Ch26 The Price of Protection

Chapter 26

High above the planet, Captain Unkud watched humans die.

The casualty count occupied only one corner of the tactical display suspended above his desk, yet the numbers changed so rapidly that they drew his attention away from everything else. Thousands of individual biometric feeds streamed across the orbital command network, each represented by a small marker that shifted color according to the cadet's condition. Green indicated stable biological activity, yellow signaled distress, and red marked a critical condition.

Black meant the signal had gone silent.

Every black marker represented another human whose wristband had stopped transmitting viable biological activity. Another recruit lost before completing even the most basic phase of Exclipse training.

Unkud sat behind a broad desk of dark alloy, his armored fingers resting against its surface as he studied the planetary projection floating before him. Hundreds of cities glowed across the holographic globe, surrounded by smaller lights representing human deployment zones. Additional displays showed casualty reports arriving from other frontier worlds assigned to Prince Vorash's trial cohort, their figures updating as Skynet processed new information.

Several regions were bleeding red.

Far too many.

The initial losses hadn't surprised him. The recruits were newly Awakened, inexperienced, and poorly equipped for the environments into which they'd been deployed. Even those raised on Earth with Exclipse training understood little about actual frontier combat. Unkud had expected the first day to eliminate a substantial number of cadets, particularly those foolish enough to wander into dangerous territory or engage creatures beyond their capabilities.

But the current mortality rate had exceeded his projections.

And it was still accelerating.

A sharp chime interrupted his examination.

[ENCRYPTED PRIORITY TRANSMISSION]

[ROYAL AUTHORIZATION VERIFIED]

The crest of the Zorvak royal house appeared across his primary terminal, its intricate golden design rotating slowly above the desk.

Unkud straightened.

"Accept."

The planetary display dimmed, and a holographic figure materialized before him.

Prince Vorash.

The prince wore dark imperial armor beneath a heavy mantle, gold engravings running along the edges of its black plates. His long frame remained relaxed as he settled into the chair on the other end of the transmission, but Unkud had served the Zorvak royal family long enough to recognize the danger concealed beneath that stillness.

Vorash's amber eyes immediately found the casualty figures behind him.

"My Lord." Unkud bowed his head.

The prince ignored the greeting.

"Numbers."

Unkud had expected the question.

"Six million confirmed human fatalities across your assigned trial cohort. Approximately eighteen percent of the total intake. Additional biometric signals are still being lost."

For the first time, Vorash's expression shifted.

Only slightly.

But enough.

"Eighteen percent."

"Yes, My Lord."

"In one solar cycle."

"Yes."

A low growl escaped the prince. His claws pressed into the armrest of his chair as he studied the planetary projection.

"I placed them in frontier territories, Unkud. I did not throw them naked into a Rank Four Dungeon."

"No, My Lord."

"Then explain how millions of newly Awakened humans managed to die before their first sunset."

Unkud expanded the casualty data, bringing the planetary projection back between them alongside a graph showing losses throughout the first deployment cycle. During the initial hours, the numbers had climbed at a rate consistent with their projections. Thousands of cadets had died from exposure, poor squad coordination, dehydration, territorial predators, and encounters with creatures beyond their capabilities.

Those losses were unfortunate, but expected.

Then the second half of the graph appeared.

The line turned nearly vertical.

"The wilderness is not responsible for the majority of the recent fatalities," Unkud said.

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Vorash stopped moving.

Unkud enlarged several deployment sectors, highlighting the locations where the most significant increases had occurred.

"During the first portion of the cycle, casualty rates remained within projected parameters. The mortality spike began several hours after the initial deployments, with nearly simultaneous increases across multiple cities and worlds."

"Simultaneous?"

"Near enough to warrant investigation."

"Across separate worlds?"

"Yes, My Lord. Different environments, different predator populations, and different local authorities. Nearly identical timing."

Vorash's stare hardened.

Unkud opened several incident records, allowing the prince to examine the evidence for himself.

The first recording showed a group of human cadets sprinting through a narrow alley. Their uniforms were torn, and one was bleeding heavily from the shoulder. As they approached an intersection, a masked figure dropped from a rooftop and landed directly in their path.

