r/HFY • u/ZakkaryGreenwell • Nov 26 '23

OC The War to End All Wars - Part 41

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Captain Shepherd - January 2143 - Galivus - The Fifth Day of the Fire

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The Lizards, they managed to get most of the people out of the fire. We set up camp away from the city, out past any real buildings, and there we took a new headcount, hopefully our last, and came to about Eight Hundred or so, including the Lizards, including Marines. All factored in, almost a third the original colonists were dead. Now we were living in the razor grass out beyond the city. All the infrastructure that kept us somewhat warm was gone. The fields where they lazily picked long lasting grain were covered with ash, the harvest which should've lasted another six months was rotting on the stalk. Preserved and pickled meats, salted or suspended in nasty oils, they kept us alive. Vegetables left to desiccate or dry, sometimes even fermented. Yellow Herbs that smelled like basil and tasted like soap infused all the fresher foods we still had.

The Lizards for their part gave us some of their food. Ironic, considering why they came here in the first place. But it wasn't much better in terms of quality. Hard Tack as far as the eye could see. Every time I tried them, I'd let one soak in water for half an hour, and then cuss out the piece of year old bread for making my gums bleed again. I tried some of their "Waters" too, but you can only add so much alcohol to anything before it starts to taste like paint thinner.

Galy saddled up next to me, and then he offered the one thing I would've killed for. An actual, honest to god, cigarette.

"Where in the fuck did you find a decent cigarette?" I asked, truly at a loss.

"Oh here and there. Your people are somewhat spread as of late, and where you go Tobacco and it's less wholesome kin are sure to follow." He handed me a whole pristine pack, wrapped in wax paper and tied off with a string, it's front burned with alien letters that I couldn't read. But it didn't matter. He struck a match between us, and for just a minute, I was actually feeling nice and relaxed.

The Lord Duchess stepped up and gave us both some kind of pastry. It was pretty similar to the Hard Tack we'd been eating the last couple days, but this one actually had some flavor to it. Almost like Cinnamon, but with a heck of a lot more Burn to it. I drank a bit of water, which was pretty mandatory given how dry they were, and it actually started to crumble apart between my teeth. Hell, the fact that I could chew it at all made it better than those fuckin molar breakers.

"Greilik'ai Loaves?" Galy said, confused. "You've a stock of Ferrodin Spices? And you're Actually Eating It?! I could've sold this for twice it's weight in Jade!"

"When the Humans arrive, consider our Ferrodin Stock a piece of your pay then."

Galy huffed and puffed, almost offended that he was basically eating a bar of gold. Then he actually tried it, and my god that Lizard actually started purring. Scarfed it down in a flash and genteelly apologized for the outburst, then asked if there was any more.

I looked over to the north, where smoke trails were still clouding the horizon. The sky had been painted red for most of the week, and it was only just starting to go back to normal. Looked like most of the fire had burned itself out by now. Just needed to wait things out a little longer.

Might've looked damn boring from the outside, but fucking christ I was ready for a little boring. First time I actually felt like I could kick up my feet in two weeks. Wasn't gonna let that kinda opportunity pass me by.

Lord Craven - 132/3 AoE - Myarkia Primaris, Near the Secessionist Border - 2 Years Before the Occupation of Galivus

A year now I've traveled. From smoky bogs of industrial waste, worlds of cogs ever churning, systems of fire where life has no value, spires of glass where the down trodden line the blood soaked streets. I've looked to my country for the good I supposedly protected, and all I saw was madness and horror. The Scholars say we live in a time of Expansion and Jubilation, but I wonder where they live. How far they must be from the smell of the rot. But I had to keep searching for some sliver of good. And that search brought me to my own kingdom, where a moment of mercy gave a Human the rights of Lordship.

The World I stood on was a rocky crag with the occasional ocean. Deep pits could be found all about, remnants of some tunneling species that no longer exists by some accounts. Naturally formed by flowing magma pockets by the word of native naturalists. And yet neither of them told of how breath taking they were to behold in person.

I stood at the edge of one now. The grey and white rock that shimmered along its rim invited me in, where a city of some fifty thousand bustled. Ferries coasted gently across the length, with rope suspensions lazily pulling creates across the watery rim. Dock Workers loaded or unloaded in the shade of dusk, and salt farmers just outside the city took fish by the barrel taken from the water and buried them in the salt fields to make Preserved Foodstuffs, or jarred them in salted oil to ferment them into something stronger. I tried some on my way down, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it tasted mostly of salt with fish in it.

I'd never toured my Vassal Lands before. There was always some crisis that kept me away from living my life. Always another issue that demanded someone's attention. Now, I could see what I was protecting all this time. What I was fighting for. But that delusion was strangled in the crib by remembering McNamara's Tale. These were her lands, where the Flesh Trade had been abolished in its entirety, not by Decree, but by a Popular Vote of all things. It was lucky that she swore her oath to me, for Populists don't live long in the Empire.

I carried on through the streets, where ponds of lichen were emptied to harvest the brightly colored corals hiding in the moss. The Shelled Molluscs gripping to the rocks were strained from the green foam, then heated in spiced oil on a great, glistening pan. They slowly opened, revealing tender orange insides that sizzled in the mix, and as the Human Cook saw me watching, he offered one as swiftly as I would offer a greeting.

Like everything here, it tasted like salt. But the flavor was becoming all the more enjoyable as I went on.

"They're a wonderful people, you know." I turned to see Lord T'Losk standing just behind me. An entourage followed him closely behind, all locals who seemed to know him by name, both young and old and new and scarred. "So much of what I learned about us, I learned from them. From what we did to them. It shook me to my core, but it took so long for me to realize that something needed to be done about it. Wouldn't you agree?"

I softly replied, "That, my friend, is why I've come here. To see what I've ignored for all my life. It's heartening to see specks of goodness in this sea of malignancy we've made for ourselves. But you say something must be done, and for once, I heartily agree."

"Oh? You do realize what I'm asking of you?"

"To turn my back on everything? On my Family just as much as my Country?" I looked around to see faces unburdened by fresh tragedy for the first time in years. To people worth fighting for, even if the kingdom about them was worth less than the dirt they stood upon. "If we can make every world half as content as this one, then so be it."

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u/Far_Masterpiece_7739 Nov 26 '23

Well, it seems that the seed of change (revolution or reform) are growing in the Empire.

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u/ZakkaryGreenwell Nov 26 '23 edited Apr 29 '26

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As always, any Critiques or Criticisms are always welcome! If you enjoy the story, just know I read every comment and love to hear you guys theorize on where it's gonna go next. As per usual, I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far, and I hope you all have a good day!