The room was strewn with bodies.
Beams of light filtered down from above as great glowing pillars of white. Dust motes spun through them like infant whirlwinds. Once reaching the ground, the light spilled across the floor, pooling around the bodies which lay thick and heavy. Fur stuck up in matted tufts from the backs of the corpses glittering white in the illumination and dripping with alien icor.
At the front of the room, a grand throne sat, made of white stone, with a back so tall it nearly scraped the ceiling. One of those beams of light filtered in directly from above illuminating the throne in blazing white, and the figure which sat upon it.
Lord Celex of the Celzex sat trembling on his throne, but not in fear.
His body hummed and trembled with the power of the drug as it courses through his body, the adrenaline urning him to act, to fight or to run or to leap high into the air. The feeling was exhilarating, but frustrating as there was nothing to take out his energy upon. He stared at the bodies where they moldered on the floor below his throne.
A fitting end to his rivals.
He had been aware of descension from his people for some time. Not the sort of dissenters one might assume. You would never find a Celzex complaining about a powerful warlord, or an aggressive dictator, for it was the only kind of rule that they accepted. No these dissenters were those who spread rumors of his weakening power. They used his friendship with the humans and his acceptance of the GA as proof that he was growing soft, and behind his back they amassed followers to back them in preparation for a duel.
In the Celzex court, it was common, if not expected that powerful members of Celxex society vie for power by way of duel and open combat to the death. These had slowly worked up their ranks until they reached his throne room.
Their resistance had been laughable.
And he had let them know it.
He had laughed in their faces as they lined up before his throne demanding that he give himself over, or fight them to the death. They had been willing to fight him one at a time, but with the adrenaline running through his body he had a better idea.
He would fight them all at once and whoever survived would get to be king.
They had not stood a chance, and now their bodies lay strewn abut his throne room as so much refuse awaiting the cleaners who would take the bodies and dispose of them. Hopefully they would be left out for the carrioncrawlers to deal with as a ignominious end to his woe begotten enemies.
"My lord."
"WHAT!"
His royal advisor cringed away from his throne, huddled near it's base and partially behind it as if to use it as a shield. It wouldn't have worked, Lord Celzex mused, if he wanted to kill his advisor, than nothing would stop him, certainly not cowering behind his throne. he even thought about Killing him, for the fun of it, but held off.
It wouldn't do to kill members of his own court.
Amexx may have been a coward, but he had his uses.
"SPEAK!" He directed, and determining that his lord would not kill him, the celzex came around the front of the throne, golden light glittering off his mostly pink fur. He lowered his eyes before his kin ears flopping forward over his eyes as he did before looking up, "My Lord, the tests have returned."
"And?"
"I..... well.... You're dying."
Lord Celex sat back in his seat. This news was..... displeasing, though he did not let his shock show, and any feelings of anger, sadness or fear were dulled markedly by the adrenaline.
"Your glory, the Adrenaline was...... meant for human use only, and in large quantities even they consider it poisonous. The amount that you have been consuming is.... Ill advised."
The Celzex cringed down as if he expected to get struck down for even suggesting such a thing.
Lord Celex simply looked at him contemplatively his body still thrumming with the power of the adrenaline. Could he give this up? The feeling of power, the feeling of superiority over the others? How could he give up the thing that made him powerful enough to destroy an entire room full of his enemies with his bare hands.
It just didn't seem to be an option.
How could it be that something so useful could be killing him?
He had been reluctant to accept the symptoms when they first appeared, blackening vision, a racing heart, pains and aches and difficulty breathing, but when it finally became too much it seemed that only the drug made him feel better, but as it seemed the drug was killing him.
"how long?"
"If you do not stop, any time in theory. Within the month for sure."
As if in response, his heart seemed to skip a beat, and he grimaced at the feeling
"Were I to give it up at this moment, how long would it take to recover?"
"Perhaps never my lord."
That got his attention and he turned in shock to his advisor, who was now standing at the side of the throne. He was no longer cowering, but neither was he particularly bold as he stood there looking at the floor.
