Sungate (part 33)
Mr Zoat
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11th September 2012
20:42 GMT
My right gauntlet covers the grip of Athyns' sword just before he can grab it.
"When you say 'dead'..?"
The Primus spots that, and makes a point of staring into Athyns' eyes. "Slain. They are no more. Their perfidious reign is at an end and their stolen magic in the rightful hands of the Ascendants."
"And my diplomatic party?"
"I don't know." The Primus moves his gaze from Athyns to me. "If they fought, they're probably dead as well. If not… We weren't here for them."
Athyns moves his hand away from his sword, so I return the favour.
"Could you get in contact with someone higher up the chain of command and get us an audience? If the gods are dead, that leaves Athyns as the highest ranking officer. He can order a ceasefire."
"And what of you?"
"If the people who asked me here are dead, then I'll probably take my party and leave. Unless Sparta invites me to stay, in which case I imagine that I'll be doing the same thing that I was before."
The Primus regards us both for a moment, then steps back.
"Guard them while I consult the Ascendant."
Four of the invaders' soldiers gather a little closer with their guns at the ready, though not actually pointed at us. The Primus checks their position and then turns and walks away, moving out of our line of sight a moment later.
Internal only.
Compliance.
"Illustres to Construct Lanterns. Prioritise locating Melinoë, Aporia and Gaudia. Make no effort to avoid detection."
"Yes dominus."
Athyns leans a little closer, and I reactivate external speakers.
"If this is no trick, I do not know that I can command the garrison to stand down. We are faithful to the gods, Rhea's anointed. Simply telling them-"
"You could still give the order, couldn't you?"
"I don't know. To know that a monster… Held the seeds bestowed upon-."
"You could give the order?"
He hesitates.
"You merely want an audience. Sparta the Mad, along with as many other demigods as possible when you reveal her deceit."
"And don't overlook the value of a long term strategy. Convince them that you're converted, then stab them in the back once you have their confidence. At this point I don't think that further direct overt resistance is likely to do anything but get the rest of your soldiers killed."
He bows his head slightly, his eyes narrowing.
"I will bite my tongue."
"I appreciate that." I step away from him, moving towards one of our escorts. "So what's the endgame here? You capture New Cronus, kill the gods and take their seeds, and… Profit?"
"Then Sparta enacts Rhea's design for our world using the power the parasites stole."
"'Our world' being Karrakan?"
"Of course. It will become a paradise, unified under the Ascendant."
"So you don't have any particular designs for this world?"
There's a slight pause as he considers me.
"No? Why would we?"
Hm. Would that work? I want to say 'no'. I don't see how partial repositories of the titans' power would do more than the personal presence of a titan. Not on a world with a weak thaumosphere. Okay, but how could it-? Could they use Essence of Titan to bring the Dream… Closer? To invigorate the thaumosphere? Sure, giving people power doesn't fix problems and I'm sure that if Rhea knew how to do that then she would have done it herself-. If she wanted to.
So… Her demigod children and grandchildren run rampant over however many years, and she… Gives up on the idea?
No. No one has said anything about the demigods helping her get the seeds. She had the seeds all that time. And it doesn't sound as if she were focused on something, otherwise the fighting wouldn't have happened. As.. suming that it did happen. Need to check that.
"How long have the Ascendant been unified for?"
"Since Sparta unified them over the wreck of our world."
"And the world was wrecked by..?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I'm trying to understand what led us to this position. Surely such a well-established matter of historical fact is not a secret? It's… Simply that as an alien I'm ignorant of it. I'm sure that a brief lesson in the dogma of your faith will make my eventual discussion with Sparta go much easier."
And the more claims to historical fact I can check, the better.
"Karrakan was ravaged as a result of the false gods stealing Rhea's power. Without her direction there was nothing unifying the Ascendants, no great plan to guide them. The proximate cause of the destruction was their attempts to realise her goal without her wisdom, but the ultimate cause was the parasites' murder of Rhea. The destructive chaos continued until Sparta established her rule, in Rhea's name."
"So the Ascendant aren't without faults?"
"No being is. But they are closer to Rhea's divinity. Their divine power allows them to discern her aims better than we mortals."
"Her aim being?"
"To make Karrakan a paradise in the material universe, ordered by the Ascendants, under her governance."
"Did she say this herself?"
"It's self-evident."
Something else Sparta made up, then. But okay, I've got some idea of what their ideology is. Given the impression that I've got of the state of Karrakan, it shouldn't be too difficult for Sparta to show some improvement with the added power of the seeds. And that should keep the faithful happy for a while. Let a generation of faithful Ascendants grow up being conditioned to be properly goodthinkful, set them to work…
That could work. But it requires her to actually be able to do something with the seeds.
"And now that Rhea is-."
The Primus walks back into sight.
"Ambassador. 'Commander'. Sparta has agreed to meet with you. To the throne room, now."
