The Fourth Regime: Baylock the Brutal Baylock was the last lord marshal born to Necroism, and the first of the modern lord marshals. During his regime, planetary subjugation became the norm. The plan that had served him well on Boroneau V was applied to new worlds on a grand scale.
Baylock also taught that it was not enough to gain converts. Those who refused conversion should be ground to dust. Once again he relied for justification of his actions on the words of Covu, who said to the last of the Austeres, "Convert, or fall forever."
By all accounts, Baylock"s regime would have met with unparalleled success had he not encountered the dread Carthodox. This was another militarized faith, monotheistic and procreative but potent nonetheless. The Carthodox, too, were seeking converts in the planetary system Neibaum, and when paths crossed, the worlds of Neibaum became the holy battlefield.
An interesting though probably irrelevant footnote to the history of this particular conflict: there are suggestions-oral history only-that the Elemental race was advising the Carthodox in the course of this war. But many doubt this, citing the traditional neutrality of all Elementals.
The Carthodox had strange new weaponry, some of it superior to the corresponding Necromonger armament. Losses among the supporters of the Faith grew catastrophic. Officers complained that communications were not sufficiently secure, allowing the Carthodox to know their moves in advance.
Baylock"s commanders advised retreat from the Neibaum system. If they could only swell the ranks by converting worlds beyond, they could return to fight the Carthodox anew, refreshed and strengthened. But Baylock the Brutal would have none of it.
"They may count G.o.d on their side, but we count many G.o.ds," Baylock is said to have bellowed. "It begins and ends in this system."
Kryll was a technical officer in charge of an emerging order within the Necromonger movement. He called it the Order of the Quasi-Dead.
The "Quasies" (as they are now known) began as monk-like ascetics who voluntarily deprived themselves of virtually all nourishment. Their goal was to slow down bodily function to the point where their existence walked the cusp between life and death. They are fragile yet powerful beings, as all bodily resources are devoted to mental pursuits.
After years of overseeing the growth of this order, Kryll came forward to offer Baylock and the military the use of Quasi-Deads as telepathic conduits. Once the advantages promised by such a system were recognized, the offer was quickly accepted. A network of Quasi-Deads was hastened into service, with at least one installed on every command ship, a practice followed to this day. The Quasis enjoyed quick success. At last, here was the incorruptible line of communication the military had been seeking! The impact of the Quasis began to be felt on the battlefield, as their point-to-point communications could not be intercepted by the Carthodox, who had no equivalent resource. They were helping to turn the tide of war when something extraordinary occurred.
Baylock died in a landing accident on Neibaum Prime.
Questions outnumbered answers. Who was now in charge? Would the commanders appoint a lord marshal from among their own ranks? Or would they fall to fighting one another even as they did battle with the Carthodox?
The corpse of Baylock was dispatched to the Threshold. There, the Guardian floated the corpse in an open ark and sailed it into the UnderVerse. As the corpse vanished, the Guardian-as he later swore before a congress of commanders-heard Baylock stir and speak. And with his final words, Baylock named a successor.
The Fifth Regime: Kryll The Carthodox were overcome. Their false icons were burned or otherwise laid aside, their numbers purified and absorbed. Though it had been predicted that the Carthodox, being pious themselves, would never convert to Necroism, most Carthodox did so with surprising readiness. Some would later become respected Necromonger warriors, and many other doc.u.ments chronicle their stories.
Perhaps as an act of grat.i.tude, Kryll overruled the Necromonger prohibition on the raising of personal icons to erect a mountainous statue of Baylock the Brutal. It was left behind on the cratered remains of Neibaum Prime, a reminder of the battles that Baylock prosecuted there. This was the first of the great planetary icons which would, in the next regime, take on greater import. Moreover, Kryll ordered statuary to grace the ancient interior of Necropolis, including images of all the lord marshals, past and present.
Ever mindful of challenges from within the Faith, Kryll refined his Quasi-Deads, creating the Order of the Greater Quasi-Deads. This group was comprised of five highly evolved-toward death-individuals who could probe the minds of any individual. So powerful were they that, when grouped together, they could hemorrhage the brain of a resistant subject.
Today, the "Greater Quasies" serve at the pleasure of the reigning lord marshal, while the "Lesser Quasies" fill both military and private deep-s.p.a.ce communication needs.
The Carthodox weaponry, so formidable, was fitted on Necromonger warships, making the armada stronger than ever. Necroism, a movement that had already absorbed two other faiths, was poised to spread to new worlds with new speed. . . .
