Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:00 pm by Templus Cro
*Yhid led Alphei into the same conference room that the late Commander Zelt had revealed the completion of his coup to take over the Moonbeam Fleet nearly two years ago, and also the same room where Tirus had killed Zelt and one of his closest associates, Barod, when the High General took back the Fleet. Alphei, being one of the replacements for the lost Zelt and Barod and then Gerduna, did not know this, as at the time, the whole situation was kept under wraps to prevent any more soldiers from getting ideas, and to this day, seeing as the aftershocks of the crisis had no longer been a problem, the issue had never been brought up. Yhid hoped to make sure Alphei knew what kind of trouble he was getting into, so he planned on unveiling this gruesome history of the Moonbeam Fleet to the young officer in hopes of quelling what Yhid saw as the roots of rebellion.
Yhid pointed at the chair across the table from himself, "Sit."
Alphei, now alone with the senior Commander of the Moonbeam Army as the escort soldiers had been left outside, sat rigidly and stared intently at Yhid, who stared right back without moving his hands from the back of his chair. Yhid cocked his head sideways and continued, "Please, make yourself comfortable, Admiral."
Alphei, as he began to remove his helmet, retorted back, knowing that there was one way he could keep Yhid from flying off the handle, as this was already unusual for the usually subdued and quiet clone soldier, "I will not allow you to try and haze me into submission, Commander. You do understand that I won't tolerate any strategy adverse to normal protocol, and I will report you if youd ecide to take a risky course of action."
Yhid, as he removed his helmet and started into Alphei's useful eyes, with eyes that were surprisingly dead and flat, shrugged in his plastoid armor suit, "I woudln't think about it, but remember, whatevere the High General says, goes."
"High General Tirus would not allow such actions as you torturing me or blackmialing me into submission." Alphei protested, thinking of the possibilities. Yhid sat finally, and then he decided to spring the kicker, "Do not be so sure, Admiral. Why were you brought up to sucha prestigious position so quickly?"
"Tirus had the need for my services in the rank of Admiral." Alphei responded automatically. After all, that was the reason he had been given, and no questions had been asked as to anything else. Yhid nodded, agreeing with that general reason, but he pressed on, "Do you know why your services were required so abruptly?"
"No, sir. I do not." Alphei, his young face betraying his sudden confusion at yhid's line of civil questioning, responded. Yhid stood up again and threw a datapad across the table that held a videorecording of the two separate confrontations where Zelt had captured the Moonbeam Fleet and then his subsequent demise. He explained the device as Alphei snatched it up to inspect it.
"That's a holovideo recording of events occurring nearly two years ago in this very room. These were from just before you were instated as Fleet Admiral. But, before you delve into them, let me explain them to you in first person narrative." Yhid grinned sullenly and watched as Alphei set the disk back down in a bewildered fashion, as he was now rapt on learning Yhid's direction.
"Two years ago, High general Tirus went missing in action for an extended period of time. That information, to keep morale from plummeting, was never released to the general military populace, and only the officer core knew anything of the sudden disappearance of our powerful leader. At the time, the soldier standing in my current position was named Zelt, and he was ambitious, vicious, and willing to jump on an opportunity, much like yourself.
"However, once Tirus was no longer able to keep Zelt in check, the Commander sprung like a nexu on the opportunity to take total control of the Fleet you now serve, in more ways than he was able as simple Commander. Zelt swept away everything that reminded us of Tirus and put the Fleet ona track for domination, which would get all of us killed in the end, or replaced. Zelt ruled like a true dictator, and the current officers who opposed him were shunned, left in their positions only as figureheads to keep the common soldiers from getting suspicious. His allies helped Zelt keep a tsranglehold on the thousands of men he controlled, and kept me and my allies muzzled shut for fear of penalty of death. We knew we ahd to endure until the fateful day the High general returned, so that we could assist him in overthrowing Zelt.
"That day finally came after a rogue soldier who caught wind of the coup, met up with Tirus in an abstract Fleet battle quite by accident or luck. Either way, that soldier and his entire accumulated Fleet were destoyed in the battle, but Tirus now knew of the treachery going on in his own ranks. The High General returned to his Fleet's hub, this very planet, to reclaim what was lost.
"Zelt's position was quickly overwhelmed, and without being given the chance for mercy, Zelt was executed for insubordination before my very eyes and the eyes of the rest of the officer corps. Then, Zelt's allies in his coup were killed in the next few minutes, none of the rebels were left alive, and peace and order was restored once more to the Moonbeam Fleet."
Yhid had watched during his story as Alphei's face changed from shocked to horror-stricken at the fate of the rebels, and he now moved in for the kill, "The point of that story, Alphei, was to show you the love Tirus had for rebels opposed to his will. Tirus knows things, he has the Force, and he will find any usurper and destroy them. He is not one for mercy. I hope you understand this."
Yhid replaced his helmet and walked to the the door. During that motion, Alphei had been thinking that in order for his plan to succeed after this shocking information, that Tirus would not be allowed to muster forces to oppose the intended coup. Yhid spoke as he opened the doors, "And please note: Tirus defeated Zelt, infiltrated the base, and retook his army with his own two hands. There was no opposing army involved. With the Force, Tirus once said, anything is possible. The High general is not a man to be crossed."*
*With Alphei virtually gasping for air, Yhid left him.*
