Eric Olafson, Neo Viking Vol. 02

She curled her chaps under her black nose with the long whiskers on each side." The 'American Dream' technically is a genuine Union fleet super cruiser, a test platform as much as a private yacht for the latest Enroe tech developments and the Union fleet operates several thousand of these in a different configuration and layout of course.

She pointed at the central seat. We are still deep in union space and two days away from Austin, if you want you can try it out for size."

You mean I can sit in the Command chair?"

"It's where you going to spend much of your time if you are successful with your quest. You might as well see if you like it."

It was nothing short of a religious experience for me, to actually sit in a real space ship command chair. It immediately adjusted to my body and she explained. It is all pretty much fleet standard except the classified stuff and we don't have Translocators of course." She took my hand and placed it over a ball shaped object."That thing under your right hand is called Master Control. With it you can access all bridge functions. Helm, Navigation, Tactical, Engineering, Security and Ops. If any of these stations fail, or don't react as you want you can overwrite them from here. It takes only a little to get used to it and then it becomes intuitive. Fleet calls it Intu-control for that reason. The panel now sliding under your left hand is the Master Access Panel. It directly connects you with Communications to all stations; ship wide, departments and Computronic. You can raise alerts; isolate ship sections, damage control and evacuation procedures. The pedal below your left foot activates chair controls and the right one the Command Monitor bank.

I could somehow feel the ships very power through the leather of the seat. It was as if the ship became a part of my mind. Nothing could be compared with it.

Her whiskers twisted and she exposed her razor sharp teeth and it took me a moment to realize she was trying to smile. "I am not the best judge of human expressions but you sure look like you belong there."

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Interlude 7: Out for Revenge

Dai patriarch Ima Win-Do had narrowly escaped the slaughter. He was still shivering involuntarily; most of his tribe including the Ima mother was gone. He had seen her rupture and disappear inside an antimatter fusion bomb explosion so huge it looked like the birth of a small star. The Devastator breaking like a demon with glowing shields through that cloud of destruction.

Only the presence of a second Dai Mother from another clan firing upon the Devastator saved his Battle ship and everyone aboard. One of his destroyers had sacrificed itself flying into the path of three Loki torpedoes. He ordered Helm to retreat, a salvo of FTL beams hammered into the shields and damaged many systems including navigation sensors and instead of heading for Freespace they went deeper into Union space. They did notice their mistake, but they had nothing to lose. The tribe was gone and from the last images he saw of the space battle, many Dai would not see another day. His mind burned with the shame of retreat and his heart heavy with the loss of everything he held dear.

The traitors had lured them into a trap and a trap it was. The Thalim Nebulas always had been a remote Union area frequented by miners and civilian ships and only two star systems with useless ice planets in its vicinity.

It always had been a good hunting ground, completley unexpected thousands of Asteroids suddenly turned into heavily armed space forts, with Translocator cannons, Thor Gun boats and batteries of Loki torpedo tubes.

As mighty as the Dai Fleet was it would have been much more of a fight with a well-organized armada, it was utter madness now looking back to do it without any coordination between the Dai Tribes. There was chaos and confusion one side and military precision and tactical guidance by a worthy Admiral on the other side. He wondered now if he should have not joined Kar-Hi, but it was too late now. He had fled in the face of the enemy, no matter the fact that thousands other Tribes had turned and fled as well.

He was never this deep in Union space. On their long range scanners he saw only three ship contacts and sixteen star systems within reach. His navigation systems still wasn't reliable. Navigation relied on exact time keeping and a special sensor array that was drained towards the Galactic center and several known pulsars. A ships position could then easily be established. The Sensor array dedicated to that task had been melted and his navigator established position the old way by comparing star charts and making course calculations.

All three of the contact appeared to be civilian ships, two of them from the size and speed most likely space buses trying to reach the next port. Full of arrogant Union citizens. Since he did not know where he exactly was any of the sixteen systems could be fleet bases and approaching them would get him destroyed before he was able do something. Something to quench his desire for revenge. The third target was fast, and bigger. Most likely some of the fancy luxury clippers, full of wealthy citizens. A worthy target for a pirate. This time this was not a raid, or give it a chance to surrender. He wanted to cause as much death and destruction before Union Forces would finally get him.

