S1, 04 The Council (August 1, 2015)

On the moon Etrion...

A man sits at his desk in a stately, though run down manor. Etrion's desert climate, with it's constant sand storms pummel the buildings which had at one point resided in fertile farmlands. Most of its former farmers had abandoned the moon, and now only citizens as prickly and stalwart as the desert vegetation remained. Etrion has become a hub for raiders, gamblers, mercenaries, and fighters seeking to battle, gamble, or at least watch the contestants in the Fighter's Collisseum.

“Jacob,” a woman said to the man. “The rest of them are here.”
“Okay, Lucinda. Let's not keep them waiting. I doubt the food and wine will distract them for long.”
Lucinda had been a fighter pilot for the Galactic Imperium. She had the highest marks in her class, and could fly amazingly in any condition. But after her brother and father were captured and executed for 'treasonous activities,' Lucinda had left the Imperium and flown for the Aurelian army. However, she left them as well when she felt that an Aurelian run Earth would be no better than the Imperium's military state.

As they walked down the hallway towards the dining hall, Lucinda couldn't help but look at and admire Jacob's décor. “You certainly have an impressive collection.”

“Ah, yes. While the rest of the people fled Earth right after the Shift, I went back to liberate some of these historical artifacts. I've always been a student of history. It can teach us so many things. Not only about what mankind has done in the past, but who we are as a species. These pieces could all be said to be objects of power. The Egyptians, the Roman Empire, the Monarchs of Europe, The Third Reich...all of these groups sought power, and all of them possessed it. But I don't hold onto these artifacts as some sort of reminder to their power. I keep them to remind me, that all power gained is eventually lost. No matter how strong a nation. No matter how devote its followers. Eventually all things of power come to dust.”

As if to make a point of it, the wind outside collided with a nearby window, the sound of sand scratching at its surface.

“All power?” Lucinda asked.
“Yes...all power. The Imperium. The Collective.” Jacob paused. “Even the power we hopefully form today. Come. Let's not keep our guests waiting any longer.”

The two entered the dining hall and took their seats. Jacob at the head of the table, and Lucinda to his right. The dining hall was filled with noise, as the guests ate, drank and talked loudly. Luckily no one was drunk enough yet to start any trouble. And with this group, trouble was always a possibility.

“Gentleman, thank you for traveling all this way so that we could meet.”

“Lucky for you this tin can you call a butler pours fast enough for this lot.” a man said.

The entire table roared with laughter. The man who made the joke had a huge moustache and a cybernetic eye. He had at one time been one of Aurelia's most celebrated Generals. General Skye, who had pushed hard against the Imperium, and won many battles till the loss of his eye, and in turn the loss of his command. After that, he lived in the bottle. He was constantly drunk, and constantly beligerant. His sour attitude eventually led to him killing a man in a bar fight. He was arrested and sent to the Imperium's 'super-prison' and like so many others was left to die in the wastelands of Etrion. Jacob had found him in the Fighter's Pit, bare knuckle boxing people for his booze money. Of the people at the table, Skye was the least powerful in terms of wealth or manpower, but he was very rich in influence. People still talk of his military antics and victories with awe and respect. Even Lucinda, who Jacob had found to be very level headed, seemed to swoon when Skye would tell one of his war stories.

To the former General's left was Mermar from the planet Toliv. Unknown to most people Mermar's race have lived for centuries under Toliv's Great Sea. Huge cities are said to reside beneath its surface, though many have never seen or even heard of them. Even to Jacob, who prided himself on being one in the know, knew little of Mermar or his people. However, their extreme secrecy and ability to stay hidden from the public eye, have made them the foremost smugglers in the system. Able to move large amounts of cargo, virtually undetected. How was another great mystery to Jacob.

“Well, I'm glad to see you're all enjoying what we've prepared. Now if I may, I'd like to get down to why we're all here.”

