At first glance, Kalvich’s Casus Belli, was a hulking, dark, medieval styled castle surrounded by the most beautiful landscape. In every direction, everything looked almost picture perfect, as if created and sculptured from an artist’s thoughtful, loving hand. Emerald forests, graceful rolling hills, distant shadowy mountains and an entrancing, sparkling river always made a huge impact on the most cynical visitor. It was as if the very best of nature’s playground was selected and condensed to be on show for all.
But well hidden, on the other side of the canvas, lay a Kafkaesque, surrealistic, nightmarish world of slavery, torture, and cruelty.
For such an idyllic setting, the foreboding presence of this massive fortress seemed out of place to the unwary.
The fortress itself was made entirely of concentrated Zymergillian crystals, all derived from the mines of Heliostronus. It unbelievably only took a couple of Earth days for the fortress to be completed, from design to construction. In comparison, if it were an Earth creation, it probably would have taken hundreds of teams and endless machinery, at least twenty years non stop to build, if not longer. And that would be just the outside construction. The Supreme Ruler was very proud of his achievement. This was all part of what he had envisioned at a young age. Like Kate, an epiphany had awoken the young god to realize his destiny was to be far greater and dynamic than any intelligent creature could ever dream.
But both would still have before them a winding path to follow governed by the choices they make. Whether their paths were to cross and harmonize was another thing.
The huge edifice had a heartbeat in the form of a control center, which was not just for security and defense. If necessary, full control measures over the Necradome City, the mines, and the industrial regions could be achieved in an enemy attack, or if the Trimadians only needed to squeeze out one single infiltrator bent on escape. Though to date, they had not needed to utilize any such strategies.
Kalvich’s personal quarters reflected his huge, imposing ego–the size of a mansion inside the magnificent impregnable fortress, and positioned, typically right at the very pinnacle. No one knew how many rooms there were in total as the fortress had a habit of changing.
Sometimes, a guest would wake to find new corridors had been added, or removed. Sometimes he may even wake up in a different room and that had nothing to do with how much wine he had consumed. It was as if, someone was playing a game of “What’s behind the door!” It was a fickle, fun, and at times, deadly game. Not all that entered the fortress were guaranteed to walk out the same again. Some did not even walk out!
Kalvich regarded himself as a most discerning host.
Casus Belli was more than a wondrous and formidable fortress. It was a living, breathing entity, but not in the way we perceive as “alive.” Its true form was not visible to most, especially mortals living in the three dimensional plane of existence.
The entity existed for two purposes. Most living entities that dwelled inside the fortress were unwittingly subject to intense, subliminal power, like alternate supernatural radio waves. It would feed on the essence of the individual, and tiny parts of the victim’s “soul” would be lost forever. For all intents and purposes, it was perpetuating a cosmic virus. It did not affect Trimadians because of the Cathexistome.
This was the source of the alchemist’s torture. Exposure over six thousand years, for the immortal Cemel, was likened to being awake inside a nightmare of insanity. And naturally, the more negative energy, perpetuated by the incessant torture and misery, only fed the entity’s strength, which it would, in turn, generously feed back to its occupants.
The other purpose was on a more practical scale. Kalvich had to live somewhere.
On a rare occasion, the two dimensions would cross or overlap. If an observer had the ability, on one of those rare occasions, they may witness that one second the dazzling sunshine splashing the fortress’ walls was in fact, not being reflected, but in reality, ingested. Indeed, the great entity was satisfying its ferocious appetite to consume light and all things positive.
It served its master like a faithful watchdog.
In preparation for Leah’s arrival (or return), Kalvich had select parts of the fortress revamped to make it more appealing for the queen. This applied to his personal quarters as well as separate quarters for Leah. He was going to give her as much time as she wanted “to make adjustments.”
Just the thought of having her close made him excited.
He had borrowed the décor, furnishings, and artworks that Talokta had reported were successful with her, and adapted them in her rooms. It was a very dramatic change.
