medjairachronicles-blog

[medjairachronicles-blog]

Scene 2: The Question of Betrayal

The captain didn’t remain with us whenever the commodore left. Their jobs were above the pay grade of this mission. Each officer had a specific role on the ship. As an ensign, I controlled the cavalry wave of fighter ships, which were fifty unmanned ships and five occupied ships. Commander Qadir controlled the vanguard wave of fighter ships with the same amount of ships at her disposal. With the Medjai Ra being only two hundred members altogether, we were forced to use Galactic Sentinel divisions as support. Members of the Development & Research division controlled drones from aboard the ship whilst following the battle plans we directed. The other three divisions that we borrow people from are the Logistics, Mechanics and Engineering, and their Medical divisions. The four divisions were all used because of their skills, which continues to give our enlisted the ability to focus on more important issues.

Lieutenant Wolof’s role is to lead external missions and the majority of the time lieutenants are like their own espionage division. A motto that is used with going up the ranks is that ‘you must know what your enemy does at home to know how they’ll act abroad.’ Trust me, it sounds more elegant in Negusol than in the common tongue.

Captain Vuko’s job simply put is commanding the M.R.S. Shu, everything from the battle stations down to the activation of the ship. She controls every member of the crew and in trust them with taking care of their duties.

Commodore Thebe is mostly a ghost, all commodores are actually. They’re like the trump cards, of course, their position is political and they are outrageously strong, but they rarely see any action and only take control of a situation whenever they deem necessary.

“You want us to what?” I was so astounded by the lieutenant’s statement that I lost my military bearing.

“Apparently you’re hard of hearing Ensign Tidus,” he turned all of his attention towards me. “You and Commander Qadir will relinquish all weaponry and change into clothing I’ve acquired—"

I lifted my hand; “I apologize for my interruptions Lieutenant, but the thought of being without my blaster or my electro blade is Inconceivable.”

“He must be weak,” Commander Qadir assumed disgusted at the thought.

Lieutenant Wolof kept his facial expression neutral not agreeing or disagreeing with the commander’s statement. He took a second’s pause before continuing to entertain me as if he was searching for the right way to reply.

“Ensign Tidus, one day you want to rise through the ranks right?” he paused waiting for me to give a quick reply before continuing on. “By now you know the criteria for becoming a commander no doubt.” He turned to face my Commander, “Can you humor me?”

Commander Qadir nodded, “An ensign must be completely proficient in their task and must be able to last four minutes in a one on one battle with the captain of their division.”

I knew that of course; those were the main requirements along with making the marks on the exams and recommendations from two higher-ranking officers. It seemed like they were patronizing me to get their point across.

“Little did you know,” Lieutenant Wolof smiled, “that test is without weapons.”

My eyes grew wide with amazement, how could that even be possible. A captain has to go toe to toe with all three commodores in order to gain their rank and the commodores were damn near celestial. Their rank comes with the name of God or Goddess. Commodore Thebe’s name was God of Magic, his prowess is unparalleled by any member within the Medjai Ra ranks. He doesn’t even need a weapon. His ability to source kai is so strong it is forbidden for him to use fifty percent of his power on any planet except for Entaÿ.

For Commander Qadir to take on Captain Vuko, who had to go toe to toe with Commodore Thebe, Commodore Muguruma, and Commodore Alus, she had to be a capable fighter. Don’t judge me, but that was a turn on. A woman with beauty and bronze. If she has brains too, I’d pursue her love until the universe fell back into the abyss.

“Right now, you’re weak,” she restated.

“And it is our job to grow your strength for you to one day be eligible to become a commander in your own right.” Lieutenant Wolof tapped on the wooden table to reveal a hologram. “Here is what we know about the planet Looma,” he continued with his briefing, “feel free to chime in at any time.”

“Yes sir,” I replied.

Commander Qadir and I listened intensely as the lieutenant went over the structure of the planet Looma, the major species in control, their technological capabilities, among other things. What was most important was the two major species, one which was the four-armed race that ruled the ground called the Loomarians and the other was an elusive species that ruled the oceans known as the Loomus Wraiths.

