The New Age Empire v2: Book 3

June 21st, AA 001

Language Note: The Kamoku-jin are speaking in their native language in the beginning but it's translated here so that you can understand. Later on it's not but the translation is at the end of this chapter.

~Chapter 5: Changing Sides~

"How goes the mission, Navoran?" the commander asked his lieutenant. He had been put in charge of the latest invasion and was taking careful steps to make sure it was sucessful. Invasions can make or break a commander. If all goes well he could go up a rank, if all does not he could find himself suddenly stripped of his rank and scrubbing latrines back at boot camp. Portl had worked far too hard to allow that to happen.

"So far so good, Commander," Navoran replied respectfully. "Tale should be ours by sunset."

One nearly invisible silver eyebrow rose. "*Should*, Lieutenant?"

As much as he didn't want to say it, he had to let his commander know. "If all goes well, Sir. There seems to be a commotion in the western reaches of this planet. I've heard rumors about skeletal warriors that bring death. My men are fearful."

Portl drew himself up to his full height of nearly seven feet and an outraged look crossed his fine-boned face. While not very kind, the Kamoku-jin had certain qualities about them that people were forever searching for in potential mates. High cheekbones, slenderness, and grace were very common among the people. It was as if their ancient creators, the long-lost Tun'tn, had felt it ironic that their perfection-seeking enemies were defeated by both beauty and evil. Too bad they didn't make sure that the Kamoku-jin wouldn't kill them as well. He beckoned his second closer and Navoran obeyed with hesitation and more than a little fear. When the other man's blue face was mere inches from his own, he stared at him with hardened ruby-red eyes.

"*Never* insult our wonderous race, Lieutenant," he hissed in a low voice. "You may say that *you* are afraid but never include others in your own weak emotion. To do so again will mean a slow death. Am I making myself clear?"

The other man nodded, entire body trembling with the effort not to flee the commander's office. "Crystal clear, Sir." He was grateful for the dismissal Portl bestowed upon him and exited the room as quickly as he could without showing that he was afraid.

Navoran was not a very evil Kamoku-jin but neither was he overly kind. He had risen to the lieutenant position in the army for reasons that were still unknown to even him. He had not desired a high rank of any kind, only to survive in a civilization that had no conscious. That alone took all of one's skill and focus. Even children were taught at a young age to only trust yourself and that anyone who commits a wrong against you does not deserve to live. The children were born and bred to fight in the army and eventually grew up to have no soul.

His parents had been farmers and he had been born and raised outside the largest city on the Kamoku-jin homeworld of Ananci. They were different from most of the Kamoku-jin and, consequently, he grew into a being capable of compassion, friendship, and, above all, love. On the day he came of age he joined the Kamoku-jin army simply because he had no other choice. Both males and females had to submit themselves to tests of the physical and mental nature once they had come of age. If you were healthy you were trained to kill, if you were not you were trained to teach and to farm. As long as you did something that the Empire benefitted from no one would come in the night and slit your throat.

Navoran had spent two years in training, half of which was spent being at the mercy of the high ranked soldiers. You were nothing if low on the food chain so he had struggled to rise just so that he would not have to endure the daily beatings any longer. He rose in the ranks for survival, not for power, and still arrived in the same exact place as the others. There was no justice on Ananci.

His squad consisted of many green recruits fresh from the horrors of basic training. They all bore scars from that dark point in their lives, some handling the memories better than others, and his heart went out to the young people who obviously did not belong in an army. They had the potential to be healers of the sick, teachers of the ignorant, and bringers of all sorts of joy to the Empire and it was all being wasted on senseless death and destruction. Navoran knew of the things that people free to choose their lifestyles could create. He had seen them on other planets, the places of conquest. Beautiful paintings, buildings, gardens, and, above all, happy people. People who were free to follow their dreams lived wonderful lives; people who were not only lived lives of sorrow.

"Sir," one of his soldiers saluted smartly as he passed him in the dimly lit hallway. It was one of the ones Navoran secretly worried about. The young man was constantly under pressure by Portl because of a small mistake he had made once before. Navoran feared that one day the strain would become too much and Daalit would end his own life.

"Report," the lieutenant said curtly, silently cursing himself for being so cold. None of his inner turmoil was ever shown in his facial expressions and for that he was glad. He didn't want to die but that was the last reason why he was happy that no one noticed his good nature. Navoran felt that he could help guide his soldiers to a brighter path. One day maybe Ananci could change and become a better world. If so, he wanted at least a few people to be ready to seize any chance they could find.

"People have recently arrived on the planet of Tale, Sir," the young man said, eyes cast to the ground in worry. "People I have never seen before."

"Oh really?" he stroked his chin with the claw of his right index finger.

"Yes, Sir. There was a large group of them, all but one with wild dark hair, and they looked like fighters. There were also three females among them." Navoran strode down the hall without a word, Daalit hurrying to keep up with him. They entered the communications room and the soldiers there were quickly ordered to display an image in relation to the coodinates Daalit spoke. Static briefly overtook the large screen of the monitor but soon the group was displayed in the middle of a small village.