20:42 GMT
My right gauntlet covers the grip of Athyns' sword just before he can grab it.
"When you say 'dead'..?"
The Primus spots that, and makes a point of staring into Athyns' eyes. "Slain. They are no more. Their perfidious reign is at an end and their stolen magic in the rightful hands of the Ascendants."
"And my diplomatic party?"
"I don't know." The Primus moves his gaze from Athyns to me. "If they fought, they're probably dead as well. If not… We weren't here for them."
Athyns moves his hand away from his sword, so I return the favour.
"Could you get in contact with someone higher up the chain of command and get us an audience? If the gods are dead, that leaves Athyns as the highest ranking officer. He can order a ceasefire."
"And what of you?"
"If the people who asked me here are dead, then I'll probably take my party and leave. Unless Sparta invites me to stay, in which case I imagine that I'll be doing the same thing that I was before."
The Primus regards us both for a moment, then steps back.
"Guard them while I consult the Ascendant."
Four of the invaders' soldiers gather a little closer with their guns at the ready, though not actually pointed at us. The Primus checks their position and then turns and walks away, moving out of our line of sight a moment later.
Internal only.
Compliance.
"Illustres to Construct Lanterns. Prioritise locating Melinoë, Aporia and Gaudia. Make no effort to avoid detection."
"Yes dominus."
Athyns leans a little closer, and I reactivate external speakers.
"If this is no trick, I do not know that I can command the garrison to stand down. We are faithful to the gods, Rhea's anointed. Simply telling them-"
"You could still give the order, couldn't you?"
"I don't know. To know that a monster… Held the seeds bestowed upon-."
"You could give the order?"
He hesitates.
"You merely want an audience. Sparta the Mad, along with as many other demigods as possible when you reveal her deceit."
"And don't overlook the value of a long term strategy. Convince them that you're converted, then stab them in the back once you have their confidence. At this point I don't think that further direct overt resistance is likely to do anything but get the rest of your soldiers killed."
He bows his head slightly, his eyes narrowing.
"I will bite my tongue."
"I appreciate that." I step away from him, moving towards one of our escorts. "So what's the endgame here? You capture New Cronus, kill the gods and take their seeds, and… Profit?"
"Then Sparta enacts Rhea's design for our world using the power the parasites stole."
"'Our world' being Karrakan?"
"Of course. It will become a paradise, unified under the Ascendant."
"So you don't have any particular designs for this world?"
There's a slight pause as he considers me.
"No? Why would we?"
Hm. Would that work? I want to say 'no'. I don't see how partial repositories of the titans' power would do more than the personal presence of a titan. Not on a world with a weak thaumosphere. Okay, but how could it-? Could they use Essence of Titan to bring the Dream… Closer? To invigorate the thaumosphere? Sure, giving people power doesn't fix problems and I'm sure that if Rhea knew how to do that then she would have done it herself-. If she wanted to.
So… Her demigod children and grandchildren run rampant over however many years, and she… Gives up on the idea?
No. No one has said anything about the demigods helping her get the seeds. She had the seeds all that time. And it doesn't sound as if she were focused on something, otherwise the fighting wouldn't have happened. As.. suming that it did happen. Need to check that.
"How long have the Ascendant been unified for?"
"Since Sparta unified them over the wreck of our world."
"And the world was wrecked by..?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I'm trying to understand what led us to this position. Surely such a well-established matter of historical fact is not a secret? It's… Simply that as an alien I'm ignorant of it. I'm sure that a brief lesson in the dogma of your faith will make my eventual discussion with Sparta go much easier."
And the more claims to historical fact I can check, the better.
"Karrakan was ravaged as a result of the false gods stealing Rhea's power. Without her direction there was nothing unifying the Ascendants, no great plan to guide them. The proximate cause of the destruction was their attempts to realise her goal without her wisdom, but the ultimate cause was the parasites' murder of Rhea. The destructive chaos continued until Sparta established her rule, in Rhea's name."
"So the Ascendant aren't without faults?"
"No being is. But they are closer to Rhea's divinity. Their divine power allows them to discern her aims better than we mortals."
"Her aim being?"
"To make Karrakan a paradise in the material universe, ordered by the Ascendants, under her governance."
"Did she say this herself?"
"It's self-evident."
Something else Sparta made up, then. But okay, I've got some idea of what their ideology is. Given the impression that I've got of the state of Karrakan, it shouldn't be too difficult for Sparta to show some improvement with the added power of the seeds. And that should keep the faithful happy for a while. Let a generation of faithful Ascendants grow up being conditioned to be properly goodthinkful, set them to work…
That could work. But it requires her to actually be able to do something with the seeds.
"And now that Rhea is-."
The Primus walks back into sight.
"Ambassador. 'Commander'. Sparta has agreed to meet with you. To the throne room, now."
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