“Looma continues to be close trading partners with your home planet Tidus. That is our way in,” he pulled out of the close up of Looma and revealed the planets of the Bazaar Sector inside of the neutral zone. “I have a contact within the Loomarian species and they’ll meet us on Titan to give us safe passage to their planet.”

Commander Qadir folded her arms, “A Loomarian is willing to betray her people?”

I was confused about that too. I didn’t know much about them. But I did know that it was forbidden to invite or give passage to the planet to other species. I knew that they could be executed it found out or even worse, exiled.

“There are many reasons that someone would break the law.” Lieutenant Wolof completed his briefing with that sentence.

#fiction #scifi story #medjai #ra #original

[medjairachronicles-blog]

Scene 1: Ensign Tidus

There I was, yeah. In the midst of my first meeting after my promotion. Palms sweating profusely, almost as bad as when I went to the officer’s ball on Entaÿ and hit on my commanding officer. Yeah, I totally agree that was my fault, I should’ve studied up on the division I was switching to . . . but she’s stellar. Who in their right mind could argue with me about my taste in women, at least when it came to her?

She’s got the same suntan kissed skin complexion as me, but her eyes are stale grey with emerald rings. Naturally wavy hair with curls near the tips, oh Ra, she was gorgeous. Is gorgeous I should say; her beauty hasn’t changed. The curvature of her succulent pink lips called to me, her voice like a siren. Well, that’s neither here nor there, back to the story.

There she was, Commander Qadir, standing right beside me in front of our superiors. Having her near me was somewhat easier to bear, maybe because this time she wasn’t in that form-fitting black dress, instead, she was in the Shu division garb of the Medjai Ra - the Royal Army of the universe. The Shu division wore a uniform of mostly scarlet with gold mixed in, it’s scarlet red was a stark contrast to the dark blue of my former division.

In the meeting room already sat the Commodore and youngest Prince of Entaÿ Lulu Thebe, Captain Esi Vuko, and Lieutenant Kwame Wolof. As if being in the same room with Commander Qadir wasn’t enough to make me nervous, the Prince had to be here too. I could barely choke out words let along sentences when it came to pleasantries and titles.

“Tidus, the Titan from Titus,” Captain Vuko’s soft feminine voice cut through the silence after all of the pleasantries were completed. “Or more affectionately known as Triple T.”

I stood more erect as the Captain addressed me. I could feel the Commander’s eyes studying my every move as she made her way to her seat. There were five seats at a wooden carved crescent-shaped table and four out of five seats filled. There were only five officers in each division, those being ensign, commander, lieutenant, captain, and commodore. In the entirety of the Medjai Ra, there were only three of each of those ranks and only one for each division. Everyone lower than my rank, ensign, was an enlisted member.

“Your former command believes that you are worthy of this promotion,” Captain Vuko continued. “Do you believe so as well?” Her eyes were fixated on my own. She was searching for something. If it was bad, I hoped she didn’t find it, but if it was good, I hoped she did.

Carefully I glanced at the faces of my betters, some who’ve lived hundreds and maybe thousands of years longer than I. I knew, I knew nothing compared to them and nothing I could say would impress them. They’ve seen it all or at least heard it all before. I had to be honest with them and most importantly myself. The weight of a command position was not something to be trifled with, I knew that at least.

“I am no one to answer that question, only a lowly child of kai. I cannot say that I am unworthy of the title because my betters believe that I am. What I can tell you, Captain,” I focused on the hazel-eyed brown skin woman questioning me. “Is I will work to prove them right and be as much of an assistance to the crown as kai wills.”

“He isn’t as confident as you said he would be, Commander Qadir,” Commodore Thebe glanced over at my superior officer. His demeanor showed that he wasn’t as pleased with me as he thought he would be, maybe he needed someone to liven up his mundane life of titles and tedious tasks to maintain the military might of his division. If that was the case, I was pleased that I didn’t give him what he wanted from me. A lowly peasant to amuse him until he deemed my efforts unworthy.

“He certainly is not,” Commander Qadir agreed. Her voice caressed my eardrums like the sound of a lullaby to a toddler. “Maybe it is because we are in uniform this time.” Her facial expression hardened as she spoke switching the delicate tune to a harsh crescendo of disgust.

