31st December 2232
The foothills close to The Agora
On a night that generally presaged much release of joy and celebration at the passing of the old year and the entry of a new one two figures were silhouetted against the darkening westerly sky, making their slow way to an entrance into the hills themselves. Up above and vigilant but tasked with going no further were their bodyguard.
The old man led, a guttering torch held firmly in his hand. Following was a beautiful young man whose face even in the flickering light appeared to burn with a fierce intelligence and maybe something more. They had been together for only 6 months but already the bond of Daskalos and Mathitis was extremely strong and one that appeared to watching eyes to go far beyond that of just teacher and student, master and apprentice.
Whatever the more scurrilous rumours that were doing the rounds in the Capitol's bawdy back streets of one thing there could be no doubt: the young man's arrival had coincided with a singular upturn in the fortunes of their whole race and with the recent Medusa Squadron victories and the successful invasions of two of the Torian worlds in their southern sector and the prize of two more to come, many citizens were of a mind to really celebrate this new year, hopeful of a future that did not necessarily presage subjugation, slavery or worse.
Castor Ohirides looked tenderly at the man that he grown very much to love and moved to help him clamber over some rocks. Dr Zeus paused on the other side wincing and stretching,
'Ah my son, my mind remains alert and firm but I fear that my body is starting to betray me.'
'That's not my interpretation of the matter Master,' the boy replied, flashing a mischievous and knowing grin at his guru.
This prompted a playful cuff from the older man who was also smiling broadly-and was that colour rising in his cheek Castor wondered smugly?
Soon the path ran out and with the cave wall lowering above them the Great Leader illuminated a postern door that appeared almost out of nowhere.
'There are only very few who can enter herein my boy' he wheezed and stopped to peer into an ocular scanning device.
'Come-stand here lad. As I say-very few-only the chosen. I daresay that even your hero twin would not be able to pass.’
Suddenly an electronic voice boomed out making Castor start.
'ARCHIGOS ZEUS YOU MAY PASS!'
The boy put his own eye on the device and was surprised to hear the voice attach the same appellant Archigos to him.
'ARCHIGOS OHIRIDES YOU MAY PASS!'
The door swung open revealing a massive chamber lit by brightly glowing Zeon torches-it was a place of beauty and wonder-massive, the high arches, shallow where they were, flared into a single spectacular central dome further down the edifice. All along the sides were gleaming marble busts-it appeared hundreds of them. Who had built this place and who kept it in such pristine condition was a mystery to the lad? It took much to faze him but this place was something entirely new in his lexicon.
As if reading his mind (something that they both did to each other rather a lot to the consternation of their Advisors) the Archigos piped up, 'yes lad-a secret sect are tasked with the upkeep of this place; the priests and priestesses of Hestia, goddess of hearth and home-they serve for life. As for the busts my boy-there are almost four hundred of them. They represent every Great Leader for the last three thousand years-look come boy! See here the first; Laedemon, who was reputed to have come from the stars with the forebears of our great race.
'From Earth as legend would have it' Castor whispered awe-struck
'Yes boy-from Earth or Terra to give it it's official name. This is the reason that despite the fact that this fabled planet is on the other side of the known galaxy-far beyond the reach of our farthest ships, we are in Alliance with them. There is certainly Archaeological evidence that we are an offshoot of their humans-we apparently share the same genetic make up.'
'So what happened? How did we lose contact with them?' Castor asked, puzzled.
'There are some things that are lost in the mists of time my son-some say that Laedemon and his followers didn't want any connection with earth to remain-they were like fugitives, or as we are called as a race, exiles. Others that time and distance blunted the will to remain tethered to our place of origin. Who can say?'
Leaning heavily on the younger man Zeus led the boy round the antechambers detailing each Archigos and something, if there was anything, of their history. Of some, such as Laedemon and Alcimede, there was a tale of glory to be told. Others such as Creon, one of the successors of Laedemon and Hector, who was Archigos immediately prior to Zeus, there was scandal or shame.
Many hours later as Dr Zeus spoke of his predecessor, the boy felt compelled to ask what had happened between the two. There were rumours of bad blood; a dangerous and debilitating rivalry that had started as an inseparable friendship and had ended with the disgraced Hector opening his veins, naked and alone in his bath.
The Great Leader's face had clouded over at mention of his erstwhile friend and mentor, 'suffice it to say lad that no man can stand in the way of progress and that is what Hector was trying to do. He was taking us back to a time of peremptory autocracy and ancient custom when what our race cried out for in the age of Stargates and Hyperdrive was forward thinking and greater freedom of expression for the people.'
