Evolution's Essence (41 page)

It was an outstanding partnership and White
Blossom’s addition in ground combat proved itself time and
again.

Two years later Renee made good on her
promise and after White Blossom killed the male (to ensure no Feral
Queen mated with him to give away all her secrets) a Human
volunteer was genetically modified and transformed physically to a
near identical copy of the previous male, but his semen held the
parts White Blossom needed. He was certainly fearsome, but was
about fifteen percent smaller than White Blossom.

When the time came he inserted his phallus
inside White Blossom and delivered the genetic material that nearly
killed him before the freshly mated queen grew hungry.

He returned to what he was after the ordeal
and was taken care of till he recovered two weeks late with no ill
effects.

Six months after conception, the longest
White Blossom went without laying an egg, she pushed out an
enormous egg easily able to contain two or three full grown Humans.
It was so big it filled up most of her abdomen. Much like the Kiwi
bird does when laying its egg. The birth of the egg took its toll
on the fun loving Keptl Queen. She was unconscious for days and
when awoken she cried happily after delivering the new queen she
could already sense was perfect even without using a genuine Keptl
male as the genetic donor.

During this time of alliance and friendship
Renee and Oliver learned much of the Solarian race and about the
far reaching past. It seemed the Feral are the true second oldest
sentient race and before Solarians met them, they were already a
plague for millions of years. White Blossom was born to one of the
last true Queens who ruled for eons, but were systematically
whittled down due to the lack of the Feral connection. The true
Keptl Queens were solitary till White Blossom’s mother designed her
to be highly social and driven to make connections after it was
determined to already be too late against the Feral onslaught.

Three more years passed before the egg
hatched to produce the first healthy Queen in over half a million
years according to White Blossom who reared her young and happy
child in a healthy way among friends.

While this happened there was minimal contact
among the Creelin until after eighteen years Oliver was riding on
the back of Nova and was running his Pride in a combat simulation
against Colorful Mind and her first group of birthed Trackers over
rugged and jagged land. Colorful Mind is the daughter of White
Blossom who watched from afar, telepathically teaching her child of
thirteen years how to properly guide her own young to fight
effectively. Using tactics and inspiration to deal with faster and
stronger foes when over a hundred meters away there came a flash of
light that put a stop to this lesson.

Using the neural chip’s ability to zoom one’s
vision and enhance clarity, Oliver blinked when noticing certain
robes on a figure. He said loudly “Colorful Mind, hurry to your
mother.”

“
But?” the half grown Keptl
Queen was curious.

“
NOW!” his strict tone made
her jump before she scampered as fast as her limbs could carry her,
her Trackers children came close as to keep her safe. Her fear made
her run faster across the dangerous terrain.

A mental nudge to Nova turned the muscular
feline and all the others followed the direction till gathering
before the figure. The helmet retracted and Oliver arched an
eyebrow. “Well I didn’t expect this result in my future plans. What
has happened, Netul?”

“
Much my old friend. I’m as
confused as you at this turn of events.”
Netul pulled at the side of his lavender robe with his
sharpened fingernails shaped into thick claws on three long fingers
and a thumb. The Creelin writing running down from the shoulders
spoke of his greatest achievements, but was nothing compared to the
symbol placed in where a human heart would be. It was an amulet
that radiated colorful light in a dazzlingly display that was also
extensively intricate. Judging by the shifting color of Netul’s
eyes glowing almost pink told how overwhelmed he felt even without
telepathy bleeding emotions into Oliver’s consciousness.
“My appointment was nearly unanimous. Less than
twenty percent voted against me. I…”

“
It’s been far too long, My
Friend. Eighteen years is too long to be apart.” Oliver dismounted
and embraced the Creelin in a strong hug, pulled back and gripped
the slender shoulders. “I know it must be difficult for you to
breathe on this world, let’s go somewhere more pleasant.” Oliver
looked up and easily calculated a well known area in the same
system successfully terraformed and teleported to the rich planet
where instead of Volcanoes and sharp ground, there expanded a
seemingly endless grassy plain with distant mountains. “Better?”
the Ligers spread out.

“
Much.”
Netul inhaled deeply and fell down on his back with little
care to his clothes.
“Where do I even
start?”
the Creelin closed his eyes and
basked in the star’s warm rays and enjoyed the passing wind
carrying the scent of wildflowers.

“
The beginning usually
works. Start where we last met.” Oliver changed out of armor and
went naked from the waist up before falling back as well to enjoy a
needed break.

“
After you punched the
eldest of all my people for her foolishness I was surprised more
didn’t wish your death.”
Netul heard Oliver
chuckle in recalling that vivid event and also loosed some mirth
from his noseless nostrils.
“She was old,
set in her ways and stubborn, as were many Archivers who didn’t
feel the need to inform all my people the truth of the Invaders. I
fought against them as you know, but we were falsely led to believe
that they
could
die. I believed each one I fired upon was slain permanently,
not that they kept coming back over and over like the endless tide.
I, like many of my Zeelin brethren who fought that abominable
enemy, were outraged yet still loyal.”
Netul sights.
“What a fool I
was.

“
Before you departed and we
lost touch I’m grateful you passed me the documents and am glad you
continued to trust me even after denying all ties cut between the
Empire and us until we figure a way to not let this stupidity pass
again. My people believed the Archivers never withheld any secrets
from the collective. And when I had my son Pathilim go over what
you learned from White Blossom and hacked the personal files of
every Archiver to get all information on the Invaders… Pathilim was
unable to respond for days after doing the private investigation in
his lab proving just how ineffective our greatest weapon would have
been. All it would be capable of doing is stunning them, and not
for long either. Using hyperspace energy was foolhardy as a weapon.
There was a possibility our own weapon could bring more Invaders
and we end up repeating history or making it even worse.

