Dark Fate, Chapter 237

Chapter 237 – Visitors

I did not even try to give myself the Seer title. For one thing, Seer was one of those ‘uncontrolled’ titles. Titles came in two types, passive, and uncontrolled. Passive titles (like Executioner) had a predictable effect that came into play whenever the circumstances warranted, and those circumstances were easily defined. Uncontrolled titles turned on whenever they damn well felt like it, and never had a predictable effect.

Frankly, I didn’t trust those kinds of titles. Yes, some of them could be powerful, and Seer was definitely one of the powerful ones, when it worked. But that was the thing, ‘when it worked’. If you couldn’t predict when it would work, or know what the results would be when it turned on, then it was something of a liability. People with the Seer title often weren’t able to drive because they’d be going down the highway, and suddenly they’re seeing the future, or the past, but definitely not the present, and they’re lucky if the car just hits a light pole instead of a person. It was easy to imagine what would happen if the title activated in a fight.

There was a reason why Seers made for poor Generals, after all.

As for other titles? Well, it turned out that the System wasn’t so foolish as to allow people to give themselves titles. Probably for the best, honestly. That would devalue titles to the point where they were like medals on the chest of a tin pot dictator.

However, I was able to give Aura the ‘Tough’ title, which doubled her CON for purposes of calculating one’s HP. The Witch/Diviner wasn’t really a combatant, since her talents lay more in the realm of divinations and ritual magics, but having twice the normal amount of HP was always a good thing, in my experience.

The cost was staggering. Five thousand MP to give her the title, and that was a fairly basic one. More importantly, there were also modifiers suggesting that 5k was the reduced cost! Aura being someone I knew well reduced the cost. Her being in Tier 1 reduced the cost. The title being a ‘basic’ one reduced the cost. The title being unrelated to her class or profession reduced the cost. And so on. Each reduction was a percentage-based cut to the total cost, but I couldn’t see whether the cuts were additive or sequential. There was a difference between two 5% cuts becoming a 10% cut, and doing a 5% cut, and then a 5% cut of the new total, after all.

That wasn’t the only thing, either. I got a feeling through the skill that I would not be able to forcibly grant Aura another title until she broke through to Tier 2. She could still earn titles through deeds, of course, but I couldn’t just give one to her until she’d progressed. On the other hand, I got the sense that I could give Lilith, who was in Tier 2 already, two titles before the System stepped in. Another soft limitation on the skill, to keep it from getting out of hand, no doubt.

From this experiment, it was clear that, while the skill had a wide range of possibilities, it was something I was going to have to use with care, or while I was in the seat of my power, where all my attributes were boosted by my people being around me. This wasn’t something I could just whip out on a whim. I would have to be selective with who got titles and who didn’t, and I would need to pick what titles would best suit them.

My communicator went off, ending that train of thought. At this time of night (locally speaking), there were only a few things that warranted interrupting my sleep (or ‘sleep’). With a sigh, I picked up the communicator from the bedside table. “Report.”

“Your Majesty, this is Captain Foster in Naval Command,” the voice said with a Canadian accent. “We have a Stitch event in the outer system, the L2 point for Uranus. Probes indicate a group of fourteen ships, all Commonwealth make, with Commonwealth Navy transponders. One frigate, the Aggressor of Tephran, three corvettes, identified as Allegiance Eternal, Fist of Sablor, and Flamefang, and ten freighters. CRN Huntress is moving to intercept.”

Ah, that would be the first trade convoy from the Commonwealth. “Very well, Captain. Order the Huntress to escort the convoy in. Organize a lunch with the command crews of the four warships, and the admiralty, including myself. Our own commanders may join either in person or virtually, as their patrol schedules dictate. Extend the offer of shore leave to crews of the warships, and make sure all vessels in the convoy receive a copy of the Empire’s laws and regulations.”

“Of course, your Majesty. I will forward the details to your secretary.”

“Very good, Captain. Keep up the good work.” I paused long enough to hang up, and switched to another line. If the Commonwealth Navy and traders were about to arrive, then I should probably inform the Ouran. Fortunately, I still had people guarding the Huntleader and his companions, so that was an easy call to make.

Of course, I didn’t contact the security team directly. Instead, I called my Slave-Commissar-General, Monique Stratton, and had her pass the word along to the various teams. I didn’t expect there to be trouble between the Ouran and whoever the Commonwealth sent on this mission, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

By the time I was done with that conversation, well, it was around time for me to get up. Aura needed more sleep, naturally, considering that she was recovering from a fairly sleepless night, but Lilith was happy to help me with my morning shower. Really, the previous timeline’s version of me did such a good job raising her. I’d have to thank me sometime, if I could.

When lunch rolled around, several of my commanders joined me in the dining hall of the palace. Slave-Commissar-General Monique Stratton, my overall military administrator, was sitting on my left side, while Admiral Andrei Jordan, the working head of the navy was on my right. Next to Stratton sat General Raid ibn Walid, in charge of the Ceres Royal Army, and General Lina Kohring, the commander of my Ceres Royal Marines was at Jordan’s side. After that, well, Slave-Captain Kylantha Elalana of the Hellspawn was the last of my commanders here in person, though most of the others were listening in over communications relays.

