“What? What do you an by that?” Kumakar asked, his voice faltering slightly despite his best efforts to maintain composure. The tremble in his tone betrayed the nerves he’d tried to mask since the beginning of the eting.
The chamber, for its size, looking nearly physically empty save for a few high-ranking military officers, was alive with the presence of the Conclave’s top leadership, each appearing as a shimring hologram, transmitted through their long-distance mana communication nodes. The leaders’ attention had been wholly captured by the report, delivered not by a civilization leader, but by Horgar the Erythian representative, who looked more like a scientist than a statesman.
“I think it’s fairly self-explanatory,” Horgar said, his voice tinged with restrained satisfaction, “but since so of you seem surprised, I’ll repeat it.”
There was a noticeable pride in his tone, not just for the revelation, but for the fact that it had shaken the room. His civilization, the Erythians, had led the most effective operation of the four thus far, causing the highest damage to enemy forces while recovering valuable evidence. Their success had prompted the other four operations to be ended in the middle before they could cause similar damage, resulting in the damage they dealt being on the smaller side.
Of course, much of the credit belonged to the Shadari.
The Shadari, secretive to the point of paranoia, had once again lived up to their reputation. So averse to being in the spotlight that the very term "being seen" was used as an insult among them, they had handed over a majority of their spoils to the Erythians with whom they did the joint operation. In return, the Erythians assud the public burden of presenting the evidence and taking the political lilight, while the Shadari quietly reaped their preferred kind of reward: not being at the center of attention.
It wasn’t the first ti. Everyone in the room knew that many of the top ten civilizations had benefited from this cooperation on more than one occasion.
“The recovered devices, while varied in external design, share key internal components that match known Empire technology fingerprint,” Horgar continued, bringing up a rotating 3D schematic beside him. The visual aid highlighted specific components, each one unmistakably of Terran origin. “So of these pieces are nearly identical to those used in the VR units we’ve co-developed with them.”
The room grew even quieter.
The VR units had been a wildly profitable joint venture, heavily subsidized by the Empire to encourage broad adoption. Many of the Conclave’s mber civilizations had grown familiar with Terran technology fingerprints through this collaboration. So when they saw the familiar prints embedded in the hostile devices, they didn’t need a second explanation.
Kumakar felt as if the floor beneath him had shifted. To call him the most surprised person in the eting would be the understatent of the century. He had spent months upon months painstakingly framing the Empire, staging evidence, sacrificing his own citizens, and orchestrating attacks on his own world. All of it was designed to point an accusatory finger at the Terran Empire. His only justification had been a gut feeling unbacked by any evidence but one refined from the years he had played the political ga.
He had no proof. Not until now.
And worst of all, the proof hadn’t co from his hand.
It was as if a man had attempted to fra a rival for murder only to discover, too late, that the rival was the actual killer all along. A revelation like that didn’t bring relief. It brought dread. Because now he wasn’t just dealing with a convenient scapegoat; he had made an enemy out of an actual predator that had been pretending to be harmless.
The Empire was like a Xor’vak wearing the skin of a docile Virrelan.
.........
{Yes, they’re now almost certainly convinced that we’re involved, either as the orchestrators or backers. The evidence they gathered before we issued the self-destruct on our devices was enough,} Nova said, finishing her reporting of the information she received from the Little protagonist
Aron pinched the bridge of his nose, letting the silence settle around him before finally speaking.
“We always knew that whoever entered those star systems would eventually figure it out. The technology is too specific to us that not connecting it would be nothing short of incompetence. Honestly, I’m surprised we lasted this long before soone pieced it together.”
His voice was calm, thoughtful. Not resigned, but accepting.
“What matters now is how they react. Do they confront us directly and risk civil collapse or a full-scale war inside the Conclave and out, or do they look the other way for now, handle Dreznor, and co back to us later when they’re ready?”
Jeremy, the Minister of the Interior, leaned forward slightly. “There’s so upside for them if they expose it. They could unite their people, fra the Empire as the true enemy, the manipulator behind the scenes. It would be a powerful tool to quell the internal unrest regarding slavery, as they could argue that the information causing unrest was manipulated.”
Youssef, the Minister of Exterior Affairs, shook his head. “And risk admitting that they were manipulated en masse? That would be a dangerous precedent. The Xor’vak, the Valthorins, hell, several of the top ten civilization leaders would never admit to such a weakness. It would shatter their image of invincibility, shake the very foundations of their power.”
{Both perspectives are valid,} Nova interjected. {But ultimately, their decisions will co down to votes. A few influential leaders can sway things, yes, but without majority support, nothing can move forward. The real question is how fragnted their consensus will be, and whether we can exploit that.}
Aron nodded slowly, running scenarios in his head.
“They’ll debate. Maybe even stall for ti. But it’s too late for deniability. If they want stability, they’ll have to choose: pretend we aren’t involved and hope to use us later or challenge us now and risk everything falling apart.”
“And if they vote for the latter?” Jeremy asked.
Aron stood, letting the weight of the mont press into his shoulders. “Then they’ll learn exactly why pretending was the better option.”
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