_Of the First Awakening, and the Betrayal
Zid was the Beginning, and with Him was the Void. To fill the Void Zid created Gadzair, a place of utter perfection that reflected his glory. He filled this place with forests of great trees and wonderful plants, raised magnificent mountains, created vast oceans with reefs of beautiful corals, and Gadzair was beautiful in His eyes.
Desiring to share this beauty he filled Gadzair with multitudes of animals, birds in the skies, fish for the seas, and others for every part of the world in between. Once this was done Zid saw that something was missing from his perfect world, none that could truly appreciate it's wonder.
After contemplating for two days and nights Zid set about the greatest task he had yet attempted. He bent all his effort into creating a living being that could reflect His grace. Out of His work came two brothers, one large and immensely strong, the other smaller, but swift as any of the beasts of Gadzair. For the first time Zid was surprised, for the manner of these two beings was not what He had expected. Despite His misgivings, Zid looked upon his two sons with favor, He named the strong one Igad, and the fast one He called Azdgar.
Sadly, they were imperfect. The more He observed the actions his progeny the more concerned he became. Azdgar was constantly deceiving his brother and playing tricks on him, and Igad seemed to revel in the destruction of everything around him, marring the the beauty off Zid's otherwise perfect creation. Zid saw all these things, and they saddened Him. Searching for a way to restore Gadzair to the perfection that it now lacked Zid realized that He needed another son, a worthy son.
Thus did Zid create His third son. As strong as Igad, and as swift as Azdgar, Zid watched him, and bent all his effort to molding him in His image. Zid watched, and guided, and eventually, looked at His son and saw that where He had failed in the past, He had finally succeeded. He decided that this was the son that reflected the perfection of His creations, and called him Zidaga.
During the time that Zid had spent in the raising of his newest son he had kept apart from Azdgar and Igad, now that he had finished the three sons were united with each other for the first time. Shamed by their Father's lack of satisfaction, Azdgar and Igad took an instant dislike to their younger brother. Zidaga, however took no notice of this, and his love for his two brothers was absolute. The more they watched Zidga, and saw their Father's favor of him, the more bitter Azdgar and Igad became. They hid their jealousy, however, and neither their Father nor young brother knew of the growing depth of their twisted nature.
As Zidaga grew older, he began to feel lonely. His explorations of Gadzair had started to lose some of their initial wonder, and his brothers were often alone keeping to themselves. Seeing this sadness in his son, Zid created for him a companion and protector. Named Tumni by Zidaga, he was one of the first of the great predators of Gaszair, now made intelligent and tasked with keeping Zidaga's inquisitive nature from getting him into trouble. Tumni and Zidaga became fast friends, and let nothing come between them, but the sadness of Zidaga was not completely abated. And so Zid created Saffera, and gave her to Zidaga as his wife, and in her love Zidaga found greater joy than he had ever known.
Azdgar and Idaga watched these things and wept, for it was obvious that their Father had forgotten them. Their sadness went unnoticed, and their grief grew deeper and deeper, and their grief fed a twisting jealosy, a jealosy that would burst forth in Azdgar as hate. As he watched Saffera he came to lust after her, and spite his brother for having what he did not. As Zid walked among the forests and plains of Gaszair with his chosen son, Azdgar plotted to commit sin against his Father and brother. He went to Igad, and convinced his brother to join in the conspiracy. They waited until Zidaga and their Father were away together, then drugged Tumni with tainted meat so that he fell into a sleep as if dead. Dragging him into the forest, they covered him with the blood and gore of a slain beast and left him. With the guardian subdued, they kidnapped Saffera and hid her in a far cave in the mountains.
When Zidaga returned his brothers were weeping at the site of his home. They told him that Tumni had gone mad, attacked Saffera and drug her into the forest. Frantic, Zidaga followed the trail to his guardian in the forest, and finding him covered in blood, knew that he had slain his love. As Tumni woke from his coma, Zidaga, mad with grief, flew into a rage and killed his closest friend. As his madness subsided, Zidaga looked upon what he had done, and wept. He built a great pyre for his friend, and setting it aflame, exiled himself from Gadzair to wander the Void alone with his grief.