The attacker moved before the cadets could react.

The feed ended in static.

Another recording showed a squad returning toward a city gate, carrying the remains of several creatures they'd apparently killed during their first hunt. Three unidentified combatants intercepted them beyond the municipal boundary, where the city's laws offered little protection.

The humans tried to defend themselves.

They died in seconds.

The third recording came from a boarding house.

A corridor.

A door forced open.

Several bodies lying across the stone floor.

Unkud closed the recordings and returned to the casualty map.

"We began identifying organized execution teams several hours after deployment. Most operated beyond municipal boundaries, but some entered the cities using falsified credentials or employed local intermediaries. Their targets were overwhelmingly human cadets, and their movements suggest access to deployment information that should not have been publicly available."

Vorash's tail moved once behind him.

Slowly.

"My siblings."

"That is the most probable explanation."

"Probable?"

Unkud met his gaze. "I do not yet possess evidence sufficient to formally accuse a member of the royal bloodline."

Vorash's lips pulled back slightly, revealing the edges of his teeth.

"You possess enough evidence to tell me what we both know."

Unkud inclined his head.

"Yes, My Lord."

Silence filled the office.

Vorash leaned back, his claws tapping against the armrest as he considered the reports. Unkud had anticipated interference from the prince's siblings, as had Vorash himself. Mercenaries, manipulated deployment coordinates, engineered predator migrations, equipment sabotage, and quiet assassinations were all methods they had discussed before the human cohort arrived.

Methods that could be denied.

This was different.

Six million dead in a single cycle was an unmistakable challenge to the prince's authority. Whoever had arranged the attacks wasn't merely attempting to weaken his trial cohort. They were demonstrating how easily they could destroy the resources he'd been entrusted with, and how little protection his position offered the humans assigned to him.

If the mortality rate continued, Vorash would fail his father's survival requirement long before the trial year ended.

The tapping stopped.

"Enough."

Vorash leaned forward.

"They want me to react. They want me to pull the humans back or run to Father and demand his intervention."

His eyes hardened.

"I will do neither."

Unkud waited, watching the prince study the casualty map. Vorash had always been willing to sacrifice lives to achieve his objectives, but he disliked being maneuvered into a position where someone else controlled the terms of a conflict.

"My siblings exploited a weakness," Vorash continued. "The humans possess no standing. They are foreign conscripts with no faction, no patronage, no alliances, and no political value to anyone except me. Killing one costs nothing."

"Correct."

"Then we change the cost."

Unkud's attention sharpened.

Vorash stood and walked through the holographic projection, the light of the casualty map passing over his armor.

"Every city already contains recognized factions."

"Thousands, My Lord."

"Mercenary companies. Guilds. Noble houses. Trade syndicates. Cultivation orders. Military auxiliaries."

"Yes."

"Good. Force the humans to join them."

Unkud studied the prince for a moment, considering the implications.

"Mandatory faction integration."

"Exactly."

Vorash turned toward him.

"Once a human carries recognized faction standing, killing them becomes more complicated. Not impossible, but complicated."

Unkud understood immediately.

A mercenary company might retaliate against anyone murdering its recruits. A trade house could demand compensation for the destruction of an asset under contract. A guild might place a bounty on an assassin, while a criminal syndicate could respond in ways far more unpleasant than any formal legal process.

The cadets would no longer be isolated targets scattered across unfamiliar worlds. They would become members of larger organizations, each with its own resources, interests, political connections, and enemies.

Attacking them would carry consequences that extended beyond Exclipse.

"It will not prevent assassination," Unkud said.

"No."

"It may not substantially reduce covert attacks."

"No."

Vorash smiled.

"But my siblings will have to work for it."

Unkud bowed his head.

"Understood."

"Send a formal directive through Skynet. Every surviving human cadet must join a recognized faction."

"Deadline?"

"Seven local cycles. Those who cannot secure membership in that time are unlikely to become useful."

Unkud entered the instruction, allowing Skynet to begin preparing the directive for distribution throughout the prince's assigned territories.

"Completion reward?"

"Twenty low-grade X Energy crystals."

Unkud paused.

