THE TRANQUILO QUADRANT

PLANET: EOS 4 RUINS

[WITHIN THE STELLAR EQUITY JURISDICTION]

8.4 MILLION LIGHT-YEARS FROM: EARTH

The Emperor stood in the bridge of the mother ship and observed the aftermath of the core extraction.

What remained of the lifeless planet, slowly drifted away in the vast, endless black space. The great deep hole that was created by their weapon left a trail of large chunks of earth behind it. Though he was at a far distance from the planet, the emperor was able to hear the deep sound of the earth cracking, with the colossal rocks slamming into one another in the space.

Then, the cries of death whined into the emperor's head. The sharp, ear piercing screams of the dying specimen. He couldn't tell if they were the screams of the drifting planet, or of its own. Nonetheless, they haunted him.

The emperor was covered in a thin layer of transparent armor that showed hiss bark-like, battle scarred skin. It wore a shiny bronze face guard that allowed his two blue vertical eyes on the right to see through. The being had a bone-like pair of long thin arms and tall legs, but had an abnormal set of wide bony hips and a large, broad chest. A long, dark red cape that was slightly shredded hung from his neck and covered his back. On it, was a black outline of a star.

"Emperor Ra's, the extraction was a success." A fawning being of the same race came and knelt before him. His voice was high pitched and nasal like, and spoke with a pinch of nervousness.

Emperor Ra's snarled and shook his head as he attempted to get rid of the screams. When the screams left his head, the emperor looked at the planet once more before he turned around to overlook his crew.

His crew all knelt before their leader with their heads down. Other than the quiet sounds of the beeping terminals, the bridge was silent.

He acknowledged their loyalty towards him, and turned his attention down to the grunt that knelt before him.

"What are the results?" Emperor Ra's asked, his voice was deep and muffled by the face guard.

Before the engineer could answer, his emperor turned around and coughed violently away from his crew. The emperor pressed his hand against his fluttering chest as his dry coughs echoed throughout the bridge. After a few moments, the coughs settled down, and the pain went away. The Sire turned back around and looked at the grunt, and signaled him to continue.

"We received enough energy to power our engines and weaponry, but I'm afraid that the results weren't accommodating to your needs..." The engineer informed him nervously.

Emperor Ra's could hear the rest of the engineers in the bridge mumble to themselves with worry. He glanced at his stressed crew before he focused on the grunt in front of him.

"'My needs' you say..." The emperor repeated in a shocked tone, and crouched down in front of the engineer.

The engineer quickly caught on to his oblivious statement and lowered his head further, realizing the irreversible mistake he had made.

"Forgive me, Emperor. The intention behind my explanation was not against your decisions as newly appointed-"

"Quiet!" His Emperor yelled at him.

The engineer fell back and covered his face with his hands.

"Forgive me, Emperor! Forgive me!" The terrified engineer begged.

He wanted to tear the engineer's head off, but he noticed the way his crew looked at him.

They weren't terrified like the engineer. Instead, they studied his every move. It was as if they were waiting for him to break.

Emperor Ra's slowly calmed himself down and stood up straight. He looked at the sitting engineer on the floor and growled in frustration.

"Get out of my sight!" He ordered, and immediately, the engineer ran to the back of the bridge and left.

He was then left with his crew that impatiently awaited orders. He sighed as he turned back around to look at the fallen planet, and studied the large hole that led straight to planet's core.

"Despite results of the core transfer, it was not the success we were looking for." Emperor Ra's said and focused his eyes on the trail of the rocks in space.

"Permission to speak freely, Emperor?" A crew member of the bridge asked, making the rest turn towards him.

Emperor Ra's turned midway, and saw the crew member standing from the corners of his two eyes. Surprised by the bravery of the young crew member, the emperor nodded.

"Permission granted, boy."

The crew member shifted nervously in his stance but kept his shoulders straight to control himself.

