A long distance away, Philip sat with his cabinet ministers and senior members of the Boyar Council and of course the Crown Prince. Intelligence reports from spies embedded in the Barsifi court were that there was a visit from the Darjiki Grand Council. There were indications that the Darjiki and Barsifi would align themselves, or at least were in some sort of temporary non-agression pact and they would direct their energies against the outer system of the Raslavon Empire completely cutting off Naerius from the Raslavon reach.
This turn of events was not unexpected, but also was not tolerable. The Darjiki and Raslavon empires were in the midst of a sort of Cold War, in which there was no explicit competition for systems, but rather using those border systems as proxies for war. It was a time of small systems fighting the battles of the larger empires.
The importance of keeping close enough to Naerius so that a quick stab might wrestle control of her from the Darjiki was always a goal as well as destiny. Control of that planet was paramount. And if Philip’s religious philosophers were correct, the Crown Prince was the second of 3 who were to finally restore control of the galaxy.
In Philip’s reading, he was the first generation patriarch that had already failed but stopped one empire, the Darjiki Empire. Edward II had to assume control and stop a resurgent Barsifi empire. And any heir to Edward would be the fateful 3rd of 3. The Crown Prince knew nothing of these interpretations. He was preoccupied with learning statecraft from his great-uncle and his astute wife.
Only one thing bothered both Philip and Edward. After 2 years of marriage, there was no heir. That heir should have been the 3rd of 3 taking control of Naerius and according to their interpretation of collected sayings of Dol, putting down the 3rd Empire, which Philip suspected was the Albion empire. The court physicians tested and retested Veronica but there was no result. They attempted all kinds of medicines and rituals on her, all to no avail. In fact she was quite distraught both by the failure to produce an heir, and the blame they placed on her. The Crown Prince, for his part, was completely devoted to his wife and put the tests and “cures” to a halt.
Philip looked at his defense minister and asked, “What is your plan Grigori, General?”
Grigori got up from his chair and went to the display screen showing the grand map of the quadrant and began pointing to the systems in danger. “Sire, we will move forces from the 5 systems in the Rejik Nebula to the Palomar, Palomid and Palodar systems close to Naerius. This will leave us slightly exposed to the Albion, but we can rush forces from the center of the empire.”
“Is there any chance the Albion might see this redeployment and take advantage of it.”
“At the moment, Your Majesty, the Albion are quite over-extended trying to surpress the Barabrum system and seem to be concentrating most of their other fleets in trade escort.”
“What is our intelligence from Albion telling us?” asked Philip.
“Uncle, I’ve looked over the reports and the Albion are having enough trouble internally in their system in response to their foray in the Barabrum system. Lots of protests and dissension amongst the political class.”
“Normally, Edward, Crown Prince, I’d take some solace in that, but in this instance I need to evaluate the risk here.”
“Uncle, you must understand that a quick stab can only be done with forces available in other places. The Albion are meddlers but not necessarily ready for direct confrontation with us.”
Philip needed to ponder this. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He then said, “Dol, bless my path, move the forces as needed. Dimitrius, General, we need to have more intelligence from the Albion and Barsifi empires. We need to make sure we are reading their movements correctly.”
Dimitrius was a small man, very fit with an almost chiseled physique. Many thought that he overcompensated in this fashion to make up for his diminutive stature. The one fact that no one disputed was that he possessed a great intellect. He was a sort of counterpoint to Grigori, who was a large barrel-chested middle height man. Grigori rose through the rank for his bravery under fire and his ability to lead and rouse men. He was no strategic genius, rather he was tactical...he was a fighter. Dimitrius was more subtle in his ways, as brave as Grigori and had some legendary examples of keeping his head while all around him failed to do so in battle.
Some thought that they were rivals, and some tried to create a rivalry, but in truth they relied on each other even though it was obvious that they had no personal friendship or rapport. They each had their past, their current job and needed each other to do their respective jobs...professional respect is about the best description.
Philip was very concerned. The hand that fate was dealing him made no sense in the context of the prophecy. His own lack of a direct heir, the death of his chosen heir, the lack of the Crown Prince having an heir. The situation was reading like what was prophesied. It just seemed that his family’s place in it didn’t fit exactly. No matter, he needed to play out this game.
