Taken from: Cataclysm


Athan already didn't like this. If this mission of his was so important, why were so few waiting for his arrival?

I sure hope the Master Schemer got this one right. Thinking too long on the task at hand left a bad taste in his mouth. He just hoped he would taste as bad, if it came to that.

A pair of humans broke free of the small crowd waiting for friends and family to debark, one of them grabbing Athan's arm and guiding him away immediately. From the landing bay of the League public transport, the trio headed deeper into the spaceport, passing security checkpoints with as little difficulty as the flash of an identcard.

Neither of the humans said much; they appeared completely enthralled by the task of escorting the new arrival. “So . . . where's the delegation?”

“We're it,” One said absently, slowing to a stop, a faint expression of confusion flushing his features before he found what he was looking for and that burst of realization swallowed it up.

They were in the passenger section of another, less-public transport only seconds later.

“What? The three of us?”

“We traded diplomatic size for guns and bullets,” The other chimed in. “You do realize where we're going?”

“Of course,” Athan answered, swallowing with difficulty. He could still taste it.

Death.

The man caught Athan's little personal struggle out of the corner of his eye. “Obviously you've been briefed.”

Athan took a seat, following suit as the humans strapped themselves in. Apparently it was going to be a rapid takeoff. No time to lose.

“Those crazy bastards ate a League delegation. What kind of sons-of-bitches―”

“I'll be doing all of the insulting from now on, if you don't mind,” Athan cut him off. “It takes a certain finesse; if you try it, I'm afraid we might be joining our predecessors.” Like we're not going to anyway.

With the Reaver crisis consuming all of the Eastern and Cooperative military resources available, Athan was wondering where they had managed to find enough warships to escort them into this death trap.

Then he understood:

“This is Consular Vessel Peace of Tirahnn, to the MC90 Cruiser Mon Minntooine; confirming clearance for docking.”

“Peace of Tirahnn, you are cleared for priority landing, docking bay one.” The characteristic gravelly voice reassured Athan somewhat.

Still: where he was going, he doubted he would be able to rely on the thick shields and heavy guns of this Mon Calamari squadron for protection.

“Ambassador,” The pilot called from the cockpit as the shuttle touched down, “would you care to give the order?”

Athan gulped again, that taste of death refusing to dislodge itself. “Helmsman,” He shouted into thin air, pausing as he mustered the will to continue: “engage hyperdrive . . . destination: Colla IV.”

I am so thoroughly dead.

Of Bugs and Ryn

Most beings would call the formation a fleet. Athan knew it for what it was: security. The Colicoids were an aggressive, territorial species that cared nothing for the laws or intentions of outsiders.

And they were man-eaters.

Ryn-eaters, He reminded himself.

They dropped into normal space fairly close to the planet, far closer than this sort of uninvited arrival would usually warrant, almost as if they were planning an invasion. Almost.

Athan found the image of the ship's Gossam captain wearing a traditional Mon Calamari uniform with a Coalition rank bar and Cooperative identification badge rather odd, but shrugged it off as another byproduct of the Coalition melting pot. “Ambassador, you're up.”

Athan nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He looked to the communications officer and nodded once more, as ready as he could be. “I am Ambassador Athan of the Ryn Clan Sahalan, here as a representative of your League ally, Tirahnn. Under the protections afforded me by the League Charter, I require an audience with your League representative. I will descend presently. You will not refuse us.”

His words were harsh, firm; but his own experiences with the Xi Charrians and his limited interactions with the X'Ting had taught him that he must not make the mistake of treating them like humanoids. The Xi Charrians had advised him to be bold and threatening with the Colicoid and he might just live long enough to get an answer out of them, and that was just what Athan intended to do.

Minutes later, his shuttle was descending under the watchful eye of Mon Calamari turbolaser turrets. They landed without incident, a group of the carnivorous insects already gathering on the landing pad's walkway. Athan was the first to depart the shuttle, the pair of Tirahnnian representatives close behind, about a dozen Coalition troopers taking up positions behind and beside them.

A wave of Colicoids rushed forward, issuing unintelligible threats and barring clawed hands.