When Zid saw the great smoke and flame rising from Tumni's pyre, he searched Gadzair for Zidaga, but could not find him. He went to Azdgar and Igad, and when they told him the lie that had deceived Zidaga, he too could not believe that his sons would tell him anything but truth. The loss of Zidaga, Tumni, and Saffera was too much to bear. Zid fled the sight of his sons and Gadzair entirely, His grief overcame Him, and He cried As His tears fell into the Void, each one became a tiny star, and in His grief he filled all Creation with them.
With Zidaga gone, and their Father too blinded by His grief to pay any attention to what was happening on Gadzair, Azdgar and Igad were convinced that their plan had been successful. Held prisoner in her cave, Saffera suffered as Azdgar took his anger on the only target he had. Both Azdgar and Igad forced themselves upon her, and eventually she bore two daughters of their cruelty. During all this Zidaga wandered aimlessly, his heartache, if anything growing, weighed ever on his mind. He could not escape the loss of his beloved wife no matter how far he ran.
Of the Breaking of Gadzair
At last Zidaga could no longer stand his life without Saffera. He fell to the ground sobbing beside a lake on one of the worlds created by Zid's tears. It was here that the spirit of Tumni came to him in a vision. He showed Zidaga the betrayal of his brothers, and the fate of Saffera, still alive in her cave, and even then being beaten by Azdgar. Zidaga's grief dissolved into a red haze of rage, and he sped back to Gadzair to exact his vengeance and rescue his lover.
When Zidaga returned to Gadzair Azdgar knew that he had been found out. He and Igad fled their brother fearing his wrath, and when Zidaga arrived at the cave where they had hidden Saffera he found her covered in the evidence of Azdgar and Igad's abuse. Breaking her chains, Zidaga took her from the cave down into the forrest and tended to her wounds, when she finally slept in peace he went seeking his betrayers. He hunted them in the mountains, in the forest, through the swamps and plains, and even in the vast sea. Eventually he found them hiding on an island, and there brought them to battle.
Azdgar, Igad, and Zidaga fought. Though his brothers were two, Zidaga's rage gave him the strength to match them, and for days their battle raged across Gadzair. Their rage burned the skies, leveled mountains, cracked the very ground on which they tread, and scorched the beauty from the surface of paradise. So great was the calamity caused by their war that it woke Zid from his grief. He descended upon his fighting sons and threw them apart, and Zidaga told him of Azdgar and Igad's treachery.
Finally all things were clear to Zid, and he saw the depth to which his two sons had fallen. He exploded in rage, beating Azdgar and Igad to an extent that Zidaga could never have done. In his rage he all but killed them, and then, as he looked upon their broken bodies, he realized that he could not bring himself to give them the death they deserved for their sin. He banished Azdgar and Igad from Gadzair, with them he sent their daughters, with whom he condemned them to further their now mortal line. In their incest the corruption of their souls would be forever compounded through the generations. The descendants of Azdgar called themselves the Azdgari, and were forever as deceptive and cowardly as their progenitor. Igad's descendants came to be known as the Igadzra, and they were forever a brute and primitive race.
With his shamed sons banished from His presence, Zid looked upon the shattered remains of Gadzair. He saw that it was no longer a paradise that he could leave to Zidaga, and so he created for his son a new home. There Zidaga and Saffera lived and were happy, and their children came to call themselves the Zidagar, and they were ever in the favor of Zid._
The Faithful, Chapter One
Consular Halls, the Great Temple of Zid, Zidagar
Light shone down upon the Holy Council from the stained glass windows that lined the ceiling of the Great Temple. They sat along a semi-circular dias, raised above the rest of the chamber floor that spread out in front of them. A lone Zidagar, clad in the purple and silver armor of the highest rank among the Paladins, stood by a holo-projector in the center of the room. Behind him stood a number of various command and staff officers, Paladins all, waiting at attention as their leader faced the questions of the Council.