"Are they the ones you spoke of?"

Daalit nodded, his short fingers pointing toward one of the figures. "That woman appears to be the leader, Sir. She carries herself with authority."

"Can you pick up any sound from them at all?" he asked one of the men. "I wish to know what they are saying."

Jolsen tried for a moment but nothing would come. Slightly nervous at the lieutenant's reaction, he tried everything that he could think of. Still there was no sound.

"There seems to be something blocking our instruments, Sir," he said, nervously licking his lips. "Shall I try again?"

Daalit placed a hand on his trembling shoulder, trying to say without words that there was nothing to fear from him. Jolsen briefly stiffened in preparation of pain but then, after realizing that none was forthcoming, he let out the breath that he had been holding. "There is no need. I will go see for myself. Continue watching the planet and report anything suspicious to commander Portl." He half-turned. "That goes for the rest of you, too."

"Yes, Sir!" All five saluted. Navoran asked Daalit to join him in quiet tones and the two of them headed towards the docking bay.

***

"Slow down, Taura," Katrinka instructed to the rapidly speaking twenty-two-year-old. His words were flowing so fast that no one else could hardly distinguish between them. Eventually the young man could only wave his arms around as he gasped for much needed oxygen. He was silent but she still understood.

"He explained how they attacked but doesn't understand why they've done it."

"You understood that?" Vegeta asked as he went back over the jumble of words in his mind, trying to puzzle out just what Taura had been trying to say. Kat nodded as she gently patted him on the back and asked him who was in command of the army.

"We don't have one," he admitted with a faint blush. "There are a lot of small forces fighting back but no one in charge of them all."

"What did you mean before, Vegeta?" She continued at the saiya-jin's confused frown. "About how 'onnas live to make things complicated where there's a simple solution'." She said this without anger but Vegeta knew that it still lingered underneath the surface.

"You're going through all of this for no reason at all," he told her. "All you have to do is kill the damn Thief not understand its motives or its abilities."

"What you don't understand," she begin to explain to him, "is that we don't know if something will happen because we kill it. For all we know it could have some universe-destruction mechanism in its being that could go off when killed. Do *you* want to suddenly die that soon after feeling victorious?"

Vegeta really considered that before relenting. "You know I don't."

"Well then, let me handle this."

A small spacecraft landed no too far away from them and caused many of the villagers to run away in fear. All recognized the logo on the side of the ship: it was Kamoku-jin and that only meant trouble. The fighters that had whitnessed the death the alien race had caused tensed up and instantly readied themselves for battle. They were surprised when only two beings emerged from the ship.

"Why do you come?" One Tale-sejin shouted in question to the approaching men and didn't receive an answer. Katrinka halted all further queries and told them to stand back as she went to speak with them.

"They're not evil," she whispered to Goku and Vegeta as the two Kamoku-jin waited. "I have no idea how they couldn't be but this just seems like the week of shocking discoveries." She walked towards them slowly, as if they were a frightened deer, and stopped a few feet away.

"Hak un yorka?" the taller of the two questioned her. "Hin un yorka hir en Tale?"

Katrinka studied their faces and found no trace of cruelty. That puzzled her even further. "Hin duu yorka harten? Duu yorka tuu ik litsu min?"

"Since when could she speak their language?" V.J. asked anyone that would listen. He was ignored.

The man briefly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed. "Nunru. Wen tuu de litsu nunru."

Kat smiled and held out her hand. "Yah ar Katrinka. Fur sen yorkan namiran?" He took it briefly and so did his companion.

"Yah ar Navoran. Gi se Daalit." His eyes kept contact with hers the entire time. "Duu yorka tuu ik litsu wi?"

"Nun," she said softly, trying to convey her emotions through her eyes. "Nun mah litsun." Both men nodded in agreement and she led them back to the others. She said something else to them and held her hands over their heads. After some reassuring words, both men were calm enough to allow her to perform whatever action she wished. A glow washed over Katrinka's hands and onto the heads of her new acquaintances.

"I would like everyone to meet Navoran and Daalit," she introduced. "As you can see they are Kamoku-jin."

"Well duh!" Pan spoke. "Are they going to try and murder us all like the others?"

Navoran's heart broke as he listened to the little girl speak. Katrinka had cast a temporary spell over them so that they were all able to understand each other. He kneeled beside her and placed on hand on her shoulder. Pan didn't flinch but instead stared him in the eyes with just a tiny bit of fear

"I am sorry for what happened to your people," he said softly in a gentle voice, "and I will make it right."

"How?" she asked. "What can one person do for an entire planet?"

"There are always ways to destroy evil," he explained. "It's time for the Kamoku-jin to change anyway. My people," he said this with disgust, "are nothing more than soulless murderers. I do not wish to be associated with them any longer."

