Solace (Origin Story)
Recap: In the last installment, Ohearah watched an explosion engulf the Trisken fleet; Triple had sacrificed himself to take down the enemy flagship and now the remainder of the Trisken fleet was in disarray. Brigadier Runish called for a meeting to discuss their plan of action.
Entering the bridge was like walking into a morgue; The people around the table were somber and quiet. This must be how Quim felt when he walked in here. Ohearah thought as he strode to the table to take his seat.
"We have been waiting," Runish said in a sullen tone, directed at Ohearah. "I was watching the explosion. Triple contacted me while he made his to the Trisken flagship." Ohearah replied as he took his position at the table. Runish was sitting at the head of the table, flanked by his Rotchi guards. They made no effort to speak, instead, they were like statues with eyes. Always staring, twitching, weapons at the ready. The insectoids would often let out small buzzes and chittering's. Apparently, it was how they communicated with one another. Not that Ohearah had any notion of what they might be saying.
"I watched the explosion from here. As you should have done. That's beside the point, you're here now, so let's get down to business." He spoke in a condescending tone, giving no time or thought to the man who sacrificed the last of his life to aid The Confederation. Some of the officers and admirals around the table grumbled and moaned, hoofing breaths and careless expressions were what filled the silence until one of them let out a cough to clear their throat. "Inspecting the damage done to the enemy fleet, I would assume that now is the right time to strike." One of the admirals said as he clicked the pad before him. A hologram projection out which took up most of the table, showing the Trisken fleet in great detail. "Our drones have circled the fleet and as we speak they are giving us back some valuable and detailed information. It seems as though the explosion annihilated the flagship and chunks of debris successfully destroyed three other vessels and damaged no less than four more."
"Excellent news," Runish replied in an excited tone as he worried over the projected image of the enemy fleet. "It is. The flagship was surrounded by many small frigates and we believe that some of these ships held the majority of the Trisken boarding parties. With their fleet in disarray, now is the perfect time to make our offensive." The man went on. Admiral Ganinty was a prudent leader. Ohearah had never worked alongside him before, but, his reputation exceeded him. Most of the men of The Confederation spoke highly of the man and regarded him as somewhat of a living legend. Based solely on how he held himself, Ohearah could see why.
"Admiral, I think you're right. We won't get an opportunity like this again. I would see everyone back to their ships to prepare their vessels for a full-scale assault. Swatting the last of this resistance will give us absolute air superiority." Runish told the man, who nodded in response. As did the rest of the people sitting around the table. "Triple told me that the majority of the ships in the Trisken fleet were not fit for a fight, what is left of them should go down easily. Based on what he told me." Ohearah said to the table. "Let us give a moment of silence to Triple. The man made sure that we would win this war and he deserves our respect. As a token of our appreciation, I will have a statue created, depicting him and commemorating all those that gave their lives on that planet. But, for now. Silence." Runish said proudly and then bowed his head, followed by the others.
Ohearah felt that it was a fake gesture of goodwill and respect, Runish couldn't give a damn, so long as he would be awarded and showered with respect for leading this campaign. Nonetheless, Ohearah closed his eyes and bowed all the same. He cleared his mind of all the nonsense that seemed to fill it and he forgot all of the hot air being blown out, at this meeting; For a time, he was at peace. All of those serein feelings went away though, as he started to hear the buzzing and chittering noises that the Rotchi guards were making. Ohearah raised his head and looked at the guards surrounding Runish. None of the others at the table seemed to notice, but, Ohearah's blood began to boil at the sound of it, which continued to echo around his mind. "A bit of respect," Ohearah said, directed at them. As his voice rang out around the room, Runish opened his eyes, he then followed Ohearah's eyeline back to the Rotchi. "Don't mind our Rotchi allies. They don't share our customs." Runish said in defense of them. "They're on a Confederation vessel, so they should." He replied, with a voice full of venom and seething with rage.
"Clearly Ohearah is in the process of grieving. You knew the man better. Perhaps you would like to say a few words." Runish extended a hand to the room, inviting Ohearah to give a speech. Which he obliged gladly. Pushing the chair back, Ohearah stood up and walked to the clearing behind his chair, and looked out the adjacent window. He stared at the small dots in the distance; The remaining ships of the Trisken fleet.
"Triple. He got his start in life, living on a colony world; A farming planet. Toiling away in the fields he was happy, even though he knew that the majority of the food he helped to produce was sent to worlds he would have no hope of visiting. Even if he was able to visit them, the people there would have given him little time or even respect for that matter. But, he was able to work those fields, with a smile on his face. I don't know how else to describe the man. He didn't care what people thought of him and would give everyone he encountered respect and time, no matter if they were the highest-ranking members of The Confederation military or the lowest form of scum. One day, we were sent to deal with a drug lord, on some moon, of some planet that no one cares to remember. We got in and dethroned the king of his domain. It was a good mission, no one was killed on our team. As we were detaining the man's posse. Myself and the rest of the squad wouldn't even look them in the eyes. Then as the last one is being restrained, we hear laughing. Booming laughs, the kinds of belly laughs we'd be lucky to have once a month. They came easy to Triple though. We turned to inspect the laughter and here's Triple, joking and talking with a man on the ground, as if they were old friends. I remember telling him not to talk to them and he just looked at me and grinned. Then said something to the effect of. What? Are you afraid they'll escape if they talk? After he joined us, the missions became a bit more entertaining. He was going to die, mortally wounded in a fight down planet side, but, rather than curl up in a ball and wait to succumb to his wounds, he loaded a ship up with enough explosives to win this war. Knowing that a victory here didn't matter where he was going. He didn't do it for glory, I doubt that was even in his mind. That's the kind of man he was. I feel sorry for him and the rest of the squad that laid their life on the line to fulfill their mission and to deliver us a victory on this world." Ohearah would have cried if no one else was around, instead he just stared out the window at the enemy fleet for a long moment, before turning to take his place once more at the table.
