“What?! How did this happen?! I want the names of everyone assigned with security in those areas! You assured me this wouldn’t happen again.” The General yelled out, food spitting from his mouth across the table as he did so and smashed his thick hand down on table.
The man standing beside him wore a steel gray uniform and stood ramrod straight. He stared ahead with his head held high and his arms clasped behind his back.
“Sir, we detected nothing that suggested such an attack was coming… at least nothing of this magnitude.”
The General took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, sitting back in his large expensive chair, afforded him by his position. “Sorry Almar, I just thought we had arrested the last of the leaders. They shouldn’t have regrouped this fast.”
He paused and looked out the massive stained window that filled the entire side of the large dining room. “Please, sit my friend. I know you would have done everything in your power to stop this from happening if you would have known. Tell me, how bad was it this time?”
Colonel Almar Brunta relaxed and pulled the chair out of the table and sat down beside the General. He had been General Kartar Tolmin’s right hand man going on over six years now when they had worked together in rebuilding the Lantillies Planetary Defense Forces. Since that time Almar had been placed in charge of the Lantillian Internal Security Bureau after the reformation of the government two and some years before, right after the Reavers had swept this this part of the galaxy, consuming everything in their path. For reason unknown, they had stopped only a few systems away, right at Lantillies’ doorstep.
Since that time they were a constant threat to the survival of the planet. That threat had actually presented the opportunity the General had needed in order to take hold of the government and restructure it in the way he saw fit. That of course did not sit well with the old crowd and so now here they were, 2 years into a civil war that had almost been won, with the other side reduced to an insurgency.
“We got off pretty easy this time. Casualties seem to be very low civilian wise from the factory and news station attack, however, military and security forces have twenty KIA and thirty-six wounded. They attacked two security checkpoints and a Peace Enforcement Squad convoy that was heading on a mission inside Sector Forty-Two.” Relayed Almar has looked over at the General, silently eying the large meal the man was having while the rest of the planet rationed what little food was left in the military secured warehouses.
The General listened closely, but did not stop eating as the causality numbers were announced by his Colonel aid. He simply nodded while carefully and culturally cutting pieces of his food, delicately savoring them as he moved the fork to his mouth. Over years the man had seemed to have built up a tolerance to losses and the numbers, whether civilian or military hardly fazed him. The only indication of feeling was when loss of properly or projections of power were mentioned, such as the damage to the factory and destruction of military material. These things had been the hardest to replace and procure even before the start of the war, but became almost impossible after it. At any time these lost resources might be the difference between the planet falling victim to the Reavers and stopping their advance. The General truly believed that without him the planet would be lost and perhaps he was correct in those thoughts.
When Almar had finished the General seemed to be lost in thought for a number of second. As he held his knife and fork floating above the gold embroidered plate, he stared off into the distance, his head turned slightly to the other side of where Almar sat. In the silence that befell the room, seconds seemed to stretch on for what could have been hours.
Finally General Tolmin took a long, loud breath and turned back towards Almar, gesturing at the man with his knife and a small smile on his face. “Report all of this to the press, but instead of low civilian casualties, you will inform them that, in fact, there was a huge loose of life. Let them know that I will make a formal statement later today when more of the facts can be ascertained.”
Almar was shocked of what he heard, but externally he remained emotionless. “But sir…Yes sir. It shall be as you wish.”
“Good Almar, I know I can trust you to do what is best for Lantillies. Now, once that is done, seal off the area and take all survivors into custody. No one is to talk to them or even know of their existence. Let the Peace Enforcers handle the task.”
As these instructions left the General’s lips Almar could be silence no more. He was horrified at the moment that such a thing was happening. “General, you cannot be serious. These people just survived a horrible attack. Most of them need treatment and their families need to know about those that made it through.”
“Colonel! Are you questioning my orders and judgment in this matter?!” The General yelled out instantly, before bringing his anger under more control. “Would you like to be replaced? You are good at what you do, but there are others would kill for your position and carry out my orders without question.”
Colonel Brunta could not let that happen, he needed this position. Taking a deep breath to help calm himself, Almar lowered his eyes to the table and away from the General. “Negative, sir. I will carry out your orders whatever they might be. I trust your decisions entirely. I was just…concerned.”
“It’s always good to be concerned Colonel, but being indecisive could be the difference between life and death these days.” The General smiled as he took another bite of his steak after all this time. “I want you to supervise this entire investigation. Have Caberon interrogate any suspects and anyone that survived these attacks.”
“Of course, right away General.” Almar acknowledged as he pushed the chair away and stood up quickly. He felt sick to his stomach for a second when the name “Caberon” was mentioned. That man was known and hated throughout all of Lantillies. Everyone called him a soulless monster, but very few people have ever not given up the information requested during his interrogations.
Colonel Brunta offered the General a crisp solute before turning on his heels and quickly walking out of the room. He had much business to attend to.
With that the General went back to enjoying his meal, which had by this time gotten colder. He had just finished his meal, still leaving a good portion on his plate to be thrown out later as he wiped his lips with the napkin draped over his thighs. Kartar leaned back into his lavish dinning chair and reached over for his goblet of imported wine when one of his other Officer Aids rushed into the dining hall carrying a secure datapad.
“General! We picked up a small fleet of ships coming out of hyperspace!”
“What?! Reavers??!” The General almost choked on his wine.
“Negative sir. It doesn’t appear to be Reavers. They stopped as soon as they excited and are holding position. The ships are like nothing we have seen before. We are scrambling the Home Defense Fleet, but some of the units are out on patrol near Reaver space….Wait… There is a transmission coming through.” The man paused and listened to his earpiece.
