The Scalian Legacy

Captain Rauug was once again nervously walking to meet Admiral Tarza. However, this time it would be at the hangar deck of his large battlecruiser, The Seguura. The admiral was coming back on board, but had only communicated that he had news to share. Rauug could only imagine it had to do with their mission regarding this wormhole that somehow allowed them to bypass humanity’s defenses undetected. He could only hope that he wasn’t in trouble again.

Rauug was an intelligent and deeply principled Scalian who felt he had proven his loyalty over the years and earned respect from many. Rauug always believed that to get the most out of personnel, you needed to be firm, but also to treat them with the respect their great prophet and deity Nagaran had preached. While Rauug respected Admiral Tarza, the admiral did not reciprocate those feelings in the least. The admiral had always treated most of his underlings, including Rauug, as if they were inferior, even as they helped him thrive. While strength of will was highly admired by Scalians, brutality towards other Scalians was not considered a trait supported by either their leaders or their moral code. Yet Tarza advanced beyond anyone before him despite his, at times, cruel nature.

Rauug stopped short of the hangar bay doors and growled internally to prepare for whatever challenge lay in front of him. Tarza arrived on the same scout ship that Rauug had taken to Earth just a few hours earlier. Rauug watched as the stairway on the Tarza’s transport came down, revealing the admiral and his two aides. Rauug walked up to meet Tarza at the edge of the stairway. As Tarza reached him, Rauug noticed something odd…a smile on Tarza’s face.

“Azee-tel-ran…” Rauug began his customary welcome.

“Yes, yes, I’m quite well, Rauug,” Tarza retorted in his rough Scalian language as he walked past Rauug, barely looking at him. “I have some good news, captain.” He continued while walking briskly, forcing Rauug to turn quickly and awkwardly try to keep up while Tarza’s two aides trailed behind. “The council has approved the last phase of Project Redemption.”

“Excellent, sir,” Rauug replied, wishing he fully understood the endgame of this mission. He tried to show initiative: “Would you like me to assemble my senior staff for a briefing?”

Tarza chuckled lightly to himself. “That won’t be necessary.” By now Tarza had exited the hangar bay into a corridor heading toward the main shaft turbo lift. It seemed as if Tarza was satisfied that he had provided Rauug with enough information. Meanwhile Rauug continued to follow him, not altogether certain what was going on.

“I don’t understand, sir.” Rauug was determined not to be ignored. “What exactly do you need?”

Tarza sighed as all four of them entered the elevator. “Executive offices level,” Tarza commanded the elevator, and it began to move. He then turned to Rauug. “This last phase of the project requires the gravity well engines and repulsion capabilities of a battlecruiser to help the Redeemer reach its destination with sufficient velocity. We will be using The Seguura for these purposes.”

While that made sense to Rauug, he still wanted a few more details about the mission that his ship would be involved in. “When exactly will this occur? Do we need to prepare for a response? What do you need from me and my crew?”

The turbo lift’s doors opened and Tarza began walking down another corridor towards his office on The Seguura. Rauug continued to follow as he waited for answers. While still walking towards the office, Tarza finally spoke as if answering an annoying child asking silly, irrelevant questions. “We complete our mission in just three days, Rauug. Until then, all I need is to be left alone and notified if anything odd occurs. We do not need to prepare for a response.”

We don’t need to prepare for a response? Rauug thought. We are about to attack an enemy and don’t need to prepare for a response? Rauug knew better than to challenge the admiral’s answer and instead focused on Tarza’s other answer to ensure he had clarity. “Odd? Are you expecting something? Should we be on the lookout for anything in particular?” Rauug was once again trying to be proactive, but the result was not praise from the elder Scalian.

“I’m always expecting something unexpected; that’s why I’m still here,” Tarza said curtly, approaching his destination. He was not really providing Rauug much of an answer. He finally stopped and faced Rauug. “What we are about to do will change the course of history for all of us. I cannot overstate this. I just need you to notify me if anything out of the ordinary occurs, and I need you to tell your staff the same.”

Rauug decided to back off, as it seemed all he was going to accomplish was to annoy Tarza and get no additional information regardless. “Understood, sir.”

“Now, that’s what I want to hear from you, Rauug.” Tarza smiled. “May the power of Nagaran support us!” And with that he turned and entered his office, followed by his two aides.

“Yes, sir.” Rauug could barely get the words out before the doors slid shut in front of him. He turned around and shook his head as he walked away. I don’t think I will ever understand that old Scalian, he thought. But, I wonder if I could beat him up in a fight? Rauug began to fantasize about battling with Tarza in hand to hand combat.