"Emperor Ra's, what we have down goes against all the Gods we stand for. By doing this, they will turn against us-"

"Now is not the time for beliefs, boy!" His Emperor turned completely and yelled. The boy jolted back in fear.

"Sacrifices must be made. Not acting will only guarantee our extin-"Emperor Ra's tried to tell him, but was interrupted by a medic that pushed the doors wide open. Everyone turned towards the medic in confusion, but not the emperor.

"Emperor Ra's!" The medic a bit out of breath yelled, "it's your mate... she's awakened."

Emperor Ra's looked at the medic excited, but turned towards his awaiting crew.

"Excuse my departing. I must attend to some personal matters," He said as he walked across the walkway.

"While I'm gone, search for the next core to extract. None of you have much time!" He said to his crew as he followed the medic through the door.

When the doors began to close automatically, the emperor whispered to himself.

"They don't have much time..."

***

The Emperor rushed to his fighter and flew out of the hectic hangar bay.

His fighter was almost identical compared to the rest of the others. The cockpit was inside of a large gold tinted sphere. The sphere had two black metal wings that were connected by sets of small magnetic orbs. Each wing had two cannons, one on top, and one under, and small exhaustions for support. The main exhaustion was located on the back of the fighter. The only difference that his fighter had with the others was the star logo printed on the wings. Only a few fighters were permitted that symbol.

He entered the pitch black sea, to which he was only a spec compared to his massive fleet. He quickly maneuvered through the large metal vessels that were shaped like cocoons to the back of the fleet. The vessels in the front were armed with war cannons while the vessels in the rear hospitalized the children and the sick.

He flew over to a vessel on the far right, and quickly boarded it. Once he got out of his fighter, he was welcomed by a medic that had expected him.

"I appreciate you arriving on such short notice, Emperor Ra's. We have much to discuss-"

"I'm here for Moya," the emperor cut him off, proceeding to walk forward without the guidance of the medic.

The medic was about to call him out, until he realized that nothing would stop him. He followed closely behind.

"I understand, my Emperor, and I can tell you how she is doing, but there are other matters that I think you should be informed of." The medic said as he tried to walk at the same pace as the emperor.

"Like what?" The emperor asked as he walked up to the door and waited for it to open.

The medic stood beside and looked at him. The door then opened, and all that could be heard were the sounds of weak moaning and coughing.

"The influx of the sick, Emperor," the medic told him.

The emperor looked down the long hall and saw dozens of bodies on stretchers. He could see a few rolling side to side in pain, and only a handful of medics were treating them.

He slowly walked down the hall and looked at the bodies lying on the stretchers. Their groans echoed throughout the hall, and their cries for their mothers overwhelmed the emperor with horror. More than half of them were missing an arm or leg, while the rest had deep gashes along their chests. He noticed a lot of them weren't moving, and stopped next to a warrior that was missing both their legs.

The warrior was calm compared to the other wounded men. Almost too calm. His uncovered head was turned toward the wall, exposing his swollen, wrinkled face. His slanted, blank eyes stared into the wall smeared with orange blood.

The emperor looked down at his lost legs, and saw a pool of blood under his slashed legs. The bottom half of the stretcher was practically soaked in it. It was then realized that he was dead.

Most of the warriors were dead. He looked at the small amount of medics treating them, and grew angry, and turned to the medic next to him.

He grabbed the medic by the collar and lifted him up and slammed him to the wall.

"Why don't you have them hooked up to the regenerators? These men are dying by the minute!" He yelled.

"We don't have enough power for those. We transferred all available energy to the incubators-like you ordered," The medic stuttered, frightened by his frustration.

"How many injured do we have?" The emperor questioned, and tightened his grip on the medic.

"About two thousand, emperor," the medic told him nervously.

The emperor's eyes widened, and slightly dug his claws into his chest.

"You're telling me we have two thousand warriors that aren't being treated?" He asked unbelievably.

The medic squirmed in pain.

"We're doing all that we can!" The medic tried to tell him.