A long distance away, Philip sat with his cabinet ministers and senior members of the Boyar Council and of course the Crown Prince. Intelligence reports from spies embedded in the Barsifi court were that there was a visit from the Darjiki Grand Council. There were indications that the Darjiki and Barsifi would align themselves, or at least were in some sort of temporary non-agression pact and they would direct their energies against the outer system of the Raslavon Empire completely cutting off Naerius from the Raslavon reach.
This turn of events was not unexpected, but also was not tolerable. The Darjiki and Raslavon empires were in the midst of a sort of Cold War, in which there was no explicit competition for systems, but rather using those border systems as proxies for war. It was a time of small systems fighting the battles of the larger empires.
The importance of keeping close enough to Naerius so that a quick stab might wrestle control of her from the Darjiki was always a goal as well as destiny. Control of that planet was paramount. And if Philip’s religious philosophers were correct, the Crown Prince was the second of 3 who were to finally restore control of the galaxy.
In Philip’s reading, he was the first generation patriarch that had already failed but stopped one empire, the Darjiki Empire. Edward II had to assume control and stop a resurgent Barsifi empire. And any heir to Edward would be the fateful 3rd of 3. The Crown Prince knew nothing of these interpretations. He was preoccupied with learning statecraft from his great-uncle and his astute wife.
Only one thing bothered both Philip and Edward. After 2 years of marriage, there was no heir. That heir should have been the 3rd of 3 taking control of Naerius and according to their interpretation of collected sayings of Dol, putting down the 3rd Empire, which Philip suspected was the Albion empire. The court physicians tested and retested Veronica but there was no result. They attempted all kinds of medicines and rituals on her, all to no avail. In fact she was quite distraught both by the failure to produce an heir, and the blame they placed on her. The Crown Prince, for his part, was completely devoted to his wife and put the tests and “cures” to a halt.
Philip looked at his defense minister and asked, “What is your plan Grigori, General?”
Grigori got up from his chair and went to the display screen showing the grand map of the quadrant and began pointing to the systems in danger. “Sire, we will move forces from the 5 systems in the Rejik Nebula to the Palomar, Palomid and Palodar systems close to Naerius. This will leave us slightly exposed to the Albion, but we can rush forces from the center of the empire.”
“Is there any chance the Albion might see this redeployment and take advantage of it.”
“At the moment, Your Majesty, the Albion are quite over-extended trying to surpress the Barabrum system and seem to be concentrating most of their other fleets in trade escort.”
“What is our intelligence from Albion telling us?” asked Philip.
“Uncle, I’ve looked over the reports and the Albion are having enough trouble internally in their system in response to their foray in the Barabrum system. Lots of protests and dissension amongst the political class.”
“Normally, Edward, Crown Prince, I’d take some solace in that, but in this instance I need to evaluate the risk here.”
“Uncle, you must understand that a quick stab can only be done with forces available in other places. The Albion are meddlers but not necessarily ready for direct confrontation with us.”
Philip needed to ponder this. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He then said, “Dol, bless my path, move the forces as needed. Dimitrius, General, we need to have more intelligence from the Albion and Barsifi empires. We need to make sure we are reading their movements correctly.”
Dimitrius was a small man, very fit with an almost chiseled physique. Many thought that he overcompensated in this fashion to make up for his diminutive stature. The one fact that no one disputed was that he possessed a great intellect. He was a sort of counterpoint to Grigori, who was a large barrel-chested middle height man. Grigori rose through the rank for his bravery under fire and his ability to lead and rouse men. He was no strategic genius, rather he was tactical...he was a fighter. Dimitrius was more subtle in his ways, as brave as Grigori and had some legendary examples of keeping his head while all around him failed to do so in battle.
Some thought that they were rivals, and some tried to create a rivalry, but in truth they relied on each other even though it was obvious that they had no personal friendship or rapport. They each had their past, their current job and needed each other to do their respective jobs...professional respect is about the best description.
Philip was very concerned. The hand that fate was dealing him made no sense in the context of the prophecy. His own lack of a direct heir, the death of his chosen heir, the lack of the Crown Prince having an heir. The situation was reading like what was prophesied. It just seemed that his family’s place in it didn’t fit exactly. No matter, he needed to play out this game.