Captain Stok Ulgan, the dwurgen (space dwarf) commander of the Aggressor of Tephran was the head of the Commonwealth Navy contingent, along with his knome (space gnome) first officer, Commander Gaddwa Blansnu. Each of the three corvettes that had accompanied his frigate also sent their captain and first officer, which added three knelfi (space elves), another dwurgen, and two krud (space lizardfolk of a different type than the Ouran) to the table. And then, there was the leader of the merchant convoy, a knelfi woman by the name of Nyana Keldi, who had dropped an illusion covering her clothing as she entered the palace, revealing her to be a Lieutenant in Commonwealth Naval Intelligence.

As everyone got to their seats, and had glasses filled in front of them, I raised mine in a toast. “Welcome to Ceres, visitors from the Commonwealth. I would have done a reception in the throne room and all that, but I figured you would have questions that ought not to be spread around too far, so I thought a ‘private meeting’ would be more appropriate. I am sure we have a great deal to discuss.”

Captain Ulgan nodded respectfully. “As you say, your Majesty. Though I believe first congratulations are in order. When you came to the capital, mere months ago, you were still King Greene, I believe, and ascended to Tier 2 in front of many of the nobles there. But now, you are an Emperor, and, it seems, well into Tier 3!”

I shrugged, having little reason to hide the truth in this company. It wasn’t like knowing it would let them easily replicate it, and it gave them no advantages against me, knowing it. “Well, as I’m sure you know, titles have effects. Amongst my titles, Admiral and King have been helping me, along with a skill available to Demon Kings called [Mutual Might]. When I sent a squadron of ships on a mission to destroy the Incux cattle worlds, that satisfied the conditions of them fighting in my name and at my command needed for all of those things to line up.”

Ulgan leaned forward. “Have you heard from the Mercurial group, then?”

“No, they were under orders to not use long-range communications or send messages through the System Shop unless there was an emergency. Not that help could easily reach them in time, even if there was an emergency, of course. I take it that, since you knew the Mercurial was on the mission, they’ve stopped at one of the Commonwealth Navy’s supply depots?”

There was a glance to the Intelligence officer, who said, simply, “Everyone in here on our side is cleared for this information. I presume the same precautions have been taken on the Ceresan side?” I nodded to her, and Keldi smiled. “Then that is as good as we can expect. If you’ll allow me, your Majesty, approximately two months ago the Mercurial strike group rendezvoused with Halafarin station, reporting the success of the strike on Thesatra 4, noted in logs as Incux Food Resource World 1.”

I nodded. “That is a bit after I noticed the System dumping several levels worth of XP on me, yes. And, given the size of the similar deposits I’ve received since then, I can tell you that the other two cattle worlds have been similarly taken out of play, with the third one falling just last night, local time.”

The Commonwealth group looked stunned at that, before one of the krud, the commander of the Flamefang, laughed in that hissing way the System Shop assured me was normal for her species. “Of course! You don’t need to get reports when the System sends confirmation faster than light, thanks to the XP gains! And I’m assuming that some of the people in that strike group are bound to you in some way that you will be alerted if they are slain?”

I smiled, and nodded at the lizardwoman. “Indeed. While long-range communications can be intercepted or traced, and the System Shop is not as secure as I’d wish it to be, notifications are instantaneous and do not care about the distances involved, so long as the System is there. Which is why the entire galaxy got the message about Earth rejoining the System, back when this started.”

Captain Ulgan nodded. “Then that simplifies things dramatically. Roughly a week after the Mercurial strike group was estimated to arrive at Vannoth 3, the second of the worlds on the target list, the Incux launched a full-scale assault on the Dauth system, which holds one of the Commonwealth’s primary agriworlds. According to the reports, their tactics were even more disregarding of losses than normal, something that reeked of either desperation, or as a deliberate attempt to cull the number of mouths to feed, possibly both.”

I breathed in slowly, mentally tasting the thread of interactions, and trying to work backwards to see the Incux thought process. “So, they probably set that attack in motion after the first raid, since it would have taken them time to move all those ships into position. The success of the second raid probably made them more desperate. And now, the third raid will have them either halting or pulling back so that they can better defend their space with minimal losses.”

“We hope that is true,” Lieutenant Keldi said. “However, there is another piece of intelligence that we should report. One of our other forward bases, Yakha, has reported a string of Hellspace rifts forming in different Incux systems. The pattern of the attacks suggests pirates, or raiders, but we know of no pirates in that sector who rely on Hellspace, and the extensive use of psychic weaponry shown in the attacks is not common amongst most pirate clans in known space.”

The shudders that went through most of my delegation at the description of the ‘mystery attacks’ caused most of the Commonwealth delegation to lean forward. However, it was Admiral Jordan’s audible mention of the “bloody squid-ship” that made Keldi’s eyes narrow. “You know who, or what, is behind this?”

I smiled, completely unashamedly, and said, “Ah, that would be another of my contributions to the war effort. One of my designers was purchased through the Minion Market. Her spouse was… upset when she got back from picking up the ship her lover had designed for her as a gift, and managed to track my designer down. We came to an agreement. The spouse is working a contract term, to pay off the designer’s price and the cost of upgrades done to her ship, and is doing so by acting as a state-sponsored pirate, unleashed upon the Incux. Ceres gets right of first refusal to anything she brings back, naturally.”