The emperor groaned and threw him across the hall in anger. The medic flew a few feet before landing and sliding to the middle of the hall. He moaned in pain, and when he looked up, he saw the emperor stomping towards him. The terrified medic attempted to crawl away, but the emperor caught up before he could make distance.

The emperor picked him up once more and looked him in the eyes.

"If this is all you can do, then you all should be ashamed of yourselves!" The emperor yelled in his face.

The emperor dropped him and pushed him to the side. He strode down the hall, and passed several other terrified medics. He was boiling at this point, and if any of them had said a word, he would have had their head in the wall.

***

The emperor quietly walked inside the small, dimly lit resting room where his mate had been sleeping. Across the room, was his mate floating gracefully in a chamber filled with orange colored water. Several tubes were attached to her chest, and instead of wearing armor like the emperor, her rugged flesh was exposed. Unlike the emperor's dark brown skin, her skin was transparent, which showed her infected veins that would not stop spreading. Her sickness was getting worse.

"Oh Moya..." The emperor stepped up to the chamber and placed his hand on the glass as he looked up to her.

Moya slowly looked down, and talked through the breathing mask that she wore.

"My Sarek..." Moya breathed out, placing her three clawed hand on the glass with Sarek's.

"How are you feeling, my love?" Sarek asked, but he wasn't sure why. He could tell when she lied, and every time the doctors told him she was getting worse, she'd tell him the opposite.

"I feel like I'm young again," Moya laughed, but quickly coughed after.

Sarek wanted to smile, but he couldn't bring himself to. It brought him pain to see her so sick. For centuries, they had been together. They were supposed to have a few more, but after the invasion, her life had been cut short. He knew the day was coming soon, but he had yet to prepare for it.

"That's good, my love..." Sarek nodded.

"How is our Esa'ala?" Moya asked.

"She's managing like all the other younglings. We should have found the energy by now, but one after another, I've failed. If I don't retrieve the right energy to power their incubators, they'll all die, and the extinction of our race will be because of me... " He said ashamed.

Moya noticed the guilt in his voice and swam closer to the glass to try to be with him.

"The Gods will find a way to help us, don't you worry." Moya tried to soothe him.

Sarek remembered what the boy had told him. None of the decisions he had made were influenced by the Gods. It made him even more ashamed.

"Moya, the choices I've made...have all been wrong..." Sarek sighed, and looked down, "I've ended innocent families, species, and my connection towards the Gods I so followed in the past. I never desired to be emperor, but since they had forced me, I am no longer the Sarek you once shared feelings for. I am beyond forgiving now..." He told her.

There was a silence between the two. He needed to feel the guilt, but Moya wouldn't allow it.

"Sarek," she said, "look at me."

Sarek slowly looked up at her, and saw her malnourished hands pressed against the glass.

"I know deep inside that you are doing what you think is right for our people. And you are. You're making the decisions no one else on the fleet would make. Terrible? Yes. Necessary? Without a doubt." Moya comforted him.

Her words always did help him in the toughest of times. She knew how to calm him down, even when he was most angry, which was almost always.

"But you are not doing what is fair for others..." She also said, which took Sarek off guard.

"Those lives you ended did not deserve to die for us. Just because you are the emperor, does not mean you are in a position to take a life. I don't care if it means the end of us." She told him.

"You're right..." Sarek said honestly.

If that had come from any of his engineers, he or she would have been off with their head. But Moya was different. She was the only person he ever opened up to. With her, he was able to put away everything he worked for, and expose himself to his rights and wrongs.

"I need you to promise me something..." Moya said, and looked deeply into his eyes.

Sarek looked into her eyes as well, and asked.

"What is it, love?"

"Don't turn into one of them..." She begged, "I can see the flames beginning to burn in your eyes. I sense the growing frustration inside you, and I know you're letting that frustration influence your decisions. Please..." she sounded tired after speaking more words than usual, "promise me you won't become one of them after I pass..."