"Charge all weapons. Maximum speed. As we are in range. Take out its Engines first."

Interlude 8: Kermac

>>> Approximately one million standard years ago, a human sentient species, the Ker developed faster than light travel. The Ker left their original home system located somewhere in the outer limits of the Coreward sector and moved their entire society across half the galaxy to a garden world 20,000 Light-years closer to the galactic core.

It is not known why the Ker moved their society. The Ker originally were part of a society of five closely related races, differentiated by skin color and size. These species were the Ker, the Mar, the Mac, the Blue and the Golden.

Only little information exists but according to scholars familiar with the subject and from limited documents still existing with the Blue, the Ker engaged in a systematic war of genocide to eradicate the other races. Aided in their quest by the technology of an advanced non Ker civilization. Scholars suspecting the Universal collective to be that society. It is assumed three groups united and called themselves Kermac. The Blue gathered their people and left the Milky Way galaxy. Only to be re discovered by Union explorers in the Andromeda galaxy (see Blue, the Union Members)

The Golden began a nomadic existence and became a society of traders and merchants, operating galactic trade posts, they call bazaars on wandering moons and large asteroids that can be found all across the galaxy. All Ker species have psionic abilities. The Ker are the strongest and the Golden are the weakest in terms of psionic abilities. The Ker are usually strong telepaths with the special ability to hypno suggest, that is to force their will upon others. They do not have many telekinetic talents and no teleportation gifted Kermac was ever reported.

The Kermac believe they are the oldest sentient civilization and the only species worth existing as they are the only one that is perfect.

They use a special and unique Kermac device, known as the Will Amplifier that allows a small group of 20-30 Kermac take and maintain control over an entire planet population. The Kermac feel they are entitled to be served and that they bestow great blessings on those allowed to serve.

Those species and races they can not control via psionic means, they control via military might expressed via their many Thrall species.

The Kermac extended their control and sphere of influence over a great area of space, and at about 20,000 years ago controlled over 845 sentient space faring species. Then they met the Ult and before the religious event that turned the Ult peaceful. The Amphibians of Ulta proved to be immune to the Kermac psionic Attacks and the expansion of the Kermac was halted.

During that time the Kermac also met the Saresii who were older with much stronger psionic talents and a very sophisticated psionic energy based technology. It was at a time when the old alliance of sentient species, centered on the World of Old had collapsed.

The Kermac hating the Saresii and their interference by nullifying the very power Kermac had over others. Declared all Saresii to be exterminated and war broke out. The Saresii freely shared their Psi shields with anyone wanting it including the Sarans and the Klack. The Kermac-Ult-Saresii war lasted over a thousand years with no real advancements on either side. The Saresii not interested in gaining ground and the Kermac unable to win. Then the Y'All arrived for the first time. The Kermac proposed to put aside all aggression and form a new alliance called the Galactic Council so all galactic civilizations could face the Y'All together. Even though the now combined forces had some success, it still seemed doom was inevitable. The Wurgus lured a huge part of the Y'All fleet into their solar system and then ignited their own Sun into a Supernova explosion, destroying two thirds of the Y'All armada. The Y'All became even more aggressive and were out for revenge.

The Narth revealed themselves. Legend claims that Y'All seeing the single Narth ship turned around and fled, leaving the Galaxy.

Kermac grow to about 150 cm, have no body hair but use false beards to hide psionic enhancers and other psi tech inside those beards. Selective breeding and genetic tailoring have erased all outer sexual differences between the genders and they all appear to be male. The Kermac use extensive skin bleaching and genetic alterations to turn their skins into a paper white shade. The so called wizards or leaders of the Kermac distinguish themselves of having the whitest skin. Kermac shun physical labor and extensively use slave and thrall species for every form of labor, fighting and research.<<<

--""--

The 'Grand Wizard of unimaginable power, immense wisdom, Bearer of all military citations ever issued, He of the Military Might and Kermac Galactic Dominance' no longer insisted that he was addressed by his full title. He would have liked to be just called by his name, Feif-Nachacht.