"He was a good man." Admiral Ganinty said, as he stood up and started to slowly clap. That prompted the others to follow suit, all except Runish, who stayed still and seated until the very end. As the claps started to die down, he made it to his feet just in time to ring out the last with a few weak claps of his own.
Everyone sat back in their seats and as they all settled back down the doors to the room slid open, Ohearah watched as twelve Rotchi entered the room, six on either side and they all stood in line with each other as a much older Rotchi walked in. Followed by a small procession of humans and more Rotchi, the ones who followed the older Rotchi into the room weren't armed though. Instead, they were dressed in fine clothing and were much smaller than the warriors. Runish launched himself from his chair and quickly walked to meet the group halfway. "It is a pleasure to introduce Drunoon Hisht, the leader of Rotchnok and the figurehead of the weapon and technological development centre," Runish said. "I welcome you to the table, your presence is well received." He continued as he slowly walked Drunoon to the table, where he took a seat followed by a human wearing an earpiece. Now with the human and Drunoon seated, the table was full and Runish took his place back at the head of it.
Drunoon started to buzz and chitter slowly and the human beside him nodded as he went on. "Drunoon greets everyone present at the meeting. He is excited to give good news to Brigadier Runish and the fellow members of the Trisken invasion force." Ohearah leaned back in his chair waiting to hear what the news was. The interpreter was focused solely on his earpiece and stared blankly at the wall as he held it with one of his hands. It was as if the person was an android or just a drone of these Rotchi. Runish smiled as the interpreter finished.
"We welcome all good news and we have some of our own. The Trisken fleet is in disarray and we are planning a full-scale assault to wipe out what remains of it." Drunoon let out a few excited buzzes and chitters and to them, the interpreter nodded. "Great news, Drunoon is extremely impressed, he says that the Triskens are known as the warriors of Free Space. A victory here will ensure every other world submits to Confederation rule." The man said, to which Runish could only smile; He was far too pleased with himself, and his earlier composure was now gone. Replaced by a man who looked more like a child who was in the presence of their hero. "Please. Tell us your news, how has the work of the Rotchi scientist been going?" Runish asked.
Drunoon went on, he was upbeat, more so than when he previously spoke. He looked occasionally around the table at the others in attendance, but, he focused primarily on Runish.
"As asked previously. The Rotchi particle disperser weaponry was easy to scale up. Drunoon oversaw the construction of a vessel, larger than any in The Confederation fleet. A ship fitted with a canon of an unprecedented magnitude. The ship has been completed and is currently on course shadowed by a large fleet to ensure it reaches us safely. As they ran their tests with upscaled disperser rifles they found that holding a solid beam on a capital ship for no less than three seconds saw the atoms of the ship rock out of sync with each other, leaving the ship utterly destroyed in minutes. Drunoon believes that the larger canon will be able to entirely destroy a planet, in no less than five minutes." As the interpreter finished speaking, Runish's eyes lit up at the mere thought of it.
Ohearah was shocked that they would even dream something like this up. Barely anyone in The Confederation liked using particle dispersers. From what Ohearah knew of them, they projected a beam that would interrupt the frequency of a person and cause them to be torn apart on a molecular level. It was sick. Doing that to a planet is even sicker as far as he was concerned. "We cannot use a weapon like that. That kind of power should not be wielded." Ohearah said distantly, to the bemusement of Runish. "Ohearah. If I want your council, I will ask for it. This is a weapon we would be mad not to use. The Triskens are known as the warriors of Free Space and I see no better target to test a weapon of this scale. Free Space will surrender within days of hearing about this."
"I agree with Ohearah. It is inhumane and we are forgetting that we have a lot of men and women down on Trisk, they would all die should something like this actually work." Ganinty said with a sick look on his face, his nose was upturned as if he smelt something foul. The look on Admiral Ganinty's face perfectly matched how Ohearah felt. "We have a lot of people down there, that is true, but, we don't know how many are still alive, or even if there are any survivors." Runish reasoned with the table, trying to quell the growing concern. "I know that Quim and Lags are still alive. Triple told me that much." Ohearah said.
"We may lose those two, but, in doing so, we would save countless more lives. Admirals, I would have each of you back to your ships, we are going to launch our assault and wipe out the last of the Trisken opposition, to make way for the Rotchi ships." Slowly, each person around the table stood up and shuffled out of the room. All except Ohearah, who stayed firmly seated, staring at Runish. "What is the point of destroying Trisk? Are we not here to occupy worlds and bring them all under Confederation rule?" Ohearah asked. "We are and losing this swamp world will ensure the others fall to The Confederation with less effort or lives lost," Runish replied, with a look of impatience on his face. Drunoon started to buzz and chitter once more. "We have not named the ship yet, Drunoon would like to give you the honor of that, Brigadier Runish."
"Solace." He replied with a slimy grin, as he stared back at Ohearah. "I think that name would be fitting."