Banging his gavel, Asrin Nemisa, High Priest of Zid and First Consul of the Temple, brought a hushed silence over the assorted Clergy and other officials present in the Council Chamber. Leaning slightly forward into the microphone floating in front of him, he uttered the opening prayers, then looked down at the bowing Paladin.
"So, General Deran, pray tell the Council of your latest grand campaign for the glory of Zid."
Shaking his head, Samael Deran straightened his shoulders and gazed up at the nine Consuls sitting above him. "You honor me Consul, but what little glory there is comes only from the survival of those of us who stand before you, and the sacrifice of those that fell. There is no glory in the defeat of any Zidagar, even if they be heretics."
The corner of Asrin's mouth turned up slightly in a thin smile. "Your humility, as always, is most gratifying, but that is immaterial. The Council wishes to better understand the events of the last few weeks, and we have heard little their conclusion. So, if you would... spare us any more waiting, present your report General."
Samael nodded. "As you wish," and with that he turned to the projector. "From what we can tell, the uprising started shortly after we intercepted this transmission from Pozdag-3. It seems that a group of..."
Brothers! Cast off the yoke of your oppression! The Council is no more Holy than the mass graves into which they have dumped every vestige of opposition and free will among the Zidagar. But the fire of Liberty will not be snuffed by their Inquisition! Your brothers on Pozdag have even now defeated the rabid dogs of the Council, and our forces are...
Captain Vehn Dorja slammed his fist down on the holo-projector's control panel, causing the intercepted rebel transmission to cut out in a buzz of static. "Fools! Can anyone truly be deluded enough to think they can secede from the Holy Worlds? Do they think the Council will just let them get away with it?"
General Deran grimaced as he scanned the faces of the various captains seated around him, their expression ranged between Dorja's barely contained anger, and his own somber meditation. Riots were not uncommon in the many cities within the Holy Worlds of Zid, but an entire star system in rebellion? This was unheard of. None enjoyed the site of Inquisitor stormtroopers wading into the ranks of demonstrators with shock-batons and choke-gas, but they were hear to talk about the suppression of a full fledged armed rebellion.
"So, you mustered an assault force at Neeg, then after two days of preparation, you launched your attack against the Rebels."
Deran nodded, then brought up an image of a Zidagar warfleet in orbit around Neeg. "Yes, Councilor, as you can see, we had to bring in ships from neighboring systems to assemble a force of the necessary size and strength."
Another Councilor spoke from the other side of the dias. "Describe the battle for us General, what did you find when you entered the Pozdag system?"
With a flash of purple and gold, the Zidagar fleet entered Pozdag already in battle formation. More than two dozen Zidaras, with accompanying squadrons of Zidagar fighters, they were a force to strike fear into the heart of any enemy. This enemy however, had already shed all vestiges of fear, they were very likely to have resigned themselves to death the moment they at started down the twisting path of Rebellion.
Arrayed against the Zidagar fleet was a ragtag group of ships that looked no better than the poorest group of strandless raiders. Several Aradas, and a squadron or two of Crecent fighters made up the bulk of the rebel force, the three Laziras looked as if they'd been the victim of more than a few pirate skirmishes, and the ailing Crescent Warship at the fleet's center must have been at least a century old. Even this, however, was an amazing sight to the Zidagar commanders. To have amassed such a force in so short a time spoke of long planning, and careful organization. Despite it's appearances, this was no rabble.
What they saw next though, was a sight that no Paladin expected to see in his life. From the far side of Pozdag-3, a sleek purple shape emerged from the hazy film of the planet's atmosphere. It was a Zidara, and it was joining the Rebels.
By now the enemy fleet had also coalesced into a battle formation of sorts. As the two opposing battle groups accelerated towards each other glowing projectiles flashed between them, and the starfighters broke away from the larger ships and screamed ever faster towards a final melee. With a flash of phased beamers and the red trails of dispersal rockets the two fleets met...
"A Zidara! With the rebel fleet! How did this happen!?"
