Interlude A Brewing War (Patreon)

Meanwhile, in another realm, a young girl slipped out of her room. Well young for her race, she was almost five hundred years old. Five hundred was a huge milestone for her and it was only a couple of months away. She was almost an adult and she was quite looking forward to it. Finally, mom would stop treating her as a baby. She sighed, who was she kidding, Mom treated everyone as a baby. It didn’t help that her mother was ancient. The young girl wasn’t joking with that thought, there were older people around. Supposedly her grandfather was older than the empire, which would make him some five million years old.

She had no way to know if that was true. Seeing as the young girl hadn’t met him. She only knew him through her mother's stories and virtual pods. The girl wanted to believe her grandfather loved her but honestly? She didn’t even know if he was alive. The man had vanished long before she was born. He was a legend. The most powerful Solean ever born. He saved their race from extinction, united the fleets and founded the vast Solean Empire. Of course the man’s greatest feat was when he fought and defeated the Fallen God. Alongside several other first lords, the first of their kind, but while the others fell one by one in the years that followed. He endured. The Stalwart leader and guardian of the Empire. A being so powerful even gods trembled before him, as he had become a god himself. The most powerful to ever grace the plane.

The girl let out a breath. Honestly, it was tough sometimes being related to a man like that. It didn’t help that her mother was damn protective of her. It was smothering. Very smothering. Oftentimes she daydreamed of being able to spread her wings and just fly. Something she had only recently been able to enjoy. It was a shame that wings took so long to grow, in fact her wings were still growing. She wasn’t even ready for spaceflight just yet, but her wings were developed enough to take to the air.

Not that there was much space for that around here. Enterprise was a lovely place to live. With vast ancient walls and dotted with equally aging cities. Her home was older than the Empire after all, some of it anyway. It was built up over a period of generations. Regardless it remained to be a construct not a planet. The surface of Enterprise was a vast network of armored plating, shield grids, and weapon arrays. Afterall she was the oldest of the cityships, although at this point, it might be better to call her an Ecumenopolis Ship. Although now that she thought of it, it sounded weird. The young girl tried to parse several other terms that would adequately convey the majesty of a planet sized city ship, one that billions called home.

Passing several of those billions on her way down the plated and dimly lit corridor, she turned a corner before reaching the lift. It was common for corridors to be dimly lit, while no longer needed, it was ancient tradition for most spaces to be dimly lit. The Solean eye was well adapted to dim light conditions as well, so it didn’t really matter to them if the lighting was poor. Only the non-Soleans ever complained about the low light. Of course, brighter light wouldn’t bother them much; they had originally evolved on a lovely sunlit world with vast oceans, towering mountains, lovely forests, and dry deserts. At least it had been like that five million years ago. Before it was bombarded from orbit, its surface irradiated and shrouded in radioactive plasma storms. Those storms were still there, maintained by technology, but the surface has long since recovered. Still irradiated, but filled with thriving cities. Afterall their cousins loved the surfaces of irradiated worlds and their other cousin race? They liked the same dim lit conditions they did. After all the Cavalonians were a winged subterranean race, well adapted to the underground and resistant to radiation. Quite accomplished at building vast underground complexes.

Then there was her own race, who had long adapted to survival among the stars. She often marveled at what the empire had created sometimes. The lift slid open and she smiled at the sight before her. Trees as far as the eye could see, filled the space below her. While above she could see the night sky even two moons could be spotted glowing above them. Both fake of course, the Enterprise didn’t have moons, she was a ship. Planet sized of course, but still a ship. One that regularly moved from world to world as was needed. It didn’t matter if she was the Capital of the empire, she was still a ship.

The girl smiled and let her wings grow out from her back. In the corridors she shapeshifted them away since it was easier to navigate around the ship without her large wings getting in the way. She didn’t bother returning her feet to their normal shape. The human shape she had donned for them was much better suited to not gouging holes in the floor. Holes she would have to pay for, even if she was the daughter of the Supreme Protector. That didn’t excuse her for accidental vandalism. Although many would call it deliberate. After all, the damage is quite avoidable if you just shapeshift your adult talons away in favor of the human-like feet of a child.

It felt nice being able to show her wings. She hated looking like a kid. It didn’t help that their species was on the small side. Average height for a girl was around 135, which was about the same height as a Terran kid. She couldn’t tell how many times some Terran had mistaken her or her mother for a kid before. Of course how they reacted when they found out who she was. Inevitably they would treat her like some kind of princess. Ha! As if! Just because she was the daughter of the Supreme Protector did not make her a princess. If she wanted the throne she would have to earn it, like her mother did after her grandfather stepped down. Well technically she earned it before he abdicated the throne, but that was because the succession process was done in advance. He announced his plan to abdicate and then the Trials were held. Her mother was the one who won and he trained her for centuries before stepping down. Then he vanished, to who knows where. No one had seen him since he left the throne.

None of that mattered at the moment. She headed for the balcony, where a couple of other prospective flyers were standing. Neither had taken flight just yet. As she drew close, she began to pick up their conversation.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, I heard it from my sister in the Outreaches. The Liritians are blatantly ignoring our diplomats and any evidence we present to our ancient claims to the sector. Just yesterday they violated the territory of the Ish’tal, one of our protectorates. Where they preached about liberating them from the evils of the Empire.” The woman scoffed, “Those kittens don’t know what they are talking about.”

