The Martial Unity

“Our goal is to get our hands on that species,” Siliscia explained. “We believe that it will help elvenkind grow stronger in order to protect itself in the jungle of the stars, where only the fittest survive.”

“Why not just take samples of the manifold tree that Kandria has?” Runark raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure, that’s beyond my clearance level,” Siliscia replied. “But from what I understand from having spoken to the Mothers of elvenkind, the Emperor of Water is apparently extremely strict about how much access to the manifold tree they have. They are only allowed to observe, not touch.”

Ria felt strange to hear about her father from an elf in such a manner. She almost blurted out ‘Papa is not that selfish,’ but managed to control herself in time. “And since the Emperor is not willing to give you guys much access to it, you have resorted to searching for your own specimen in the stars?” Sternon raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, we believe that if Gaia had two such samples, then other infected worlds are also likely to have one. And in the past, there have been regimes that have managed to get their hands on the remnants of one after battle,” Siliscia replied. “So the Mothers dispatched elves to investigate every anomaly that might be an infected world in hopes of getting to it before other entities can take it.”

They weren’t sure how a single felt could possibly get her hands on such a specimen, however. After all, infected worlds were extremely dangerous and often contained highly powerful defenses and lifeforms. On top of that, elves were weaker outside their territory, making it difficult for them to manifest their full potential.

Still, Siliscia and her leaders were undoubtedly aware of all of this, so they could only imagine that she had some kind of plan if push came to shove.

“That’s why you accepted this mission?” Misha raised an eyebrow. “You believe that this might be an infected world, and if it is, then you might finally be able to get your hands on a manifold tree?”

Siliscia nodded. “That is the hope.”

“That’s a much better reason to prowling around in the frontier than mine,” Sternon admitted. “I admire and envy your connection with your people. I wish I had such a thing.”

“Have you not considered moving to a non-radical polity of your race?” Misha turned towards him. “After all, only half of evosapien population is in the Evolutionary Army.”

He heaved a deep breath. “It was the first thing I did, but…”

His expression grew bitter. The ceiling lights permeated through his translucent body, diffracting through his cells and tissue. “The reality is that nobody discriminates against evosapiens more than liberal evosapiens of the West Moridian Alliance. They despise us.”

Ria frowned at those words. “But why?” “…Because we carry the memories of the former Supreme Commander,” Sternon replied with a heavy tone of voice, before closing his eyes. “Even now, I can see it as clearly as day. The final battle and the moment of the death of the former Supreme Commander at the hands of the Emperor of Water.”

Ria’s amber eyes widened with shock. “You have memories of—”

She managed to pause at just the right moment, for she was about to say ‘my father.’ “…of the Emperor?” She continued. Sternon nodded with a grim expression. “I remember fighting him. I remember… dying to him.”

He placed his hand to his heart.

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“It’s a traumatizing memory, and early on in my life, I even swore revenge, but…” He heaved a deep breath. “I ultimately realized that these memories are not mine. These memories belong to a man who tried to manipulate me even before I was born, poisoning me with his memories, hoping that I would inherit his will.”

His translucent eyes sharpened. “Well, I said fuck him. I’m not Supreme Commander Anthea. I am Sternon. I am my own person, and I will live my own life. Coincidentally…”

A smile emerged. “All of these changes happened after I met the Emperor of Water in person.”

That sent a wave of surprise across the four of them.

“You’ve met the Emperor of Water? In person?” Misha’s cybernetic eyes widened.

“Yeah, when I was around ten years old or so,” Sternon remarked, recollecting an old memory. “He basically invaded one of our super-secret training camps in Moridian Continent to speak with the then Deputy Commander Wiles.”

Sternon smiled wryly. “I remember that my siblings and I, we attacked him on sight. A rather reckless thing in hindsight. Haha.”

“I-I’m surprised you’re alive,” Siliscia remarked with an amazed tone.

“Not because we were strong,” Sternon shook his head. “But because His Majesty went easy on us. He played with us essentially. Then he patted us on the head and said it was going to be alright.”

Ria stared at Sternon with an engrossed expression. If she was getting this right, then this likely happened when she was five years old, given that she was just five years younger than him. Her memories of that time were already quite faint, but she remembered what her father was like.

He was silly. He would coo and caw at her like he was smitten. She even heard that he was afflicted with the dreaded Smitten Emperor Syndrome, where rulers lost their damn minds because of how much they loved their children and made absurd decisions in their love for them.

But he grew more serious and composed as she grew older, outgrowing her childish phase. “And a lot of us actually enjoyed playing with him a lot, because we had never experienced something like that before,” Sternon chuckled, recollecting the old memory. “And really, that was the turning point for many of us, and we realized as we grew up that the Army was a horrible place. And many of us decided to leave and…”

His expression grew serious. “I was among those who survived.”

The air grew heavy at that recounting.