Lore:Empress

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==CHAPTER 1: STORYTELLER==

Gold silks and purple velvets hung above the gilded chair where Ahztja settled in to tell the princess Caiatl her nightly story.

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==CHAPTER 7: CORONATION==

At the long table of her council room on the fleeing warship Eligos Lex V, Caiatl sat with her advisors. An ugly panic gripped them.

"Their war moons are too powerful," said Councilor Taurun. The tactical display, where Hive ships and war moons floated like innumerable dust specks in space, flickered.

"They are not deterred by casualties," rumbled Ca'aurg. "All loss is acceptable loss to the Hive."

There were murmurs of assent across the table. "Ghaul diverted some of our best generals," lamented Tha'arec. "All to the damnable Sol system, for his idiotic crusade…"

"They will not return," said Ca'aurg. "And neither will Ghaul." He clenched his fist. "But this weakness didn't start with Ghaul. It started with that bloated traitor, Calus."

Ca'aurg and Tha'arec glared at each other from across the table. They shared a look Caiatl knew very well; it often preceded bloodshed. She watched them for a tense moment and then raised her voice to say, "Enough."

All looked to the Princess-Imperial.

"My father was infatuated with the myth of his own benevolence," Caiatl said. "He gorged himself and his people on stories of what the empire could be and took half-measures to make it so. But he never succeeded. He never wished to succeed. I am not my father.

"Dominus Ghaul was obsessed with his own redemption. He imagined debts owed to him and sought their fulfilment. He used the Legion as a tool to secure himself and his legacy. He saw the empire as one more thing he was owed. I am not Dominus Ghaul.

"Umun'arath misled me—misled us all. Our people are not meant to flee our battles. But neither are we the Hive, throwing ourselves on the blade again and again. There is strength in tactical retreat."

She studied the worried faces of her councilors and felt shame for their weakness, but responsibility as well. "We'll direct all our surviving ships to the Sol system to reclaim whatever remains of the Legion. This is my first order, as empress of the Cabal."

The next day, as they fled their homeworld, a coronation was held upon the Eligos Lex V, royal flagship of Empress Caiatl, leader of the Cabal.

==CHAPTER 8: EMPRESS==

//A MESSAGE FROM EMPRESS CAIATL OF THE CABAL, TO ALL HER FLEET//

I speak to you as crowned empress of the Cabal Empire, your new leader.

As I speak, we flee our home. Some of you lament our loss. Some of you whisper about the weakness of retreat. I assure you, we do not flee out of weakness. We march toward strength.

We have found ourselves in a battle with war itself. And I have come to see that the face of war is ugly and poisonous.

We are not the same as our enemies. We fight for a reason. For a purpose.

Not for pointless luxury, nor the approval of false gods. Unlike our predecessors, we fight to pay homage to our past and make strides towards our future. A future where all glory is not for vanity but for our people. We fight for the empire.

We now chart toward the Sol system, to recover the soldiers stranded there by Ghaul's hubris. We will rebuild our army and return to reclaim our home.

Our future will not look the same as our past. With your trust, I will usher us into a new age, and I will not default on my promises, as my father did before me.

From this moment forward, all Psions of the Cabal Empire are released from the bonds of servitude and granted full citizenship. You are free to remain or leave as you please. You will be granted reasonable supplies for your departure, if you choose to go.

If you stay, I must warn you: the battle ahead will be long and arduous. Many of us will fight, bleed, and die to preserve our collective freedoms. But together, we will build an army where warriors fight not for themselves, or for their grasping leaders, but for each other.

There will be no mercy for false gods. The Cabal Empire will rise from this challenge victorious. United. We will draw from our past to give strength to our future.

As one Cabal.

//END MESSAGE//

==CHAPTER 9: TRUCE==

Caiatl was sitting alone in her private quarters. She glanced up, awoken from her reverie when Taurun arrived.

"Empress," Taurun said, bowing. She was a stickler for formality. "The other councilors are awaiting a decision regarding our arrival in Sol."

Caiatl gave her a wry look. As if she didn't know.

