hey guys I know its not done, but enjoy
Goinig through the crowded streets of a warzone was one thing, but to find out all the soldiers were dressed as civilians was another. The most disturbing thing to some was the fact that the dead bodies of these civilians littered the streets and alleys (considering there weren't many alleys, I assumed the one I saw packed to the brim a rarity), but I myself take no pity in the dead, it was the living's fault from the beginning, and the ignorance of the deceased their own ending.
Moving on, some thought I was an innocent who chose no side, and pulled me aside to chat. I would let them speak for a few moments and push them aside. I didn't have time for meaningless chit-chat with inferior ramblers, and standing around in a place filled with weaponry didn't help my mood. I loved observing wars, but not being in them; too high of a risk to be shot, or worse, killed.
Eventually, I found the collumn of personal space cubes, or PSC's and pulled the fake one aside. I entered the staircase that led down, and tapped on the reinforced door three times. A man opened the slot for looking, and asked, "What's the word on the streets?"
"I wouldn't know", I said, "I'm a politician."
"Come in", and the door to the tunnel that led to the stage where the two Generals opened up.
This wasn't the first time Politicians used secret entrances to fool the public, and it wasn't as though the tunnel wasn't packed with guards from both sides. This evened the field, and made it less likely a coup would be staged. Luckily for me, I didn't belong to either side, I was just friends with one of the Generals. Too bad what I planned wouldn't give one leverage over the other.
The stage was rather large and made of wood like in the old days. There were three podiums; one on each side for each general, and a middle one for guest speakers with their own opinions. On the front of the the stage, I recognized a blue light coming from the edge.
The light spilling out of the slit wasn't just beams of UV light, but highly concentrated beams of plasma. It prevented assassination attemps, and stopped the crowd from uproaring, and taking the stage. I was quite proud of it. Then again why wouldn't I be? I created it after all.
"But even you, Kraden, would agree with me that the planet is overpopulated already", stated General Dartix," You would also agree that with the sea being composed of acid, we cannot live below it."
"And why is that", asked Kraden," Can we not build ships that can submerge themselves under acid, and have we not already? I can't see why the sea wouldn't be harnessed anyway; with our need of power and it being a usable resource."
"That is easy for a foreigner to say, you have not lived here long enough to realize it isn't a natural acid. It has decayed everything it touched, and even with our advancements and understanding of chemicals, we cannot tame the sea of this planet." The crowd outside roared. I realized then that it wasn't just a debate of rulership, it was a debate over the survival of both sides.
I looked at General Dartix from the back, and saw him look onto the crowd. Their bolstering of his views gave him a false sense security. When he looked back and saw me, he dove into his false sense, and proclaimed," It was hard enough finding a way to terreaform this planet and now you demand us to give all of our other resources to you into finding a way to cultivate it as well? I do not think our planet, no, our PEOPLE, will not stand for this or for you! I know where I stand. With that, I declare a duel."
"Excuse me", asked Kraden," A duel? I did not demand you give me anything, and thus, I can justly decline this accusation. I do not wish to duel you over the planet, and I do not wish to rule it. I only want what's best for us both. If you recall, I only asked for enough time and resources to secure another planet. If you were the leader of the people of Earth, you would understand, just as I would have understood the devestating effects of the acide on this planet before suggesting the harnessing of the energy within it. I do not want to occupy this planet if it means the annihilation of us both, but I do not want my fellow man to be sent out into space to die because we cannot get over our petty squabblings of why we can't be the adults we are and share."
The crowed cheered louder after hearing Kraden's words. I admit they would inspire just about anyone who knew the jeopardy both sides were in. That is, almost everyone.
In an act of desperation, Dartix said alloud, "If we were to go with your plan and integrate, the planet would die in a year". Everyone went surprisingly quiet for a few moments. "What I mean by this is that our food supply came from you back on earth. It is why we have survived, and why we cannot leave."
Kraden shot a look back at Dartix and said, "What happened to the growth stations floating around your sun's orbit, did we not give you the schematics to create one?"
"You did, but they failed. There was a leak in each and every one of our hulls due to a manufacturing defect."
Kraden reposted, "Do you not have the technology to check for leaks and hull ruptures? Is it not what we specifically told you to check for in the first place?"
"We took it on good faith that your scientists knew what they were doing", countered Dartix, "Our planet was fine until the hulls ruptured on each of our stations. Not even our engineers can fix the damage done to our stations."
Then Kraden slipped. The crowd had been cool, calm, and collected until Kraded opened his big mouth and said, "I think it's your fault then, for killing your own planet. Now you suggest your followers kill us as well, for our ships, to create another world for yourselves. You sir, are a travesty to the federation, as well as to your own people. May you rot in hell."
Albiet what Kraden said was true on all accounts, it also invoked the Rite of Transgression. Basically, it states that any faction leader personally offended by another faction leader can challenge the transgressor to a duel. The duel is normally to first blood or, given the circumstances of the situation, it is to the death. In this case, Dartix directly accuesed, disrespected, exposed, and humiliated publicly by Kraden.
Since Dartix had chance dangled in front of him like bait to a worm, he seized it and went for the final blow. While the