Sarek knew exactly which group Moya was referring to. The savages that attacked and destroyed their planet, and almost wiped out their entire race. It was because of them that their race was endangered.

He found it ridiculous that his lover would assume he would soon become one of them, but when he saw the worried look in her eyes, he started to think about it.

Am I becoming one of them, Sarek wondered, a savage?

No, he thought, my actions are justified. But all those fallen species...

Sarek looked down and clenched his claws. He had to be different from them. He could not allow himself to follow the same path.

The door behind him automatically slid open, and the silence was killed right away. In came a hurried engineer that operated in the bridge. The way the engineer rushed into the chamber room with no respect angered Sarek.

"Forgive me, emperor, but the bridge requests your presence immediately." The engineer informed his sire.

Sarek turned around and growled at the engineer.

"Can't you see I'm busy here, you insolent tool?" He barked at the engineer.

The engineer felt dumb standing in the private chamber, and was not sure what to say.

"I- for- forgive me emperor- I-"

"Sarek..." Moya soothingly whispered.

Sarek had his claws ready to grasp the engineer's face, but relaxed when he heard Moya behind him. Slowly and calmly, he turned around to see his lover.

"He wouldn't have bothered you if it weren't important," she told him, "just hear him out..."

Sarek couldn't argue that. Whatever the engineer had to say had to be good, or else he would lose his temper.

"What's the problem?" Sarek asked, his head turned half to the engineer.

"No, emperor," the engineer shook his head, "it's not a problem; it's the solution to all our problems."

Sarek turned around and gave the engineer his full interest.

"I hope you're referring to-"

"Yes, emperor," the engineer interrupted almost excitedly, "we found a planet with the perfect core."

Sarek's heart skipped a beat when he was told the news. Those years of searching, fearing the last days, were finally over. His daughter was going to live. His race was going to prevail.

"Although, there may be a problem with the planet..." the engineer said with hesitation.

Sarek looked at him, confused.

"What is it?" He asked.

The engineer looked at his emperor and gulped.

"The planet is... inhabited." The engineer said with nervousness.

Sarek groaned silently, but tried to stay hopeful.

"What kind of lifeforms occupy it? Are they associated with the Stellar Equity Jurisdiction?" Sarek asked him.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure... the bridge is looking more into it as we speak, but once they figure it out, they will need you to make the decision."  The engineer told him.

"Very well," Sarek nodded and stood up, "I am on my way."

The engineer hurriedly nodded and ran out of the chamber.

Sarek marched towards the door and was about to leave until Moya stopped him.

"Sarek..." He heard Moya cough after calling him.

He stopped and turned around for a moment and looked at his lover who kept her hand on the glass, as if she were trying to reach for him.

"Be better than them..." she told him.

Sarek sighed and looked down, and thought deeply. He had to be different from the savages, and in order to go through with that, he had to look for peaceful resolutions.

He had to.

For Moya...

***

After leaving the medical vessel, he flew back to the mother ship and quickly made his way to the bridge.

When he entered the room, he saw the engineers run frantically around the bridge, providing each other with new information on the planet that contained the perfect core.

At the other side of the walkway, he saw his line of commanders around the red 3D hologram map that projected the stars and planets above the table. There, they pointed at one planet in a small system, a planet that only had one satellite orbiting it.

There were four commanders that stood around the table. All of them wore heavy, bulky metal armor with torn up capes.

"How odd, this planet happens to be the only inhabited earth of its galaxy." Rogwen, one of the commanders, informed his comrades.

Rogwen was the most intelligent, but maddest of all. He worked tirelessly in the medical and technical divisions. He made sure all the vessels were fully operational, and that all the weaponry was ready for combat. Sarek and the rest of the command thought he was mad and unfit to be handling their delicate technology, but they could not deny the genius he was.

Rogwen's armor compared to the rest was the thinnest, and the cape he wore was white and dirty. His hissing voice was nasal and high pitched, and stood hunched over. He was not a capable fighter, but his expertise in science helped them in the fight just as much as one.