Yet the 'Most superior Great Wizard of the supreme power, Posessor of all reaching Wisdom and omni-intellect.' had again addressed him with the full title, as he had done every time he addressed the military wizard during this meeting. All nine Kermac Section leaders had assembled in the 'Most-Important-place-of-them-all-blessed-by-the-presence-of-the-ones-above-all-Gods-hall'.

Feif-Nachacht threw his hands in the air, sitting on the ten meters elevated chair lit by a spotlight, like the other eight in the otherwise dark space. "Yes you heard me right. I propose we drop all the titles and litanies. It takes us longer every time to even just greet ourselves. I know who you are and you know who I am. We all know we are above everything and more important than others. Let us accept that as a fact and move to more important matters or we never come to any solutions that way."

The Culture and Arts Wizard whose section was the least powerful, but in his eyes the most important of course blew up his cheeks and pounded his spidery finger on the armrest. "I insist on being addressed with all my titles. Must I remind you that culture and the fine arts are the very definitions of civilization and fine speech, manners and the recognition of greatness are hallmarks of our way of life and must not be deteriorated?"

"Fine then, be silent and no one will address you." The Military Wizard snapped back. "Let me recapitulate why I called this session of the Grand Wizards together. About two thousand Dai Than pirate tribes with all their ships have done something unthinkable, they joined the Union."

His words did not have the effects he hoped they had. They looked at him as if he told them his menu choice and were not very interested. "Do you not understand? Do you still believe the same lie we tell ourselves now for 500,000 years? We need to open our eyes and see reality. Otherwise there won't be any Kermac left."

This time he got a reaction and the Central Grand Wizard raised his voice. "What traitorous words you dare to utter. He waved towards the Wizard of Control and said to him. "It appears our esteemed Warrior has a confused mind and needs to be replaced."

There was no one more feared than the 'Lord Wizard almighty of Peace who combined internal security, all police forces and intelligence power'.

However the wizard in control of the ministry of control slowly shook his head. "I am sorry Most Superior Wizard, but replacing our military Wizard for the 56th time in only sixty cycles will not solve the problems we are facing. I say we let him speak and make decisions worthy of Kermac, as you know even the Most Superior Wizard can be replaced."

The one in the center could not suppress his anger. Did that Wizard just threaten him? "No Superior Wizard was ever replaced."

"Do we keep on squabbling about meaningless things or do we face the seriousness of our situation?

The Military Wizard makes decisions and orders without consulting you and as this gathering shows, we should have done so again. I concur with my colleague. If we do not alter the way we come to decisions we will be a side note of Galactic history in very short time."

"Nonsense. We are the Kermac. We are superior to all and we have been before all others and shall be after all others. We command 467 Civilizations they will fight to the death for us."

Vier Vorneun, the Intelligence Wizard sighed. "Do you even use that mind of yours for thinking? There once have been 845 at the height of our expansion. There were 587 thrall civilizations before there was a Union. We lost one hundred and twenty. Fourty one have joined the Union including the X101's who hate us more than anyone. Seven thrall species have decided to become neutral after they got Saresii Psi Shields and do you know what happened to rest? Seventy two space faring civilizations? I am talking about hundreds of planets, billions and billions of individuals." He almost screamed at the Grand Wizard. "They are utterly destroyed, eradicated, exterminated and wiped out in the three wars we had with the Union so far."

The military Wizard continued. "You also know of course that we lost each war? That we skirted destruction and extermination the last time was because our hated cousins the Blue miraculously reappeared, being a mighty civilization all on their own in the far distant Andromeda galaxy and interfered on our behalf and brokered the armistice."

The Grand Wizard sounded less confident." Then our Cousins will have to broker another deal. The Blue have technology as advanced as the Saresii so I have heard."

Nachacht slapped his hand onto his forehead. "It becomes clearer to me by the moment why we are doomed, 'Grand Wizard who is not as smart as he thinks he is and knows less than a Plato slav', you are right, the Blue our distant cousins we exiled and treated so badly have built themselves a fascinating new civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy. They came back to broker peace out of pity for us. Do you know why the Union listened to them and accepted the Armistice? They could have kept going and we would not have this discussion today."