“They say they would like to meet with the leader of this planet to discuss ways they can help us. They seem to be representatives of Stellar Enterprises.”
The man standing beside him wore a steel gray uniform and stood ramrod straight. He stared ahead with his head held high and his arms clasped behind his back.
“Sir, we detected nothing that suggested such an attack was coming… at least nothing of this magnitude.”
The General took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, sitting back in his large expensive chair, afforded him by his position. “Sorry Almar, I just thought we had arrested the last of the leaders. They shouldn’t have regrouped this fast.”
He paused and looked out the massive stained window that filled the entire side of the large dining room. “Please, sit my friend. I know you would have done everything in your power to stop this from happening if you would have known. Tell me, how bad was it this time?”
Colonel Almar Brunta relaxed and pulled the chair out of the table and sat down beside the General. He had been General Kartar Tolmin’s right hand man going on over six years now when they had worked together in rebuilding the Lantillies Planetary Defense Forces. Since that time Almar had been placed in charge of the Lantillian Internal Security Bureau after the reformation of the government two and some years before, right after the Reavers had swept this this part of the galaxy, consuming everything in their path. For reason unknown, they had stopped only a few systems away, right at Lantillies’ doorstep.
Since that time they were a constant threat to the survival of the planet. That threat had actually presented the opportunity the General had needed in order to take hold of the government and restructure it in the way he saw fit. That of course did not sit well with the old crowd and so now here they were, 2 years into a civil war that had almost been won, with the other side reduced to an insurgency.
“We got off pretty easy this time. Casualties seem to be very low civilian wise from the factory and news station attack, however, military and security forces have twenty KIA and thirty-six wounded. They attacked two security checkpoints and a Peace Enforcement Squad convoy that was heading on a mission inside Sector Forty-Two.” Relayed Almar has looked over at the General, silently eying the large meal the man was having while the rest of the planet rationed what little food was left in the military secured warehouses.
The General listened closely, but did not stop eating as the causality numbers were announced by his Colonel aid. He simply nodded while carefully and culturally cutting pieces of his food, delicately savoring them as he moved the fork to his mouth. Over years the man had seemed to have built up a tolerance to losses and the numbers, whether civilian or military hardly fazed him. The only indication of feeling was when loss of properly or projections of power were mentioned, such as the damage to the factory and destruction of military material. These things had been the hardest to replace and procure even before the start of the war, but became almost impossible after it. At any time these lost resources might be the difference between the planet falling victim to the Reavers and stopping their advance. The General truly believed that without him the planet would be lost and perhaps he was correct in those thoughts.
When Almar had finished the General seemed to be lost in thought for a number of second. As he held his knife and fork floating above the gold embroidered plate, he stared off into the distance, his head turned slightly to the other side of where Almar sat. In the silence that befell the room, seconds seemed to stretch on for what could have been hours.
Finally General Tolmin took a long, loud breath and turned back towards Almar, gesturing at the man with his knife and a small smile on his face. “Report all of this to the press, but instead of low civilian casualties, you will inform them that, in fact, there was a huge loose of life. Let them know that I will make a formal statement later today when more of the facts can be ascertained.”
Almar was shocked of what he heard, but externally he remained emotionless. “But sir…Yes sir. It shall be as you wish.”
“Good Almar, I know I can trust you to do what is best for Lantillies. Now, once that is done, seal off the area and take all survivors into custody. No one is to talk to them or even know of their existence. Let the Peace Enforcers handle the task.”
As these instructions left the General’s lips Almar could be silence no more. He was horrified at the moment that such a thing was happening. “General, you cannot be serious. These people just survived a horrible attack. Most of them need treatment and their families need to know about those that made it through.”
“Colonel! Are you questioning my orders and judgment in this matter?!” The General yelled out instantly, before bringing his anger under more control. “Would you like to be replaced? You are good at what you do, but there are others would kill for your position and carry out my orders without question.”
Colonel Brunta could not let that happen, he needed this position. Taking a deep breath to help calm himself, Almar lowered his eyes to the table and away from the General. “Negative, sir. I will carry out your orders whatever they might be. I trust your decisions entirely. I was just…concerned.”
“It’s always good to be concerned Colonel, but being indecisive could be the difference between life and death these days.” The General smiled as he took another bite of his steak after all this time. “I want you to supervise this entire investigation. Have Caberon interrogate any suspects and anyone that survived these attacks.”
“Of course, right away General.” Almar acknowledged as he pushed the chair away and stood up quickly. He felt sick to his stomach for a second when the name “Caberon” was mentioned. That man was known and hated throughout all of Lantillies. Everyone called him a soulless monster, but very few people have ever not given up the information requested during his interrogations.
Colonel Brunta offered the General a crisp solute before turning on his heels and quickly walking out of the room. He had much business to attend to.
With that the General went back to enjoying his meal, which had by this time gotten colder. He had just finished his meal, still leaving a good portion on his plate to be thrown out later as he wiped his lips with the napkin draped over his thighs. Kartar leaned back into his lavish dinning chair and reached over for his goblet of imported wine when one of his other Officer Aids rushed into the dining hall carrying a secure datapad.
“General! We picked up a small fleet of ships coming out of hyperspace!”
“What?! Reavers??!” The General almost choked on his wine.
“Negative sir. It doesn’t appear to be Reavers. They stopped as soon as they excited and are holding position. The ships are like nothing we have seen before. We are scrambling the Home Defense Fleet, but some of the units are out on patrol near Reaver space….Wait… There is a transmission coming through.” The man paused and listened to his earpiece.
“They say they would like to meet with the leader of this planet to discuss ways they can help us. They seem to be representatives of Stellar Enterprises.”