The boy looked up into his masters sad face and with infinite tenderness brushed a tear from the older man's eyes, 'and yet you are saddened by it Daskalos-by the sacrifice that you had to make of your friend?'
Voice choking with emotion Dr Zeus nodded in affirmation 'Yes-my son. It was a bitter price to pay.'
And as they embraced tightly the boy wondered-was this then the life that appeared to have been chosen for him? One of infinite sacrifice? He was already worried sick for his brother though all the reports were that he was a truly gifted flyer-so much so that recruits were clamouring to volunteer to fly in either his or his comrade Christos Sec's Squadrons, the fabled Epsilon and Upsilon, both of which were taking the fight to the hated Torian in the raging cauldron of the worlds in their Forward Frontier systems. In December battle had been particularly fierce, mainly centred around their planets, Heraon and Appollon, where two massive Torian fighter wings totalling nearly twenty craft had been engaged and destroyed in a furious series of clashes off Heraon. Digamma Squadron had been first in and survived with only one ship but hard on her heels was Pollux's Upsilon Squadron and his five heavy fighters and they had finished the job. Sec's Epsilon Squadron acted as deep cover shielding the main battle form further marauding Torian formations that kept appearing from out of their limited sensor range to the West.
And this was one of the main issues with their craft: the lack of sensor range and the lack of speed and was something that Castor had not been slow to impress upon the Diplomatic Corps, urging them to barter whatever was necessary to the minor races or their friends to secure the necessary technologies. His entreaties and cajoling had had the desired effect such that earlier that month the triumphant Ambassadors to their Lentzlandian neighbours announced the acquisition of Intermediate sensor and survey technology along with more advanced mass drivers and Impulse Engines- a massive improvement on the venerable hyper-warp technology they currently possessed. It was a timely coup though one that had come at quite a steep price but so what if they traded some of their advance techs to the minor races the boy had argued? The Lentzlandians fell firmly within their own sphere of influence, being situated just to the East of their own Westernmost worlds-what made them stronger in the face of Torian aggression could only be a good thing.
It also seemed that their plucky fight against the much stronger green foe was being noticed with the fearsome Korath Clan recently proffering four of their obsolete Escort fighters to them to join the fight. Strange times indeed and with their influence at the UP quite extensive they had even managed to secure the donation by the Galaxy's largest economy, the Drengin Empire, of 5% of their income for the next two years-a vote that had the Drengin ambassador at the UP neutral world of Synthus III, forcibly restrained by security as the other Ambassadors hurried from the chamber, those of the Exiles, Iconian and Torians suppressing smiles as they voted for the measure.
And then there was the vexed issue of where to send their Freighters. Of necessity they would need routes that didn’t cross the Torian sphere of influence, which left the Drengi to their south west and the Iconians far to the North East-they now had the engines and the range with the advent of the Advanced Freighter but a battle was raging amongst ministers as to which race to favour with their eight available trade routes, some pressing the case of tying the warlike Drengin closer and others that the Iconians, an ancient and benign race should be the beneficiaries. So far the boy had kept his counsel but personally he preferred the Iconian option: the Drengin were making all the right noises for now, they had declared war on their foe and also lent ships to the cause but there was something about Lord Kona and his warlike clans that he liked not…
'Bigger, faster, stronger ships...' Castor muttered almost under his breath as the two broke apart self-consciously. It's what his brother had pleaded with him for on a brief vidlink call earlier that day from his temporary rest at the Starport on Heraon.
'And ones with a much greater sensor range you will no doubt demand boy!' The Leader said surprising Castor's reverie,
'Come young Castor-we are finished here-let us go celebrate awhile and forget the cares of state that rest so heavy on our shoulders.'
The young man smiled-some pleasure-time was surely to be welcomed.
'But before that' Zeus said and this time it was he who had a glint of mischief in his eye, 'before that I want to introduce you to another brilliant young mind-he is a ships craftsman-a descendant of a family gifted in this art. His name is Archimedes and he wants to show you his new design: we are calling it a Titan Class Destroyer: I think it will have those things that you and your brother so desire and could help us win this war-don't look so startled boy-you knew that we were close to perfecting the technologies that would allow us to put light capitol ships into space.'
'This-this is fantastic news Master-I thought we were still months away!'
The Great Leader smiled his most charismatic smile 'Ah you know all about our races legendary creative abilities son. One thing-we will need experienced and gifted flyers to Captain these ships and their crew-does your brother and his friend not fit the bill?'
And arm in arm and laughing they emerged from the cave as if neither had a care in the world, completely dedicated to each other and the furtherance of the survival of their race-completely in tune.