Kryll"s time ended unexpectedly. With no verbal announcement, he committed ritualistic suicide. Thankfully, a pyro-doc was found near his corpse by a trusted officer, Zhylaw, and this succession doc.u.ment averted the rancorous in-fighting that marked the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Regimes.
The Sixth Regime: Zhylaw the Last The succession doc.u.ment named Zhylaw as the next lord marshal-as an historian, it is not my duty to report rumor. But since, in this case, rumor led to tribunal, it should be mentioned that a public debate ensued, some suggesting that Zhylaw was somehow complicit in the pa.s.sing of Kryll. Zhylaw was promptly exonerated, and the perpetuators of these spiteful stories were hunted out and killed before due time. In an attempt to protect his reputation for the ages, Zhylaw had the succession doc.u.ment naming him lord marshal stored in our most secure vaults, under the tightest of guard. There it will remain, protected for all posterity.
As a young warrior Zhylaw distinguished himself in forward operations, a branch of the armada that forays to unexplored worlds. Normally these teams conduct simple mapping and targeting missions, but Zhylaw-with a fleet of fast frigates at his disposal- redefined its role. He attacked and removed nascent colonies of man wherever he found them, before they could grow to military significance.
Zhylaw believed in killing his enemies young. His actions won the praise of his superiors-including Lord Marshal Kryll, who came to think of Zhylaw as a brilliant if wayward son.
As we are living, it is too early to write the true history of this regime. But as the Campaign grows and the worlds of man dwindle, there is a swelling belief that Zhylaw will be the last lord marshal-the one who will lead all Necromongers through the Threshold and into the glory that is the UnderVerse.
EPILOGUE.
All he wanted was to be left alone. That"s all he"d ever wanted. But there were forces at work that would not leave him to himself. He had never backed away from a challenge in his life. When men refused to leave him be, he had dealt with them. When governments had refused to leave him be, he had dealt with them. Now the universe, it seemed, refused to leave him be.
Very well. He would deal with the universe.
He became aware that a senior Necromonger officer was hovering nearby, apparently waiting for something. When he turned to the man, the armored commander took one more step forward.
"Your orders, Lord Marshal."
Lord Marshal. Nothing about the sound of it rang true. But he had to do something. He had to respond. What could he do? Was there anything, anything left, that he wanted wanted to do? Roused from his introspection by need and circ.u.mstance, the somber man on the throne finally said evenly, "To the Threshold." to do? Roused from his introspection by need and circ.u.mstance, the somber man on the throne finally said evenly, "To the Threshold."
The commander was clearly taken aback. "The Threshold, Threshold, Lord Marshal? But the people are not prepared. They have not been properly purified and do not know the Way. They have . . ." Lord Marshal? But the people are not prepared. They have not been properly purified and do not know the Way. They have . . ."
Black goggles turned to him. "Are you questioning my order?"
"No, Lord Marshal, it is only that-" Breaking off, the bewildered officer dipped his head slightly and started to turn away, mentally preparing himself to pa.s.s along the extraordinary command.
"One more thing," the brooding man on the throne added, halting the officer in mid-stride. "Don"t call me Lord Marshal.
"My name is Ridd.i.c.k."
By Alan Dean Foster
Published by Ballantine Books
THE BLACK HOLE.
CACHALOT.
DARK STAR.
THE METROGNOME AND OTHER STORIES.
MIDWORLD.
NOR CRYSTAL TEARS.
SENTENCED TO PRISM.
SPLINTER OF THE MIND"S EYE STAR TREK LOGS ONETEN VOYAGE TO THE CITY OF THE DEAD.
. . . WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?.
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . . .
MAD AMOS.
THE HOWLING STONES.
PARALLELITIES.
STAR WARS: THE APPROACHING STORM.
IMPOSSIBLE PLACES.
DROWNING WORLD.
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDd.i.c.k.
The Icerigger Trilogy:
ICERIGGER.
MISSION TO MOULOKIN.
THE DELUGE DRIVERS.
The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth:
FOR LOVE OF MOTHER-NOT.
THE TAR-AIYN-KRANG.
ORPHAN STAR.
THE END OF THE MATTER.
BLOODHYPE.
FLINX IN FLUX.
MID-FLINX.
REUNION.
FLINX"S FOLLY SLIDING SCALES.
RUNNING FROM THE DEITY.
The d.a.m.ned:
BOOK ONE: A CALL TO ARMS.
BOOK TWO: THE FALSE MIRROR.
BOOK THREE: THE SPOILS OF WAR.
The Founding of the Commonwealth:
PHYLOGENESIS.
DIRGE.
DIUTURNITY"S DAWN
The Taken Trilogy:
LOST AND FOUND.
THE LIGHT-YEARS BENEATH MY FEET.