"What do you mean!" He demanded.
"The adrenaline has weakened your heart my lord. If you were to stop now, there is no guarantee that the organ could repair itself."
There was no discussion of treatment.
The Celzex didn't treat wounds, you either lived or you didn't, that was just the way of things, and there were so many Celzex already that no one generally tended to bat an eye if you up and died. Lord Celzex looked down at the throne room floor. He had worked very hard to set himself apart from the millions of others of his kind, trillions of others that looked and thought similarly to him. All his life he had fought for a place on this throne, and now he was going to lose it.
Why?
Because he was going to die!
No, that wasn't an option.
He could quit the drug. With his enemies gone, he didn't need it anymore. He could go back to his old life just as strong as he was, and no one would be the wiser.
He nodded his head once, "Very well."
Clearly a dismissal, the Celzex hurried away and out the back door leaving Lord Celex to sit by himself and brood. He did not call for the others when his dose ran out, he felt it as the slowing of his body, the loss of energy as he slumped upon his throne. his eyes began to darken, he felt slow and sluggish, as weak as a friz-stem in a high breeze. His breathing came heavy as he leaned against the back of his throne, ears back body trembling eyes closed.
He groaned in soft pain knowing that no one could hear him, accept for the bodies on the floor.
The sun drew away from his throne leaving him to sit in darkness as the light died.
The longer he went, the more the ach grew up in his body, the more it hurt, the more he trembled in pain. He wanted the drug, he needed it, he..... he was in so much pain. It was hard to think of anything else but the pain as he sat. he was about ready to call out for the suppliers when something cold and sharp pressed against his back from behind.
He froze body aching, head hammering.
He went to turn around.
"Ah, I wouldn't do that."
He froze again.
How could he have been so stupid!
Where were his guards. How could he be caught here without the Adrenaline?
The voice leaned in a bit as he sat on the throne trembling with the withdrawals. His eyes dimmed as he shook and shuttered. He should never have tried to do this while still in his throne room! He had never made a mistake like this. Never MADE mistakes like this.
"Lord Celex, it is a pleasure to finally meet you" The voice was soft, clearly alien, though what species he couldn't have said as the translator garbled the voice underneath. It could have been anyone. He glanced down from the corner of his eye catching the tail end of, what appeared to be a feathered wing brushing across the floor and into the darkness.
"What do you want." He demanded, his voice weaker than he would have liked.
They caught him at a horrible time.
He was not even strong enough to lift his head, or even open his eyes as it seemed his lids were weight down by led.
"Oh, your majesty, nothing that you wouldn't mind a little trade for."
"Than why come as an assassin!" He spat.
"Because I knew you would never have let me into your court otherwise. It took me a while to find your home planet after all, you being so secretive, years in fact. Years of searching and following your ships and stowing away. I was almost beginning to lose hope until the adrenaline shipments started to come in. The sellers on the other side of that job are not nearly as concerned as you are about safety.'
Inside lord Celex cursed himself.
"Yes, your little addiction has finally cost you quite a bit it seems, and now I hear your heart is clos to giving out, or did I hear incorrectly."
He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to give this creature the satisfaction of hearing his answer.
"No matter."
"What do you want!" He spat Angrily turning to look at the creature, though he was jabbed hard in the side before he could.
"Ah, ah ah, I wouldn't try that if I were you. Anyway, I am not here to kill you, In fact, I find that it would be detrimental to most of the galaxy if I were to do that." The voice quieted for a moment, and he got the distinct impression that whoever it was, was looking around the room at his carnage, "I had heard rumors that your rivals were not so pleased with your decision to going the GA, though I see here that you have at elast delayed those factions for a few months.
Lord Celex grunted, but said nothing more.
"Anyway, do you want more adrenaline."
His head throbbed, his body trembled.
He nodded.
"And do you want more adrenaline without the fear of your heart collapsing?"
He perked up, and nodded again, "Yes."
"Than I have something I think you might like." The sharp point pressed harder into his back , "If you want to stay alive, keep your throne and the drugs, than you will do exactly as I say. A small price for you to pay for your life I think."