The man she was talking to gave her a look, “Are they serious? Their union is what? One, two million years old? Do they really think they stand a chance in a war with us? By the gods! They know nothing about magic. Have you met a Liritian Transcendent? I sure haven’t!”

The woman shook her head, “No. My sister tells me they have no idea what our powers are even about. How they made it to the stars without discovering magic for so long is baffling. I know some worlds are devoid of magic, but it’s kind of ridiculous that they have been without it so long.”

She sighed, it wasn’t the first time she heard about topics like this. Her mother complained about it often. The Liritian Star Union was a relatively new player, at least to them. First contact with the Union had happened no less than a thousand years ago. Practically yesterday as far as the empire was concerned. The Union started entering the Outreachs long before that, but Imperial presence there was always limited. It took centuries before the first ships came into contact. The first Imperial ship to encounter a Liritian ship was the ISS Lexington, a Guardian Class Drone Cruiser. The Lexington had been tasked with providing aid to the Del’nar, a young race barely capable of star travel, who had the misfortune of encountering an ancient bioweapon. The resulting plague was sweeping through their worlds leaving devastation in their wake.

The Lexington’s crew had successfully cured it and was in the middle of negotiating the entry of the Del’Nar Confederacy into the Empire as a protectorate. That was when the Union vessel, the Light of Liberty arrived in the system. The Union classified her as an Exploration cruiser, but she was really a battleship. 14 kilometers long and armed to the teeth.

Contact was notably rocky and quickly devolved into a duel in planetary orbit. The much smaller Lexington was the ultimate victor with the Light of Liberty taking heavy damage and retreating. It was the beginning of today's rocky relations with the Union. Since then a number of disputes had occurred, notably over Union expansion into the outreaches, which were all territories of the Empire. Sure the empire hasn’t maintained direct control of them for anywhere between one and two million years. Not since the Million Years War, the greatest war ever fought and one that left destruction across much of the known universe. The Outreaches were the farthest flung territories of the Empire. Not that the Liritians wanted to recognize that. The younger powers that lived in them were allowed their sovereignty by the Empire. The Empire was even gracious enough to provide assistance when warranted and some powers were even granted full protectorate status with all the rights it provided.

Despite this, the Liritians had blatantly ignored things. Messed with ancient shield worlds and played with powers they hardly understood. It was a mess and sooner or later a war was going to break out. While the Union was technically larger, the Empire had a fleet equal in number to theirs. Not only that but the Empire was more prosperous and more technologically advanced with a deeper understanding of magic. A war would only end one way. With a complete Imperial victory. Yet the cost in lives would be tremendous before that happened and benefit no one. The Empire had no desire for a war. Their enemies were long vanquished and the current peace was currently quite prosperous. It left time for more interesting pursuits.

She smiled, then spoke to the woman, “Things are getting that bad in the Outreaches?”

The woman turned, “Ah Milith. Come for a morning flight?”

“I did, but you didn’t answer the question.”

“I’m afraid so. Things seem to be escalating.”

Milith sighed, “Great! I can just see it now. Mom’s going to be a pain for the next few weeks.” then she frowned, “and so close to my big birthday too.”

The woman blinked, “Oh, yes you are about to turn five hundred right? Congrats! You’ll finally be a proper Lord. Have you been practicing your magic?”

She smiled and then raised her palm. Sparks flew and a moment later a ball of crackling blue lightning formed in her palm. A moment later several spheres of pure fire formed. “I have! I even passed the Lord-level magic test.” then she sighed, “Mom still treats me like a little Lordling though. I mean come on, I’m five hundred years old. Little Terrans half my age get treated as adults! Why Can’t I?”

“Well to be fair, most Terrans only live to be what? One, two thousand years old? That and they grow so much faster than we do.”

She glanced at her feet.

“Oh Milith! It’s not that bad, you are still young. Plenty of time to enjoy life. Trust me, getting to my age isn’t all roses and sunshine.”

“I guess, but I just want to be treated like I am an adult. I’m almost five hundred. Look at my wings! They are nearly fully grown, a month maybe two and I will be ready to try spaceflight without a suit!”

The other woman smiled, “I know my dear. Now go enjoy your flight.” she sighed, “I’ll try talking to your mother again, but I don’t think it will go any better than last time.”

Milith nodded, “I will and thanks for always listening!”

The other woman chuckled and she turned to take to the skies of Enterprise. At least for a little while, but she couldn’t help but dream of actually leaving the ship. Without a suit and flying around it seeing it with her own eyes with the naked void against her skin. It would be amazing. In fact it was a right of passage for many. She sighed, of course mother would be there every step of the way, but there were some battles she was never going to win. At least the flight would be nice. Pushing her thoughts aside, she spread her wings, and took to the skies with practiced ease. The air caught on her large wings and ran through her scale-feathers. Soon her thoughts and worries were lost to the joys of flight. It was a nice distraction.