In Fire and Ash
Chapter Four - Burned Bridges
The last light from the twin Suns of Tau Ceti
cast long shadows through the Viceroy's chambers. Yellow,
orange and red light glistened off the dark clouds and steady
rain that constantly blanketed Tau Ceti. Inside the room,
the colors danced slowly across the tiled floor, beaten back
by the darkness. The tall windows at the end of the room rose
from the floor to the ceiling nearly 30 feet up, peaking in
a long cathedral roof. The room held various sundries. From
wickedly curving steel-bladed weapons to ominous figurines
of all shapes and sizes, the room had an air of dementia.
Standing in front of the tall arch windows, his long shadow
cast along the floor, stood the Viceroy, his long deep hued
purple robes draped from his shoulders to the floor. The Viceroy
wore his hood up more often than not, today was an exception
as his scarred head and face lay bare.
The Viceroy slowly turned to look at the Sakkra Ambassador,
his name unpronounceable by human tongues, who stood glaring
from across the room. The Saurian let his long red tongue
hang from his mouth, dripping saliva into a small puddle on
the floor. Delacroix looked down with disgust at the mess,
his right arm twitching in anger, the ever-present voices
whispering malice of blood and flesh in his mind.
"You're drooling on my clean floor." Delecroix
stated, aware that the Saurian would not understand a word
without the universal translator functioning. The Sakkra curiously
cocked his head to one side.
Delacroix sneered as he engaged the translator. The Saurian
spoke first.
"The Emperor isss not sssatisssfied with our transssaction."
The Saurian hissed. "We want the Im 'Cante Sssyssstem."
Delacroix suppressed the maniacal laughter that was fighting
to get free. "You think I would give one of my systems
to your Emperor for nothing?"
"Nothing?!" the Sakkra spouted, "We killed
your rival Admiral and hisss Captain! You call that nothing?!"
Delacroix turned his back on the beast as he said, "I
have seen no bodies. You have killed no one. And what of the
Saratoga?"
"The Sssaratoga isss your problem." The Sakkra
spit, "We took care of our end, now you mussst deliver
on yoursss. We want Im 'Cante."
Delacroix heard the claws of the Saurian clacking on his
tiles at he approached from behind. The Sakkra Ambassador
lowered his head as the Viceroy turned to face him, the two
standing merely inches from one another, eye to eye.
The Sakkra hissed foul breath in the Viceroy's face as he
said "It would be in your bessst interessst to comply
with the Emperor." The Saurian looked around at the small
items that dotted the tables nearby, eyes wide with interest.
"Perhapsss you ssshould even sssend him...a gift."
The Saurians toothy grin spread across his face as he turned
his eyes back to the Viceroy.
Delacroix was not someone to be threatened and then Sakkra's
grin quickly turned red with blood as the muscle and sinew
were ripped from his stomach by the Viceroy's large-bladed
knife. Flesh and intestines spilled to the ground at the feet
of the two figures. The Sakkra coughed his last breath, spitting
blood into the Viceroy's smiling face.
"Yes. I already have a gift in mind." The Viceroy
said sullenly as he removed the knife from the belly of the
Sakkra, who slumped to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Delacroix walked to his console and pressed the VoiceComm,
"Send someone in here, the tiles need cleaning again."
Without thinking, the Viceroy realized that he had licked
some of the purple blood from the knife in his hand. Some
had said he was a madman before he assumed power, others said
that power had driven him to insanity. Either way, no sane
person would stand against the Viceroy. For those who did
get in his way, death was not often as swift as the Sakkra,
still twitching on the floor. Sane or not, Delacroix would
not be trifled with by the Sakkra. They were still at war
after all.
The Viceroy slowly turned and strode towards his quarters.
There were plans to be hashed out and The Tribunal would be
meeting soon. Since The Galactic Tribunal had been formed,
Delacroix's power had been brought into question. Without
the Admiral and Captain Airoue vying for his seat, however,
the questions would fade away. As long as they still lived,
his power was in danger of being limited. They had to be stopped,
at all costs.
· * * * * * * * * * *
Rain poured down on the dark landing platform and only the
flashing yellow warning lights on the small shuttle lit up
the area. Vice Admiral Urmarus, not actually a Vice Admiral
at all, but instead a hired mercenary that the Viceroy disguised
as one of his elite, plodded through the heavy rains. All
Bulrathi hated rain, but Urmarus had more important things
on his mind. The mission he was given would tax even his great
abilities. He was large, even for a Bulrathi, but his size
often caused misconstrued notions that he was ignorant. Notions
far from true. Urmarus was one of the few Bulrathi able to
speak a broken version of the Human tongue, more than enough
to get by on his own. His size and intelligence earned him
the reputation of a very reliable mercenary, a well-deserved
reputation. Working for the Viceroy had been his strangest
job to date, but would prove to be his most lucrative. He
could afford to retire after his job was complete here.
Urmarus took one last look at the Viceroy's Hall as he boarded
the shuttle bound for the Hess system. The strange man even
sent chills up the mighty Bulrathi's spine. The landing crew
motioned him aboard and began signaling for takeoff. Urmarus
ducked into the shuttle, obviously made for humans, and took
his seat. Eventually, the craft lifted off the ground and
slowly ascended towards the looming rain clouds above. He
would be happy to get off this world and rumor had it that
Hess was very nice this time of year.
The trip would be a long one, even along the most direct
star lanes, but there was no turning back. Refusing the Viceroy
at this point would be signing his own death warrant, so Urmarus
instead looked over the plans he had been given. He was being
dispatched to steal a ship. Getting on board the ship would
not be a problem as Bulrathi often traveled as weapons and
combat officers on Human ships. Seizing control of the bridge
would be another matter. Rumor had it that the C.W.S. Neutopia,
a prototype assault ship, built for speed, would not be easily
accessible. With the help of his cohorts from Hess, however,
Urmarus could see nothing standing in the way of commandeering
the new ship. Once acquired, the ship was to be used to breach
Sakkra defenses and outrun them to reach the planet Mahzrahe,
where Urmarus would be given his next orders.
Urmarus tilted his head back and tried to get some rest before
he met his companions. If anyone tried to stop him they would
be in for a trip. Nothing was surlier than a soggy Bulrathi.
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