The Grand Wizard decided to put away with both of these upstarts then and there, but he shook his head. "The Blue are not of the Kermac. Their skin shows that clearly. Their psionic powers are those of children. We dealt with them fairly and let them go. We could have exterminated them instead. But tell me then, why did they?"

Nachacht stood up spreading his arms and yelling. "Because they are Union members. You do know the United Stars reached the Andromeda Galaxy with their marvelous bridge."

Sechs-Biszwei the Culture and Arts Wizard who had sulked till now, had to force himself not to use the title litany and said. "What is so marvelous about a string of space stations? Anyone can build space stations. The Seven chipped rocks our most celebrated artist Ein-Zwidrai unveiled yesterday, now that is marvelous."

Vorneun gestured frustration and hissed. "Creating a string of eight hundred gigantic space stations across two million light years to another galaxy, connecting them with space trains, communication and doing that in less than 100 years is nothing less than amazing. The logistics alone would overwhelm even the Hythagh our most industrious Thralls. I personally would love to see it."

The Superior Wizard tended to agree with the Cultural Wizard. Both the Military and the Intelligence Wizard seemed way too fascinated with this insignificant upstart civilization. He decided to express his opinion. "The Union is not Kermac and therefore everything they have done or will do is inferior and unimportant. I think we should return now addressing ourselves properly and then I want to hear from you how we going to wipe the Union out of existence"

Vorneun clenched his fists and hissed. "Open your eyes listen to what we are saying and help us to come up with a plan. If you keep ignoring the problems we are facing, I will personally kill you right here and now. Don't test me."

The Superior Wizard snapped his mouth shut and leaned back. "This is not the end of this; do go on Mighty Wizard of the military.

Nachacht was grateful he could talk but the way Vorneun insulted the Grand Wizard, was more than alarming and he would need to take steps to clip that man's wings soon. Aloud he said." At least two thousand Dai families joined the Union. A large portion of the remaining Dai tribes did not like that and tried to stop that from happening. We sent every Nogoll ship we had in the area to the border to observe, but those cursed Nogoll did more than observe, they joined the Dai, crossed into Union space and flew right into a well-planned trap of the Union. The Dai were a serious threat a few weeks ago and today the ones remaining are a shadow of their former strength. It was a planned massacre by that Demon Stahl. Thousands of Dai Tribes were utterly destroyed, not to mention that only eighty of two thousand capital Nogoll ships returned. It will take the Nogoll years to rebuild the losses in material and trained crews and we are forced to crawl on our bellies. We are forced to apologize to that arrogant monkey and we need to send a diplomatic delegation to make amends."

The High Wizard of Communications said." But why? Why are we apologizing?"

"Because it was the Nogoll who broke the treaty of Free space and Stahl had a huge fleet at his hand and was eager to to keep going. You know our tactical analysts gave it a ninety percent chance of Stahl being in Orbit around our world right now.

We feed our Computronics with all available data about their and our capabilities and in 98 of 100 Computronic simulations, the Union wins. Only if we assume the Shiss and the Nul fighting on our Side and the Klack deciding to declare war on the Attikan Commonwealth, we win. None of it is even remotely going to happen."

The Communication Wizard made a surprised gesture. "The Attikan are too far away and they are not involved with this galaxies policies. We should send Psi Command enhancement drones there and see if we cannot gain them as Battle Thralls."

The Military Wizard laughed cold "And you are the Communication Wizard. What have you done in the last three cycles? Polish your head, selecting new robes? Thinking of new fancy and worthless titles for yourself?"

The Intelligence Wizard did not spare with critique either and added. "The Attikan are Union members with all 96 Commonwealth Species. Well protected with Saresii Psi Tech against our powers. Our intelligence speaks of a new to us unknown species called the Leedei. According to reports they are even better psi users than the cursed Saresii, and I have it on good authority they are using psi technology far advanced to anything we could even imagine. Did you ever read the reports created after that ill conceived attack on that jungle planet? Can you even begin to realize what it means to have Union ships with Attikan engines? Or Attikan ships with Translocators?"