SEVEN
“That is a concern,” Lero said as he leaned back. He looked over the group with wary eyes, but his words were for Benny.
“This may co to a full purge,” Lero continued.Benny grimaced as if swallowing sothing sour and looked away. His shoulders slumped after a mont and he let his head hang down.
“Has it truly gotten that bad?” Benny whispered with a shake of his head.
“It has. The wealth and privilege of the established Knights, those who have taken the upper echelons of the Orders have filled them with socialites and hangerons that I can hardly toss a stone without hitting so soft-blooded noble brood,” Lero said, rancor thick in his voice.
“Then the reforms have failed,” Benny said. This caused Alice to lean forward, looking between the two of them as she figured out what they were talking about.
“You were a part of the reforms?” Alice asked, pointing a finger at Benny. The old man sat back against his seat and rubbed at his face, the earlier vigor nowhere to be seen.
“I thought they were one of my crowning achievents. Pruning the powers of the nobility, balancing the scales between the Knightly Orders, Admiralty, and the Governors Council. It seems they have finally crumbled,” Benny said. For a mont it looked like he was broken, a shattered man who had seen his life works crumble like sand in front of him.
Kon watched as Benny allowed himself that mont of weakness before he slowly pulled himself back together. Reforging himself with pure will, the heart of a survivor, a man who had been tempered by the worst and refused to break. In the span of twenty seconds he went from defeated to ready to go to battle once more.
Lero saw it as well and a faint hint of satisfaction that flashed across his face. He had co here to lead to this, to drag his old ntor into the quagmire of the squabbling nobles and corrupted Knights. Kon had no doubts that this was deeper than what Lero said it was and Benny knew that too. It wouldn’t end with just the Lion, not if the head Inquisitor was here to broker extra outside aid.
“Thank you, it ans a lot to that you’d be willing to help out again. Even if you are semi-retired,” Lero said the last part with a sly smile and a nudge of his shoulder. Benny barked a laugh and rolled his eyes.
“Now that that is done, we should get a move on. Oasis isn’t far from here and I have no doubt that you are looking forward to seeing the World ship for the first ti,” Lero said as he got to his feet and started back toward the airlock.
Kon didn’t bother to wonder how he knew it was his first ti going to a world ship. The man was the head of the internal security apparatus for a reason.
“Who’s on the ship right now?” Benny asked. Lero almost missed a step, but he was too good, the slight hitch hardly noticeable unless one was looking for it.
“Delano Somrs is on station along with a sizeable amount of nobles visiting. It seems that your timing was rather auspicious,” Lero said.
“Are they trying to bribe the governor to support their lunacy?” Benny asked, for the first ti with shock in his voice. Lero stopped walking to turn and look back at them, a sense of grim seriousness in his body language.
“They’re trying to at least keep her from leaning against him. They’re not so far gone as to try to bribe one of the governors and only a true fool would raise their hand against a world ship. But Dina is aging and has started to look for a successor,” Lero said. Benny spat a curse and shook his head, wrath boiled off of him as he stood there nearly trembling in rage.
“Let guess. They’ve been parading their spawn in front of her, all of them perfectly qualified to take the reins of a world ship,” Benny growled. Kon felt a flash of fear cross his body even if the anger wasn’t directed at him.
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“That is what I would say is happening. Hard to exactly point it out, but Dina is in agreent. What makes it hard is they do have a swathe of wildly competent heirs to throw at her. It's beco a bit of a political knife fight in their upper decks, but no true steel has been pulled yet.”
“Unfortuante. Wouldn’t hurt to see a few of those family trees pruned to shrubs,” Benny groused, still simring as they kept walking toward the airlock.
“It might be that you get your wish, but I would prefer not to have firefights break out on the world ship. I have sent out a beacon. My agents have started to make their way back to us. I noticed that you lit your own beacon too,” Lero said as they reached the airlock.
“Yes. It’s ti we begin to work on getting ho,” Benny said. He didn’t turn to look at Kon, but everyone’s attention was on him, the weight of their gazes and expectations heavy.
“You think this will solve our problems?” Lero said.
“I will not consign thousands to death to try to find our way ho. Kon is the field test. If he can channel the energies needed without the burnout, then it will be ti to move forward,” Benny said.
“I will have a list of candidates waiting for you when you arrive. So of the old guard, but so talents who need a sponsor,” Lero said.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, there’s still more to do. Kon is probably one of the greatest energy manipulators I’ve ever seen. We’ll need to see if it’s possible with soone less talented. Small first, then scale up.”
“Benny, I don’t think you know how much we need this. We’ve wandered for too long. The old guard is nearly gone. More and more of these events will happen, where we decide it's better to settle down rather than keep searching.” The implication was there. That if they settled, if they beca a power that reached further and further out, the sa fate of the Ulmna would co calling. Benny had a troubled look on his face at the words that Kon felt went beyond the implication of mass murder and conquest.
“We’re already on the precipice. It’s one of the reasons we’ve fought against the Fourth Fleet being established. We’re scattered to hells and gone right now, but a fourth fleet around a world ship will be too much. Doesn’t matter how many guardians we have,” Benny said in a flat voice. Alice shot Kon a questioning look but he shook his head. He’d have to explain the conspiracy in more detail to her later.
“I know. If this goes poorly, I don’t think we’re going to need to worry about accumulated power any longer,” Lero said, shaking his head as he entered the airlock, the door closing and locking behind him.
“I understood maybe a third of that,” Alice complained a mont later as they waited for the High Inquisitor’s ship to detach.
“There is a cabal of powerful cultivators who ensure nobody grows too strong or accumulates too much power. It is them who are pulling the strings on this invasion,” Kon said succinctly. Benny was right behind, their words nearly blending together.
“A group of greedy, parasitic, single-cell organisms who have done nothing besides not being stains on their parent’s sheets have decided they deserve more. And they’re going to spend the blood of the innocent to get it.”
“Tell how you really feel,” Alice said with a dark chuckle. She looked back and forth between the two of them then smiled brightly before asking.
“This ans we’re probably going to have to fight nobles?”
“It could co down to it,” Benny said grudgingly.
“I have axes to sharpen then,” Alice said cheerfully as she pushed back them, whistling a jaunty tune.
“She’s one of the happiest bloodthirsty people I know,” Benny admitted.
“She’s terrifying,” Kon said with a smile. He could smile because she was their terror
“Co on to the bridge, I’ll start working with you on the who’s who of this damn ship,” Benny ordered. The two of them moved together heading toward the cockpit and settling in as Benny pulled the ship out of high orbit and started them toward Lero’s fading engine signature.
“Do you trust Lero?” Kon asked. Benny shot him a look, harsh and discerning before slowly exhaling through his nose.
“He’s a strange one. Cold fish was the old saying for people like him. He enjoys the politics a bit much but he enjoys the hunt even more. I raised him though and we’ve worked together for nearly two centuries. I trust him as much as I trust anyone,” Benny said. There was a finality to his answer, a warning that the conversation was over. Kon bit his lip, but sat back down and listened as Benny began to carefully explain the workings of the world ships and the whos whos.
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