overload and fly the transport into the building, ejecting right before it hit. The blast would level the place and there was no way Wellku would survive if he was anywhere inside. There would be collateral damage but there seemed to be very few Rychii on site and they were likely to be Wellku’s foot soldiers anyway. He would not have gone in there alone and unprotected.
The fuel gauge on the transport was mere minutes away from empty so the General decided to make his move. He overrode the engine controls and forced the engines to maximum power. The alarms within the ship began to sound. It did not take long for the pressure to hit dangerously high levels. He had to move. The General decided he would head for the southwest corner of the building, ejecting at about a half a mzek away. The explosion there should block the doorway and he would end up safely on the ground down a small slope, protected from the blast. His suit would shield him from any shrapnel and even if he was a little unlucky he should be able to simply get up and walk away. Just as the General turned the ship toward the building and put his hands on the thruster, Jehz appeared suddenly in front of him and began speaking over the comm.
“General, I can sense what are you have done to the ship and can guess what you must be planning to do next. Turn the engines down now, these people are not worth it. You know that.”
“Jehz, get out of the way. The man in that building is a traitor to his own people and responsible for the torture and deaths of thousands of ours. You must be aware this is a truly evil mind. A mind that has compounded that evil by staying hidden behind the honorable shield of a soldier for far too long. Let me stop him. If he stays alive, he will undermine everything we have tried to build here together, devaluing the price we have all paid. We can’t let him get away with it. He has supporters high up in the Rychii government that will protect him.”
“I promise you General he won’t get away. We have high level contacts as well, beyond repute that have confirmed to me personally they are aware of Wellku’s instability and desire to overthrow the government. I’m sure once all the evidence is collected, his days of power will be over.”
“But will his freedom? And what about the Given lives lost? He doesn’t deserve to walk this planet for a minute longer or endanger any more of our brothers and sisters.”
“Of course you are right General, but the sacrifice made was one that all Given are willing to make. It is the cost of keeping the galaxy safe, even for the Rychii. Especially for the Rychii. Everyone is kept safe, no exceptions. It is a price that you would have paid yourself if need be. You know that.”
“Not like this though Jehz, not without honor, sacrificed by the hand of this monster, this butcher. That is not real sacrifice, it is just tragic death. He can’t go unpunished.”
“General, this isn’t the right way, it’s not the Musa way. The honor and sacrifice is in the mission, and nothing any madman would do can defile that. There are almost surely innocent Rychii in there and their death, more than Wellku living on, will be what destroys our noble purpose on this planet, a purpose that is almost complete. We can’t let it be thrown away. Please land the ship.”
“I can’t Jehz, I have to do this. Wellku has to be stopped.”
“He will, General, I promise.”
“By me, Jehz. By me. Now get out of my way. I am ordering you!”
The General was running out of time and he began flying toward the building entrance. Jehz stayed in front of him and could sense through his suit that the engines were close to exploding, could feel the forces gathering.
“General, eject now. Please. If we can prove him guilty, I’ll kill Wellku myself. You know no one can stop me.” It was too late though. The General had ejected and Jehz watched him twist and tumble toward the ground as if it were happening in slow motion. In a moment he could never forget, even after a thousand years had past, he swore he could feel the explosion begin, feel the first molecules split apart as it roared to life. In a move he had never attempted before, Jehz tried to imagine a force field across the front of the building, hoped his suit would understand what he was trying to do. He spread his arms as the explosion raced toward him, trying to wrap his force field around it in an embrace. His suit absorbed most of the blast, the energy rushing around his body like a living blanket of light, the threads splitting apart and reforming in intricate swirls and patterns.
Further away from the Jehz’s body, the explosion hit the force field curtain Jehz had created and partially reflected away from the building. Just before the General landed he was enveloped in a storm of fire and debris from the blowback. Jehz saw the General smash violently into the ground and rushed to his side but the power of the blast had overwhelmed his exo suit. The General was dead. Jehz stood up, his fists balled and crackling with energy from the explosion and he turned toward the building he had just saved. He knew Wellku was in there somewhere watching, probably even laughing, and for a minute thought of finishing the job his father, the General had started.
Instead he took the General in his arms. The image of his mother then appeared in his mind and he searched her face trying to read her reaction. He pondered the lessons of the Musa way, the way that had guided his life for as long as he could remember. No anger, no revenge. Fight the battle with passion but without blood lust and then walk away, leaving all difficulty and rage on the battlefield. It was the only way to remain pure, otherwise the Musa life would tear you apart, ruthlessly attacking those that were not whole. Is that what it had done to his father? Had the rage won? In that moment, he could not turn away from those lessons and all he and the Given had accomplished on this mission. He still believed in it and the peace they had spread throughout the galaxy, but could also not help wondering if it was worth the price being paid. He gently laid the General back down, saluted him and turned away from the building, raising his comm to get the message to Jahez and Dorz that they needed to come right away, there was more work to be done.