Taurun waited. When Caiatl didn't answer, she pressed further. "Have you made a decision?"

Caiatl sighed and shifted in her seat. "Not yet," she said. "There is much still to consider. Sit down."

Taurun hesitated, caught between her dedication to formality and a direct order from her empress. She gingerly lowered herself into a chair.

"The Guardians killed Ghaul," Caiatl said.

"Yes," said Taurun.

"Stories say they've killed greater enemies too."

"Other deities of the Hive. One of the great worms."

"And a sibling of Xivu Arath," Caiatl added.

"Perhaps then, the costs of this venture do not outweigh the benefits," Taurun mused.

"We need every resource at our disposal," Caiatl said.

Taurun was quiet.

Caiatl leaned forward abruptly in her seat. "Do we need to make war to regain the Legion?"

Once more, Taurun was silent. Eventually, she said carefully, "You don't believe we would win?"

Caiatl saw the blade hidden in Taurun's question. "We would win," she said. "After a long, grueling war. We'd sustain huge losses. And we'd leave ourselves open to further devastation at the war god's hands."

Taurun's gaze turned thoughtful. "Yes, probably." She studied Caiatl's face. "So what do you suggest?"

"We… negotiate," Caiatl said quietly. "With the Guardians."

Taurun observed her customary moment of silence. "Some of the councilors won't like it."

"I know," Caiatl said. She stared past Taurun, her jaw set. "I don't either."

"You'll have to make a gesture for them. A nod to our legacy as conquerors. If they see it as a true, equal negotiation…" Taurun trailed off.

"They'll call it weakness," Caiatl finished.

Taurun nodded. "Especially after fleeing Torobatl."

They shared another silence. The ache of mounting stress began to push at Caiatl's temples.

Her voice was weary when she spoke again. "Then we will demand that the Guardians kneel."

[[Category:Lore]]

[[Category:Articles with verbatim transcripts of official documents]]