"How is that even possible? That galaxy is in the far reaches of the outer rim." Lovok pointed out.

Lovok was the oldest commander of the fleet. He knew more about the fleet than anyone else, even Sarek. He wore a clean, black cape and stood tall. His voice was deep and always spoke with wisdom and clarity. He wrapped half of his body with his cape, and kept his right arm under it.

"Primitive species still exist in the universe, Lovok. It even seems like they've been able to manage on their own," Rogwen answered as he studied the appearing info on the planet.

"Does that mean they've never..." Sarek paused, trying to take in the rare occurrence, "they've never interacted with anyone from beyond?"

"Well with what I have on here, other than the Qurans making short stops, this society has never been touched for its entire existence..." Rogwen said and coughed.

"So they're not under the Stellar Equity Jurisdiction..." Torok pointed out and nodded as he began to realize what Sarek now feared to do.

Torok was the extreme war commander. Though his actions were to be questioned, his performance level had never been bad.

He wore a torn black cape, and a heavy set of battle armor. His left arm was mechanical, and had a battle scar that went across his left cheek, His voice was also nasal like, but wasn't as high pitched as Rogwens.

"That means we can go ahead with the core extraction without interference from the Stellar Equity." Torok said excitedly.

"I wouldn't count on that," Lovok said, and pointed at a white circle that went around the planet, "this planet has been under heavy surveillance by them."

"For how long?" Sarek asked as he walked closer to study the planet.

"A few centuries, give or take," Lovok answered.

"And for good reason too," Rogwen said and pinched the planet. He then dragged it over to the side and released his fingers, enlarging the planet to where it swallowed the others, leaving just the planet and its satelite.

"The planet in regards to minerals and H2O has proven to be an extremely valuable planet," he said as he spun the hologram, and stared at the planet in awe, "incredible,  71% of its surface is covered by water. No wonder the Stellar Equity has had their eye on this one: It's nearly perfect!"

"Don't excite yourself, Rogwen. Once we arrive, we'll take it's core for ourselves and ruin the Stellar Equity's plans." Turok snickered.

"What stage is this species in at the moment? Do they have battle stations orbiting their planet?" Lovok asked, but couldn't help but notice the thirst for violence in Turok's eyes.

"It seems like they're still in their chrysalis stage," Rogwen laughed and shook his head, "you'd think with all those minerals at their disposal that they'd be far more advanced," Rogwen continued to laugh. He then zoomed out and spun the hologram, now observing the objects that floated outside the planet. "They do have satellites, but..." he carefully studied one, "they are not very imposing if you ask."

"I suggest that we leave this planet be. If we extract their core, we'll have another set of problems to deal with." Lovok suggested to Sarek.

"We don't have time to search anymore! It's now, or our children's' lives!" Turok yelled, and turned to Rogwen to further discuss the defenses of the planet.

Sarek glanced at Lovok, and noticed the long look he gave him. He could tell that Lovok was beginning to get tired of all of it.

Lovok had never been entirely on board with the way they've dealt with the past issues, and he made that quite clear to Sarek. He thought the same way Moya did: Protect every life no matter the cost.

Sarek remembered what Moya told him to promise her.

"Don't turn into one of them..." He heard her weak voice say in his head.

Sarek closed his eyes and breathed in while the rest debated over the planet. For some reason, the decision to kill an entire race for their planet's core had become much more difficult to make. His people depended on that energy to survive. He thought nothing of the planets and lives he had destroyed in the past. Why did his morals decide to kick in when it mattered most?

Sarek realized what he had to do, and breathed out.

"What's the population count of the planet?" He asked Rogwen.

Rogwen quickly ended the conversation with Turok and cleared his throat.

"The dominant species of the planet holds a population count of nearly eleven billion, emperor." he said as he scrolled down the info list in the table.

"That's just the dominant species. The amount of life on the earth is in the trillions." Rogwen then pointed out, sounding baffled.

