Chapter 1 | Yueril of the Trillume Authority

Chapter 1

Yueril of the Trillume Authority

––––––––

Pulling into the desolate space junk that was nothing more than a dead rock, void of anything but imported trades to its name, would be the only celebration my crew would have for a while. We were to set off farther into the robe's edge of the sector, that was not yet ravaged by the Solusgors, once the first cargo was dropped on Delta Fal. The chill of space made my scales flare up the sides of my head. I didn't have to say a word to my second in command, Belder, for her to know what was circling my thoughts. It was on all of our minds.

"Will recruiting these volatile species to our ranks deter the Solusgors from invading?" Belder asked. She was as skeptical as I was about the success reported from our queen on Necias Prime.

My jaw tightened with guilt. Even our queen knew it would not be enough. Our princess, Klemon, said as much before I departed on my mission. The queen would attempt to bring in a warrior species that could act as an "appearance" of strength to ease the planets under our protection from worry. History would not look kindly on my involvement in what would be needed to be done to protect this galaxy. The cost would be high. Should someone try to undo our efforts... death would come swiftly.

Could I live with myself for what I have done? What I was doing by releasing our cargo on this planet?

I would have to. At least we would all live.

Have mercy on the few for what must be done for the many.

I took a steady breath to answer her. "It isn't about whether or not they join us," I admitted.

"You think so? The threat that they might be strong enough to defeat the Solusgors could be enough, could it not?"

Involuntarily, I couldn't help my head shaking in the negative, revealing a truth I didn't want to burden her with.

"It will have to be. For now, we will celebrate the news that our queen succeeded, while we were away, to recruit a fierce warrior planet to protect this universe and all the planets within it."

The necia warriors were living weapons, and somehow our queen was able to use their own laws to convince them to join us. But having a show of force wouldn't be enough to stop the Solusgors. It was a show of false security. Only recently was I given access to the records of what the threat truly was. They didn't care about who was out here, how strong they were, or who they killed. And their technology was world destroying.

"I'm not sure how much celebrating we'll be doing on an outlaw planet that doesn't have any loyalties to Trillume..."

She had a point. I would hardly call Delta Fal a planet, and the outlaws here required us to stay alert.

"This is our last stop before we return to Trillume, unless our orders change. It will still take many rotations before we see home again. Enjoy the change of scenery while you can, Belder."

"It is what is not seen that we must embrace in multitudes," she agreed with a bow of her head, seeking my forgiveness for not seeing the gift of having this small luxury before a long journey home. We had little in the way of supplies, and what we gathered on this outlaw planet would be what we had to return with.

If we returned at all, I did not dare say it out loud. The queen knew what she was asking of my crew and myself when she sent us. Our technology was great, but traveling this distance was still a gamble. If there weren't enough supplies on this barren rock, there would be no return for us. No future once our activities were discovered.

"Enjoy the time we have," I reiterated for both of our sakes. Belder swallowed deeply, the scales on her neck flexed with discomfort. Her green skin darkened at the small slice visible from the top of her robes, where she had undoubtedly pulled at her neckline in search of relief that wouldn't come from shedding the weight of our clothes.

I adjusted my own robes tighter around myself and grunted as the confirmation of our ship docking at the planet's orbit station appeared on the display panel.

It was time...

I flipped the switch for cargo bays seven and eight, releasing the bioweapon on an already barren planet filled with outlaws and unfortunate souls that were but a casualty of protecting the universe from the Solusgors.

They would live: the scientists assured me that its purpose was to stop the replication of the virus.

The Solusgors weren't a species as we pictured it, though that was what had been said about them. Giving them a form gave our warriors and our clan something to stand against. A "them" to stand before and unite against.

The warriors from Necias Prime were but a facade to make the planets under our care feel safe.

They would be safer, I thought, with zero amusement at what this would cost us all.

"Is it done?" Belder tore me from my dark thoughts.

I nodded, and my crew prepared to launch the shuttle towards the surface. Cargo bay seven was connected with our shuttle transports. Cargo bay eight connected with the docking station orbiting the planet... Every ship would carry the nanobots with them. From bandits across the stars, it will spread to planets we couldn't reach on our own.

This would be the origin of what would be the most devastating attack on the entire universe, and I was its harbinger.

Belder didn't know the full extent of our mission. She knew enough to know that what I just unleashed on this planet and on our crew might mean we never made it home again.