“Eat me!” Athan shouted. “Eat me!” He yelled again, rushing to meet the insect swarm. “Eat me and die, bugs!” He thrust his hand into the air, pointing at the unseen task force in low orbit.

“You would dare threaten uz in our own zyztem?” The lead Colicoid demanded as he reared back, a set of clicks and buzzes accompanying his Basic, undoubtedly issuing orders to his subordinates.

Athan backed away slowly, keeping his eyes on the predatory insectoids. “I am here as an official of the fellow League member world, Tirahnn. You will listen to what I have to say, and when I am finished, you will be free to choose what you think best for your world. But I will be heard, and I will not be harmed.” The harsh, demanding tone with which Athan had been addressing these insect aliens lessened somewhat, and he asked: “Is there an understanding between us?”

The Colicoids had been slowly shifting their stances; Athan just now realized they were set to attack, arms ready to strike and legs ready to leap. He was faintly aware of the military chatter in his earpiece, coming from the Calamari ships in orbit . . . Lucrehulk sighted on the planetary horizon . . . escorts forming up . . .

The briefest buzzing from their leader's antennae shattered the tension, the coiled muscles of the Colicoids unwinding slowly. “You will not be 'armed. Your vezzelz muzt redeploy to 'igher orbit.”

Athan lifted a commlink to his mouth. “Captain, I'm going to need you to pull back five hundred kilometers.”

“Understood,” Came the public reply from the commlink, and then from his earpiece: “Are you certain, sir?”

Athan eyed the Colicoids, considering his options for the briefest moment. “Yeah,” He answered openly, “and I think it'd be best to maintain geosynchronous orbit.”

A few clicking sounds from the leader, and the Colicoids separated, making way for the small Coalition delegation and their military escort. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the challenge ahead, Athan nodded resolutely and led the way.

Still not quite dead yet.

They entered a small dome just beyond the Colicoid assembly, finding the one-room structure predictably spartan, not even a set of chairs for the Coalition delegation to utilize. The two Tirahnn delegates shuffled closely behind Athan, as if he might protect them should the Colicoids change their minds. Most of the guards remained outside, taking up station between the building's lone doorway and the growing group of Colicoids beyond.

Even so, some two dozen Colicoids followed their leader into the building, all but surrounding the Coalitioners within that room with no corners. Their leader closed the small distance separating his own people from the group of outsiders. “W'at do you want, Ryn?”

Jarvis made sure to make no sign of submission; to stand his ground even as the giant insect closed to only centimeters away; to look the alien in its eyes when he answered. “You ate an official League of Nations delegation.”

“I did no zuch thing!” The alien shouted.

“Someone did!” Athan shouted back, matching the host's tone, trying his best to ignore the carnivores surrounding him.

“No one 'ere,” He answered, his tone somewhat casual, as if his previous outburst had belonged to someone else.

Athan was beginning to get a feel for this Colicoid, the hurried advice the Xi Charrians had given him via Holonet transmission coming into focus as his own experiences confirmed and expounded upon the brief bits of warning and psychological insight.

These were bugs. Man-eating bugs. Intelligent man-eating bugs. But the application of that intellect is so alien from anything I could hope to identify with. He had to keep up this projection of authority. He had to make himself fearless in the eyes of the Colicoids, or his mission would be at an end . . . along with his life.

The Ryn ambassador pushed his face imperceptibly forward, his breath slow and steady despite the ever-increasing pounding in his chest. “You made a terrible choice in joining the League of Nations; they are not―”

“Choizz?” The Colicoid sneered, rearing back. “We did not chooze to join the League! The Empire did not come 'ere and azk uz to zign over the zum of our production capazity at ratez twenty perzent below average! The Empire did not azk uz to open our borderz to the likez of Carratoz, Atzerri, and a hozt of League criminalzzz!” The slurred word trailed off, and Athan took note of all the Colicoids' posturing, how they shifted as if to strike. The Ryn's own scant guard complement gripped their weapons firmly, ready to spring into action should the need arise.

“They are not so soft as to ignore your affront to their authority,” He finished, his voice remaining steady.

