"Sir, with all due respect, you have no business in here. You need to leave immediately!" A voice rang out and Eirik snapped his head towards the source. It turned out to be a middle-aged Major and his voice did not invite debate or defiance.

Eirik opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the door being flung open and the voice of his grandfather snarling behind him "What, in the name of all the gods, do you think you are doing, Eirik?"

Eirik turned around and faced his grandfather. They had never properly reconciled and the divide between them had only grown in the years that have passed. He had been informed of his great-grandchildren's birth but had never asked to visit. Eirik knew why, the old man wanted to be invited. And that required that they reconcile first But there had always been "just one more thing" to do after he had seceded from Terra, an action the aging Colonel did not approve of in the slightest. He respected the success Eirik had achieved, but he resented the way he had done it.

"I am calling an emergency meeting of whatever war council can be reached within the hour, as is my right as an ally of Terra during times of shared conflict," Eirik stated, his voice firm and his eyes hard as he stared down the highest ranking representative for the Terran Navy, currently on Terra.

Colonel Holm-Hansen blinked a few times at these words before he scowled at Eirik and began firing off orders left and right with a speed and intensity that would make an outsider think he was commanding a battlefield, and every soldier in the room sprang into action like a well-oiled machine, unperturbed by the Colonel's mood. They had seen him at worse times.

It took less than 20 minutes for two Generals, a General-Major, another Colonel, and 3 Majors to arrive and Eirik was satisfied. These people would be able to get his message and request to the right channels that would secure him a quick answer.

Without introduction, he stepped into the middle of the room and took the word. "I apologize for pulling you away from your duties with such short notice, but this message cannot wait and could not be delivered by anyone else without being questioned and needing confirmation. I wish to inform the war council that Libertalia will escalate the war effort from a defensive standpoint to total war." Eirik let the words sink in and he saw the horror dawn on the faces of the assembled people.

"What will be your main offensive doctrine?" His grandfather asked, the old man's mind always turning to the practical side of things.

"Overwhelming firepower. My R&D department has some ideas. But I also come with a request of Terra." Eirik replied and the General-Major picked up on that. "If you are going to ask us to escalate the war effort as well, I can tell you right away that it is out of the question. It will not happen!"

"And why not? Or do you not consider me worthy of the wisdom of your superior insight?" Eirik growled, causing the General-Major to stare daggers at him in return, prompting Eirik to step toward the man and continue speaking. "If you want a dick-measuring contest, General Major, I can promise you mine is bigger! I have accomplished more in the line of duty for Terra than most of the people in this room combined and I am a self-made Emperor to boot, so kindly explain to me why a Terran escalation of war efforts will not happen."

The General-Major huffed and puffed but eventually relented, "Because of the previously agreed upon the doctrine of digging in and letting the enemy throw themselves at us. Even with their adaptation to our way of war we still have the experience to grind them into dust with! Why should we escalate simply because you request it?"

"Why should I have accepted your request for a military alliance while you were engaged in war, simply because you requested it at the time?" Eirik retorted. There was no reason to enlighten the man that he had needed that alliance desperately at the time. The words had the desired effect though and effectively shut up the man. Eirik's grandfather took the word once more, "Your request will be handled by the proper people, I will make sure of that. But why inform us of your choice in person?"

Eirik hesitated for a moment before he answered. "Because I plan to join the frontlines. Unlike the Leadership of Terra, I believe in fighting alongside the men I ask to die for me. So I will be unreachable. My wife will handle state matters in my absence." His words caused an angry murmur amongst the high-ranking military personnel.

"Where do you get off, asking for help and insulting us in the same breath?" One of the major's sneered at Eirik who just shrugged before replying, "When was the last time you stepped foot on a battlefield? Or even held used your service weapon?" The Major opened and closed his mouth several times before deciding on silence.

