News of the Ta'Seti invasion of Araxes pierced the silent contemplation Seren Undercroft had indulged herself in like a raucous, unwanted guest. She'd allowed herself a brief vacation, away from the pressures and stress of Araxian political life and had been watching the sunset on the family's adopted home of Nena from her seat on the farmhouse's veranda.
"Captain, word comes of Ta'Seti invasion on Araxes. You're to stay off-world until the threat has been defeated."
The voice came from her erstwhile companion, Elena Galewind, the Cognitive who had no doubt already analysed the various paths and repercussions of the conflict based on the information available to her. She spoke with a certainty but Seren knew that was Elena's way. The conflict was far from certain victory for the Araxian forces.
Of course, the invasion had been coming. The Ta'Seti were dying and needed the spice to formulate a cure. Their allies, the Myrmidons were thrustful and direct in Laandsrat sessions. The Ta'Seti must not be allowed to die and they would seize the planet if necessary to prevent their extinction.
The Magistrate, along with others in the Laandsrat, had agreed to help. But the price was steep. The Ta'Seti required 75% of all spice produced on Araxes. A staggering amount!
For the first time in office, Seren had felt utterly lost. This was the archetypal no-win situation. Refusal to deliver the spice would result in the potential invasion of Araxes and possibly involve the Imperium in a long and bloody war. The Ta'Seti were dying and no force stronger than the will to survive. Countless millions could be lost.
But to give the Ta'Seti the spice, to save a people from extinction, would have profound consequences within the Imperium itself. Production would have to triple in an attempt to avoid the social and economic fabric of the Imperium tearing itself apart. The price of the spice might increase many times over as the people's panicked and began to hoard their supplies whilst the production levels took time to increase. It would be pushed out of the reach of the poorest members of society, pushed out of reach of all but the biggest trading companies. The monopoly would re-emerge, stronger than ever and the Houses would rally to position themselves to take advantage.
Seren had, like many others, chosen to vote against supplying the Ta'Seti with their cure. She had said, with a brutal coldness that shocked her, that this was merely nature's way of telling the Ta'Seti their time was at an end.
And now the consequences of their actions had been apparent.
The battle had raged in the southern districts of Wadi and Evangeline. The Ta'Seti had arrived in their huge battlecruisers, dropped their soldiers deep within the desert and began the surprise surge against the Imperium.
The resistance forces on Araxes had been prepared for this eventuality. Whilst the government talked in their committees, they had prepared for the war. The newly appointed Defence Minister had formed an unison of forces. The United Systems Directorate, the SSFS, New Gaia's Colonial Rangers and many others had pushed back against the threat, standing their ground, proverbial shield-to-shield against the oncoming horde.
When the battle was over, the war logs began to filter through. Most were only available to people with special clearance. The battle had been won. The Ta'Seti threat had been averted, pushed off the planet in one final, colossal show of strength. There were rumours that some cryptographers had managed to decode a Ta'Seti interface and accessed their archive.
There was talk of battlefields deep with dead bodies, some charred, some dismembered, some destroyed beyond recognition within mangled wreckage.
Of course, Seren thought, there were no winners. Casualties were heavy on both sides. For all the jingoistic rhetoric, there were hundreds of ruined lives. Not just soldiers but their families and friends.
And for the Ta'Seti. Their future looked dark and uncertain. They faced the notion that the days of the Ta'Seti may soon draw to a close, a civilisation consigned to history scholars and archaeologists of the future.
Perhaps, she thought, we've merely made our enemy even more dangerous.
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