“They have no authority!” The bug shouted, his hands clawing at each other in a clear sign that he was struggling not to tear the Ryn apart. “No right!” He reiterated, his legs stamping uncontrollably. “Thiz is our world! Ourz! Get out!” He snapped, one claw flicking sharply off of another as he spoke.

Athan didn't move. “I have more to say.”

The Colicoid shrieked and began circling around Athan, the Ryn's guards bringing their weapons to bear. But Athan beat them to it, turning with the alien and bringing his hands up to the bug's face . . . along with something else.

The knife slipped easily from Athan's sleeve, finding the small gap between exoskeletal plates just below the Colicoid's eye. “I've never had to negotiate quite like this,” Athan said, his voice now strained. He used his free hand to grab the Colicoid beneath the jaw, leading him back to his previous position while keeping the blade poised to cut into the alien's brain.

“Do it!” The Colicoid demanded.

“If I had come here to kill you, I would have brought more ships,” Athan said, tightening his grip as he felt the Colicoid preparing to pull away. “If I had come here to die, I would have brought fewer.”

“What do you want?” The alien demanded.

“To be heard.”

“Get out!” The alien shouted, clicks and buzzes accompanying his Basic.

Athan shook his head. “We've―

“Not you!” He shouted, gesturing discreetly at the humans cowering behind Athan. The other Colicoids were already filing out of the room.

Athan nodded, leading his captive backward, toward the center of the room. “Out, now. All of you.” His eyes flitted to the side, not willing to take his attention off of the Colicoid for any longer than that. “All of you!” He heard the guards' boots reluctantly join the scuffling of the two cowardly Tirahnn representatives.

And then Athan was alone with a man-sized, man-eating bug.

He released the Colicoid, throwing the knife to the side. “You try to eat me now, and I'll let you.”

“Zay what you 'ave to zay . . . Ambazzador.” The Colicoid's legs collapsed slowly as he dropped into an awkward-looking sitting position.

Maybe . . . just maybe.

Athan wasted no time, speaking as he lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs. “You've put yourselves in a bad place. You joined the League boycott of Imperial trade, but someone on this world . . . killed . . . a League delegation. Someone official; someone who stood before them as a representative of your people.

“You've made yourselves an enemy of everyone who could have been your friends. Take great care, or you may lose everything your people have built.”

There was none of the normal “is that a threat” talk from the bug; he simply scratched one claw with another and tilted his head to the side. “You 'ave a zolution?”

“Even after all we've been through together,” Athan glanced at the knife lying at the edge of the room, “you have so little faith in me?” He smiled, pausing for dramatic effect that was undoubtedly lost on the insect. “I've got twenty worlds' worth of solutions.”

Obroa-Skai, new League Rotunda


“We call this meeting of the League of Nations to order,” The voice resounded in the confined space. “The business for today: Colla IV, and the charge of murder of League representatives under the care and supervision of the Colicoid people.”

The doors burst open, Athan the Ryn storming down the main aisle alone. The whole room fell silent. “This is a closed meeting of the League of Nations,” The Obroan representative stated, standing to his feet to pull some of the focus away from the intruder. “You have no authority to intrude here.”

Athan held up a datapad. “I have the authority of the people of Tirahnn, to speak on their behalf and stand as their voice. I am the League representative of Tirahnn.”

“Impossible,” The representative from Carratos shouted. “And even if that were so, the metting has been called to order! There can be no interruptions! You have no authority to intrude here!”

“And you have no authority to detain me without cause, but you have already tried to do that,” Athan shot back. “I will be heard, and your pathetic attempts to restrain me for whatever reason will not be tolerated; not by me, and not by this institution! In the name of Tirahnn, I will be heard."

“This is preposterous!”

“I am a citizen of the Galactic Coalition, mutually bound to Tirahnn by its membership in that government. You have no authority to dictate the comings and goings of Coalition citizens within its own borders. I have been empowered as an emissary of the Tirahnnian government, to stand before you now and plead the cause of moderation.”

“We've heard enough of Coalition moderation!” The representative from Devaron shouted.

“Then why does Tirahnn remain a member of this League?” Athan asked calmly.

“After this mockery―” The man began, but was silenced by a gesture from the Obroan representative.

