The Tyrant
Tholatni Space
"All ships leaving the space here will be boarded and searched for Tholatin Refugees. If the Prince is still down there, I want him caught." Bhindi said irritably. It had been less than a week since the Battle of Tholatin, if it could even be called a battle. The entire ordeal had lasted less than thirty minutes, according to the reports she had read.
"Every ship, Admiral? It seems rather excessive..." One of the Captains commented.
"Yes, it does. But none the less, Captain, I want you to do it. Kamon Vondiranch cannot be allowed to escape the world."
"And if he is already gone?"
Bhindi flashed him a cold smile.
"Then we hunt him down."
The meeting was interupted by the entry of Ton Karlos, the Empire's point man in the ISS. Bhindi grimaced.
"Damned Tholatins!" he exclaimed, taking his seat and pushing a datacard into the centre of the table.
"The ones below us?" Bhindi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, the others ones!" He took the card back and tossed it to the startled Admiral. "Take a look at this."
Bhindi shrugged and proceeded to place the card in the appropriate slot. Within seconds a black screen appeared, with the words
Holy Demosthesian Empire - Archive Copy, Fille Number 0301-6561-8787, and the date, stamped across it in silver. These quickly receeded and were replaced by a view of the Tholatin Monarch. Judging by the background, it was a starship somewhere.
The Monarch's name, and
Location Unknown appeared briefly in the bottom left corner, and then the man began to speak.
"Citizens of this galaxy that we call home. The Senate of the Tholatin Republic has been in a heated debate over the terms of surrender that have been proposed to us."
"While I have vehemently opposed them, some of the Senate liked the terms and very much wanted to accept them. However, the idea of enslavement got the better of them.
"If we surrendered to HDE, that is what they would do. They would enslave our planet and force us to work for them. That is unacceptable."
"Stop there." The Admiral ordered, and Ton obligingly paused the recording. "Enslavement..." she echoed, speaking only to herself. "Interesting. Captain," she turned to the man who had spoken earlier, "tell me, how does abandoning Tholatin protect them from enslavement?"
"It wouldn't seem to, Ma'am. It would seem that abandoning it was to give the world up and sacrafice its people."
"A sacrafice, Captain? What are we, Yuuzhan Vong?"
There was some laughter at that comment, and Bhindi smiled thinly.
"Their military leaders retreated, then, and left the entire world for the Holy Empire to occupy. An interesting choice on the part of the Monarch... Go on, Mr. Karlos."
The recording continued on,
"By majority vote the Senate has decided Hands down that these terms are unacceptable. We refuse these terms and formally declare war on HDE for starting a war on us."
"For starting a war on us... This is their Prince, correct?" Ton nodded an affirmitive. "How old is he, exactly?"
"Unknown, Ma'am. We're guessing between thirty and fifty years."
Bhindi stiffled a laugh and nodded.
"He has the mental characteristics of a child. Still..."
"They can argue all they want. As it stands they started the war for their own persoanl gain. Not for the betterment od this galaxy. That is all I have to say."
"Bravo, Mr. Vondiranch. Inviting the Holy Empire to engage in a war of words to accompany the war of ships." She paused. "Believe whatever you like, Prince. In the end, it will not matter to you, anyway."
"Was there anything else, Ton?"
The ISS Agent shrugged.
"The Jutraalian Empire declared war on us." Bhindi nodded. The news did not surprise her, the Jutraalian Empire declared war as often as she went to the refresher.
"They, of course, called us all terrorists?"
Ton nodded, smiling now.
"LFX Industrial, the terrorist splinter cell of something like that."
"Predictable. Was there anything found from the
Spirit of Fearsons' computer core?"
"Just the Emperor's personal diary. It's quite an entertaining read, if ever you get the oppertunity to do so."
She smiled.
"Fascinating, I'm sure."