“Luckily for you, we are,” Lieutenant Wolof spoke up finally. “Take your seat young Ensign. Hurry now, there’s business to be conducted.” The Lieutenant didn’t look his age, but he spoke as if he and time had been well acquainted. I could tell by his flawless ebony skin that both he and the Commodore were from Entaÿ without the need for studying their lineage, although I had prior to personally meeting them.

Captain Vuko wasn’t cut from the same cloth as them, her brown skin was beautiful, but it was not flawless. There were light scars on her neck and hands that the uniform could not cover up, or she simply didn’t want to cover them. I didn’t take time to analyze her, I decided to make my way to my assigned seat it seemed more important than shuffling through theories about my superior officer.

They didn’t wait for me to take my seat next to Commander Qadir, they didn’t pay attention to me fumbling to get into the chair, or care that I focused on getting comfortable before giving all of my attention to the soft-spoken captain of the division. I felt like I was an adolescent finally able to sit at the adult table, a rite of passage that humbled me as well as uplifted my confidence.

“As a member of a neutral zone, what do you know about the planet of the four-armed forces?” Captain Vuko inquired once I was adjusted properly.

“Not much,” I quickly replied before closing my eyes to analyze what I did know, “excluding the fact that they’re a tight-knit people that don’t allow trade on their planet. But they will certainly travel into another sector for it. Some say that they are afraid of colonization, therefore they remain isolated.”

“Their fears are warranted,” Lieutenant Wolof caught my attention. “I don’t know when you’ve been to your home planet last, but the neutral zone is being swallowed by two factions. Those being the crime syndicates and the Darkai.”

I wasn’t surprised at all about the crime syndicates, they were always running rampant in the neutral zone. The Galactic Sentinels had no jurisdiction in that sector, so crime had the ability to flourish and thrive. What did catch me off-guard was the Darkai involvement. They usually remained in the forbidden sector and kept to their arts, for them to be crawling out of their shells they must be preparing for something big. Maybe a move on the remaining Raikai, maybe larger dreams of defeating the army of Murakai, or maybe they were just focused on expanding their dark empire.

“Lieutenant Wolof brings this up because the Great Royal Family has requested a council with planets near Titus. The Crowned Princess believes that the foothold of our enemies grows without the crowns presence to be felt.” Captain Vuko glanced over to the Commodore, who remained mum. “Because of this, both waves of scarlet will be sent out to each of the surrounding planets to probe the civilians to see exactly where their hearts and minds are. Lieutenant Wolof will be overseeing the operation while the M.R.S. Shu remains a call away.”

I glanced at my commander’s face first before getting a look at the lieutenant’s, they were both stone-faced with no apprehensions about the mission. I wished I could feel the same, but I knew the neutral sector. A call for backup had the possibility of never reaching the cavalry. The M.R.S. Shu was an impressive vessel, more equipped for battle than the M.R.S. Enki or the M.R.S. Gaia because this division was prided on space battle and flight.

“Other divisions will be at play during this mission as well, possibly even members of the Galactic Sentinels. Although most of their ranks could not hold a candle to our own, their sheer size and skill makes them great allies,” the Commodore spoke up. “Lieutenant Wolof will finish the briefing with you two later.” Slowly he pushed back from the table. We all rushed to our feet before he could reach his.

“Carry on,” he waved his hands.

I didn’t focus on the commodore as he left, I was too busy watching the lieutenant and the commander. As I took mental notes, I began to calculate the possibility of us all making it through this mission alive. The lieutenant, I theorized might have the ability to blend in socially, but his flawless skin gives his lineage away and the commander, I scrunched my nose up whilst in thought. She was too rigid, too uptight to grasp the swang of an outworlder. We weren’t anything like these primer worlders I’ve been mixing it up with for the past decade.

Without knowing the specs of the mission, I couldn’t be negative, it would be wrong to do so. I did have my reservations though. I mean who wouldn’t, the possibility of death increasing heavily when you’re surrounded by cutthroats, pirates, criminals, and the forgotten masses.

#fiction #scifi story #scifi #original #medjai #ra