The Legend of Earth

the Human forces to a more manageable level, not without the help of the Juireans. It was a classic Catch-22 situation.

So what was the Klin’s endgame? Was it to defeat the Juirean fleet? That had been done, but still the Juireans survived, on Juir and countless other locations throughout the galaxy. Was it to defeat the Humans? That had never been their main goal. They would accomplish that through simple battle attrition with the Juireans. If everything had gone according to plan, the Humans would have been reduced to an insignificant player in the game, one which could be easily eliminated at some future date.

Their goal had always been to have the Humans clear a path for them all the way to the planet Juir. They sought to excoriate the planet, much as the Juireans had done to the Klin homeworld thousands of years before. But even that act would not eradicate the Juireans from the galaxy. The destruction of Juir would be more symbolic than decisive, and just the beginning of the decline of Juirean influence within the galaxy. And then with the help of the Kracori — instead of the Humans — the Klin would begin the slow and arduous task of ferreting out all the remaining Juireans.

If that was their endgame, what could they do now?

It had been several weeks before Adam had come up with the most-feasible Plan B for the Klin. It was simple: They would still attack Juir. Whether that action would have a lasting influence on the galaxy or not was anyone’s guess. But the Klin would have their revenge — or at least a huge slice of it — for the destruction of their homeworld. It wasn’t the ultimate solution, but it was the best they could do at the time.

If that truly was the Klin’s Plan B, then Adam might actually have something to offer the Juireans in exchange for his life, as well as the lives of his companions. But, damn, he would have to do the best sales job in history to pull it off….

Chapter 3

Hydon Ra Elys was the most-powerful living entity in the galaxy, but he would have surrendered that title in a heartbeat for just a moment of peace in his troubled world.

For over four thousand years the Juirean race had ruled the galaxy, and during all that time crises had come and gone, each dealt with by a Council Elder such as himself. Some of the conflicts these ancient Juireans presided over had left the race stronger, while others had rocked it to its very core. Yet throughout it all, the Juireans had survived.

But now, as Hydon struggled with the deluge of events surrounding this latest crisis, he wasn’t so sure they would survive this time, at least not as the undisputed leaders of the galaxy. There were simply too many forces uniting against them.

He took a moment to massage his neck, relieving only a fraction of the stress that resided there. Then he looked down at his desktop and the six datapads resting there, all lit with information catastrophic to his people and the further existence of the Expansion.

Hydon was the head of the Juirean Council, and therefore at the very pinnacle of political power in the galaxy. A succession vote had replaced the former Elder, Nylor Ca Crunic, with Hydon nearly thirty-two standard years earlier. Nylor was older than Hydon and remained a member of the Council to this day. Juireans advanced through a process of confidence votes, supported by the Councilmembers’ real-life experience with the nominees’ abilities. Nylor had not been a poor Elder; the Council had simply decided that Hydon’s skill set had been superior to Nylor’s at the time.

In light of the current situation — namely the war with the Humans and the Klin — Hydon knew his days as Elder were numbered. He also knew the confidence vote would not take place until the current situation had been stabilized — or Hydon made a major blunder. Hydon was tempted to label his authorization of the attack upon the planet Earth as a blunder worthy of demotion, even though he also knew he had been operating on the best intelligence available at the time. With the current crisis far from resolved, Hydon knew that now was not the time to make a change, as did the majority of the Council. However, when the time was right, Hydon Ra Elys would be the first to vote for his removal as Elder.

His thoughts were interrupted by the entry into his office of three of his most senior advisors. They were Fleet Marshal Relion, his Counselor Yol-fin and Councilmember Wydor. Even though he had been expecting their arrival, Hydon did not feel prepared for the decisions that had to be made at this meeting.

Hydon Ra Elys had been born in the K-32 breeding facility on Salin. As it was with all Juireans for the past three thousand years, he never knew his birth-female, or where the seed came from that would fertilize her. Upon birth, he was taken to the rearing stations at the facility and nursed to Stage Two by the postnatal specialists. Testing had begun at age three, after which he was advanced to pre-Overlord screening. By the age of eight, he had shown enough promise to be permanently assigned to the Overlord Corps and transferred to the planet Crilis for advanced training.

He personally did not set foot upon the planet Juir until he had reached twelve-standard when he made his first pilgrimage to the planet as part of Overlord orientation.

He could still remember the awe and thrill he felt when he first stepped foot upon the birthplace of his race. The air was sweet, and the verdant hills sang with the rustling of the leaves of the brilliant mily trees. The tour had included visits to the Southern Sea, as well as the ancient Guard facilities in Juir City. Yet the highlight of the trip came when the caravan carried the three hundred young Overlords to the top of the Kacoran Plain. Hydon was literally shaking in his knees when he first saw Malor Tower, the great pyramid majestically rising up in all its glory, golden starlight reflecting off its glass exterior.

Then came the moment every Juirean covets, the time when they first set eyes upon the Contact Monument. The huge pyramid that was Malor Tower had been built directly over the monument — the very place where an alien race had first made contact with the Juirean people. Of course, at that time the people of the planet Axlus were not called Juireans — only those from Juir City called themselves that. But that soon changed when the inhabitants of the planet realized once and for all that they were not people of a single city, or land or continent, but instead belonged to an entire planet and to a single race of beings.

For millennia Juireans from across the Expansion had come to Juir to behold the monument, whether they be Admins, Guards, Counselors, Overlords or Elites. All Juireans were welcome.

It would be twenty-eight more years before Hydon would return to the birthplace of his race. Thereafter, he would depart on various assignments, but then always return, having acquired just a little more experience, a little more respect from his peers.

Then forty-one years later he returned to Juir for good. He was voted to Elite Class, and six years later found a seat on the Juirean Council itself.

Yet even to this day Hydon could still remember the overwhelming joy he felt when first viewing the Contact Monument, even though now he sat in an office forty-two stories above the monolith and directly over the tall spire that marked the very first contact point by an alien race with the soil of Juir.

As his guests took their seats, Hydon felt a sour taste welling up in his throat, as the thought of that first alien contact lingered. That contact had been made by the race of beings known as the Klin, and yes, the history and legacies of both races were that intertwined, trailing all the back to the very beginning when the people of Axlus became the Juireans. A day didn’t go by that the Elder had not thought of the Klin, whether chanting some curse word whose origins were long forgotten, or curious about the latest rumor he’d heard regarding the long- extinct Klin.

Hydon knew that it was simply an act of fate that found him in the position of Elder right at the very moment the Klin chose to reveal their continued existence, to prove all the rumors true and to set the Expansion and the Juirean people on a collision course with their oldest nemesis. That was unfortunate. And even though the verification of the existence of the Klin was an event of monumental proportion to both the Juireans and to the Expansion, his most immediate concern was not with the Klin, but rather with the race of beings called