His head falling slightly, General Deran composed himself, and met the First Consul's gaze. "We do not know," he answered, "we tried to disable the ship and recover it's logs, but it's Captain activated the ship's self destruction system."
Asrin Nemisa studied the expressionless face of his people's greatest military leader. It was not often that the fearless warrior did not fulfill his goals to their fullest extent, his admission of the slightest failure, even in the midst of his victory, was a rarity. "So, you defeated the rebel scum, though they inflicted heavy losses for their few numbers. What of the planet? I have a report from my High Inquisitor telling me that it has been purified of any further seditious influence... but he was not their for your retaking of the planet."
Deran dropped his eyes again to the floor. "The uprising was subdued without any problems of note. Once their fleet was destroyed in the sky above them, the rebels knew their cause was lost..."
The stench of death filled the air in the streets of Pozdag's largest city. The populace was subdued, but the rebels had fought to the bitter end, and thousands of their bodies filled the rubble surrounding Samael as he surveyed the work of his troops. Falling to his knees, he sat among the ruins of what was once one of the most beautiful Temples of any of the Holy Worlds. Now it was inhabited only by the carrion eaters, and the piles of bodies heaped what had once been gardens and vaulted halls.
He cradled his face in his hands and wept, this was no victory, he thought, this was a slaughter. And for what?
The First Consul shook his head as General Deran finished his report. "So Pozdag-3 was pacified without incident? This is good news, but there is still a greater question here. How did this happen in the beginning? There had to have been some catalyst for this uprising, who led it? How did the rebels acquire the ships and overcome the local garrisons? There are too many questions left unanswered."
"Unfortunatly," replied Samael, "we were not able to capture the ringleaders. They continued to transmit from an underground bunker for hours after the largest of the ground battles were over, and when out special forces were able to penetrate the facility all they found were bodies. Any answers we could have gained went with their souls to the afterlife."
Asrin looked to each side at the faces of his fellow councilors, then nodded his head. "Well, at any rate, the Council thanks you once again for your service General Deran. Without the leadership and bravery of you and your Paladins the Holy Worlds would have collapsed long ago, we are indebted to you once again." With that, he raised his gavel from the table and brought it down in three quick strikes, and with a final prayer, signaled the end of the proceeding.
Samael turned crisply in an about face and marched back among his fellow Paladins, before exiting the Halls. As he walked out the doors of the Great Temple the young Captain Dorja caught up to him and fell into step at his side. For a few moments there was silence while they walked, then Dorja spoke.
"So, do you think they suspect the truth? You never know what that bastard Sernak has heard with his cursed ears."
General Deran turned his head slightly and gave his young colleague an appraising look. For the first time that day his features expressed something other than stony concentration, and he gave the young Dorja a grim smile. "I suspect that for now our secret is safe. If they did know my young friend, then rest assured that we would already have felt the prick of the assassins knife, courtesy of your friend the High Inquisitor Sernak."
With that Dorja gave a laugh that lacked the slightest amount of mirth. "I suppose you're right General, if there's one thing you can always trust Sernak to be quick about, it's killing someone who keeps secrets."
Detention Cell 251, High Citadel of the Paladin Order, Tumni
A ray of light penetrated the darkness of the cell and illuminated the form of it's occupant crouched against the far wall. Raising his hand to shield his eyes from the now unfamiliar glare assaulting his senses, the prisoner looked up.
General Deran stepped inside the cell, then sat down in front of the prisoner. "So, brother, tell me... how does it feel to be a traitor to your God, your country, your family, and most of all, your Order?"
A rasping sound that must have been laughter came from the dry throat of the prisoner. He lowered his hand, squinted at his first visitor since he'd been knocked unconscious by an exploding console in far away Pozdag. He fingered the tattered purple cloth that was the remnant of the uniform he'd worn almost his entire life. He laughed again. "Heh, Brother... I could tell you many stories of treason... but none of it is mine..."
This post has been edited by Vice Admiral Ipvicus : 10 February 2005 - 12:22 PM