“
When my youngest son could
respond he begged me to destroy our weapon at all costs. I’ve never
seen my son so fearful after reading what you gave into my
possession. It took six months before he was able to stabilize his
mind after coming to the undeniable truth.

“
But I was unable to destroy
it as even a Beyleez.

“
My people were outraged at
the Archivers when you openly hacked their private memory crystals
and revealed how many times we were lied to and the Creelin peoples
around the universe wanted all the corrupted Elders to step down
and start as all young ones fresh out of the learning centers
must.

“
All but the honorable
Archivers were spared this dishonor. Many Archivers committed
suicide rather than face their disgrace, especially the eldest one.
After you punched her, three days later she was found with her
wrists slit and her memory crystal bidding farewell as she entered
the void. Others regained their honor in death against the swam of
Feral we’ve begun eradicating.”

“
How did you become leader
of all Creelin?” Oliver asked after a long pause and touched his
own muscular chest where Netul’s pendant was placed.

“
Archiver Tammat and
Brambbit and over half of the remaining honorable Elders who were
found innocent after your revelation to all of my race declined
becoming leader of All, much to the shock of many. They told us
none of them not only didn’t want the responsibility, but were too
old to fulfill the role. None of them in good conscience believed
they were immune from repeating their mistakes and instead each
Archiver that remained could select a single champion they believed
could do what the eldest one lost sight of so long ago.

“
Each champion had to meet
strict requirements and would ultimately become an Archiver
regardless of their age. Archiver Tammat selected me as his
champion and I, among eight thousand other champions, were given
precisely one hundred tasks from unbiased Archivers. My first task
was given by Archiver Ny’re to bring the body of a Feral Queen out
of her hive without being detected by a single Feral and must not
disturb others. I did it by poison and managed to slip in and
recover my prize. It was a worthy challenge I must
admit.

“
This lasted sixteen years
until I and eleven others stood having completed all our tasks set
upon us. Those years were exciting and pushed me to limits I had
long forgotten I had. When we faced our people we were cheered and
yet only one can be leader of All.

“
As by right of honor, all
twelve remaining were given a single Psi gauntlet for a blade and
we fought. I became victor and thus leader of All
Creelin.”

“
Was the fight
worthy?”

Netul sat up, his eyes a
merry blue color.
“It was one of my most
distinguished fights. My opponents were powerful and I was honored
to be part of their mettle. Had I not learned after teaching you to
fight I very well might have lost. Each of my brothers and sisters
proved themselves my equal in glorious combat. Not even I won
without a permanent reminder of their prowess.”
Netul pulled the front of his robe open to show off a myriad
of scars crossing all over his torso. Some were hair thin and
others jagged.

“
How do you scar? You
regenerate like we do?” Oliver was confused.

“
The Psi blades given were
specially designed to inhibit regeneration. I am proud to wear
these markings as are my brethren whom I bested. They are my finest
advisors I keep close.”
Netul thought of
them with unmistakable pride.
“My first at
when I was given the signet of leadership was the dismantling of
the galactic destroyer and all its resources were reallocated to
newly established colonized planets and all documents on is
creation and technical implementation were destroyed. All creators
and great thinkers responsible for its creation are denied ever to
speak upon or teach any aspect involved in harnessing hyperspace
energy as a weapon.

“
This past year has been
difficult in correcting the mistrust of my people and ensuring
policies against hidden agendas and settled minds unable to change
as needed and not so gradually in time we are left at the mercy of
those with ill intent.”

“
I take it then your arrival
means you’ve come to make amends for your predecessors blatant ruse
to allow me to endanger our universe?” Oliver then scratched a well
maintained and full brown beard he had worn since the day Renee
decided she wanted him unshaven, but not grungy. He personally
didn’t care either way. Merely to keep his female happy he’d do
anything. “How do you intend to abide by your peoples laws and
renew the alliance?”

“
Ever since I was nominated
champion I thought much on how I would accomplish this and after
eighteen long years I’m afraid I’m just as clueless because our
honor is stained. My advisors though reminded me to not over think
the solution to a problem, but focus on the problem itself.”
Netul took a deep, steadying breath before
continuing the words while still keeping the habit of using sign
language after his time as a prisoner what seemed lifetimes
ago.
“So I took a better reason to regain
our honor and remembered what many of the impeached Archivers did
to regain their own honor. By glorious combat. Now, no longer are
Archivers protected from their duty to continue the struggle for
survival and instead be pampered. Do not mistake me, My
Friend.”
Netul held up a stalling hand
gesture.
“My brethren will continue to
wisely advise our people and deal with matters, but now we
continuously train our bodies and powers to fight. Just yesterday I
led a ground force against the Feral and slew six hundred and
eleven foul beasts. I lead by example and now so do all
Archivers.

“
So to answer on how to
regain the honor and trust of all my people to the Empire, now all
fresh Zeelin recruits will spend a thousand years in service to the
Empire for the next million years. Our recruits will support and
bolster the Empire numbers by fighting with Terra’s warriors. If
accepted by all Empire leadership our war ships and fighters will
pair up with an imperial ship of equal size and weapon
output.

“
To ensure nothing like this
happens again I’m having the largest Mothership my people has ever
made built right this moment and as soon as it is complete it will
pair up with your Match’s city-ship. It will be my personal
Mothership where I will be much closer to you and Renee. The Empire
and Creelin peoples will work much more closely than the past
centuries when our peoples made first contact.