General Kriz’nit Far clenched his fists, and let out a long, controlled sigh. He’d raised Took’sar to the rank of captain after a series of gifts had quite literally fallen into his family’s coffer. While he in no way expected loyalty from a man who’d bought his commission, he expected the significant salary provided to officers to stave off the temptation of piracy. It worked with most young officers across the empire—it was the primary reason they’d inflated the salary so much in the first place—but it didn’t stop a handful of idiots from trying to defect at least once a year. While the betrayal would negatively impact his career, Kriz’nit Far had been in a position like this enough times to know that if he got things under control and punished the offending soldier fast enough, he could walk away as a hero instead of the incompetent general who’d allowed it to happen in the first place.
“I understand. We mustn't waste any time. Deploy sub-fleets seventeen and forty-three. They will finish their shore leave tomorrow, so bringing them back a day early won't cause much impact.” Kriz’nit Far said in an even tone. Many expected leaders to rave in situations like these, but anyone who's ever been in a situation like this knew that the time to react was after everything resolved. “Are we sure of their last transmission position? Is there any chance he completed his trip to Narax?”
“All communication went silent just outside of our planetary system, less than thirty light-minutes away from here,” Major Sokt’mar spoke as he furiously typed out orders to the commanders of the indicated sub-fleets. “Based on that, and the knowledge that Took’sar has been openly irate over the Faster Than Light restrictions in place, it’s safe to say that he never made it to Narax.”
“Perhaps we should send a cruiser to the prison world, just in case?” General Croc’set Jak suggested, looking at the star map hovering in the center of the conference room. “We could divert an asset of the seventeenth and allow them enough gravitrum to make the run there and back in less than a day.”
“I would love to, but we can’t afford it. Best-case scenario, we can find the traitor, punish him, and get another rotation of guards out to Narax before the auditor shows up. Worst case…” Kriz’nit Far trailed off. The last time their people failed to meet the gravitrum quota, the Stygibora had taken one child for every missing decagram. The incident was nearly thirty years ago, but every soldier in this room had friends or relatives among the sacrifices. “No, our best bet to recovering the ore is to locate the missing ship and return to normal duties as quickly as possible.”
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Major Sokt’mar pounded his chest plate and turned to leave. If the stakes were truly this high, it was imperative that he launch the sub-fleets with haste. In the corner of the room, a forgotten lieutenant’s antennae stood straight up. He would need to lie if asked why he was so excited, and he was ready for that. The society they found themselves enslaved to was a poison that rotted away growth and actively discouraged free thought. There was no proof that Scaladorian society would be any better without the empire breathing down their chitin, but anything was better than the centuries of stagnation they’d already experienced.
“Lieutenant Pikt,” Croc’set Jak called across the conference room, “Gather a list of unassigned soldiers that might qualify as decent guards. They don’t need to be exemplary, but we will probably need to replace the crew of our lost cruiser.”
“Yes sir,” Pikt said. The resistance had positioned him under the general for tasks like this, and their time and investment had paid off many times. These generals thought the repeated attempts to escape were done by lone soldiers unsatisfied with their lot in life, but Pikt knew better. Successful revolutions were never fast, bloody things that ended in so much death the freedom fighters questioned their resolve. They were quiet, insidious undertakings that tore away at the fabric of society while making slight changes unseen by the average citizen.
Was it still a coup if the people never realized their governmental structure was in danger?
The junior officers stood and left the room, allowing his thoughts to wander as he walked along a steel catwalk. To his knowledge, no operatives of the resistance could ever get a man on the inside of Narax. If he considered the general crew of Took’sar’s cruiser, it was strange that he’d be tasked with stealing a ship. The chances of a counter-coup was much too high among those willing to enslave others.
Fortunately, that wasn’t an answer he needed to do his part. As he locked the door of his office and sat down at his terminal, he accessed a list of resistance members in deep cover. Only a few were in positions to be moved, but it would only take a few to set the spark.