"That's what I thought. In any case, I have submitted my request, informed you of the change in Libertalia's war doctrine, and now I take my leave, as I have many things to see to before I reach my territory once more." Eirik said as he walked out of the room, leaving the emergency war council stunned at his extreme disregard for... Everything, except his agenda .before anyone including his grandfather, regained their voice, he flung the doors open and pushed the gathered people out of the way as he made his way back to his ship. He knew it was borderline insane to travel all this way just to deliver a short message and answer a few questions before leaving again, but it would have taken months to get the message through if he had used the proper diplomatic channels.

There would have been endless inquiries followed by debates, followed by setting up a committee to think deeply about the whole situation for two or three years before they finally figure out that they would prefer everything stayed the same. How he loathed bureaucracy. When he reached the lawn he had landed his ship on, he saw the head of security walking circles around his ship. He could not touch it, but he would damn sure let everyone know how displeased he was with the situation. The detachment of security guards he had brought out with him had wisely chosen to wait around as far away as their duties allowed them to wander.

He scowled as Eirik strode past him with a gaggle of flustered assistants to the military officials he had spoken with, trying in vain to stop Erik and ask him more questions or beg him to return to the war council. He didn't care, he was headed to the greatest battle of all. He had to face down Freja and tell her he was off to the frontline. And that she was taking over his official duties, which thankfully were not many during times of war. Nobody wanted to engage too much with an Empire at war, lest they find themselves being friendly with the losing side. As Eirik prepared his ship for takeoff, he received numerous incoming calls, all of which he ignored. Then his datapad beeped and he saw a message from his grandfather.

"Call me when you have our answer."

___________________________________________________________

The trip back was as dull as the first time and he spent most of the time either reading or replying to countless messages from his scrambling army commanders, all of them desperate for more clear guidelines on how he wanted to proceed. Eirik made a point of stating that he trusted their abilities to wage the war according to the new doctrine. The only difference major difference was that any attack had to be committed to and planned as a total victory. No plan ever survived contact with the enemy but he had secured some of the most brilliant military minds from across the galaxy, not in the form of defectors from other races and empires, but disillusioned aging warriors like himself that had left their respective branches and taken to mercenary and contract work as bounty hunters until the day their mark was faster or smarter. The only significant change Eirik wanted, despite the protests of his generals, was a generous amount of war materials and supplies to be set aside for future resistance movements to be supplied with.

They didn't understand his reasoning since he had ordered total war, setting aside infiltration and subterfuge in favor of overwhelming fire- and manpower. But they didn't need to understand, they just needed to do it.

He had given them a new purpose, in an Empire that allowed people to flourish and live as they pleased, within the confines of the most basic of laws. He allowed everyone to start over with a clean slate, no matter previous crimes against other factions, and it had paid off. The way he ran things also helped a lot with citizen happiness. He strived to make the governmental side of his Empire run as mechanically as possible. It was there to make the wheels turn, the wheels didn't turn to make sure it stayed there. Add to that a flat twenty percent tax on every business transaction within his borders, and nothing else, and people were flourishing as they earned money and expanded their chosen professions at a rate that had not been seen in the other Empires for centuries.

All of this, and more, was the reason he trusted their judgment. They would do anything to defend a place that allowed them to live however they wanted, within the confines of common decency.

The day before he arrived back he used his private datapad to place a call to Jesper at a time when he knew the man would be alone.

"What?!" Came the hoarse voice of a man that had just woken up.

"Jesper, it's Eirik. I have special orders for you so listen closely. I need you to place a standard-issue combat rifle with 2000 rounds of ammunition, a sniper rifle, and 200 along with enough supplies to operate alone for a month, in the FTL bomber stored in my private dock, I also need you to gather a total of 5 teams of 10 men each and send orders to Bjørn to do the same, effective immediately. I have special orders for you which you will receive tomorrow. You got all that?"

Jesper repeated the order back to Eirik and they ended the call after that. Now was the time to go home and face Freja.

___________________________________

"Who do you think you are, summoning the leaders of our race like we are mere bureaucrats to be ordered around!" The voice of the aging Plyxii reverberated through the large chamber as he roared at the young captain standing in the middle of the large room, confident and brazen, in front of the most powerful of their race. The Plyxii had always chosen its leaders on the merit of direct skill in martial prowess and the young captain was, while not scrawny, still significantly younger and smaller than the assembled leaders. "You! A lowly mercenary captain with but a single crew to his name and no significant victories to boast of, summon US, the mightiest of our race! You had better have a truly great reason for doing so or suffer death at my claws for your impudence!" He continued and rose menacingly from his seat on the raised platform.

