Center Worlds - Spark

Clanworld Camelin -32 BA (Before Adhara)

“Father? What lies at the heart of the Oxymax Nebula?” Ryo asked his aging patriarch as he helped the older man from his bed to the travel chair.

Gyo Camelin looked at his eldest and only surviving son through bushy eyebrows. “Is that a trick question, my lad?”

“No, Father. I have been reading the archives again. There may be a misinterpretation.”

Gyo sighed and leaned back as his aching body began to be massaged by the chair. Manipulating the controls with his one good hand, the chair rose on a cushion of air and silently drifted towards the room-spanning windows that showed a view of the Camelin Clanworld from a kim in the air, allowing him to see the entirety of the capital city and the lands surrounding it.

“The Clan Desinlo took control of the Confederacy fifteen hundred cycles ago, in a night of blood and fire. You know this, this is all part of our history. Our Clan aided them, initially.”

Ryo nodded, “I know, father.”

“Then after three hundred cycles of draconian rule, Clan Masilec contacted our forefathers and showed us how the Desinlo had used deceit and treachery to wrest military control from them. Clan Camelin agreed to switch sides, and after a brief but brutal uprising, Clan Desinlo was swept from power and driven back to their Clanworld. All of their colonies were assigned to other Clans, and they were stricken from the Confederacy records.”

“Father, that is where I found a discrepancy.” Ryo asked. “May I discuss it with you?”

Gyo nodded. “By all means, my lad. You have always had a good head for going through the records and finding jewels amidst all that ancient detritus.”

“I found a note at the bottom of the original directive, that said it was to be reviewed after a period of 12 Grand Cycles. Nothing more has ever been entered into the records. Do you know if our records may be out of sync with Tara?”

Gyo seemed lost in thought, and paused for so long that Ryo felt he had gone to sleep, and carefully rose to let the old man rest. “I think a mistake has been made, my Son.”

“Father?” Ryo said, turning back to the ageing patriarch.

“The Clanworld Desinlo was a low mass planet, my boy. The people had been expert at low-G manufacturing, and they are also the ones who origined the Lari’Sota guild. Control through pleasure, was what they were called. That is the real reason why the rebellion against them started. Not the night of blood. That was caused by Clan Jasinlo, not Desinlo.”

Ryo pulled up a chair and paid his Father his full attention.

“Like you, I enjoyed looking up the history of the Clans. I recall looking through the records, however I never dug as deeply as you do, my boy. You have become better than our archivists. Do you know, that the planet Sinlo is rumoured to have an entire sea that vaporizes every morning into a veil of multicoloured mist, only to reform every evening?” Gyo said, lost in thought.

“It certainly sounds like a nice place to explore, Father.” Ryo said.

“That is what you will then do, Ryo. Go find the lost Clanworld. See if anybody still survives. Explore it, see what can be seen. If they are still a proper clan, bring them into Camelin. The nebula they live in is in the heart of our space. We need them as an ally, not an unknown, and certainly not a hostile.” Gyo said, tapping his fingers on the chair.

“Father, I’m not to leave you. The radiation is draining your life, I must be with you now.”

“No, my lad. You need to take control of our clan. You are the only son I have left, and Camelin has always been a patriarchal clan, you are ready to lead. It is time. My days grow short, and I wish to spend them looking down on the world I love the most. Take the ship – lead the clan, solve the mysteries you feel that need to be solved.”

Gyo reached up and gripped his son’s arm with surprising strength.

“Be prepared, my lad. There is much treachery in these dark times. Keep your family honour strong, stand for what you believe in, and keep the Confederacy together. Help to ensure we don’t dissolve.”

“Lord Camelin? What are you doing here?” Ryo stood in the airlock from the shuttle and looked around. He had walked these corridors many times in the past 23 cycles, but never as this. He handed Executive Officer Kalen a sealed missive, written on Camelin clan foil and sealed with the clan bond. The Executive Officer broke the bond with his thumbprint and read the short missive.

“My apologies, Commander. I see that you have been given command. Gyo Camelin has retired from duty. May I be the first to welcome you aboard the TGX-2.”

“Thank you, Captain Kalen. My father is far too weak to make the trip any longer, and has instructed me to begin taking the reins of command appropriately. Take me to the bridge, please.”

“Walk with me, Commander. We will go there directly.” Kalen said and they both started off towards the central trunk corridor. After a few moments they arrived at the corridor, with it’s core gravity chute that went the length of the 1.6 kim long battlecruiser.

“Do you need assistance with the gravity chute, Commander?”

Ryo smiled and stepped into the chute, and was swept along, with Kalen smoothly sweeping along beside him. They swam through the chute as it rapidly pulled them towards the central core of the ship, and Ryo reached out and pulled himself to a stop at the main trunk exit, Followed by Kalen only seconds later.

“Very good, Commander. You’ve been practicing since you were last on board.” Kalen said with a laugh.

Ryo laughed with him. “Agreed, Kalen. No more bloodied lips for me.” They walked down the short corridor and then stepped past the hardlock door and into the command centre of the starship. Ryo looked around at the staff busy checking and cross-checking instruments, verifying every part of the ship was ready and smiled to himself.

He noted the closed hardlock door that lead into the computer core, The bridge of the ship was buried deep in the heart of the vessel, right behind the core. Both of them the most heavily defended parts.

Kalen cleared his throat, then picked up the comm unit. “Put me on ship-wide, Cato.” He asked.

The comms officer flicked some switches and nodded back at him.

“Crew of TGX-2. This is Executive Officer Kalen. Gyo Camelin has retired from active duty and is awaiting his journey to the Gates of Pangea. Our Commander has been chosen and is now on board. I bid welcome and honour to Commander Ryo Camelin.”

Ryo nodded as the staff on the bridge stood and applauded, then walked into the middle of the bridge and took the comm unit that Kalen held for him.

“Thank you and I bid all of you welcome. Some of you know me from my travels on board this and other ships. My Father has seen fit to place me in command and as you will see, I will live up to his standards of excellence and assured command. You know your duties, and I know you do them well. Continue to perform them and we will serve the Confederacy and Clan Camelin to the best of our power and strength.”

“What do you think, Commander?”

“I think, Captain Kalen, we need to get in there.” Ryo said as they watched the swirling of the dust and debris that was the Oxymax nebula.

“It’s ten Solar Lengths deep, Commander. The Vortex gateway was destroyed by Clans Jasinlo and Kerilac five hundred cycles ago. They detonated Antimatter mines through the one mapped corridor. No Vortex ship can penetrate that dust cloud.”

“Then we go using Neospace drive. We will fly through it and see what lies at the centre. See if the lost Clanworld still survives.”

“Why do you seek the Desinlo Clanworld, Commander? All records show they were banished from the Confederacy, and with good reason.”

Ryo looked at his XO. “I seek it, Kalen, because it is there. At the heart of our own Clan territory lies this nebula. Within the nebula lies the Clanworld that once ruled the entire Confederacy, and has now fallen so far from the light. We must return the light to them and see if we can drive away the darkness.”

“Diving into that dense gas cloud using Neospace is going to be a strain on the superstructure, Sir. She was designed for vacuum, not plowing through a gas cloud with close to a thousand pascals of pressure.” Kalen said as they continued to observe the roiling clouds of the active nebula.

“Then, Captain, we need to do some plowing. Unless you have any other objections, let’s get the shields trimmed and get the ship prepared for extended gaseous exposure.”

“Understood, Commander. We'll get trimmed and ready to slide.”