***
Admiral Vir stood with the other generals in the GA war room. All around them, the Hub -the central meeting place for the GA on neutral territory, thrummed with power from its supporting fusion core. on occasion they could feel the rumble of the distant warp gate, as visiting dignitaries, and merchant ships appeared from all around the galaxy to trade their wares, or to simply use the hub as a way stop onto their next destination.
The room was mostly silent, and outside the vast blackness of space didn't add much illumination on the group of them as they stood at the center of the massive hall. Light from the spokes, and the wheel of the hub rotated around the outside of their center circle, bringing with it a slow rotating shadow which passed over the faces of the war council as they stared grimly as their maps.
"This is concerning." Admiral Kelly said, unlike the others she was not dressed in her formal military wear, but a sharp black suit and white shirt. Her tie was grey, a color chosen specifically for its neutrality. She was running for president of the UN under the card of an independent, soemthing that had never been done successfully before, though she was hoping to use her fame, and her popularity to make it work.
Prediction poles were indicating that it was working better then expected.
"Admiral Vir, have you had contact with Lord Celex in the recent past."
Admiral Vir shook his head. Behind him His hulking blue body guard, the saint of Anin, rested quietly in the shadows, her glowing pearl armor causing only a slight distraction to the generals waiting around the table.
"No, it's been months since we've seen him. Even Lord Avex reports that he has not spoken with his father in months despite trying to contact him on multiple occasions."
"Has the Celzex told you any more about this....." A general waved a hand at the map below.
"No, I am afraid he has been secretive, even with me. He seems reluctant to let me know where their solar system is, let alone their planet."
"Do you think he is hiding something."
"No more than he usually is, but I can sense that he is worried. No Celzex outside of their solar system has received word from their comrades for the past few months. Even lord Avex isn't sure about their troop movements. If his father were planning something, he would be the first to know."
"And you are sure he isn't just lying to you."
Admiral vir laughed, though it was not a laugh with much mirth, "Believe me, general, the Celzex are not one to conceal their plans. The Drev avoid secrecy in war because they consider it dishonorably, the Celzex avoid it simply because they do not need to. If they were planning something, they would announce it to the entire galaxy."
A nodding agreement from some of the other delegates.
That was true, everyone knew how powerful the Celzex were. It was no question that they could have easily taken over the galaxy years ago. Xenobehavioral analysts of different species had determined the only reason the Celzex had not bother to do so had much to do with the philosophy of their king lord Celzex. He was an intelligent and powerful ruler, and knew that, while he could certainly conquer the galazy, he could not rule it. And if he wanted to rule it he would have to make it smaller, which meant wiping out entire planets. That would be fine in theory, but the Celzex gained more from them if they were alive through trade agreements than they did through violence. Trying to force someone to do your bidding was much harder than convincing them they were doing it for themselves.
Lord Celex seemed more than content to rule his empire quietly with the knowledge that he COULD conquer everything if he wanted to, but it would be too much work, a waste of soldiers, and would spark rebellion which he would have to spend even more resources dealing with for the next few eons.
"Than how does that explain their trop movements. We all know what his looks like."
"It looks like they are staging for something, yes." The admiral began, but he hasn't set up enough ships to conquer the WHOLE galaxy. If anything I would assume he has a specific target in mind.
"What could that be."
Admiral Vir shrugged, "I wont play with conjecture, general, it could be anything. He could go for our trade hubs, or he could destroy government centers on Irus, or he could destroy earth, which would be my first choice if I was him."
The room turned to look at him with surprise.
"And why is that."
"Humans would offer the most resistance."
No one argued with the statement. It seemed true enough.
"So what do we do?"
Adam sighed, "Lord Avex is convinced soemthing is amiss, and has, reluctantly agreed to take me with him on his return journey, with some assistance."
"You can't convince him to take someone else?"
"I am afraid not. He insists he is loyal to only me and his father."
There was a sigh, "one of these days, you are going to learn the meaning of the word Admiral."
"Admiral is a military leader, it didn't specify that I need to lead from the back."