These raised seats served both to give the leader of the Plyxii usually referred to as Great one, a full view of the large circular room Despite Eirik's success in wiping out the current leaders and advisors in a room much like this one, during their way with Terra, they had insisted on using the same design for the next leaders to assemble in. The only difference was the placement within the center of the largest military complex in the entirety of their empire, a planet terraformed into the perfect training ground for any kind of imaginable biosphere.

Gnark, the mercenary captain that had met with Kyr'Tai, allowed himself a smile before he spoke. "I bring you an opportunity to take revenge against the Terran that humiliated our great empire, and make a sizeable amount of credits while we are at it!" He called out, turned around for all the leaders to see his face as he spoke and he heard quiet murmuring among the gathered leaders. They all knew who he spoke of, and the prospect of being paid for vengeance was very appealing.

"And why should the Great Ones risk our reputation among the other species on the word of a mercenary captain?" The hulking Great One drawled, "Who extended this offer to you"?

"Kyr'Tai. the eldest recognized daughter of the late Tai'Tanu, head of the most powerful Kloxna high caste bloodlines, and the biggest supporter of their continued war against Terra!" Gnark revealed with a triumphant smirk and an aggressive posture, clearly meant for anyone to challenge the validity of his claim at their own risk.

"Don't you posture at me like that, whelp! As tempting an offer as that is, It would devastate our trade relations with the N'amlei, Terra, and to an extent, the Kloxna, even if we would be helping them, they would have to condemn us publicly to avoid political backlash. We would have to deliberate on this before you can get an answer!" With a dismissive wave of his huge left paw, the Great one signaled to Gnark that his audience had ended, but Gnark didn't move.

"Where is your pride, Great one!" Gnark snarled with surprising amounts of vitriol laced into his voice. "You are being offered a chance to take revenge on the single most hated being in the history of our people, without rising a war we are not ready for, and you scoff at it? Say you need to debate the subject? Am I looking at a Great One or a cowardly merchant that is more concerned with profit than honor?"

"You go too far, runt! Throw yourself at the mercy of my good nature and I might be inclined to spare your pathetic life!" The aging warrior roared with a volume that made the chamber shake slightly with the echo, but Gnark did no such thing. Instead, he took a step toward the raised seat of the angry great one and rolled his shoulders. "You are old and useless, grey and set in your ways. You have no business leading our people and I challenge you to fight for supremacy! The winner takes control of the assets of the dead loser!" He barked at the now boiling Great One.

He slowly stepped down from his seat and lumbered toward the middle of the room, his eyes filled with murderous rage and his face twisted into a mask of hate. As he got close, he never said a word, instead, he swung downward with all his might in an attempt to crush Gnark under his mighty paw, but his intended target seemed to vanish the moment before the attack connected and the Great One cracked the stone floor instead. In a flash, Gnark was in front of him and the Great One had just enough time to see the gleeful look in Gnark's eyes before he clamped his teeth down on the throat of the old one and ripped it open with a vicious shake of his head. The Great One gurgled as he fell over and reached his paw toward the other leaders in a feeble and humiliating plea for help. He bled out moments later, leaving Gnark standing with a bloody muzzle over the rapidly cooling corpse of his opponent.

"Now, is anyone else opposed to seeking revenge for our lost honor, or do I have to seize control of more assets and seats of power?" He snarled as he eyed the other Great Ones with contempt. When no one said anything, Gnark walked up to the platform and took his seat into possession.

"I suggest we engage in a full-scale war with the fledgling empire, Libertalia, and use the spoil of war once we are victorious, to fuel a new war of subjugation against the other races. It is time our race took its rightful place as the one and only ruler of this galaxy!" Gnark proposed with an almost fanatic look in his eyes as he licked the blood from his muzzle.