"You *are* a kind man," Goku smiled. "Katrinka is right, I can feel it."

"Lieutenant!" Daalit said with wide eyes. "This is treason! They are going to skin us alive literally for this!"

Navoran stood and turned to face his soldier. "No one should have to grow up experiencing this. Our children should not be trained in the art of murder. *You* shouldn't have been trained in the art of murder. I know that you're destined for greater things than war, Daalit and I'm going to see that you get a chance to realize that. My time has passed but yours has just barely begun." He turned back to Kat and kneeled before her. "I offer myself to you, Katrinka. Use me as you will."

"This will not be easy, Navoran," she said as she kneeled beside him. "Even after the Change you will be still feared across the Universe for many years to come. I cannot shield you from that but I can promise that I will not be one of the ones to treat you badly. Will you still seek change in the Empire?"

He nodded, eyes filled with hope. "I will."

"Then come with me, Navoran of Ananci, and I will show you what to do." The two of them walked off toward a house being used for planning with Daalit staring after him.

"Lieutenant..." he whispered as he slowly came to a decision. After saying a quick prayer to any gods who were listening to keep he and Navoran safe, he ran after them.

"This is a good, good thing!" Goku said with a happy smile. "Now all we need to do is stop the Thief and everything will be perfect." Whistling a cheerful tune, he began to instruct any who were willing on battle techniques. Vegeta went off to find out the current status of the war from Kallen with a emotion that he wasn't familar with and, after silently making a decision, Trunks and Goten went for a walk.

***

Both were silent as they left the village behind but it didn't last for very long. Trunks stopped beside a large tree and leaned against the trunk. "Are you afraid Goten?" he asked suddenly.

"I'm terrified," he admitted. "Not just about this but about a lot of things."

Trunks sighed. "I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up soon and this is all going to be a dream. Everything will be as it was last year when I was afraid to tell you anything. But then again," he took Goten's hand, "I'm afraid of what will happen now that we *are* together."

"This isn't going to be easy, is it?" he asked. "At first I thought that having someone was just in name only. Now I can only think 'Is what I say next going to make him angry? Unhappy? Depressed?' It's a lot of work, Trunks." The other young man looked away and Goten could literally sense that he had upset him. Goten realized what he had just said and he tried to get Trunks to look at him again. "That definitely didn't come out right. Let me try again."

"Making someone happy and treating them right is only hard work because I'm always afraid of what I do or say. Everything I do with you or for you makes me feel warm all over. What I guess I'm trying to say is that I love you Trunks." He smiled. "And I wouldn't give you up for anything in the world." There was complete silence for a few moments until Trunks burst into happy tears and grabbed Goten in a huge hug. "You're an emotional one, aren't you."

"Baka," Trunks said playfully as he sniffed. "If I had just told you that I loved you wouldn't you cry?"

"Do you?" he asked softly. "Love me, I mean."

Trunks stepped back and let all of his emotions enter his eyes. "I love you more than life itself." And, despite Goten's earlier teasing, tears did come to his eyes. Then Trunks kissed him and those tears of happiness turned into tears of joy. The older man had been waiting almost his entire life for that kiss and would have been content with just that one. But one turned into two and two into three until a loud voice broke them apart.

"Goten and Trunks sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Goten with the baby carriage!"

"Trust Pan-chan to ruin a moment," Goten muttered. "Even though two out of those three things are impossible, I'll settle for just love."

"Settle?" Trunks said with a mock pout. "You act like it wasn't your first choice or something."

Goten smiled and quickly kissed him on the nose. "Do you know that you're cute when you pout?"

"All of this mushy stuff is making me physically ill!" Pan announced as she ran back to the village. "Take it someplace else!"

Trunks thought back to what his ojiisan had said about 'the bond'. "I wonder if this I'm feeling is what it is."

"You're talking about the bond aren't you?" Goten said to his koibito's surprise. "I'm going to ask him about it. Saiya-jins from Vegeta-sei know about those things."

"Did you see the look on his face when he said it, though? It was like it was a bad thing." Trunks' brow furrowed in though. "How could something that feels this good be bad?"

"He has a lot to answer that's for sure."

The two of them leisurely headed toward the village hand-in-hand and enjoying the new place their mutual declaration of love had brought them.

 

Kamoku-jin Language Translations:

"Hak un yorka? Hin un yorka hir en Tale?" = "Who are you? Why are you here on Tale?"
"Hin duu yorka harten? Duu yorka tuu ik litsu min?" = "Why do you ask? Do you want to kill me?"
"Nunru. Wen tuu de litsu nunru." = "No one. We want to kill no one."
"Yah ar Katrinka. Fur sen yorkan namiran?" = I am Katrinka. What are your names?"
"Yah ar Navoran. Gi se Daalit. Duu yorka tuu ik litsu wi?" = "I am Navoran. He is Daalit. Do you want to kill us?"
"Nun. Nun mah litsun." = No. No more killing."