“But he refused. Not because he isn’t loyal to the Voku, but because he said you would not trust him. That your blind obedience to the Zak’de’ron, while somewhat meritous, would limit his effectiveness here, and that a new face would serve you better in your transition. I am that new face, but I will not harbor the Zak’de’ron propaganda. Cal-com said you were a strong people, so I will not coddle you. In order to carry out your duty as protectors of the galaxy, you must have the truth. Truth is not a luxury, it is a necessity. And this truth is going to hurt you more than you already have been by the Zak’de’ron leaving. I can feel your pain, but if I do not cut to the heart of the problem now, it will linger forever. I will not subject you to that, so we will face the harshness of the fact that he,” Hightower said, pointing in the direction of the now distant dragon, “is a liar.”
A ripple of more than thought started to muffle through the crowd, but Hightower new better than to react to them. They needed to react to him, and the faster he delivered this the better.
“The Zak’de’ron have done many good things in their history, but always for their own benefit. They have also done many bad things, also for their benefit. They do not care about honor. About right and wrong. They do not care about being the good guys or protectors of the galaxy…unless it is beneficial to them. They taught you, ironically, to be better than they were, because they needed protectors to serve them. But ultimately they did not deserve your loyalty, for they have betrayed you in many ways that the Bo’ja will tell you about, and I hereby order them to do so when asked.”
Hightower pointed down to a section of the largest courtyard before him, which was packed shoulder to shoulder so tightly he couldn’t see the ground they were standing on, but there in a different colored group were the Bo’ja…or at least some of them…as all had been returned to Voku worlds as part of the withdrawal agreement. The Zak’de’ron were not taking them with them anyway, but they had not been back to Voku territory in millennia, for once a Voku was elevated and transformed into a Bo’ja, they never came back. Leaving the Voku sucked dry of their best and brightest, only now to have them returned.
“Tell them what they ordered you to do. Tell them who and where you fought, and for what. Tell them how the Zak’de’ron used the Voku as breeding stock to produce Bo’ja, and how Cal-com was sent away because he wished to do more than oversee that stock. The Zak’de’ron cultivated the Voku into protectors, only to reduce you to a training group to sift out who was and wasn’t worthy to become Bo’ja. Tell them. Tell them everything.”
“But I will tell you what they cannot. The Zak’de’ron are leaving this galaxy behind forever. They are abandoning it because they could not dominate it. They have joined an alliance of other races more powerful than them called the Bond of Resistance, of which the Neofan are a primary member. The Zak’de’ron are now the junior member in this alliance, and they cannot take you with them. Nor do they wish to do so. They want to leave this galaxy behind, because to them it is failure. They failed multiple times, for during their great absence from the Voku they were nearly destroyed. Only a single Zak’de’ron survived in stasis along with a large number of eggs as a backup plan if they lost their war, and they did. They lost their war, though they have never told you this. Nor did they tell you who they fought, or why.”
“The Zak’de’ron once held dominance in this galaxy over everything except the Hadarak. They did so by forming an alliance with other races of merit that they enhanced in various ways, similar to you. Except they didn’t tell them about you or the others they kept as part of their own servants. They were duplicitous, and that is why the Voku were not annihilated in their lost war…because their enemies did not know you existed.”
“This was not for your benefit, but for theirs. The alliance they created in the Outer Core of the galaxy was called the V’kit’no’sat, and they led this in a triumvirate with two other races known as the Oso’lon and J’gar. Neither were as advanced, but were formidable. One of the air, one of the land, and one of the water. This triumvirate led more than a hundred other races as they sought to battle the Hadarak and do some other good things…as well as many bad things. Equality was the defining tenant of the V’kit’no’sat, but over time the other V’kit’no’sat learned the Zak’de’ron were holding back information and technology from them. So they did what the V’kit’no’sat would have done in their situation…they set an ambush, and launched a civil war against the Zak’de’ron. All of the V’kit’no’sat races uplifted by the Zak’de’ron turned against them and in a long and bitter war destroyed the Zak’de’ron, then hunted down the survivors across the galaxy, meaning to purge them from existence.”
“They almost succeeded, and except for this stasis plan they would have succeeded. I know of this because it was Star Force who accidentally stumbled upon the