For everyday living, he had fifty in house servants to cater for his personal fleet and guards. Though, some events required double the amount. No matter how many servants he required, all were housed separately to the Trimadian’s they served, in an area half the size of a small house. Their living quarters were sparse and basic, and they slept in dormitories that were heavily guarded day and night. Kalvich, though immortal, and safe inside his world, was never one for taking chances, as he knew his ex family were prone to “rule twists.” Where the Chosen One and the prophecy were concerned, he would be ready for any attempt to attack from outside or within his walls. He even had an elaborate system of escape tunnels that connected through to the city outside, as well as to his own personal Domain ship, the Casus Belli II.
He would always protect her, no matter what.
The security around the fortress, including the area encompassing the mountains and rivers, was second to none thanks to the dome shaped Zymergillian force field. Of course, it was invisible, and monitored in the fortresses’ control room. Anyone or anything unfortunate enough to touch or walk into the field from the outside would get thrown back several meters, their parts scattered for the wild animals. If the force field was internally interfered with, a silent alarm would activate in the control room and sensing monitors would pick up the intrusion. If it was trivial, like a servant inadvertently triggering it during the course of their chores, they would be reprimanded by the investigating guard. Anything serious like escape and it would be a beating and exile to the mines. The alarm in the control room rarely rang out.
As Talokta had dutifully informed Kate, where the force field ended, Kalvich’s private city began. All homebase and visiting fleets, apart from his own fleet, were housed in huge accommodation units, measurable to a luxury high rise motel, with only the best resort like features. The Domain ships could be accommodated if necessary, though due to the extreme size, most remained in orbit around Heliostronus. Most utilized smaller ships, which were docked close by, either above or below ground. Farther out from this was an ominously high security industrial region that was several kilometers underground, away from any watchful eyes. This was where all the manufacturing plants for Zymergillian and other valuable assets were housed, including research and development areas for advanced ships and weaponry. Heavily guarded smooth lift platforms on the surface were the only tell tale signs.
Directly under the fortress, were Kalvich’s fleet’s private shipping docks and storage areas. The docks and the fortress were interconnected by a private underground road. Kalvich and his Verone Elite guards could freely move anywhere they wanted using this underground system. This also included the mining area.
The infamous mines were located fifty kilometers north west of the fortress, and stretched for hundreds of kilometers above and below ground. Below ground, an elaborate network of caverns connected by tunnels and roads spread deep and wide into the Heliostronus crust. Huge machines and thousands of slaves worked long back breaking hours collecting the raw crystals to be shipped to the manufacturing region. The actual mining area alone was at least twice the size of the Necradome City, and growing.
The large contingent of guards that were on mine duty were well looked after and enjoyed a good life. Though they endured harsh conditions–soaring temperatures in the day and below freezing at night–it made them
amongst the toughest of all of Kalvich’s guards, and they were amply rewarded.
If Kalvich was in a good mood and supplies of Zymergillian were up, he would send extra supplies of wine, fresh fruit, meat, cheeses, and breads. Whether the miners got to eat any of it was another thing. The turnover for a Mine Guard was basically nil. The turnover for the miners was huge, as they were literally worked to death, surviving on little more than meager rations and water. Escape, of course was impossible. Firstly, where would they go? They would be hunted down and brought back. Sometimes beaten and shot publicly to discourage others. Unless you were insane, or had a death wish, you would work.
Kalvich was going to keep Leah away from this rather colorful side of Trimadian life, for now. She needed to spend lots of quality time within his Casus Belli.
He had entrusted the task of organizing the queen’s official ceremony and celebration events to his Verone Elite Guards. It was a momentous task and further delegation was required to cover all the arrangements. Everything had to be perfect.
Thousands of invitations had been completed and duly sent out. The seating arrangements, catering, entertainment, VIP accommodation, concentrated security, and so the list went on. It was the most prestigious event ever in Trimadian history, perhaps even bigger than when Kalvich became their leader.
For within the walls of Casus Belli, the great Trimadian propaganda machine was working overtime.
There was going to be the usual large mix of attendees including most of the available Fleet masters and their entourages, and all the dignitaries within the civilian ranks. Many guests would be traveling from different galaxies. Kalvich would take this opportunity to impress all, especially the queen. It was going to be an awesome, once in an immortal’s lifetime event.
Now he had to contact his Commander and then attend to a more pressing task.
Chapter 27—Messages