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Verbatim}}
 ==CHAPTER 1: STORYTELLER==
 Gold silks and purple velvets hung above the gilded chair where Ahztja settled in to tell the princess Caiatl her nightly story.
@@ Line 204: / Line 205: @@
 ==CHAPTER 7: CORONATION==
+At the long table of her council room on the fleeing warship Eligos Lex V, Caiatl sat with her advisors. An ugly panic gripped them.
+"Their war moons are too powerful," said Councilor Taurun. The tactical display, where Hive ships and war moons floated like innumerable dust specks in space, flickered.
+"They are not deterred by casualties," rumbled Ca'aurg. "All loss is acceptable loss to the Hive."
+There were murmurs of assent across the table. "Ghaul diverted some of our best generals," lamented Tha'arec. "All to the damnable Sol system, for his idiotic crusade…"
+"They will not return," said Ca'aurg. "And neither will Ghaul." He clenched his fist. "But this weakness didn't start with Ghaul. It started with that bloated traitor, Calus."
+Ca'aurg and Tha'arec glared at each other from across the table. They shared a look Caiatl knew very well; it often preceded bloodshed. She watched them for a tense moment and then raised her voice to say, "Enough."
+All looked to the Princess-Imperial.
+"My father was infatuated with the myth of his own benevolence," Caiatl said. "He gorged himself and his people on stories of what the empire could be and took half-measures to make it so. But he never succeeded. He never wished to succeed. I am not my father.
+"Dominus Ghaul was obsessed with his own redemption. He imagined debts owed to him and sought their fulfilment. He used the Legion as a tool to secure himself and his legacy. He saw the empire as one more thing he was owed. I am not Dominus Ghaul.
+"Umun'arath misled me—misled us all. Our people are not meant to flee our battles. But neither are we the Hive, throwing ourselves on the blade again and again. There is strength in tactical retreat."
+She studied the worried faces of her councilors and felt shame for their weakness, but responsibility as well. "We'll direct all our surviving ships to the Sol system to reclaim whatever remains of the Legion. This is my first order, as empress of the Cabal."
+The next day, as they fled their homeworld, a coronation was held upon the Eligos Lex V, royal flagship of Empress Caiatl, leader of the Cabal.
 ==CHAPTER 8: EMPRESS==
+//A MESSAGE FROM EMPRESS CAIATL OF THE CABAL, TO ALL HER FLEET//
+I speak to you as crowned empress of the Cabal Empire, your new leader.
+As I speak, we flee our home. Some of you lament our loss. Some of you whisper about the weakness of retreat. I assure you, we do not flee out of weakness. We march toward strength.
+We have found ourselves in a battle with war itself. And I have come to see that the face of war is ugly and poisonous.
+We are not the same as our enemies. We fight for a reason. For a purpose.
+Not for pointless luxury, nor the approval of false gods. Unlike our predecessors, we fight to pay homage to our past and make strides towards our future. A future where all glory is not for vanity but for our people. We fight for the empire.
+We now chart toward the Sol system, to recover the soldiers stranded there by Ghaul's hubris. We will rebuild our army and return to reclaim our home.
+Our future will not look the same as our past. With your trust, I will usher us into a new age, and I will not default on my promises, as my father did before me.
+From this moment forward, all Psions of the Cabal Empire are released from the bonds of servitude and granted full citizenship. You are free to remain or leave as you please. You will be granted reasonable supplies for your departure, if you choose to go.
+If you stay, I must warn you: the battle ahead will be long and arduous. Many of us will fight, bleed, and die to preserve our collective freedoms. But together, we will build an army where warriors fight not for themselves, or for their grasping leaders, but for each other.
+There will be no mercy for false gods. The Cabal Empire will rise from this challenge victorious. United. We will draw from our past to give strength to our future.
+As one Cabal.
+//END MESSAGE//
 ==CHAPTER 9: TRUCE==
+Caiatl was sitting alone in her private quarters. She glanced up, awoken from her reverie when Taurun arrived.
+"Empress," Taurun said, bowing. She was a stickler for formality. "The other councilors are awaiting a decision regarding our arrival in Sol."
+Caiatl gave her a wry look. As if she didn't know.
+Taurun waited. When Caiatl didn't answer, she pressed further. "Have you made a decision?"
+Caiatl sighed and shifted in her seat. "Not yet," she said. "There is much still to consider. Sit down."
+Taurun hesitated, caught between her dedication to formality and a direct order from her empress. She gingerly lowered herself into a chair.
+"The Guardians killed Ghaul," Caiatl said.
+"Yes," said Taurun.
+"Stories say they've killed greater enemies too."
+"Other deities of the Hive. One of the great worms."
+"And a sibling of Xivu Arath," Caiatl added.
+"Perhaps then, the costs of this venture do not outweigh the benefits," Taurun mused.
+"We need every resource at our disposal," Caiatl said.
+Taurun was quiet.
+Caiatl leaned forward abruptly in her seat. "Do we need to make war to regain the Legion?"
+Once more, Taurun was silent. Eventually, she said carefully, "You don't believe we would win?"
+Caiatl saw the blade hidden in Taurun's question. "We would win," she said. "After a long, grueling war. We'd sustain huge losses. And we'd leave ourselves open to further devastation at the war god's hands."
+Taurun's gaze turned thoughtful. "Yes, probably." She studied Caiatl's face. "So what do you suggest?"
+"We… negotiate," Caiatl said quietly. "With the Guardians."
+Taurun observed her customary moment of silence. "Some of the councilors won't like it."
+"I know," Caiatl said. She stared past Taurun, her jaw set. "I don't either."
+"You'll have to make a gesture for them. A nod to our legacy as conquerors. If they see it as a true, equal negotiation…" Taurun trailed off.
+"They'll call it weakness," Caiatl finished.
+Taurun nodded. "Especially after fleeing Torobatl."
+They shared another silence. The ache of mounting stress began to push at Caiatl's temples.
+Her voice was weary when she spoke again. "Then we will demand that the Guardians kneel."
+[[Category:Lore]]
+[[Category:Articles with verbatim transcripts of official documents]]