That was a substantial amount for recruits who had only recently Awakened. It would cover their immediate expenses and allow them to purchase equipment they might otherwise spend weeks trying to afford. Across millions of surviving cadets, the total expenditure would be considerable.

Vorash noticed his hesitation.

"They need an incentive."

"They are already facing dismissal for noncompliance."

"Fear makes them move. Greed makes them move faster."

Unkud recorded the reward without further objection.

"Anything else?"

"Notify every recognized faction operating within my assigned territories. Tell them the human intake is now open for recruitment, and tell them I expect cooperation."

"Some will refuse."

"Of course."

Vorash's smile widened.

"Make certain they understand I will remember which factions assisted my initiative."

Unkud looked at him.

That was not technically an order.

It was far more effective than one.

A faction that welcomed the prince's recruits might gain favorable consideration in future contracts, access to imperial resources, or opportunities that would otherwise remain closed to it. Those that refused wouldn't necessarily face immediate punishment, but their leaders would understand the danger of disappointing a member of the royal family.

"And those that refuse?" Unkud asked.

"Nothing."

Vorash turned away.

"Today."

Unkud understood.

"And your siblings?"

"I will deal with them."

The prince's voice lost the last trace of amusement.

"They have had their fun. I will make it clear that the open slaughter ends now. If they wish to interfere with my cohort, they may do so properly."

Unkud knew exactly what that meant.

Quietly.

Through intermediaries.

With plausible deniability.

The killings wouldn't stop. They would simply become harder to detect, and the cadets fortunate enough to secure powerful patrons would have a better chance of surviving them.

Vorash returned his attention to the tactical display.

"Protect the candidates who demonstrate value."

"All of them?"

The prince looked almost offended.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Unkud waited.

"The useful ones. Everyone else can prove they deserve the resources required to keep them alive."

The prince raised one claw, and the transmission began to dissolve.

"One more thing, Unkud."

"My Lord?"

"Find out which humans performed best during the first hunt."

Unkud's eyes shifted toward the enormous database behind him. The command network had recorded every completed directive, every registered kill, and every cadet whose wristband had continued transmitting through the first deployment cycle. There was no shortage of information, although sorting meaningful accomplishments from blind luck would require considerably more work.

"By what metric?"

Vorash smiled.

"Survival is a good place to start."

The transmission vanished.

Unkud remained seated in the silence of his office, watching the empty space where the prince's hologram had stood. Behind him, the casualty ticker continued climbing as fresh reports arrived from cities and worlds throughout the assigned territories.

6,013,441.

6,013,992.

6,014,703.

He studied the figures for several seconds before reopening the planetary projection. New clusters of red appeared along the borders of several deployment zones, and Skynet marked another series of suspected coordinated attacks for review.

The prince's order would complicate matters.

Recognized factions would demand information, resources, and assurances before accepting inexperienced humans into their ranks. Some would exploit the sudden influx of recruits, offering contracts designed to bind desperate cadets to years of dangerous service. Others would refuse outright, unwilling to become involved in a conflict between members of the Zorvak royal family.

But Unkud had his orders.

He opened Skynet's command network and authorized the new directive for every surviving cadet under Vorash's command.

"Prepare a cohort-wide transmission."

The system responded immediately.

[MANDATORY EXCLIPSE DIRECTIVE PREPARED]

[FACTION INTEGRATION]

[OBJECTIVE: JOIN A RECOGNIZED CITY FACTION]

[DEADLINE: 7 LOCAL CYCLES]

[COMPLETION REWARD: 20 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS]

[FAILURE TO COMPLY: DISMISSAL FROM EXCLIPSE TRAINING]

[DISMISSED CADETS FORFEIT CITY RESIDENCY STATUS]

Unkud reviewed the order, then authorized its distribution.

[DIRECTIVE APPROVED]

[TRANSMISSION SCHEDULED]

Across the orbital command network, millions of surviving human biometric markers continued moving through unfamiliar cities and dangerous wilderness. Most of those cadets had no idea how close they'd come to becoming casualties of a conflict they didn't even know existed.

By the time they woke, they would have another order waiting for them.

And seven local cycles to find someone willing to claim them.