A growl of agreement came from the huge furry creature toward the end of the table. This great beast was named Borsna, and he had travelled the greatest distance, coming all the way from the jungle moon of Fuyoria. He was the chief of a tribal clan from the moon, living in the trees, and for the most part living off the land. They were fierce warriors and often kept themselves in isolation, driving any outsiders away. It had been tough to convince Borsna to come to this meeting. To Jacob's shock the beast had already devoured an entire turkey, leaving only a few drumsticks for his side of the table.

Next to the hairy creature was Zifthani, a mercenary from the cold half of Iapra. Iapra was a planet that was in a constant feud, between the inhabitants of its cold and hot regions. A representative from the desert region was at the table as well, and these were the two Jacob had worried about leaving at the table unattended for two long. Even though he tried to seat them apart, the two shot dark glares at one another. The man from the desert region of Iapra was named Soloman, and he was a desert warrior, in command of over 10,000 men.

Next to Soloman and seated to the left of Jacob was a small quiet alien from Qoter. While the rest of the room had been boisterous and loud, Xzantha, the alien's name had been sitting quietly, watching the others in the room and slowly sipping on some colorful elixir he had brought himself. Xzantha was another mystery for Jacob. He had gathered that the small soft spoken alien was in the intelligence sector, gathering intel and executing missions for an underground syndicate known as the Unsanctioned.

The last person at the table was the loud mouthed and brash entity who calls himself Bomber. He comes from the gas giant Tirunei, and is a self proclaimed expert on explosives. Jacob never liked the loud man, but Lucinda seemed to enjoy his antics.

“Aye,” Bomber said. “Let's get down to the nuts and bolts of it, eh.”

“As you may know,” Jacob said. “Graze Dellfield has been murdered.”

“A real shame. Truely.” Skye laughed from taking a sip of booze.

“No matter what any of us thought of the man, there is now a void in operations. Now. We could all battle it out, or cut up his territory amongst ourselves, but neither of these options will be beneficial in the long run. There's a war going on, and like it or not, we're in the middle of it.”

Mermar spoke with his long mumbling, which was almost impossible to hear from the end of the table.

“I know you think the Collective will just leave Toliv alone, but you're wrong. There are surface inhabitants that live there, and the Collective will eventually come for them. And when they do, they'll learn of your race and by then you'll be the only ones left. This war is upon us. We can no longer squabble over the scraps that fall from the Imperium table.”

“What are we supposed to do?” General Skye blathered. “Join up with Aurelia? Sign up for the Imperium Army. They took my command and my eye. I won't have anything to do with them.”

“What I propose is that we band together. Form a council of sorts. There's no reason why we should each only govern over our territories. With all of us together, we can govern the whole system. Each person here represents an important part of the system, and together we can be far greater than the sum of our parts.”

“And who runs this council?” Soloman asked. “You? You sit at the head of the table.”

“I'd merely help run our meetings, and be the deciding vote if needed. I'm not here to lead, simply to bring you all together, and to ask this new council for help.”

“Help with what?” Lucinda asked. She had known about the meeting to try and pull the various crime syndicates together. But she had no idea what Jacob was about to ask.

“With Graze's death, I found out that he had been receiving and surpressing certain intelligence. This chip was found on his body, and I assume there's been many more sent. It's from a man inside the Imperium on Earth.” Xzantha's eyes darted at the chip. Jacob knew he had his attention. Earth had been a black hole of intelligence gathering for some time. “I believe the man that sent this chip is in danger. If the Imperium ever found out, he would be dead. I'm asking this council to go to Earth, and rescue him.”

The table roared with laughter again.

“Why should we risk saving some bloke from Earth?” Bomber asked.

“Because Dr. Gadera is one of the most intelligent men I've ever met. He has done extensive research on the Collective, and he has an inner working of the Imperium's operations. He would be invaluable to any plans we have. Also..” Jacob paused before continuing, downing his glass of wine. “Also, I need your help to get him, because he's my son.”

4th wall: I was late with this entry. Had some personal stuff going on, but got it done at least. I also have two other episodes half built, but am waiting on those until R.K. Finishes the huge crossover story. Hope you enjoy this episode!

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