"We're focusing on the dominant species, not all the lifeforms," Sarek told Rogwen, and turned to Lovok, "how many empty vessels do we have?"

Lovok was surprised by the unusual question, and struggled to think.

"After losing the Javalia battalion, we have a total of twelve unmanned vessels." Lovok said confused, and asked, "why?"

None of the commanders weren't sure why their emperor needed to know that, but Turok knew right away, and glared at him.

"How much of the dominant species could we bring with us?' Sarek asked Lovok, and before he could answer, Turok interrupted.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about sheltering them, Sarek," Turok said as he stood closely beside him.

"I'm not thinking about it, Turok, I'm doing it." Sarek assured him, and scrolled through the terminal in the table, and turned to Lovok, "Lovok, ready the vessels for the lifeforms, make sure they are safe for them to board."

Lovok looked at Sarek relieved, and nodded, "Right away, emperor."

Turok groaned and slammed the table. Everyone was startled but Sarek.

"This is a big mistake, Sarek. What if these lifeforms are hostile? We cannot take the risk. We have to eliminate them before they do us!"

"Not everything is about killing, Turok. We cannot continue with this barbaric decision making. We have to maintain our morals, not cast them out!" Sarek yelled, frustrated. His roar caught the attention of every engineer on the bridge. The tension between the two swept everyone like a flood as the they stared each other down.

Sarek stomped over to Turok and looked down at him. Sarek glared at him intensely, and stood in front of him to where Torok was in his shadow.

"And you address me as emperor, Torok, or else those lifeforms won't be the only ones hostile towards you." Sarek warned.

Turok snarled and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Yes... Emperor Ra's." He said unwillingly.

"You are dismissed, commander," Sarek ordered as he returned the look.

Turok turned around and marched out of the bridge. He bumped into several engineers along the way out, his cape flapping like a flag. The tension in the bridge left with him, and right after, the engineers continued with their work.

Sarek felt a hand land on his shoulder, and when he turned, he saw Lovok.

"You made the right decision, emperor. Soon, the people will give you the respect you deserve."

Sarek turned around and looked at Lovok, unphased by what had just happened.

"I'm not looking for their respect. I'm just trying to do what is right," he said and looked at the hologram of the planet.

"And that you are," Lovok assured him.

"Violence won't save us, emperor" Lovok said, "violence is what led us to this predicament in the first place."

Lovok was right. The same violence the savages committed was the same violence they were committing. Sarek knew they had to be better. He had to be better.

Sarek walked over to the wide window, and observed the destroyed planet. Lovok stood behind him, and stared out to the planet.

"This won't happen again," Sarek swore to himself.

Lovok looked at him, and nodded.

The two stood in silence for a few moments before he turned midway to Lovok.

"We have no time to waste," he said and thought about the children and the sick, but particularly his family, "bring up the wormhole."

He heard the engineers behind him comply, and press several keys in their terminals.

Within moments, a large black mass formed not far from the planet. The mass looked like a planet itself, but instead of there being rock and water, it was filled with interstellar clouds and stars that slowly disappeared as they whirled to the edges.

"Commander Lovok, order the fleet for interstellar travel." Sarek told him.

Lovok nodded, and spoke into the terminal on the table,

"This is commander Lovok. All Tyrank vessels initiate Stellar 201. I repeat, initiate Stellar 201. We are a go for Terra 9 in the Outer Rim." He ordered his fleet.

Sarek breathed in when he felt the ship begin to move. There was something about the capability to move an entire fleet that was so powerful for him. He knew he controlled a weapon that could suck away all the life from a planet. The last few attempts he had abused it. He told himself that that would never happen again.

Before his ship entered the wormhole, he got one final look at the planet he had just destroyed. He could still picture the wounded parents fighting until their last breaths for their frightened children. The only way he could make things right, was to do things differently.

Sarek exhaled calmly and closed his eyes right as the mothe rship entered the wormhole.

This is going to be different, Sarek thought.

No one will have to die this time.