“The League recognizes Tirahnn's commitment to our ideals; to the causes of peace, prosperity, security, and neutrality,” The Obroan answered. “We recognize that the Coalition is one body made up of many organs, and Tirahnn has earned a seat here for itself, and no one else.”

Athan nodded, taking his seat. “Then might I suggest, since Tirahnn requested my assistance, that you give me the benefit of the doubt? Tirahnn belongs here, and Tirahnn believes I belong here. Is that not enough?” Athan heard the indistinct murmurings of someone cursing the Ryn. “Might I remind you all that the Ryn fleet at Glee Anselm now represents the largest cohesive reclamation force at that world? That even now Neimoidia is being cleansed by Coalition technology?

“Whatever you think you know of who I am or what I represent, I would ask you to weigh all of the facts, and above all grant me this opportunity to prove my intent.”

The Obroan nodded, and that seemed to be enough for the others. “Very well, Mr. Athan. We hold no right to both bar you and accept Tirahnn. You are welcome here so long as you observe the rules of conduct laid down by this body politic.”

Athan nodded. “Thank you, sir.” The Obroan took a breath, preparing to say something more, but Athan cut him off. “Might I suggest, before proceeding further, that Colla IV's seat be restored to them until their fate within the League is resolved?”

The room erupted into chaos, and Athan stood to make himself heard a little better. “The accused has a right to face his accusers! Let the Colicoids speak!”

It would be several minutes before the shouting bout died down sufficiently to allow any progress to be made. It took another fifteen minutes to determine Athan's request had not been completely out of line, allowing him to remain at least until he opened his mouth again and incited another shouting bout. This is going to be a long day.

“Show me―open the League Charter and show me―where this institution holds the authority to pass summary judgment on a member state. Where is it? I cannot find it. My staff could not find it. The Colicoids could not find it.”

“You would have us rescind the expulsion of the Galactic Empire, then?” The question came out of nowhere. Athan couldn't even identify its source.

Tricky bastards. This little Ryn had just stepped onto the big stage; he was dealing with galactic politics now. Well, guess I can't back down now. Athan smiled broadly, taking a moment for his gaze to sweep across the room. “You're almost clever. The League and the League alone holds the power to accept and expel members. It is the purpose of this meeting to punish Colla IV and its inhabitants for a crime, not banish them for it. You are free to expel Colla IV, yes . . . but in doing so you would surrender any legitimate authority to pursue proper legal justice.

“Allow the representatives of Colla IV to retake their seats, and let us proceed in this matter as civil beings.” He almost couldn't believe he had just said that. Colicoids: civil beings? Now that's crazy-talk.

There was another round of debate, this one decidedly less chaotic, and finally a vote passed to allow the Colicoids to retake their seat under some sort of restricted conditions . . . the whole thing got more complex and convoluted the longer Jarvis spent trying to figure it out. But the Colicoids will be heard. That is enough.

“Tell them it will be worth their while,” Athan sighed, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Will it be?” The Togruta representative asked.

Athan frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?”

The Togruta leaned over the table, dropping his voice as he said: “Certain member worlds are aware that the Cooperative has dispatched envoys to certain other member worlds. I personally scheduled a meeting between the High Court and Ambassador Traan Shi, and even I don't know what they discussed. It is unsettling, and now you are asking the entire League to pass your proposal 'in good faith'?”

Athan had never seen this side of the Togruta people. He thought he understood where it was coming from: “I mean you no disrespect, sir, and I would not pretend that these events were meant to escape your―or anyone else's―attention. I do not ask you to trust me, but I would expect you to trust your own leaders . . . just as I trust mine. Yes, something is most certainly stirring, and no, I cannot tell you what it is.”

Athan leaned back, raising his voice to a more casual level, “The fact remains that I have brought the Colicoids to the table and convinced them of an amicable compromise. Colla is the issue now, and now you must address it. Trust me, who has yet to fail you, who has yet to betray that trust, or risk losing what I very nearly lost my life to secure: the Colicoid's ear. I am offering you a peaceful solution that does not harm any involved party; when dealing with so volatile a race, I cannot imagine a more desirable outcome.”

