Empire Undone (Starship Fleet Commander Book 2) by Aer-ki Jyr

Author:Aer-ki Jyr [Jyr, Aer-ki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Archon Lore
Published: 2024-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

14

“Everything is proceeding as planned, Grand Admiral,” Governor Zein reported from the rebuilt Governor’s palace on Harshoo. “There have been no issues in your absence.”

“Any non-Imperial ship sightings?”

“None.”

Aatroxiss nodded to the hologram over his desk. “How are you settling in?”

“You were right about this being a mental mountain to endure…and I’m enduring. Work on the second settlement is halfway completed, and every new spire that goes up feels like a win. If I can endure long enough, more wins keep piling up. But whenever I have to view images of the workers in the current habitats…it’s unsettling.”

“If there was a faster way to free them I would,” he told the former JagoCorp CEO that he’d hired at great expense to come out here and take over the role of Planetary Governor.

“I never expected Imperial standards to fall so far,” the old man said, raising his chin slightly. “But we’ll eventually get them back to where they should be.”

Aatroxiss nodded his agreement. “I’ve got the first batch of Turook from the research facility I mentioned earlier. They’ll have to go to existing settlements for now, and that will probably not sit well with the rest of the Turook.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Zein said. “We’ve recently located two Turook youth that have, what I’m told, is the potential to develop into a leader variant of their race. They’re in the early stages, but far older adults are already starting to pay deference to them. Per your orders they were not executed and only have been watched. Perhaps one of them can ease the transition.”

“Transmit me their current locations. If everything else is proceeding as planned then I won’t be staying in the system for long.”

“I’ll have that information to you shortly. Welcome back to Harshoo, Grand Admiral.”

“They say you get what you pay for,” Aatroxiss said with a grin. “And you’re a vast improvement over the former Governor.”

He nodded. “I understand the significance of this world to your future plans and I will guard it accordingly. Making profit is challenging and rewarding to a point, then it becomes mundane and boring. You’ve given me a far greater challenge, and I thank you for it…even if my family does not understand it.”

“They see the Frontier as punishment?”

“I had planned a cushy retirement on Axivon with my wife, but the lack of work was not something I could tolerate. My wife didn’t understand then, nor did her relatives. I married into wealth, and they do not understand that someone like me just can’t accept that status quo and indulge in it. I need to work and contribute something to the Empire. My wife is happily remaining on Axivon but wants nothing to do with me. And neither she nor any of her family would ever come out to the Frontier. We’re not legally splitting, but functionally so.”

“Is that a regret or a relief?”

“A bit of both, but my future is no longer something I dread. As long as I can keep my composure amongst this

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