With another representative or in another circumstance, the words may have been misunderstood as a threat; the the Togruta merely nodded, accepting the statement as pure truth. “This deliberation has taken much too long. You will have our vote, in good faith.”

Athan shook the representative's hand. “I will not disappoint.”

The brief break for food ended quickly, and as Athan made his way back into the League Rotunda, he saw that he had not been the only one who had brought politics to the dinner table. He got some reassuring nods, some dangerous glares, some noncommittal glances. It was all more or less as he had expected.

The Ryn and his pair of Tirahnnian assistants took their seats next to the Colicoid delegation, noting how the other representatives already viewed them as a single entity. Good, good. They think this is happening with or without them. It'll be easier to convince them to come along for the ride.

“The recess is called to an end,” The Obroan announced, gesturing to Athan―who had been speaking when the recess was called―and then taking his seat. Athan stood, taking a moment to scan the delegations, trying to weigh friends and enemies.

He began suddenly, his attention turning to the Obroan, the most influential man he thought he had a chance at swaying. “I am aware that many of you are concerned about the goings-on of Cooperative representatives and individual League worlds behind closed doors. I am aware that many of you view this as an affront to your sovereignty, as an attempt to undermine the authority of this Assembly. I am aware that many consider our actions little more noble than the unfortunate events which transpired between the Onyxian Commonwealth and one of your own member worlds . . . that our actions are feared to be as vile and disgraceful as those who abandoned the weak and defenseless to the most cruel and suffering of deaths, who constructed monuments of war upon the unburied bodies of the innocent. You see darkness everywhere, shadows concealing even darker evils, whispers upon the wind which carry only the sound of war and promise of bloodshed.

“There are those, I believe, who would rather see Tirahnn razed than permit it to sit here, in your midst. Why? Not for any action it has taken, any virtue it has espoused, any history it has lived; but for the simple fact that it is Coalition. Is that not the heart of the matter? You know now that you cannot trust the Empire; you have just cause to believe you cannot trust the Coalition.

“But what of a nation founded upon the ideals and systems which exist here, in this very room, symbolized by the existence of this very Assembly―”

“Such a thing does not exist!” One of the representatives shouted, and as the Obroan delegate turned to enforce order, another spoke up: “You would dare to claim your Cooperative is this nation!?”

“NO!” Athan shouted, stunning even the Obroan representative. “Such a thing does not exist, and the Cooperative is not that thing.” Confusion was evident everywhere, among friends and foes alike. Only the Obroan delegate might have grasped what Athan's intentions were. “Beyond the League of Nations, there is no other; but there may one day be.” Murmurs broke out across the room, but Athan was not finished. “The Outer Rim is a dark and dangerous place. We once believed we could tame it―cultivate it―ourselves.”

“We are not caretakers of the Rim!” Someone from Atzerri shouted, causing Athan to smile.

“You! You above all should appreciate what I'm saying. Imagine a galaxy-spanning Association of Free Trade Worlds, bound by a desire for mutual development and peace, but free to rule themselves as independent states.”

“Preposterous!” The Atzerri representative exclaimed, but Athan could see many of his delegation mulling the concept over.

“The League will require trade partners to replace what was lost with the Empire's expulsion . . . what more will be lost if the Empire attempts to interdict League shipping?”

“Why have we heard nothing of this?” The Obroan asked cautiously, taking care not to sound offended by being left out of the loop.

Athan sighed. “The Overseer would tell me that it is not my place to say, BUT―” He exclaimed, cutting off those who would attempt to silence him “―I am here as a member of this Assembly, and will honor your question. I believe the Overseer wished to secure sufficient support, from within the League and without, before presenting the issue officially.”

“And what right does your Overseer have to plot our fates for us?” The representative from Carratos barked, eliciting accent from a number of other delegations.

Athan smiled, trying to choose his words carefully but knowing there was only one way to say this: “He does not.”

Most probably thought he was playing word games by now, but it was the Anselmi who came to Athan's rescue, who resolved the matter sufficiently for the time being. “Four Ryn have died in the past three days, working to reclaim a world that does not belong to them from a poison that was not their doing. I have seen an exhaustion in the eyes of these people that I did not believe life could bear without ceasing to be. And yet they continue; and yet they persist. If Athan the Ryn tells me that he wishes only good for me and those I love, that is enough.” The Anselmi turned to the Obroan, fixing him with an odd sort of disappointed squint. “Protocol does not permit this discussion at this time. The vote on the Tirahnn solution to the Colicoid Problem must begin. Aye.” He concluded, voicing his vote.

He turned around, smacked his lips and took a seat. The vote proceeded.


Before the League Assembly, on the planet Colla IV


“Your people will become founding members of a Greater Hive, a political and economic entity composed entirely of group-mind species. The Xi Charrians, the Shard, and the Colicoids. One of three primary representatives. The X'Ting will be present in a limited capacity, but their relatively small population and joint control of Cestus Cybernetics binds them to another sort of arrangement.”

“You would make uz vounding memberz in a chiev political organ of the Cooberative?” The Colicoid asked warily.

“I would,” Athan replied flatly. “The Overseer would. The Combined Council would.”

The Colicoid swayed back and forth, scratching his claws together again. “I almozt ate you when you came 'ere. I 'ave 'alf a mind to do it now.”

“There will be restrictions, and allowances. You will have to stop eating people, for one.” He stated it as a mere fact, as if he had asked an entire species to stop eating sentiens a dozen times before.

“Naturally,” The Colicoid responded with an equal level of detachment.

“You will become a part of the evolution of the United Cooperative of Peoples. Your voice will be your own, grouped with those who would speak most like you, for the cause of perpetuating the universal concept on which the Cooperative is founded.”

“Don't eat people?” The Colicoid asked, and Athan just managed to refrain from laughing.

“Our diversity makes us stronger,” He answered sincerely.

“Noble. Foolish.” He offered both in such a way to suggest they were equal in his mind.

“True,” Athan corrected.

“Perhapz.”

Athan stood to his feet, sliding his hands into his pockets―a thing he knew the Colicoid would take as a sign of the Ryn's total trust in him. “Colla IV will become a full member of the United Cooperative of Peoples. Tirahnn will serve as a League observer to ensure your commitments to them are observed. You will be removed from the League of Nations as a voting member and transit through League space will be restricted to Tirahnn only. Those responsible for the deaths of League representatives inside Colicoid space will be turned over to the League for proper judicial processing. These are the terms we will present, these are the terms that the League will agree to.”

“Very well, Ambazzador. I shall follow your lead.”


Present, League Rotunda, Obroa-Skai


“The issue is resolved,” Athan announced. “The measure passes.”

“We require names,” The Obroan said, getting straight to the point. “Who is responsible for the murder of our delegation?”

Athan turned toward the Colicoid ex-representatives, and was surprised to see the Colicoid he had negotiated the plan with making his way to the center of the room. Athan reached out to stop him, placing his hand on the top of the insect's uppermost limb―the closest thing to a shoulder he had. “What's going on here?”

“I am reprezentative of Colla IV,” He said loudly, so everyone could hear him. “Rezponzibility for this crime rezidez with me; punishment iz mine to bear.”

Athan withdrew slightly, his entire view of the Colicoid species shifting in that instant. “I didn't think . . .”

“Do not think you underztand uz, Ryn, becauze you zpoke once with the Xi Charrianz.” The tone was warning, but Athan could tell by the Colicoids movements that he had consigned himself to this fate. He would be the sacrifice the League required, that his people might have a chance for a better life.

“I am sorry, my friend.”

The Colicoid nodded, then continued down the aisle to present himself formally to the League Assembly. He would be led out some time later under armed guard, would stand trial for multiple murders, would undoubtedly be found guilty. He may die, depending on what homeworlds the dead representatives had claimed.

But Colla IV had passed from the League of Nations to the United Cooperative of Peoples. With it a new chapter opened for both the Colicoid people and the Cooperative government. The first element of the United Cooperative's new governing system was coming into focus, and as Athan watched that lone insect being led away under leveled blasters, he could see only the vastness of interstellar space, the great void that fate had called him to.

Athan nodded, a bitter smile crossing his face. In this new galaxy, even total success requires some measure of defeat. It was a lesson he would rather not have learned.